The Vegetable Individual in its relation to species. 183 
this view is correct, for in a forest of trees of the same genus and 
species, in a meadow, or in a cornfield, each single tree, each 
stock of grass or of grain, appears as a single member of its spe- 
cies, as each single beast does in a flock of animals forming a 
community. But the question arises whether these individual 
beings, regarded as such in this superficial way, can each be con- 
sidered individuals in the same sense. When the flocks or socie- 
ties of animals are numerous, as in an apiary, each hive or swarm 
will appear as an individual member of its species, and the more 
so in proportion to the closeness of the connexion between the 
members of such a community. any flocks of animals whose 
members are organically connected during life, have until lately 
been considered to be individual animals; an n the 
separation of the individuals is more complete, such conceptions 
