t the polypi with Ernest's stars
and Jack's admirals."

"So be it, Willis; but to resume the subject. There is a remarkable
analogy in many respects between the lower orders of animals and
plants, the bulb is to the latter what the egg is to the former. The
germ does not pierce the bulb till it attains a certain organization,
and it remains attached by fibres to the parent substance, from which,
for a time, it receives nourishment."

"Not unlike the young of animals," remarked Willis.

"When the germ has shot out roots and a leaf or two, it then, but not
till then, relinquishes the parent bulb. The plant then grows by an
extension and multiplication of its parts, and this extension is
accompanied by an increasing induration of the fibres. The same
phenomena are observed as regards animals."

"Curious!" said Willis.

"Animals, however, are sometimes oviparous."

"Oviparous?" inquired Willis.

"Yes, that is, they lay eggs; others are viviparous, producing their
young alive. A few are multiplied like plants by cuttings, as in the
case of the polypi."

"Bother the polypi," said Willis, laughing, "since we have to thank
them for destroying some of his Majesty's ships."

"Then again," continued Becker, "both plants and animals are subject
to disease, decay, and death."

"But, father, if the analogies are remarkable, the differences are not
less marked."

"Well, Ernest, I shall leave you to point them out."

"Without reckoning the faculty of feeling, that cannot be denied to
the one nor granted to the other, the most striking of these
distinctions consists in the circumstance that animals can change
place, whilst this faculty is absolutely refused to plants."

"If we except those," remarked Jack, "that insist upon travelling to
the succulent parts of the earth, and are as indefatigable in digging
tunnels as the renowned Brunel."

"Then plants are obliged to accept the nourishment that their fixed
position furnishes to them; whilst animals, on the contrary, by means
of their external organs, can range far and near in search of the
aliments most congenial to their appetites."

"Which is often very capricious," remarked Willis.

"Then, considered with regard to magnitude, the two kingdoms present
remarkable distinctions; the interval between a whale and a mite is
greater than between the moss and the oak."

"Ho!" cried Jack, "there is Miss Sophia coming to meet us, Willis."

"Perhaps they have news at the