INTRODUCTION, 
The science of Natural History embraces a description 
of all the objects presented by the natural world. It is a 
study of great importance, and lays the foundation for the 
sciences of natural philosophy, chemistry, and physi- 
ology. 
The objects of which it treats are divided into two 
very distinct classes of bodies, viz. inorganic and or- 
ganized; the first embracing the atmosphere, the waters, 
and the earth ; the last, plants and animals. 
Zoology, or the Natural History of animals, is divided 
into five great sections. 
1. QUADRUPEDS are first recommended to our no 
tice from their manifest subserviency to our comforts and 
our wants. Besides this, their situations and dispositions 
give us more frequent opportunities of intercourse with 
them than with other classes of animals. 
Birds soar aloft beyond our reach ; fishes inhabit a 
different element from ours ; reptiles instinctively shun 
our society, and insects escape our observation. But 
quadrupeds cannot easily avoid us, and many even seek 
our fellowship. Their circumstances bear some analogy 
to our own, and their sagacity and constancy of affection 
excite our observation and regard. 
