CELL INTELLIGENCE
the Cause of Growth, Heredity and Instinctive Actions,
Illustrating that the Cell is a Conscious, Intelligent
Being, and, by Reason Thereof, Plans and Builds
all Plants and Animals in the Same Manner
that Man Constructs Houses, Railroads
and Other Structures.
NELS QUEVLI
REG. PHAR., LL. B.
THE COLWELL PRESS
MINNEAPOLIS, MINN.
COPYRIGHT 1916
BY
NELS QUEVLI
CONTENTS.
Chapter 1 Introductory
Chapter 2 What Is Life?
Chapter 3 The Cell
Chapter 4 The Living Structures
Chapter 5 What Is Intelligence ?
Chapter 6 Intelligence of the Cell
Chapter 7 Cause of Heredity
Chapter 8
Cause of Instinctive, Emotional and Reflex Action
Chapter 9 Cause of Evolution and Growth
Chapter 10 : : Conclusions
This Book
is lovingly dedicated to
my wife
Anna MaGuire Quevli
PREFACE
The purpose of this book is to introduce you to your
maker, the Cell, to get you better acquainted with him
and to let you know that he is an intelligent being and
very likely more so than yourself.
The proposition that the cell is your maker or builder,
that he is the cause of and builder of all plants and
animals and that he is a conscious and intelligent being
is a broad and sweeping statement. I do not think it
has ever been made before in the history of the world.
This proposition will no doubt be hotly contested by
those institutions who may think that they will be
financially affected by these facts becoming general
knowledge.
Someone said that "The greatest study of mankind is
man." I would say, the greatest study of mankind is
his maker, the Cell. This book will explain to the
reader the cause of evolution, or growth, heredity and
instinctive action in plants and animals. It will show
that all plants and animals are built and produced by the
microscopic beings we call cells. It will show that in
their place in life they exercise the same intelligence in
reference to their work as we do in ours and by reason
of their intelligence, they are able to build a plant, a
tree, an insect, animal or man, the same as we are able to
build a house, automobile, ship or railroad. I propose to
show by this book that although microscopic in size, the
26035
PREFACE
cells are no less intelligent than we are. It will show
that the cell knows how to multiply and organize his
offspring into the vast co-operative colony we call plant
or animal. Why should the builder and organizer of a
large colony or army be less intelligent than the army?
In other words, why should you be more intelligent than
your maker? This book will explain the problems:
1st — Why will an acorn grow into an oak?
2nd — Why will it grow into an oak and not into a
maple?
3rd — How can a bird raised in captivity build a nest
like its parent when it has never seen a nest before nor
ever seen its parents?
This book necessarily covers a wide field of knowledge
from the fact that it attempts to show a conscious intel-
lect in the cell similar to our own. In this inquiry it was
necessary to investigate biology in all its branches, viz :
embryology, heredity, psychology, physiology, anatomy,
zoology, botany, and also chemistry and physics to a
certain extent. The cell being the cause of all living
structures, it was necessary to investigate his activities
in all places. The plants and animals are cell colonies
and are produced and maintained by them for their own
selfish purpose. While I have tried to make the work as
scientifically accurate as possible, I have also tried to
avoid all technical words and phrases, so that the average
man could understand it.
While the opinions set forth in this book are based on
my own investigations, I have also given extracts very
liberally from others, so that the reader can better judge
for himself on disputed points. I have introduced a large
number of illustrations in order to make it clear, to sim-
plify, and to save time for the reader. I have not over-
looked the great difficulty with which I shall meet in
order to be able to get this book before the attention of
the average man, as I shall probably be attacked by all
institutions who may think they will be injured in their
business. All colleges controlled, (and it seems that a
large number of them are so more or less) will join with
others in criticizing this book. No other branch of
science has been so willfully obscured and mystified as
the subject of life and especially the life of the cell. Even
today if you try to discuss or explain the cause of a seed
growing into a tree to the average so called educated
man, he will only answer with an incredulous smile. He
seems to know little or nothing of the life of the cell,
which so vitally concerns the health and happiness of
every person. I can only account for this condition of
things by the willful suppression of the truth by the
controlled institutions of learning. Such men as Chas.
Darwin and Ernest Haeckel have done as much towards
the advancement of human knowledge and progress as
any two persons that have ever lived.
Health is impossible without a clear understanding of
life and without health, a happy life is impossible. For
that reason I consider those two great students of life
among the greatest benefactors of mankind.
Dated, March 1915. NELS QUEVLI.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
Figure
1. Diagram of Cell.
2. Amoeba.
3. The Cell.
4. Diagram of Cell in Divi-
sion.
5. Diagram of Cell in Divi-
sion.
6. The Centrosome.
7. Structure of Centrosome.
8. Spermatozoon.
9. Primitive Eggs of Ani-
mals.
(0. Epithelial Cells.
11. Blood Cells.
12. Microgromia Socialis.
13. Portugese Man-of-War.
14. Star Fish.
15. Antedon.
16. Shell of Triton Nodi-
ferus.
17. Cuttle Fish.
18. Coffer Fish.
19. Torpedo Ray.
20. Lantern Fish.
21. Lure Fish.
22. Skeleton of Turtle.
23. Submarine made by the
Cell.
24. Submarine made by Man.
25. The Zebra.
26. Skeleton of Tyranosau-
Figure
27. Plants that commit At-
rocities.
28. Bird made by the Cell.
29. Bird made by Man.
30. Embryos in Three
Stages.
31. Embryos in Three
Stages.
32. Tadpole and Frog.
33. Venus Fly Trap.
34. Seeds of Dandelion.
35. Seeds of Beggar Tick.
36. California Pitcher Plant.
37. Leaf of Nepenthis.
38. Venus Fly Trap with In-
sect.
39. Skeleton of Man and
Apes.
40. Segmentation of Ovum.
41. Diagram of Cell.
42. The Cell in Division.
43. Seed Cells of Animals.
44. The Ants.
45. The Birth of Man.
46. Noctiluca Nulearis.
47. Butterfly of Sumatra.
48. Persian Devil Plant.
49. Caterpillar.
50. Leaf Hoppers.
51. Wild Boar.
52. Man and Monkeys.
53. Beginning of Civiliza-
tion.
NELS QUEVLI
Cell Intelligence the Cause of Evolution
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
The purpose of this book is to clear up some of the
mysteries of life, such as the cause of growth, evolution,
heredity, instinctive, impulsive and reflex actions in man,
animals, and plants. No one seems to understand or
comprehend their real cause. Why and how does a
certain seed grow into a weed or grass and not into a
tree? Why do the young of animals, including man,
look and act like their parents? Why does a kernel of
corn develop into a corn stalk when placed in the ground
and not into a sunflower? How can a bird raised in
captivity, who has never seen its parents nor ever seen
a nest of any kind, build a nest just like that of its par-
ents? It knows how just as if it had been fully trained
to do so, although it has not had the slightest experience.
People do not seem to know, and call it instinct. I have
read everything that I can find on the subject and writers
all seem to consider it a mystery. Now as it is no longer
any mystery to me, I feel as though it might be my duty
to write this book and give my opinion of it for whatever
it is worth.
2 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
The textbooks of science have become very complex
and technical and very numerous, so much so that a
person in the ordinary busy life has not the time nor
inclination to attempt to read up and study them so as
to understand the great questions of life. The broad
realm of science has been greatly extended in the 19th
century. A great number of branches have been. estab-
lished by reason of research in different directions. This
enormous expansion of the field of knowledge has led to
a narrow specialism in many small sections. The exten-
sive division of labor has prevented a comprehensive
consideration of life as a whole. Each man has kept his
mind on his little separate proposition and invented a lot
of terms, words and phrases, which he has used in his
little one sided work. This has caused a great deal of
confusion and misunderstanding. One of the greatest
scientists in Germany, Ernest Haeckel, states : "The vast
structure of science tends more and more to become a
tower of Babel in the labyrinthic passages of which few
are at their ease and few any longer understand the lan-
guage of other workers." This statement certainly is
true and that is one of the main reasons why this book
is written.
There is no reason why a majority of the people should
spend their lifetime upon this planet and know nothing
or little about this interesting question of life and what
it is. In this book I will try to explain my ideas in the
very simplest language possible. The language used in
almost all the text books is too technical and beyond the
reach of ordinary readers. For instance — to give the
reader an idea of what the subject of life includes, and
what I have been reading, I shall outline a few subjects.
First— This whole subject of life is called biology.
This includes protistology or the science of single cells ;
INTRODUCTORY 3
botany, the science of plants ; zoology, the science of
animals ; anthropology, the science of man ; morphology,
the science of forms ; physiology, the science of functions ;
anatomy, the science of structure ; biogeny, the science
of development ; aecology, the physiology of work ; his-
tology, the science of tissues ; organology, the science of
organs ; blastology, the science of persons ; and cytology,
karmology, phylogeny, palaentology, geneology, trophon-
omy, chorology, ontogeny, sensonomy, psychology,
chemistry and physics. However, after reading these
subjects, you have a lot of theories about metaphysics,
mechanism, hylozoism, dynamism, idealism, materialism,
hedonism, monism, dualism, vitalism, gases and fluids,
statics, dynamics, acoustics, gravitation, electricity, and a
great number of others too numerous to mention.
