CHAPTER XII.. A Bird’s-Eye View of the Rise and Progress of Backboned Life.

A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF BACKBONED LIFE.

We have now sketched out, though very roughly, the history of the various branches of the great backboned family, and we have found that, as happens in all families, they have each had their successes and their downfalls, their times of triumph, and their more sober days, when the remaining descendants have been content to linger on in the byways of life, and take just so much of this world’s good as might fall to their share.

We have seen also that, as in all families of long standing, many branches have become extinct altogether; the great enamel-plated fish, the large armour-covered newts, the flying, swimming, and huge erect-walking reptiles, the toothed and long-tailed birds, the gigantic marsupials, the enormous ground-loving sloths, and many others, have lived out their day and disappeared; their place being filled either by smaller descendants of other branches of the group, or by new forms in the great armies of fish, birds, and milk-givers which now have chiefly possession of the earth.

Still, on the whole, the history has been one of a gradual rise from lower to higher forms of life; and if we put aside for a moment all details, and, forgetting the enormous lapse of time required, allow the shifting scene to pass like a panorama before us, we shall have a grand view indeed of the progress of the great backboned family.

First, passing by that long series of geological formations in which no remains of life have been found, or only those of boneless or invertebrate animals, we find ourselves in a sea abounding in stone-lilies and huge crustaceans, having among them the small forms of the earliest fish known to us, those having gristly skeletons. Then as the scene passes on, and forests clothe the land, we behold the descendants of these small fish becoming large and important, wearing heavy enamelled plates or sharp defensive spines; some of them with enormous jaws, two or three feet in length, wandering in the swamps and muddy water, and using their air-bladder as a lung. But these did not turn their air-breathing discovery to account; they remained in the water, and their descendants are fish down to the present day.

It is in the next scene, when already the age of the huge extinct fishes is beginning to pass away, and tree ferns and coal forest plants are flourishing luxuriantly, that we find the first land animals, which have been growing up side by side with the fish, and gradually learning to undergo a change, marvellous indeed, yet similar to one which goes on under our eyes each year in every country pond. For now, mingling with the fish, we behold an altogether new type of creatures which, beginning life as water-breathers, learn to come out upon the land and live as air-breathers in the swamps of the coal forests.

A marvellous change this is, as we can judge by watching our common tadpole, and seeing how during its youth its whole breathing organs are remade on a totally different principle, its heart is remodelled from an organ of two chambers into one of three, the whole course of its blood is altered, some channels being destroyed and others multiplied and enlarged, a sucking mouth is converted into a gaping bony jaw, and legs with all their bones and joints are produced where none were before, while the fish’s tail, its office abandoned, is gradually absorbed and lost.

The only reason why this completely new creation, taking place in one and the same animal, does not fill us with wonder is, that it goes on in the water where generally we do not see it, and because the most wonderful changes are worked out inside the tadpole, and are only understood by physiologists. But in truth the real alteration in bodily structure is much greater than if a seal could be changed into a monkey.

Now this complete development which the tadpole goes through in one summer is, after all, but a rapid repetition, as it were, of that slow and gradual development which must have taken place in past ages, when water-breathing animals first became adapted to air-breathing. Any one, therefore, who will take the spawn of a frog from a pond, and watch it through all its stages, may rehearse for himself that marvellous chapter in the history of the growth and development of higher life.

And he will gain much by this study, for all nature teaches us that this is the mode in which the Great Power works. Not “in the whirlwind,” or by sudden and violent new creations, but by the “still small voice” of gentle and gradual change, ordering so the laws of being that each part shall model and remodel itself as occasion requires. Could we but see the whole, we should surely bend in reverence and awe before a scheme so grand, so immutable, so irresistible in its action, and yet so still, so silent, and so imperceptible, because everywhere and always at work. Even now to those who study nature, broken and partial as their knowledge must be, it is incomprehensible how men can seek and long for marvels of spasmodic power, when there lies before them the greatest proof of a mighty wisdom in an all-embracing and never-wavering scheme, the scope of which is indeed beyond our intelligence, but the partial working of which is daily shown before our very eyes.

But to return to our shifting scene where the dense forests of the Coal Period next come before us. There, while numerous fish, small and great, fill the waters, huge Newts have begun their reign (Labyrinthodonts), wandering in the marshy swamps or swimming in the pools, while smaller forms run about among the trees, or, snake-like in form, wriggle among the ferns and mosses; and one and all of these lead the double-breathing or amphibian life.

In the next scene the coal forests are passing away, though still the strange forms of the trees and the gigantic ferns tell us we have not left them quite behind; and now upon the land are true air-breathers, no longer beginning life in the water, but born alive, as the young ones of the black salamander are now (see p. 81). The Reptiles have begun their reign, and they show that, though still cold-blooded animals, they have entered upon a successful line of life, for they increase in size and number till the world is filled with them.

Meanwhile other remarkable forms now appear leading off to two new branches of backboned life. On the one hand, little insect-eating warm-blooded marsupials scamper through the woods, having started we scarcely yet know when or where, except that we learn from their structure that they probably branched off from the amphibians in quite a different line from the reptiles, and certainly gained a footing upon the earth in very early times. On the other hand, birds come upon the scene having teeth in their mouths, long-jointed tails, and many other reptilian characters. We have indeed far more clue to the relationship of the birds than we have of the marsupials, for while we have these reptile-like birds, we have also the bird-like reptiles such as the little Compsognathus, which hopped on two feet, had a long neck, bird-like head and many other bird-like characters, though no wings or feathers.

The birds, however, even though reptile-like in their beginning, must soon have branched out on a completely new line. They for the first time among this group of animals, have the perfect four-chambered heart with its quick circulation and warm blood; while not only do they use their fore limbs for flying (for this some reptiles did before them), but they use them in quite a new fashion, putting forth a clothing of feathers of wondrous beauty and construction, and with true wings taking possession of the air, where from this time their history is one of continued success.

And now we have before us all the great groups of the backboned family--fish, amphibia, reptiles, birds and mammalia; but in what strange proportions! As the scenery of the Chalk Period with its fan-palms and pines comes before us, we find that the gristly fish, except the sharks and a few solitary types, are fast dying out, while the bony fish are but just beginning their career. The large amphibians are all gone long ago; they have run their race, enjoyed their life and finished their course, leaving only the small newts and salamanders, and later on the frogs and toads, to keep up the traditions of the race. The land-birds are still in their earliest stage; they have probably scarcely lost their lizard-like tail, and have not yet perfected their horny beak, but are only feeling their way as conquerors of the air. And as for the milk-givers, though we have met with them in small early forms, yet now for a time we lose sight of them again altogether.

It is the reptiles--the cold-blooded monster reptiles--which seem at this time to be carrying all before them. We find them everywhere--in the water, with paddles for swimming; in the air, with membranes for flying; on the land hopping or running on their hind feet. From small creatures not bigger than two feet high, to huge monsters thirty feet in height, feeding on the tops of trees which our giraffes and elephants could not reach, they fill the land; while flesh-eating reptiles, quite their match in size and strength, prey upon them as lions and tigers do upon the grass-feeders now. This is no fancy picture, for in our museums, and especially in Professor Marsh’s wonderful collection in Yale Museum in America, you may see the skeletons of these large reptiles, and build them up again in imagination as they stood in those ancient days when they looked down upon the primitive birds and tiny marsupials, little dreaming that their own race, then so powerful, would dwindle away, while these were to take possession in their stead.

And now in our series of changing scenes comes all at once that strange blank which we hope one day to fill up; and when we look again the large reptiles are gone, the birds are spreading far and wide, and we come upon those early and primitive forms of insect-eaters, gnawers, monkeys, grass-feeders, and large flesh-eaters, whose descendants, together with those of the earlier marsupials, are henceforward to spread over the earth. We need scarcely carry our pictures much farther. We have seen how, in these early times, the flesh-feeders and grass-feeders were far less perfectly fitted for their lives than they are now; how the horse has only gradually acquired his elegant form; the stag his branching antlers; and the cat tribe their scissor-like teeth, powerful jaws, and muscular limbs; while the same history of gradual improvement applies to nearly all the many forms of milk-givers.

But there is another kind of change which we must not forget, which has been going on all through this long history, namely, alterations in the level and shape of the continents and islands, as coasts have been worn away in some places and raised up or added to in others, so that different countries have been separated from or joined to each other. Thus Australia, now standing alone, with its curious animal life, must at some very distant time have been joined to the mainland of Asia, from which it received its low forms of milk-givers, and since then, having become separated from the great battlefield of the Eastern Continent, has been keeping for us, as it were in a natural isolated zoological garden, the strange primitive Platypus and Echidna, and Marsupials of all kinds and habits.

So too, Africa, no doubt for a long time cut off by a wide sea which prevented the larger and fiercer animals from entering it, harboured the large wingless ostriches, the gentle lemurs, the chattering monkeys, the scaly manis, and a whole host of insect-eaters; while South America, also standing alone, gave the sloths and armadilloes, the ant-bears, opossums, monkeys, rheas, and a number of other forms, the chance of establishing themselves firmly before stronger enemies came to molest them. These are only a few striking examples which help us to see how, if we could only trace them out, there are reasons to be found why each animal or group of animals now lives where we find it, and has escaped destruction in one part of the world when it has altogether disappeared in others.

