parts or members, more or less numerous, which are requisite to its complete structure; endowed, like plants, with organs of growth and reproduction; but differing from plants in possessing volition, or the power of voluntary action, to a greater or less extent, varying with the different races. In other words, animals are characterized by the attributes of life, motion, and organized form. It should be observed, however, that the animal and vegetable kingdoms of nature are connected by transitions so gradual, that it has been a difficult point to ascertain their common boundary. The study of animals, is a very extensive one, and possesses high interest; especially to the agriculturist, the sportsman, and the devout student of nature.

To the Zoological labours of Aristotle, Pliny, Gesner, and Aldrovandi, we have already alluded, in the introduction to this department; where the writings of Bélon, Lister, Willoughby, and Ray, were also mentioned, as commencing a new era in Zoology, of which Linnæus was the rising sun. Linnæus subdivided the animal kingdom into six classes; founded chiefly on the respiratory and sanguineous organs; and arranged as follows: 1. Mammalia, animals which have warm, red blood, and nourish their young at the breast, being mostly quadrupeds; 2. Aves, or birds, which have warm red blood, but produce their young from eggs, and are hence called oviparous ; 3. Amphibia, or reptiles, which have cold, red blood, and voluntary respiration; 4. Pisces, or fishes, which have cold, red blood, and breathe by means of gills; 5. Insecta, or insects, which have the sanies, a fluid in the place of blood, cold and colorless, and are provided with antennæ, or horns; and, 6. Vermes, or worms, with sanies cold and colorless, and tentacula, or fleshy feelers, instead of antennæ. These classes, Linnæus subdivided into orders; those of quadrupeds characterized chiefly by the teeth and feet; those of birds, by the beak and the feet; those of fishes, by the lower fin; and those of insects, by the wings. This classification, founded on real distinctions, established Zoology on a firm basis, though occasionally imperfect, and still incomplete.

Zoology was rendered still more popular, by the fascinating writings of Buffon, already referred to; and in England it acquired a new interest, from the attractive, though still less accurate pen of Goldsmith. The Theatrum Insectorum of Mouffet, in 1634, was the first zoological work ever printed in England; and the works of Margrave, on Brazil, and Bontius, on India, were the first local Faunæ, or natural histories of particular regions. The work of Ellis, on Corallines, served to correct the views of Linnæus, by proving that these productions were of animal origin. Ichthyology was farther improved by Artedi and Bloch; and Entomology, by Fabricius and Kirby, before the era of Cuvier. The system of Linnæus was an artificial one, not always developing the most important relations of the animals which it classified. By studying the functions of animals, and their conditions of existence, Cuvier was enabled to produce a more natural system, which by the aid of Lamarck, in Conchology, and Latreille, in Entomology, he developed in his Regne Animal; a work of the highest order of merit.

Among the more recent zoologists, we may mention Geoffroy St.

Hilaire, and Illiger, who have made quadrupeds their particular study; Temminck and Audubon, as ornithologists; and Agassiz and Strack, as ichthyologists; who have extended the boundaries of this science, by additions and corrections. The doctrine of a circular progression, in the arrangement and relation of animals, propounded principally by Mr. Macleay, is doubtless true in part; and exhibits the same complexity in the classification of animals, which we have already noticed in the classification of the various branches of knowledge. In our own country, Dr. Godman has written ably on quadrupeds; as Wilson, Nuttall, and Audubon, have done on birds; and Lea on shells. The invaluable collection of specimens made by Mr. Peale, and now in the Philadelphia Museum, deserves, we think, to be mentioned, even in this brief enumeration.

We proceed to describe the Zoological system of Cuvier, under the popular heads of, 1. Zoonomy; 2. Mazology; 3. Ornithology; 4. Herpetology; 5. Ichthyology; 6. Arthrology; and, 7. Actinology. § 1. Under the head of Zoonomy, including Comparative Anatomy, and Animal Physiology, we would treat of the general structure and functions of animals. Every organic body, whether animal or plant, has a peculiar and definite form; which form it continues to possess, although, by accretion and excretion, the materials of which it is composed may be changed. All organic bodies have also a peculiar structure; consisting of solid fibres, or layers, enclosing cellular, or tubular cavities, for containing the fluids necessary for their nutrition; the whole constituting what has been called an areolar tissue, which is essential to every living body. Of this tissue, there are, in animals, three different kinds; the cellular substance, consisting chiefly of gelatine, which forms the various membranes, cartilages, and vessels that contain fluids, and which, indurated by earthy matter, forms the bones: the muscular fibre, consisting chiefly of fibrine, and constituting the muscles, whose contractile power is the immediate cause of animal motion; and the medullary matter, a pulpy substance, which chiefly constitutes the brain, the spinal marrow, and the nerves, by whose agency the mind acts on the muscles, to cause their contraction, and thus produce voluntary motion. This effect is doubtless connected with galvanic action; but the manner and laws of this action are still a mystery.