Now it is clear that the busy man of today cannot afford
to read up on all these subjects and theories, even if he
understood the language used, as it would take up half
of his life time to do so. After reading up on these sub-
jects, I do not agree with any of them as to the cause of
growth, evolution and development of life, heredity, in-
stinctive and reflex action, and that is why I have written
this book.
After I have stated what my opinion and ideas are on
these subjects, the reader must not stop and say to him-
self,— "Why, that proposition is ridiculous, I do not be-
lieve it," but he must go on and read the whole book, as
this is a big subject and no one can understand it so as
to form an opinion without reading every chapter of this
book. For thousands of years we thought the sun
coursed around the earth ; it was a bold theory to bring
the sun to a standstill and set the earth m motion. We
remember how poor Galileo had to suffer inprisonment
for supporting this theory, which had been proven sev-
4 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
enty years previously by Copernicus. The astronomers
were able to bring forward so many facts to support this
theory that its truth was finally forced upon every think-
ing person.
The main fact I propose to prove by this book is that
the cell is an intelligent being like ourselves. I have
stated my proposition and it is now up to me to prove it.
The proposition that the being we call cell is an intelli-
gent being, includes also that he is so in every sense of
the term, that he is conscious, has a memory, will and
judgment, just as we have. He reasons and profits by
experience, just as we do. By virtue of his power of
memory and experience had in our bodies and thousands
before ours, he knows how to build others like them.
Before I go any further I must quote a few pages from
a physiology now used in the high schools and which
most of you have studied, so as to fully remind you of
what is known of this important individual we call
cell; that is, that he is an independent living being; that
he also lives a separate life, just as we do; that he has
the power of growth, self-repair and increase in numbers ;
and that he requires food, air, water, and shelter, just
as we do. Here is what our physiology has to say about
the life of the cell : "There are certain great differences
between this unit of living matter and an unliving thing.
Three distinguishing qualities belong to the living cell.
(1) growth; (2) self repair; (3) increase in numbers
through self division. These powers are possessed by
no other material in the world save protoplasm.
"The growth of a cell is in all cases brought about by
material taken in from the outside. In the human body
this material is food, which after digestion passes into
the blood, and is then taken in by the cells. This pro-
cess will be described more fully later. In some of the
INTRODUCTORY
very lowest organisms where the whole animal is a single
cell, solid particles may be taken into the cell through
definite openings or "mouths." In others, the cell may
change its shape so as to wrap itself about the particle
to be taken in. But even in these instances, the particles
must be dissolved or digested before they can be built up
into the protoplasm of the cell.
"At the beginning of its life, the animal consists of a
single cell only, an egg, but as it grows the number of
cells increase. When a child grows to manhood his
increase in size is not due to growth of the individual
cells making up his body but to the increase in their
number. The cells of the adult are not larger than those
of the child but more numerous. This multiplication is
the result of repeated division of the original cell and in
this process, every part of the cell divides
Each of the resulting cells immediately commences to
grow and continues until it becomes as large as the one
from which it started, then it divides and the story is
repeated.
"We have thus seen that the body is made up of organs,
that the organs are made of tissues and that the tissues
are made of cells. Is it possible to carry this division
further or is the cell the final unit? To this question
we must reply that the cell is the final unit. It is true
that the cell has parts, cell wall, nucleus, cell substances,
etc., but no one of them can live by itself, while a com-
plete cell may be an independent body and live an inde-
pendent life. Although our own bodies are composed of
many millions of these cells, there are some organisms
made up of one cell only — these are microscopic and are
called unicellular animals and plants. Although very
tiny, each lives an independent life
They vary in shape and differ in structure. Some of
6 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
them have "mouths" ; others simply take their food in at
any part of the body by allowing their protoplasm to
flow around it. Some of them have organs for locomo-
tion, others do not ; some have shells, while others have
no covering at all. But each is a single cell and each
carries out its own life process, such as respiration, secre-
tion, multiplication, etc. The cell cannot be subdivided
into smaller units which would be able to sustain inde-
pendent life
"Sinc.e such cells are the simplest parts into which
living matter can be divided, we may call them "Units
of Life" and may regard our bodies as a combination of
a large number of such units, considering the life of the
whole body as the sum of the lives of its different cells.
We should constantly remember that it is really the cells
which are the active living parts. The combined lives of
all these millions of cells make the life of the whole,
much as the combined lives of the persons within a city
make up its life.
"As we have seen, some animals are composed of a
single cell. But this cell is able to carry on all the func-
tions of life : it feeds, digests, respires, moves, multiplies
and performs all the necessary duties of complete, in-
dividual life. In our own bodies there are many cells,
but each is not capable of carrying on all the functions of
life and if separated from the others, would die. Each is
able to do primarily only one thing, hence, each is de-
pendent upon the others.
"It may be asked, why we should have so many kinds
of cells in our bodies and why with us too, one kind of
cell could not serve all purposes. The answer is easy to
give. A hermit can himself do everything needful to
support his life : he can prepare his own food, make his
own clothes and build his own shelter, but he can do this
INTRODUCTORY 7
only because he lives very simply. When a family lives
alone on the frontier, the members divide the work
among themselves; the husband doing the work out
doors, the wife that indoors, and the children contributing
their different shares. When several million come to-
gether, it will be found that some members of the com-
munity are more skillful in building houses, others in
making shoes, others in dressmaking, still others in
cooking, etc., so the people agree to divide their tasks
and share the results of their work. In this way they
may have better houses, better shoes, better clothing and
better food than before, because each man does what he
can do best. As the community grows, this division of
labor becomes extended until in a large city each person
does only a very small part of the work necessary to sup-
ply him with the things he needs. But he can do his own
work well because he has only one thing to do. The life
of a city is of much higher grade than that of a pioneer
family. Its population has many more luxuries and
accomplishes much more, all because of this division of
labor. So it is among organisms. Where one cell does
everything, the life is simple and on a very low scale.
Each cell can feed itself and perform all the necessary
functions, but the whole life is only one of growth and
reproduction. As the cells become more abundant, they
also become alike. Each takes upon itself certain duties ;
each contributes to the good of the other cells and each
receives aid from the others The life of
any animal is the sum of the lives of its cells, and with
many kinds of cells all working together for a common
good, a higher grade of activity is produced than with
each working for itself alone. Division of labor goes
hand in hand with a rise in the scale of accomplishment
and results in a superior type of life."
g CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Ernest Haeckel states, "Cells are grouped together
under the idea of sculptors or builders because they alone
in reality build the organisms."
I go into details as to what the cell is, presuming that
the reader has not any previous knowledge of what the
cell is understood to be. I think it is necessary to do so
in order to make a scientific subject like this interesting
to the reader who may not know what the cell is. This
you will see makes it clear that this animal or being we
call cell is the agent who builds or makes the things we
see in life, which we call plants and animals, including
man. These wonderful beings are too small to be seen
with our naked eye. They live separate and independent
lives in both fresh and salt water. Such words as pro-
tists, copepods, crustaceans, protoplasm, bacteria, germs,
leucocytes, histons, somatic cells, germ cells and amoeba
all mean the same, that is, they are cells. It is admitted
by all that all living things, plants or animals, that we
see are produced by these beings. The next question
then is this : Do they do so by reason of their intelligence
or do they do so by reason of some chemical force or
otherwise? My proposition to be proven by this book
is that they do so by reason of their intelligence in the
same manner as we build a house or railroad. We are
not prepared to say at this time just what intelligence
is except that we know it exists. We know we are in-
telligent and are guided by intelligence in our acts.
These beings when they live separate lives in the water
act precisely as other animals. They show, I believe, by
their acts the same intelligence in their place in life as
we do in ours.
Looking at them through the microscope, Mr. Binet
states : "If a drop of water containing Infusoria be placed
under the microscope, organisms are seen swimming
INTRODUCTORY 9
rapidly about and traversing- the liquid medium in which
they are, in every direction. Their movements are not
simple; the Infusoria guides itself, while swimming about;
it avoids obstacles ; often it undertakes to force them
aside ; its movements seem to be designed to effect an
end, which in most instances is the search for food ; it
approaches certain particles suspended in the liquid, it
feels them with its cilia, it goes away and returns, all the
AlTiatrionSpWv enclosing o centiosoroft
(NocWus
C^omafm.
Nutleus Actomoffm.
[NudeaiMeni.
VacuoU
FIG. I.— The Cell
while describing a zig zag course similar to the paths of
captive fish in the aquariums; this latter comparison
naturally occurs to the mind. In short, the act of locomo-
tion as seen in detached Infusoria exhibits all the marks
of voluntary movement." In this statement, Mr. Binet
called them Infusoria. This animal has organs and
acts precisely in the same manner as any other animal. It
feels objects to decide whether they are good for food.
It has a will, judgment and discretion, just as we have.
It can decide for itself whether any particular substance
is fit for food. It can exercise discretion in the matter in
the same way that we do in hunting for something to eat.
The scientists of today do not consider the cell an
intelligent being. They claim that he does not show
anything but irritability. This word has caused much
confusion and is practically meaningless as far as I can
10 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
see. No one seems to know what is understood by this
word. Mr. Binet seems to be also of the same opinion
and states : "The term irritability, which though long in
use has not in our opinion been happily chosen, since it
is in the highest degree ambiguous and not suggestive of
an exact signification."
