INTRODUCTION. HE cultivation of a fine taste for the beautiful works of Nature," says Dugald Stewart, "not only enables us to enjoy more fully those primary pleasures which are afforded by an appropriate object, but superadds to these a secondary pleasure, peculiar to itself, and of no inconsiderable value. The secondary pleasures connected with the study of Natural History, in even its minuter divisions, may be readily explained. They tend to excite a predilection for intellectual pursuits, in preference to such as are frivolous and unsatisfactory, and to quicken the general admiration of the wonders of creation. The primary are of a higher character. They are derived from a due consideration of the works of Nature in connection with their Divine Artificer; and the feelings associated with them are those of adoration and delight." Such was the conviction under which, four years ago, CASSELL'S POPULAR NATURAL HISTORY was undertaken; and it is no affectation to say that the production of such a Work, containing so many highly-finished illustrations, for so moderate a price, marks a new era in the publication of popular scientific literature. Much of the information which accompanies these illustrations is a recent addition to our stock of knowledge on this subject; for the higher orders of animals are now more accurately known than formerly, and the lower have but lately formed the subject of intelligent, careful, and persevering investigation. Having devoted Two Volumes to the division of Mammals, and One to that of Birds, we commence the present Volume with Reptiles, which are no less marvellous in their structure and instincts than animals of the most attractive appearance. After Reptiles, we treat of Fishes; and how various are they in form and magnitude! "The sounds and seas, each creek and bay, Of fish, that, with their fins and shining scales, Bank the mid-sea; part single or with mate In this, as in the other orders, we find a wonderful adaptation of the creature to its peculiar circumstances. With Birds the great difficulty to be overcome is that arising from the rarity of the medium into which they are destined to soar; and everything in their organisation has a reference to this. With Fishes the difficulty is of an opposite character, being due to the density of the element in which they live; and, to overcome this, a form has been given to them which is known to mathematicians as that of the solid of least resistance. Whatever may be the direction of our inquiries, we find that Science testifies how admirably everything has been contrived by Him who is "wonderful in counsel and excellent in working." At every period, both of ancient and modern times, fish has been highly valued as an article of food; and a consciousness of its importance is not confined to polished nations; it is recognised by the savage inhabitants of the most remote and inhospitable regions. The seas, the lakes, and the rivers of the earth constitute inexhaustible magazines of food, which has been munificently provided for us by Almighty wisdom and beneficence. Insects next claim our attention, and abundantly illustrate the same Divine attributes; impressing us with the truth of what Kirby has said: "No religious doctrine is more strongly established by their history than that of a superintending Providence." From these diminutive but extraordinary beings we pass on to Worms, Crustaceans, Molluscs, and the Radiata, including Sea-stars, Corallines, Corals, &c. Some of these largely contribute to the sustenance of the human family; and the lower forms of life, so marvellous in their construction, will be found not less worthy of investigation than the more important members of the Animal Kingdom. The present Volume is concluded by an account of Animalcules. These constitute the food of many of the larger animals; and, minute as they are-most of them being revealed to us only by the microscope-they