HISTORY OF BOTAITT. 
217 
of fclie hnman mind ; he allowed to Aristotle, in the prosecution 
oi his scientific inquiries, every facility that wealth and power 
could bestow. Aristotle believed, that in nature there was a 
regular progress from inorganized matter upward to man, and 
from man upward to the Deity ; that beings were connected to- 
gether by certain affinities, composing an immense chain, of 
which the links were all connected. But, 
" Lives the man whose universal eye 
Has swept at once the unbounded scheme of things ? 
Has any seen 
The mighty chain of beings, lessening down 
From infinite perfection, to the brink 
Of dreary nothing, desolate abyss ?" 
332. ""Jhis idea of a regular chain of beings, presenting itself 
with such grandeur and simplicity, has had many admirers ; 
but facts do not correspond with this theory. In the vegetable 
kingdom we should find it impossible to trace a regular grada- 
tion from the oak to a moss (if we were to make these the ex- 
tremes of the chain of vegetable substances), and say exactly in 
what part of the scale each family of plants should be placed ; 
it would rather seem, in many cases, as if the links of the chain 
had been broken or disunited. Aristotle considered plants as in- 
termediate between inorganized matter and animals. " Plants," 
he said, " are not distinguished from animals in being destitute 
of the seat of life, the heart : because of this the reptiles and 
inferior orders of animals are also destitute ; but plants have no 
consciousness of themselves, or organs of sense to know what is 
out of themselves ; animals possess these faculties ; therefore 
they are different." We think it would have been difficult for 
him to have discovered any evidence of consciousness in the 
sponge, or any marks by which it might appear that this ani- 
mal substance (for such it is thought to be) has the knowledge 
of any thing external to itself. However great may be the ven- 
eration entertained for the opinions of Aristotle, we believe his 
distinction between plants and animals will at this time find no 
supporters. This philosopher published his works on natural 
histor}^ about three hundred and eighty-four years before Christ. 
Tlieojplirastus^ the friend and pupil of Aristotle, published " A 
History of Plants," and " The Causes of Yegetation." He 
treated separately of aquatic plants, jpairasites^ culinary herbs, 
Jlowering jylants ^ he remarked upon the uses of each plant, 
the place where it grew, and whether it was woody or herba- 
ceous. He had no idea of genera or species; his names were 
merely local, and his descriptions generally indefinite. His 
views upon physiology of plants were superior to his deserip- 
Aristotle,— 332. Regular chain of boiags — Various opinions of Aristotle — Theophrastus. 
10 
