INTRODUCTION.

ANIMALS are natural bodies which possess organization, life, sensation, and voluntary motion; and Zoology is that branch of natural science which treats of their systematic arrangement, their structure and functions, their habits of life, instincts, and uses to mankind.

The objects comprehended within the animal kingdom are divided into six classes: Mammalia or Mammiferous Animals, Birds, Amphibia or Amphibious Animals, Fishes, Insects, and Worms: which are thus distinguished:

The first class, or Mammalia, consists of such animals as produce living offspring, and nourish their young ones with milk supplied from their own bodies; and it comprises both the quadrupeds and whales.

This class has been distributed into seven Orders; of primates,bruta, feræ, glires, pecora, belluæ, and cete, or whales. The characteristics of these are founded, for the most part, on the number and arrangement of the teeth; and on the form and construction of the feet, or of those parts in the seals, manati, and whales, which supply the place of feet.

ORDERS OF MAMMALIA.

I. PRIMATES...Have the upper front teeth generally four in number, wedge-shaped, and parallel; and two teats situated on the breast, as the apes and monkeys. II. BRUTA......Have no front teeth in either jaw; and the feet armed with strong hoof-like nails, as the elephant.

III. FERÆ

Have in general six front teeth in each jaw; a single canine tooth on each side in both jaws; and the grinders with conic projections, as the dogs and cats.

IV. GLIRES... Have in each jaw two long projecting front teeth, which stand close together; and no canine teeth in either jaw, as the rats and mice.

V. PECORA.. Have no front teeth in the upper jaw; six or eight in the lower jaw, situated at a considerable dis

tance from the grinders; and the feet with hoofs, as cattle and sheep.

VI. BELLUÆ. Have blunt wedge-shaped front teeth in both jaws; and the feet with hoofs, as horses.

VII. CETE.... Have spiracles, or breathing-holes, on the head; fins instead of fore-feet; and a tail flattened horizontally, instead of hind feet. This order consists of the narvals, whales, cachalots, and dolphins.

The second class, or Birds, comprises all such animals as have their bodies clad with feathers. Their jaws are elongated, and covered externally with a horny substance called a bill or beak, which is divided into two parts called mandibles. Their eyes are furnished with a thin, whitish, and somewhat transparent membrane, that can at pleasure be drawn over the whole external surface like a curtain. Birds respire by air vessels, which are extended through their body, and which, in the abdominal cavity, adhere to the under surface of the bones. Their organs of motion are two wings and two legs; and they are destitute of external ears, lips, and many other parts which are important to quadrupeds.

Linnæus has divided this class into six Orders.

ORDERS OF BIRDS.

1. Land Birds.

1. RAPACIOUS BIRDS (Accipitres) Have the upper mandible hooked, and an angular projection on each side near the point, as the eagles, hawks, and owls.

II. PIES (Pica)

Have their bills sharp at the edge, somewhat compressed at the sides, and convex on the top, as the crow.

III. PASSERINE BIRDS (Passeres) Have the bill conical and pointed, and the nostrils oval, open, and naked, as the sparrow and linnet.

What if the Lion in his rage I meet?
Oft in the dust I view his printed feet:
And, fearful oft when Day's declining light
Yields her pale empire to the mourner Night,
By hunger roused, he scours the groaning plain,
Gaunt Wolves and sullen Tigers in his train:
Before them Death, with shrieks, directs their way,
Fills the wild yell, and leads them to their prey.

COLLINS.

THE LION, justly styled, by all writers, the King of Beasts, is generally of a tawny colour, in length from seven to nine feet, and his tail about four; in height between four and five feet: his head is large and strong; his nose thick; his mouth wide, and armed with numerous and strong teeth; his eyes are red, fiery, quick, and hollow: each of his fore feet has five

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distinct claws, and the hinder ones, apparently, but four, as the fifth is placed higher up in the tarsus, or foot; they are of a whitish colour, about an inch and a quarter in length, crooked, moveable, sharp, and exceedingly hard. His roaring is so terrible, that, when other wild beasts hear the noise, their hearts pant with fear; although he is not himself, at times, without his dread of other creatures, such as the tiger, the elephant, and some mighty snakes, which often give him battle.-Lions are hunted with dogs, but oftener taken in pits, nets, and snares.

The generosity of the Lion has been much extolled; and he has been known to forgive, or disdain, the insults of smaller creatures, that had teased him with their inconsiderate petulance. His attachment is exemplified in the following anecdote.

M. Felix, the keeper of the animals in Paris, some years ago brought two Lions, a male and female, to the national menagerie. About the beginning of the following June, he was taken ill, and could no longer attend the Lions; and another person was under the necessity of performing this duty. The male, sad and solitary, remained from that moment constantly seated at the end of his cage, and refused to take food from the stranger, whose presence was hateful to him, and whom he often menaced by bellowing. The company even of the female seemed now to displease him; and he paid no attention to her. The uneasiness of the animal afforded a belief that he was really ill; but no one dared to approach him. At length Felix recovered; and, with intention to surprise the Lion, he crawled softly to the cage, and showed only his face between the bars: the Lion, in a moment, made a bound, leaped against the bars, patted him with his paws, licked his hands and face, and trembled with pleasure. The female also ran to him; but the Lion drove her back, and seemed angry; and, fearful that

she should snatch any favours from Felix, a quarrel was about to take place; but Felix entered the cage to pacify them. He caressed them by turns; and was afterwards frequently seen betwixt them. He had so great a command over these animals, that whenever he wished them to separate and retire to their cages, he had only to give the order: when he had a desire that they should lie down, and show strangers their paws or throats, on the least sign they would throw themselves on their backs, hold up their paws one after another, open their throats, and, as a recompense, obtain the favour of licking his hand.

As the Lion belongs to the feline kind, his eyes are incapable of bearing a strong light; therefore it is in the night that he prowls and roams for prey. His strength is so great, that he has been known to carry away a young heifer and leap a ditch with it in his mouth. Though the Lion generally springs upon his prey from some lurking place, yet there have been instances where he has deviated from this mode of attack. Dr. Sparrman has mentioned an instance. A Hottentot perceiving that he was followed by a Lion, and concluding that the animal only waited the approach of night to make him his prey, began to consider what was the best mode of providing for his safety; and at length he adopted the following:Observing a piece of broken ground with a precipitate descent on one side, he sat down by the edge of it; and found, to his great joy, that the Lion also made a halt, and kept at a distance behind him. As soon as it grew dark, the man, sliding gently forward, let himself down a little below the edge of the steep; and held up his cloak and hat on his stick, at the same time gently moving them backward and forward. The Lion, after a while, came creeping towards the object; and, mistaking the cloak for the man himself, made a spring at it, and fell headlong down the precipice.