UC-NRLF " S v> 38^ J > TE ^ mm mm m^mmmfsMM mm M/u?>m< fflKD ftffi HANDBOOK OF NATURAL HISTORY LONDON : PRINTED BY ARLISS ANDREWS, AT THE MUSEUM STEAM PRINTING WOBKS 31, MUSEUM STREET, BJ.OOMSBURY. 1873. HANDBOOK OF NATURAL HISTOEY: BEING AN bit 0f ' PICTORIAL DIAGRAMS & NATURAL SPECIMENS, ILLUSTRATIVE OP HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY, ZOOLOGY, BOTANY, GEOLOGY, AND MINERALOGY. A. BOUCARD, NATURALIST, 55, GREAT RUSSELL STREET; AND THOMAS MURBY, 32, BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET. 1874. [BIGHT OP TRANSLATION RESERVED.] ADVERTISEMENT. We earnestly request all persons engaged in tuition, who appreciate the advantages of this mode of instruction, and make use of these diagrams, to have the kindness to transmit their observations to us, both as regards the composition and ar- rangement of this work, and also on the method of teaching which they have adopted. Such information will enable us to correct and improve future editions ; and we shall feel it a duty to acknowledge the source from whence we shall have received any advice which may aid in the improvement of this work. A. BOUCARD 55, GBEAT KUSSELL STREET, W.C, M375501 PREFACE. IF the study of the sciences is so much neglected in England at present, it is certainly not for the want of illustrious profes- sors, for we may congratulate ourselves on always possessing men of the first rank in science. Nevertheless, the great majority of all classes are scarcely acquainted with even the rudiments of these branches of knowledge, because the primary instruction of children does not include any of these very useful sciences, which would be a real amusement to them, and which are of such numerous and* frequent application in the arts, industry, agriculture, commerce, and, in short, the ordinary business of life. What is to be done to remedy this state of things ? We must inspire and develope a taste for the sciences from infancy, and for this purpose must select one of the simplest and most attractive practical sciences, which is also of very frequent application. Natural History will certainly answer our purpose best. In truth, the peculiar attraction which natural history possesses for children is so striking that most writers of alpha- bets and other elementary books, try to make them interesting to the scholars by giving pictures and descriptions of animals. Unfortunately, these pictures are often bad, and represent the rat of the same size as the lion ; and thus tend to mislead the notions of children; and the descriptions are generally no better than the pictures in this respect. We were inclined to think that natural objects, or good diagrams, of the natural size, Vlll PBEFA.CE and coloured, would amuse the pupil, by showing him how he feels and breathes ; how the grain of corn germinates ; how the trunk of the oak-tree is developed ; or by showing him iron and copper ores, and telling him how brass and steel are made, &c., &c., all subjects the application of which will be met with at every step in the ordinary course of life. The first instruction for the child cannot be designed to teach many things, but ought to succeed in instilling into his mind the love of study, and to lead him to reflect. It is therefore necessary that while teaching him, we should also amuse and interest him, show him the value of knowledge, and improve his mind by awakening his intelligence. The results of such a study are easy to foresee. The mind of the child is accustomed to compare objects with each other, and he becomes more exact in his appreciation of different things, his reason is developed, and is especially raised by the instinctive admiration which he feels for all the wonders of Creation, as he learns to know all their perfection and admirable order. To make our work as practically useful as possible, we have made use of the observations of young children scarcely able to read, who have thus aided us, as it were, in the preparation of the book. When a word was too technical for them to understand easily, we have been obliged to change it for a common word, or to give a clear explanation ; but we have also availed ourselves of the assistance of learned professors, who have kindly undertaken to revise all the diagrams in detail, and to whom the scrupulous fidelity of the representa- tions is due. We are then confident of having produced a work which will be understood by the ignorant, for whom it is intended ; and the encouragement of professors of the highest standing gives us the assurance that it will be appreciated by the learned. The execution of the work is based upon the following principles, which we believe to be incontrovertible : PREFACE IX 1st. Education by the eyes is that which is least fatiguing to the intelligence and memory. In truth, when a fact is stated, and illustrated by a figure, or by a natural object, it is under- stood, and is easily fixed in the memory, and prepares it for the harder efforts of learning by heart. 2nd. Nothing is more attractive to children than the coloured representations of objects with which they are acquainted, and better still, of natural objects, when they find their name and use explained at the same time. 3rd. This education can only produce good results if all the ideas instilled into the child's mind are rigorously exact. This work has been arranged in diagrams, composed either of natural objects, whenever this was possible, or of good coloured figures, representing with the greatest accuracy the types which we wished to illustrate, of their natural size ; and we have always given the preference to those objects which come most frequently under the notice of children. In the twenty diagrams which compose this work, we have attempted to illustrate all branches of natural history, by teaching children the most indispensable elements, or those which were most suitable to excite their curiosity, and to lead them to the desire of knowledge, from the special interest that they possess. But that the study of these diagrams should be really instructive, some explanations besides the objects or figures were necessary; and we have supplied them as briefly and concisely as possible, so that the child may be able to read them as soon as he can spell, and we have arranged them in such a manner as to attract all possible attention, as the dia- grams cannot be looked at without reading them. To render the work complete, we have been requested to add a handbook, in order, by means of brief, clear, and scrupu- lously exact definitions, to illustrate those points OD which it was necessary, and particulars which could not be introduced into the diagrams. This book is not intended for the use of X m PREFACE the master only, but the pupils also will be able to read it with, pleasure and profit.- While always insisting on the practical side of this instruction, which is not only the indispensable introduction to the elements of agriculture and horticulture taught in the universities, but also the basis of all practical or technical instruction on general science, we have not neglected the purely scientific Side, because system and classification are a great assistance to children in arranging what they are taught into an orderly series of ideas ; but we have explained it in the most simple manner, so that it may be easily understood. METHOD OF TEACHING. THE best method of teaching by means of these diagrams, is to spread them before the pupils in the course of their lessons, and then to leave them to examine them. If they are shown the whole series at the commencement, they will look at them at first with interest, and read the names of the objects, but having much to see and to read, they will not be able to remember everything accurately, and as their curiosity is no longer stimulated by novelty, they will soon forget all. On the contrary, by showing them those which form the subject of the lesson, they will always look upon them with great '^interest. Having less to read and examine at once, they will do so with more profit, and will remember them more easily ; and then, when the teacher has expla ined to them those points which they do not quite understand, and they fully com- prehend everything, the diagrams can be left at their disposal without fear. Children are fond of reading again what they already know ; and the figures and names will then be firmly fixed in their memory without any fatigue, and even without knowing it. Every time that the teacher can procure actual specimens to complete his illustrations, it will make the lesson still more pro- fitable for the pupils by making the definitions more striking. It is often very difficult to procure the necessary types in the Xli METHOD 01' TEACHING. animal kingdom, but specimens of the vegetable kingdom are particularly useful, and very easy to obtain. As regards the lessons, the best plan is to follow the manual step by step, for it is in reality the detailed explanation of the names and objects on the diagrams to which it refers through- out ; and by thus following it, repetitions and omissions will be avoided. But the teacher will often have to add his own observations to what is said, and to enlarge upon the parts which ar most interesting in his neighbourhood. Besides regular lessons, accidental circumstances will fre- quently give opportunities for a lesson, which should be taken advantage of. The return of the swallows for instance will give a good opportunity for a lesson on the migration of these birds, and the service which they render us, like nearly all birds which feed on insects in the spring. The children should be forbidden to molest birds or take their nests, and be taught to appreciate the mischief which their destruction causes at this season of the year in particular, &c., &c. In order to follow the lessons in their regular and proper order, it would be necessary to begin by giving the pupils a general idea of the value of instruction in the natural sciences ; but we must remember that the practical part of this instruction will appear in a much more striking light to the pupils after they have gone through the course; and it will therefore be better not to speak of this till afterwards. In fact it is manifest that it is extremely useful to know our organisation, and to know by what mechanism our movements follow the directions of our thoughts ; how we breathe, see, and feel. It is not less useful to know those animals which are real aids to agriculture, and without which our crops would be injured, and our ruin imminent. Alas, most of these true friends who do us nothing but good, are generally as pitilessly destroyed as our real enemies. What absurd fables have been related about the poor lat, which has nothing formidable about it but its reputation, and METHOD OF TEACHING. Xlll which unceasingly pursues our enemies, the night-flying insects. The children who destroy the nests of tit-mice, to put nestlings which they think they can feed on seed, into a cage, do not suspect the mischief which they are doing to the crops. These nestlings in fact can only live when supplied with plenty of insects ; caterpillars, which are so numerous at the time of their birth, are their favourite food, and it has been calculated that a nest of tit-mice destroys about 600 caterpillars per day. If we attentively examine what each caterpillar devours, in the course of its life, we shall be able to judge how costly to agri- culture are these fragile strings of small birds' eggs that children delight to make, and which their parents do not forbid them from making, because they are ignorant of the mischief which is done. Are not toads often pursued, hunted out, and killed ? Yet what services they render us. It is true that they were created to live in the shade, and have neither elegant forms nor brilliant colours, but they ought always to be encouraged, as they live almost entirely on slugs and injurious insects. The study of plants is perhaps of still more general interest, and certainly of more direct utility, for they actually form the principal part of our food, and the chief source of the wealth of our country. It is therefore indispensable to learn to know them, to know how corn grows, how the trunk of the oak or the tuber of the potatoe is formed, &c., &c. ; and which are the commonest edible, industrial, and poisonous plants of our country. The earth also contains an immense store of wealth. Here are the clay and kaolin to make pottery, there sandstone and flint for paving, the manufacture of glass, &c. One country produces coal seams, the fossil remains of ancient forests buried for hun- dreds or perhaps thousands of years ; which not only serve for warmth, but from which abundance of useful industrial products are extracted tars, essences, beautiful red and blue dyes, &c. Anothencountry which is marshy, possesses peat bogs, a mass of XIV METHOD OF TEACHING. sodden vegetable debris, which when dried and prepared, forms a valuable fuel. Nearly all the products of the soil can be utilized for our requirements, and it is therefore important to know them in order to be able to use them, and to draw from them all possible advantages. It is ignorance of these elements of science which leads to those gross errors and absurd prejudices which are really relics of barbarism, and whicli must be unceasingly opposed by demon- strating the simple truth, and disseminating this indispensable knowledge. This elementary course of Natural History may be divided into about 30 lessons ; and we shall rapidly point out what each of them may include ; but it is obvious that they may be extended, shortened or modified, according to the time which can be given to them, and the special interest which such and such a portion may possess in connection with the district where the lesson is given, &c., &c. 1st Wesson. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Division into three kingdoms (pp. 15). Man Races of Man (pp. 67). Three diagrams, one of each kingdom, must be necessarily consulted to furnish examples. The importance of the study of man has given him a separate and comparatively large section in the work. We have therefore gone more into particulars in this chapter than the others, and have kept it quite distinct. 2nd Lesson. MAN. Structure of the human body. Skeleton, muscles. Organs of digestion, of the circulation of the blood ; and respiration, general observations. Inspiration- and circula- tion (pp. 714, diagrams 1 and 2.) 3rd Lesson. MAN. Digestion. Nervous system. Organs of the Senses. Voice (pp. 1525, diagrams 1 and 2.) 4th Lesson. ANIMAL KINGDOM. Sub-kingdoms. VERTEBRATA MAMMALIA, General remarks. Quadruniana. Insectivora (pp. 2636, diagram 3). 5th Lesson. MAMMALIA. Carnivora. Eodentia (pp. 36 45, diagram 3). METHOD OF TEACHING XV 6th Lesson. MAMMALIA. Pachydermata. Ruminantia. Marsupialia. Cetacea (pp. 4556, diagram 3). 7th . Lesson. BIRDS. General observations. Division into Orders (pp. 57 65, diagram 4). 8th Lesson. BIRDS. Raptores. Scansores (pp. 65 69, dia- gram 4) . 9th Lesson. BIRDS. Passeres (pp. 7077, diagram 4). 10th Lesson. BIRDS. Gallinacao. Gralleo. Palmipedes Cpp. 78-85, diagram 4). llth Lesson. EEPTILES (pp. 8694. diagram. 5). 12th Lesson. FISHES (pp. 95103, diagram 5). 13th Lesson. ARTICULATA. Insects, General Remarks (pp. 104-109, diagram 6). 1 4th Lesson . INSECTS. Coleoptera (pp. 110120, diagram 6). 15th Lesson. INSECTS. Lepidoptera (pp. 120126, diagram 6). 16th Lesson, INSECTS. Hemiptera . Orthoptera. Neurop- tera (pp. 126 134, diagram 6). 17th Lesson. INSECTS. Hymenoptera (pp.134 142, dia- gram 6). 18th Lesson. INSECTS. Diptera. Parasita. Araehnida (pp. 142150, diagram. 6). 1 9th Lesson. MYRIAPODA. CRU STACEA. ANNELIDA. INTES- TINAL WORMS (pp. 151159, diagram 7). 20th Lesson. MOLLUSCA. RADIATA (pp. 160 166, diagram 7). 21st Lesson. VEGETABLE KINGDOM. General Remarks (pp. 167174, diagrams 8, 9, 10). 22nd Lesson. DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Umbelliferpe Sola- naeeoc. Euphorbiacere. Chenopodiaeea?. Polygonacese. Papaveracero. Rammculaceaj (pp. 175182, diagram 13). 23rd Lesson. DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Leguminosse La- biate. Rubiacere. Urticacese. Lauracere (pp. 182 190, dia- grams 12 and 15). 24th Lesson. DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Malvaceae Lin- eacea?. Oleacese. - Rosacese. Crucifera\ Ampelidere (pp. 191 195, diagrams 14 and 15). XVI METHOD OF TEACHING 25th Lesson. DICOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Composite Cup uli- fera). Coniferee. MONOCOTYLEDONOTJS PLANTS Liliaceae. Iridacese (pp. 196204, diagrams 16 and 17) 26th Lesson.- MONOCOTYLEDONOTJS PLANTS. Amaryllidaceeo. Palmse. Graminea). ACOTYLEDONOUS PLANTS. Ferns. Mosses. Fungi. Lichens. Algse (pp. 205 214, diagrams 17 and 18). 27th Lesson. MINERAL KINGDOM, Q-eology (pp. 215 219, diagram 20). 28th Lesson. MINERAL KINGDOM Industrial Minerals (pp. 219227, diagram 19), 29th Lesson. MINERAL KINGDOM. Ores (pp. 227 234, dia- gram 19). 30th Lesson. Recapitulation. Use and application of the natural sciences. NATUBAL HISTORY INTRODUCTORY REMAHKS. NATURAL HISTORY relates to all those objects upon the earth which can be touched, just as Astronomy concerns all the stars which we see around us in the heavens, but which we cannot reach. Kingdoms. All natural objects are divided into three king- doms. The first includes animals, and is called the animal kingdom. The second includes plants, and is called the vegetable kingdom. Lastly, we place in the mineral kingdom, all objects which are neither animals nor plants ; that is, those which have no life : stones, rocks, crystals, liquids, such as the water we drink, and gases, such as the air we breathe. Animals have a mouth with which they eat their appropriate food. They can also run, fly, swim or walk. If we approach them, or attempt to seize and annoy them, they try to escape, or show that they feel pain. Even the oyster will forcibly close itself and resist if we try to open it, and we, therefore, say that it feels. Plants also take nourishment, but in a different way from B 2 NATURAL HISTORY. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. animals. They suck up the water contained in the ground by means of their i oots. They cannot move from place to place like animals, but always remain fixed where the seed fell, and took root ; and lastly, if we cut off a branch from a tree, it does not seem to experience any pain ; it does not feel. Minerals are always easy to recognise. They have no life like plants and animals, and they do not re-produce their species like these, by young ones, eggs, or seeds. The mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms supply man with everything which he requires for his food ; to build houses to clothe and warm himself, or to construct tools. The study of these three kingdoms forms what is called col- lectively the Natural Sciences, and as these concern all the beings and objects which surround us, and without which we could not live, it is clear that we ought to know them, and that the study of the natural sciences is very useful indeed. "To enable us to recognise objects among 'the innumerable number of animals, plants, and minerals which the earth con- tains, it is necessary to imagine an order which allows of our distinguishing every object. This order is what is called a classification. To attain this end, it has first been attempted to group together all those animals which have certain points of resemblance in common ; all those, for instance, which suckle their young with teats have been called mammals ; all those with feathers are called birds. The same with reptiles, fishes, insects, and molluscs. All those large groups of animals which have certain very important resemblances between them, have been called classes. "We speak of the class of birds, the class of fishes, &c, But each class comprises within itself so large a number of animals that these great divisions would not be sufficient. The class of mammals, for instance, alone includes very different animals. The bat which flies like a bird, the whale which lives in the water like a fish, and the horse which runs on the ground, are all three mammals; they all three bring forth young which they suckle; and yet these three NATURAL HISTORY. INTRODU TORY REMARKS. 3 animals are not at all alike. Therefore, the animals of a class have been divided into several orders, including all those which have certain resemblances in common, but still somewhat dis- tant. Lastly, in each order, those animals which have a great resemblance, though different from each other, have been put together to form, what is called a Jamily. Thus, the lion, tiger, and panther, are all very like a cat, and are placed in the same family. On the other hand, the family of cats feeds on flesh like the fox and wolf. The family of cats, and that which contains the fox and wolf, will both be included in the order Carnivora. Each class, either of animals or plants, is thus divided into orders and families, in such a manner that all the beings which inhabit the earth are always arranged side by side v ith those that most resemble them. Now suppose we see an animal and wish to know its history ; we shall immediately be able to find it in a book which con- tains the system of classification. Here, for instance, is a pole cat ; we know immediately where we ought to look for it ; it is covered with hair ; it produces young which the female nourishes; we already know that it belongs to the class of mammals ; it lives on flesh, which shows us that it will be placed in the order Carnivora ; and we shall soon see that it belongs to a family including the marten, the martlet, the ferret, and the weasel, all which have a long body, short legs, live in holes, and like flesh as much as the cats. We shall notice in succession the different classes, and the principal orders or families of animals. Plants have likewise been divided into classes and families. These also are always composed of plants which have a great common resemblance, but this resemblance is not always, as in the families of animals, easily recognisable. It is generally limited to the flower and fruit. We shall mention only the principal families, and specify the principal plants which ought to be known. B 2 4 KATURAL HISTORY. