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gard to number and proportion ? Far from it. Though Plato of old called the 
Creator the Divine Geometrician, modern philosophers have been slow to observe 
the numberless instances of the operation of his adjusting mind, which all his 
works display. Indeed it has not been remarked in the animal kingdom till our 
own day, and the merit of observing it, promulgating, and establishing it is due to 
Mr. William Macleay, who, though young in years at the time of his discovery, 
was ripe in the power of penetration and spirit of arrangement. He has demon¬ 
strated that the whole animal kingdom is constructed in a series, which form cir¬ 
cles of fives, (hence quinary arrangement as this is termed), five of the subordi¬ 
nate circles making one primary circle, the amount or number of these primary 
circles being also five.—(See Macleay, If or a; Entomologicce). 
The remark that Jive was a favourite number in nature, was made by Sir 
Thomas Brown, (see his Quincunx), in 1656, and he supported its correctness, by 
numerous instances drawn from the vegetable kingdom. Its applicability to an 
entire section of that kingdom was not, however, observed or demonstrated till a 
much later date; and now it is a well-ascertained principle, that, of the three great 
sections into which plants may be divided, according to their internal structure 
and mode of growth, each has a predominating number, which is displayed in the 
portions which constitute the flower (in the vascular or flowering plants), and 
along with which prevailing number certain properties are invariably found to be 
conjoined. For instance, the first or lowest section of the vegetable kingdom con¬ 
sists of plants exclusively formed of cellular tissue, (hence called cellular plants); 
the prevailing number of the parts of which is two, or some regular multiple of 
two, as is best exemplified in the number of the teeth of the peristome of mosses, 
which are either, 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64. Such plants are remarkable, in general, for 
their freedom from any very active principle, and consequently scarcely any of 
them are poisonous: (fungi or mushrooms seem exceptions ; but it is doubtful 
whether these singular productions belong to the vegetable kingdom). Hence 
though a few of them yield dyeing principles, the greater number of them are 
only employed as food for man or animals, and may, in most instances be fear¬ 
lessly partaken of by any one in danger of perishing for want of other kinds of 
food. 
The next section of the vegetable kingdom possesses vessels of different kinds, 
in addition to the cellular tissue of the former, and are characterized by a particu¬ 
lar mode of growth—namely, by additions to the interior, (hence called Endogens), 
which accounts for the circumference of the stem when once formed, never vary¬ 
ing or encreasing in diameter. These plants are at all times distinguishable by 
the manner in which the veins of the leaf run (i. e. always in parallel lines), and 
have the portions of the flower arranged in threes, or regular multiples of three. 
(See flowers of Crocus, Hyacinth, Lilies, or Tulips). This section contains plants 
which are scarcely more active than the former; and having neither bark nor 
