Page:The Swedenborg Library Vol 2.djvu/82



LL things which belong to the earth are distinguished into three great classes called kingdoms; namely, the animal, the vegetable and the mineral kingdom. The objects in the animal kingdom are correspondences in the first degree, because they live; those in the vegetable kingdom are correspondences in the second degree, because they only grow; those in the mineral kingdom are correspondences in the third degree, because they neither live nor grow.

The correspondences in the animal kingdom are living creatures of various kinds, both those which walk and creep on the earth, and those which fly in the air. They are not specifically mentioned here, because they the well known. The correspondences in the vegetable kingdom are all things which grow and flourish in gardens, forests, fields and plains,—which are not named, because they also are known. The correspondences in the mineral kingdom are the metals, both noble and base; precious stones and those not precious; earths of various kinds, and also waters. Besides these,