The

The growth of animals, is owing to the absorption and assimilation of fluids, derived from their food: while their healthiness is preserved by the exhalation or excretion of noxious and superfluous matter. Having increased in bulk to their natural limit, animals acquire an increase of density, in most of their parts, which precedes, and perhaps causes their decay and ultimate death. races would therefore become extinct without the power of reproduction; which is perhaps the greatest mystery of life. The most essential of the animal fluids, is the blood, or, in lower animals, the sanies, which takes its place; circulating through the system, and supplying nutriment to every part, while it absorbs and removes any superfluous or deleterious matter. The blood is elaborated from the food, by means of the alimentary system: and, by means of the respiratory system, it is purified and vivified during the process of

Among the vegetable acids, are the oxalic, which is poisonous; the acetic, which is the basis of vinegar; the tartaric, obtained from crude tartar in the lees of wine; and the gallic, obtained from gall nuts, and used for ink, and dyeing. The chief vegetable alkalies, are morphia, and narcotina, from opium; and cinchona and quinia from Peruvian bark. Among the vegetable aliments, are sugar, starch, and gum; which, by fermentation, produce alcohol, and afterwards vinegar and among the nitrogenous compounds are gluten, vegetable albumen, and yeast. Indigo, one of the most important coloring matters, also contains nitrogen.

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Animal substances, besides the elements above mentioned, frequently contain sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, potassium, sodium, lime, magnesia, and iron. Among the animal constituents, are fibrin, obtained from muscular flesh; gelatin, or glue, from the skins, cartilages, and tendons; and albumen, from the white of eggs, found also in the blood: these being the chief constituents of the fleshy parts, and composed essentially of the four elements named at the head of this section. It is remarkable that while some vegetable substances contain nitrogen, and hence are peculiarly subject to the putrefactive fermentation; the animal oils, tallow, and fat, do not contain nitrogen, and hence are more permanent compounds. When the oils or fats are boiled with potassa, or soda, they are converted into distinct acids, the margaric, oleic, and stearic, which unite with these alkalies, and form soaps. The bones of animals, consist chiefly of carbonate and phosphate of lime; and the blood contains all the chemical elements which are found in the bodies that it nourishes.

§ 4. The object of Analytic Chemistry, is to examine substances and discover of what chemical elements or constituents they are composed. This it does, by a variety of means, which we have here no room to describe, but of which some examples may be presented. A substance containing free carbon, or carbon combined with hydrogen, will burn with oxygen; and the carbonic acid gas and watery vapor, may be collected, and measured, or weighed. Substances which will not burn, are often soluble in water or some other liquid; and in such cases they may often be tested by the precipitates which they form. Thus, all the sapho-metals, or higher metals, may be precipitated from their solutions, by adding the hydrosulphate of ammonia, or any soluble hydrosulphate; and several of the metals may be distinguished at once, by the color of the irsulphurets thus precipitated. Substances containing silicic acid, as sand, quartz, or flint, may be rendered soluble in water by heating them to redness with a large dose of potassa or soda: and the silicic acid may be separated, by its becoming insoluble on evaporating the solution to dryness. Among the best means of testing substances, is the use of the blowpipe; which by the acid of certain fusible salts, called fluxes, will melt most substances and produce certain characteristic effects.

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guroo, and wombat: the fifth order, Rodentia, or gnawing animals, includes the squirrel, rat, mouse, marmot, jerboa, beaver, porcupine, and hare and the sixth order, Edentata, or quadrupeds without front teeth, includes the sloth, the extinct megatherium, or megalonyx; the armadillo and anteater. The seventh order, Pachydermata, or thick skinned animals, comprises the elephant, the extinct mastodon, the hippopotamus, rhinoceros, tapir, and swine; the extinct anoplotherium, and palæotherium, and the horse: and the eighth order, Ruminantia, or animals which chew the cud, includes the camel, lama, deer, giraffe, antelope, goat, sheep, and ox. The ninth order, Cetacea, or the whale tribe, includes the manatus or sea cow, the dolphin, porpoise, and whale.