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. From another point of view, all animals and plants may be divided into two large groups, the useful and the injurious. The useful animals are all those which man rears for his food, for clothing, or for any other purpose. The Ox which supplies us with meat, leather, and bone, is a peculiarly useful animal ; the field-mouse which devours the crops is a peculiarly in- jurious animal. Man must wage war with the latter, and he is assisted by other animals, which are themselves great enemies to injurious animals ; and, therefore, all these which thus assist man, are called indirectly useful animals : the cat is one of these, because it eats the mice, which destroy corn, and other stores. And as the greatest enemies of man are neither lions nor wolves, nor even venomous serpents, but the insects which eat his crops, it follows that all the animals which eat insects, whether mammals, birds, reptiles, or insects themselves, are useful to man. In order to have useful animals always at hand, man has determined to make them live with him at home. The animal is then said to be domesticated ; the horse, ox, sheep, dog, cat, fowl, and duck, are domesticated animals. In other countries the elephant, and camel are also domestic animals. Plants, like animals, are also divided into the useful and the injurious. They are injurious when they interfere with the growth of cultivated plants, or when they are poisonous. But at least man can always destroy them with a little instruction. There are different kinds of useful plants. Some yield valuable medicines, like the poppy which produces opium, or the cinchona which cures fevers. These plants are called medicinal. Other plants are esculent, and we sometimes eat their roots, as the carrot, sometimes their leaves, as the salads ; but most often their fruits. There are other plants which without being articles of food, yield what are called spices, such as pepper, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, parsley, chervil, garlic; there is a considerable number of these plants. Lastly there are the textile plants which yield materials which are employed to 2\ T ATURAL HISTORY. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5 make fabrics, such as the flax, hemp, and cotton. We should never finish enumerating everything that man obtains from the vegetable world, beverages, oils, woods, dyes, and a great number of different substances, as will be seen when we proceed to the history of animals and plants, after having spoken of man. MAN. RACES OF MEST. MAN EACES OP MEN. There are several races of men which are distinguished by their colour. Four principal races of men are recognized ; the white, the yellow, the red, and the black. The white race comprises, those nations whose skin is more or less white, the hair silky, and the eyes blue or brown. It is the race in which civilization is most advanced. It inhabits part of Asia and Africa, and nearly all Europe. Among the blonde nations, we include the English, Swedes, Danes and Germans. Among the brown races are the Indians, Persians, Arabs, Greeks, Italians, and Spanish. The French resemble either the blonde or the brown nations around them, according to the district which they inhabit. White Race. Red Race. Yellow Race. Black Race, The yellow race is widely spread in Asia ; it includes the Cochin- Chinese, the Chinese, acd Japanese, who are also civilized nations, having like ourselves been acquainted with the use of writing for a very long time. They have a j^ellow skin, black aud straight hair, a flattened nose, and oblique eyes. MAN. RACES OF MEN. 7 The red race comprises the American savages generally called (but incorrectly) American Indians ; their skin has a reddish hue, their hair is black and straight, as in the yellow race, but they have neither oblique eyes nor a flattened nose. They are, for the most part, warlike nations who live by the chase. Lastly, the Hack race, the most miserable of all, inhabits the whole of Central Africa, and a great part of the islands of Oceania. The skin of the negroes is entirely black, their nose flattened, their lips thick, and their hair woolly. They live in small scattered tribes, cannot write, and live by the chase. They hunt with bow and arrows, and can only build huts, while the other races, even the red race of America, have been able to raise monuments, and to make great roads. STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. SKELETON. The body of man is supported by a solid frame- work called the Skeleton. The parts which compose it are called bones. There are a great number, especially in the hands and feet. The head is also composed of several small bones, but they are all soldered together, except the lower jaw, which is moveable. They form a great cavity which contains the brains. The skull has also two deep hollows in front, which contain the eyes, and which are called orbits. In man the lower jaw is formed of a single bone, while it is composed of two parts in the sheep, ox, and a great many other animals. AVhen we examine a human skeleton (in which there is absolutely nothing alarming,) we see that the head is supported by a sort of column formed of massive little bones arranged one upon another. These small bones are called vertebra, and collectively the vertebral column. It is sometimes called the spine, or back-bone. All the vertebrae are pierced with a hole from above to below. These holes correspond to each other, and form a kind of canal which itself corresponds to the hole at the base 8 STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. SKELETON. of the skull. This canal contains the spinal marrow, which is con- nected with the brain through the hole in the skull. Ail the vertebra} are very firmly joined toge- ther. Nevertheless it is always very wrong to lift children by the head, as is sometimes done ; for they are liable to be killed on the spot. At the level of the cnest, the vertebra? form a support for the ribs, which ex- tend forward, and meet against a bone placed under the skin, and called the sternum or breast- bone. There are twelve ribs on each side. Man and wo- man have therefore twenty-four. The hips are formed by a kind of com- plete bony girdle which is called the pelvis. The shoulder is formed of two bones, the clavicle, or collar-lone in front, STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. SKELETON and the shoulder-Hade behind. The clavicle can be felt under the skin above the chest on each side, and can be seen very well outlined in thin persons. The shoulder-blade is a flat triangular bone, surrounded by the flesh of the back, and it can also be seen very well in v^ry thin people. It is not fixed, and follows the motions of raising and lowering the arms. The upper arm and thigh have only one bone ; that of the thigh is called the femur. The fore-arm and leg have two bones placed alongside of one another ; the hand and foot have a great number. The fingers and toes are divided into three parts called phalanges; the thumb and great toe have cnly two phalanges. The bones of the limbs, for facility of movement, rotate on their extremities by means of a kind of joints called articulations. The shoulder, the elbow, the hip, and the knee, are the principal articulations, the phalanges are also all articulated together. The surfaces of the bone which thus slide one upon another are perfectly smooth, and in addition are always kept moistened by a sticky and oily liquid which prevents their being rubbed together too roughly. In order to complete our study of the skeleton, we ought to speak of organs which are not so hard as the bones, and which also serve for a solid framework for the flesh ; we mean the cartilages. The solid and elastic portions of the ear, and the sides and end of the nose are formed of cartilages. They are also formed at the extremity of all the ribs, which are osseous behind, and always cartilaginous in front. MUSCLES. The muscles form the principal part of what is called flesh. The muscles are red in man as well as in the ox and horse, but they are much paler in the sheep, the calf, and especially in the fowl. The muscles consist of fleshy masses, generally long, and continued at both ends by what are called tendons. The largest and best known in the body is that which ascends from the heel to the calf of the leg, and is called the tendon of Achilles. The calf is formed by a muscle attached above to the thigh, and which is continued below by the tendon of 10 STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. SKELETON. Achilles, wMch is inserted into the bone of the heel. The kind of cords which are seen under the skin of the back of the hand when the fingers are moved, are also finer tendons, which run from the fingers to the muscles of the fore-arm. The tendons are often confounded with the nerves, and it is said for instance of a thin man making a great effort, that you can see the nerves stretch under his skin ; but this is a mistake ; it is the tendons of his muscles which are seen. There is in the front of the arm, a well-known muscle called the liceps, the movements of which are very easy to follow. To see it act well, it is only necessary to lift a tolerably heavy weight with the fore-arm only, by bending the elbow. The tendon which connects the biceps with the bone of the fore-arm may then be very well seen under the skin. We also perceive that the muscle contracts and thickens at the same time, in proportion as the fore-arm bends upon the elbow. This is really how the muscles act. Attached by their extremities to the bones of the skeleton, they contract at our wish, and consequently cause the bones of the skeleton to act upon each other. Each finger has also tendons which are drawn up to extend it, and drawn down to close it. Those men who have the largest muscles are generally the strongest ; but we frequently meet with very thin people who are very strong ; and they are then said to be nervous,- owing to the same error of confounding the tendons with the nerves. We generally judge of the strength of a man by the size of the muscles of his chest, or the pectoral muscles. (See diagram 1.) It is these which assist in all forward motions of the arms. RESPIRATION, CIRCULATION, DIGESTION, DIAGRAM 1. 11 ORGANS OF BESPIEATION, CIECULATIOlNr OF THE BLOOD, DIGESTION DIAGKAM 1. GENEEAL OBSEEVATIONS. The neck. The neck contains the larynx which communicates with the throat above, and joins the wind-pipe below, which conducts air to the lungs. The larynx makes a projection in man, which is felt in the neck, and is called Adam's apple. When the larynx is stopped up, suffocation ensues, which is what happens in the croup of children. The surface of the larynx is exceedingly sensitive ; and if it is touched by anything but air, a violent fit of coughing is the result. This happens when we swallow anything the wrong way, that is when a drop of water or a morse] of food penetrates into the larynx, instead of falling into the oesophagus behind the larynx* Below the larynx, near the wind pipe, is a gland called the thyroid gland. It is not usually felt under the skin, and we only mention'it because it produces goitre, when it swells to a large size. Goitre is very common in some countries, and seems to be con- nected with bad water. The chest. The chest is protected in front by the ribs, and is separated below from the abdomen by a partition called the diaphragm. The chest contains the oesophagus and the wind- pipe at the back; the heart in front, and the lungs on each side. The heart is not situated wholly on the left side, as is often supposed ; the point only is a little inclined to this side ; and as 12 RESPIRATION, CIRCULATION, DIGESTION DIAGRAM 1 it is this which is felt to beat, it was said that the heart was on the left. The two lungs fill the greater part of the chest to the right and left, but without adhering to its surface, against which they slide. The abdomen. The cavity of the belly, or of the abdomen, ex- tends from the diaphragm to the pelvis. It is protected above only by the last ribs, and below by the hip bone. The liver is situated on the right, in the upper part of the abdomen. This secretes the bile, called also the gall, which collects in a small bladder called the gall-bladder. Further to the left is the stomach, a kind of closed bag furnished with only two openings, that of the oesophagus, by which food enters ; and that of the intestine, by which it passes out. To the left of the stomach, in the upper part of the abdomen, is the spleen. It is there where we feel pain when we have a stitch in the side from having run too much. It was thought on this account that animals would be able to run faster if their spleen was removed, but this operation is no longer practised. Below the liver, the stomach, and the spleen, the intestines are coiled, which are at least four or five times the length of 'the body. They form a long tube, narrow throughout the first part of its course, which is called the small intestines, and larger towards the end, where it is called the large intestines. Behind the intestines are the kidneys. They secrete the urine, which drops into the bladder before being expelled from the body. EESPIRATION. It is not sufficient for man to eat to sustain life ; he must also breathe atmospheric air. This is composed of a mixture of three gases, which it is necessary to mention. The first is called oxygen, the second azote, or nitrogen, and the third carbonic acid. These three gases are mingled in very unequal proportions, and we cannot separate them at will ; but chemistry teaches us the properties of each of them. Oxygen is indispensably necessary to the life of animals, as well as for the combustion of wood or coal. Where there is no oxygen, all flame is extinguished, and every animal dies. For RESPIllATION, CIRCULATION, DIGESTION DIAGRAM 1. 13 this reason, when we are about to descend into a well, or mine, or a cistern, where no one has been for a long time, we must let down a lighted candle by a cord ; if it is not extinguished, oxygen is present, and we can descend without fear ; but if the candle goes out, there is no oxygen left, and a man would die there. Nitrogen is a gas like oxygen, but it can neither support combustion, nor sustain life. Carbonic acid is the gas which causes the froth of beer, seltzer water, cider, or of sparkling wine. Carbonic acid, like nitrogen, is neither fitted to support combustion nor to sustain life. Air contains about one part of oxygen to three parts of nitrogen, with a very small quantity of carbonic acid. During respiration, the air which enters the lungs leaves behind a certain quantity of oxygen, and returns charged with a larger proportion of carbonic acid. Therefore, if a man is shut up in a room where the air cannot be renewed, he gradually exhausts all the oxygen, and at last dies. He dies very quickly under water, because the oxygen no longer reaches his lungs, and he can no longer breathe ; and this also happens when the neck is squeezed sufficiently to compress the windpipe. The air expelled from the lungs during respiration, contains lome aqueous vapour as well as a large quantity of carbonic acid : this forms the moisture of the breath, and we can thus perceive if a patient still breathes, by holding a glass to hia mouth. CIRCULATION. The body contains a great number of vessels which proceed from the heart and return to the heart. The first are the arteries, and the second are the veins. These vessels, which grow finer and finer the further they extend from the heart, and larger and larger according as they approach it, are all filled with blood. But it is not the same colour in the veins and in the arteries ; and it has no longer the same quality. It is often believed that venous blood is blue, and it 14 CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD DIAGRAM 1. is generally represented of this colour, which is that of the veins which can be seen under the skin, either on the back of the hand or foot, or at the fold of the elbow. But when one of these blue veins is opened, as in bleeding, to draw blood from it, it is seen to be of a very dark red. It does not run with much force. If, on the con- trary, a wound has unfortun- ately opened an artery, the blood spurts out to a distance of several yards, and it is seen to be of a vermillion red. The blood has this colour when it has been to the lungs, and has taken up the oxygen of the air derived from respiration ; it loses this fine red colour in proportion as it deposits this oxygen in the tissues. Consequently, when a man is suffocated, he turns Hue, as we say, because all his blood is of the colour of that in the veins. The heart never ceases to beat from birth to death, in order to drive the blood into the arteries ; it beats about 75 to 80 times in a minute, but sometimes much less; when it beats quicker it is a symptom of fever. The beatings of the heart can be counted by laying the hand on the chest, but as the pulsa- tion is communicated to all the arteries, it is easier to feel it in those parts of the body where the arteries do not lie very deep. It is so at the wrist ; and this is the place where doctors generally count the pulse. The beatings will be found by drawing the finger once or twice above the bend of the wrist, from the side of the palm of the hand towards that side of the fore-arm which corresponds to the thumb. . The heart is somewhat conical in shape ; it contains several divisions or chambers through which all the blood successively passes. It drives the blood to the lungs, where it becomes red ; and the blood then returns to the heart, which drives it through DIGESTION DIAGRAM 1 15 another artery into all the body. There it loses its verniillion colour, and returns to the heart by a large vein to be sent back to the lungs, and so on. This is circulation. DIGESTION. Man must eat and drink in order to live. All the solids and liquids which he employs for this purpose are called food But they are not all equally nourishing. It is generally necessary that a diet should be a little varied to be wholesome ; but it is a mistake to suppose that one cannot live without such and such a food. In towns, one is too apt to believe that meat is indispensable to health. It may very advantageously be replaced by milk or cheese. Nor is bread indispensable, and some people eat hardly any. Habit has much to do with all this. Certainly, we may be a little in- convenienced, or even made ill, if we suddenly discontinue a diet to which we have long been accustomed, but we generally soon become accustomed, especially in youth, to a very different diet to what we had formerly been used to. The most nourishing foods, and those which are consequently styled nutritious, are meats and vegetables. But not to grow tired of these, we generally add small quantities of other substances to them, which are not so nutritious, but which, nevertheless, greatly assist digestion, such as salt and pepper. These foods, of a special kind, have been called condiments. The best and most wholesome of all beverages is undoubtedly spring water. Nevertheless, custom has almost everywhere abandoned it for the use of fermented liquors, either made of grapes, apples, or barley. Beer, cider, and especially wine, are excellent drinks, so long as they are not used to excess. But we should always be very cautious in the use of brandy, rum, and all alcoholic liquors. They have at first the serious inconvenience of causing drunkenness, in which state a man no longer knows what he is doing ; but repeated drunkenness leads to much more serious consequences in time; and men who have fallen into this habit grow old before old age, their speech is confused, their hands shake, and they often end their 16 DIGESTION DIAGRAM 1 existence in a lunatic asyhim. This is tire usual consequence of the abuse of brandy, and especially of absinthe, a liquor much used in France, but happily almost unknown in England. There are other slightly stimulating beverages, very different from the preceding, such as coffee, and tea. Coffee taken in moderation is an excellent food. Tea is not, as is too often supposed, a medicine, but is very wholesome when good. Digestion is the process by which food is transformed in the body into flesh and blood. Food placed in the mouth passes through the throat into the stomach and intestines, where it is digested. The mouth is always kept moist by the saliva which is secreted by large glands placed in the thick part of th e cheeks, near the ears. It flows faster than usual when we eat, and it is enough to think of a good dinner to make the mouth water immediately. The teeth serve to cut, tear, and mash the food, which they form into a kind of pulp mixed with saliva. The tongue and cheeks press this pulp constantly between the teeth, till it is almost liquid. It is then only that it can be u P?l r i aw - swallowed. This function of the teeth is called mastication. When the teeth have come out, the gums often become very hard, and we see old people who eat without teeth, nearly as well as if they had them. The Teeth. There are 28 teeth in the child, and 32 in the adult. They grow after birth, then come out, and are replaced by others which are only lost in old age. There are three kinds of teeth : the incisors, the canines, and the molars. The incisors, which serve to cut the food are the front teeth '> there are four in the upper jaw, Lower Jaw. DIGESTION DIAG RAM 1 . 