HISTORY OF 



The similitude between vegetables and animals 

 is no where more obvious than in those that be- 

 long to the ocean, where the nature of one is 

 admirably adapted to the necessities of the other. 

 This element, it is well known, has its vegetables, 

 and its insects that feed upon them in great abun- 

 dance. Over many tracts of the sea a weed is 

 seen floating, which covers the surface, and gives 

 the resemblance of a green and extensive meadow. 

 On the under side of these unstable plants, mil- 

 lions of little animals are found, adapted to their 

 situation. For, as their ground, if I may so ex- 

 press it, lies over their heads, their feet are placed 

 upon their backs ; and, as land animals have their 

 legs below their bodies, these have them above. 

 At land also, most animals are furnished with 

 eyes to see their food ; but at sea, almost all the 

 reptile kinds are without eyes, which might only 

 give them prospects of danger, at a time when 

 unprovided with the means of escaping it.* 



Thus, in all places, we perceive an obvious 

 similitude between the animals and the vegeta- 

 bles of every region. In general, however, the 

 most perfect races have the least similitude to the 

 vegetable productions on which they are ulti- 

 mately fed ; while, on the contrary, the meaner 

 the animal, the more local it is found to be, and 

 the more it is influenced by the varieties of the 

 soil where it resides. Many of the more humble 

 reptile kinds are not only confined to one coun- 

 try, but also to a plant; nay, even to a leaf. 



* Linn. Amcen. vol. v. p. 68, 



