Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals

Lee, R., Mrs., 1791-1856Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.2
Word count
583K words
Chapters
59

Tags

English Originals Natural Sciences Animal BehaviorScience EnlightenmentNature ObservationCuriosityLife CareNature EssaysIllustrated GuideScience TriviaAmusing TalesParent-Child Reading

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals by Mrs. R. LeeAuthor: Lee, R., Mrs., 1791-1856,Language: English, Class: QL: Science: Zoology, Release Date: Jun 30, 2007

Editor's review

This is a nineteenth-century collection of anecdotes about animal habits and instincts compiled by the English author Mrs. Lee, classified under zoology (QL). Its value lies not in systematic zoological theory but in story-like, observational records of animal instinct and behavior, marked by the natural-history curiosity of its era. For today's readers it is both a sample of Victorian nature writing and a source of lively animal-behavior vignettes, suitable for leisure reading or as writing material. Note that some observations and explanations are limited by their time and may not match modern animal behavior science; enjoy it as historical source and literary craft rather than scientific fact. As a public-domain ebook it is easy to search and cite, good for fragmented reading on commutes or before sleep, and useful as supplementary material for nature writing or natural history reading.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Pick chapters by animal category rather than reading straight through.
  2. Take brief notes after every few anecdotes, marking interesting observations and dubious conclusions for comparison with modern knowledge.
  3. Read alongside popular modern animal behavior books to train critical judgment.
  4. The English original suits light extensive reading; read one or two anecdotes a day to keep up the language.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59

FAQ

Is this suitable as an introductory animal science book? Not entirely. It is nineteenth-century anecdotal natural history writing, focused on curious observation and narrative, lacking the experimental methods and theoretical framework of modern animal behavior science, and some explanations are outdated. It can serve as supplementary reading or a historical sample, but systematic introductory knowledge should come from contemporary popular animal science works.
How difficult is the English, and what reading level is needed? The text is nineteenth-century English with period sentence patterns and vocabulary, but generally narrative prose of moderate difficulty. Readers with roughly CET-4 level English who are willing to look up words can attempt it; those who only want the content can use a parallel translation or read in sections with dictionary tools.
Are the animal anecdotes credible? Treat them selectively. Many observational descriptions have reference value, but given the era, some accounts are second-hand and explanations are often anthropomorphic. Appreciate it as historical source and literary text; verify specific behavioral conclusions against modern animal behavior sources rather than citing them as scientific evidence.

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About the author

Lee, R., Mrs., 1791-1856 Author

Mrs. R. Lee (1791–1856) was a nineteenth-century English author whose biographical details remain limited in publicly available sources; she is usually recorded in bibliographies under the name Mrs. R. Lee. One work by her is held in this collection, Anecdotes of the Habits and Instinct of Animals. Judging from its title and subject, the book is a collection of anecdotes on animal behaviour and instinct, describing the habits and instincts of animals in anecdotal form for a general readership, and it belongs to the popular natural-history writing of its time. Such works were common in nineteenth-century English publishing, often presenting observations in an accessible style that combined entertainment with natural-history knowledge. Because biographical material is scarce, knowledge of the author still rests mainly on this work.