* * * * *

So, wandering hither and thither, the backboned family, and especially the milk-givers, took possession of plains and mountain ranges, of forests and valleys, of deserts and fertile regions. But still another question remains--How has it come to pass that large animals which once ranged all over Europe and Northern Asia,--mastodons, tusked tapirs, rhinoceroses, elephants, sabre-toothed tigers, cave-lions, and hippopotamuses in Europe, gigantic sloths and llamas in North America, and even many huge forms in South America, have either been entirely destroyed or are represented now only by scattered groups here and there in southern lands? What put an end to the “reign of the milk-givers,” and why have they too diminished on the earth as the large fish, the large newts, and the large lizards did before them?

To answer this question we must take up our history just before the scene at the head of our last chapter, which the reader may have observed does not refer, as the others have done, to the animals in the chapter itself. Nevertheless it has its true place in the series, for it tells of a time when the great army of milk-givers had its difficulties and failures as well as all the other groups, only these came upon them not from other animals but from the influence of snow and ice.

For we know that gradually from the time of tropical Europe, when all the larger animals flourished in our country, a change was creeping very slowly and during long ages over the whole northern hemisphere. The climate grew colder and colder, the tropical plants and animals were driven back or died away, glaciers grew larger and snow deeper and more lasting, till large sheets of ice covered Norway and Sweden, the northern parts of Russia, Germany, England, Holland, and Belgium, and in America the whole of the country as far south as New York. Then was what geologists call the “Glacial Period;” and whether the whole country was buried in ice, or large separate glaciers and thick coverings of snow filled the land, in either case the animals, large and small, must have had a bad time of it.

True, there were probably warmer intervals in this intense cold, when the more southern animals came and went, for we find bones of the hippopotamus, hyæna, and others buried between glacial beds in the south of England. But there is no doubt that at this time numbers of land animals must have perished, for in England alone, out of fifty-three known species which lived in warmer times, only twelve survived the great cold, while others were driven southwards never to return, and the descendants of others came back as new forms, only distantly related to those which had once covered the land.

Moreover, when the cold passed away and the country began again to be covered with oak and pine forests where animals might feed and flourish, we find that a new enemy had made his appearance. Man--active, thinking, tool-making man--had begun to take possession of the caves and holes of the rocks, making weapons out of large flints bound into handles of wood, and lighting fires by rubbing wood together, so as to protect himself from wild beasts and inclement weather.

In America and in England alike, as well as in Northern Africa, Asia Minor, and India, we know that man was living at this time among animals, many of them of species which have since become extinct, and with his rude weapons of jagged flint was conquering for himself a place in the world.

He must have had a hard struggle, for we find these flint implements now lying among the bones of hyænas, sabre-toothed tigers, cave-lions, cave-bears, rhinoceroses, elephants, and hippopotamuses, showing that it was in a land full of wild beasts that he had to make good his ground.

“By the swamp in the forest The oak-branches groan, As the savage primeval, With russet hair thrown O’er his huge naked limbs, swings his hatchet of stone.

“And now, hark! as he drives with A last mighty swing, The stone blade of the axe through The oak’s central ring, From his blanched lips what screams of wild agony spring!

There’s a rush through the fern-fronds, A yell of affright, And the Savage and Sabre-tooth Close in fierce fight, As the red sunset smoulders and blackens to night.”

Many and fierce these conflicts must have been, for the wild beasts were still strong and numerous, and man had not yet the skill and weapons which he has since acquired. But rough and savage though he may have been, he had powers which made him superior to all around him. For already he knew how to make and use weapons to defend himself, and how to cover himself at least with skins as protection from cold and damp. Moreover, he had a brain which could devise and invent, a memory which enabled him to accumulate experience, and a strong power of sympathy which made him a highly social being, combining with others in the struggle for life.

And so from that early time till now, man, the last and greatest winner in life’s race, has been taking possession of the earth. With more and more powerful weapons he has fought against the wild beasts in their native haunts; and by clearing away the large forests, cutting up the broad prairies and pastures, and cultivating the land, he has turned them out of their old feeding grounds, till now we must go to the centre of Africa, the wild parts of Asia, or the boundless forests of South America, to visit in their homes the large wild animals of the great army of milk-givers.

* * * * *

Since, therefore, these forms are growing rarer every century, and some of them, such as the Dodo, Epyornis, and Moa among birds, and the northern sea-cow or Rhytina among milk-givers, have already disappeared since the times of history, we must endeavour, before others are gone for ever, to study their structure and their habits. For we are fast learning that it is only by catching at these links in nature’s chain that we can hope to unravel the history of life upon the earth.

At one time naturalists never even thought that there was anything to unravel, for they looked upon the animal kingdom as upon a building put together brick by brick, each in its place from the beginning. To them, therefore, the fact that a fish’s fin, a bird’s wing, a horse’s leg, a man’s arm and hand, and the flipper of a whale, were all somewhat akin, had no other meaning than that they seemed to have been formed upon the same plan; and when it became certain that different kinds of animals had appeared from time to time upon the earth, the naturalists of fifty years ago could have no grander conception than that new creatures were separately made (they scarcely asked themselves how) and put into the world as they were wanted.

But a higher and better explanation was soon to be found, for there was growing up among us the greatest naturalist and thinker of our day, that patient lover and searcher after truth, Charles Darwin, whose genius and earnest labours opened our eyes gradually to a conception so deep, so true, and so grand, that side by side with it the idea of making an animal from time to time, as a sculptor makes a model of clay, seems too weak and paltry ever to have been attributed to an Almighty Power.

By means of the facts collected by our great countryman and the careful conclusions which he drew from them, we have learned to see that there has been a gradual unfolding of life upon the globe, just as a plant unfolds first the seed-leaves, then the stem, then the leaves, then the bud, the flower, and the fruit; so that though each part has its own beauties and its own appointed work, we cannot say that any stands alone, or could exist without the whole. Surely then Natural History acquires quite a new charm for us when we see that our task is to study among living forms, and among the remains of those that are gone, what has been the education and the development of all the different branches, so as to lead to the greatest amount of widespreading life upon the globe, each having its own duty to perform. With the great thought before us that every bone, every hair, every small peculiarity, every tint of colour, has its meaning, and has, or has had, its use in the life of each animal or those that have gone before it, a lifelong study even can never weary us in thus tracing out the working of Nature’s laws, which are but the expression to us of the mind of the great Creator.

When we once realise that whether in attacking or avoiding an enemy it is in most cases a great advantage to all animals to be hidden from view, and that each creature has arrived at this advantage by slow inheritance, so that their colours often exactly answer the purpose, how wonderful becomes the gray tint of the slug, the imitation of bark in the wings of the buff-tip moth, the green and brown hues of the eatable caterpillars, the white coat of the polar bear, and the changing colour of the arctic fox, the ermine, and the ptarmigan, as winter comes on! And when, on the other hand, we find badly-tasting creatures such as ladybirds and some butterflies, or stinging animals like bees and wasps, having bright colours, because it is an actual advantage to them to be known and avoided, we see that in studying colour alone we might spend a lifetime learning how the winners in life’s race are those best fitted for the circumstances under which they live, so that in ever-changing variety the most beautifully-adapted forms flourish and multiply.

Then if we turn to the skeleton and the less conspicuous framework of the body, the flippers of the whale, the manatee, or the seal, doing the work of a fish’s fin and yet having the bones of a hand and arm, reveal a whole history to us when we have once learned the secret that in the attempt to increase and multiply no device is left untried by any group of animals, and so every possible advantage is turned to account.

Next, the wonderful instincts taught by long experience give us a whole field of study. We see how frogs and reptiles, and even higher animals such as marmots, squirrels, shrews and bears, escape the cold and scarcity of food in winter by burying themselves in mud, or in holes of trees or caves of the earth till spring returns; and while we find alligators burying themselves in cold weather in America, we find crocodiles, on the contrary, taking their sleep in the hot dry weather in Egypt because then is their time of scarcity.

Then we learn that the birds avoid this difficulty of change of climate in quite another manner. They with their power of flight have learned to migrate, sometimes for short distances, sometimes for more than a thousand miles, so that they bring up their young ones in the cool north in summer, when caterpillars and soft young insects are at hand for their prey, and lead them in the winter to the sunny south where food and shelter in green trees are always to be found. So long indeed has this instinct of migration been at work, that often we are quite baffled in trying to understand why they take this or that particular route for their flight, because probably, when the first stragglers chose it, even the areas of land and water were not divided as now, so that we must study the whole history of the changing geography of the earth to understand the yearly route of the swallow or the stork.

And last but not least, when we look upon the whole animal creation as the result of the long working out of nature’s laws as laid down from the first by the Great Power of the Universe, what new pleasure we find in every sign of intelligence, affection, and devotion in the lower creatures! For these show that the difficulties and dangers of animal life have not only led to wonderfully-formed bodies, but also to higher and more sensitive natures; and that intelligence and love are often as useful weapons in fighting the battle of life as brute force and ferocity.

