who may desire to accompany their perusal of the Reason Why with observations of Nature, reminding them that what the animal does, and how it is organized for doing it, are the valuable points in the history of an animal, be it of what class, order, family, genus, or species it may; and to find out how the functions and the organization vary together, as we pass from species to species, is the desirable point in the comparison of one with another.

It is not alone in Zoological Gardens or Museums that the study of this interesting science may be pursued. True, we cannot observe the ostrich in the desert, the tiger in the jungle, the rhinoceros in the karroos, the hippopotamus in the swamp, nor the whale in the Arctic seas; but in our native woods, fields, gardens, and waters, we may every day find living illustrations of the handy work of God, equally worthy of the observing eye and the contemplative mind.

The Author begs it to be understood that the limits of this volume, and the abundant matter supplied by the higher orders of animal life, left no space for the interesting facts of Entomology. It is probable that at some future time a volume may be added to the Reason Why Series, in which that branch of Natural History will be fully treated. The Author cannot do better than conclude this brief introduction by quoting from the British Quarterly Review some admirable sentiments perfectly relevant to the contents of the volume, and, indeed, to the REASON WHY Series :

"The argument from design, as commonly presented, is cumulative. It is an induction from a multitude of particulars. Every science furnishes its quota of materials, and every fresh step in discovery, if it cannot make the conclusion more certain, adds new splendour to the illustrations of it. Every being with which we are conversant, every limb and fragment of every being,-every atom composing those fragments-is found to bear on it the stamp of purpose, the very autograph of mind. It is a means or an

end, or both means and end.

"But the argument does not rest here. Innumerable particular instances irresistibly indicate mind as the agency at work in the universe. Starting from this conclusion, the argument takes a