The little fresh water cell we call amoeba, who leads a
separate independent life, is so very similar to those that
build animals and man that the microscope can discover
no difference. Mr. Binet described his actions as fol-
lows : "The following is what occurs when the amoeba
in its rampant course happens to meet a foreign body.
In the first place, if the foreign particle is not a nutritive
substance, if it be gravel for instance, the amoeba does
not ingest it ; it thrusts it back with its pseudopodia.
This little performance is very significant ; for it proves,
as we have already said, that this microscopic cellule in
some manner or other knows how to choose and distin-
guish alimentary substances from inert particles of sand.
If the foreign substance can serve as nutriment, the
amoeba engulfs it by a very simple process."
You will see from this that his actions show discre-
tion. In hunting for food he must exercise his judgment
at all times as to where he is going and as to whether
this or that is suitable for food. Such action of choosing
must be based on former experience, which involves
memory. Again here is what Mr. Binet has to say about
the actions of cells, showing how they act when living
as separate beings and not in those vast co-operative
colonies we call plants and animals : "The Infusoria
when in a medium abounding in food are almost entirely
sedentary in their habits, only making slight changes of
position. But if they are placed in a medium affording
but little nutritive material, they become as migratory
INTRODUCTORY 11
as the hunters and are seen to race about in all directions,
searching for more abundant nutriment. It is hard to
find a more perfect illustration of the influence exerted
by the condition of a medium upon the habits and cus-
toms of animals. The Patula is a type distinctively car-
nivorous and possessed of an extremely voracious appe-
tite, a fact which explains its power of multiplication, one
of the greatest I have studied In constant
pursuit of its prey, it seizes its victtim by the two stout
vibratile lips with which its mouth is armed and swallows
them alive and whole. The victims may be seen strug-
gling and tossing about for a time in the interior of its
body and afterwards to expire slowly under the action of
the digestive juices of the vacuole in which they have
been inclosed."
Notice in this how precisely similar the actions of these
cells are to those of animals and human beings. They lie
around and do nothing towards finding food as long as
they have enough to eat, but lack of food and hunger
stirs them to activity. The actions of these cells con-
stantly in pursuit of their prey and the manner of eating
and digesting their victims are certainly significant.
They go to show that the animal or cell has the mind to
know what he wants and goes after it. It is impossible
to conceive of any living being moving towards an object
for a purpose which has not a will and memory. It never
can be shown to be a chemical or mechanical act. There
must be in the mind of the being the feeling or idea of a
need of food to spur him to action. Chemical force and
other natural forces always act the same and follow fixed
laws regardless of any condition or need. All scientists
agree that matter can only act and change its place and
form according to fixed laws. Living beings act accord-
ing to their wants and needs. They are masters and are
12 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
able to direct the blind forces and crude matter to their
own purpose and use. It may be said that even if it be
proven that the cause of evolution, heredity and instinc-
tive action is the result of the acts of the cell and that
his acts are guided by intelligence, can you explain what
intelligence is? That question may not be satisfactorily
explained at this time ; however, we all can form a fairly
good idea of what it is from our own experience. After
we have fully proven that it is by reason of his intelli-
gence that the cell is able from memory and experience
to build the different structures we call animals and
plants, then we can begin to push further investigations
to discover, if possible, the deeper secrets of the inner
life of the cell.
It is a rule of science and philosophy that we should
investigate a proposition as far as we can and when we
can go no further to stop and admit it. No one will deny
that there is such a force as electricity. We can see and
feel its effects, but as yet no one is able to say just what
it is although some very good theories have recently
been advanced. It is the same with this property we call
intelligence, that guides us in life. We know about what
it is by the way it guides our actions. It is enough to
know for the purpose of this discussion, that it does
exist.
There are two main theories by which the growth and
development of plants and animals in life are explained :
First, chemical and mechanical forces; second, Intelli-
gence or a Divine Being. However, so far no one has
yet ventured the proposition or statement that the in-
telligence that has caused the production of all these
structures we see, such as plants and animals, was the
property of the cell. Some call it God's will in the uni-
verse or Divine Wisdom. Some call it intelligent force
INTRODUCTORY 13
or vital force. They see a purpose and design in nature
which seems to prove to them conclusively that it is
guided by intelligence, and sometimes it is used to prove
God's existence in the universe or a Divine Will or the
will of some other intelligent force in the universe. The
other side attempts to explain the growth and develop-
ment in life from chemical, mechanical and natural forces.
Now whatever you wish to call it, not one can deny that
whoever the being is who is able to effect the construc-
tion of such stationary structures as trees and plants and
movable objects as animals, must be possessed of a very
high degree of intelligence. They are structures that
present themselves to us with all the characteristics of a
work of art. It stands practically admitted, that the cell
is able to produce all these structures, partly of himself
and partly from the crude elements of earth, air and
water. We will see later when we get to it that he
gathers the materials with which he is able to effect these
constructions in the same manner as we do. That in
order to be able to manufacture the different materials
that are needed to do this, he takes advantage of heat,
light, electricity and chemical actions in exactly the same
manner that we do except, of course, on a much smaller
scale. You know that so far we have not been able to
find anything in crude matter and the blind forces of
nature indicating any intelligence. Nothing is found
indicating any power to produce a work of art. It has
now been conclusively shown that the cell is not a simple
organism but a very highly organized animal or being,
which is made up of still smaller beings. For convenience
in the discussion of this question, we shall call this being
the primordial cell. It begins to look as if these prim-
ordial cells or beings of which the cell is composed are of
that microscopic size that they may be able to handle
14 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the molecules and atoms of matter and direct thei
actions and motions in the same manner as we are able
to handle brick, stone, and larger particles of building
material. We will see later that these primordial cells
possess intelligence ; at least, their actions in the cell so
indicate. You see, we are getting down to the question :
Does intelligence exist in the atoms and molecules of mat-
ter or is it a separate thing from matter existing in the
universe? Is it invisible force separate from matter sim-
ilar to the force of electricity or magnetism? These are
questions to be settled by the scientists in the future. The
only purpose of this book is to show that the cause of
plants and animals, as we see them, is intelligence in the
cell. He is the being who does the work of building and
constructing all these living things, and he is able to do so
by reason of the fact that he is an intelligent being like
ourselves. We are quite conscious that there is a very
great deal concerning which we know little or nothing.
For instance — we have practically no idea of the nature
of either gravitation or electricity. We realize that we
have yet much to learn. We do know that such things
as gravitation, intelligence and electricity exist.
Memory is the power to receive impressions of things, —
keep them for a long time and reproduce them when
needed. We know this faculty of memory to be the base
on which our intelligence rests. Without this power to
remember and compare experiences, we could form no
ideas or judgments. We would be unable to do anything
based on past experience ; in fact, there cannot be any
intellect or mind without memory. By reason of this
power the cells can remember just how the structures
were made from which they came, and how they acted
while a part of such structures. The cells build the new
structures, such as plants and animals, as like as they can
INTRODUCTORY 15
remember, from their experiences in the structures from
which they came, and also from their experience in build-
ing similar structures in ages past.
The instinctive emotional and reflex actions are gen-
erally those produced and directed by cells in other places
of the body and not in the brain. All these actions will
be considered and explained in the chapter on heredity.
You have probably been wondering what I would have
to say about the theory of evolution being the cause of
life. That theory does not exclude but goes to support
my theory. Evolution is an undisputed fact. In a strug-
gle for existence the fittest will survive, but the fact is
only an incident in life. Survival of the fittest is a fact in
nature, in business, politics, religion and among nations.
In the struggle between two battleships, the best fitted
for the struggle will generally win out. My contention is
that the real cause of the existence of those individual
struggling ships was the intelligence possessed by the
builders. The ships did not come to exist by chance
arrangement of matter. We shall find upon investigation
that natural selection and survival of the fittest are the
things that determine who shall live of two structures or
individuals contending for space and existence. In the
same manner, survival of the fittest is the thing which will
determine who shall be the ruler of the sea, the English
or the Germans, or whose factory shall survive in a town
where only one can exist. The theory of evolution pro-
pounded by Darwin and his followers does not account for
the existence of the German and English navies nor for
the existence of the factories, who struggle for existence,
one against the other.
My contention is this, that these factories and navies
did not come to exist by chance. Some intelligent being
has caused their construction or existence. Who are the
16 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
builders? Are they intelligent beings? We must ask
the same questions in regard to the structures we see in
life. We see a tree. It is a stationary habitation of a
billion cells. We ask, who are the builders of that tree?
It is admitted now that the cells are the builders of the
trees they occupy. You ask, how can they build them?
They do so by gathering the material and arranging it
into the form of a tree. How could they do it? Because
they are intelligent beings. The reader may not be famil-
iar with Darwin's theory of evolution, so I shall briefly
state what it is :
First. All animals vary. Hardly ever are two born
just alike. There is nearly always some point of differ-
ence.
Second. All animals and plants multiply so rapidly
that all of them cannot possibly live.
Third. All animals and plants are therefore in a con-
stant struggle with each other for food and existence.
Fourth. Those who have by chance been born with
some feature that favors them in their struggle will live
and perpetuate their kind.
Fifth. This favorable variation will be passed on to
the offspring through inheritance and in that way pre-
served to that species.
