THE 



VEGETABLE KINGDOM, 



INTRODUCTION. 



IN the harmony of the spheres everything is in a state of 

 mobility and perpetual transmutation. The heavens are 

 tenanted with new nebulae, and old stars disappear in the 

 abyss of immensity. On the earth new generations of ani- 

 mals and plants arise, while the scythe of time mows down 

 those which but lately flourished there. On the one hand, 

 the mass of animated matter visibly reveals its vitality ; 

 whilst, on the other side, its occult forces hide themselves, 

 and act only in the most hidden recesses of the organism. 

 But all is carried away by the supreme power of life, that 

 inexplicable and unfathomable mystery ! 



We behold animals which at a certain season, and at a 

 given moment, display themselves in irresistible power, or 

 disappear, providentially guided by an unknown force. 

 Sometimes it seems as if a ray of light attracted them, whilst 

 darkness drives them away ; at other times it is the reverse. 



When night begins to spread its sombre shades over the 

 earth, legions of twilight-loving moths flit heavily near 



their haunts, whilst the bat, issuing from its ruins, shakes 

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