The Household Pet.
NATURAL HISTORY SERIES—BOOK FIRST.
BOOK OF
CATS AND DOGS,
AND
OTHER FRIENDS,
FOR LITTLE FOLKS.
By JAMES JOHONNOT.
NEW YORK ·:· CINCINNATI ·:· CHICAGO
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY.
Copyright, 1884,
By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.
Children love pets; they nevertire of stories; and they are delightedwith jingle and the fun ofincongruity. Mother Goose reignssupreme in the fairy-land of infancy.Through these loves thelittle opening minds may be ledto careful observation, comparison, and descriptions—stepsat once necessary to mental growth,and leading up to the portals of science. By insensibledegrees, play may be made to merge instudy, and fun take on the form of fact.
Upon these ideas of the basis and method ofthought, this little work hasbeen constructed. A few familiarnursery-rhymes serve to connectthe present with the pastthought of the child. The petof the household—the cat—isstudied. From the obvious instructure and movement, the mind is led to seerelations, and the adaptations of structure to functions[6]and outward conditions. As each new animalis introduced, the study goes on by comparisons,showing resemblances and differences, andpointing toward scientific classifications.
This and kindred works will be of little use,however, if the lessons stop with the book. Thewhole intent of the method is to incite to a studyof the animals themselves—the matter in the bookdirecting attention, arousing interest, and servingas a guide to observation.
An endeavor has been made to present thepleasant side of animal life. To this end theaffection, the intelligence, and the uses of ourservants and friends have been dwelt upon, andideas of violence have received but a passingnotice. That we should be kind to animals is anecessary inference from observed relations, andthis obviates the necessity of a formal exhortationor a cut-and-dried moral.
As a reader, this book is designed t