Even among the fish, which, as a rule, drop their eggs and leave them to their fate, we have exceptions in the nest-building sticklebacks and the snake-headed fish of Asia, which watch over and defend their fry till they are strong, in the pipe-fish where the fathers carry the young in a pouch, and in sharks which travel in pairs; while a pike has been known to watch for days at the spot where his mate was caught and taken away, and mackerel and herrings live in shoals and probably call to each other across the sea.

Among the other cold-blooded animals--the frogs, newts, and reptiles--it is true we find less show of feeling, but we must remember that these are only poor remaining fragments of large groups which have disappeared from the earth. Even among the amphibia however a tame toad will become attached to one person; while among reptiles, lizards are full of intelligence and affection, and snakes are well-known for their fondness for their owners. The case of the snake which died by its master’s side when he fell down insensible, if it can be relied upon, would show that even cold-blooded animals have tender hearts.

Yet these are all instances of affection of lower animals to man. We must turn to the birds, that group which has gone on increasing in strength and numbers down to our day, to find that tender devotion which watches over the helpless nursling, defends the young at the risk of life, nay, like the peewit with the dragging wing, will even run in the face of death to lure the cruel destroyer away from the hidden nest. Natural history teems with examples of birds faithful to each other and pining even till death for the loss of a mate; while many birds, such as rooks, starlings, wild geese, swans, and cranes, not only live in companies and exact obedience from their members, but even set sentinels to watch, the duties of the office being faithfully fulfilled.

Then again it is to the higher animals, those nearer to ourselves, that we must look for the truest affection, and the strongest proofs of that obedience and sympathy which lead them to unite and so become strong in the face of danger. Among the beasts of prey it is true that, except the wolves and jackals, none herd together; but family love is strong and true. No tiger is so dangerous as is the mother tigress if any one approaches her young ones, or the lioness whose cubs are attacked, and in our own homes we all know the tenderness and devotion of a cat to her kittens. Nevertheless, these animals have very little social feeling; theirs are the narrower virtues of courage and fidelity to home, and to the duty of providing food for wife and children. It is among the gentler vegetable-feeders,--the antelopes and gazelles, the buffaloes, horses, elephants, and monkeys,--that we find the instinct of herding together for protection, and with this the consciousness of the duty of obedience and fidelity to the herd and to one another.

It is easy to see how this was necessary to protect these feebler animals from the attacks of their ferocious neighbours, and also what an advantage they had when they had once learned to set sentinels who understood the duty of watching while others fed, as in the case of the chamois and seals, of obeying the signal of a leader like the young baboons on the march, or of putting the mothers and children in the centre for protection, as horses and buffaloes do.

And there is a real significance in this gradual education in duty to others which we must not overlook, for it shows that one of the laws of life which is as strong, if not stronger, than the law of force and selfishness, is that of mutual help and dependence. Many good people have shrunk from the idea that we owe the beautiful diversity of animal life on our earth to the struggle for existence, or to the necessity that the best fitted should live, and the feeblest and least protected must die. They have felt that this makes life a cruelty, and the world a battlefield. This is true to a certain extent, for who will deny that in every life there is pain and suffering and struggle? But with this there is also love and gentleness, devotion and sacrifice for others, tender motherly and fatherly affection, true friendship, and a pleasure which consists in making others happy.

This we might have thought was a gift only to ourselves--an exception only found in the human race; now we see that it has been gradually developing throughout the whole animal world, and that the love of fathers and mothers for their young is one of the first and greatest weapons in fighting life’s battle. So we learn that after all, the struggle is not entirely one of cruelty or ferocity, but that the higher the animal life becomes, the more important is family love and the sense of affection for others, so that at last a fierce beast of prey with strength and sharp tools at his command, is foiled in attacking a weak young calf, because the elders of the herd gather round him, and the destroyer is kept at bay.

Surely then we have here a proof that, after all, the highest and most successful education which Life has given her children to fit them for winning the race is that “unity is strength;” while the law of love and duty beginning with parent and child and the ties of home life, and developing into the mutual affection of social animals, has been throughout a golden thread, strengthened by constant use in contending with the fiercer and more lawless instincts.

So it becomes evident that the beautiful virtue of self-devotion, one of the highest man can practise, has its roots in the very existence of life upon the earth. It may appear dimly at first,--it may take a hard mechanical form in such lowly creatures as insects, where we saw the bees and ants sacrificing all tender feelings to the good of the community. But in the backboned family it exists from the very first as the tender love of mother for child, of the father for his mate and her young ones, and so upwards to the defence of the tender ones of the herd by the strong and well-armed elders, till it has found its highest development in man himself.

Thus we arrive at the greatest and most important lesson that the study of nature affords us. It is interesting, most interesting, to trace the gradual evolution of numberless different forms, and see how each has become fitted for the life it has to live. It gives us courage to struggle on under difficulties when we see how patiently the lower animals meet the dangers and anxieties of their lives, and conquer or die in the struggle for existence. But far beyond all these is the great moral lesson taught at every step in the history of the development of the animal world, that amidst toil and suffering, struggle and death, the supreme law of life is the law of SELF-DEVOTION AND LOVE.

FOOTNOTES

Almost every animal mentioned in this book is to be found alive in the London Zoological Gardens, or stuffed in the British Museum.

The Figures in the text, which, with exception of about twenty, have all been drawn expressly for this book, are the work of the above-mentioned artists, together with Mr. Coombe and Miss Suft.

Life and her Children, p. 135.

Amphioxus lanceolatus (amphi both, oxus sharp).

For this drawing, and also those of Figures 1 and 4, I am indebted to Professor A. C. Haddon; the larval form A is the young of Clavelina, found at Torquay.

Petromyzon (petra, stone; myzo, to suck).

Myxine.

Cyclostomata (cyclos, circle; stoma, mouth).

Called conodonts, and found in Lower Silurian rocks earlier than any bones of true fish.

Carcharias glaucus.

Homocercal.

Heterocercal.

Acipenser sturio.

Isinglass is made from the covering of this air-bladder.

Lepidosteus.

Polypterus.

Amia.

Lepidosiren.

Protopterus.

Ceratodus.

These fish, coiled round, may be seen in the British Museum.

Ichthyodorulites.

Dipterus.

Dinichthys.

See Frontispiece. 1, Chauliodus; 2, 9, 10, 11, Harpodon or Bombay Duck; 3, Plagiodus; 4, Chiasmodus, with a Scopelus in its stomach; 6, Beryx; 8, Scopelus.

In drawing up this sketch of the deep sea I am almost entirely indebted to Dr. Günther’s masterly sketch of the deep-sea fish in his excellent work.

Echeneis remora.

Naucrates.

In this description I am not alluding simply to the mackerel family Scombridæ, but to that much larger group Cotto-Scombriformes, to which so many ocean fish belong, and even the sword-fish is allied.

Thynnus pelamys.

Thynnus thynnus.

Coryphæna.

Lampris luna.

Exocœtus.

Coryphæna.

Dactylopterus.

Hippocampus.

Xiphias.

At least 10,000 for each mother.

Mullus.

Trigla.

Gobidæ.

Cyclopterus.

Trachinidæ.

Lophius piscatorius.

Lophius.

Uranoscopus.

Solea vulgaris.

Hippocampus.

Gasterosteus.

Cottus.

Siluridæ.

More properly eel-fares (fare, Saxon, to travel; ex., way-faring man).

Anabas.

Not “waddling;” it is the toad, not the frog, that waddles.

Lissotriton punctatus.

Amphi, all around; bios, life.

Proteus anguineus.

Salamandra atra.

See Picture-heading, p. 70.

Labyrinthodonts (Laburinthos, spiral; odontas, teeth).

Rhacophorus Rheinhardii.

Alytes obstetricus.

Pipa Americana.

Protorosaurus or Thuringian lizard.

Ichthyosaurus.

Plesiosaurus.

Mosasaurus and Clidastes.

Pterodactyls.

Iguanodon in Europe, Hadrosaurus in America.

Megalosaurus in Europe, Dryptosaurus in America.

Testudo Græca.

Testudo talenlata.

The parts of the joints which flatten out in the tortoise are seen at sp in the lizard and snake, pp. 103, 111.

Testudinea.

Terrapins.

Emyx and Trionys.

Chelydra serpentina.

Chelonia midas.

Chelonia imbricata.

Zootoca vivipara.

Ophisaurus ventralis.

Anguis fragilis.

Natrix torquata.

Naja.

Crotalus.

Naja tripudians.

Ichthyopsida--ichthys, fish; opsis, appearance.

Sauropsida--sauros, lizard; opsis, appearance.

Archœopteryx, see picture-heading, Chapter VII.

See picture-heading of this chapter.

Ichthyornis, fish-bird.

Hesperornis.

Some chamæleons and geckos also have air-tubes passing from the lungs into the body, and the crocodile’s skull is full of air-cells; but the two phenomena are not connected as in birds, and other parts of the skeleton or of the skin-covering, being heavy, have a counteracting effect.

This third eyelid is a fold on the inner side of the eye; some reptiles and amphibians have it, and so have the marsupials and many of the higher animals.

Struthio camelus.

Dinornidæ, of which Dinornis, a still more ancient form, must have been ten feet high.

This beautiful effect may be seen from below when the guillemots are fed in any of the public aquariums.

Talegallus.

Megapodidæ or large-footed birds.

Partridges, quails, and some others are exceptions, and pair.