17 and four in the lower jaw ; eight in all. On each side of the incisors, above and below, is another tooth, stronger and more pointed, which has been compared to those of dogs, and is only used when we wish to tear something ; these are the canines, of which there are four. As to the molars, they serve to grind like mills ; there are three on each side in each jaw in children, and five in adults. The first teeth which make their appearance after birth are the lower incisors. They show themselves first, and then all the other teeth gradually appear, to the number of 24. Towards the age of 6 years they come out, and 28 large ones grow up in their places. The four last which complete the number of 32, only appear much later, at an age when one ought to be wiser ; they are called the wisdom teeth. These are the last in each row. The teeth are formed of a very hard kind of bone which is called ivory. They are divided into two portions : the root which is buried in the gum ; and the crown, which is the visible part. This is covered with a kind of brilliant varnish, called enamel. In the centre of the tooth is a hole containing the pulp ; or the flesh and nerves which sometimes cause us so much suffering. The teeth, like the hair, should be kept very clean, and brushed with soft brushes. One should always avoid breaking too hard substances with the teeth, as is some- times done. Without mentioning the risk of breaking a tooth, it often happens that they crack without its being noticed, and these teeth afterwards decay. When anyone opens his mouth very wide, and we look down to the back, we see behind the tongue a " kind of curtain called the uvula, (see diagram 2) which separates the mouth from the throat. On each side, below the point where the uvula com- mences, are the tonsils, (see diagram 2) which very often swell in children, impeding their respiration, and causing them much suffering. The part at the back of the uvula communicates above with the openings of the nostrils ; and below with the c 18 DIGESTION DIAGRAM 1. oesophagus (see diagram 2) through which the food passes, and with the larynx, where the air for respiration enters. The food passes from the throat into the oesophagus, and through that into the stomach. There it changes its nature entirely, and acquires an exceedingly disagreeable taste .and odour. "We perceive this when we vomit ; the stomach rejects its contents, and we can already perceive how greatly the food has been altered. It is still more altered when it passes into the intes- tines, where it is mixed with the bile. Then it is absorbed by the surface of the intestines, and is converted into blood ; and this in its turn becomes flesh, muscles, tendons, bones, car- tilages, skin, hair, nails, humours ; in short, all the sub- stances which compose the various organs of the body. What is not thus absorbed and transformed is expelled from the body. NERVES AND BRAIN. The nerves are small white cords which penetrate the whole body, and convey our wishes to every part. If we wish to move the foot or hand, it is by means of the nerves that our will contracts the muscles which move the hand or foot. We also feel by means of the nerves. If the nerves of the leg, for instance, have been severed by a wound, the leg immediately becomes insensible and incapable of movement; it is, as doctors say, paralysed. The nerves sometimes cause great suffering, and produce what is called neuralgia. All the nerves in the body return to the spinal cord and to the brain, which is a continuation of it. The spinal cord and the brain are composed of a very soft substance, fortunately protected by the skull and the vertebra, for the least touch which it sustains is always followed by the most serious con- sequences. Part of this substance is grey, and the rest white. The first forms the surface of the brain, the second is in the centre. The whole surface of the brain is covered with large folds, which are called convolutions. The brain is the organ by which we feel, think, remember, or decide upon any action, such as reaching out the arm, or NERVOUS SYSTEM DIAGRAM 2. 19 Nervous system of Man, closing the hand. Mad- men, who are deran- ged, or who no longer know what they do, are persons whose brain is diseased. When we say that wine and brandy go to the head we are right, for they cause disease of the brain for some time, and this disease produces drunkenness. When we place our hand upon a hot or hard body, the sensation of heat or hardness is transmitted to the brain by the nerves of the skin. If we want to extend the arm, or close the hand, the nerves transmit the wish to the muscles of the hand and arm, to make the move- ment which the brain desires. The brain may be compared to a central telegraph office, connected with all parts of the body by wires, which][are c 2 20 ORGANS OF THE SENSES TOUCH DIAGRAM 2. nothing else than the nerves. "We are informed by these wires, of everything which acts agreeably or disagreeably on the different parts of the body; and we send orders to the muscles by the same wires to make the movements which we desire. OEGANS OF THE SENSES DIAGRAM 2. ORGANS OF THE SENSES. There are five senses by which we know what is passing around us : touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. By touch, we ascertain if bodies are hard or soft, hot or cold, rough or smooth. In the dark, touch also teaches us the forms of objects. It is thus that the blind can perceive with, their fingers all the objects which it is enough for us to see with our eyes, to know that they are there. The skin is the organ of touch, as the eye is the organ of sight. The eyes perceive the most distant objects, and inform us of their presence, even when we cannot touch them, as the clouds and stars. They also show us the colour of objects. The ear hears the sounds produced by sonorous bodies. Smell informs us of the odour of surrounding bodies, when we breathe through the nostrils the air which has passed over them. Taste is situated on the tongue and in the mouth, and the object which we wish to taste must be laid directly on the tongue itself. Skin. The skin covers the whole body, but it is not everywhere of equal thickness. It is especially thin on the eyelids, and especially thick on the back, under the foot, and on the palm 01 the hand. It exhibits undulating lines which form elegant patterns at the end Skin (highly magnified). Q ^ ^^ T ^ Q Hneg are separate little ridges, which we can see very well if we look with, a little ORGANS OP THE SENSES THE EYE DIAGRAM 2 21 attention. And on these small ridges we observe rows of points like the holes which might be made by the point of a very fine needle. These are openings, and in warm weather we may observe that there is a very small drop of sweat in each of these holes. It is in reality from these that it flows. There are other holes in the skin through which the hairs of the head and beard pass, the roots of which lie deeper. They are very seldom entirely removed when the hair is pulled out, and it nearly always grows again. The hair and beard, if left uncut, do not grow indefinitely, and after reaching a certain length, do not grow longer. The hair in children, as well as in older persons, ought always to be brushed, combed, soaped, and kept very clean. Whatever may be the current ideas on this subject, cleanliness of the heads of children is necessary to their health. When we are slightly scalded with too hot water, or apply a blister, a portion of the skin rises, and water collects underneath. This is called a blister. If this skin is cut, we see that it has no feeling, and that no pain is caused. The bottom of the blister, on the contrary, is exceedingly tender, and cannot be touched without causing pain. The raised and insensible portion is called the epidermis, and it is only the outermost part of the skin. By working with the hands, the epidermis thickens, and then becomes horny. The lower part of the skin, much thicker than the epidermis, is called the true skin. The eye. The eye is the organ of the sense of sight. It is protected by the eyelids, and when these are closed, the eye sees no longer. It can, however, distinguish darkness and light through them, as we may perceive by standing in the sun, and bringing the hand or a dark object before the closed eyelids. When we look at the eye of any one, we first notice a black hole in the centre, which is the pupil. Bound the pupil is a coloured membrane in which the hole is pierced; and this is called the iris. The iris is blue, grey, or brown, in different persons. These tints are also sometimes slightly green, or 22 ORGANS OF THE SENSES THE EYE DIAGEAM 2. yellowish. If we look at the eyes of the same person in the sun and in a dark place, we see that the pupil is not always of the same size ; it enlarges in the shade, and contracts in full daylight. This is particularly noticeable in cats. We have only to look at their eye in the sunlight to see the pupil reduced to a narrow vertical line, not the tenth part of an inch in breadth, which no longer occupies the whole height of the eye. In the evening, and especially on a dark night, the pupil en- larges till the iris can be no longer distinguished, or is only visible as a narrow border all round the eye. In front of the- eye is a convex transparent part extended before the iris ; this is the cornea. Behind the pupil, and con- sequently behind the iris, is an organ like a magnifying glass, and as transparent as crystal ; which is called the crystalline lens. Behiiil this, the eye is filled with a kind of transparent jelly, the aqueous humour* Lastly, the back of the eye is curtained by an extremely delicate nervous membrane, which is called the retina. It is connected with a large nerve, which runs from the back of the eye to the brain. External objects paint them- selves on the retina through the pupil, and then we see them. If the crystalline lens grows dim, sight is lost, which happens in cataract. The eye can very well be compared to the apparatus used by photographers, and called a camera olscura. In front the object-glass represents the crystalline lens and the cornea. At the back, external objects are painted on an unpolished glass, which is entirely analogous to the retina. The eye, or as we say, the ball of the eye, moves in its orbit to the right and left, and up and down, by means of muscles which draw it in these four directions. When one of these muscles is shorter than the three others, the eye is drawn to the side of this muscle, and it is then said that the person squints. Every- one does not see distinctly at the same distance. Some are obliged to hold a book very close to their eyes to read, and others are obliged to hold it at a distance. The first are said to be shortsighted, and the second long-sighted. Sight generally ORGANS OF THE SENSES THE EAR DIAGRAM 2 23 becomes longer with. age. It is generally during tlie first years of school that persons become short-sighted. To prevent this as much as possible, children ought not to bring their eyes too near their books and copy books ; they ought to read and write holding the head straight, and at a little distance from their desk. It is the master's duty to attend to this, and the number of shortsighted children in his school will much depend on the attention which he pays to the position of the children when they work. Too short or too long sight is corrected by means of spectacles ; but the selection of these is always a matter which requires much attention, and anyone who supposes that he requires spectacles ought always to consult the doctor before going to the optician. The doctor, if he is skilful, will not only advise what spectacles should be used, but in many cases will be able to give good ad- vice to correct the sight, and render spectacles unnecessary for the remainder of life. Tears are secreted by a gland placed in the corner of the eye, outside and above, which is called the lachrymal gland. Tfie ear. The ear hears the sounds produced by vibrating bodies. It is always easy to ascertain by placing the hand on a clock when it strikes, or on the cord of a musical instrument while it is played, that bodies, when they produce a sound, experience a kind of trembling or vibration which is very per- ceptible to the fingers. We distinguish between the outer and inner ear. The first, visible externally, is not indispensable to hearing ; it is pierced with a hole called the auditory canal, which, penetrates into the head, and communicates with the internal ear. The bottom of the auditory canal is closed by a small membrane stretched like the parchment of a drum, and called the tympanum. It is therefore necessary to be always very careful not to put hard bodies into the ^auditory canal as they might break the tympanum, and cause serious accidents and dreadful sufferings. Behind the tympanum are three very small bones of a singular 24 ORGANS OF THE SENSES NOSE, MOtJTII DIAGRAM 2. form : one resembles a hammer, the second an 'anvil, and the third a stirrup . They are known by these names. Lastly we find in the internal ear a narrow canal twisted into a spiral like a snail-shell, and called, on this account, the cochlea. After certain diseases, the internal ear is destroyed, and deafness results. If a child is born deaf, it hears nothing, and as it does not hear words, it cannot repeat and learn to say them, and is then dumb. Those who are born in this state are called deaf-mutes. The nose. The nose serves for respiration as well as the mouth ; and can also perceive odours. It communicates at the back with the throat, and we can therefore return smoke taken by the mouth through the nose, and can also swallow water which lias been snuffed up strongly. The whole space between the nose and the throat is called the nostrils. They are prolonged by cavities which rise as far as the forehead, and hence it is supposed, when an irritating powder such as tobacco, pepper, or camphor has been taken, that it has pene- trated to the brain ; but this is a mistake, for the brain is always separated from the nose by bones, and nothing can penetrate to it. We often speak of a cold in the head ; bu^ it is not the brain which is affected, it is only the lining mem- brane of the nostrils, or the pituitary membrane. The brain is separated from the nose, and is not affected, and therefore cold in the head is never a serious complaint. TJie mouth serves to breathe, eat and speak ; the mucous mem- brane, or skin which covers the inside of th^ mouth, also serves to taste our food. The flavour is perceived by small papilli on the tongue, each of which is connected with a nervous thread, ORGANS OF THE YOICE. DIAGEAM 2, The voice is formed by the air driven from the lungs, where it passes into the larynx. The larynx is situated above the OEGANS OF THE VOICE DIAGRAM 2 25 windpipe ; and it communicates with the throat by a narrow opening. It is composed of several pieces jointed together, and the interior is covered with a very fine skin, and furnished with two folds called vocal chords. These folds produce the sound, or voice, by being more or less tightened. The sound thus formed is articulated by the tongue with the assistance of the palate, teeth, and lips ; and then constitutes speech. 26 ANIMAL KINGDOM CLASSIFICATION". ANIMAL KINGDOM. CLASSIFICATION. SUB-KINGDOMS. In classifying animals they are first divided into four large groups, called sub-kingdoms. These are : I. Sub-kingdom Yertebrata. II. Sub-kingdom Articulata. III. Sub-kingdom Mollusca. IV. Sub-kingdom Radiata. The first of these four great divisions is so named because all the animals which compose it, without exception, possess an internal skeleton ; that is, a bony framework covered with flesh, like that of man, and consequently a vertebral column, i.e., a column composed of vertebra). This is the origin of the name of vertebrata, which is applied to this sub-kingdom. It com- prises four classes : mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes. The sub-kingdom Articulata is composed of animals whose body is formed of segments, or separate rings, arranged in a regular series. Moreover, they have no internal skeleton, and, on the contrary, the external parts are generally the hardest and toughest, as in the crayfish and the centipede. Sometimes these animals are only protected by a hard skin, like that of the earth- worm, or the leech. The principal classes of this sub-kingdom are insects, Crustacea, and worms. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS MAMMALIA DIAGRAM 3. 27 The sub -kingdom Mollusca orrly contains one class, that of the molluscs. Their skin is always soft, with no appearance of rings ; the greater part are protected by a stony substance, gome- times rolled into a spiral form, as in the snail, and sometimes forming two separate parts called valves, as in the mussel. Lastly, the sub-kingdom Radiata comprises animals which are constructed nearly like flowers, and all the parts of which radiate from a common centre. The madrepores and corals belong to this sub -kingdom. VERTEBRATE ANIMALS CLASS MAMMALIA. DIAGRAM 3. The first class among the Vertebrata is that of the Mammalia. Their name means " having teats." They all bring forth and suckle their young. They have generally four limbs, and are covered with hair or spines. Nevertheless there are mammals which we shall mention further on, which have no hair, and resemble fishes externally. In many of them the vertebral column extends beyond the pelvis, forming a tail. The number of young which mammals can produce at a birth is very variable ; the goat, the ass, the ewe, the mare and the cow have generally only one ; the hare three or four ; the dog and cat five or six ; the sow as many as fifteen. The Mammalia are divided into several orders. 1st. The Qiiadriimana, or four-handed animals, which includes all the apes. 28 VERTEBRATE AKIMAL8 MAMMALIA DIAGRAM 3. Skull of hedgehog. Skull of a dog. 2nd. The Insectivora which are all small mammals feed on insects. In order to crush them, they have molar teeth, set with pro- jecting points. Among the in- sectivora may be mentioned the bats, the moles, the shrew-mouse and the hedgehog. 3rd. The Carnivora form an order including the large mammals which generally feed on flesh ; their molar teeth are always more or less pointed 1 n order to divide their food, and they have very strong canines to tear it. In the order camivora we find the family of the bears, the badger, the family of the weasels, those of the cats and dogs, and lastly, that of the seals. 4th. The Jtodentia.The mammals of this order feed exclusively on vege- table matters, as the car- nivora feed principally on animals. Consequently we find the most injurious mammals among the ro- SkuU of a rodent. dents. Some of them, are valued for their skins. It is sufficient to compare the teeth of a rodent, a rabbit, for instance, with those of a carnivorous animal, to see that they cannot feed in the same manner. The rodents have very strong incisors, which cut crosswise, with which they can cut wood ; they have no canines, and their molars are flat to crush their food. JBut this is not all : the incisors are quickly Worn down by cutting such h ard substances ; and therefore while the teeth of man and carnivora do not grow after they VERTEBRATE ANIMALS MAMMALIA DIAGRAM 3 29 have acquired their full size, the incisors of rodents keep on growing all their life, as fast as they are worn away. This may be verified by cutting the teeth of a rat or a rabbit, when they will very soon regain their length. "We may mention among the rodents, the squirrels, the dor- mice, the moles, the marmot, the family of the rats, the field- mice, the beaver, the porcupine, and the family of the hares. 5th. Next come the Edentata, These are animals which inhabit tropical countries. They have no incisor teeth nor canines ; and some of them have no teeth at all. They are seldom brought to Europe. 6th. The Pachydermata form an order which derives its name from two Greek words meaning u thick skin." Nearly all are large animals with a thick skin, and never having the feet simply cloven like the ruminants. The elephant, the rhinoceros, the horse family, the wild boar, and the hog are placed in the order of pachyderms. 7th. The order Ruminantia com- prises a great many animals which have all two hoofs to each foot. Many have incisors only in the lower jaw, and none in the upper ; and alone of all the mammalia, they ruminate. We often see a cow lying down in the fields motionless and masticating all the time, al- though she crops no grass. On opening her mouth, we see tha^ she is eating afresh the food she has previously swallowed. This Skull of Ox. is rumination. " Digestion is not effected in ruminants in the same way as in other mam- malia ; they have a very complicated stomach, orjrather four stomachs between the end of the oesophagus and the begin, ning of the intestine. The first and largest is called the 30 VERTEBRATE ANIMALS MAMMALIA DIAGRAM 3. paunch ; it is alone larger than the three others together. The second is called the honeycomb from its cellular appearance. The third stomach is called the manyplus, because its sur- face is lined with membranous folds. Last comes the red, called in calves, the rennet. Stomach of a ruminant If a piece of this is put into milk it almost immediately causes it to curdle. This is what takes place ; when the ruminating animal is in the meadow, it eats as much as ever it can, and swallows the grass almost without chewing it. All this grass goes into the paunch, where it is moistened with saliva, but does not digest. Then the animal leaves off browsing, and it is then that it really begins its meal. It returns by the oesophagus a mouthful of the grass that it has in the paunch, chews it afresh leisurely, and then swallows it ; and it is only then that the food, well chewed, passes into the last stomachs, where it is digested. All animals of the order of ruminants eat thus ; among others, camels, giraffes, deer, antelopes, goats, sheep, the ox, and the musk-ox. 8th. After the order of ruminants follows that of the Marsu- pialia, thus called from a Latin word which means pocket. These are mammals which are only found in the most distant countries. They are remarkable because the female has a pouch under the belly, in which she rears her young. When they are a little older, they may be seen putting their heads out of this pouch, and then drawing back and hiding there. If any danger threatens the female, she escapes carrying off her young in this manner. The best known marsupials are the opossums of America, and the kangaroos which inhabit Australia. These last mentioned animals have very short fore legs, and large hind legs, VB11TBBRATE ANIMALS MAMMALIA DIAGRAM 3. and instead of running, they take great leaps. 9th. The last order of mammals is that of Ce- tacea, and these are ani- mals which at first sight have altogether the ap- pearance of fish ; such as the whale and the dol- phin. They have no hair ; they have fins instead of arms, ^and a tail behind instead of hind limbs. Nevertheless we after- wards perceive a great difference from fish . While the tail of the latter is vertical, and they beat the water on the right and left to advance, that of the cetacea is horizontal; and they move it up and down. Lastly, the cetacea have no gills ; they have lungs, and breathe air like other mammals, and are obliged to return frequently to the surface to take breath. They have a nose called the blow holes, by which they blow out water, which rises in a jet from the sea. An Opossum and young. Skeleton of a Whale. The order Cetacea includes various animals of moderate size 32 MAMMALIA QtJADEtJMANA INSECTIVORA DIAGRAM 3 such as the dolphins and porpoises, which are found on our coasts ; and it also includes the cachalot and the whale. OEDEE QUDAEUMANA. THE APES, which we find placed at the head of the mammals, inhabit warm countries. The most intelligent of all is the chimpanzee; the strongest and most savage is the gorilla, Both these inhabit Africa. The gorilla is as large as a man, but its limbs are of very extraordinary strength, and can, it is said, twist the barrel of a gun. Its teeth Skull of ape. are formidable as those of a lion. OEDEE INSECTIVOEA. THE BATS are the only mammals which can fly, but they achieve this with far less gracefulness than birds or insects. They are covered with hair, have Bat flying a mouth furnished with small sharp teeth, like all carnivorous animals, and when they are killed, the female is often found carrying her young one hanging on her shoulders, and its head downwards ; si 10 flies everywhere with it, MAMMALIA INSECTIVORA DIAGRAM 3. 