Sixth. By this process of continual variation, struggle
for existence and inheritance, the different species of ani-
mals have arisen. Darwin has also added sexual selec-
tion. He shows that among many animals, there is a con-
test in the breeding season among the males for the pos-
session of the females. The contest is sometimes by
actual combat and sometimes by an attempt to attract the
favor of the female by the display of brilliant plumage or
by singing. Now evidently those males who have espe-
cially developed weapons for combat or especially beau-
INTRODUCTORY 17
tiful plumage will be the victors, and will leave the most
vigorous offspring, and the offspring will have the ten-
dency to inherit the same weapons and plumage. This
process developes antlers on the male deer and elk, and
the beauty of the male birds. By means of this principle
Darwin and other evolutionists have attempted to account
for the evolution of life and the origin of new species from
the old upon purely physical laws.
We shall see that this theory is true only so far as it
goes, and shall also soon see that upon analysis it does
not go any further than I stated. That it is merely an
incident and a fact that the best man or institution in the
struggle for existence will win and live to perpetuate his
kind or his institution or business. It does not explain
who are the builders of these struggling institutions,
structures or beings, nor how the builders are able to put
them together. They do not attempt to explain or give
any cause why one should inherit the features, form and
character of his parents, nor why individuals should vary.
In this book I shall attempt to definitely settle these ques-
tions, so that we know where we are at, and can start in-
vestigations of other and further questions. As Darwin's
theory of evolution is based on inheritance, it must fail
as a cause, as a great number of ants and bees have neu-
trals, that is, they have males, females and workers. These
workers can in no way pass on anything to their offspring,
as they never have any. These matters will be fully dis-
cussed when we get to them. Spencer, like Darwin and
others, attempt to show that life is based on chemical and
mechanical action. Thay fail, however, to explain the
mystery of growth, heredity and instinctive action. To
show you how hard they have tried to understand it and
how they have twisted the language to say something that
would sound like a cause I shall here quote some passages
18 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
from Spencer, the great exponent of the Darwinian
theory. He puts the question : "How can this cell con-
struct a body?" Does every germ contain a model of the
complete animal or is each germ a miniature form of
same? No, all we can say is that the living particles com-
posing one of these fragments have the innate tendency
to arrange themselves into the shape of the organism to
which they belong. He seems to see no other reason for
the actions of the cell in building a plant except that they
have "innate tendency" to do so. He would explain it
just as well by frankly stating that he did not know.
FIG. 2.— Amoeba highly magnified— Central portion, cell body,
n. nucleus; c. v. bacuole; p. Pseudopodia, hands or arms extended.
The question that will be discussed by me is not what
intelligence and vital force are, but whether or not this
intelligence that directs the cell is similar to and the same
as that which directs intelligent man. Many scientists
today are studying questions and theories which exist
only in the imagination of the person who is studying
them. We shall take, for instance, the subject of helio-
tropism of living organisms. This word is used to denote
INTRODUCTORY 19
the property in some plants or animals which compels
them to go towards the light. I have examined this sub-
ject and I am certain that no such property or thing ex-
ists ; that this high sounding word describes something
that exists only in the imagination of some person. How-
ever, the books are full of it and Jacques Loeb. M. D. PH.
D and S. C. D. (member of the Rockefeller Institute) in
his book on the Physico-Chemical or Mechanistic theory
of life tries to show that this fact is the most significant
proof that life is merely a chemical force. Here is what
he has to say on the subject : "The positively heliotropic
animals which go instinctively to a source of light have
in their eyes photo sensitive substances, which undergo
chemical alterations by light. The products formed in
this process influence the contraction of the muscles
mostly indirectly through the nervous system. In a series
of experiments I have shown that the heliotropical reac-
tions of animals are identical with the heliotropical actions
of plants. In plants only the more refrangible rays from
green to blue have these heliotropical effects, while the
red and yellow rays are little or less effective, and the
same is true for the heliotropical reaction of animals."
Now here follow some of his experiments in the follow-
ing words : "Some experiments on winged plant lice may
serve as an introduction, etc. * * * In order to obtain
the material, potted rose bushes infected with plant lice
are brought into a room and placed in front of a closed
window. If the plants are allowed to dry out, the aphides
(plant lice), previously wingless, change into winged in-
sects. After this metamorphosis the animals leave the
plants, fly to the window and there creep upward on the
glass." Then he makes the further remark : "It can be
demonstrated in these animals that the direction of their
progressive movements is just as unequivocally gov-
20 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
erned by the source of light as the direction of the move-
ments of the planets is determined by the force of grav-
ity."
Certainly Mr. Loeb must know that the cells who build
these aphides or plant lice are- in every way similar and
identical to the cells that build him or Mr. Rockefeller.
They are of exactly the same size and general appearance.
I think the cells that build the plant lice show an extra-
ordinary amount of skill and intelligence. As long as the
rose bush was living, they were satisfied and contented
because they had enough to both eat and drink. When
Mr. Loeb dried up the rose bush and deprived them of
food and drink, they had to get out of there and go some
place where they could procure those things necessary to
their life. They are compelled to do this just as Mr. Loeb
would have to do under similar circumstances or starve
to death. The plant lice could clearly see that there was
nothing to eat and drink within any reasonable distance
of where they were stranded. It looked to them like a
"Long way to Tipperary." The only method by which
they could save themselves from starvation was to pre-
pare temporary wings and fly, which they did. Now
where or in what direction should they fly? Anyone with
sense would go straight to the place which would look
like an opening in the prison or house in which they were
enclosed. The light in the window would be the only
thing that would direct them to a way to get out and find
another green plant which is their only source of food and
drink. What more could Mr. Loeb have done if he had
been in their place? Endowed with the intelligence that
Mr. Loeb and Mr. Rockefeller are now supposed to have,
what more could they have done to save themselves from
starvation? The intelligence, skill and knowledge pos-
sessed by the builders of the plant lice to be able to build
INTRODUCTORY 21
wings with which to carry themselves away, when neces-
sary, in an emergency like that, is in my opinion won-
derful. It is far superior to ours.
Here is another illustration that Mr. Loeb gives of
heliotropism : "If small crustaceans of a fresh water pond
or lake are taken with a plankton net at noontime and
placed in an aquarium which is illuminated from one side
only, it is found that those animals move about in the
vessel pretty much at random and distribute themselves
irregularly. Some seem to go more towards the source
of light, others in the opposite direction, and the majority,
perhaps, pay no attention to the light. This condition
changes instantly if we add to the water some acid. If
the correct amount is added, all the individuals become
actively positively heliotropic and move in as straight a
line as the imperfection of the swimming movements per-
mits towards the source of light and remain there closely
crowded together on the illuminated side of the vessel.
How does the acid produce this result? We will assume
that it acts as a sensitizer." Mr. Loeb inquires, how does
the acid produce this result and suggests that the acid
probably is a sensitizer. We are forced to ask the ques-
tion, that if a man were in the water in place of these ani-
mals and someone should put enough acid into the water
so as to burn his skin and body, if he would not become
just as heliotropic as these crustaceans and if he would
not make a scramble to get out precisely in the same
manner. Being confined in a dark cave Hke the aquarium
with acid burning his body, his only thought would be to
escape from the place. The only thing to guide his ac-
tions to effect an escape from this dark cave would be the
light. It would be the only thing that could lead him or
indicate to him an opening to the outside world. These
cells or animals called crustaceans do nothing different
22 CELL, INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
from what you or I would do under the same circum-
stances. Then he makes the following comment : "In
certain animals, for instance in daphnia and in certain
marine copepods, a decrease in temperature also increases
the tendency to positive heliotropism. If the mere addi-
tion of acid is not sufficient to make daphnia positively
heliotropic, this may often be accomplished by simultan-
eously reducing the temperature." In other words, he
might as well say that if you cannot start them moving
by burning them with acid you can do so by freezing or
making it uncomfortably cold for them. Why should
they not try to escape from a place where they are freez-
ing or where their skin is being irritated and eaten by
acid?
I will quote you one more of his illustrations, which he
thinks is very significant of the fact that some animals
become at times possessed by a property that he calls
heliotropism. I think it is the most absurd illustration of
them all. Here is what he has to say about the young
beetle, who comes out of the ground in the spring hungry
and is very much in need of something to eat : "This
change in the heliotropic sensitiveness produced by cer-
tain metabolic products in the animal body is of great
biological significance. I pointed out in former papers
that it serves to save the lives of the above mentioned
young larvae of chrysorrhoea. When the young larvae are
awakened from their winter sleep by the sunshine of the
Spring, they are positively heliotropic. Their positive
heliotropism leaves them no freedom of movement but
forces them to creep straight upward to the top of a tree
or branch. Here they find the first buds. In this way
their heliotropism guides them to their food. Should
they now remain positively heliotropic they would be held
fast on the ends of the twigs and would starve to death.
INTRODUCTORY 23
but we have already mentioned that after having eaten,
they once more lose their positive heliotropism, they can
now creep downward until they reach a new leaf, the odor
or tactile stimulus of which stops the progressive move-
ments of the machine and sets their eating activity again
in motion."
