Frank Evers Beddard

Elementary Zoology Frank Evers Beddard

The present volume contains an account of a few types selected from the chief groups of the animal kingdom, followed and accompanied by a consideration of some of the more general conclusions of biology. It is inevitable in an elementary handbook to use the type system, but it is not necessary to use it in such a way as to emphasize all the faults of the system. The gravest fault, in my opinion, is that the student is impressed with the idea that the characters of a given species selected for description are distinctive of a wider assemblage of forms. I have endeavoured to obviate this by emphasizing here and there the differences between allied forms. Many distinguished authorities hold that in treating of animal structure it is desirable to commence with the higher forms and gradually work down to the lower forms. It is argued that to do this is advantageous, since the student commences with what must be the more familiar part of the subject. Some rough notion of human anatomy is possessed by most persons; whereas the very methods by which the lower animals are studied are new to the beginner. There is, however, no transition between a dissection of a frog with scalpel and scissors and the examination of an amoeba with the microscope. The plunge into an unfamiliar region of the subject must be made some time; and why not at the very commencement? Besides, to begin with the low forms and to gradually work to the higher has the undoubted advantage of presenting the facts in a logical sequence. I therefore begin with the amoeba, and deal with the other types in, so far as is possible, an ascending order. About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology. Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series ut