Columba migratoria.

Gecinus viridis.

Alcedo ispida.

The Indian and Chinese edible-nest Swiftlets (Collocalia), make their nests entirely of this saliva, and they are eaten by the natives.

Troglodytes parvulus.

Orthotomus sutorius.

Marsupium, a pouch.

Ornithorhynchus paradoxus.

Echidna hystrix.

Professor Owen has described a reptile from the Trias of Africa, and Professor Cope another from the Permian of Texas, both having characters closely resembling the Platypus.

This argument, which can only be stated very roughly here, must not be supposed to rest merely on the quadrate bone, though this is the easiest point to illustrate popularly. I am deeply indebted to Mr. W. Kitchen Parker for a whole flood of light thrown on these early forms, and only regret that I have neither skill nor space to do justice to his graphic illustration of a subject of which he is pre-eminently master.

Diprotodont.

The only exceptions to this are a tooth and a piece of a tusk of one of the ancient elephants, lately found in Australia, showing that a few straggling forms of mammalia probably reached that country in Tertiary times.

Macropus giganteus.

Hypsiprymnus penicillatus.

Dendrolagus.

Phascolomys.

Dasyurus.

Thylacinus.

Didelphis.

Cholœpus.

Mymecophaga.

Dasypus.

Megatherium.

Glyptodon.

Myrmecophaga jubata.

Tamandua.

For a few of these forms see the picture-heading, p. 209.

Coryphodon.

Paleotherium and Anoplotherium.

Xiphodon.

Eohippus.

Hyænarctos.

Cynodon.

Hyænodon and others.

Arctocyon.

Cynomys.

Spalacidæ.

Geomyidæ.

Myogale Pyrenaica.

Castor fiber.

Potamogale.

Myogale.

Soledon and one of the Shrews.

Pteromys Petaurista.

Galeopithecus volans.

Tupaia.

Chiroptera.

Pteropus vulgaris.

The Magot, Macacusinuus.

Naturalists now class monkeys under the order “Primates” (or highest forms), together with man, and they have given up the term Quadrumana, or four-handed, because, although the feet grasp like hands, they are true feet. Nevertheless, this term is very useful; and, if properly understood, expresses the grasping power of the four feet characteristic of the group.

Platyrrhine monkeys, from Platus broad, rhines nostrils.

Except the marmosets, which have a peculiar dentition of their own.

Catarrhine monkeys; kata downward, rhines nostrils.

See Parkyns’ Life in Abyssinia.

Hylobates, or walker in the woods.

Malay: Orang man, utan forest.

The Dinocerata of the Middle Eocene of America. These gigantic extinct animals, with tusks and horns, but very small brains, are believed by Professor Marsh to have connected the two groups the elephants and the hoofed animals among the early milk-givers.

Anoplotherium; for this form and others, see p. 256.

Paleotherium.

Eohippus.

Xiphodon.

See picture heading.

See picture heading.

See p. 213, and picture heading, p. 209.

The genealogy of the horse is so important, that it may be well to give a table of the seven principal stages, though transitions are known even between these.

Period. In Front Hind No. of In America. Toes. Toes. Teeth. Europe.

{Recent -- } 1 1 Equus.} 7. { and } --------- --------- 40 } {Upper Pliocene Equus} 2 splints 2 splints Equus.}

1 1 6. Upper Pliocene Pliohippus --------- --------- 42 -- 2 splints 2 splints

1 large 1 large 5. Lower Pliocene Protohippus ------- ------- 44 Hipparion. 2 small 2 small

4. Upper Miocene Miohippus 3 3 44 Anchitherium.

3 3. Lower Miocene Mesohippus -------- 3 44 -- 1 splint

2. Upper Eocene Orohippus 4 3 44 --

4 1. Lower Eocene Eohippus -------- 3 44 -- 1 splint

See table, above.

Cameleopardalis.

See heading of chapter.

Compare this with the Deer with the one-spiked antler in the picture heading.

In the African elephant; in the Indian they are smaller, and the female has none.

Mustelus.

Herpestes.

Canis lupus.

These are united in one family, the Canidæ or Dog family; but this name is unfortunate, as there are no original wild dogs, only those which have run wild from man. Dogs are now almost certainly shown to be descended from wolves and jackals.

Thalassarctos (ursus) maritimus.

Trichechus rosmarus.

Plantigrade.

Enhydra marina.

Pinnipedia.

Otariidæ (ous, otos, an ear), eared Seals.

Callorhinus (Otaria) ursinus.

Phoca vitulina.

Hence their name Sirenia, a curious name for voiceless animals.

Cetacea--cete, a whale.

Megaptera.

Phocæna communis.

Orca gladiator.

Picture heading, Chap. II.

Picture heading, Chap. IV.

Picture heading, Chap. VIII.

Picture heading, Chap. VI.

Ibid. Chap. VII.

Sauropsida.

Picture heading, Chap. III.

Picture heading, Chap. V.

Picture heading, Chap. IX.

Picture Heading, Chap. X.

Chapter XI., Europe in the Age of Ice.

From “A Legend of a Stone Axe,” a clever and suggestive poem in the New Quarterly, April 1879. The text is slightly altered.

Animal Intelligence, Romanes, p. 261.

INDEX.

References printed in Italics are to Figures in the Text.

Aard-vark, or Cape ant-eater, 202; habits of, 203.

Adjutant bird killing the cobra, 121; with its feet flat, 128.

Æpyornis of Madagascar, 140.

Affection in animals, 348–352.

Africa, aard-vark and pangolin of, 202; darting birds of, 168; isolation of, in ancient times, 340; wild animals of, 275.

Air-bladder, uses and hindrances of an, 53; of fish, use of, 26; of minnow, 25; of mud-fish, 55.

Air-breathers, home of the early, 70.

Air-breathing fish, 34.

Air-sacs in bones of birds, 135.

Alaska, sea-otters of, 301.

Albatross, habits of the, 146; home of the, 147.

Aldabra, tortoises of, 101.

Aleutian Isles, sea-lions of the, 306, 310.

Alligators acting as scavengers, 109.

Alytes, a frog-father carrying strings of eggs, 87.

Amazons, manatees in the, 316; monkeys of the, 246; mud-fish of the, 33.

Amblystoma, air-breathing form of axolotl, 81.

America, absence of wild hogs in North, 263; beaver communities of, 229; earliest forms of horse come from, 265; jaguar and puma of, 292; passenger pigeons of, 162; ant-bear of, 200; characters of monkeys of, 245; sturgeon in rivers of, 32; songless perching-birds of, 169; stags with single antlers in, 273.

American and Australian colonists, argument drawn from, 131.

Ammocœtes, history of, 18; larva of lamprey, 16.

Amphibia, ancestors of the mammalia, 191; large ancient, 82–84; wonderful metamorphosis of, 335.

Amphibian, true meaning of the term, 77, 81.

Amphioxus lanceolatus, 11.

Ancestors of the higher milk-givers, 213.

Angling-fish, Lophius piscatorius, 59.

Animals, affection and devotion in, 348–352; combination for defence among, 350; narrow range of lower, 2; which have taken to the water, 300; living with early man in England, 343.

Anoplotherium, 209; one of the ancestors of hogs and rhinoceroses, 213, 261.

Ant, limit of powers of the, 6.

Ant-bear of South America, 200; habits and strength of, 204.

Antelopes, range of, 274; setting sentinels, 269.

Antlers, gradual development of, 273.

Apteryx, or Kiwi, 140; structure and habits of, 139.

Aquatic mammalia, 300.

Archæopteryx, or ancient winged bird, 129, 131; restoration of, 153.

Arctocyon, 209; ancestor of carnivores, 213.

Arm, modifications of the, 347.

Armadilloes, with plates like a crocodile, 204; figured, 200.

Ascidian, growth of an, 14.

Ass, skeleton of a wild, 266.

Australia, bats and mice in, 230; duck-billed platypus of, 187; isolation of, 340; mud-fish of, 33; why the home of marsupials, 185.

Australian marsupials, 193.

Australian and American colonists, argument drawn from, 131.

Axolotl and amblystoma, 80.

Axolotl, metamorphosis of, into amblystoma, 81.

Aye-aye, habits of the, 245; figured, 244.

Babirusa, a double-tusked hog, 262.

Baboon, fetching a young one, 250; structure and habits of, 249.

Backbone, first start of a, 12; of the minnow, 24.

Backboned division, 3; advantage of skeleton in the, 7; lowest form of the, 10–15.

Badgers, small carnivores, 281.

Bandicoots, marsupial rabbit-rats, 195.

Bangsrings, insect-eaters, 232.

Barbets, climbing birds, 165.

Basking shark, 28.

Bat, flying, 220; long-eared, 236; skeleton of a, 233; walking, 235.

Bats, structure and habits of, 233–237; affection for young, 238; enemies of, 236; fruit-, in Mauritius, 238; the only true flying milk-givers, 232–237; self-guiding power of, 234; vast masses in caves, 236.

Bear, hug of the, 295; grizzly, an animal feeder, 295; Polar, 294; food of, 293; habits of, 296.

Bears, largely vegetarian, 293; walk flat-footed, 294.

Beaver, 227; structure and habits of the, 228.

Beaver-meadows, 229.

Beckles cited, 212.