I want the reader to stop a moment here and consider
the absurdity of this statement. The actions described
by Mr. Loeb of this beetle are those of any intelligent
being under the same circumstances. When the beetle
comes out of the ground, he is hungry ; he knows where
to go to procure his food. Without having had any pre-
vious training or information as to where to find some-
thing to eat, he goes right after it. After having eaten
one bud, he goes after the next one. This knowledge of
where to go to find something to eat without having had
any information on the subject, other scientists call in-
stinct, but Mr. Loeb calls it heliotropism. He goes so
far as to state that but for this heliotropism, the beetle
would not know where to find his food and would starve
to death. Why should the beetle lose his heliotropic prop-
erty by eating a bud? Mr. Loeb states that this helio-
tropism would pin him to the top of the tree, but for the
fact that it is removed by the eating of the bud. Why
should the actions of the beetle, any more than those of
Mr. Loeb's, be those of heliotropism when going in search
of food? You may ask, how can the young beetle know
where to go without previous experience or information
as to where to find his food? That will be fully and clearly
explained under the chapter on heredity and instinctive
action. The reader must remember that the cells who
build the young beetle also direct its action and course,
just as we direct the action and course of a boat and
other vehicles. The experience and knowledge are in the
24 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
cell, the builder of the beetle, who was but last year -the
director of the parent, and well remembers where it got
its food. There are other tropisms besides heliotropism
which are used to describe the property of organisms
being attracted by light. There is geotropism to show
that they are attracted by the gravity of the earth and
galvano tropism to denote that they are affected by an
electric current. These words are used in demonstrating
that life is merely a chemical action affected by light, elec-
tricity and gravity in the same manner as dead matter
and chemical substances.
So far as we can see and understand the question at
this time, life seems to be an intelligent being we call cell,
moulding and directing matter for its own use and pur-
pose. I am not going to say just what life and intelligence
in the cell really are. I only want to get matters lined up
right in reference to those 'things we actually know.
The cells in the brain of man are capable of directing his
actions so as to effect the wonderful progress and inven-
tions that have taken place. In building and maintaining
the body, they act precisely in the same manner as we do.
The cells which make up the lining of the stomach for
instance, reach out their hands and select this and that
from the mixed mass we have placed therein. They can
always discriminate, for instance, between bits of fat and
particles of coal, absorbing the former and leaving the
latter. The surface cells pick out what is needed and
hand it over to the other cells, who carry it to the place
where it is wanted. Their acts show judgment and dis-
cretion, the same as our own.
There has been a vast number of experiments in late
years and my opinion is based on these experiments and
the. conclusions that have been reached from them. Nearly
all who are occupied in this work have been specializing.
INTRODUCTORY 25
Each one in his particular subject has been so completely
occupied with his part of the whole that he has not taken
time to summarize or comprehend life as a whole. It
makes me think about the story of the five blind men who
went to see what the elephant was like. One put his
hands on the elephant's side ; one put his arm around his
leg; one got hold of his trunk; one took hold of his tail.
As they were all blind and did not take time to feel of the
whole animal, no one of them had any really correct idea
of what the elephant was like. The one who got him by
the leg thought he was like a tree, and the one who got
him by the trunk thought he was like a snake, and the
one that got him by the tail thought he was like a rope.
It all depended on what place they had felt of him, and
as their experiences were all different they never agreed
as to what the elephant was like and never could ; while
a man who could see and had seen the whole elephant,
could clearly hear from their discussion that they were
all wrong. It appears to be similar with the scientists
today. Each one feeling only of a certain spot is not com-
petent to tell what life as a whole really is.
There are certain things that we all can see, that the
microscope has revealed to us as clearly and as certainly
as the food we eat and the clothes we wear. That is to
say, it is undisputed that these microscopic animals exist.
We find them as living, single, separate, animals or beings
in both salt and fresh water. Every drop of water taken
from ocean or pond contains one or more of them. It is
undisputed that these beings build from the material at
hand all the structures we see and know as plants and
animals. Upon this base of facts admitted, we can and
should be able to agree as to the cause of development in
life, inheritance and instinctive action. Beyond these
facts, we do not yet know the inner life of the cell itself.
26 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
We must stop now and then before the unknown. The
more we become acquainted with this wonderful being
we call cell, the more we see our ignorance of the depths
of his real existence. Only a few years ago we knew very
little about the life of the cell. Today we understand him
a little better. Every day questions are put to the cell
and some of the replies, though vague, reveal an unex-
pected purpose and intelligence in his actions.
I have stated enough to indicate the general purpose of
this book and what I intend to prove by it, and shall now
begin the argument by first considering what life really
is as nearly as we can determine from all experiments
made along that line up to the present time.
CHAPTER II.
WHAT IS LIFE?
Life began sometime in the past history of the earth or
else with the beginning of time. If it is a property of
matter and came to exist far back in the Paleozoic ages
when the world was young, conditions must have first
become suitable for it to appear. It did not appear as a
cell or bacterium but as one of those primordial cells or
ultramicroscopic beings, which we now find organized
into the perfect animal we call cell. This primordial being
must have existed for ages as a single separate individual
before it began its social life in the cell It did not th^n
understand how to transform solar energy into chemical
energy and thereby make the food now used by us and
the cells.
This primordial cell without doubt exists today in a
single state. There must exist at the present time a
whole world of living creatures which have never been
seen by the microscope, of all sizes from the single separ-
ate primordial cell up to those cells we call bacteria, pro-
Jozoa and the plant and animal building cells. We can
never find out what life really is until we can invent a
method by which we can study and understand the inner
life of the primordial being which builds the cells. Up
to the present time we can see that life exists only in this
animal we call cell. A cell can come only from another
28 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
cell. In our question as to what life really is, we can only
pursue our investigation by demonstrating what life is
not. We can show, I believe, that life is not any of the
forces of nature with which we are now acquainted, ex-
cept the force that we call intelligence. Considering the
fact that the cell is the builder of all things we see on
this planet that have what we call life, or exhibit that
phenomenon we can do nothing except to go into a de-
tailed investigation of the actions of that individual as
compared with the actions of matter. We have seen from
our physiology that the cell is either a one cell organism
living a single separate life for himself only, or a colony
of millions or more cells living together and all working
together for the good of the whole community, as we find
the case to be in a plant or animal. For that reason they
have been divided into unicellular and multicellular. In
this discussion of what life really is, we can do no more
than compare the actions of these microscopic animals
with the actions of matter, as they are affected by the
forces of nature, known to us as gravitation, electricity,
chemical force or affinity, light, heat, cold, wind, water,
etc. I think we shall find that these forces will, that is to
say, they will affect the cell in the same manner that they
would affect us if we were similarly situated.
We shall try to see if possible if the phenomenon of life
is any one, some or all of these forces. We shall begin
with the force known as light. Light is the waves of a
medium which occupies all space in the universe and is
known as ether. Light is known as ether waves. It has
been demonstrated lately that these waves are different,
just as are the waves of the sea, and according to their
size they produce different effects. Some produce heat,
some light, and some electric effects. Ether waves may
be polarized, reflected, absorbed and refracted. We do
WHAT IS LIFE? 29
not have any experimental proof as to just how these
things take place, so we do not know, but there seems to
be no doubt that light, radiant heat and electric waves
are all of the same nature. The ether waves are some-
times spoken of as visible or invisible light. The vibra-
tion of the ether set in motion by the sun is heat when felt
by the hand and light when felt by the eye. Heat is un-
derstood to be and is a disturbance of the molecules of
matter. The more violent the disturbance the more heat.
The cells that build plants understand how to direct and
use the heat of the sun. As the vibrations of the ether stir
up the activity of the atoms of matter, the celllcnows how
to pile them up in large molecules, which are called col-
loids. These are merely building material and contain no
life, such as proteids, fats, starches, sugar and other car-
bohydrates. These building materials known as colloids
are such combinations of atoms as break up very easily
and when released can be again directed to take such
form and substance as may be required by cells in any
particular place in the body. As the atoms change from
one substance into another, they jar the surrounding
bodies and the atmosphere in which they come in contact,
and this produces what we call heat. This atomic motion
and vibration is also called chemical energy. Now as it
is a fact that only a part of the cells understand or in other
words have the power to make their own food and build-
ing material from the raw material of earth and air by
chemical action from the heat of the sun, it is clear that
chemical action is not life nor the cause of life.
Possibly heat is not very generally understood and the
following is a good short description of heat by Garret P.
Serviss : "Heat is a violent agitation of the infinitesimal
particles or molecules of which all matter is composed,
hence there can be no heat in a vacuum where there are
30 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
no particles of matter to be agitated or in the ether which
is a medium that does not obey the ordinary laws of
matter.
But on the other hand the vibrations that give rise to
heat when they encounter material bodies must exist in
the ether because it is the ether which carries them, and
since ether is not excluded like matter from what we call
a vacuum, it follows that these vibrations may exist in
the vacuum, in fact, the only thing that a vacuum con-
tains is ether. No doubt these vibrations conveyed from
the sun by the ether may produce many other effects un-
perceived or unknown to us because we have no special
nerves or organs of sensation suitable to their perception.
The ether you will observe is a very mysterious thing and
the discovery of its existence is one of the greatest tri-
umphs of human intelligence. It seems to possess some
of the properties of matter and yet it defies most of the
laws of matter as we know them. To study all the phe-
nomena of heat would require the devotion of an entire
life time. Have you ever reflected upon the reason why
heat can turn iron into a liquid and water into steam?
