THE 



VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



In the harmony of the spheres everything is in a state 

 of mobile and perpetual transmutation. The heavens are 

 tenanted with neAV nebulas, and old stars disajDpear in the 

 abyss of immensity. On the earth new generations of 

 animals and plants arise, while the scythe of time mows 

 down those which but lately flourished there. On the one 

 hand, the mass of animated matter visil.)ly reveals its vital- 

 ity; whilst, on the other side, its occult forces hide them- 

 selves and only act in the most hidden folds of the organism. 

 But all is carried away by the supreme power of life — that 

 inexplicable and unfathomable mystery! 



We behold animals which at a certain season, and at 

 given moment, disjolay themselves in irresistible power, 

 or disappear, guided through Providence by an unknown 

 force. Sometimes it seems as if a ray of light attracted 

 them whilst darkness drives them away; at other times it 

 is the reverse. 



When night begins to spread its soml;)re shades over 

 the earth, legions of twilight-loving moths flit heavily near 

 their haunts, whilst the bat, issuing from its ruins, shakes 

 its membranous wings and launches itself in pursuit of 