§3. Ornithology, is that division of Zoology which treats of birds. They are vertebrated animals; oviparous, or producing eggs, with double systems of circulation and respiration; with a feathery or downy covering, long naked jaws or beak, two feet, and two wings formed for flying. They are divided into orders, according to the structure of the beak and feet, as indicating their mode of living. The first order, Accipitres, or birds of prey, comprehends the vultures, among which is the condor; and the falcons, among which are the eagle, goshawk, kite, and buzzard; together with the distinct family of the owls. The second order, Passerinæ, or sparrowlike birds, comprises the Dentirostres, or the shrike, fly catcher, thrush, mocking bird, oriole, nightingale, wren, and meadow lark; the Fissirostres, or swallow and whip-poor-will; the Conirostres, or the lark, sparrow, finch, linnet, starling, crow, rook, pie, and jay; the Tenuirostres, or the humming bird and hoopoe; and the Syndactiles, or the kingfisher and hornbill. The third order, Scansores, or climbers, includes the woodpecker, cuckoo, toucan, and parrot: and the fourth order, Gallinacea, or fowl-like birds, includes the hocco, peacock, turkey, pheasant, domestic fowl, grouse, partridge, quail, pigeon, and dove. The fifth order, Grallatoriæ, or stilted birds, includes the Brevipennes, or ostrich and cassowary; the Pressirostres or bustard, plover, and lapwing: the Cultirostres, or crane, boatbill, heron, bittern, stork, pelican, and spoonbill; the Longirostres, or ibis, curlew, snipe, woodcock, sandpiper, ruff, and avoset; and the Macrodactyles, or the rail, coot, water hen, sheathbill, and flamingo. The sixth order, Palmipedes, or webfooted birds, includes the Brachypteres, or diver, puffin, and penguin; the Longipennes, or the petrel, albatross, gull, tern, and skimmer; the Totipalmes, or the pelican, cormorant, and booby; and the Lamellirostres, as the swan, goose, duck, and merganser.

§4. Herpetology, treats of amphibia or reptiles, such as the tortoise, lizard, serpent, and frog. The study of serpents is also termed Ophiology. Reptiles, are cold, red blooded animals, oviparous, producing eggs with soft shells, which hatch spontaneously; and they are called amphibia, because most of them can live a long time under water, as well as on land; and some of them can live entirely without air for a long time. They have a heart with but one ventricle, producing only a single circulation; and their lungs receive only a part of the blood which enters the heart: hence their respiration

agree most nearly, or have the strongest points of resemblance, may come next to each other in the system. Such a system may be formed of a series of divisions, each more comprehensive than the preceding, and characterized by some more general property, till we come to the last and highest gradation in the scale. Thus, each kingdom of nature is divided into classes, founded on the most prominent distinctions; these are subdivided into orders, founded on the chief distinctions among objects of the same class; and the orders are, on the same principle, subdivided into genera; and these, in like manner, are composed of species, among which all the individual objects may be distributed. The most natural system of classification, is, we think, that in which the chief divisions are founded on the most important distinctions; and in which objects that most resemble each other, are placed nearest together. Any other system, founded on minor distinctions, may be characteristically termed artificial.

The laws of organic life, are, generally, not so easily tested by experiment, as those of inanimate matter: hence Zoology, and Botany, are sciences rather of observation, than of experiment; though often aided by the latter also. They are, however, governed by definite laws, no less remarkable than those of the inanimate world. Among these, we would mention, that objects which resemble each other in external form, are likely also to have strong resemblances of internal structure, and general properties. The essential law, by which all living beings, both animals and plants, are governed, is that of final causes, or conditions of existence; by which, their structure and functions, must be adapted to their habitation, and the circumstances in which they are placed. By this law, beasts of prey must be swift to seize, and strong to hold, their victims; birds, that dig for insects, must have sharp and hard bills; and fishes, living under water, must have corresponding organs of motion, as well as a different mode of respiration from that of animals surrounded by the air alone. To trace this principle throughout the living world, in plants, as well as animals, would require many volumes; and would afford to Natural Theology, the strongest proofs of design, and of wisdom, in the Creation.

The existence of final causes, and the marks of design, are also numerous in the mineral, as well as the organic kingdoms of nature. Thus, iron, and the more useful metals, are found the most abundantly scattered over the earth; while arsenic, and the other less useful, or even deleterious elements, are comparatively rare. Thus, again, volcanoes, which seem at first view to be agents of waste and destruction, serve rather as chimneys to the subterranean fires, to give vent to the confined gases, and prevent the recurrence of extensive and devastating earthquakes. On the uses of Idiophysical studies, we have no room to descant; though they are numerous; not only in their applications to the various arts, to the materials for which they specially relate; but also as a means of recreation, a gratification of laudable curiosity, and a clue to the designs of the Great Author of nature; whose Works, and whose Revelation, if rightly interpreted, must necessarily accord with each other.