V. CRYSTALLINE VASES AND THEIR 

 INHABITANTS. 



"If we consider plauts aiid animals ill their most imperfect con. 

 dition, they can scarcely be distinguished. But this much AVI- can 

 say, that the creatures which by degrees emerge as plants and 

 animals out of a common ph ase arrive at perfection in two opposite 

 directions ; the plant in its highest glory reaches the tree ; the 

 animal, in man." GOETHE. 



WHY or how it has come to pass that Nature puts 

 on such a variety of forms is rather a puzzling 

 question, especially so to those who insist on 

 separate creations for every one of them. If, how- 

 ever, instead of starting in our investigations with 

 a preconceived theory, we simply examine and note 

 the facts of natural history, we are charmed witli 

 this infinite variety, and are under no temptation to 

 twist and distort what we see to make it fit into 

 any theory. The great drawback is the almost 

 bewildering classifications and terrible names which, 



