INTRODUCTION. 3 
have formed; and whether we look at the green leaves, the 
mossy calyx, the beautifully arranged crimson petals of the 
corolla, or are refreshed by its fragrant perfume, sweet as Sa- 
bean odours, there must be a lack of taste if we do not admire 
it, and a want of something better than taste if we do not 
acknowledge it as a kind gift of God to man. He drove us 
from Paradise when it was polluted by sin, but he has per- 
mitted some of the sweets of Eden to follow us; and by 
giving us the true Rose of Sharon and Lily of the Valley, 
he seeks to melt our hard hearts, and to win us back to a 
heavenly Paradise, where the flowers never wither, and where 
the sun of glory and blessedness never goes down. 
Beautiful as seaweeds are, we felt, as we have said, in 
studying and describing them, that they were less interesting 
because they were destitute of sentient life. We are glad 
that we have now mounted a step higher im the order of 
nature, and that we are now to treat of creatures that grow, 
and live, and feel. The name Zoophyte, however, would 
seem to imply that it is only one remove, or rather, only 
half-removed from inanimate nature, the Greek words from 
which the term is derived signifying a Miwing plant. But 
this name was given to it when its nature was imperfectly 
understood; and it still retains the name, though it is now 
