THE PROTOPLAST . 5 



more, it also appears a perfect, complete, and finished product for the 

 present'' (The Plant}. 



Matter, indeed, is too coarse and low a thing to imprison life. Life 

 uses up the virtue out of matter, and when for a space it looks as if 

 the matter lived, it is only for a little time, and the Life passes on to 

 use up fresh material. The former living plant or animal, as we saw 

 it, decays away ; but the Life has not decayed : it has changed its 

 place, and has made a step in its mysterious and immeasurable cycle 



Photo by] 



FIG. 17. VEGETABLE SHEEP (Raoulia eximia). 



[E. J. Wallis 



A Composite plant that grows on exposed hillsides, its tough stems and tiny flowers packed in a 



compact mass like a great cushion of moss to resist the elements. It is often mistaken at a little 



distance for a sheep. A. native of SEW ZEALAND. 



always unseen, unmeasured, and untouched. How different from the 

 inorganic crystal, which knows nothing of this ceaseless change and 

 progression : which has no life-history to offer ; which, in fact, has never 

 been alive ! 



Wide, then, is the chasm, and very definite the line of demarcation, 

 between organic and inorganic bodies between the Plant, which has 

 Life, and the Mineral, which is lifeless. Biology, indeed, which is the 

 science of life, concerns only the Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms it has 

 no connection with the Mineral world. Botany and Zoology, the sciences 



