Picture - Cosmic Polymath

90 DESIGN IN NATURE
theless greatly resemble each other, as witness the tooth of the labyrinthodon, brain coral, and human brain, all
of which are curiously convoluted ; also Venus's flower-basket (Euplectella), which presents an intricate arrangement
of interlacing spiral fibres not unhke that found in the ventricles of the heart of the bird and mammal.
9. That crystals, plants, and animals are, for the most part, symmetrical ; the symmetry being due to the
radiating, branching, and concentric arrangements of the atoms and molecules, which act in specific directions according
to fixed laws.
10. That the atoms combine to form structures with plane, curved, and spiral surfaces, and that these are
found in great plenty in the inorganic and organic kingdoms, as witness angular crystals, dendrites, spheres of all
kinds, twining plants, spiral shells, spiral nerves, spiral bones, spiral horns, spiral teeth, &c.
11. That the spiral formations seen in plants and animals are accompanied in many cases by spiral movements,
and that these movements have their analogues in nebular eddies, cyclones, spiral sand-storms, spiral water-spouts,
whirlpools, &c.
12. That the spiral movements in the higher animals play a prominent part in walking, swimming, and flying.
13. That the spiral movements are fundamental, and intimately associated with the distribution of matter,
as seen in the formation of nebular, air, and water vortices ; in the formation of cells and spiral structures in plants ;
and in the formation of spiral horns, teeth, bones, muscles, and other parts of animals.
13 (a). That the spiral arrangements make their appearance at the very threshold of existence in plants and
animals.
14. That force and growth act in the same direction, on parallel lines, and to given ends ; the inorganic and
organic kingdoms being complemental and interacting.
15. That no part of nature is at war with any other part ; all plants and animals coming from and returning
to the inorganic kingdom ; and all force, physical, vital, and mental, being under divine guidance, and working
harmoniously to produce the existing state of things.
16. That everything, objective and subjective, points to design, law, and order, and supreme intelligence ; intel-
ligence being always present and adapting the means to the ends.
17. That the intelhgence is, in every instance, either in the thing acting or behind it, and that nothing occurs
by accident or chance.
18. That there is no such thing as spontaneous generation or life de novo, and that living plants and animals
are created things and only beget themselves, each after its kind.
The points here indicated have now to be considered somewhat in detail.
As explained in the opening sentences of the work, atoms and molecules for the most part display a tendency
to dispose themselves in straight hues or in curves, the curves forming circles and spirals, especially the latter. As
a consequence, growth and development in the organic and inorganic kingdoms proceed in one or other of the
directions indicated.
The straight-line formations produce bodies bounded by plane surfaces ; the curve formations producing spheres
and spiral structures and modifications thereof. The straight-line formations are represented by crystals of every
form and variety, crystallites, and dendrites ; the latter branching and assuming a characteristic tree shape.
Crystals are formed by aggregations of atoms and molecules ; the additions, as a rule, being made in straight lines,
and giving rise to plane surfaces, which, in many cases, result in the most exquisite symmetric forms. Very
frequently they occasion radiating or stellate arrangements.
The curve formations, as stated, are represented by spheres and modifications of spheres, where the atoms
and molecules combine to form bodies having concentric arrangements ; the additions being made in successive
curved layers. Beautiful examples of straight-Une formations are seen in the crystals of snow, and of associated
straight-line and curve formations in the crystals and conglomerations of hail.
The spiral formations of the physical universe are seen in spiral nebular arrangements, in whirlwinds and spiral
sand-storms, in whirlpools and spiral water-spouts, &c. In all these cases, the atoms, molecules, and bodies concerned
are arranged spirally. The straight-line, curved, circular, and spiral formations obtain also in plants and animals
The globular, rod-hke, and spiral structures are seen in the very beginnings of hfe, in the reproductive elements
of plants and animals, and in the very lowest living forms, for example, cocci, bacilli, and spirilla, measuring from
the yoVo to the 2i;Vu
of an inch in diameter. Examples of the straight-line arrangements are met with in the
stems, roots, branches, and other parts of plants. Examples of curve formations are to be seen in the concentric
arrangements (rings of growth) in the stems of plants and trees and examples ; of spiral arrangements occur in
the twisted stems of chmbing plants, tendrils, &c. Twisted stems are not uncommon also in forest trees Trees
and plants split up and branch after the manner of dendrites. They thus combine, in their structure, the straight
line and curve formations to which reference has been made,