INTRODUCTION. 
The book here presented is the outgrowth of fifteen 
years of teaching the subject to large classes in a high 
school. Its aim is to interest and guide pupils in the 
study of living animals. Young people are usually 
ready to be made acquainted with their immediate 
neighbors in the animal world, and it is hoped that 
this book may be of assistance to them. 
In the choice and arrangement of topics the powers 
and interests of young students have been kept in view 
rather than the demands of strictly logical description 
and exposition. Chapter I outlines the animal kingdom 
in such a manner as to be useful for reference purposes. 
Chapter II gives directions for assisting the student in 
procuring his own specimens for study. Chapter III 
describes the activities common to all animals. With 
Chapter IV work on the Arthropoda begins. Animals 
of this group are selected for the early part of the work 
because living specimens can be easily collected and 
observed in the fall, at which time Zoology is begun 
in most schools. After the study of the Arthropoda, 
the book follows the natural order, beginning with the 
simplest animals and ending with the most complex. 
In some schools it will doubtless be better to begin 
with Chapter XI, and study the Arthropoda directly 
after the chapter on “ The Earthworm ”. This latter 
order of subjects is advised when the Zoology course 
begins in the winter or spring. 
Throughout the book adaptation to environment is 
constantly pointed out. Much is made of habitat in 