have built up large portions of our globe. Well has it been said by Dr. Chalmers, as he viewed the telescope in connection with the microscope: "The one led me to see a system in every star; the other leads me to see a world in every atom. The one taught me that this mighty globe, with the whole burden of its people and of its countries, is but a grain of sand on the high field of immensity; the other teaches me that every grain of sand may harbour within it the tribes and the families of a busy population. The one told me of the insignificance of the world I tread upon the other redeems it from all its insignificance; for it tells me that in the leaves of every forest, and in the flowers of every garden, and in the waters of every rivulet, there are worlds teeming with life, and numberless as are the glories of the firmament. The one has suggested to me that beyond and above all that is visible to man, there may lie fields of creation which sweep immeasurably along, and carry the impress of the Almighty's hand to the remotest scenes of the universe; the other suggests to me that, within and beyond all that minuteness which the aided eye of man has been able to explore, there may be a region of invisibles; and that, could we draw aside the mysterious curtain which shrouds it from our senses, we might there see a theatre of as many wonders as astronomy has unfolded-a universe within the compass of a point, so small as to elude all the powers of the microscope, but where the wonder-working God finds room for the exercise of all his attributes; where he can raise another mechanism of worlds, and fill and animate them all with the evidences of his glory." Note. The Proprietors think it right to state that, having arranged with a foreign house for the supply of certain of the engravings, they have since discovered, with great regret, that some few of these have infringed the copyright of engravings forming part of the beautiful and accurate series of works on the "Natural History of the British Islands," published by Mr. Van Voorst. The use of these illustrations is now retained in the Work by arrangement with Mr. Van Voorst. Introduction-Land Tortoises-The European Tortoise-The Elephantine Tortoise-The Great Tortoise-Marsh Tortoises-The Alligator Tortoise-River Tortoises-Sea Tortoises, or Turtles-The Hawk's-Bill Turtle- Saurians, or Lizard-like Reptiles-The Crocodile-The Chameleon-The Gecko-The Varans-The Nilotic Monitor-Lizards-The Winged Dragon-The Red-Throated Lizard-The Amblyrhynchus Cristatus-The Amblyrhynchus Subcristatus-The Common Iguana-The Frilled Lizard-The Eyed Lizard-The Green Lizard-The Sand Lizard-The Viviparous Lizard-The Gray Wall Lizard-The Slow-Worm-The Sala- mander Lizard-Serpents-The Ringed Snake-The Python-The Boa Constrictor-The Cobra da Capello- The Haje of Egypt-The Common Viper-The Cerastes-The Rattlesnake-Marine Snakes-Amphibious Reptiles The Common Frog-The Bull-Frog-The Common Tree-Frog-The Common Toad-The Natter Jack Toad-The Pipa-Newts-The Spotted Salamander- Aquatic Newts-The Common Water Newt-The Introduction-The Mud-Fish-The Perch-The Basse-The Red Mullet-The Gray Mullet-The Striped Red Mullet The Red Gurnard-The Sapphirine Gurnard-The Flying Gurnard-The Great Weever-The Sea Scorpion-The Father Lasher-The Three-Spined Stickleback-The Fifteen-Spined Stickleback-The Four- Spined Stickleback-The Bull-Head-The Common Sea-Bream-The Four-Toothed Sparus-The Maigre-The Bearded Umbrina-The Mackerel-The Tunny-The John Dory-The Boar-Fish-The Sand Smelt, or Atherine-The Wolf-Fish-The Common Angler-The Ocellated Blenny-The Ballan Wrasse-The Rainbow Wrasse-The Gibbous Wrasse-The Gilt Head-The Gold Sinny-The Tree Climber-The Flying Fish-The Carp-The Prussian Carp-The Gold Carp-The Roach-The Dace-The Graining-The Chub-The Rud- The Bleak-The Azurine-The Minnow-The Loach-The Pike-The Garfish-The Skipper-The Barbel-The Gudgeon-The Tench-The Bream-The Sly Silurus-The