33 Bats are nocturnal animals ; they only go to seek their food in the evening, and sleep during the day. They hide in the darkest places, caves, hollow trees, and abandoned cellars ; and it is probably be- cause they have often been met with in- habiting tombs that these little animals have been considered ill-omened, and ob- jects of fear. Nothing is more absurd. It Skull of bat. is enough to take a bat and look at it a little while, to see that it is truly a very singular animal, but that it has nothing terrible about it except its small teeth, with which it bites those who tease it. We then see that the wing is raised by an arm, all the parts of which are visible ; the arm and fore arm, at the end of which is an extremely large hand, between the fingers of which the wing is expanded. The thumb is free, and forms a kind of hook. The hind legs have also hook- like fingers, and the animal uses them to suspend itself. It clings with its sharp claws to the roof of the places which it in- habits, and if we go there in the day-time without making a noise, we shall see the bats sleeping thus with their heads downwards, hanging on all sides. Bats have a great appetite, and when we see them flying in the twilight, they are in search of food. They only eat insects, which are injurious animals. Bats are therefore destroyers of our enemies, and far from driving them away and killing them, we ought, on the contrary, to be exceedingly glad to see them, because they are the farmer's friends, and not, as is believed erroneously, animals of ill- omen. It is therefore very wrong to kill them, and nail them to the doors of houses, where these poor animals are good for nothing, whereas they were useful when living. We sometimes hear of a terrible bat called a vampire, which is said to suck the blood of men. It is true that there is in the warm countries of South America a email bat which sometimes D 34 MAMMALIA INSECTIVORA DIAGRAM 3. sucks the blood of sleeping persons. But it does not take much to fill its stomach, and if the wound does not bleed after the de- parture of the vampire, it would not do much more harm than a leech. MOLES are still more insectivorous than bats, if this is possible, and have also very Mole eating a mole cricket. peculiar habits. They burrow in the ground, and make galleries in fields and meadows, and clear out the soil. This forms mole-hills. The mole lives constantly underground, and has no need to see clearly, and it is therefore nearly blind ; its eyes are not visible, as they are very small, and hidden under the fur. It uses its fore paws for dig- ging. They are altogether disproportioned to its size, being large, great, and armed with strong claws. It burrows in the earth with this implement. There is certainly no more laborious animal. The mole sleeps very little, and works almost day and night to find its food. It is very voracious, and may be said to be always hungry. When it has not eaten for six hours, it dies of want. But it is carnivorous, and eats absolutely nothing but animals ; earthworms, wireworms, mole -crickets, and in short, all the insects that it can find. It is a serious error to suppose that it eats the roots of plants ; it dies of hunger when it has not fresh flesh to eat. The mole would thus be a very useful animal if it did not turn up the soil. In some countries, men called mole-catchers make a trade of destroying them, by setting Jraps in their galleries. In other countries they are valued, and the farmers buy them in the market to turn into their fields. Every- thing depends on the crops which are raised. If the field is full of mole- crickets, and if the mole-hills do not interfere with the crops, it will be an advantage to have moles ; if the earth re- moved by the moles causes more damage to the crop than the in- sects which it eats, it is better not to have moles in the field. The farmer must calculate which is best for the produce of his land. MAMMALIA INSECTIVO R A DIAGRAM 3 . 35 Shrew icouse. THE SHREW-MOUSE. This is the small- est of all mammals. It is smaller than the mouse ; it may be known by its much longer and more pointed muzzle, and by its teeth, which, like those of the bats and moles, are the teeth of a carnivorous ani- mal, short, sharp, made for crushing insects, whereas the mouse has teeth made for gnawing wood. The shrew-mouse lives in the fields where it makes burrows ; it destroys as many insects as it requires to nourish its little body. It is therefore a friendly animal, and although its aid is not of much importance on account of its size, we ought never- theless to refrain from destroying it. It was thought that the bite of the shrew-mouse would produce a very serious disease in the feet of horses ; but this is a mistake. Hie hedgehog is the largest of our native insectivorous animals. It destroys a great number of insects and snails of all kinds ; it does not perhaps eat so much as the mole ; but at any rate it does not injure the crops. When it is very hungry it probably eats field-mice, voles, and rats, rodent animals as destructive as insects, and which likewise appear to dread the hedgehog, as Hedgehog. they shun the places which it inhabits. It passes the winter asleep in a hole. Its skin is covered with prickles, but they would not protect it well if it did not roll itself up into a ball D 2 36 MAMMALIA^INSEOTIVORA DIAGRAM 8. when attacked by an enemy. Neither head nor legs are then visible ; and it remains thus until the danger is past. ORDER CARNIVORA. BEAKS. The animals of which we are now about to speak are still carnivorous ; but they no longer feed on insects. Never- theless, if some of them are fierce and formidable animals, man has been able to turn them to profit ; he hunts them for their skin, which is sometimes very valuable. The bears are the first we come to. The white bear lives on ice in the North, and feeds on fish : the brown bear inhabits high mountains. They train it, and 'exhibit it at fairs, taking care to muzzle it well. However, the brown bear does not seem to prefer flesh ; it likes fruits. It eats roots which it turns up with its claws; it is very fond of honey, and climbs trees, in spite of its apparent clumsiness, to eat bees' nests. Young bears are lively, and will play like kittens. Bearskin was long used for the fur caps of grenadiers ; now this ridiculous head-dress is no longer used ; their thick hide makes good blankets in cold countries. Its flesh is very good, and yields abundance of fat. THE BADGER is closely allied to the bear, although -it is much smaller. It lives in this country, and is hunted, both for its fur, and because it destroys game. When the badger is attacked by dogs, it defends itself fiercely ; it lies on its back, and repels the attacks of its adversaries with teeth and claws ; but by dint of numbers, they always succeed in overcoming it. THE WEASELS. We have now to deal with a family of true carnivorous animals which are much alike ; it includes the pole- eat, the ferret, the weasel, the ermine, the pine-marten, the leech- marten, and the otter, all animals which must be mentioned. MAMMALIA CARNIVORA DIAGRAM 3. 37 The pole-cat emits a very offensive odour: it hides itself in winter in barns and granaries ; and in summer it is found in hollow trees and rabbit-warrens. It is a very mischievous animal; it kills rabbits, and sometimes poultry. It darts on hares like an arrow, clinging to their neck, and never loosening its hold, in spite of their flight. The ferret has long been domesticated in Africa, from whence many are brought. It is a domestic animal like the dog, but be- longs to the weasel family. It sleeps almost constantly, and only rouses itself to eat. It is the most terrible enemy to rab- bits ; it darts into their burrows and drives them out ; but for this purpose it must be muzzled, for otherwise it would strangle them, suck their blood, and then fall asleep in their burrow. The weasel is the smallest of this family, but not the least voracious. It is scarcely larger than a rat, its fur is nut-brown and the belly white. It also hides in out-houses in winter, and in summer it lives in woods, and chases birds on the bushes. It attacks young chickens, but fowls are too large for it. Sparrows are sometimes seen to assemble in troops, and drive away a weasel by flying and chirping round it. On the other hand, the weasel destroys rats and mice, so that while it is disliked in poultry-yards, it is liked in granaries, as its small size allows it to chase the rats in their holes. The ermine is a little larger than the weasel, and much re- sembles it : it lives in northern countries. The ermine is red- dish brown in summer, and is Ermine. then called the stoat, but becomes quite white in winter, when it is hunted to obtain the fur called ermine. As the animal is very small, great numbers of skins are required to make a single mantle. For this purpose the ends of the tail of the animal, which remain black at all seasons, are generally used. The pine-marten, and the beech-marten are great destroyers of 38 MAMMALIA CAKNTVORA DIAGRAM 3 eggs and poultry. They are consequently hunted. The pine- marten is known by its yellow throat, and the beech-marten by its white one. Their back is yellowish-brown, and they yield a valuable fur. Otters live on fish, and are, so far, mischievous animals, but on the other hand, they yield a highly valuable fur. The otter is not very active on land, but when it swims it displays, so much ease and agility that it is easy to see that fish cannot escape from it. Nevertheless, as it is a mammal which is obliged to breathe air, it is often obliged to return to the surface, and cannot remain long under water. Otters are often found which have been drowned in attempting to enter the weirs in search of fish, and have not been able to get out. The civet is an animal found in North Africa, larger than the otter, and somewhat resembling a cat in appearance. The civet is hunted for the sake of an odoriferous substance, which is found in a kind of pouch situated near the tail. THE OATS. The family of cats in- cludes the lion, the tiger, the panther, and the lynx, which altogether resemble our domestic cat, except in size. They are all armed with the best teeth for Cat's claw. tearing flesh, claws which retreat into the toes so that they cannot be blunted, and pads under the feet, which allow them to walk as noiselessly as robbers when approaching their prey. The domestic cat is derived from the wild cat, which is found in the woods. The position which it occupies in the house is not quite the same as that of the dog. The dog never leaves it, even when he is not very well treated. The cat is more particu- lar and more independent. It seems to have made a bargain with the master of the house, in which each is pledged to some- thing. The cat must be fed, have a place near the fire, and full liberty to come and go, on condition of destroying the rats and mice in the house. If she is badly treated she runs away. The MAMMALIA CARNIVORA DIAGRAM 3 39 cat does not confine herself to the house, however well off she is there. She likes those who caress her and give her titbits, but her friendship is not proof against ill-treatment, and if she is teazed she is not slow to scratch. The eyes of cats sometimes shine at night, and are liable to frighten children, who see only the two eyes without being able to perceive the animal. However, cat's eyes are not luminous of themselves, but only reflect the light like a mirror. If we see their eyes shine at night there must be a door or window behind us from which comes a little light, which is reflected by the eyes of the animal. During dry weather, in winter, when the cat is lying near a warm fire, we hear slight cracklings, which are also distinctly felt by the hand when we stroke her. These are slight electrical discharges, and in a dark place we can see a shower of sparks fly from the fur of the animal when stroked by the hand. Lions and tigers hunt oxen, as the wild cat hunts rabbits. We hear of the magnanimity of the lion and the ferocity of the tiger. The truth is that these animals are more or less savage, accord ing to their personal character. We see very gentle tigers and very savage lions in menageries. Nor is the lion to be considered the king of beasts ; for no animal deserves this title. The lion is neither the most intelligent nor the strongest ; and the ele- phant would certainly take precedence in these respects. The lion has a mane, and the lioness has none. The tiger may be known by the black stripes on the reddish brown ground colour of its fur. The panther is smaller and is spotted. There are no lions or tigers in America, but jagua/rs, spotted like the panther are found there instead. Head of Tiger. Tlie fynx is a little larger than the wild cat, and may be known by the tufts of hair at the end of its ears. It is not common except in the wilder parts of 40 MAMMALIA CARNIVOKA DIAGRAM 3. Europe, such, as Spain and Norway, and is not a native of Britain. It was formerly believed that the lynx could see better than any other animal ; and we still say of anyone who is sharp -sighted, that he is lynx-eyed. But its sight seems to be just the same as that of other cats. THE DOGS. The dog, wolf and fox form a natural family. The wolf is formidable in winter when it is hungry. It then ap- proaches farms, and attacks the flocks, which are insufficiently guarded. In summer the wolf finds its food which generally con- sists of small mammals, and even carrion, in the woods. It has been extinct in Britain for the last two hundred years. The fox is celebrated for the dexterity which it displays either in creeping Fox. into well-secured enclosures, or in escaping from the dogs and hunters. It is also a great destroyer of poultry. When it has satisfied its hunger, it can easily carry off some dead fowls to store up in its burrow. Fox-hunting is one of the principal country sports in England. The dog is well known to everybody, and we hardly need mention it. He is especially a domestic animal, and a friend of the household ; he loves his master, and his friendship is proof against the worst treatment. He is intelligent, and is trained to do everything : to hunt, to guard the house at night, or to run by the carriage ; to lead the blind, and even to do errands. Dogs hare been mentioned who were trained to fetch the paper for MAMMALIA CARNIVORA DIAGRAM 3. 41 their master every day. In some cases they are left to take care of the children, and we know how the shepherd's dog watches the flocks. In all northern countries, dogs are used to draw carriages. In Belgium and Germany four and five together are harnessed to carriages somewhat heavily laden, and others draw their master merrily along. Some nations who live in the icy North have no other beasts of burden, and fifteen or twenty are then attached to a single sledge, and thus make long journeys across the snow. The teeth of dogs are not so well adapted for tearing flesh as those of cats, their canines are not so long and pointed ; the mo- lars of cats are as fitted for cutting as a pair of scissors ; but the last molar of dogs is flat, and formed to grind rather than to cut. The hy&na which lives in Africa is considered a terrible animal, but it does not deserve this reproach. At least it is not so for- midable as the wolf; it- is easily tamed. It lives principally on carrion, and only attacks living animals when it is compelled to do so. As the dead are buried at a very slight depth in the country which it inhabits, it often digs up the ground to devour them, but it immediately takes to flight on the approach of a man. THE SEALS, They form a family which may be called amphi- bious, which means animals which can live either on land or in Seal. the water. The seals are, however, easily seen to be mammals ; they have fur, and four limbs armed with claws, but which they only use for swimming. Seals are found on the sea shore, where 42 MAMMALIA CARNIVORA DIAGRAM 3. they are hunted for their blubber which yields oil, and for their fur, which is used for making tobacco pouches, caps, and a variety of other articles. When the seals are on land, they crawl along on their bellies with difficulty. They have large black eyes and a very gentle appearance. They are easily tamed, and taught to utter various sounds which have a distant resemblance to the human voice. These are exhibited at fairs under the name of talking fish, but they are not fish, and do not speak. ORDEE RODENTIA. SQUIRRELS feed on nuts, acorns, beech-mast, &c. They build nests like those of birds among the branches of trees, large enough to accommodate all their family. These nests are made of moss and twigs, they have an opening at the top, and are protected from the rain by a kind of roof. Squirrels also lay up a store of nuts and acorns in the hollows of trees, for the winter season. They are hunted in some countries for their fur, and it is said that the hunters are skillful enough to kill them with a ball in the head, to avoid spoiling the fur. The dormice are small rodents which likewise inhabit gardens and orchards, where they eat the fruit, and are consequently also very mischievous animals. They make nests like birds. THE MABMOT is much larger than the squirrels ; it does not climb trees, and lives in burrows. It is remarkable for sleeping all winter. There is nothing graceful about this animal, but it is very gentle. There are many of them in the mountains of Switzerland. The children catch them, and take them from village to village to show, sharing with them what is given to them. When the cold weather comes, the marmot, which has been growing fat during the summer, coils itself up at the bottom of a hole, and sleeps till spring. When it wakes, it is MAMMALIA BODBNTIA DIAGBAM 3. 43 quite thin, and begins to eat and fatten itself again. The mar- mots like to live in company ; they play in the meadows, but take care first to put a kind of sentinel on a rock above them, who utters a low cry when he perceives anything that might disturb the festival, and the whole band takes to flight. THE RATS. The rat family are the greatest enemies to our dwellings. The mouse does less mischief than the others, on account of its small size, but it has a peculiarly disagreeable odour. There are two kinds of rats, the Hack and the brown. The fur of the latter is of a reddish brown. Neither are indigenous in our country, and came from Asia. Their voracity is incredible. They often eat their young ones, and if several are enclosed in a box, they eat each other till only the strongest is left ; and even this has always been seriously wounded in the battles which have taken place. Rats and mice are frequently met with which are perfectly white, and they are then called albinos. This name is also given to men who have white hair from youth, and red eyes. Generally they cannot bear a strong light. White mice, rats and rabbits, have also red eyes, and do not seem to see very well in broad daylight. The fitld-mice may be known by their tails ending in a tuft of long hair, while that of rats and mice is scaly. They are the same pests to the country j that rats are in houses. However, they are not lar S r than a mouse > and their fur is yellowish brown above, and dirty yellow under the belly. The short tailed field mouse lives on fruits and roots, but it prefers corn to everything else. It eats the seeds, and cuts the stalks of ripe corn ; it carries to its burrow what it cannot eat on the spot, and thus stocks its small granary abundantly. Sometimes the short-tailed field-mice have been known to multiply to such an extent in a district as to become a public calamity, and to prevent any harvest being gathered in. 44 MAMMALIA RODENTIA DIAGRAM 3. The water-rat is less, injurious, but it nevertheless destroys the banks of rivers and ponds to dig its burrow. THE BEAVER is one of the largest known rodents ; it can soon cut down a tree with its teeth. It is also remarkable for its flattened tail, cover- ed with scales. It is celebrated for the huts which it builds. Beavers have been extinct in England for 600 years; but are still found in France on the banks it only builds long Beaver. burrows there ; and it is in the lonely rivers of North America, that it builds its villages. Several families join, and when the situation is chosen, the beavers come to shore to cut down the branches and trees which they require ; they throw them into the water, and float them down to a convenient spot. Then they make dwellings of these branches mixed with earth, sometimes of a considerable size, in which they all live together. They are unfortunately becoming rarer and rarer. Beaver fur is one of the most valuable, and the hunters kill large numbers. It was long used to make beaver hats, but silk and other materials are now generally employed instead. THE GUINEA PIG is a small rodent which is a native of South America, but which is now acclimatised with us. As it is almost defenceless, it could not live in a wild state, but it is easily reared in captivity, and it breeds very fast. THE PORCUPINE is a rodent nearly as large as the beaver, but with the sluggish habits of the marmot. It owes its name to the fine black and white quills which grow on its back, in the place of and among the hair. Some of these animals are met with in the south of France. MAMMALIA RODENTIA DIAGRAM 3. 