AJSriMAL LOOOMOTIOK 



INTRODUCTION. 



The locomotion of animals, as exemplified in walking, swim- 

 ming, and flying, is a subject of permanent interest to all 

 who seek to trace in the creature proofs of beneficence and 

 design in the Creator. All animals, however insignificant, have 

 a mission to perform — a destiny to fulfil ; and their manner of 

 doing it cannot be a matter of indiff'erence, even to a careless 

 observer. The most exquisite form loses much of its grace 

 if bereft of motion, and the most ungainly animal conceals its 

 want of symmetry in the co-adaptation and exercise of its 

 several parts. The rigidity and stillness of death alone are 

 unnatural. So long as things " live, move, and have a being," 

 they are agreeable objects in the landscape. They are part 

 and parcel of the great problem of life, and as we are all 

 hastening towards a common goal, it is but natural we should 

 take an interest in the movements of our fellow-travellers. 

 As the locomotion of animals is intimately associated with 

 their habits and modes of life, a wide field is opened up, 

 teeming with incident, instruction, and amusement. No one 

 can see a bee steering its course with admirable precision from 

 flower to flower in search of nectar ; or a swallow darting 

 like a flash of light along the lanes in pursuit of insects ; or 

 a wolf panting in breathless haste after a deer ; or a dolphin 

 rolling like a mill-wheel after a shoal of flying fish, without 

 feeling his interest keenly awakened. 



