.6 A N A L O G I E S B E T W E E N 



Even the mod precious metals, which derive - 

 their vaUie from the conventions of men only, 

 are regarded in no other light bv the plrJ.ofo- 

 pher. In the animal, the whole pov/ers of na- 

 ture are united, l^he principles with wh.ich he 

 is animated are peculiar to him : He wills ; he 

 determines ; he acts ; he communicates, by his 

 fenfes, with the moft diftant objedis; his body 

 is a v/orld in miniature, a central point to 

 which every thing in the univeife is conncdled. 

 Thefe are his peculiar and invariable relations : 

 The faculties of grovv'th and expaufion, of re- 

 production and the multiplication of his fpe- 

 cies, he pofleifes in common with the vegetable 

 kingdom. 



ProgrcfTive fuotion appears^ to be the moll: 

 diilinguiiliing quality between an animal and a 

 vegetable. We, indeed, know no vegetable that 

 enjoys a loco-motive faculty. But this motion 

 is denied to feveralfpecies of animals, asoyfters*, 

 gall-infe<£ts, &c. This diftindlion, therefore, is 

 neither general nor efiential. 



Senfation more eifentially dillinguifhes ani- 

 mals from vegetables. But fmjat'ion is a com- 

 plex idea, and requires fome explication ; for, 

 if fenfation implied no more than motion confe- 

 quent upon a ftroke or impulfe, the fenhtive 

 plant enjoys this power. But, if by lenfation 

 we mean the faculty of perceiving and of com- 

 paring ideas, it is uncertain whether brute ani- 

 mals 

 * This is not ftriaiy true; for oyfters, and even gall-infects, 

 are capable of a degree of local motion. 



