244 COMPARISON BETWEEN AM3IALS AND PLANTS. 



the subjects of moral government; we must, therefore, both from 

 our own observation and the declarations of scripture, infer, that 

 the faculties of man differ not in degree only, but distinctly in their 

 nature, from those of all other beings upon our globe. 



" Man, (says Buffon,) by his form and the perfection of his organs, 

 and as the only being on earth endowed with reason, seems properly 

 placed at the head of the kingdom of nature. All, in him, announces 

 the lord of the earth ; his form marks his superiority over all living 

 beings ; he stands erect, in the attitude of command ; he can gaze upon 

 the heavens ; on his face is imprinted the character of dignity ; the 

 image of his soul is painted upon his features, and the excellence of 

 his nature penetrates through his material organs, and animates the 

 expression of his countenance." 



In the orders of animals nearest to man, we find the senses of 

 sight, touch, taste and smell, equally perfect as those possessed by 

 him, and in some cases they are even more acute ; but as we pro- 

 ceed downwards through the gradations of animal existence, we 

 perceive the number and acuteness of the senses to diminish — wb 

 find some beings with but four senses, some with three, others with 

 two, and lastly ,"in Zoophytes, we find only the sense of touch, and 

 that so faintly exhibited as almost to lead us to doubt its existence. 



Let us now return to the distinction between animals and vegeta- 

 bles. You no w perceive that although you would find no difficulty with 

 regard to a nightingale and a rose, to discover to which of the king- 

 doms of nature they belong; yet with respect to a sponge or coral, 

 a mushroom or hchen, it would be somewhat difficult, without a pre- 

 vious knowledge of their classification, to say which is called ani- 

 mal, and which vegetable, or to give the distinctions between them. 

 We have seen among the zoophites, that the polypus, like a vegeta- 

 ble, may be increased by cutting shoots and ingrafting them upon 

 other animals. 



With respect to sensation, some plants seem to possess this, ap- 

 parently even in a greater degree than some of the last orders of 

 animals ; — the sensitive plant shrinks from the touch ; the Dionea 

 suddenly closes its leaves upon the insect which touches them; the 

 leaves of plants follow the direction of light, in order to present 

 their upper surfaces to its influence ; as you may observe in flower 

 pots placed by a window. The seed of a plant, in whatever situa- 

 tion it may be placed in the earth, always sends its root downwards, 

 and its stem upwards; in these cases, does there not seem as much 

 appearance of sensation and instinct, and even more, than in the 

 lower orders of animals ? 



We find, then, that the possession, or want of instinct, does not 

 constitute a mark of distinction between animals and plants. 



Some have attempted to draw a line of distinction, by considering 

 that locomotion, or the power of changing place, belongs to animals 

 only ; but this criterion seems to fail, since we find animals fixed to 

 the bottom of the sea, or growing upon rocks, and plants moving 

 upon the surface of the water. 



Another mark of distinction has been given, in the supposed pres- 

 ence of nitrogen in animals, detected by a peculiar odour when ani- 

 mal substances are burning, similar to what we perceive in the com- 

 bustion of bones ; but nitrogen having been discovered in some vege- 

 tables, this proof is no longer considered infallible. 



It appears then, from a comparison between animals and vegeta- 

 bles, that these beings are closely connected by the essential charac- 



How differinc from them. 



