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78 ESOTERIC ANTHROPOLOGY.
together, to consummate their nuptials,
i
or the male
organ of a flower, which is the love-shrine of both sexes,
bending downward, or reaching upward, to embrace its
feminine partner; when I see the pistil, or female organ
of a flower surrounded by several loving stamens, bend
first to one and then the other, to receive the vivifying
influence from each, I see signs of intelligence. "But
that intelligence," you will say, "is external to the
plant or flower; it does not reside in it." How do you
prove that ? Why not say, as well, that the intelligence
of the ant, or bee, or canary bird, or dog, or elephant,
are external, and do not belong to them ?
And in the operations of the animal organization, the
merely vegetative functions, I see evidence of the same
intelligent action. When we tie the large artery that
supplies the leg with blood, the limb is first cold and
numb; it calls for its accustomed supply of nutriment,
but the old channel is closed. What is done ? Pretty
soon a warmth is diffused through the limb. The
small arteries below, that interlace with those above the
ligature, enlarge themselves so as to supply the limb
with blood. Here seems to be the consciousness of
a want, and that want supplied by the most intelligent
operations. Where does that intelligence reside ? If
you cut a hydra into twenty pieces, where is the intel
ligence that forms for each part, all the other parts that
belong to it, so as to make twenty perfect animals ?
So, if a bone is broken, the nerves and vessels about
the fracture set to work as intelligently as so many bees,
to mend their comb. They demand and receive a large
supply of blood ; they separate from it the materials of
bone; first the gelatine, and then the earthy matter.