Picture - Cosmic Polymath

92 DESIGN IN NATURE
matter can be added in straight lines and in spirals to any amount, and movement in either direction has practica y
no limit. Those pecuharities of straight-line and spiral formations and movements are of the utmost consequence
in growth and progression, especially in the locomotion of animals.
MATTER DIVISIBLE INTO SOLIDS, LIQUIDS, AND GASES—DISTRIBUTION OF
MATTER—ORDER OF CREATION, &c.
The straight-line formations are crystalline and dendritic in character, that is, they form structures bounded
by straight lines and plane surfaces, as in crystals ; the dendrites of minerals and metals ; the frost pictures seen
on window-panes and pavements in winter ; the lightning flash, &c.
Straight-Une formations are also witnessed in the arborescent arrangements of the roots, branches, leaves, and
other parts of plants, and in the branching of nerve cells, blood-vessels, lymphatics, bronchial tubes, and other parts
of animals.
The spiral formations and movements everywhere abound in the vegetable and animal kingdoms ; in spiral
growth and development ; in the spiral cells, hairs, and vessels of plants ; in the spiral stems and tendrils of
chmbing plants ; in the revolving movements of plants ; in the spiral distribution of branches, leaves, fruits, &c. ;
in the spiral configuration of shells, horns, and teeth ; in the spiral structure and distribution of the bones and
joints of the vertebrate skeleton ; in the spiral formation and movements of the soft parts, especially of the voluntary
and involuntary muscles, as seen in the limbs, the ventricles of the heart, stomach, bladder, uterus, &c.
In suggesting possible explanations of the distribution and movements of atoms and molecules in living plants
and animals, I recognise most fully the existence of a great First Cause, as regards the creation, disposal, and super-
vision of matter, both in the organic and inorganic kingdoms.
The First Cause may operate in two different ways : (a) In creating matter (inorganic or organic) and in giving
it a certain role to perform as apart from supervision, (b) In creating matter, and in supervising every change which
occurs in it.
In the former case, creation is as it were a completed work ;
everything infallibly working out its own destiny,
according to law and order. In the latter case, creation is only in part completed—in other words, is progressive,
and requires constant supervision and guidance. The first view is that adopted by many evolutionists ; the
second, that favoured by those who believe in separate creations.
Nothing short of a First Cause can, it appears to me, explain many of the phenomena with which biologists and
physiologists have to deal.
The order of creation is briefly as follows : The
physical universe was first formed, then plants, then animals.
Plants and animals could not exist as apart from the physical universe. The materials and forces of the physical
universe not only enter into the composition of plants and animals, they also provide them with food. " Brut
matter forms the food of plants ; and plants, for the most part, that of animals. The Carnivora feed upon arumals,
and the Omnivora upon animals and plants. The physical universe is, in a sense, the great primeval parent, and
provides a beautiful table and a home, as well as a grave, for plants and animals.
All living things come from the physical universe and return to it. The subtle element of life borrows from the
physical universe, for a longer or shorter period, the materials which it converts into plants and animals ; but
sooner or later it returns them, in their original or in a modified form, and in undiminished quantity.
The restoration or day of reckoning occurs at death ; and I can conceive no more striking picture, no more
convincing illustration of the tremendous gulf between living and dead matter, than is furnished by living and dead
plants and animals respectively.
The stillness of death, as contrasted with the ceaseless activities of life, produces a profound impression on even
the most careless and thoughtless observer. The hving and dead thing are as the poles asunder. Dead once, dead
always. No power on earth can resuscitate a dead plant or a dead animal. Similarly, only a living thing can
beget a living thing. No fortuitous assemblage of dead particles can, under any possible' circumstances, assume life
de now. Spontaneous generation, even more than the philosopher's stone, is the illusory figment of the imagination.
There is no proof that plants and animals were ever produced otherwise than they are to-day.
I am not called upon here to discuss the popular modern theory of evolution. That is more conveniently
done further on. It is enough for my present purpose to be able to state that plants and animals, in endless
succession, have come down from the earliest pre-historic times, and are, so far as we can make out, very little
changed at the present time. Man himself has undergone no radical modification for 6000 years at least and