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Show 128 MACLE.AY SYSTEM OJ' the most social, intelligent, al\d in the.latter,~ase, the mc·sl useful to man, of all the ann lose an1m~ls. . As yet the speculations oJ,j.tepresentatw.n are 1mperf~t, in consequence of the novelty of th~ doctnne, a~d the efective state of our knowledge of an1materl natuie. It ~as, however been so fully proved in the aves, and trace so clearly i~ other parts of the animal kingdom, and as a general feature of that part of nature, t~at hardly a dou):>t can exist of its being universally apphcable. E~en 1n the lowly forms of the acrita, (polyp~s,) the suctor13:l type of the animal kingdom, representation has bee~ discerned, and with some remarkable results as to the· htsto~y of o.ur vrorld. The acrita were the first forms of animal hfo upon earth, the starting point of that great ~ranc~ of organization. Now, this sub-kingdom consists, hk~ the rest, of five groups, (clas~es,) and these are respec~Ively representations of the acnta 1tse~f, and ~he other four subkingdoms, which had not come ~nto ~x1s~e~ce ·when the acrita were formed. The polyp1 vag1natl, In the crustaceous covering of the living mass, and their more or less articulated structure, represent the annulosa. In the radiated forms of the rotifera, and the simple structure of the polypi, r~des, we are reminded of the rndia:ta . . The mollusca are typified in the soft, m.u?ous, slugg1s~ tntestina. And, finally, in the fleshy hving mass 'Yhich surrounds the bony and hollow axis of the polypi natantes, we have a sketch of the vertebrata. The acrita thus appear as. a prophecy of the higher events of animal d~velopment. They show that the nobler orders of betng, including man himself, were contemplated from the first, and came into existence by virtue of a law, the operation, of which had commenced ages before their forms were realized. The system of representation is therefore to be regarde.d as a powerful additional proof of the. hypothesis of organ~c progress by virtue of law. It establishes t~e unity of animated nature and the definite character of 1ts entue constitution. It enables us to see how, under the flowing robes of nature, where all looks arbitrary and accidental, there is an artificiality of the most rigid kind. The ~atural, we now perceive, sinks into and merges in a. H~gher Artificial. To adopt a comparison more apt than ~tgntfied, we may be said to be placed here as insects are tn a garden of. old &ty le. Our first unassisted view is limited, and ANIMATED NATURE. 129 We p~rceive only the .irregularities of the minute surface and s~ngle shrubs which a.ppear arbitrarily scattered. But our \~lew at leng~h extending and becoming more comprehenst ve, we bcg1n to see parterres balancinrr each other trees, statu~s, and arbm·s placed symmetric~lly, and that . he whole Is an assernblage of parts mutually reflective. It .c~n sca~cely be necessary to point to the inference hence ansing wtth r~gard to the origination of nature in some Power, o~ whiCh man's mind is a faint and humble represe~ tahon. ~~e insect~ of the garden, supposing them to ?e Investe.d With reasoning power, and aware how artificial are their ow~ w~rk~, migh~ of course very reasonably conclude that, being 111 Its totality an artificial object, the garden was the work of some maker or artificer. And so also m?st .w~ concl.ude, when ·we attain a knowledge of ~he artifielahty which. is at the basis of nature, that nature Is. wholly the productwn of a Being resembling, but infinitely greater than, ourselves. Organic ?eings are, then, bound to~~ther in dev~lopment, ~nd. In a system of both affinities and analogies. Now, It Will be .aske~, u~es t.his agree with what we know of th~ ge?graph1eal ~Istnbubon of organic beings and of the histmy of organic progress as delineated by geology} Let us first a?vert to the geographical question. Plants, as Is w~ll known, require various kinds of soil f?rms of geog:raph~cal surface, climate, and other condi~ twns, for theu: existence And it is everywhere found that, however_ I~c.~ated a particuh~ spot m~y be with regard to these condlt.wns-as a nwuntain top In a torrid country, the marsh ro.und a salt spl'ing far inland, or an island placed far apart In. the ocean-appropriate plants have there taken up their a~JOde. But the torrid zone divides the two temperate r~g10ns from each other by the space ~.f more than .forty:stx degrees, and the torrid and tempe- 1 ate ,zones togethet fo:m a l!luch broader line of division betV\ een the two arc~1c regions. The Atlantic and Pacific qceans~ and .the P~rstan Gulf, also divide the various portwns oi contine?-t .In torrid and temperate zones from each othe!·· A ustrali~ IS also divided by a broad sea ti·om the c9nhnent of Asia. Thus there are various portions of the earth separ~ted [I'om each other in such a way as to prec~ude _ an~thmg hl~e a general communication of the ~e~cl~S of t~wu· rcsl?echve plants towards each other. Hence anses an Interesting question-Are the plants of the vari- 11 |