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74 ESOTERIC ANTHROPOLOOY.
in which matter, under the influence of what we may
call a vital force, takes on an organic form. It has
parts, an exterior pellicle, or skin, and an interior, filled
with fluid at first, but capable of solidification.
This cell is the beginning of every organized being,
from the simplest vegetable to the highest animal ; in
each case we have but a microscopic point, and this is
its character. It may be developed into a toad-stool,
or an oak— a worm, or a philosopher ; but at its begin
I doubt the
ning, and in a certain stage of its progress,
possibility of distinguishing one from the other. They
have the same appearance under the microscope, and
are composed of the same elements. But in the micro
scopic germ, buried in this simple watery cell, is the
vital principle that guides its future life.
A cell may divide itself into two, and these into four,
and so on ; and by this kind of multiplication, there may
be a rapid growth ; or a cell, containing within itself
several smaller cells, may burst, and each of these may,
in turn, develop, generate, and dissolve. In one way
or other, the organic being increases.
Under the molding power of the spirit, which pre
sides over the growth of each plant and animal, by
which I mean the proper soul and guiding power of the
organism, these cells take on all necessary forms. Flat
tening, the cells become membrane ; elongating, they
are fibers ; joining together, by an absorption of their
joining parts, they form tubes ; and so of all the organ
ized tissues. In this way we have woody fiber, sap
tubes, and all the parts of the vegetable, from its first
leaf to its flower and perfect fruit. In the same way,
we have cells formhg blood-vessels, muscle, nerves, and