CONTENTS
Reading edition
CHAPTER I PAGE
Introduction 1
Beauty and Happiness 3 The Love of Nature 5 Enjoyment of Scenery 14 Scenery of England 19 Foreign Scenery 21 The Aurora 33 The Seasons 34
CHAPTER II
On Animal Life 39
Love of Animals 41 Growth and Metamorphoses 43 Rudimentary Organs 45 Modifications 48 Colour 50 Communities of Animals 57 Ants 58
CHAPTER III
On Animal Life—continued 71
Freedom of Animals 73 Sleep 78 Senses 84 Sense of Direction 93 Number of Species 96 Importance of the Smaller Animals 97 Size of Animals 100 Complexity of Animal Structure 101 Length of Life 102 On Individuality 104 Animal Immortality 112
CHAPTER IV
On Plant Life 115
Structure of Flowers 128 Insects and Flowers 134 Past History of Flowers 136 Fruits and Seeds 137 Leaves 138 Aquatic Plants 144 On Hairs 148 Influence of Soil 151 On Seedlings 152 Sleep of Plants 152 Behaviour of Leaves in Rain 155 Mimicry 156 Ants and Plants 156 Insectivorous Plants 158 Movements of Plants 159 Imperfection of our Knowledge 163
CHAPTER V
Woods and Fields 165
Fairy Land 172 Tropical Forests 179 Structure of Trees 185 Ages of Trees 188 Meadows 192 Downs 194
CHAPTER VI
Mountains 201
Alpine Flowers 205 Mountain Scenery 206 The Afterglow 213 The Origin of Mountains 214 Glaciers 227 Swiss Mountains 232 Volcanoes 236 Origin of Volcanoes 243
CHAPTER VII
Water 249
Rivers and Witchcraft 251 Water Plants 252 Water Animals 253 Origin of Rivers 255 The Course of Rivers 256 Deltas 272
CHAPTER VIII
Rivers and Lakes 277
On the Directions of Rivers 279 The Conflicts and Adventures of Rivers 301 On Lakes 312 On the Configuration of Valleys 323
CHAPTER IX
The Sea 335
The Sea Coast 337 Sea Life 344 The Ocean Depths 351 Coral Islands 358 The Southern Skies 365 The Poles 367
CHAPTER X
The Starry Heavens 373
The Moon 377 The Sun 382 The Planets 387 Mercury 388 Venus 390 The Earth 391 Mars 392 The Minor Planets 393 Jupiter 394 Saturn 395 Uranus 396 Neptune 397 Origin of the Planetary System 398 Comets 401 Shooting Stars 406 The Stars 410 Nebulæ 425