VIEW OF NATURE. 
305 
some, as the sea-nettle , which appears like the segment of a 
circle, are carried about by the motion of the waters, without 
any voluntary motion ; among these are the sea-daisy, the sea- 
marygold, and the sea carnation, so ( named from an apparent re- 
semblance to those plants. We find here the sea-fan, the sea- 
pen, and the Madrepore, the latter of which are often thrown 
together in such quantities, as to form islands of coral, and to 
block up the entrance into harbors. The sponge also belongs to 
this class of strange animal substances ; this consists of a fibrous 
mass, which, when fresh, contains a kind of substance like jelly, 
which discovers a slight sensation when touched ; this is the 
only sign of life which it manifests. 
These animals resemble plants in their manner of producing 
others ; they form a species of germ, like the bud growing upon 
the stalk, this falls off from the stem, and becomes a perfect an- 
imal. If a part of one of those animals is separated from the 
rest, it will itself, be as perfect a living animal as was the whole 
before. A polypus can be divided into as many animals as it 
contains atoms ; some of this order are very properly called 
hydras, (many headed.) Besides these, there is another order 
of animal substances, infusoria, which appear like a homogene- 
ous mass, having no appearance of any limbs whatever ; these 
are either angular, oval, or globular. 
After this examination of the animal kingdom, we are pre- 
pared to return to the consideration of the distinction between 
vegetables and animals. You now perceive that although you 
might have no hesitation to determine which was animal and 
which vegetable between a nightingale and a rose, that between 
a polypus or coral, and a mushroom or a collection of mould, 
it would be somewhat difficult to fix upon any distinctive char- 
acters, which should place the two first in the animal, and the 
two last in the vegetable kingdom. 
LECTURE XLVIII. 
Man at the head of the Kingdoms of Nature. — Comparison 
between Animals and Plants. — Conclusion. 
In our last lecture, after a glance upward to the heavenly 
bodies, we returned to our globe, and considered its various sub- 
stances ; here we found two classes of bodies, inorgamzed and 
organized substances ; the former including minerals, the latter 
Recapitulation. 
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