Had man, in his original state, been cast feeble and naked on the surface of the globe, he could not have survived a single week, with all the elements of nature combined against him. His first experiment on the tiger or the asp, even his first morsel of food, might have been fatal to him. He must have been formed perfect in knowledge; or, being formed in ignorance and feebleness, he must have been protected by a power capable of controlling the influences of surrounding nature. But before we proceed to offer a few remarks on the origin and progress of zoological science, it seems expedient to mark the subjects to which the attention of the naturalist is directed. If we cast our eyes around, and survey, in a comprehensive manner, the objects which exhibit themselves to our view, we may form some idea of the occupations of those individuals who devote themselves to the examination of nature. The surface of the globe presents in part a vast expanse of water bounded by the sinuosities of the shores, and in part an undulating succession of plains and mountains. It is enveloped with an aerial fluid, which extends to a considerable height, sometimes transparent, and sometimes obscured with masses of floating vapour. The land is diversified by slopes of every degree of inclination,--extensive plains, depressions and hollows, ridges and protuberances of various forms; the highest, however, bearing a very insignificant proportion to the earth's diameter. The waters, which cover more than two-thirds of the globe, separate the land into unequal portions, dividing it into continents and islands. Tracts of elevated ground traverse these in various directions, constituting the elongated mountain-groups named chains; which, being intersected by valleys and containing the sources of numberless streams, slope towards the adjacent countries. Other portions of the surface consist of irregularly-grouped eminences, of inferior height, interspersed with corresponding valleys. Elevated platforms are sometimes met with, and the plains and slopes are not unfrequently diversified with hills. The depressed parts of mountainous regions present great diversity of form, extent, and direction, and often exhibit basins or hollows, which are occasionally filled with water. Descending into the plains, we find that they are seldom perfectly level, but are formed into slopes of small inclination and of various extent. The pampas of South America, for example, stretch from the base of the Andes to Buenos Ayres, over a space of 900 miles; and in Africa are vast expanses of nearly level land, where the traveller, day after day, sees the horizon preserving the same distance as he proceeds, and bounding an ocean of arid sand. Large flats are also found at great elevations above the sea, such as those of Tartary, Thibet, and Mexico.