Bee-eaters of Africa, 168.

Beryx, a deep-sea fish, 43, 47, 50.

Bichir of the Nile, 33.

Bird, the structure of a, 124–129.

Bird-life as a whole, 179.

Birds, ancient, 123, 153; with jointed tails, 130; with teeth, 130; arose not direct from reptiles but from a common ancient stock, 131; avoiding winter by migration, 348; climbing, 162; dangers of land, 154–156; darting, 167; feet of perching, 155; ground, 156; a group of wading, 149; growth of feathers of, 133; habits of scratching, 156; linked in structure to reptiles, 129; love-time of the, 124; lungs of, 135; migrations of, 142, 151, 155, 177; mound-building, 158; nest-building, 170; origin of, 337; perching, 168; of prey, 174; range of, 136; rise from ground to perching, 159; running, 136–140; sea, 142; singing, 168; songless, 169; structure of water-, 141; third eyelid of, 136; throat of singing, 169; wading, 148; warmer-blooded than man, 135; wingless, 139.

Bisons, protecting a young one, 269; the only ruminants of America, 274.

Blennies, walking-fish, 57.

Blue shark, Carcharias glaucus, 29.

Boa constrictor of America, 115; manner of seizing and devouring prey, 117.

Boar, defences of the wild, 260.

“Bombay Duck” a phosphorescent fish, 48; figured, see frontispiece.

Bone at tip of mole’s nose, 224.

Bonito, a fish without air-bladder, 53.

Bony fish, agility of, 44; or modern fish, 27; early forms of, 43; origin of, 45; rise and spread of, 43; structure of, 45.

Bony pike of North America, 33.

Box-tortoises closing their shell, 101.

Brazil, monkeys of, 246.

Breast-bone, flat in running birds, 136; keeled of flying birds, 124.

Breathing apparatus of birds, 135; of bony fish, 45; of frog, 75, 76; of lamprey, 17; of lancelet, 12; of marsupials, 192; of minnow, 23; of mud-fish, 34; of seals, 308; of shark, 30; of the snake, 113; of sturgeon, 32; of tadpole, 73, 74; of tortoise, 95; of whales, 321.

British Museums, specimens in, 32, 34.

Brush-turkeys and their mounds, 158.

Buffalo cow defending her calf, 274.

Buzzard killing a viper, 120.

Cæcilians, nearest type to Labyrinthodonts, 84; worm-like amphibians, 82.

Calf-fish or amia, 33.

California, sea-otters of, 301.

Californian gray whale in ice, 330; killed by a shoal of grampuses, 325.

Camel, 270; the only ruminant with upper front teeth, 270.

Capybaras of South America, 215.

Carapace of tortoise, 98.

Carnivora, or flesh-feeders, 257, 259; ancestors of the, 213; the smaller, 280.

Carnivorous marsupials, 196.

Carp family, 65.

Cartilaginous fish, 31–42.

Cassowary of New Guinea, 139.

Cat-fish, 65.

Cat less tamable than dog, 287.

Cave-lion in England, 343.

Celebes, double-tusked hog of, 262.

Ceratodus or “Barramunda,” 34; a descendant of ancient fish, 39.

Chalk Period, extinction of reptiles in the, 211.

Chamæleon, 105; structure and habits of, 106, 107.

Chauliodus, a deep-sea fish, 47; figured, see frontispiece.

Chauvin, Marie von, cited, 81.

Chimæra between sharks and sturgeons, 41.

Chimpanzee, home of the, 253.

Chinchillas of South America, 225.

Circulation of blood in frog, 76.

Clavelina, larval form of, 14.

Claws, retractile of felines, 289.

Climbing birds, paired toes of the, 163; build in tree-holes, 164.

Clinging fish, 51, 57, 58.

Coal-forests, amphibians of the, 82.

Coast fish, 57.

Cobra, enemies of the, 121.

Cobra di Capello, 118.

Cold blood, the cause of, in the frog, 76.

Cold-blooded life in reptiles, 90; cold-blooded vertebrates, 24.

Colours, protective, 347.

Colugo, a flying insect-eater, 231.

Conger eels, 49.

Conodonts, probably lamprey’s teeth, 19.

Cope, Prof., cited, 212, 190.

Cormorant, figured, 144.

Coryphæna or dorado, 53.

Cow chewing the cud, 259.

Cranes, migrations of, 152.

Creation a gradual change, 336.

Creepers, 172.

Creative power, ever silent working of the, 336; high conception of the, 345.

Crocodile, 108; care for her young, 110; habits and structure of the, 108.

Crop of pigeons, 161.

Crustaceans, huge, in time of early fish, 37.

Cuckoo, sometimes builds a nest, 166.

Cud, chewing the, 259.

Cumberland, Mr., on vitality of ant-bear, 205.

Curlews, wading birds, 148.

Cyclostomata, round-mouthed fishes, 16.

Dace, 65.

Dactylopterus, or flying gurnards, 55.

Darwin, on blood-sucking bats, 237; on Galapagos tortoises, 101; on evolution, 345.

D’Azara on ant-bear, 205.

Deep-sea fish, 47–50; rising at night, 50.

Deer, growth of antlers of, 271; range of, 273.

Depth at which fish live, 49.

Desman, 226.

Devotion in animals, 348–352.

Dingo dog, probably brought to Australia, 194.

Dinichthys, a huge Devonian fish, 40.

Dinocerata, ancestors of elephants and hoofed animals, 260.

Dinornis, extinct wingless bird, 140.

Dipper, or water-ouzel, 172.

Dipterus, a large ancient fish, 39.

Disk of the Remora, 52.

Dodo, flat-breasted pigeon, 161.

Dog, descended from wolves and jackals, 286.

Dogfish, 28.

Dolphins travel in shoals, 323.

Dorado pursuing flying-fish, 54.

Doras, a land-travelling fish, 66.

Dromatherium, jaw of, 183.

Duck, structure of the, 141.

Duck-billed platypus and its home, 188; the lowest type of milk-giver, 188.

Dugong, a tusked sea-cow, 314.

Dunlins, wading-birds, 148.

Eagle bringing food to its young, 175.

Eared-seals, history of the, 310.

Echidna, 188; a low milk-giver, 190.

Edentata, low and antiquated forms, 201; former history of, 201.

Eels and eel-fares, 66.

Efts, huge, of olden times, 82; or newts of our ponds, 78.

Egg-birth, dangers of, 184.

Eggs, of the crocodile, 110; of fish carried in the father’s mouth, 65; of frogs, 71; of ostriches cracked by the father, 139; of fish, modes of transport of, 66; of shark, 28, 42; of snake, 116.

Eider-duck, range of the, 142.

Elastic band in front of snake’s jaw, 111.

Elephant, affinity to rodents, 276; the Indian, 277; intelligence of the, 278; structure of the, 276–279; tooth and tusk of, found in Australia, 194; -seal, 314.

Emus, pairing birds, 139.

Enamel-scaled fish, 33.

Eohippus, 209; ancestor of the horse, 213, 261.

Europe in the age of ice, 299.

Evolution, of sympathy and self-sacrifice, 352; taught by Darwin, 345.

Exocœtus, the flying-fish, 54.

Eyelid, third, in reptiles and birds, 109, 136.

Eyelids, absence of, distinguishes snakes from legless lizards, 110.

Falcon, swooping of the, 176.

Fangs of poisonous snakes, 119.

Feather, number of threads in an eagle’s, 133.

Feathers of birds, their growth and importance, 133, 134.

Feet, grasping of perching birds, 155.

Felines, highest type of flesh-feeder, 290; kill by a blow, 288; retractile claws of, 289.

Fins of the minnow, 24.

Fish, affection shown by, 69; age of the gristly, 333; air-bladder of, 25; ancient forms of, 33, 37–42; blind, of Kentucky caves, 68; come to the coast to spawn, 57; deep-sea, 47–50; lowest type of, 11; limbs of, 25; mammals which imitate, 318; muscular power of, 24; ocean home of the, 21; of the old or gristly type, 27; parental care in, 349; skeletons of deep-sea, 49; small ancient, 20, 34–42; varieties of modern, 46; weapons of, 29, 40, 42, 48, 52, 58, 59, 64, 68.

Fishing frog, Lophius, 59.

Fish-life, general sketch of, 67.

Fish-lizards of olden times, 92.

Flamingo, half-way between waders and swimmers, 150.

Flat-fish, structure of, 61.

Flint tools of early man, 343.

Flying-fish, 53–55.

Flying-gurnards, 55.

Food of land-birds, 155.

Fowls and their relations, 157.

Fox, a solitary hunter, 285; range of the, 286.

France, tree-frogs of, 87.

Freshwater fish, 65.

Frigate-bird, perches on trees, 148.

Frog, a recent form of amphibian, 84; carrying young in a pouch, 87; carrying eggs and tadpoles, 87; metamorphosis of the, 72–76; lungs of, 76; more nearly allied to fish than reptiles, 129; mouth and tongue of, 77; respiring skin of, 77; spawn described, 71; tree-, of New Guinea, 86.

Fruit-bats, 238.

Fur-seals, history of, 310.

Gadow, Dr., on number of threads in an eagle’s feather, 133.

Galagos or lemurs of Africa, 243.

