6 
ILLUSTRATED NATURAL HISTORY. 
after him. Hence the advantage of co-operating numbers, each working in his favorite depart- 
ment, and contributing his portion of laboi' to the pubHc good. The result is an accumulated 
mass of riches, which, transmitted to our immediate successors, may be by them assayed, refined, 
and increased, and, in due order, passed on to generations following." 
THE MYSTERY OF LIFE. 
It is quite true, that after all the researches of philosophers, one question of vital interest remains 
unanswered : What is Life ? There is a mystery behind that httle word, says Gosse, which no 
one has yet been able to solve. Science, with the experience of ages, with all the appliances of 
art, and with all the persevering ingenuity and skill that could, be brought to bear upon it, has 
ardently labored to lift the veil ; but philosophy, and science, and art stand abashed before the 
problem, and confess it a mystery still. The phenomena, the properties of life, are readily observ- 
able. We take a bird in our hands : a few moments ago it was full of energy and animation ; it 
shook its little wings as it hopped from perch to perch ; its eyes glanced brightly, and its throat 
quivered as it poured out the thrilling soug which delighted us. Noav the voice has ceased, the 
eye is dim, the limbs are stiffening, and w^e know that it will move no more. Chemical changes 
have already begun to operate upon its organs ; decomposition is doing its work, and soon the 
beautiful little bird will be a heap of dust. We say that its life has gone ; but lohat is it that has 
gone ? If we put the body in the most delicate balance, it weighs not a grain less than when it 
was alive ; if we measure it, its dimensions are precisely the same ; the scalpel of the anatomist 
finds all the constituent parts that made the living being; and what the mighty principle is, the 
loss of which has wrought such a change, alike eludes research and baffles conjecture. We are 
compelled here to recognize the Great First Cause, and to rest in the reverent declaration, " In 
Him we live, and move, and have our being." 
The researches of modern science, however, aided by the inventions wdiich it has brought into 
existence, though they have been unable to throw a single ray of light on the nature of Life 
itself, have yet done much to make us familiar with its phenomena. It is a material part of the 
design of the present volume to acquaint the reader with the more interesting portion of these 
results. 
OBJECT AND SOURCES OF THE PRESENT WORK. 
The plan of the author is to give a popular compend of the Natural History of the Animal 
Kingdom, as it is now found in publications of a professed scientific character. In doing this, 
he will necessarily lay under contribution the works of the great masters in zoological science, 
as Linnaeus, Cuvier, and Buffon ; together with those of numerous authors, distinguished in spe- 
cial branches, as Gervais, Le Maout, T. Rymer Jones, Milne EdAvards, Gould, Bell, Yarrell, 
Forbes, Dallas, Agassiz, Bennett, Newman, Martin, Nuttall, Wilson, Audubon, Bonaparte, and 
many others ; besides the productions of a multitude of travelers Avho have incidentally described 
the animal productions of the various countries they have vi.sited. To them, whatever there may 
be of actual discovery in the following pages, must be credited. The author, howa^ver, will be 
particularly indebted for many lively descriptions of animals to two recent Paris publications on 
the Garden of Plants, and the two volumes on the Garden and Menagerie of the Zooloodcal Soci- 
ety of London, both illustrated by many clever, because life-like, engravings. It is to the two 
noble institutions which have given birth to these works, that the world is indebted for a sort of 
personal acquaintance with many of the rarest and most curious specimens of the animal kingdom, 
and also for accurate descriptions of a great number of exceedingly interesting animals — birds, 
beasts, and reptiles ; thus, in many cases, dissipating errors which had lingered in works of natural 
history for hundreds of years.'" 
* During my late residence in Paris, the " Garden of Plants" was my favorite resort, not only as a means of study- 
ing Natural History, but for the purpose of enjoying its beautiful \valks and charming views. The interest tlius 
excited in my mind has led me to undertake the present volume, which I shall be able to enrich by numerous en- 
gravings of animals belonging to that celebrated seat of science. The establishment of a similar institution in one 
of the great cities of the United States, would be worthy the exertions of our wealthy and enlightened citizens. 
