INTRODUCTION. 
HE Natural History of Animals lias always been a most interesting and 
instructive subject, and its popularity increases year after year. It is 
p a branch of knowledge which is entertaining at every age, and it is a 
favourite study with men of every race and country, and of every intel- 
lectual capacity. All children delight in having their little tasks asso- 
ciated with pictures of animals, and the alphabet is learned all the more 
readily by its being illustrated with spirited drawings of household pets 
and the terrible creatures of the woods. The marvels of the intelligence 
of the dog and horse are inexhaustible sources of delight to young 
readers ; and there are few greater pleasures than those which are felt when living animals, whose 
descriptions and habits have been the subject of instruction and amusement, are seen in some large 
menagerie or zoological gardens. On the whole, it is probable that few books are so interesting to 
young men and women as those which relate to animals, and it is their study which, in the majority 
of instances, leads to the desire for further knowledge of Natural History. The young student soon 
begins to yearn for information regarding the manner in which different creatures live; how some 
breathe air, how others live in water; how it is that some fly and others crawl; and he desires to 
connect the peculiar construction of animals with their method of life. Or he may be content with 
endeavouring to understand the names of animals, and the reasons why they are arranged or classified 
in a particular manner by scientific men. 
As years roll on, if the interest in Natural History has not diminished, the man, with increasing 
intelligence and scope of reading, masters the knowledge desired in his youth, and has the opportunity, 
should he care to grasp it, of the highest intellectual enjoyment. He can enter into the consideration 
and discussion of the mysterious problems of life : of its origin; of the reasons why animals differ; why 
they are distributed here and there, or limited in their position in the world ; what connection there 
may be between those of the past and of the present, and of the relation between the creation and 
the Creator. 
Besides this, even should he not aim so high, the man who has had a slight training in Natural 
History often employs his knowledge for the benefit of art and commerce. How beautiful are the 
representations of animals on some old coins, how grotesque are those on others! Yet the most correct, 
and, therefore, the most beautiful, were the result of the careful study of Nature. What benefits to 
men have resulted from the production of certain breeds of horses, sheep, and oxen ! But it has been 
the study of Nature, and of the laws of the powers of inheritance, which led to most of these results: 
and thus the practical man is dependent upon the student for his success. 
Notwithstanding the interesting nature of the study of the Natural History of Animals, there is 