Sharmuth-The Salmon-The Trout-The Salmon Trout-The Char-The Grayling-The Smelt-The Herring-The Pilchard-The Sprat-The Whitebait- The Shad-The Anchovy-The Sardine-The Cod-The Haddock-The Whiting-The Ling-The Burbot- The Plaice-The Flounder-The Holibut-The Turbot-The Brill-The Sole-The Eel-The Electrical Eel- The Conger Eel-The Muroena-The Sand Lance-The Lump Sucker-The Common Remora-The Great Pipe-Fish-The Short-Nosed Hippocampus-The Box-Fishes-The Globe-Fishes-The Sun-Fish-The Sturgeon-The Dog-Fish-The White Shark-The Blue Shark-The Greenland Shark-The Sword Fish- The Sea Lamprey-The River Lamprey-The Skate -The Torpedo-The Myxine The Metamorphoses of Insects-The Structure of Insects-SHEATH-WINGED INSECTS-The Dorr Beetle-The Tumbler Dung Beetle-The Carabus-The Bombardier Beetle-The Buprestis-The Water Beetle-The Fire-Fly-The Scarabæus-The Burying Beetle-The Four-Spotted Mimic Beetle-Latreille's Beetle- The Wire-Worm-The Tortoise Beetle-The Blister-Beetle-The Oil Beetle-The Diamond Beetle-The Weevils-The Palm Beetle-The Musk Beetle-The Lady-Birds-The Cardinal Beetle-STRAIGHT-WINGED INSECTS-The Earwig-The Cockroaches-The Mantis-The Walking-Leaf Insect-The House Cricket-The Field Cricket-The Mole Cricket-The Grasshopper-The Locust-The Cuckoo-Spit Frog-Hopper-HALF- WINGED INSECTS-The Lantern Fly-The Aphis-The Cochineal Insect-NERVE-WINGED INSECTS-The Dragon-Fly-The Caddis Worm and Fly-Hemerobius Perla-The Ant-Lion-The May-Fly-MEMBRANE- WINGED INSECTS-The Ant-The White Ant-The Wasp-Mason and Carpenter Bees-The Honey Bee-The Humble Bee-SCALE-WINGED INSECTS-Butterflies-Moths-The New Ailanthus Silkworm- DOUBLE-WINGED INSECTS-The House Fly-The Wheat-Fly-The Gnat-The Tsetse-The Gall-Fly- The Garden Spider-The Water Spider-The Mason Spider-The Mygale-The Scorpion-The Serpula-The The Shrimp The Prawn-The Lobster-The Crab-The Pea Crab The Hermit Crab. p. 260 to 267 MOLLUSCS. The Barnacle-The Balanus-The Sea Acorn-The Oyster: Pearls-The Cockle-The Mussel-The PinnaThe Razor-Shell--The Scallop-The Snail-The Wentletrap-The Volute-The Triton-The Murex-The Cone The Olive-The Cyproea-The Cowry-Top-Shells-The Whelk-The Pholas-The Ship-Worm-The Carinaria The Cephalopods The Cuttle-Fish-The Calamary-The Poulpe-Enormous Cephalopods-The Pearly Nautilus-The Paper Nautilus-Foraminifera p. 267 to 395 SEA-STARS, ECHINODERMS, &c. The Sea-Star-The Fragile Sea-Star-The Sea Urchin-The Sea Cucumber-The Sponge-The Cliona-The Clio Borealis The Jelly-Fish-The Pyrosoma-The Portuguese Man-of-War-The Sea Anemones-The Lucernaria-The Zoanthus-The Green Hydra-The Long-Armed Hydra. p. 295 to 308 CORALLINES AND CORALS. The Great Horn-Wrack-The Flaxen Flustra-Plumaria Falcata-Tubularia Indivisa-The Fan-Bearer--Tubipora Musica-The Red Coral-The Polyps of Coral Rocks and Reefs-The Aquarium p. 309 to 322 ANIMALCULES. Animalcules of Paste, River and Sea Water-Shield-bearing, Many-stomached, and Wheel-bearing Animalcules— Fossil Animalcules p. 323 to 340 The Sacred ScripAx acquaintance with reptiles may be traced backwards to a very remote period. tures, especially those of the Old Testament, have numerous passages alluding to them; and the ancient monuments of the Egyptians prove that the great groups of the tortoises, the lizards, the serpents, and the frogs were well known to that people. Those forms of animal life must, therefore, have attracted attention from the earliest times; while a natural desire to ascertain which of them were dangerous, and which innocuous, must have led to particular inquiry, in order to solve the doubt. It is evident, moreover, from the ancient writings of Athenæus, as well as of Herodotus, the father of history, and the contemporary of the prophet Malachi, that notions not merely vague but precise were entertained respecting many species of reptiles. Reptiles form, unquestionably, a most remarkable class of animated beings. Some are of strange VOL. IV. 米 Reptilia, from replo, to creep along. 1 |