Search

This textbook provides the foundation for a course in zoology intended for schools and academies of all grades. It relies on concise and plain language and draws on the latest research and investigation. The common names of orders and families are in every case followed by the scientific term, for the convenience of the instructor or advanced student. So also as regards classification: the groups of animals are arranged in an order that represents the latest knowledge of the various forms that constitute them. The general characteristics of each branch or order are plainly defined, why and how they differ from preceding ones shown, and then examples are given of the individuals constituting the group that have been selected for their availability as representative forms, and for certain peculiarities that will be most readily impressed upon the memory. The student should be encouraged to become an investigator and collector, and available suggestions concerning the best methods of collecting and preserving specimens are provided after each branch. Object-study should be required, and dissections and drawings made, no matter how imperfect the one or crude the other. A distinctive feature of this work is the reference to the economic value of animals. This has been done as briefly as possible, in the form of suggestions to the teacher, to be enlarged upon as occasion offers. A carefully selected bibliography is provided following each principal group of animals. Illustrative representations of about five hundred animals and their parts are also included.