45 THE HARKS and BABBITS form one family ; and everyone knows their habits. They appear at first sight to have only two incisors in the upper jaw like other rodents, but 'on examining them with care, two other small ones are visible behind the large ones. Babbits breed amazingly fast when nothing interferes with their multiplication, and can spread over a whole country. The female produces from four to six litters a year; there are five or six young ones in each litter, and the young in their turn can produce young at the end of six months. It is therefore easy to calculate the rapidity with which they breed. Con- sequently it has been thought that it would be easy to make a fortune rapidly by breeding rabbits. But this is a great mistake, for as soon as they are much confined in a small space of country, diseases ensue which destroy great numbers. ORDER PACHYDEEMATA. THE ELE- PHAXT inhabits the East Indies and Africa. It is the largest of the Pachyder- mata and of all land animals. It so'me times reaches a height of 9 or 10 feet. Elephant. Its strength is great, and it is very intelligent. In the East Indies it is trained to fight, to hunt, and to carry very heavy burdens, which it lifts itself with its trunk, and arranges as is most convenient to it. 46 MAMMALIA PACHYDERMATA DIAGRAM 3. The elephant's trunk is simply a very long nose, which it can move at will. It breathes through two holes at the end of its trunk, which are its nostrils. There is also a small appendage at the extremity, about as large as a linger, which the elephant uses to pick up small articles. It can pick up a feather or the smallest piece of money with its trunk as easily as it can lift up and remove a cannon. Indian elephants are not generally savage, but are sometimes attacked with violent fits of rage, when nothing can resist them. They have two largo teeth in the upper jaw, protruding from the mouth, and curving upwards. These are called tusks, and yield ivory which is used for so many purposes. The tusks of the Indian elephant are not thicker than a man's arm, but those of the African elephant grow to the thickness of the thigh. There is a great traffic in them. The man who guides the elephants is called cornac in India ; he rides astride upon their neck. He pricks them, or pulls their ears with a hook to show them which way to go. THE RHINOCEROS is another great animal which is also found in the East Indies and Africa. It does not perform the same services, and always lives in a wild state. It is chiefly remark- able for having a horn at the end of the muzzle, which is sometimes very long and pointed. Some of them have two. The substance of this horn resembles that of cow's horns, but it is solid instead of being hollow, so that a much larger quantity can be obtained from it for industrial purposes ; the horn of the rhinoceros is sometimes used to make a handle for a cane, or the stick of an umbrella ; but this substance is not nearly so valuable as ivory. HORSES. The horse family includes the horse, the zebra, and the ass. The horse is one of the most useful animals to man, who employs him either to draw vehicles, or to carry burdens. Horses have only one hoof on each foot, and it is usual to add a piece of iron under the hoof to prevent it from being worn away too fast. Horses have incisor teeth in both jaws, and when they are vicious, and bite, can produce a dreadful wound. MAMMALIA PACHYDERM ATA DIAGRAM 3 They also defend themselves by kicking, either with one hind foot, or with both, and as their hoof is always shod with iron, their kicks generally produce serious wounds, and may even cause death. There arc many races of horses, which have all very different qualities. Sonic, like the dray and cart- horses are very good for draught ; English race-horses are celebrated for their speed; Arab horses are generally small, but very hardy ; they are capable foot 8 ^ al 11108 ^ indefatigable exertions, and are equally proof against heat and cold ; they are kept picketed out of doors. and never enter a stable. To guide the horse, a lit is put into Skeleton of Horse. his mouth, which rests on a part of the gum where there are no teeth, and which is very sensitive ; so the animal "stops when the bit is drawn a little tight. Old horses or those crippled by falling, are of no more use, and are killed for their leather. 48 MAMMALIA PACK YDERMATA DIAGRAM 3. The flesh, is eaten in many countries, and is as wholesome as beef or mutton, to which some people prefer it. The ass is very far from deserving its bad reputation, for it is a quiet, patient, and very tractable animal. "When it is not ill-treated and is well fed, it does its duty zealously and cheer- fully. It is accused of being sometimes very stubborn, a quality which it shares with the mule, which is a cross between the ass and the horse. The zebra resembles the ass rather than the horse. It is covered with black and tawny stripes, which make it a beautiful animal. The hemionus is also intermediate between the ass and the horse. It is smaller than the one, and handsomer than the other, and is perhaps the wild stock from which the domesticated horse is descended. HOGS. If there is a useful animal in the world which costs little and yields large returns, it is the hog. The wild boar, which inhabits the depths of great forests, is its nearest relation. It is armed with prominent canines, called tusks. The wild boar has four ; the canines of the upper jaw rest alongside those of the lower jaw. The wild boars are fierce and savage animals ; they lie all day in their retreats or lairs, and only go out at night to seek for fruits and roots ; they dig them up with the end of their snout. When the female is about to bring forth, she abandons the male, who would eat her young ones. The hog is derived from the wild boar, and much resembles it. But it is not so savage, although it has sometimes been known to devour children. It eats everything, and likes to wallow in the mud. It grunts constantly, but is nevertheless tolerably intelligent, and it has been trained to go to seek its food, and to return at a particular time. It is fattened for the table, and almost its whole body is made use of for sausages, pies, ham, bacon, lard, brawn, &c., &c. THE HIPPOPOTAMUS is a great pachyderm which inhabits the MAMMALIA PACHYDERMATA DIAGBAM 3 49 rivers of Africa ; it has a heavy clumsy gait on land ; "but it swims Hippopotamus. in the water with great ease, and it dives and rolls about in the water with as much agility as a fish. It eats grass, leaves, and roots of trees. OKDEE KUMINANTIA. THE CAMELS are ruminating animals which live in countries where there are great deserts. When they are well fed, they have one or two humps of fat on the back, which grows smaller when they are kept fasting. The dromedaries have two humps, and inhabit Asia, on the borders of Persia, in somewhat cold countries. The true camels on the contrary have only one hump, and inhabit Arabia and Africa. As these animals are able to pass several days, without eating, when their paunch is full, they are extremely valuable in desert countries. But their moderation has been too much 50 MAMMALIA RUMINANTIA DIAGRAM 3. praised. The camel can fast when he has not enough, but he eats gluttonously when food is abundant. It also frequently happens that he dies of hunger during the journey, and the caravan routes are strewn with his bones. The camel and dromedary supply the inhabitants of the East with milk, and wool, which is spun into clothes. There is a much smaller ruminant than the camel, which is used for similar purposes in America. It inhabits the mountains of the Andes and the Cordilleras, and is used for the transport of merchandise. It has also an abundant fleece, which has lately been brought into use in Europe, under the name of Alpaca. THE GIRAFFE. The giraffe is the largest of all ruminants, and its very long neck is terminated by a compar- atively small head. The neck of the giraffe, in spite of its length, is formed of only seven vertebra?, which is the same number as in man, and in nearly all mammals, whether their neck is as short as in the elephant, or as long as in the giraffe. This animal can only browse on the leaves of trees of a considerable height, and when it wishes to take an3 r thing from Giraffe. the ground with its lips, it is quite a labour, and it moves its fore legs gradually apart one after the other, like some one performing a gymnastic feat, to enable its snout to touch the ground. THE DEER are distinguished from all other ruminants by the antlers, which the male alone in most cases bears on his head. These antlers, in spite of their large size, are shed every year, and grow again, larger in proportion to the age of the animal. But they are not so hard as they afterwards become, when they grow. When the stag has just lost his horns, to- wards the end of winter, they leave two scars on the MAMMALIA RUMINANTIA DIAGRAM 3 . 51 head which soon heal. The skiu rises at the same time ; and this is caused by the new antlers beginning to grow. Till they have reached their full size, they are covered with skin and flesh ; and this skin afterwards dies and dries up, falls off in flakes, and the antlers remain, which will fall off in their turn before a year. At seven years old, the stag's antlers have ten forks, and the animal which bears them is called dix-cors, or Royal Sari. The fallow-deer is smaller than the stag ; Head of deer. and the male has much smaller horns. The hide of these animals is generally covered with white spots, which give them a very elegant appearance. They live in parks with us. The roe-deer is smaller than the fallow deer, and has only very short horns. They live in families, which the members do not quit. The rein-deer has also some resemblance to the stag. It is one of the ruminants in which the female carries horns as well as the male, though they are much smaller. As in the stag, they are shed annually. The rein-deer inhabits cold countries, where it is the only Head of Roebuck, domestic animal except the dog. In winter it browses on the lichens which grow on the ground under the snow, which is enough for its support. The inhabitants of these countries use its skin and milk, and harness it to their sledges. The rein-deer has very large cloven hoofs, and does not sink in the snow. THE ANTELOPES form a family which includes wild ruminants, sometimes of large size, and they have true horns like oxen, which do not fall off. To this family belongs the gazelle, one of E 2 52 MAMMALIA EUMINANTIA DIAGRAM 3. the most elegant mammals in existence ; and the chamois, which all mountaineers delight to hunt. They sometimes risk the greatest dangers, and many, lose their lives in attempting to approach the herds of chamois. The chamois generally remain on the most inaccessible peaks, and also post sentinels who warn the herd of the approach of danger. Then the chamois escape by prodigious leaps across the precipices and rocks. It is there that they are shot, but always with balls, so that one must be very skilful, and it is an honour to kill these pretty animals, which do no harm when alive, and are worth nothing when dead. In the Pyrenees, the chamois is called izard. The goats are known by having the top of *?* the muzzle straight, while it is rounded in fA**^^ sheep. The goat is a tame animal which yields much milk, and which is contented if it can climb on anything ; a stone, a rock, or even the branch of a tree, if it is near enough the ground. The kid yields a skin which when well prepared, is finer and more supple than any other. Gloves were formerly made of it, but kid has become very dear, and the skin of dogs and other animals are now often substituted. There are certain goats in Asia, which yield a finer and more silky wool than the finest sheep-wool. These are the Angora goats. The expensive stuffs called cashmere* are made of their wool. The sheep. The sheep is reared for its meat and wool. Domestication has made it weak and timid ; it cannot protect itself from the least danger, and the shepherd and his dog have always to guard the flock. Sheep are generally shorn about the month of June or July. The weight and quality of the fleece Ram. which is taken from them, vary accord- MAMMALIA KUMINANTIA DIAGRAM 3. 53 ing to the breed ; it lias been known to weigh over twenty pounds, but generally weighs ten or twelve. It is full of grease which is removed by washing. The finest wool is the most valuable, and is obtained from the race of sheep called merinos. It is a little curled, while wools of inferior quality are harder and stiffer. Cloth, flannel, bunting, knitting-wool, and many other materials are made of sheeps' wool. White linen takes the finest and richest colours in dyeing. Lastly, mutton fat is used for soap and candles. The ox. Although the ox yields no wool, it is, like the sheep, one of the most useful animals. It is reared for its meat, leather, horns, and fat ; cows give their milk to make butter and cheese ; and in many countries the oxen work, and draw vehicles like horses elsewhere. Oxen are generally sluggish, but when irritated they may become furious, and the sight of a red stuff often drives them into a rage. They defend themselves with their horns, and turn their heads to their enemies, and sometimes toss them into the air with great violence. Oxen are not afraid of wolves, and when they attempt to attack them, they assemble in herds, putting the cows and calves in the centre, and wait bravely for the wolves, or else chase them away themselves. It has been noticed that oxen were capable of feeling attach- ment, not only for those who take care of them, but also for animals of their own species. Those which are accustomed to be together at the plough, and know each other, do not work so well apart, or when yoked with new comers. Sometimes the ox is made to w r ork with the collar like horses ; and at other times a pair is attached to the same yoke by the horns. The manner in which ox hide is converted into leather, is the same as that used for all hides which are tanned. The hide is put into deep pits with bruised oak-bark, and left there for some months. At the end of this time the hide will not rot, it has become supple, and can be put to any known use. Cows' milk is a no less valuable produce than beef. Butter 54 MAMMALIA EUMINANTIA DIAGRAM 3 and cheese are obtained from it, which can replace meat as food, and form almost the only diet in some countries. Cheese indeed supports and developes the strength of the Cow. The quantity of milk which cows yield, varies very much according to their breed and food. Some of the breeds have long horns, others short horns, and some are hornless. The Alderney cow is particularly esteemed for the quantity and quality of its milk. Cows will yield 18 or 20 quarts of milk per day, or more. They are milked twice or thrice a day, and the milk is put into large bowls ; the cream, which is the fatty part of milk, rises and swims on the surface ; it is skimmed off, and beaten in a churn to make butter. The rest of the milk curdles ; it is then put into a kind of sieve to drain. What runs off is the whey ; and a solid mass is left, which is converted into the different kinds of cheese by various processes. But the best cheese is made of fresh milk, which still contains all the cream. The bu/alo is an animal closely allied to the cow, but which only inhabits the warmer parts of the Old World. It is used as a beast of burden, and is reared for its flesh, leather, and milk. The buffaloes like water, and delight to bathe in it, while the cows which accompany their herds always remain on the bank. The yak is another species of ox which comes from China, and is remarkable for having a tail like a horse. THE MUSK DEER. We have still to mention a small rumi- nant animal which is found in Asia, and yields the well-known perfume called musk. It is enclosed in a pouch under the skin of the animal's belly. They kill the animal, remove the pouch with a knife, and export it at once. MAMMALIA MABSUPIALIA DIAGRAM 3 ,55 OEDER MABSUPIALIA The marsupials include the opossums and kangaroos, which only inhabit the tropical parts of America and Oceania. These animals are all remarkable for having a pouch in front of the teats, in which the young hide when their mother escapes from danger, or they want to suck. (See page 31, for the figure of the opossum). OKDEE CETACEA. WHALE. The whale is the largest and best known of the mammals forming the order Cetacea. It is hunted for its oil, and for the substance called whalebone, which is found in its mouth, and is used to make umbrellas and stays. Lamp-oil is chiefly composed of whale oil. In spite of its enormous size, which is said sometimes to reach a length of 120 feet in the largest species, the whale has a very narrow throat, and can only swallow very insignificant animals. We can understand what a large quantity it must require. Therefore the whale only inhabits seas where the waters swarm with living creatures : it opens its enormous mouth, and swallows thousands of animals as large as sardines, or at most, as herrings. If its teeth were wide apart like those of most cetacea, its prey would escape. But instead of teeth, the upper jaw of the whale is furnished with hard plates close to one another, like the teeth of a comb, which allows the water to run off, while retaining the small fish and molluscs. These plates are the whalebone. The chase of so large an animal is always a dangerous expedition. Ships called whalers are fitted out for the purpose, manned by hardy sailors. When they arrive at a place where they expect to find whales, a sailor is set to keep a sharp look 56 MAMMALIA CETACEA DIAGKAM 3 out from the mast-head ; and when they see a whale blowing, the ship is steered towards it, and boats are lowered. In front of each boat is a man with a harpoon, which is a dart at the end of a thick shaft of wood and iron, attached to a very strong but very slender cord, rolled on a large winch in the boat. As soon as all is ready, the harpoon is thrown, and plunged into the flesh of the whale, which takes to flight as soon as it feels the wound ; the cord runs out with great rapidity, and the rowers pull with all their strength in the same direction. Whale fishing. It sometimes hap- pens that the whale, thus attached to the boat, drags it to a great distance. However, it returns to the surface to breathe, and a second harpoon is thrown at it ; and as soon as a good opportunity occurs, they approach near enough to thrust long lances into its body. The enormous animal is quickly exhausted, and when it is dead, it is towed towards the ship. Its fat or Uubler makes it float. Great slices of blubber are then cut off along the whole back, which are melted, and from which the oil is extracted. BIRDS ORGANISATION DIAGRAM 4 57 CLASS BIRDS DIAGRAM 4. BIRDS are vertebrate animals which are always easily recog- nised by having only two legs and the body covered with feathers. They have also very warm blood. Nearly all birds fly, and their body seems formed to cleave the air. The beak forms a point in front, like the prow of a ship, and the body ends behind in a tail, by which the bird directs its flight, as a boat is guided by the rudder. The whole structure of the bird is arranged for flight ; the feathers overlap one another like the tiles of a roof, for gliding through the air ; the wings, which correspond with the arms, spread out, and fold back against the body ; they are moved by very large muscles, which form the greater part of the flesh of the bird. These are those found on each side of the breast attached to a bone called the sternum, which is furnished with a sort of keel in the middle. Therefore the more the keel of the sternum is developed, the easier the bird flies. It is easy to see the difference in this respect between the sternum of a fowl which never rises from the ground, and that of a duck, which sometimes makes long journeys. The wings are provided with long feathers which spread out like a fan when the bird opens its wing, and fold one over the other when it closes it. These feathers are sometimes very long, and 58 BIRDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM reach beyond the tail of the bird. The longer and more pointed are the wings of a bird, the better it Skeleton of Cock. The rump supports the feathers of the tail, which the bird moves from side to side to direct its course. It is very easy BIRDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4 59 when looking at pigeons flying, to see how they use it to guide themselves. However, all birds do not fly equally well. There are some like fowls, which have much trouble to rise from the ground, and others, like the ostrich, which cannot fly at all. Others, instead of wings, have a kind of flat oars, with which it would be impossible for them to fly ; but which they use for swimming j among these are the penguins and the auks. The bones of birds are not filled with marrow, like those of the ox, and other mammals ; they are hollow and full of air, which makes them lighter, and ren- ders flight easier, Birds generally swallow their prey at a single gulp. The oesophagus often exhibit a fold throughout the length of the neck, well known to fanciers as the crop. When a pigeon is killed which has just been feeding, the crop is found to be filled with corn. When pigeons coo and inflate the neck, it is because the crop is filled with air. The food then passes into the gizzard, a stomach with a very thick shining, and almost silvery surface. The two outlets of this stomach are very near to each other ; so that it requires a little attention to distinguish the oesophagus by which the food enters the gizzard, from the orifice through which it passes out. The gizzard is nearly always found filled both with corn and small stones, which the bird swallows at the same time. The sides of the gizzard are formed of an exceedingly strong muscle ; and they contract, and bruise the corn among these stones. The product of this kind of mastication then passes into a third stomach, and into the intestine. Penguin. 