384 [Assembly 



tioned, among others, the lofty Algse, which rise from 100 to 150 

 feet from the bottom of the sea in some places and entangle the 

 vessels sailing through them, embarrassing the paddle wheels of 

 steamers. He adverted to the practical uses to which some of 

 them may be put, over and above their uses as kelp. Some of 

 them can be cooked as jelly, and it may be considered as good as 

 calves' foot jelly. The colors of some are splendid. 



The Secretary read from Lindley's Vegetable Kingdom the fol- 

 lowing extracts : 



Lindley, in his Vegetable Kingdom, makes the following re 

 marks on vegetable and animal life : 



" And hence it is that thc«e who deal in generals only, with- 

 out descending to particulars, pronounce with a voice of autho- 

 rity that the animal and vegetable kingdoms are sundered by 

 decided characteristics. The Zoologist declares that the power 

 of spontaneous motion, and the feeding by a stomach, are quali- 

 ties confined to the animal kingdom. But numerous plants move 

 with all the appearance of spontaneity ; the spores of those con- 

 fervse, which are sometimes called zoospores, swim in water with 

 great activity ; the filaments of the zygnemata (one of the Algae 

 sea weeds,) combine with the energy of animal life j and as for a 

 stomach, it is impossible to say that the whole interior of a liv- 

 ing independent cell is not a stomach. Chemists once referred 

 to the presence of nitrogen as a certain characteristic of animals. 

 But plants abound in nitrogen. With more reason they now ap- 

 peal to the existence of starch in plants, an organic compound 

 unknown among the animal creation. And this is perhaps the 

 best mark of distinction that has hitherto been found ; for it is 

 universally present in plants, and has enabled Mr. Payen to con- 

 firm by chemical evidence the vegetable nature of certain pro- 

 ductions till lately regarded as zoophytea, and therefore as be- 

 longing to the animal kingdom. 



But it has been long ago asserted by Bory de 8t Vincent, and 

 others, that there exist in nature organized bodies which are ani- 

 mal at one period of their lives and vegetable at another. Thi« 

 tf true, would forever put an end to the possibility of distingoish- 



