

the abysses of the sea, as the Serratula, which has been so admirably illustrated in the works of 



Ellis. 



Plants so nearly approach the lower tribe of Zoophyta, that it is hardly possible to distin- 

 guish the one from the other. 



Plants have no stomach or intestinal tube, but absorb fluids by their roots, and also through- 

 out their whole surface. Hence a small cutting of a branch placed in water imbibes nourish- 

 ment at its several pores. So neither the stomach nor intestines of the Sertularice or Polypi have 

 yet been demonstrated. Plants have no heart, yet they have vessels in which flows the sap, which 

 rises to the extreme branches, so neither can any heart be discovered in this lower tribe of animals. 



Hence it appears, that the vegetable kingdom only differs from the animal in having no nerves 



for voluntary movement,* 



He who inquires into the, generation of plants, should also consider what passes in the animal 

 kingdom. We see insects undergo a metamorphosis, and when this is accomplished, these 

 become sexual And when these have undergone this change, for example, the butterflies, they 

 are not more dissimilar from their eruca, or larva, than flowers are to their plants. 



The moth of the silk-worm has no mouth, and after its metamorphosis its whole employment is 

 to propagate its kind.f 



* In the " Philosophia Botanica, 

 Animalia crescunt, vivunt et sentiunt. 



" LiNNiEUs makes the same discrimination, " Lapides crescunt. Vegetabilia crescunt et vivunt. 

 That is, Minerals grow. Vegetables grow and live. Animals grow, live, and feel. The per- 

 ceptivity, or feeling of plants, has been maintained by some writers, as Dr. Percival and the Bishop of Landaff. Vide the learned Bishop's 

 " Chemical Essays" vol. v. p. 158; also the " Philosophy of Botany ," chapter " On the supposed Perceptivity of Plants." 



f Caterpillars may be easily distinguished from worms or maggots, by the number of their feet ; and by their producing butterflies 

 or moths. When the sun calls up vegetation, and vivifies the various eggs of insects, the caterpillars are the first that are seen, upon almost 

 every vegetable and tree, eating its leaves, and preparing for a state of greater perfection. They have feet both before and behind; which 

 not only enable them to move forward by a sort of steps made by their fore and hinder parts, but also to climb up vegetables, and to stretch 

 themselves out from the boughs and stalks, to reach their food at a distance. All of this class have from eight feet, at the least, to sixteen ; 

 and this may serve to distinguish them from the worm tribe. The animal into which they are converted, is always a butterfly or a moth ; 

 and these are always distinguished from other flies, by having their wings covered over with a painted dust, which gives them such various 

 beauty. The wings of flies are transparent, as we see in the common flesh-fly; while those of beetles are hard, like horn; from such the 

 wing of a butterfly may be easily distinguished; and words would obscure their differences. 



The life of a caterpillar seems one continued succession of changes ; and it is seen to throw off one skin only to assume another ; which 

 also is divested in its turn: and thus for eight or ten times successively. We must not, however, confound this changing of the skin with 

 the great metamorphosis which it is afterwards to undergo. The throwing off one skin, and assuming another, seems, in comparison, but a 

 slight operation among these animals ; this is but the work of a day; the other is the great adventure of their lives. Indeed, this faculty of 

 changing the skin, is not peculiar to caterpillars only* but is common to all the insect kind; and even to some animals that claim a higher 

 rank in nature. We have seen the lobster and the crab out-growing their first shells, and then bursting from their confinement, in order to 

 assume a covering more roomy and convenient. 



With respect to caterpillars, many of them change their skins five or six times in a season ; and this covering, when cast oft*, often seems 

 so complete, that many might mistake the empty skin for the real insect. Among the hairy caterpillars, for instance, the cast skin is covered 

 with hair; the feet, as well gristly as membraneous, remain fixed to it ; even the parts which nothing but a microscope can discover, are 

 visible in it ; in short, all the parts of the head; not only the skull, but the teeth. 



In proportion as the time approaches in which the caterpillar is to cast its old skin, its colours become more feeble, the skin seems to 

 wither and grow dry, and in some measure resembles a leaf, when it is no longer supplied with moisture from the stock. At that time, the 

 insect begins to find itself under a necessity of changing; and it is not effected without violent labour, and perhaps pain. A day or two 

 before the critical hour approaches, the insect ceases to eat, loses its usual activity, and seems to rest immoveable. It seeks some place to 

 remain in security; and no longer timorous, seems regardless even to the touch. It is now and then seen to bend itself and elevate its back ; 

 again it stretches to its utmost extent: it sometimes lifts up the head, and then lets it fall again; it sometimes waves it three or four times 

 from side to side, and then remains in quiet. At length, some of the rings of its body, particularly the first and second, are seen to swell 

 considerably, the old skin distends and bursts, till, by repeated swellings and contractions in every ring, the animal disengages itself, and 

 creeps from its inconvenient covering. 



How laborious soever this operation may be, it is performed in the space of a minute ; and the animal, having thrown off its old skin, 

 seems to enjoy new vigour, as well as having acquired colouring and beauty. Sometimes it happens that it makes a new appearance, and 

 colours very different from the old. Those that are hairy, still preserve their covering; although their ancient skin seems not to have lost a 

 single hair ; every hair appears to have been drawn, like a sword from the scabbard. However, the fact is, that a new crop of hair grows 

 between the old skin and the new, and probably helps to throw off* the external covering. 



The caterpillar having in this manner continued for several days feeding, and at intervals casting its skin, begins at last to prepare for its 



change 