Most persons seeing these things done or knowing they
are done every day, think no more about it. It is not from
among such persons that the great leaders of human ad-
vancement make their appearance. But to return to the
answer to our question — iron is melted and water is vapor-
ized by that very shaking or agitation of their constituent
particles of which we have been speaking. The mole-
cules or particles of a solid or a liquid are held together
by the mutual attraction, not the attraction of gravitation
but another sort of attraction called cohesion. The dis-
tance over which this kind of an attraction acts is very
small. Each particle draws upon its immediate surround-
ing particles and they in turn upon others and thus the
WHAT IS LIFE? 31
whole mass of a solid body or of a portion of liquid is held
together.
"In solids the force of cohesion is so great that the par-
ticles are held in a rigid form. In liquids it is relatively
so weak that the particles may slide about over one an-
other, and in a gas or vapor there is no cohesion. Now
when a solid is heated its particles are set into extraordin-
ary vibration and if the heating is carried to a sufficient
degree, the force of their cohesion will be so far weakened
that they begin to slide over one another and the solid be-
comes a liquid. If the heating is carried still further, the
particles will be so shaken that they lose their cohesive
grip entirely, and the liquid expands into a vapor.
"As you sit in front of your winter fire and see the black
coal or hard wood molecularly shaken asunder in the
jaws of heat until part of it ascends in gases and part falls
in ashes while the agitation sets up new waves of heat in
the surrounding air and ether, you may if you will, be-
come a philosopher and contribute your own little share
to the thinking which drives the world."
This is a very good description of heat and particularly
of the ether vibrations we receive from the sun. Mr.
Serviss is of the same opinion as myself, that if we pos-
sessed organs of sensation suitable to perceive, we would
be able to understand very many other effects chemical
and otherwise, which the waves of ether1 from the sun
produce on matter. No doubt the cell is in possession of
the different organs of sensation suitable to perceive the
effects that the solar heat or ether waves have on matter
and is thereby able to direct the atoms to affect the large
molecules in which he is able to store his building mate-
rial and energy.
It is a hard and tedious work to forge and mold the
molecules of the raw material of earth, air and water into
32 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
food and building material, so a large number of cells
have become parasites and live upon the work and energy
of other cells. From this fact that some cells are able to
use the heat from the sun's rays, to build and forge the
material they require, and others not, it is clear that life
is not caused by the heat of the sun but that the heat is
used in the same manner and for a purpose, as it is used
by intelligent man.
Coming back again to the question as to whether the
light has a power to attract plants and animals, I believe
it has, and that plants and animals act in the same manner
as we do and for a purpose. They go towards the light
for several reasons but mainly to get out of the place in
which they are confined. Plant cells build their structures
towards and into the light because they must use the rays
of light or the waves of ether to effect the chemical action
necessary to manufacture their food and the building ma-
terial with which they build those structures we call
plants. In Mr. Loeb's book "On the Mechanistic Concep-
tion of Life" he makes this statement : "At the present
day nobody seriously questions the statement that the
action of light upon organisms is primarily one of a chem-
ical character."
It appears perfectly clear to me that the organisms or
cells are themselves not in the least affected by the action
of light any more than man except in this way, that if they
are deprived of the sun's heat and light, they are deprived
of a force with which they are able to manufacture those
things that they must have to eat, and also those mate-
rials with which they build their structures. Sunlight
seems to contain a peculiar combination of energy con-
taining both heat and electricity, which effect chemical
changes in the raw material they gather from earth, air
and water and produce those particular things they must
WHAT IS LIFE? 33
have for their existence. After Mr. Loeb has stated that
light has certain effects upon the organism he makes the
further statement : "While this chemical action is of the
utmost importance for organisms the nutrition of which
depends upon the action of chlorophyll, it becomes of less
importance for organisms devoid of chlorophyll." The
word chlorophyll is intended to mean a power in plant
cells to make starch for food from the raw material of
earth, air and water by the assistance of sunlight. You
will notice from this statement that those cells who do
not understand how to make starch by the aid of sunlight,
are not attracted by sunlight in the manner that others
are.
Matter at the present time is classified into about 80
elements. These elements can be again broken up into
molecules, molecules into atoms, and the atoms into elec-
trons. All things in this world seem to be in motion.
There is no real rest anywhere. It is always only appar-
ent or relative. Heat and light themselves, which con-
stantly change, are merely forms of motion. One writer
states : "In the eternal play of cosmic bodies, countless
suns and planets rush hither and thither in infinite space.
In every chemical composition and decomposition the
atoms or smallest particles of matter are in motion and so
are the molecules they compose."
We will find later upon further investigation that some
cells carry with them a chemical laboratory where they
are able to direct and forge the atoms into the larger mole-
cules of matter to suit their needs.
Charles G. Gibson in his "Scientific Ideas of Today,"
states : "We picture the elementary atoms grouping
themselves into little congregations called molecules. We
picture the atoms grabbing hold of one another and we
find that the different atoms have different grabbing pow-
34 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
ers. For instance, when we combine hydrogen and oxy-
gen together, each oxygen atom is able to grab two hydro-
gen atoms to itself. Therefore, when we break up water
into its constituent gases by means of an electric current,
we find that we get twice the volume of hydrogen that we
get of oxygen. The co-partnery agreement of the com-
bination, known as 'water,' reads that there shall be two
members of the hydrogen family, and one only of the oxy-
gen family in the combination.
"In our common table salt there is a very simple co-
partnery, one atom of sodium combining with one atom
of chlorine. Then again a single atom of gold will grab
three atoms of chlorine to form the chloride of gold used
in toning photographs. We see the elementary atoms
with their electrical charges combining together and thus
forming the neutral molecule, but even these molecules
are far below the range of the most powerful microscope.
We think of the invisible microbe again and try to realize
that it contains millions upon millions of individual parti-
cles or molecules, each of which contain several atoms.
We therefore picture a piece of solid iron as being entirely
composed of invisible atoms of iron. If we handle a piece
of solid iron it is very apparent that the invisible particles
of which it is composed must have a powerful grip on one
another. To this force which binds the molecules to-
gether, we have given the descriptive title of cohesion
from the Latin word cohaereo, meaning I stick.
"Our thoughts naturally turn to the electrons, which
along with the ether, are the most fundamental things of
which we have any knowledge. It is evident that a very
heavy burden falls upon those tiny charges of negative
electricity. We have seen that they are the stuff that
atoms are made of. Electric current and electric dis-
charges are simply these tiny electrons in motion. We
WHAT IS LIFE? 35
have also seen how the movements of electrons give rise
to magnetic fields, electric waves, heat and visible light
and every variety of ether waves.
"In the blazing sun we picture electrons revolving
around myriads of atoms of matter at a great variety of
speed. Why electrons go round some kinds of atoms
faster than they do around others we shall see later.
These electrons in" the far distant sun are producing a
great variety of different wave lengths in the ether. We
see some atoms giving up one or more detachable elec-
trons, which are accepted by other atoms producing a
disturbance in their electric balance and causing the atoms
to attract one another and become chemically united. In
this way we account for the production of all the variety
of all the compound substances known."
This statement by Mr. Gibson will give the reader a
general idea of how matter seems to behave to the mind
of the scientific man today. It is sufficient to give the
reader, who is not familiar with these things, some idea
of the nature of matter, at least so far as will be neces-
sary to a reasonable understanding for discussion of the
question at hand. The reader will see that so far the
modes of energy exhibited by force and matter in the uni-
verse are not different from those in nature with which we
have been heretofore familiar. The atoms and molecules
of matter always follow fixed laws. We shall find that
the actions of the cell are not those of fixed laws but con-
trary to them. He is a master of matter.
Does light affect the cells chemically or do they merely
act as we would under similar circumstances? Mr. Loeb
gave the following illustration to prove that certain cells
are chemically affected by light: "When we observe a
dense mass of copepods collected from a fresh water pond,
we notice that some have a tendency to go to the light
36 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
while others go in opposite directions and many, if not
the majority, are indifferent to light. It is an easy matter
to make the negatively heliotropic or the indifferent
(copepods) almost instantly positively heliotropic by add-
ing a small but definite amount of carbon dioxide in the
form of carbonated water to the water in which the ani-
mals are contained. If the animals are contained in 50
C. C. of water, it suffices to' add from 3 to 6 C. C. of carbon
in water to make all the copepods energetically positively
heliotropic. This heliotropism lasts about half an hour,
probably until the carbon dioxide has again diffused into
the air. Similar results may be obtained with any other
acids."
I would like to ask what any man would do under sim-
ilar circumstances if he was in a room and someone filled
it with a poisonous or irritating gas? Would he not also
at once become "energetically heliotropic" and attempt
to escape from the room? Would he not also lose his
heliotropism as soon as the noxious gases had passed out
of the place where he was confined? I think he would in
precisely the same manner as these cells, which are called
copepods. The cell is an animal that feels, feeds and per-
forms all the functions of life in every manner similar to
that of Mr. Loeb. The advocates of the chemical theory
of life base their strongest proof on this point of helio-
tropism, which is entirely without foundation. I do not
think it is necessary to go into any further detailed dis-
cussion of the other tropisms like galvano-tropism and
geo-tropism. The first is the idea that some cells are
affected by electricity, the other that they are affected by
the force of gravity. While it may be said they are af-
fected, still they are affected in no wise different from our-
selves. They will take advantage of the electric force
and turn it to their own purpose similar to ourselves. For
WHAT IS LIFE? 37
instance, the electric eel takes advantage of it and uses
it in his business as a help in giving battle to his enemies,
shocking and stinging them, thereby more easily captur-
ing animals for food.
