This
last remark holds especially true of the zoophytes and the sea mats.
Then, on the other hand, we can point to hundreds of lower plants,
from the yeast plant onward, which show none of the ordinary features
of plant life at all. They possess neither roots, stems, branches,
leaves, nor flowers, so that on this first count of the indictment the
naturalist gains the day.
Power of movement, to which the popular doubter is certain to appeal,
is an equally baseless ground of separation. For all the animals I
have above named are rooted and fixed, while many true plants of lower
grade are never rooted at all. The yeast plant, the _Algae_ that swarm
in our ponds, and the diatoms that crowd the waters, exemplify plants
that are as free as animals; and many of them, besides, in their young
state especially (e.g., the seaweeds), swim about freely in the water
as if they were roving animalcules. On the second count, also, science
gains the day; power of motion is no legitimate ground at all for
distinguishing one living being as an animal, while absence of
movement is similarly no reason for assuming that the fixed organism
must of necessity be a plant. Then comes the microscopic evidence.
Pages:
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193