60 HERDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4: Birds which, live on flesh, instead of corn, have no gizzard, or at least its surface is not so thick, and it does not contain any stones. Birds breathe like mammals by a windpipe and lungs. They have also a larynx in the throat above the windpipe, but they have also another in the chest, at the point where the windpipe divides into two branches to conduct the air to each of the lungs. It is by this second larynx that a duck can still utter a cry after its head has been cut off. While some birds have a very disagreeable voice, others sing, or can imitate the human voice, like the parrot, the starling, and the jay. Birds have, the best sight of all animals ; and a hawk flying at" a great height in the air can easily perceive a shrew-mouse or a field-mouse running in the grass, and dart upon it ; it is then said that it pounces on its prey. Birds have generally only a hole for an ear ; but some, like the owls have a very large ear, as large as that of a little child, hidden in the feathers on the side of the head. Birds' feathers are useful for a great many purposes ; for pens, for beds, and for ornament. These feathers are often very finely coloured, and in some birds, they vary with the seasons. Many birds have more brilliant plumage in spring than during the remainder of the year ; and the bird is then said to have assumed its nuptial plumage. All birds lay eggs. They are white in the fowl, but coloured or spotted in other birds. We notice in the egg, 1st, the shell, which is hard and re- sistant ; 2nd the white, formed of albumen, which has the pro- perty of hardening, when heated nearly to the temperature of boiling water ; 3rd and last, the yolk, on which we observe a small paler spot, which is the germ. The yolk also hardens when he ated. When a fresh egg has a hole carefully made in it, so that the yolk is seen in its position, we discover that it is BIRDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4 61 enveloped in a sort of very slender skin, which forms two ligaments, floating in the albumen towards the two ends of the egg. We can also see, towards one end of the egg, a place where the albumen does not touch the shell, and which is full of air ; and this is called the air-sac. It is necessary for eggs to be kept at a raised temperature for some time, in order to produce chickens. In this country, the mother hatches the eggs by sitting on them, scarcely moving from them at all, until the young ones are hatched. These break the shell by pecking at it with their beaks ; and still require to be brooded over by their mother for some time ; and they live under her until they are grown large. The heat and care of the mother are not however indispensable to rear fowls, and they can be hatched artificially by means of an arrangement called a hatching oven, where the temperature is kept nearly equal, and sufficiently high to develop the chick. With some precautions, young chickens can thus be very easily reared. Birds generally build nests for breeding, which are sometimes true masterpeices of architecture. Some are solidly built of earth, others made of twigs ; there are \ $[&? \ f jftc'fi t some which float on the water ; and we shall mention under each species any- thing which is interesting about its nest. But it ought to be thoroughly com- prehended that no nests ought ever to be destroyed, except those of birds of prey such as falcons or hawks. All other nests ought to be respected. All young birds on coining out of the egg without exception eat insects, and nothing but insects. Even those species which de- stroy corn, always feed their young with Reed Warbler. caterpillars, grubs, and all the creatures which are most mischievous to agriculture. All who have seen young birds in the nest know what an appetite they have fi2 BIRDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4 They always have the neck stretched out, and the beak open, and it is all that their parents can do to provide food for this voracious family, and the quantities of insects which they then destroy, long ago caused it to be said ' ' that there was not a single species of injurious birds in spring." For the rest, there is always a very good means of ascertaining if certain birds are useful or injurious to agriculturists; and this is to kill one or two occasionally at different seasons of the year, and to notice what food they have in their stomach ; if corn, the bird is mischievous, but if it is remains of insects or grubs, the bird is useful. This is the best method of judging of the merits of such birds as rooks, which are alternately regarded as useful or mischievous. But it will not suffice to limit ourselves to examining what the bird eats once in the course of the year ; it will be necessary to begin again at different seasons, because a bird which eats corn at harvest-time or seed-time for instance, destroys insects all the rest of the year ; and the farmer must then calculate whether the injury done by the bird in eating his corn, is counterbalanced or not by the advantage of seeing them destroy his true enemies, i.e., insects. In a general way we may say that all birds live on insects in spring, corn in summer, and berries in winter. But it must be remembered that many birds migrate during this last season. There are, in reality, a great number of birds which are accustomed to change their country according to the season, and to make what is called a migration every year. Thus, when insects begin to disappear at the first cold weather, all the swallows depart for Africa, from whence they return in the spring of the following year. These long journeys are very common among birds. The cold drives them all towards the south. Those of the north come to us during the winter in search of water which is still unfrozen , and our own birds migrate to the south in search of warmth and insects. On crossing the Mediterranean Sea from France to Algeria, it is common to see flocks of small birds alight on the masts of ships, BIRDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4 63 and rest there for some time before resuming their long journey, on which many doubtless perish. OR.DEES OF BIKDS. Birds, like mammals, have been divided into a number of families, in which those most alike are placed together. The following are the principal orders : 1st. The Birds of Prey, or Raptores. It includes birds which are all carnivorous. They are known by their beak, which is always very strong, short, and hooked, for tearing flesh. They generally fly very well. Lastly, their toes are free in their move- ments, and armed with Foot of Eagle. powerful claws called talons. The order of the birds of prey includes the families of the falcons, vultures, and owls. 2nd. The order of Perching Birds includes birds generally of small size. But they may best be known by always having very strong legs fitted for grasping the branches of trees, with two or three toes directed forwards, close together, and almost united, while the other toe or toes are directed backwards, opposite to the former. Among the Perching Birds we shall mention the families of the parrots, the cuckoo, Foot of Parroquet. and the woodpeckers. 64 BIBDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4 3rd. The Order of the Finches. Under this name we include the greater number of the small birds which feed on either grain or insects, and which all fly well. They prefer to rest on trees, rather than on the ground ; but there are some, like the lark, which run very well. The wagtail also walks gracefully, but the greater part can only advance on the ground, like the sparrow, by a series of little jumps, called hopping. Never- theless some birds have been placed in this order which are very different from these ; and we class among the finches the crows, the birds of paradise, the families of the warblers, the sparrows, the goatsuckers, the swifts, the swallows, and the kingfishers. 4th. The order of Gallinaceous Birds includes a great many birds which fly with some difficulty, always excepting the pigeons. Some are reared as domestic animals ; others are valued as game. "We shall mention the turkey, the peacock, the cock and hen, the grouse, the partridge, the quail, the guinea-fowl, the pheasant, and the pigeon. 5th. The order of Waders. In this order are arranged birds which have generally long legs, so that they seem to walk on stilts, such as the ostrich, the cranes, the heron, and the stork. Some smaller birds are put with them, such as the snipes, the woodcocks, the water-hens, the ruffs, and the lapwings, all of which have very long legs for their size. All the birds of this order are swift runners. 6th, The order of Water birds or Wei-footed birds. This order includes all the swimming birds which have palmated feet; that is with the toes joined by a membrane which converts them into a kind of oar, by means of which the birds Foot of Duck. swim on the water, or even under water, for there are many of them which dive, and pursue the fish on which they feed beneath the surface. Among the swimming birds may be mentioned the gulls, the cormorants, BIRDS ORGANIZATION DIAGRAM 4 65 the pelicans, the ducks, the swans, the geese, the penguins, and the auks. OEDEK OF BIRDS OF PEEY, OR EAPTOKES. FALCONS. The family of Falcons also includes the eagles, the hawks, the sparrow-hawks, the kites, and the buzzards. All are formidable animals to rabbits, partridges, larks, and the various small birds which eat insects ; and they are therefore enemies which always ought to be destroyed. They are called Mr da of prey in the strict sense ; they have a hooked beak, and very strong and pointed claws, called talons, with which they seize their prey ; and they kill them, and tear . them to pieces with their beak. In some countries falcons are still used for the chase ; and falconry used formerly to be a very favourite amusement in England. The falcons are trained without too much difficulty, and then carried to the chase on the wrist. Their head is covered with a hood which prevents their seeing : and when the game is in sight, the falconer takes off the falcon's hood, and shows him the prey. Other Falconhooded. . can be chased by the falcon ; or hares, and even larger animals ; the 66 BIRDS BIRDS OF PREY DIAGRAM 4 pursuing falcon darts upon them, and splits their skull with a blow of its beak. The falcons generally used for the chase are the jerfalcon, and the peregrine falcon. The last, which is commoner, is nearly as large as a buzzard. The eagles only inhabit mountainous countries ; and they generally make their nests among the rocks. These are constructed of branches roughly heaped up on the ground; and this is called the eagle's eyry. Head of Eagle. Some eagles are strong enough to carry off lambs, and could even carry off little children. This, although it has sometimes happened, is fortunately very unusual. VULTURES. The vultures 'inhabit warm countries, and have only been noticed in Britain on one or two occasions. They can be attracted from a great distance by the smell of carrion. They do not usually feed on fresh-killed prey, and eat only dead animals. Some are very Head of Vulture. They have a hooked beak like the falcons, but not so strong ; their claws also are less curved, and they settle more frequently on the ground. They are re- markable for having the neck bare of feathers. To the family of the vultures belongs the condor, which has the highest flight of all birds, and is seen to soar above the highest mountains of America. OWLS. The owl family includes several species which have a great general resemblance. These are also carnivorous birds, as is shown by their curved beaks, and talons like those of falcons ; BIRDS BIRDS OF PREY DIAGRAM 4 67 but for all that, they are friends rather than enemies to man. They live near buildings, and actively pursue field-mice, and other small quadrupeds. A brown owl can readily take the place of a cat in a house ; and no more mice will be seen there. They also eat many insects which only fly by night. All these birds have an easily recognisable appearance ; their two large eyes are placed in front, instead of on each side of the head, as in other birds. They have often tufts resembling ears on the head. Their ears are very large, as we have said, but it is necessary to part the plumage in order to see them. Owls, like many other animals, can see by night, and probably better than during the day, when they shun the light, They then hide in holes, and it is doubtless their habit of living in deserted places, such as cemeteries, which Brown Owl. h as i e & them to be regarded as birds of ill-omen. In truth, there is no animal which deserves to be so regarded. And it is also a gross error to suppose that the owls come to hoot over a house where a dying person is lying. If we hear of it sometimes, it is because the trouble that has come upon the house keeps everyone awake, and they hear the bird's hoot, as they do every night, only on other nights everyone is asleep, and so nobody hears it. In former times, the owl, instead of being regarded as a bird of ill omen, was considered one of the wisest of animals ; and it deserves this reputation as little as the other. 68 BIRDS PERCHING BIRDS DIAGRAM 4 OEDEE OF PEECHING BIEDS. PARROTS. All these birds come from distant countries ; but their beautiful colour, their intelligence, and the ease with which they learn to speak have made them valued among us. They fly badly, and feed on corn, which they break into small pieces with their beak before swallowing it ; and on fruit, which they take in their claw. Their tongue is fleshy, instead of being hard and horny, as in other Head of Parrot. , . , birds. The cuckoo, The cuckoo migrates in winter, and only passes the summer with us. It is found in woods, its back is ashy, and its belly white, with fine black and grey streaks": its plumage is something like that of the sparrow-hawk, but it is easily distinguished from it by having its toes close together, two beforo and two behind. The cuckoo eats a considerable number of caterpillars, but it owes its celebrity chiefly to its habit of making other birds hatch its eggs and rear its young. The female lays two eggs in the space of two or three days. She lays them anywhere upon the ground. She then imme- diately takes the egg in her beak, and puts it in the nest of some other bird, generally choosing one smaller than herself. But she does not abandon it, and if she sees that the bird neglects her egg, she takes it away, and puts it into another nest. When the young cuckoo is hatched among the family where it has thus been placed, it begins to try and get rid of the other young ones. By means of its rump and wings, it creeps under them, lifts them on its back to the edge of the nest, and throws them down, so that it alone remains to take the food which the owners of the nest bring to it without seeming to notice that their young ones are replaced by this stranger. This has given rise to the expression, as ungrateful as a Cuckoo, BIRDS PERCHING BIRDS DIAGRAM 4 69 The woodpeckers are insect eaters, and excellent tree climbers. They are known by their straight, strong beak, and by the feathers of the tail, which are always worn at the end, because they rest on them. Their hooked claws cling to the bark, and allow them to run along the trunks of trees, and even under the large branches. Their plumage is sometimes beautifully co- loured. They are naturally wild and they pass their lives in constant activity. Their tongue is of extraordinary length, and can be thrust out of the beak to a great distance ; they bury it under the bark, and in the holes of the wood, to seize the insects which hide there. The wood- pecker is also accustomed to strike the trunks of trees sharply with its beak, in order to drive out the insects. After each blow it runs round the trunk to "Woodpecker perching. see if it has succeeded in driving out any grubs or caterpillars from under the bark. It has been stated that it did so after each stroke of its beak, to see if it had pierced the tree from side to side. This is a fable, like so many which have been invented by those who did not fully comprehend the actions of animals. 70 BIRDS FINCHES DIAGRAM 4 ORDEK OF FINCHES. The kingfishers are finches, they have a straight beak like the woodpeckers, and three toes in front, two of which are partly united. Their food consists of aquatic animals. They are also brilliantly coloured. Their patience is Foot of Kingfisher, extraordinary, and they are often seen sitting motionless on branches or stones at the edge of the water, watching for what may pass, and darting like an arrow on the prey which they perceive. Sometimes, too, they fish flying, .and then, pouncing into the water, they rise again immediately with the animal which they pursued in their leak. They make their nests in the holes of the banks, only con- solidating the sides. They lay from four to eight eggs, which are generally white. The male and female r sit on the eggs alternately, and share the labour of feeding the young by bringing them the results of their fishing. The goat-suckers are remarkable for the enormous yizo of their beak when open, though the horny part of the beak is small. Their plumage is dull-coloured. Many absurd stories have been told of these birds. It was believed, for instance, that they come to suck goats, whereas they only como to search in the hair and wool of sheep and goats for tlio insects that are found there, and of which they relieve them, As they live on no other food than mosquitoes, gnats, and all kinds of twilight-flying insects, the goatsuckers are really very useful birds, which ought on no account to be destroy- ed. They do not pass Head of (loaf-sucker. the winter with us : BIRDS FINCHES DIAGRAM 4 71 they migrate in autumn, when their food begins to grow scarce. Their nest is nothing but a convenient hole at the foot of a tree, or in a rock, or even in the midst of paths in woodsy and they lay two eggs marbled with bluish spots on a grey ground. The swifts seem only to enjoy themselves in flight; they have very long wings, and such short legs, that they have the greatest difficulty in walking. On the other hand, as their claws are very sharp and -slender, they cling easily to walls. The swift reaches this country in the spring, a little before the swallows, and leaves a little sooner than the latter. It builds its nest under the eaves or projecting roofs of houses, as well as in cracks in walls and rocks, but when it finds the nest which it built the year before, it does not take the trouble to build a new one. It Knes its nest with feathers which it has found floating in the air, or which it picks up off the ground, and which it sometimes steals from the nests o*f other birds, and especially from the sparrows. Sometimes, too, the swift, instead of building a nest, is contented to repair that of another bird which it adapts for its use, and where the female lays three or four white eggs. The swallows. The beak of the swallow appears to be very small, but is cleft to the eyes. They live on insects which they catch flying, and assemble together in large flocks. About the beginning of April the swallows ,are seen to return to the nests which they constructed in former years. On the approach of winter, they assemble in multitudes on the roofs or trees, and after a great fuss accompanied with cries like the tumult of a debate, they start off on their journey of some hundreds or even thousands of miles. No bird appears to fly with so much ease as the swallows ; they eat, drink, and sometimes even feed their young on the wing. They are chiefly insectivorous, and consequently render great service to agriculture. Their nests are generally built against walls or buildings. They are cemented with earth in the angles of walls, or eaves, with a small opening for the 72 BIEDS FINCHES DIAGKAM 4 across longer family to go in and out. All the swallows which live in the same place appear to love their society, and render mutual assistance when necessary, either to repair a nest which has been partly destroyed, or to drive away a sparrow, which believing himself stronger, has come to steal something from it ; all the swallows begin to harrass him, and the robber is soon obliged to fly. The swallows take great care of their young, and feed them so well that they sometimes weigh as much as their parents ; and then they teach them to fly. To entice the young to fly and to leave the nest, the parents sometimes hold up before them in their beak some insect of which they are very fond. There are two principal kinds of swallows in this country. The house martin is pure white on the lower part of its body, and the upper part is of a shining black with blue reflections ; it is less familiar than the swallow which has a dark band the chest, and a much tail, and it arrives a little later. The latter makes its nest even in stables, under sheds, and is some- times found living in smithies above the anvil, without the noise of the hammers, and the red sparks, Swallow. seeming to frighten it. The humming-birds are at the same time the smallest of all birds, and those with the most brilliant plumage. They display me- tallic reflections of all hues, yellows, blues, greens, violets, and reds. But the humming Humminsr biid, natural size. birds do not live BIRDS FINCHES DIAGRAM 4 73 in tliis country, and are only found in the hot countries of America. The smallest species lay eggs scarcely larger than a pea. The humming birds are constantly on the wing ; they are courageous animals, and are not afraid to defend themselves against much stronger, but less agile enemies. The birds of paiadise are also very beautiful birds, which are found in New Guinea, and the neighbouring islands. They are nearly as large as magpies. They are hunted for their feathers, which are made into ornaments for the toilet. The savages who sell birds of paradise to the merchants, were formerly accustomed to remove their legs, to make believe that they never rested on the ground or in trees. But the birds of paradise have Birds of Paradise. legs like all other birds, which are in fact, rather ugly. Crows. The family of crows includes several kinds of birds which are found in England ; the large hooded crow, black, with the back and belly grey ; the rook, black with blue reflec- tions, and the base of the bill bare of feathers; the jackdaw, smaller than the others, with the upper part of the head ashy grey ; and lastly the jays and the magpies. All these birds have a strong beak with a cutting edge, and they are nearly all of dull colours, like birds in mourning. It is probably for this reason only that they have also been looked upon as birds of ill-omen. This belief is as absurd as all others of the same class. All these birds are generally intelligent ; they are easily reared; they like the house, and learn also to repeat some words. The raven is a large bird, wholly black, somewhat rare, and only found in thinly peopled districts. They live solitary in pairs, and nest on trees, or in the holes of rocks. The outside of the nest is made of the roots and branches of trees, and it is lined inside 74 BIRDS FINCHESDIAGRAM 4 with, moss or grass. The female lays five or six eggs in March ; they are pale bluish green, with blotches. The male helps to sit, and to rear the young. The ravens are courageous, and are not afraid of either cats or dogs ; they are attached to their master, and have been known, after having left the house to return to a wild life, to come back of themselves daily to the place where they received food, and were never injured. They live very long ; and it is said for a century. The rooks and jackdaws are much smaller than the raven, and live in flocks, either in groves or in the steeples of churches, They go to a distance, in nocks, to seek their food, which varies according, to the country and the season. In some places they are looked upon as mischievous, and in others as useful. We have pointed out the means for ascertaining the truth of this, in each district. In the evening, the whole flock returns to the grove or the steeple, and after uttering loud cries, go to sleep. The magpies, unlike the rooks and jackdaws, live in couples in the neighbourhood of houses. Their plumage is black, with the belly and part of the wings, white. The magpie is celebrated for its cunning, and for its propensity to carry off and hide whatever it meets with. It lays up in autumn a store of dried fruits for the winter. Both sexes work at the construction of the nest. It is often built at the tops of trees, and is constructed externally of twigs plastered together with mud ; and is covered by a kind of roof made of small thorny branches firmly inter- laced, There is one door for entrance, and another for exit. The bottom of the nest is lined with fine and flexible roots. The female lays seven or eight eggs, on which both sexes sit alternately. . The/tfy has a more brilliant plumage than the other birds of this family ; it is intelligent, and can be taught to whistle, and even to talk like a parrot. The Uacklird, oriole, and thrush form a small family of indigenous birds. The oriole is of a fine yellow colour, and inalses a nest which is always suspended like a cradle to the fork BIRDS FINCHES DIAGRAM 4 75 of a branch. It fastens it in its place with grass, and also with any pieces of cord, string, or ribbon, which it can find. It is extremely rare in England, though very