FOOTNOTES:
[12] This question is specially considered in Descartes' "Discours sur la Méthode."
[13] "De l'Instinct et de l'Intelligence des Animaux," Paris, 1861.
[14] "Etudes Philosophiques sur l'Instinct et l'Intelligence des Animaux," Strasbourg, 1853.
CHAPTER THE TWELFTH.
WHAT IS THE PLANT?—THE PLANT IS SENSIBLE.—HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO DISTINGUISH PLANTS FROM ANIMALS.—THE GENERAL CHAIN OF LIVING BEINGS.
LINNÆUS has said, "The plant lives; the animal lives and feels; man lives, feels, and thinks." This aphorism represented the state of science in the times of Linnæus. But since the year 1778, that is to say, since the death of the great botanist, Upsal, natural science has progressed, botany and zoology have been enriched with innumerable facts and fundamental discoveries, so that the Linnæan formula no longer represents the present condition of the sciences of organization. We believe that the following proposition may be truthfully substituted: "The plant lives and feels; the animal and man live, feel, and think."