LECT. II.] DEFINITION OF A PLANT. 41 



salts, and raetals; the second comprehending liv- 

 ing beings, as animals and vegetables. The latter 

 is the object of our inquiries ; and, as it is of some 

 importance to mark the point of distinction be- 

 tween animals and vegetables, we shall first exa- 

 mine the truth of those definitions of a plant which 

 have been at different times delivered by Botanical 

 Philosophers; and adopt that one which, in our 

 opinion, is the least likely to mislead. 



The first that we shall notice is that of Jun- 

 gius, a Botanist who, as has been already stated 

 (Lecture I.), lived about the middle of the seven- 

 teenth century, and who first hinted the principles 

 on which the Linnaean classification is founded : 

 " A plant," says he, " is a living but not a sentient 

 "body, affixed to a certain spot or seat, whence it 

 " can draw nourishment, grow, and finally propa- 

 " gate its species *." In this definition the want of 

 sensation and of locomotion, or the power of 

 changing place, are considered as the chief distin- 

 guishing characteristics of a plant ; but we shall 

 afterwards show that this definition is not to be 

 adopted, inasmuch as some animals, if a sensor tuni 

 commune, or a nervous system, is to be regarded 

 as the medium of sensation, possess no sensibility ; 

 and some are immoveably fixed to one spot. 



* " Planta est corpus vivens non sentiens, seu certo loco 

 " aut certae scdi affix urn, untie nutriri, augcri, dcnique se pro- 

 " pagare. potcst." Jung. Ipagog. u,. 1. 