Galapagos, tortoises of, 101.

Galeopithecus or Colugo, 231.

Gaudry cited, 212.

Gautier, M., on snake poison, 119.

Gecko or wall lizard, 105.

Geese, range of wild, 142.

Geography, changes in physical, 340.

Germany, beaver communities in, 229.

Gibbons, or long-armed apes, 251.

Gibraltar, monkeys on the rock of, 241.

Gills of Axolotl, 80; of bony fish, 45; of embryo shark, 73; of the minnow, 22; of proteus, 79; of sea-horse, 63; of shark, 30; of sturgeon, 32; of tadpole, 73.

Giraffes, structure of, 271.

Glacial Period, 342.

Glass-snake of America, 107.

Globe-fish, 55.

Glyptodons, ancient armadilloes, 202, 208.

Goats and sheep, range of, 274.

Gobies, clinging by the throat, 58.

Golden age of amphibia, 83; of ancient fish, 40; of reptiles, 92.

Gorilla, at home, 254; driving out elephant, 251; structure and habits of, 253.

Grampus, a flesh-feeding whale, 325.

Gray, Capt., on whalebone, 329.

Greek tortoise, 96; killed by birds, 101.

Greenland whale, traces of hind limbs in the, 318.

Gristly skeleton of shark, 31.

Ground-birds, 156–161; generally polygamous, 161.

Ground-pigeons of New Guinea, 161.

Grouse are ground-nesters, 156.

Gudgeon, 65.

Guillemots, homes of the, 144; silvery bubbles on, 143.

Gulls and their homes, 144.

Günther, Dr., on deep-sea fish, 49.

Gurnards walking, 57.

Haddock, destroyed by hags, 18.

Haddon, Prof., A.C., drawings by, 11, 14, 23.

Hadrosaurus, 93.

Hags or borers, 16, 18.

Hang-nests of America, 173.

Harpodon, a deep-sea fish, 47; figured, see frontispiece.

Harvest-mouse and shrew compared, 218.

Hawksbill turtle, tortoise-shell of, 97.

Hearing apparatus of herrings, 56.

Heart, of amphibia and reptiles, 74, 76, 96; of birds, 135; of fishes, 23; of frog, three-chambered, 76; of tadpole, two-chambered, 74; three-chambered, of tortoise, 96.

Hedgehog, 220; structure and habits of, 220.

Herbivora, ancestors of the, 213; advantage of struggle for existence to the, 282; defences of the, 259; large stomachs of, 258; structure of the, 258; uniting for defence, 350; wide range of, 257.

Heron, strokes of wing of, 134; a tree-building wader, 152; grasping foot of the, 152.

Herrings probably call to each other, 56; their habits and structure, 56.

Hesperornis, 130; figured, 123.

Heterocercal tails, 30.

Hippocampus or sea-horse, 63.

Hippopotamus, defences of the, 263; former range of the, 263; in glacial beds, 342.

Hissing of a snake, how caused, 113.

Hogs, early types without tusks, 260; various kinds of, 263.

Homocercal tails, 30.

Hoofs as defences, 260.

Horns, absence of, in early forms, 260; as defences, 260; permanent, of buffaloes, 273.

Horse, ancestors of the, 213, 261; genealogy of the, 267; mouth of the, 259; no true wild living, 265; structure of the, 259, 266.

Horses unite for protection, 268.

Howler-monkeys, 246.

Humming-birds, lovely nests of, 167.

Humpback whale suckling her young, 319.

Huxley on Ichthyopsida and Sauropsida, 129.

Hyæna, in glacial times of England, 342; teeth and claws of the, 290.

Ice, covering Northern Europe, 342.

Ichneumon, killing the cobra, 121; the Egyptian, 281.

Ichthyodorulites of the Silurian, 38.

Ichthyopsida, fish and amphibia, 129.

Ichthyornis, 130; figured, 123.

Ichthyosaurus, 89, 92.

Iguanas or tree-lizards, 106.

Iguanodon, 89, 93.

Imperfect-toothed animals, or Edentata, early history of, 201.

Insect-eater, skull and teeth of, 217.

Insect-eaters, a group of, 220; small-sized animals, 215; and rodents compared, 239; absent from South America, 230.

Instincts, interest of in theory of development, 347.

Invertebrata and their limits, 4–6, 9.

Isinglass from sturgeon, 32.

Jacamars of America, 168.

Jackals, hunting in packs, 285; ancestors of the dog, 286.

Jaguar, feeding on tortoise, 100; habits and range of the, 292; and ant-bear, 205.

Japan, gigantic salamander of, 78; monkeys in, 241.

Jaw, movement of, in flesh-feeders, 289; in vegetable-feeders, 259; of snake, 119; distensible, 114.

Jerboas of Africa, 225.

Jumping shrews, 225.

Kangaroo-rats, 195.

Kangaroos, 193; strength of, 194.

Kentucky caves, blind fish of, 68.

Kaola, or native bear of Australia, 193, 195.

Killer-whale, voracity of the, 325.

Kingfisher, 166; a darting bird, 167.

“King of the Herrings,” 41.

Knob, on bird’s beak for shell-breaking, 143; on nose of baby platypus, 190.

Labyrinthodonts, age of, 337; of the coal-forests, 84.

Lakes, fish-eggs carried to, 66.

Lamprey, and young, 16; breathing organ of, 17; teeth of, 17, 19, 37; metamorphosis of the, 19.

Lampris luna, sun-fish, 53.

Lancelet, structure of the, 11.

Land-birds, their enemies and difficulties, 154–156.

Lark, nest of the, 170.

Legs, of a bird, construction of, 127; vestiges of, in snakes, 110.

Leidy cited, 212.

Lemming, strange migrations of, 225.

Lemurs, 244; position and habits of, 243.

Lepidosteus or bony pike, 33.

Life, gradual development of, 4.

Light-giving deep-sea fishes, 47.

Lion fighting with a buffalo, 274; formerly in England, 291; habits and range of the, 291.

Lizard, skeleton of a, 103; structure and habits of, 104; can live in unhealthy places, 104; flying, 106; legless and snake-like, 107.

London, hippopotamus bones under, 263.

Lories, the lemurs of India, 243.

Love, gradual development of parental, 348–350; a reigning law of life, 353.

Lumpsucker clinging to rock, 58.

Lungs, of frog, 76; of the snake, 113.

Machairodus or sabre-toothed tiger, 291; figured, 333.

Mackerel going in to spawn, 55.

Madagascar, true lemurs of, 243.

Magpie’s nest, 170.

Mammalia or milk-givers, divisions of the, 182; distribution of, 340; aquatic, 300; extinction of large, 341; sudden appearance of higher, 211.

Mammoth, the hairy, 279.

Man, after Glacial Period, 343; among animals now extinct, 333; exterminating wild animals, 344.

Manatee or sea-cow grazing, 315; relationship of, 303.

Mandrill, the lowest baboon, 250.

Manis or pangolin, 202; structure and habits of, 203.

Marmosets, monkeys of South America, 245.

Marmot, a burrowing rodent, 225.

Marsh, Prof., his collection of reptile remains, 339; cited, 212; on Dinocerata, 260.

Marsupials, jaws of earliest known, 183; breathing of infant, 192; of Australia, past history of the, 185; early appearance of, 337; playing the part of higher animals, 196; structure and habits of, 192–199.

Mastodon, a four-tusked elephant, 279; figured, 256.

Megalosaurus, 93; figured, 89.

Megapodes, mound-building birds, 159.

Megatheria, huge ancient ground-sloths, 202, 206, 208.

Metamorphosis of the frog, 73–76.

Mexico, iguanas of, 106.

Microlestes, tooth of, 183.

Migration, of birds, 142, 151, 155, 177, 348; of lemmings, 225.

Milk-givers are viviparous, 185; earliest origin of, 191; extinction of large, 341; home of the early, 181; sudden appearance of higher, 211; taking to the water, 300.

Miller’s thumbs, 65.

Minnow, breathing apparatus of the, 22; inner and outer structure of the, 23–26; intelligence of, 26; spinal cord of, 23, 26.

Moa of New Zealand, 140.

Mole, 220; enemies of the, 224; structure and habits of, 223.

Mole-rats, burrowing rodents, 226.

Monitors of Africa, 105.

Monkeys, 247; advantage of tree-life to, 251; almost confined to hot countries, 241; grasping hands and feet of, 241; intelligence of, 248; origin of, 240; of America, 245; of the Old World, characters of, 248.

Monk-fish, 41.

Moor-hen, intelligence of the, 151.

Mosasaurus, 92; figured, 89.

Motmots of America, 168.

Mound-building birds, 158.

Mucous scales of fish, 23, 27.

Mud-fish and their breathing, 33.

Mud-tortoises, 102.

Mullets, feeding, 57.

Musquash, a swimming rodent, 227.

Myrmecobius, an insect-eating marsupial, 195; like the ancient marsupials, 198.

“Native Devil” or Dasyurus, 197.

Nervous system of vertebrata, 8.

Nest of the common wren, 171; of duck-billed platypus, 188.

Nest-building birds, 168–173; gradual progress of, 156, 160, 165, 167, 170, 173.

Nests, edible, of China swiftlet, 167; inland, of wading birds, 151.

