HISTORICAL SKETCH. 91 



were created in conformity to one grand and uniform system, which was 

 founded upon a single primary principle, that is as beautiful for its 

 simplicity, as it is astonishing in its-' illimitable application. 



Not less singular and admirable are the arrangements for the circulation 

 of the fluids in plants ) the peculiar kind of respiration which they perform, 

 through the medium of the leaves ; the abstraction of nutriment from the 

 earth and atmosphere ; the power of perpetuating and extending their 

 species, by such a felicitous construction of their seeds, as to secure their 

 preservation for centuries, as well as their transportation, by the winds, 

 waters, birds and various other extraordinary methods, to all parts of the 

 globe. 



That they have a most delicate sense of touch, is beautifully illustrated 

 by the contraction and drooping of the leaves of the Mimosa ;^ and their 

 great sensibiUty to heat and cold is evinced by all, and in such a decisive 

 manner, that floral horologues have been constructed, by observing the 

 successive periods during the day, when certain flowers regularly unfold 

 or close their corollas. 



With the infinitely diversified objects for physical and intellectual occu- 

 pation, which are thus presented within the bounds of a Garden, how 

 preeminent are its claims to preference, over all other positions which can 

 be selected, for the acquisition of knowledge, the preservation of health, the 

 inculcation of virtue and piety, and the fruition of the greatest blessing 

 bestowed upon man — domestic seclusion, tranquility and peace. 



The illimitable profusion of favors conferred upon the human race, can 

 only be approximately appreciated, when we consider how very few of the 

 immense number have, as yet, been appropriated to meet the demand for 

 nutriment, raiment, and other purposes. Three animals, — the Ox, the 

 Sheep and the Silk-worm, and three plants — Wheat, Cotton and Flax, 

 ever have supphed most of the food, and nearly the whole of the materials 

 for clothing, of all the nations of the earth. 



Why then were the one hundred and fifty thousand animals, and the one 

 hundred thousand plants, which naturalists have enumerated, placed upon 

 the earth, and " dominion over them given" to man, on the day of his 

 creation ? Was it not, that with his progression, towards that exalted state 

 of perfection, which he was destined to attain, they should all, at last, in 

 some manner, administer to his comfort or his pleasure ? 



Additions, therefore, have been gradually made for the purposes of the 

 primeval selection, or as subsidiary to labor, medicine and the arts ; and as 

 empires have advanced from a state of barbarism, towards the culminating 

 point of their glory, the luxury of fruits, and the embellishment of flowers, 

 became so consequential, as to have induced the collection and culture of 



* See Note, page 92. 



