THOUGHTS ON VEGETABLE 

 INSTINCT. 



The great Creator has endowed all vegetables with a 

 property analogous to life and sensation. The plant, 

 like the animal, is subject to the law of death and decay. 

 This very fact is a proof of life, for that which has not 

 life cannot be said to die. 



Differing from the animal, we still find in the plant 

 an inanimate power exerted for its preservation. This 

 power, which might be termed Vegetable Instinct, 

 seems even in the plant an approach to the exercise 

 of will, though in a very limited degree. This may be 

 instanced in its selection or rejection of such nutriment 

 as is suitable or detrimental to its growth. 



The tree, indeed, is not gifted with volition to change 

 its place, as the animal or even the insect can do ; it 

 cannot come and go, but it can refuse to grow and 

 flourish where it has been planted, should soil or climate 



