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[Illustration]
WINNERS IN LIFE’S RACE
[Illustration: _Frontispiece._ LUMINOUS FISH OF THE DEEP SEA. (For
description see Footnote 25, and List of Illustrations.)]
THE
WINNERS IN LIFE’S RACE
OR THE
GREAT BACKBONED FAMILY.
BY
ARABELLA B. BUCKLEY,
AUTHOR OF “THE FAIRYLAND OF SCIENCE,” ETC.
NEW YORK:
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,
1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET,
1883.
PREFACE.
Although the present volume, as giving an account of the _vertebrate_
animals, is a natural sequel to, and completion of, my former book,
_Life and her Children_, which treated of _invertebrates_, yet it is a
more independent work, both in plan and execution, than I had at first
contemplated.
This arises from the nature of the subject. The structure and habits of
the lower forms of life are sufficiently simple to be treated almost
without reference to geological history. When, however, I began to
sketch out the lives and structure of the vertebrate animals, which are
so closely interlinked one with another and yet so sharply separated
into groups, I soon found that I must carry my readers into the past in
order to give any intelligible account of the present.
I have therefore endeavoured to describe graphically the early history
of the backboned animals, so far as it is yet known to us, keeping
strictly to such broad facts as ought in these days to be familiar to
every child and ordinarily well-educated person, if they are to have
any true conception of Natural History. At the same time I have dwelt
as fully as space would allow, upon the lives of such modern animals
as best illustrate the present divisions of the vertebrates upon the
earth; my object being rather to follow the tide of life, and sketch in
broad outline how structure and habit have gone hand-in-hand in filling
every available space with living beings, than to multiply descriptions
of the various species. If my younger readers will try and become
familiar with the types selected, either alive in zoological gardens or
preserved in good museums, they will, I hope, acquire a very fair idea
of the main branches of the Backboned Family.[1]
In order to treat so vast a subject simply and within narrow limits, it
has often been necessary to pass lightly over new and startling facts.
I trust, however, it will not be inferred that such passages have been
lightly or carelessly written, for in all cases I have sought, and most
gratefully acknowledge, the assistance of some of our best authorities;
and I have endeavoured that what little is said upon difficult subjects
shall be a true foundation for wider knowledge in the future.
Among the many friends who have rendered me valuable assistance, I
cannot sufficiently express my obligations to Professor W. Kitchen
Parker for his unwearying kindness in explaining obscure points
of anatomical structure, and to my friends Mr. Alfred R. Wallace,
Professor A. C. Haddon of Dublin, and Mr. Garnett of the British
Museum, for constant suggestion and encouragement. I am also indebted
to Mr. J. P. Anderson of the British Museum for aid in the arrangement
of the Index.
The geological restorations given as picture-headings (some of which
are here attempted, I believe, for the first time) have been most
carefully considered, though the exact forms of such strange and
extinct animals must necessarily be somewhat conjectural. My thanks are
due to the artist, Mr. Carreras, jun., for the patience and care with
which he has followed my instructions regarding them, and also to Mr.
Smit for his masterly execution of the frontispiece.[2]
I have been asked why, in this and the former work, I have not given
genealogical tables to help the reader to follow the relations of the
various groups. My reason is, that it is impossible to construct
tables of this kind without giving a false idea of the fixity of
natural divisions and of the extent of our knowledge. To men of
science, who know how provisional such tables are, they have a certain
value, but they would be positively harmful in a work of this kind,
which will have fully accomplished its purpose if it only awakens in
young minds a sense of the wonderful interweaving of life upon the
earth, and a desire to trace out the ever-continuous action of the
great Creator in the development of living beings.
ARABELLA B. BUCKLEY.
LONDON, _September 1882_.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
THE THRESHOLD OF BACKBONED LIFE 1