Newts, 78.

New Zealand, wingless birds of, 140.

Nightjar hunting for prey, 167.

Nile, crocodile of the, 108; mud-fish of the, 33.

Norway, lemmings of, 225.

Nostrils of fish, 27.

Notochord of the lancelet, 12.

Nototrema frog, with a pouch for young, 87.

Nuthatch, a climber among perchers, 172.

Opossums, 200; habits of, 198; why surviving in South America, 197–199: their relation to Australian marsupials, 198.

Orangutan or mias, 252.

Orca or grampus, a flesh-feeding whale, 325.

Ornithorhynchus, and its home, 188; bill and feet of, 189; structure of the, 190; the lowest milk-giver, 191.

Osprey, the sea-eagle, 177.

Ostrich at full speed, 137; structure and habits of, 138.

Otter, common, 301; sea-, 302.

Owen, Prof., on a reptile like platypus, 190; on advantage of pouch to marsupials, 193.

Owl, adapted for night-hunting, 176.

Owl-monkeys, 246.

Oystercatchers, wading birds, 148.

Paddle-fins of mud-fish, 35, 38.

Paleotherium, 209; one of the ancestors of tapirs and rhinoceroses, 213, 261.

Pallas cited, 11.

Pangolins, structure and habits of, 203.

Paraguay, rheas of, 139.

Parker, Prof. Kitchen, on evolution, 191; on origin of mammalia, 191.

Parkyn, Mr., on baboons, 249.

Parrots, using beak in climbing, 165.

Partridges, ground-nesters, 156.

Peccaries of South America, 263.

Peewit or lapwing, 148.

Pelican, perches on trees, 148.

Penguin, home of the, 147; swimming wings of the, 146.

Perch, climbing, 66.

Perching birds, 168–173; aquatic bird among, 172; bird of prey among, 172; climbers among, 172; darters among, 172; ground-feeders among, 170.

Petrel, home of the stormy, 145.

Phalanger, a flying, 193, 195.

Pheasants, ground-nesters, 156.

Phosphorescent, fish, 47, 48; fluid, 50.

Pigeons, beginners in nest-building, 160; crop of, 161; passenger, 162.

Pike, 65.

Pilot-fish accompanying shark, 52.

Pipistrelle the common bat, 236.

Plates, horny, in duck’s bill, 142; in bill of Ornithorhynchus, 188; in mouth of whale, 328; under the snake’s body, used in walking, 112.

Platypus, 188; knob on nose of baby, 190.

Plesiosaurus, 92; figured, 89.

Plovers, wading birds, 148; dragging the wing, 151.

Pocket-mice of North America, 215.

Poison of snakes a concentration of a substance found in ordinary saliva, 119.

Poisonous snakes, 117–121.

Polar bear, walrus fighting the, 309.

Polypterus or bichir, 33.

Porcupine, 221; structure and habits of, 222; tree, 222.

Porpoise, 323; good type of whales, 324.

Pouch-bearers, see Marsupials.

Pouched-rats, burrowing rodents, 226.

Prairie-dogs, burrowing rodents, 225.

Protective, colours, 347; smells in animals, 347.

Proteus of Carniola caverns, 79.

Protopterus of the Nile, 33.

Protorosaurus earliest known reptile, 91.

Ptarmigan, white plumage of, 157.

Pterodactyls or flying reptiles, 93; figured, 89.

Pterygotus and early fish, 37; figured, 20.

Puff-birds of America, 168.

Puffin Island, sea-birds of, 142.

Puffins, 144; laying eggs in cliff-holes, 142.

Puma, range and habits of the, 292.

Pythons crushing their prey, 117.

Quadrate bone, absent in milk-givers, 191; giving a wide gape to the snake, 114; in bird, 126; in lizard, 103; in snake, 111.

Quadrumana, use of term, 242.

Quails, scratching birds, 157.

Queensland, Ceratodus of, 34.

Rats, intelligence of, 230.

Rattlesnake feeding on “Prairie dogs,” 225; horny plates of the, 118; jaw of the, 119.

Rays, manner of feeding of, 42.

Red deer with branching antlers, 272.

Remora carried by shark, 51.

Reptiles, abound in warm countries, 90; age of the great, 339; care for their young, 122; disappearance of ancient, 94, 211; flying, of olden times, 93; huge, of ancient times, 91, 94; in their palmy days, 89; lay their eggs on land, 90; linked in structure with birds, 129; modern, 94–122.

Rheas, three-toed ostriches, 139.

Rhinoceros, absence of upper teeth in, 265; horn made of matted hair, 264; embedded in ice, 265.

Rhytinas in Behring’s Straits, 316.

Ribbon fish, 49.

Ribs of lizard, 97, 103; of snake, used in walking, 112; of tortoise, forming the shell, 99.

River-fish, 46, 64.

River-tortoises, 101.

Roach, 65.

Rodent, skull of, 217; teeth of, 216.

Rodents or gnawers, 215; affinity of elephants to, 276; generally small and weak, 215; a group of, 221; and insect-eaters compared, 239.

Rollers, darting birds of the East, 168.

Rooks, nests of, 170.

Rorqual, short whalebones of, 326.

Rough hound, 28.

Round-mouthed fishes, 16.

Ruminants, characters of the, 259; wide spread of, 269.

Running birds, 136–140.

Russia, sturgeon in, 32.

Salamander, gigantic, of Japan, 78; black, viviparous, 81.

Salamandra atra, viviparous, 81.

Salmon going up river to spawn, 64.

Sandpipers, wading birds, 148.

Sauropsida, birds and lizards, 129.

Scales of bony fish and mud-fish, 45; of fish, 27; of snakes embedded in the skin, 111.

Scaly lizard is viviparous, 105.

Scoresby, on walrus killing narwhal, 309; on whale-mothers defending their young, 330; on whale spouting, 321.

Sea, chief home of fish, 46.

Sea-birds, 142–150; a group of, 144.

Sea-cows, relationship of, 303; their structure and habits, 315.

Sea-horse, a fish, 63.

Sea-lion, and common seal, 306; skeleton of a, 304; structure of, 305; range of, 306.

Sea-lions on the Aleutian Isles, 310; fighting for wives, 311.

Seals, breathing apparatus of, 308; how adapted for a sea-life, 307; on English coasts, 303; origin of, 303; structure and range of, 313, 314.

Seal-skin, how prepared, 308.

Sea-otter, structure of the, 301.

Sea-squirt, growth of a, 14.

Sea-squirts, anomalous position of, 15.

Sea-tortoises coming on land to lay eggs, 102.

Secretary bird killing poisonous snakes, 121.

Self-sacrifice, a law of life, 352.

Sentinels placed by animals, 269.

Shark carrying remora, 51; accompanied by pilot-fish, 52; eggs, 28, 42; external gills of embryo, 73.

Sharks, history of the, 41; their structure, 28–30.

Sheat-fish, fathers carrying eggs in the mouth, 65.

Sheep and goats, range of, 274.

Shell of tortoise, how formed, 98.

Shields of the crocodile, 108.

Shrike, a perching bird of prey, 172.

Shrew and harvest-mouse compared, 218.

Silver Pit, soles living in the, 63.

Siren, a gill-breather, 80.

Sirenia, name for sea-cows, 315.

Skates, flat bodies of, 41; purse-eggs of, 42.

Skeleton, of bat, 233; bird, 126; wild ass, 266; lizard, 103; sea-lion, 304; snake, 111; tortoise, 98; whale, 318.

Skeletons of deep-sea fish, 49.

Skulls of rodent and insectivore, 217.

Skye, walrus seen off, 310.

Slime on fish causing phosphorescence, 50.

Sloths hanging from a tree, 200; structure and habits of, 206.

Slowworm, a legless lizard, 107.

Smooth hound, 28.

Snake, affection in a, 349; casting its skin, 116; common ringed, 113; cup and ball joints of the, 112, 114; eggs, 116; enemies of the, 117; food of the common, 116; mode of swallowing prey, 114; skeleton of a, 111; coiling round prey, 117; nature of poison of, 119; poisonous sea-, 121.

Snapping turtle, 101.

Sole, history of its growth, 62; young and old, 61.

Song of birds, how caused, 169.

Sparrow, 125; skeleton of, 126.

Spawning of lampreys, 18.

Spermaceti in head of whale, 326.

Sperm whale, 327; its structure and habits, 325; taking breath, 322.

Spider monkeys, 246.

Spinal cord, of lamprey, 17; of the lancelet, 12; of shark, 30; of vertebrata, 9.

Spines, of hedgehog and porcupine, 222; of sharks, 29, 38.

Spinous processes, of lizard, 103; of snake, 111; of tortoise, 98.

Squirrels, enemies of the, 231; flying, 231; tree-loving rodents, 230.

Stickleback father defending the young, 65.

Sticklebacks and their nest, 65.

Sting-rays, 42.

Stomias, a deep-sea fish, 48.

Storks, migrations of, 151.

Struggle for existence, developing sympathy, 351; improving the herbivora, 282.

Sturgeon entering a river, 31; first appearance of the, 41; head and mouth of, 32; structure of, 32.

Sucking-fish or remora, 51.

Sun-fish with large air-bladder, 53.

Surinam toad, carrying young in hollows of the skin, 87.