common in Southern Europe. The blackbird has the reputation of being cunning, and the bird-catchers have some difficulty in taking it. The male is black, with yellow beak ; the female is brown above, and varied with grey and reddish brown on the throat. During the niie season, it is not uncommon to see blackbirds frequenting gardens even in the middle of towns. They eat both fruit and insects. The nest is very rapidly constructed, sometimes in less than a week, in bushes or low trees. It is made of moss and mud outside, and of 'dried grass inside. The female lays from four to six eggs. The young ones eat nothing but insects when they are very young ; afterwards they like pulpy fruits, such as grapes, rotten apples, or juniper berries. The thrush, is brown above, and yellowish, spotted with black beneath. It sings better than the blackbird, and is therefore more Head of Thrush valued by bird-catchers. Warblers. The family of warblers includes the warblers, the nightingales, the skylarks, the robins, the titmice, the redstarts, and lastly the wrens, which are the smallest of our native birds. The majority feed on insects, and many eat nothing else, such as the nightingales, which must be fed, even in captivity, with worms. When the nightingale is at liberty, he sings all the time the female is sitting, as if to amuse her. Among the warblers, the reed warbler generally fastens its nest to some reeds a little above the water. The skylarks have also a joyous song, which is best to be heard when they are flying straight up into the air. The titmice are scarcely larger than the wrens. They are lively little birds, active, and courageous, and destroy a great number of insects. They attack wasps and bees, and can seize them 76 BIRDS FINCHES DIAGRAM 4 without being stung, which would certainly kill them The titmice build pretty nests of moss at the fork of the large branches. They cover it outside with lichens, so that it cannot be distinguished from the trunk of the tree. This Titmouse. nest is entirely closed, only hav- ing an opening large enough to admit the finger ; it is lined inside with feathers and down, on which the female lays her eggs. The water wagtail is a pretty little bird, which is always found by the side of the water. It may be known by its white belly, and by its step, always easy and elegant. It moves its tail at every step it takes, from which habit it derives its name. Sparrows. This family also includes the buntings, the ortolans, the goldfinches, the canaries, the chaffinches, ike grosbeaks, the linnets, and the bullfinches. They may all be known by their short straight beak, thickened at the base, and pointed. They are great eaters of corn, and are for the most part formidable to agriculture, except during the whole period that they are Head of Grosbeak. ma king their nest, sitting, and rearing their young ; for at these times they live only on grubs and insects, and feed their brood with the same. The buntings live in woods in summer, and in the winter they come in flocks into the farm yards, and settle on the dung to seek for what grain remains. The young ones leave the nest before they can fly, but these birds seem to have a great family attachment, and when the young are grown up, they often continue to live with the parents. The ortolan like the oriole, is a very rare bird in England, though common on the continent. They live among vines and cornfields ; and are caught and fattened for table, as a delicacy. BIKDS FINCHES DIAGRAM 4 77 The canary came originally from the Canary Islands ; but it is bred in domesticity, and is one of the commonest cage birds in Europe. It is reared for its beautiful yellow colour, and because it readily learns to sing and whistle. The sparrow is well known to everybody as a bold, thievish, impudent bird, found both in town and country, and plundering the barns whenever they can get into them. The nests of sparrows are always sufficiently substantial structures, but badly made. They are built on trees or in holes. The question as to the destruction of birds chiefly concerns the sparrow, and it is certain that at seed time and harvest, and also in winter when it has the opportunity, the sparrow eats a great deal of corn. But on the other hand, it rears a numerous family in its nest, and meantime the parents do nothing but go in search of caterpillars and insects to feed their voracious brood. To prove this, it is enough to look at the ground under a sparrow's nest ; it is frequently covered with the heads and wings of insects, which the birds have rejected as too hard for them. In the case of the sparrow, still more than in that of other birds, it ought to be asked if the mischief which it does at some seasons is not really more than compensated by the good done by it at a season of the year when it spends the whole day in destroying the swarms of insects which eat the germs of plants, and the buds of fruit. Another familiar bird is the Eobin Redbreast, a bold and quarrelsome bird, which frequents the neighbourhood of houses in winter, in search of food ; and is a great favourite with children. 78 BIRDS GALLINACEOUS DIAGRAM 4 ORDEE OF GALLINACEOUS BIRDS. The partridge belongs to the order of gallinaceous birds. It makes a clumsy nest of dry grass in the fields, heaped up in a hole on the ground. It lays fifteen or twenty whitish grey eggs, .which hatch in three weeks. The parents then show the young ones how to scratch the ground to look for ant's eggs. But as so many young ones could not be kept Foot of Partridge. under the wings of a partridge, the father and mother sit side by side to protect them all. The quails arrive here in spring, and migrate about the month of September. As they fly badly, they wait for a favourable wind to start, and only cross the seas where they can find rocks and islands upon which they rest from time to time. The peacock, pheasant, and guinea-fowl are chiefly valued as Pheasant. ornamental birds. The peacock is perhaps the most beautiful of all birds ; but the male alone has the well-known tail of brilliant large feathers, which can be raised and spread like a fan. The female peacock is grey, and has not this brilliant plumage. It is common in birds for the male to be more orna- mented than the female ; but this difference is very obvious in the game birds ; the females of the peacock, pheasant, and fowl, have less beautiful feathers than the males. The peacocks and pheasants come originally from Asia, and BIKDS GALLINACEOUS DIAGRAM 4 79 have been brought here from thence. It is also in the East Indies only that the domestic fowl is found wild. The turkey on the contrary is found in America, and was brought to Europe after the discovery of that country. The guinea-fowl was brought from Africa, as its name implies. The domestic fowl is of very great value for the food of man, both for its flesh and eggs, in which a large trade is carried on. There are a great many breeds of domestic fowls which have somewhat different qualities ; some are prized for the delicacy of their flesh ; others are particularly good sitters ; some lay better than the others. But no breed combines all these qualities. The chickens hatch after the eggs have been sat upon for three weeks. Thirteen eggs are generally allotted to one hen to hatch. The eggs can be changed, added to, or even replaced by those of another species, the duck for instance ; the hen rears them very well, and is only uneasy when they go into the water, where she cannot follow them. The hen shows extraordinary courage in defending her chickens, even against animals much stronger than herself. Pigeons. The pigeons and doves form a family, all the members of which have a great common resemblance. They have a somewhat slender beak, always a strong flight, and feel much mutual attachment, When wild, they build their nest indifferently on the ground, on trees, or in the rocks ; but it is always some- what ill constructed. There are only two eggs, on which the male and female sit in turn. The young are born almost without feathers, and with the eyes still closed, as in cats; the PigeonsT" parents are greatly attached to them, and feed them by disgorging some of the food which remains in their crop. Pigeons are reared for food and for the sake of the dung which is collected in dovecotes, and which forms an excellent manure when mixed with other substances, such as earth. 80 BIRDS GALLINACEOUS DIAGRAM 4 Pigeons are accustomed when taken from, their dovecotes, to return through the air from a very great distance. The breeds which can thus retrace their route are called carrier pigeons. They have sometimes been made to undertake very long, journeys, but they always succeed much better in spring and summer, than during the winter. A cage of pigeons caught in a dovecote is brought to the distance first of fifty miles, then to a hundred, then to 200 or 300, and sometimes to 500 or 600 miles or more, and the pigeons are afterwards set at liberty. They are then seen to rise to a great height, turn round several times in the air, and then all at once take flight with a sudden start in the direction of their dovecote, where they arrive at the end of one, two, or three days, worn out with fatigue. Carrier pigeons have often been used to carry messages ; and the service which they rendered during the siege of Paris, in spite of an exceedingly unfavourable season, is well known. In winter, they travel with much more difficulty, and find their dovecote much less easily than in spring or summer. OEDER OF WADING BIEDS. The ostrich is at once the largest of this order, and the largest Ostrich. Foot of Ostrich. BIRDS WADING DIAGRAM 4 81 known bird ; it is about six feet high, and its body is as large as that of a horse. The ostrich inhabits the deserts of Africa ; it cannot fly, but runs with very great swiftness. Its eggs are larger than the head of a child, and of a fine yellow colour ; the shell is very hard. It lays them in the sand, and the heat of the sun is sufficient to hatch them, The ostrich is hunted for the beautiful feathers in its wings and tail. There is a very large trade in them. The cranes are very large birds which vi^it our country occasionally. They have an ashy grey plumage, and make long journeys. Our climate is too warm for them in summer, and they then fly away towards the north ; in the winter * they return towards the south. Their flight is strong, and they are Cranes. pre-eminently migratory birds. When they are about to start, they assemble in flocks, and arrange themselves in two files united in front, and diverging behind. They always preserve this order, and are seen to fly thus at a great height in the air. The bird at the apex of the triangle only remains there for a certain time, and then falls into the rear, or at least attempts to do so, and another takes its place to cleave the air. The cranes like other wading birds, put their head under their wing when they sleep. They also often lift up one leg, and stand for hours together motionless upon the other. The herons have an ashy coloured plumage with a black crest behind the head, and the front of the neck white, spotted with black feathers. They disport themselves during the day on the borders of lakes and rivers, and at night retire to the woods, or to the groves which are reserved for them, and which are called heronries. They make their nests 82 BIRDS FADING DIAGRAM 4 Heron, as high on the trees as they can, and prefer the summits of poplars. The heron has large wings ; its flight is powerful, and it can soar very high. When it is pursued by a bird of prey, this is its means of escape, and it tries to rise above it. It is also extremely patient when it watches for its prey on the edge of the water, and re- mains there for hours without stirring. The feathers of which head-dresses are made, are procured from a small white species of heron, called the Egret, which is found in America, and which likes to perch on the horns and back of buffaloes and oxen. The storh also feed on mulluscs, which they fish for in the waters; but instead of being wild like the herons, they seem to like the society of man : they make long journeys like the cranes to seek for a warmer climate during the winter, and they return in spring to build their nest in houses and chimneys. They are often seen in the towns and villages of Holland and Alsatia, where they even arrange places for them when Stork. making the roofs; every house is glad to possess a nest of storks, and they take care not to do them the least injury. They are never hunted and never caught, and it is noticed that the same couple returns every year to take possession of the same nest. They are very rare in England. BIRDS WEB-FOOTED DIAGRAM 4 83 OEDEE OF WEB-FOOTED BIBDS. The yidh have a powerful flight ; they live on the borders of th sea, and make their nests in holes on inaccessible rocks. They have fine white plumage, which makes them very con- spicuous on the wing ; and they feed chiefly on fish. When a storm threatens, the gulls fly restlessly backwards and forwards, uttering shrill cries which the sailors well understand. It is not rare to see them carried inland by the wind, and flying in places very far from the sea ; but they hasten to return to the coast. When they are fatigued at sea, they rest on the waves ; and they can swim as well as they can walk and fly. (Foot of web-footed bird, see p. 64.) The cormorants are dull-coloured birds, which live like the gulls by the seaside, and feed like them on fish. The cormorants stand on a rock, and remain motionless until they perceive their prey, when they dart into the water and seize it. The cormo- rant can be tamed, and used to catch fish; but a collar must then be fastened tightly round his neck, and not being able to swallow the fish, he brings Cormorant. it back. The pelican is not found in Britain, though it is met with in some parts of Southern Europe. It also lives on fish, but it generally fishes in rivers ; it has an enormous beak, and below that, a great elastic pouch in which it puts the fish before swallowing it, or when it wishes to bring it to its young. The pelican has a fine white Head of Pelican. plumage ; but when it returns 84 BIBDS WEB-FOOTED DIAGRAM 4 to its nest with the fish that it has killed, it sometimes happens that the front of its neck and breast are spotted with blood ; and this no doubt has given rise to the fable that it pierced its breast to feed its young; but this story is no truer than a thousand other fables related of birds. The swans, geese, and ducks, form a family of water-birds characterised by their broad and flattened beak. They have all very downy feathers, which are largely used for making bedding. The swan is reared in domesticity for the beauty of its plumage, but it is also met with in a wild state in great marshes. It makes its nest among dry reeds, and lays seven or eight greenish grey eggs, in the month of February. The female sits upon them for six weeks, but the male does not leave her, and defends her against any enemies who might disturb her. The goose is a valuable bird in the poultry yard, but it is also found in this country in flocks in a wild state. It makes great migrations, and flies like the cranes in a triangular arrangement, in order to cleave the air with more ease. G-eese do not deserve the reputation in which they are held ; they are intelligent animals, although they do not appear so. In domesticity, geese afford quill-pens and down. The former are the wing feathers which are pulled out twice a year. They then undergo a preparation which makes them brittle, and capable of being cut with the knife. When geese are reared for the table, they are allowed to feed at large with us ; but on the continent they are shut up, and given as much to eat as they can swallow ; and they are sometimes even put info small cages where they have scarcely room to move. The animal then grows fat, and yields a highly valuable grease. At the same time, the liver has grown to two or three timer its former size ; it is taken out after killing the bird, and is used to make patts des foies gras, for which Strasburg is especially famous. Duch, like geese, are very valuable for food, and their feathers are also useful. On the continent they are fattened like geese, and their foies gras are even more highly esteemed. BIRDS WEB-FOOTED DIAGRAM 4 85 The wild cluck passes the summer in the north, and returns to us about the month of October. It arrives in small flocks which travel in the evening or by night, but which make an easily recognisable noise in flying. They disperse themselves among the marshes, and along the banks of rivers. 86 REPTILES DIAGRAM 5. CLASS OF REPTILES. DIAGKAM 5. Reptiles are vertebrated animals ; that is, they have a skeleton like mammals, birds, and fish, but their shape is very different, as may be seen by the tortoises, lizards, serpents, frogs, and salamanders, which are reptiles. They are at once distinguished from the birds and mammals in not having warm blood ; they are cold. Among all animals, birds and mammals alone have- warm blood. The bodies of many reptiles are covered with scales. They nearly all, like birds, lay eggs from which the young ones emerge ; they breathe air by lungs like mammals and birds, but their respiration is very slow, and their heart does not beat so fast. The rapidity of their breathing increases a little when they are warm, and they are then sometimes very lively ; but cold benumbs them, and they can scarcely move. They are generally silent animals, only uttering a rather low hissing. The frogs must be excepted, which make a loud and very disagreeable croaking. Eeptiles have been divided into four orders; the Chelonia, which comprises the tortoises ; the Saurians, which are the lizards, the crocodiles, and the blindworms; the Ophidians, including all serpents, whether venomous or not ; lastly the Batrachiam, under which are arranged the frogs, salamanders and newts. These four words are derived from the Greek, and exactly indicate in that language the animals which represent each order. REPTILES- CHELONIA DIAGRAM 5 87 CHELONIA DIAGEAM 5. THE TORTOISES. The tortoises are sluggish animals, which look as if they were enclosed in a cuirass. This is formed by a horny substance which covers bony plates. It is then quite evident that tortoises cannot go out of their carapace. When the scales upon it are torn a little, the blood runs immediately. Tortoises are also remarkable for their horny beak, which much resembles that of birds, while all other reptiles have teeth like mammals. There are marine tortoises, and land tortoises. $fV Tortoise. The sea tortoises, or turtles, sometimes reach a very large size, being upwards of two yards in length ; their front legs are flattened, and arranged like fins for swimming ; and they are sometimes met with at a great distance from land, floating on the water. They lay their eggs on desert and sandy coasts. They are also Head of Turtle. Fore leg of Turtle, hunted for their flesh, which resembles calf s head, when cooked. To catch them, they approach them by night when they are on land, and turn them on their backs ; they cannot turn themselves over again ; and are killed. The land tortoises are not so large, and their forelegs, instead of being made for swimming, are strong, and armed with claws 88 REPTILES SATTRIANS DIAGRAM 5 with -which these animals dig holes where they hibernate during the winter season. The carapace of the turtle is covered with large plates of a fine brown colour. These plates form the substance known in commerce as tortoiseshell, of which combs and many other articles are made. The plates are thin, but they melt the tortoiseshell and can then give it any required thickness. SAUBIANS DIAGRAM 5. Saurian is derived from a Greek word meaning lizard. LIZARDS. The reptiles of this family are only represented in this country, by some little grey and greenish lizards, which are found along old walls, in the hottest days of summer. Their activity is wonderful on sand or stones, where the sun falls ; but as soon as night comes on, or it grows a little cold, they become torpid. In spite of their small size, they are courageous, and if you hold your finger to a lizard which puts its head out of a hole, it darts up, and bites it with its sharp little teeth. They usually feed on insects and slugs. But one curious peculiarity is that when one of these reptiles is seized by the tail, the tail remains in the hand, without the animal seeming to suffer from this mutilation ; and when the tail has thus been broken off, it soon grows again. The same thing is noticed in another animal which is found in our woods, and which is formed like a serpent, and called the llindivorm or sloivivorm. It also is very fragile, and breaks off its tail when seized by the end of the body. The blindworm has no limbs, and glides like a serpent ; but nevertheless its gold- coloured eyes are protected by eyelids, whereas serpents have none. It is a very gentle animal, and quite harmless, for its teeth are too weak to hurt anyone, and it thrusts out its little REPTILES OPHIDIANS DIAGRAM 5 89 black tongue now and then, which is bifurcated at the end, like that of all lizards and serpents, but which cannot do any injury. CROCODILES. The crocodiles are a kind of large lizard which inhabit the rivers of hot countries. They sometimes grow to a consid- erable size, and attain a length of five or six yards. They have a great number of pointed teeth, and Head of Crocodile. are verv voracious. They live chiefly on fish. They come to bask in the sun on the bank, and only move on land with difficulty ; but they recover all their agility on the water, where they can dive for a very considerable time. OPHIDIANS DIAGEAM 5. Ophidian is derived from the Greek word ophis, which means serpent. There are in this country only two races of serpents, one of Tvhich, the viper, is venomous, and the other, the common snake, is not. The viper is the smaller ; it may be known at once by its yellow colour, with a broad undulating black line along the back. On the top of the head, this black line is double, and forms a V. The viper only is venomous. On opening the mouth of a dead viper, which must always be done with great caution, because there is still some danger, we find, in addition to a number of fine sharp teeth, two teeth much larger than the others. They are situated on each side of the upper jaw, close against it, and partly covered by a fold of skin. These teeth are called fangs, and are not firmly fixed in the jaw like the others ; they lie against the gum, or are raised at the wish of the animal, by a 90 REPTILES OPHIDIANS DIAGRAM 5 joint at the base. On closely examining one of these fangs, we see in front, towards the point, a small slit, and on breaking it, we find that it is hollow like a tube. This channel in the tooth, and the slit form the passage for the poison. This is secreted