COMPAKISON BETWEEN ANIMALS AND PLANTS. 23^ 
379. After a glance upward to the heavenly bodies we re- 
turned to our globe, and considered the various substances on 
its surface. At the head of the animal kingdom we found many 
sufficiently resembling brute animals in his material frame to 
constitute part of an extensive class, embracing the ape, ele- 
phant, and dog ; yet between the lowest degree of intelligence 
in the human race, and the highest faculties of brutes, there is 
a line of distinction marked by the hand of the Almighty, in 
characters too obvious for doubt. God said, " Let us make 
man in our own image, and he breathed into him the breath ot 
iife, and man became a living soulP 
380. Some writers have attempted to show that man differs 
only from the inferior order of animals in possessing a greatei 
variety of instincts. But however wonderful may appear th^ 
instinctive perception of brutes, they are destitute of reason, 
and incapable of being the subjects of moral government ; we 
must, therefore, both from our own observation and the decla- 
rations of Scripture, infer that the faculties of man differ, not 
in degree only, but distinctly in their nature^ from those of all 
other beings upon our globe. 
381. " Man (says Buffon), by his form and the perfection of 
his organs, and as the only being on earth endowed with rea- 
son, seems properly placed at the head of the kingdom of na- 
ture. All in him announces the lord of the earth ; his form 
marks his superiority over all living beings ; he stands erect, 
in the attitude of command ; he can gaze upon the heavens ; 
on his face is imprinted the character of dignity ; the image of 
his soul is painted upon his features, and the excellence of his 
nature penetrates through his material organs, and animates 
the expression of his countenance." 
382. In the orders of animals nearest to man we find the 
senses of sight, touch, taste" and smell, equally perfect as those 
ossessed by him, and in some cases they are even more acute ; 
ut as we proceed downward through the gradations of animal 
existence, we perceive the number and acuteness of the senses 
to diminish — we find some beings with but four senses, some: 
with three, others with two, and lastly, in zoophytes, we find 
only the sense of touch, and that so faintly exhibited as almost 
to lead us to doubt its existence. 
Let us now return to the distinction between animals and 
vegetables. We perceive that although we would find no diffi- 
culty with regard to a nightingale and a rose to discover to 
which of the kingdoms of nature they belong, yet with respect 
to a sponge or coral, a mushroom or lichen^ it would be some- 
what difficult without a previous knowledge of their natural 
379. Man at the head of the animal kingdom.— 380. How resembling inferior animals 1—381. Buf* 
fbu's remarks. — 382. Gradation downward. 
