Fa. An inanimate creature; there is the animate and inanimate creation. Plants, stones, metals, are of the latter class; horses belong to the former.
Ch. But the gardener told me some of my cabbages were dead, and some were alive.
Fa. Very true. Plants have a vegetative life, a principle of growth and decay; this is common to them with all organized bodies; but they have not sensation, at least we do not know they have—they have not life, therefore in the sense in which animals enjoy it.
Ch. A horse is called an animal, then?
Fa. Yes; but a salmon is an animal; and so is a sparrow; how will you distinguish a horse from these?
Ch. A salmon lives in the water, and swims; a sparrow flies and lives in the air.
Fa. I think a salmon could not walk on the ground, even if it could live out of the water.
Ch. No, indeed, it has no legs.
Fa. And a bird cannot gallop like a horse.
Ch. No; It hops upon its two slender legs.