250 RAMBLES OF A NATURALIST. 



in which vegetative life replaces almost entirely the 

 active spontaneity of the animal. 



If I have not fallen far below the task which I 

 had proposed to myself, even those among my readers 

 who are the least familiar with zoological science 

 will now be able to understand some of the attrac- 

 tions which belong to these embryological investiga- 

 tions. The birth and development of a germ, and 

 the metamorphoses of the being which derives its ex- 

 istence from that germ, are objects which cannot fail 

 to interest all those who are capable of thought and 

 feeling. The crudest facts have in themselves often 

 an immense interest in consequence of the questions 

 which they raise or solve, but even beyond the 

 modifications of form, and the transformations of 

 matter, it is impossible not to recognise something 

 infinitely superior. Everywhere in these phenomena 

 life appears as a distinct force, acting with one 

 special object which could not be attained by any 

 other agent, giving rise to germs, and fashioning 

 each one according to its species. While it is 

 always one and the same in its essence it is infinite 

 in its manifestations, enveloping inorganic and dead 

 matter in the rich mantle of organised creation. 

 We may recognise this force by its effects, but we 

 shall doubtless always remain ignorant of its nature. 

 Here we are most assuredly touching upon the pro- 

 foundest mysteries of this world ; for beyond this 

 primary cause there is nothing but the Cause of 

 causes , there is nothing but God. 



