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birds has been termed Ornithology ; of amphibious animals,Amphibiology; of fishes, Ichthyology; of insects, Entomology;of worms, Helmithology. Natural historians have furtherincreased these terms, by denominating those descriptiveof shell fish, Conchology; of serpents, Ophiology; &c. andif confined to any particular part of an animal, as bonesfor instance, they have called it Osteology , &c. The sciencewhich treats of the structure of animals is called Anatomy .
As a general term, that science which treats of thephysical construction and function of bodies is termed Phy-siology.
The several parts of nature are either organic or inorga-nic, and inanimate.
Organic comprehends the animated bodies before spokenof, and subsequently enumerated ; and also all vegetablesubstances possessing life.
The inorganic comprehends those portions where nospecific organ or medium is found, whereby the preserva-tion of the creature can be discovered as dependent uponthe certain operation of physical causes.
The inanimate embraces all those portions of materialsubstance, the operation of whose functions have eitherceased to exert their power, or which are by nature dis-tinguished for the vis inertia:, as earths, metals, stones, &c.
Vegetables possess many properties with animals, somebeing to be only distinguished from animals by mere loco-motion. Like animals, too, vegetables have the distinctionof sex, which the ancients knew; for figs, which were aconsiderable article of commerce, as well as food, in anti-quity, they knew could be improved in size and quality bythe process called caprification, described by Pliny , xv,19. s. 21. which consisted in applying the barren ilowerof the male fig-tree, (capriftcus,) to the female fig-tree,(ficus.)
The difference of sexes in plants is to be distinguishedby the conformation of the flower. This conformation servesas the foundation of the justly admired system of botanyestablished by Linne, the medical professor at Upsal, inSweden , who died A. D. 1772.
Vegetables are propagated by seeds and transplantation.Besides this last operation, there is another chief distinctionof them from animal nature; because a root may, under favour-able circumstances, be divided, and both parts, notwithstand-ing the separation, w'ill possess the function of retainingvegetative life; and if care be taken, they appear to sufferno injury from the severing process. This faculty can also