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H IKS 
PHENOMENA OE VEGETATION. 
What is a plant ? Philosophically considered, this question is 
calculated to awaken reflections at once interesting, comprehen¬ 
sive, and important: it has long occupied the attention of many, 
even master-minds, without very definite conclusions being ar¬ 
rived at, and may be still considered as disputable matter, so 
intimately blended are the separable distinctions which bound 
the three kingdoms of animate and inanimate nature. That there 
are limits to be assigned to either animal, vegetable, or mineral 
existence is incontrovertibly apparent; and, therefore, to define 
the extent of either, can only require sufficient data on the sub¬ 
jects relative to the question—information, however, that our yet 
limited knowledge of the lower orders of creation, does not furnish 
with sufficient accuracy to render the matter properly determin¬ 
able. The definition of Linnaeus, that, “ Stones grow; plants 
grow and live ; animals grow, live, and feel,” immeasurably in 
advance, as it was, of all previous attempts, is yet unsatisfactory: 
and every additional insight that we gain of these obscure terri¬ 
tories shows it to be more and more incorrect. It is true, that 
mineral bodies, if they do not grow, in the ordinary sense of the 
word, extend by the attraction and adhesion of new parts, so as 
to form an increased volume of essentially the same substance; 
but it is in the limits of the vegetable and animal forms, that the 
definition fails, and here is the contestible point: for where is 
the evidence to determine between some supposed organic, and 
other inorganic forms, much less between sentient and insentient 
bodies: there are plants that move, and animals that do not, 
i. 1 
