178 
SIMPLICITY OF FORM. 
several miles long, of a reddish-brown spe¬ 
cies, like chopped hay, occur off Bahia, on 
the coast of Brazil; the same plant is said 
to have given the name to the Red Sea, and 
different species are common in the Aus¬ 
tralian Seas.”* 
Much has been said and written about 
the simplicity of the earlier forms of animal 
and vegetable life; there is evidently an 
error in the ordinary application of terms 
on this subject, inasmuch as the most highly 
organized vegetable, and the. lowest in the 
scale, are alike framed of tissue which dis¬ 
plays the same equally perfect contrivance. 
Viewed under the microscope, the thread¬ 
like sea-weed is as full of exquisite arrange¬ 
ments as the stem of the lily, or the branch 
of the oak, and all are equally far removed 
from inorganic matter. The opulence ot 
creation is more displayed in the present 
scene than in the relics of former vegetation, 
and better seen in the torrid than in the 
arctic zone, and more conspicuous in the 
forest than in the plain ; but the handiw ork 
* Physical Geography, vol. ii, p. 211. 