In reference to gravity it affects them in the same man-
ner as it does a human being. In order to be able to get
up into the sunlight, the cell will defy the law of gravita-
tion and build his structure straight upward. The cell
is an individual that is in no manner and in no way forced
and pushed around by physical and chemical forces re-
gardless of any will or opinion he may have in the matter
himself. The physical forces are not able to cause him
to act in any different manner from what they cause man
to act.
There seem to be two sides only to the question, after
looking over the enormous mass of philosophy and ideas
written in the past in regard to the cause of life. One side
claims that life came to exist sometime in the past history
of the earth, out of the elements of the earth, and that it
is only a chemical and mechanical phenomenon. The
other side claims that a mind is back of matter, either
separate from it or in the matter itself. Some call it vital
force and some call it the Divine Will in the world or the
universe. The plain reason for this difference of opinion
arises from the fact that structures in nature show con-
clusively that intelligence of a high order or at least sim-
ilar to that of man is the cause that forms and molds the
different structures of life. We shall not in this chapter
stop to discuss what intelligence is, but will leave that
to a separate chapter.
It might be proper, however, at this time to give a short
illustration of what is considered to be an intelligent act
and one that is not intelligent and purely mechanical. I
think the simplest illustration is the following given by
38 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Prof. Win. James: "The pursuance of future ends and
choice of means for their attainment are thus the mark
and criterion of the presence of mentality in a phenomena.
We will use this test to discriminate between an intelli-
gent act and a mechanical performance. We impute no
mentality to sticks or stones because they never seem to
move for the sake of anything, but always when pushed
and then indifferently with no sign of choice, so we call
them senseless."
Then Mr. James gives this illustration : "If some iron
filings be sprinkled on a table and a magnet be brought
near them, they will fly through the air for a certain dis-
tance and stick to its surface. Let a card cover the poles
of the magnet and the filings will press forever against its
surface without its ever occurring to them to pass around
its sides and thus come in contact with the object of their
love. Blow bubbles through a tube into the bottom of a
pail of water; they will rise to the surface and mingle
with the air. Their actions may be poetically interpreted
as due to a longing to recombine with the mother atmos-
phere above the surface, but if you invert a jar over the
pail they will rise and remain lodged beneath its bottom
shut in from the outer air, although a slight deflection
from their course at the outset or a redescent towards the
rim of the jar when they found their upward course im-
peded would easily have set them free. If we now pass
from such action as these to those of living things, we
notice a striking difference. Romeo wants Juliet as the
filings want the magnet but Romeo and Juliet, if a wall
be built between them, do not remain idiotically pressing
their faces against its opposite sides like the magnet and
the filings with the card. Romeo goes over the wall or
otherwise and touches Juliet's lips directly. With the
filings the path is fixed. Whether it reaches the end de-
WHAT IS LIFE? 39
pends on accident. With the lover, it is the end which is
fixed. The path may be modified indefinitely. Suppose
a living frog in the position in which we place our bubbles
of air, viz., at the bottom of a jar of water — the want of
air will soon make him also long to join the mother atmos-
phere, but if a jar of water be inverted over it he will not
like the bubbles, perpetually press his nose against its un-
yielding roof, but will restlessly explore the neighborhood
until he has discovered a path around its brim to the goal
of his desire."
These illustrations are good and show clearly the differ-
ence between an intelligent and a mechanical act. I do
not believe it is possible to show any intelligence in a
purely chemical and mechanical act, as it never acts with
a purpose. The cell has been active for millions of years
in building structures like plants and animals. In the
petrified forests of Arizona we see that trees were con-
structed in precisely the same shape and of the same size
as they are today. We are satisfied that those trees were
built by cells over two million years ago. After millions
of years of practise and experience in building these sta-
tionary habitations for themselves like trees and plants,
and movable structures like animals, it is reasonable that
they should show a very high degree of skill and intelli-
gence in this line of business. By the aid of sunlight they
are able to handle and direct matter, molecules, atoms and
electrons with the same dexterity that our best builders
handle brick, mortar and cement.
The cells of our brain which do our thinking are not
different from any of the cells of our body nor are they
any different from the cells that live a single separate life
in the water, nor from those cells that build plants. The
slight difference in the general appearance of the cells of
our body arises from the fact that they are occupied with
40 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
different kinds of work, just as a preacher looks different
from a blacksmith, — but otherwise they are just alike in
general construction. All the different kinds of cells such
as muscle cells, blood cells and bone cells came originally
from one single cell. From this fact, it seems to me that
no reason can be given why one cell is not as intelligent
as the other.
Our intelligence is altogether based on our faculty of
memory. Without it we could keep no record of our ex-
periences. Without experiences to refer to we could form
no judgments. From the experiences stored up in our
memory we form judgments and ideas which guide our
actions. Based upon this faculty of memory, intelligence
is possible and from it all intelligent acts proceed. This
power of the cells in our brain to receive and store away
information and experience we shall see later is not only
a property of the brain cells but of all the cells of the body.
Memory is a peculiar thing. In old age we remember the
things of childhood the longest. Sickness weakens the
memory. Repeating an experience strengthens it. Drugs,
fevers and excitement bring back to memory things long
ago forgotten. However, upon this power of memory
possessed by the cells all intelligence is based. Upon this
power, we shall see, inheritance, instinct and reflex action
are based.
Some go as far as to claim that matter acts as if pos-
sessed of intelligence and a will. For instance, if we drop
a crystal of salt in water, the salt will disappear, the
atoms of salt will move around in the water in perfect
freedom. If the water is evaporated the stoms of salt will
again come together as if they possessed a will to do this.
You will notice, however, that this is a will that follows
a fixed law. We can say the same of a falling stone. It
always tries to go back to the earth. We find the same
WHAT IS LIFE? 41
thing- in chemical attraction and affinity, and some have
gone so far as to call this "unconscious sensation," what-
ever may be understood by that expression. The word
sensation is such a general term and subject to so many
meanings, that it is hard to tell just what ideas they in-
tend to convey. They have gone so far as to say that
the actions of the atom in moving towards and joining
other atoms to form other combinations of matter jndicate
a will and a soul in the atom. They claim that the actions
of the atoms indicate a feeling of pleasure in getting to-
gether, and one of displeasure in being separated from
other atoms. It seems clear to me that all- these actions,
sensations or motions of matter that we have so far been
able to discover show actions under a fixed law that we
find everywhere in the universe; while the intelligent
action that we find in all organic beings we call alive,
never moves under a fixed law, but always towards a fixed
purpose regardless of those fixed laws of nature. I will
admit that matter and force go together but some go
further and claim that matter has both force and sensa-
tion. That is true if you wish to call action sensation.
However, call it what you may, it is not intelligence.
We cannot deny the great difference between a living
and a non-living body. The past history of the earth
shows that life has left a trail of failures and successes,
pain, carnage and extinction behind, in its struggle for
existence. One writer, Mr. Burrows, states: "Man has
taken his chances in the clash of blind matter and in the
warfare of living forms. He has been the pet of no
god ; the favorite of no power on earth or in heaven. He
is one of the fruits of the great cosmic tree and is subject
to the same hazards and failures as the fruits of all other
trees. The frosts may nip him in the bud ; the storms
beat him down ; foes of earth or air prey upon him and
42 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
hostile influences from all sides impede or mar him. The
very forces that uphold him and furnish him with armory
of tools and power will destroy him the moment he is off
his guard. He is like the trainer of wild beasts who, at
his peril, for one instant relaxes his mastery over them.
Gravity, electricity, fire, flood, hurricane will crush or
consume him. If his hand is unsteady or his wits tardy,
nature has dealt with him as with all other forms of life.
She has shown him no favor."
This is a very good description of the general condition
that prevails in nature. This is a true description of the
struggle for existence found everywhere in nature from
the smallest bacteria to the largest cell, as well as among
all plants and animals. We find the cell living singly in
the ocean, in his separate struggle for existence, has made
for himself a coat of armor from materials of different
kinds, such as horn, lime and flint. Without sufficient
intelligence to provide himself with these coverings, he
would have been unable to battle with the crushing ele-
ments of the sea and to perpetuate his existence. It might
be interesting to the reader to know what the great
scientist, John Burroughs of the Rockefeller Institute, has
to say in reference to what life really is. Here is part of
an article written by Mr. Burroughs :
"Our studies of the past histories of the globe reveal
the fact that life appeared upon a cooling planet when the
temperature was suitable and when its basic elements,
water and carbon dioxide were at hand. How it began,
whether through insensible changes in the activities of
inert matter lasting whole geologic ages or through sud-
den transformation at many points on the earth's surface,
we can never know.
"But science can see no reason for believing that its
beginning was other than natural. It was inevitable from
WHAT IS LIFE? 43
the constitution of matter itself. Moreover, since the law
of evolution seems of universal application and affords
the key to more great problems than any other generaliza-
tion of the human mind, one would say on primordial
grounds that life is an evolution ; that its genesis is to be
sought in the inherent capacities and potentialities of
matter itself. How else could it come? This is certainly
the only natural road and it leads straight to the physico-
chemical theory of the origin of life — the view held by an
increasing number of biologists and bio-chemists of our
day. It is the scientific view ; no other view is possible
to science as such. Science cannot go outside of matter
and its laws for an explanation of any phenomena that
appear in matter. It goes inside of matter instead and in
its mysterious molecular attractions and repulsions in
the whirl and dance of the atoms and electrons in their
amazing potencies and activities, sees or seems to see the
secret of the origin of life itself.
