ON SOME RESEMBLANCES BETWEEN PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 31 
in structure; and we find plenty of forms of life that are so ex- 
ceedingly simple, that we cannot possibly say whether they are 
plants or animals ;—we can, in fact, trace the chain down through 
so many links, that we arrive at last, both in the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms, at forms in which all distinctive marks cease, 
at least as far as owr senses and owr knowledge go, and the two 
kingdoms seem to merge intoone. I say ‘ seem to merge,” for I 
think that there is a distinct line between animals and vegetables 
if our senses could only recognise it. 
Iam not, however, going to try to tell you the difference 
between plants and animals—I have given that up as a hopeless 
task long ago; but I am going to point out some of the resem- 
blances between plants and animals, and I think you will find it 
a very curious subject. 
Plants, like animals, are endowed with life—strange, mysterious 
life—of a lower type, perhaps, than that of animals ; but on this 
point, and indeed on many points connected with life, we are very 
ignorant. One thing is certain, that the life of a plant is subject 
to very many of the same laws as that of an animal. External 
circumstances affect it in the same way. A fish that inhabits the 
water dies if brought into the air, and a land animal is drowned 
if placed in the water; so, a water plant, if it does not absolutely 
die when planted in dry ground, cannot thrive, and generally 
dwindles away, and a land plant cannot bear to be submerged. 
Nevertheless, plants are capable of adapting themselves to cir- 
cumstances much more than animals can, and therefore I should 
suppose that plant-life is of a simpler type than animal-life, and 
the laws affecting it less intricate. 
I once met with an instance, however, that by no means bears . 
out what I have just been saying, and I cannot account for it. 
A pond containing waterlilies had been drained so nearly dry, 
that there was only a little soft mud at the bottom; but in this 
the waterlilies, instead of dying, grew with such luxuriance, 
sending up such forests of dark green leaves, and such profusion 
of lovely flowers, that I have never seen the like before or since. 
Why these wateriilies should have grown better out of their 
