14 ANALOGIES BETWEEN 



while fhe has created animalcules in the greatefl 

 profufion. But this opinion fhould not be a- 

 dopted without examination. Plants are fo fi- 

 milar in their ftrudure, that it is much more 

 difficult to diftinguiih them than animals. This 

 mouldinefs, Vv^hich we imagine to he only a very 

 fmall mofs, may be a forell or a garden confift- 

 ing of a multitude of different plants, though 

 we are unable to diflinguifh them. 



Animals and vegetables differ alfo with regard 

 to fize. There is a greater difproportion betv\7een 

 the bulk of a whale and that of one of thefe 

 pretended microfcopic animals, than between the 

 largeft oak and the fmall mofs mentioned above. 

 Though bulk be only a relative attribute, it may 

 be uieful to know the limits within which na- 

 ture has confined her proJudions. As to large- 

 nefs, plants differ but little from animals. 1 he 

 quantity of matter in a whale and in a large tree 

 is nearly equal ; but, as to fmallnefs, fome men 

 have pretended to have feen animals fo extreme- 

 ly minute, that a million of them colieded in a 

 heap v^ould not equal the fmall mofs on a piece 

 of mouldy bread. 



The mofl general and mofl obvious diflinc- 

 tion between plants and animals arifes from their 

 figure. The form of animals, though infinitely 

 various, has no refemblance to that of plants: 

 And, though the polypi, which, like plants, can 

 be multiplied by cuttings, may be regarded as 

 the link which conneds the animal and vege- 

 table 