by a gland placed in the middle of the muscle which raises the fang when the animal wishes to bite; the muscle in contracting presses on the poison- gland, and the venom runs into the wound through the channel 4 in the tooth. The fangs being thus moveable at their base, are not very firmly fixed ; and the viper often leaves them in the flesh ; but they are soon replaced by others concealed in the gum, which grow and take the place of those torn out. The presence of these fangs always allows us to distinguish the bite of a viper from that of a common snake, oven before the poison has begun to work. In a bite from a harmless snake, all the teeth make similar holes, like large needles, but in the bite of a viper, two holes larger than the rest are visible, which are caused by the fangs. The bite of a viper is always dangerous ; it will make a man very ill, and may kill a child. When one is bitten, the first thing to do, as in any other accident, is to send for a doctor. While waiting, it is always advisable to make the wound bleed as much as possible, and to suck it, provided there is no sore on the lips or in the mouth, through which the poison drawn from the wound might enter. The wound should also be washed with alkali or ammonia, if there is any at hand. Lastly a rather tight bandage should be placed on the wounded limb ; above the elbow if the wound is in the hand ; and above the knee, if it is in the leg. The bandage should never be drawn tight enough to make the limb cold, stiff, or insensible. But the doctor ought to arrange this. The common snake has no fangs, and is therefore not venomous. It is very easily tamed. It is very fond of milk, but it would be quite impossible for it to suck the cows, as it was formerly believed to do. The common snake and viper change their skin REPTILES OPHIDIANS DIAGRAM 5 9l every year. The epidermis loosens in a single piece, first round the lips, and then the animal moves backwards and forwards among the stones, to shuffle off this epidermis along the whole length of its body, till it finally comes out of its old skin like a glove. Serpents feed only on living prey, which they swallow without tearing or bruising them. A viper swallows a mouse or a small rat, at a single mouthful, in the following ^nauner. It springs on it, kills it, and seizes it by the head. The jaws of the serpent are then seen to distend enormously, and by little and little it swallows a prey larger than its own body. After it has swallowed it, it lies motionless for a time, as if fatigued by the exertions which it has made, whilst its head returns to its usual size. There is in America a very large kind of serpent, the loa, which can swallow a sheep in this manner after crushing it in the coils of its body, or against the trunk of a tree. The boa is not venomous. There are however two other kinds of serpents which are much more venomous than the viper ; one is the spectacle snake, and the other the rattlesnake. The spectacle snake inhabits India. It owes its name to a pattern on its neck which almost exactly resembles one of those pairs of spectacles which were formerly worn, like eyeglasses, on the nose. These serpents have the power of inflating their neck with air. which gives them a peculiar appearance. They raise themselves on their tail when they are irritated, and in some countries the jugglers exhibit them in public, but they take care beforehand to remove their fangs by giving them a piece of cloth to bite, which they jerk sharply when the animal has buried its teeth in it. After this, they are no longer dangerous, or at least their bite is no more to be feared than that of the common snake. The rattlesnake inhabits America, and is one of the most venomous known. It has a row of hard horny pieces at the end of the tail, which make a noise when rapidly shaken ; and 92 BEPTILESKBATIIACHIANS DIAGRAM 5 it is from this peculiarity that the snake derives its name. All serpents, like lizards, have a forked tongue which they sometimes End of taH of rattlesnake, dart out, and which is sometimes improperly called their sting ; but it is soft, and it is quite im- possible for them to do any harm with it. One ought always to destroy as many vipers as possible in a country, but there is no occasion to destroy the common snakes. Vipers, unlike most snakes, do not lay eggs, but bring forth their young alive. BATKACHIANS, DIAGBAM 5. The name of this family is derived from a Greek word mean- ing frog ; and it also includes the salamanders. All these ani- mals much resemble other reptiles, but they differ from them in having no scales, but a naked skin, and especially because they come out of the egg in a different form from that which they will afterwards assume ; they thus undergo what is called a metamor. phosis. A. frog, for instance, lays eggs. The eggs are trans- parent as jelly, and* we soon see the vitellus (which is not yellow as in the fowl, but brown) transformed into an animal which has 110 re- semblance to a frog ; it is composed of a large head and a tail, and is called a tadpole. It has two tufts on each side which are gills, and it has no lungs. It does not breathe the air of the atmosphere. But there is always a certain quantity of air in water ; and this is what forms small bubbles on the sides of a vessel in which water is Tadpole. REPTILES BATRACHIANS DIAGRAM 5 93 boiled. The tadpoles breathe this air by means of their tuft-like gills. Afterwards they disappear, and the tadpole grows larger, but without changing its form. It lives on water plants ; and at last two legs which are of no use, but which will afterwards be- come the great hind legs of the frog, grow from the end of its body, on each side of the root of the tail. Presently the tail de- creases, and the fore legs appear ; and afterwards the tail disap- pears altogether, and we then see a little frog which begins to grow to its full size. But from this moment its life is completely changed. It has no longer gills, but lungs ; it is obliged to breathe air, and likes to come out of the water ; it lives no longer on plants, but eats insects ; the frog has completed its meta- morphoses. All the batrachians undergo metamorphoses more or less similar to this. In the first stage, they are said to be in the larva state. Frogs are very easily taken with a hook baited with a bit of red rag. They are not eaten in England, but the hind legs of a common continental species are considered a great delicacy in France. Toads live on land rather than in water ; they eat small slugs and insects, and are consequently useful animals in gardens, which ought not be destroyed. They come out of their hiding places on damp evenings. If anyone offers to seize them, they fill their lungs with air, and swell. At the same time they dis- charge their urine in order to escape more quickly, and it was thought that they projected venom, but it is no such thing, and the toad is not venomous as is generally supposed, or at least it has no venom except in the small tubercles which cover the skin of its back. But as it has no means of injecting it into the body of other animals, it is not in any way dangerous. The female lays her eggs in the water, and the young ones exactly resemble the tadpoles of frogs ; they leave the water as soon as they have undergone their metamorphosis, and live in damp places. There are other batrachians, the shape of which is much like that of lizards, for they have four legs of nearly equal length, and a tail, These are the newts and salamanders. The newts live 94: REPTILES I3ATRACIIIANS DIAGRAM 5 Newt. in ponds, and may be known by their naked skin, and by their belly, which is of a fine orange colour. The males have along the back, but only in spring, a crest jagged like the teeth of a saw. The young are also born in the shape of tadpoles. The salamander, which is not found in England, lives in damp places, but does not like to go into the water. It is not much larger than the newts, and may be known by its yellow marblings on the black ground colour of its skin. It is an alto- gether harmless animal like the newt, and we cannot tell where the fable came from that it would not burn if put into the fire. If we wish to keep batrachians alive, it is not necessary except while they are in the tadpole state, to keep them constantly in the water. To keep frogs, for instance, the best means is to put them into a cage, or still better, under one of those covers of -ire gauze which are used to preserve meat from flies. It will only be necessary to put into the cage or under the cover a saucer full of water for the frogs to bathe in sometimes. The best way to feed them is to hang a little bag of maggots in the corner* of the cage or cover, and the maggots will change into flies, and the frogs will eat them. FISHES DIAGRAM 5 95 CLASS OF FISHES. DIAGKAM 5. Fish are cold-blooded animals like reptiles, but they always live in water, and breathe by means of gills. They are shaped liked combs, and are of a fine red colour, as may be seen on rais- ing the gill-covers. Fish breathe by taking in water by the mouth, and discharging it through the gills. On touching the gills, the air which is contained in the water, parts with its oxygen, and takes up in exchange carbonic acid from the blood, so that the respiration of fishes does not differ essentially from that of mammals and birds ; only it is effected by means of the air contained in the water, instead of atmospheric air. The limbs of fish are replaced by fins ; but they swim in the water, especially when they wish to move quickly, by the motion of the tail alone. Many have a bladder in the body, which is completely closed and filled with air to assist them to float in the water. Most fish are very voracious, and swallow their prey at a single gulp. They lay a great many eggs, but often very small ones ; and when the animal is full of eggs, it is said to be full of roe, which is the name generally applied to fishes' eggs. It has been estimated that a salmon may lay 27,000 eggs ; a pike 500,000 ; a sole, 100,000; a mackerel, 500,000; and a cod-fish from 3 to 9 millions of eggs. 96 FISHES DIAGRAM 5 The skeleton of fishes in not always of the same nature. In some, it is formed of hard and sharp bones : in others, on the contrary, as in the ray, sturgeon and lamprey, there are no bones, but only a skeleton composed of tough cartilages which Skeleton of Fish. break between the teeth. For this reason, fish are divided into two large orders, that of the osseous fishes which have bones, such as the salmon, herring, and pike ; and that of the carti- layinous fishes, which have none. The habits of fish are in general very little known, and we shall chiefly speak of kinds which furnish very cheap and abundant food. If we wish to observe the habits of various small kinds of fish, and in general of all water animals, we can always make a cheap aquarium with a bell glass like gardeners use, by turning it up- side down between the legs of a reversed stool. In order to keep an aquarium, or rather to make it keep itself, in order, there are several precautions to be taken. We must put at the bottom some small pebbles, and a stone or two, and especially some flints with a hole in them. Care must be taken to set the aquarium in a place which is neither too dark nor too much ex- posed to the sun. It is good to suspend in it a flower-pot with an aquatic plant. Some water-lentils might also be strewn over ; but it is necessary that the surface should be very little covered. Lastly, it is important not to put too many animals into the FISHES DIAGKAM 5. 97 aquarium, nor too large ones, nor carnivorous animals, which would eat the others. People often forget that the animals in an aquarium must be fed like a bird in a cage, or a dog which is kept chained up. We must try to find out suitable food for the animals that we rear ; no doubt some will find what they like in the water ; but it will not do to depend on that. If there are not many animals, and if there are some plants with them, and too much food is not thrown in so as to spoil the water, it will preserve its clearness for a long time, and it is unnecessary to change it. At the end of some time, we shall observe some small insects and molluscs which we did not know to be there. The surface of the glass will be covered with slime, but it can be cleaned without disturbing anything, with a piece of rag tied on a stick. A sea-water aquarium can be easily managed when it has once been stocked. It is then enough to make a mark to show the level of the water. When it has sunk by evaporation below the mark, we must add fresh water as far as the mark, and we can in this manner keep various marine animals alive for a very long time. Carp. The carps form a large family which also includes the barbels, tench, whitebait, and goldfish ; the scales of the carps are large and rounded, and these fish all feed on plants, and only rarely touch animal food. The carp inhabits our rivers, but it also likes ponds, where it sometimes grows to a very large size. It has been proved to live a very long time, at least 150 years. The whitebait is sought after for the sake of a kind of silvery dust under its scales, of which false pearls are made. It is also considered a great delicacy, for which Greenwich is especially famous. The goldfish was brought from China about a century ago, and has multiplied so much in our country that it is now very com- mon in a semi-doniesticated state. Salmon. The salmon family only includes the salmon and trout. Young salmon have their skin marked with small H 98 FISHES SALMON DIAGRAM 5 coloured spots, like trout. Salmon live ia the sea, but they ascend the streams and rivers every year, sometimes to a long distance, to spawn. When they have deposited their spawn, they return to the sea till the following year. The flesh of the salmon is red, and highly esteemed in countries where these fish are not common, as in England and France. Their eggs are comparatively large. They can, after being laid, be carried to a great distance in damp moss, to be transferred to rivers which the salmon do not generally ascend. When the young are hatched, they remain at first motionless at the bottom of the water ; they then begin to swim, and make their way towards the sea. Herrings. The herring family includes the herrings, the anchovies, and the sardines ; and it is one of those which are most useful for food. The anchovy is chiefly found in the Mediterranean, though it is not uncommon on our coasts. It is generally eaten potted, or made into sauce. The sardine is common on the coast of Brit- tany, where they fish for them with floating nets on the surface of the water, and preserve them in two ways ; the first are either salted and put into barrels, or else they are fried, and put into tin boxes with oil, which are soldered up. The herring appears on our coasts. in shoals like the sardines, but it forms larger banks as they are called ; and it also appears later ; and while they fish for sardines in the summer, the her- ring only begins to appear about the end of September or the beginning ot October. They are then taken in prodigious quanti- ties, and cost almost nothing in seaport towns. The boats go out to fish for them by hundreds. They are taken by floating nets of great length, in which they entangle their gills. When there is good fishing, it does not take more than two hours for the net to be loaded with fish. The herring is sold fresh, but is also preserved in various ways ; it is salted, pickled in vine- gar ; or smoked by putting it into the smoke of a fire made of resinous wood, FISHES DIAGRAM 5 99 The tunny and the mackerel. The tunny is a large fish which sometimes reaches the length of a yard and a half. It is not very common on our coasts, but they fish for it in the Mediterra nean, where it appears in large shoals. It much resembles the mackerel. It is taken either with lines or nets, in which a great number are killed by the blows of a boathook. The mackerel is especially abundant in the Atlantic Ocean, and in the Channel ; and is one of the most important of our English fish ; as it is frequently taken in enormous quantities. The stickleback. This is a very little fish which lives in ponds, rivers and brooks. It may be known by the spiiio.; on its back and sides. It erects them when it is threatened, and in- flicts painful wounds with them, though not venomous ones, as was formerly be- Stickleback and Nest. lieved. Sticklebacks are active, and assume in Spring very fine blue and red colours which they lose. They make true nests at the bottom of the water, they collect small pebbles and weeds, and lay their eggs there, which both parents watch unceasingly. They never ab- sent themselves, and keep the water in constant agitation near the nest. It is easy to observe all this in shallow pools, or in rivers overhung by trees, if they are approached carefully, and without frightening them. The Cod. Of all fish used for human food, the cod-fish is that which is taken in greatest abundance. Every year the various European ports despatch hundredsof vessels Cod - to fish for cod on the American Coast. They are found on our shores, but not in sufficient abundance for a ship to be rapidly loaded with them. it 2 100 FISHES DIAGBAM5 They go to fish for them off the coast of Iceland, and especially near the island of Newfoundland, at a point where the sea is not very deep, and which is called the bank of Newfoundland. Ships arrive there by thousands from all countries to pass the fishing season. The cod is taken by lines, and its voracity is such that it is unnecessary to select the bait to put on the hook. When the fish is brought on deck, its head is cut off, and it is split open all along. The eggs or roe are laid aside to serve as bait to sar- dine fishers. The liver is used to make cod-liver oil, which is a valuable remedy for eruptions, scrofula, and diseases of the chest. Lastly, the cod being thus opened at the belly, is spread out, and laid between two layers of salt; after some days, this first pickle is thrown away, and the salt is renewed ; and the fish thus prepared is put into barrels to be brought to Europe. Sometimes instead of salting the cod, they are content to spread it open, and dry it. It becomes as hard as a board, and is then called stockfish. Flat-fish. The family of flat-fish includes the plaice, the dab, the flounder, the turlot. the brill, and the sole. All these fish have a peculiar appearance which is not noticed at first. They may be known by the brown back, where the two eyes are placed and by the white belly; but one is struck by seeing their mouth awry. When they are cleaned, it is also observed .that the intestines are only on one side. These fish have a very peculiar structure. In- stead of having the belly below and the back above they have a white side turned towards the ground, and a brown side turned towards the sky ; and the eye which would be of no use to them if it was below, has travelled round to the side of the eye which is uppermost. To place one of the fish of which we speak in its true position, so as to compare it with a FISHES DIAGRAM 5 101 herring, for instance, we must place it in a position which it never takes itself, the dark side to the right, and the pale side to the left. And then we shall see that all the parts except the eyes are in the same position as in the mackerel. The tail is vertical ; the bones directed above and below ; the mouth is horizontal, and the gills and the intestines have their usual position. These fish are therefore animals which live on one side, and swim on one side. They are all very good for food. . Ihe Eel . It inhabits the sea, the rivers, and even the smallest ditches ; it will even live in a bucket or a pan. It can be reared thus, and will grow for years, and reach its largest size, or about a yard long. The eel feeds on small fish, worms, and frogs. In the spring time we see large rivers full of prodigious quantities of very small and nearly trans- parent eels, which make their way up the stream to- wards its source. They can then be taken by thousands by merely dipping with buckets. Eels, like several other fish, have no scales on the skin ; this is used to make thongs which are valued for their toughness. A fish is caught in the sea which is very like the eel, the conger eel : it is however much larger and not so long in proportion, it sometimes grows to the thickness of the thigh. The Sturgeon. This is a large fish, the body of which is covered with plates of bone as rough as files. Its head is pro- longed in front, and beneath it is a narrow mouth, and it can only feed on small marine animals, in spite of its large size! It lives in the sea, but it breeds in rivers, where they fish for it. Its flesh and eggs are articles of great trade in Eussia. The eggs Sturgeon are sold under the name of caviare. Lastly, they make isinglass 102 FISHES DIAGRAM 5 of its swimming bladder, which is used in many trades. The bladder is cut into small pieces, and dried in the sun. Isinglass is also employed in cooking to make jellies, but it is most valuable for manufacturing purposes. The sturgeon is very rare in Bri- tain, and if one happens to be caught in the Thames, it becomes a perquisite of the Queen. The Ray. The ray is a flat fish like the turbot and the plaice ; but it is enough to look at one for a moment to perceive that in the ray, the white side is really the belly, and the brown side the back. The mouth, placed under the pointed head, is in its usual place, and tho intestines are really in the middle of the body. The rays sometimes grow to a considerable size, and their mouth is armed with pointed teeth crowded together. They live chiefly on crabs. The rays, instead of laying a great number of small eggs like those of other fish, lay only a few, and these have a very peculiar form. They are nearly square, and flat- tened, with the four angles prolonged into a point. The egg is protected by a skin which is sometimes *atiny in ap- pearance. The yolk is as large as that of a hen's egg, and floats in a transparent albumen. In some countries these eggs are called sea-cuxlnom, and sea-mice ; mice, because they are silky like the skin of a mou^e ; and cushions because they have actually very much the appearance of a small cushion with four ribbons at the corners. The Torpedo. A fish is found on the coast of England and France which somewhat resembles a ray, and discharges very strong electric shocks when it is molested; this is. the torpedo. Several fish can give* similar si locks, Lut {]<>( > of the torpedo are the most formidable ; they paralyse 4 the arm, and if the ani- mal is vigorous, the effect pro- duced by its electric discharge is Egg- of ray. Torpedo. FISHES DIAGRAM 5 103 similar to that which is produced by a violent blow of a stick on the shoulder. The ft/lark*. These are not all so large as those which can seize the l<>