Swallow, a darter among the perchers, 172.

Swans, range of wild, 142.

Swifts, darting birds, 167; in East build nests with saliva, 167.

Sword-fish, Xiphias, 55.

Tadpole, life and changes of, 72–76; of salamandra atra, 81; summary of changes in the, 335.

Taguan or flying squirrel, 231.

Tail, jointed, of ancient land-bird, 130; of minnow, 24; homocercal and heterocercal, 30; of bony fish, 45; of sharks and sturgeon, 30.

Tailor bird’s nest, 173.

Tallegallus, mound-building birds, 158.

Tapirs, past and present range of, 264.

Tasmanian marsupials, 197.

Teeth as defences, 260; in jaws of ancient birds, 130; of American monkeys, 246; of Old World monkeys, 248; of ancient type of fish, 35, 38, 39; of lamprey, 17, 19, 37; of rodents and insect-eaters, 217; of snake used in holding, 115; of snake are its poison fangs, 119.

Tenrecs of Madagascar, 216.

Termites, ant-bear feeding on, 205.

Tern, black-winged, 144.

Terrapins or box-tortoises, 101.

Testudo Græca, 96.

Thresher-shark, 28.

Thrush, nest of the song-, 170.

Thuringian lizard, earliest reptile, 91.

Tiger, 287; claws of the, 289; man fighting the sabre-toothed, 333, 343; range and habits of the, 292; sabre-toothed, 290; structure of the, 288.

Tiger wolf or Thylacinus, 197.

Tinamous, a group between running birds and ground birds, 156.

Toad, habits of the, 85.

Todies of America, 168.

Toe-thumbs in opossums, dormouse and monkey, 242.

Tongue of frog, 77; of snake a harmless organ of touch, 112, 118, 119; of the woodpecker, 164.

Torpedo-fish, 42.

Tortoise, back of a young, 99; Greek, 96; structure and habits of, 95–100.

Tortoises, gigantic land, 101; mud and sea, 102.

Tortoise-shell, 97.

Toucans, climbing-birds, 165.

Tree-frogs, 86, 87.

Trilobites with the early fish, 37.

Trunk of the elephant, 277.

Tunny, a fish without air-bladder, 53.

Turkeys, scratching birds, 157.

Turnstones, wading birds, 148.

Turtles, 101, 102.

Tusks, as weapons, 260, 263; of the elephant, 276; wanting in early forms, 260.

Uneven-toed animals, origin of, 265.

Ungulata, or hoofed animals, 257.

Vampires in South America, 237.

Vegetable-feeders, see Herbivora.

Vertebrata, advantages of the, 7; spinal cord of the, 9.

Viper, common English, 121; killed by the buzzard, 120.

Viscacha of South America, 225.

Vultures, scavengers of the earth, 174.

Wading birds, a group of, 149.

Walking fish, 57.

Wallace, Mr. A. R., bitten by bats, 237; on colugo, 232; on mound-building birds, 159; on orangutan, 252; on separation of Australasia, 186.

Walrus, 294; structure, home, and habits of the, 309.

Wart-hogs of Africa, 263.

Water-birds, the earliest known, 123; structure of, 141.

Water-mole, 188.

Water-ouzel or dipper, 172.

Water-rat and water-shrew, 219.

Weasel, a small flesh-feeder, 280.

Weevers, spined fish, 58.

Whale, breathing apparatus of, 321; skeleton of whalebone, 318; suckling her young, 319; ancient origin of, 303; a warm-blooded mammal, 317; kept warm by blubber, 320; long life of, 331; parasites on, 331.

Whalebone, nature of, 328.

Whiskers of tiger are feelers, 289.

White animal tints in winter, 347.

Wild duck, strokes of wing of, 134.

Wing, rapid strokes of a bird’s, 134; structure of a bird’s, 127.

Wing-feathers, hooklets on, 133.

Wings of a bat, how formed, 233.

Wolf, affection of a, 286; ancestor of the dog, 286; dog-like form and teeth of, 283; structure of, 284; the only social tribe of carnivora, 286.

Wombat, 197; a marsupial, 195.

Woodpecker, the great green, 163; tongue of, 164.

Wood-pigeon on her nest, 160.

Woolly monkey and child, 247.

Worm, compared to the lancelet, 13.

Wren, common, nest of, 171.

Wryneck, 172.

Xiphodon, 210; ancestor of the antlered animals, 213; ancestor of ruminants, 261.

Yapock, 300.

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SOME DISTINGUISHING FEATURES.

=Modern Methods made easy.=--Education is a progressive science. Methods of the last century must be discarded. The question “How shall we teach reading?” is fully answered in these books, and teachers who have adopted and followed this method have greatly improved their schools.

=Word and Phonic Method.=--By taking at first words with which the child is quite familiar, and which contain sounds easily distinguished and continually recurring, both teacher and pupil will find the sounds a great help in reading new words as well as in acquiring a distinct articulation.

=Spelling.=--Words selected from the lessons are given for spelling with each piece, thus affording the best opportunity for oral and written spelling-lessons as well as for definitions. In the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Readers, graded exercises in spelling analysis, together with daily lessons of words often misspelled or mispronounced, are placed in the Appendix for constant study. With these Readers no “Speller” will be needed.

=Illustrations.=--The illustrations are beautiful and attractive, and are well adapted to serve as a basis for the language and thought lessons that are so prominent in these books.

=Helps for Teachers.=--Teachers will find in these books a simple plan that will greatly aid them; while the notes, questions, and suggestions will help the teacher to impart the most instruction and the best culture, which makes the reading-lesson something more than a mere naming of words.

=Oral Reading.=--Proper oral expression depends on the sense. Get the sense of each extract and the correct oral expression will be an easy matter. This is the key-note to Professor Bailey’s excellent lessons on accent, emphasis, inflection, and general vocal expression, that are placed as reading-lessons in the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Readers.

=Selections.=--The selections embrace gems of literature from leading authors. No other Readers include such a wide range of thought, showing from the simple stories for children in the earlier books, to the extracts from the best authors in the Fourth and Fifth, unity of design and a just appreciation of the needs of our schools.

=Great Success.=--Since the publication of these Readers, their sale has averaged nearly a million a year, which is unprecedented in the sale of school-books.

=Endorsements.=--These Readers have received the endorsement of nearly every educator of note in the United States, but the best proof of their merits is found in the great improvement manifested everywhere they are used.

D. APPLETON & CO., Publishers, New York, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco.

PRIMERS

In Science, History, and Literature.

18mo. Flexible cloth, 45 cents each.

SCIENCE PRIMERS.

Edited by Professors HUXLEY, ROSCOE, and BALFOUR STEWART.

Introductory. Prof. T. H. HUXLEY, F. R. S.

Chemistry. Prof. H. E. ROSCOE, F. R. S.

Physics. Prof. BALFOUR STEWART, F. R. S.

Physical Geography. Prof. A. GEIKIE, F. R. S.

Geology. Prof. A. GEIKIE, F. R. S.

Physiology. M. FOSTER, M. D., F. R. S.

Astronomy. J. N. LOCKYER, F. R. S.

Botany. Sir J. D. HOOKER, F. R. S.

Logic. Prof. W. S. JEVONS, F. R. S.

Inventional Geometry. W. G. SPENCER.

Pianoforte. FRANKLIN TAYLOR.

Political Economy. Prof. W. S. JEVONS, F. R. S.

Natural Resources of the United States. J. H. PATTON, A. M.

HISTORY PRIMERS.

Edited by J. R. GREEN, M. A., Examiner in the School of Modern History at Oxford.

Greece. C. A. FYFFE, M. A.

Rome. M. CREIGHTON, M. A.

Europe. E. A. FREEMAN, D. C. L.

Old Greek Life. J. P. MAHAFFY, M. A.

Roman Antiquities. Prof. A. S. WILKINS.

Geography. GEORGE GROVE, F. R. G. S.

France. CHARLOTTE M. YONGE.

LITERATURE PRIMERS.

Edited by J. R. GREEN, M. A.

English Grammar. R. MORRIS, LL.D.

English Literature. Rev. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M. A.

Philology. J. PEILE, M. A.

Classical Geography. M. F. TOZER.

Shakespeare. Prof. E. DOWDEN.

Studies in Bryant. J. ALDEN.

Greek Literature. Prof. R. O. JEBB.

English Grammar Exercises. R. MORRIS, LL. D., and H. C. BOWEN, M. A.

Homer. Right Hon. W. E. GLADSTONE.

English Composition. Prof. J. NICHOL.

(Others in preparation.)

The object of these primers is to convey information in such a manner as to make it both intelligible and interesting to very young pupils, and so to discipline their minds as to incline them to more systematic after-studies. The woodcuts which illustrate them embellish and explain the text at the same time.

New York: D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, and 5 Bond Street.

Transcriber’s Notes

Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they were not changed. Inconsistent capitalization has been retained.

Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left unbalanced.

Illustrations in this eBook have been positioned between paragraphs and outside quotations. In versions of this eBook that support hyperlinks, the page references in the List of Illustrations lead to the corresponding illustrations.

The first illustration is the cover.

The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page references.

Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of the pages on which they were referenced, have been collected, sequentially renumbered, and placed at the end of the main text, just before the Index.