"To the scientist the earth is complete in itself. He
can admit of no break or discontinuity anywhere. Threads
of relation, visible and invisible, chemical, mechanical,
electric, magnetic, solar, stellar, lunar, geologic and bio-
logic— forming an intricate web of subtle forces and influ-
ences bind all things, living and dead, into cosmic unity.
"The disruptions and antagonisms which we fancy we
see are only the result of our limited vision. Nature is
not at war with itself. There is no room or need for mira-
cles. There is no outside to the universe, because there
are no bounds to matter or spirit. Science traces the
chain of cause and effect everywhere and finds no break.
It follows down animal life until it merges into vegetable,
though it cannot put its finger or its microscope on the
point where one ends and the other begins. It finds
forms that partake of the characteristics of both. It is
44 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
reasonable to expect that the vegetable merges into the
mineral by the same insensible degree, and that the one
becomes the other without any real discontinuity. The
change, if we may call it such, probably takes place in the
interior world of matter, among the primordial atoms
where only the imagination can penetrate.
"Looked at in its relation to the whole, life appears
like a transient phenomenon of matter. I will not say
accidental; it seems inseparably bound up with cosmic
processes, but I may say fugitive, superficial, circum-
scribed. Life comes and goes ; it penetrates but a little
way into the earth ; it is confined to a certain range of tem-
perature, beyond a certain degree of cold on the one hand
it does not appear, and beyond a certain degree of heat on
the other hand, it is cut off; without water or moisture it
ceases, and without air it is not. It has evidently dis-
appeared from the moon and probably from the inferior
planets and it is doubtful if it has yet appeared on any of
the superior planets, save Mars. Life comes to matter as
the flowers come in the Spring when the time is ripe for
it, and it disappears when the time is overripe. Man ap-
pears in due course and has his little day upon the earth
but that day must as surely come to an end.
"Yet can we conceive of the end of physical order?
The end of gravity? Or of cohesion? The air may dis-
appear, the water may disappear, combustion may cease,
but oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon will continue
somewhere."
This statement is very interesting in that it shows how
life looks to a man in a chemical laboratory, who can by
reason of his peculiar occupation see life only as a chem-
ical force and action. He has had hold of the elephant's
tail. To him the elephant is like a rope. You will notice
that at no place does he even mention or consider the cell,
WHAT IS LIFE? 45
who is the builder of all living things we see. He can see
only the atoms, molecules, electrons, smashing around in
space like a great cyclone, tearing through a city, and in
this clash and crash of the blind forces, life started and
continues today. In my opinion a chemist from his lab-
oratory can form no opinion of the structure and life of
the cell. A chemist deals with the crude forces of nature,
with dead matter. The remains of a watch, a threshing
machine or a human being after it had been burned into a
gaseous form would not furnish a person with any infor-
mation as to the nature, character, purpose or inner life
of those structures.
The cell is an animal, very highly organized and
specialized. Take the single cell called amoeba for in-
stance. He has no machinery with which he can manu-
facture starch. He does, however, carry with him build-
ing material with which he can in an emergency save his
life by covering himself with a coat of armor. Other cells
carry with them a structure which is called chromato-
phore. With this instrument, these cells are able to manu-
facture starch from the crude substances of earth, air and
water by the aid of sunlight. From these facts, it must
appear evident to the reader that the cell is a very highly
organized and specialized individual, and that to look at
him from the point of view of being mere matter and force
is the same as to compare the actions of a stone rolling
down a hill with that of an automobile moving over a
smooth pavement. One is compelled to move by reason
of the force of gravitation while the other moves by virtue
of the intellect that guides it. The structures of life, like
plants and animals, are built from the materials taken
from the earth, air, and water, just as are the structures
man builds, like railroads and skyscrapers. If we were
asked how it is possible for man to effect the construe-
46 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
tion of these railroads and buildings, we would say that
it is by reason of the fact that he is an intelligent being.
The intelligence of man is the intelligence possessed
by the cells in his brain. If man is intelligent and by
virtue thereof is able to combine and arrange matter and
force so as to effect structures such as houses and rail-
roads, why is not the cell also intelligent when he is able
to direct the forces of nature so as to effect the structures
we see such as plants and animals. The cell is not com-
pelled to act by reason of any chemical and mechanical
force, any more than is man. He acts by reason of a will
and judgment of his own. He is a separate living animal.
I see no reason to impute intelligence to the activities of
atoms and molecules any more than to bricks and stones.
Bergson in his "Creative Evolution" seems to see in mat-
ter and life a creative energy. If we stood at a distance
watching a skyscraper gradually grow into completeness,
we would say there must be some creative energy back
of it, pushing the construction and, if we could never get
near enough to see the men and builders at work we could
have no other idea of how that sky scraper came into ex-
istence except that it was caused by some creative energy.
How do we know that the cell does actually build all
organic materials or living structure just as man builds
his larger structures, like machines, houses, railroads,
etc.? First — because we can now see him do it.
Second — because matter itself is such that it never
could and never will produce anything living. Is it pos-
sible to demonstrate that all matter has this quality? I
think it is. Wherever a tree is growing or sprouting,
there the dead matter is being transformed into the liv-
ing, but wherever a tree or animal is dead or decaying, it
is gradually again turning into the organic matter. So it
is with structures produced by man. While a house or
WHAT IS LIFE? 47
city is occupied by the builders thereof, it is being main-
tained or growing, so to speak, but as soon as the people
are destroyed, the structures gradually return to the
ordinary matter of the earth.
We find the fossil remains of the structures of man, like
old ruins of cities, just as we find fossil remains of the
structures of the cell, like the bones of animals. Matter
and force and chemical action act just the same in one
place as in the other. They are the same and will act the
same in your stomach as in the sun or any other place in
the universe. We know that nourishment is transformed
into the body tissues and through different channels it
leaves the body in precisely the same quantity as it en-
tered, partly unmodified and in other form. No atom of
matter has been lost. Digestion is a chemical and me-
chanical process. The cells are compelled to comply with
and take advantage of chemical forces, matter and energy,
in precisely the same manner that man does. The cells
must keep up a continual chemical laboratory and mix
and decompose substances according to the general laws
of chemical affinity. They must be expert in their work
and so it is with man, he can do nothing unless he is in-
telligent and understands his work. The elements that
make up the plant or animal are the same as those of a
house or battleship. The cells of our body will handle
the food furnished them in exactly the same manner as
the raw material furnished to a factory. The coal, iron
and other raw material are changed into the product in-
tended or required.
The plant building cells have produced the material
for the cells of our body in the same manner that the
miners have produced the raw material for our factories.
In the factory as in the body, the laws of matter and force
must be complied with. Water will penetrate, flow and
48 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
sink according to laws of gravity, in one place as well as
in another. The knowledge of laws of matter and force in
the universe is as necessary in changing crude material
into the finished product in the factory as in our bodies.
The laws of chemistry and mechanics must be observed
by the people in the factory as well as by the cells in our
body or in plants. The circulation of the blood is a purely
mechanical act, like that of man pumping water. The
cells that produce milk or digestive fluid must employ
chemistry. The chemist will analyze the crude elements
in a tree or animal and find that it contains the same ele-
ments as are found everywhere in the universe, and from
these facts he will draw the conclusion that life itself is
only a chemical action. It seems to me absurd to make
such a statement. If you should crush a skyscraper or
battleship with all its inhabitants and analyze its mangled
mass of iron, mortar, wood, brick, and human beings, you
could not possibly find anything but the ordinary elements
of matter found in the universe ; still it would be clearly
absurd to say that the skyscraper or battleship had pro-
duced itself from the raw materials, or that the iron, brick
and mortar had produced the skyscraper, or that the
wood, metals and other material had produced the battle-
ship. There are several things now made by man that
were produced a few years ago only by the cell. For in-
stance, free nitrogen, dextrose, several organic acids, per-
fumes, candles, Berlin blue, taurin, etc., were manufac-
tured exclusively by the cells until recently, when man
also discovered how to make them.
Chemists are discovering how to make these products
of life made by the cell, and no doubt in the future will be
able to make many more, as we have plenty of the raw
material from which to make them. We must, however,
remember that chemical force and action is the same
WHAT IS LIFE? 49
everywhere, and that the cell must plan, mix and guide
the actions of the chemical forces and matter just as man
does in order to obtain and produce these artificial com-
pounds found in life. If intellect is not there to guide and
direct the matter and force of the universe, nothing will
be produced. Heat influences the actions of the atoms
and molecules of matter. Even chemical attraction gives
way to heat, so that all bodies at sufficient temperature
are decomposed into free atoms or elementary parts. In
this way heat performs a work in so far as it separates
masses from each other, consequently a certain amount
of mechanical work is equivalent to a certain quantity of
heat and vice versa. In chemical action a transformation
of energy of one kind into another takes place. The me-
chanical energy of the atoms is converted into heat,
which may again be used for the other forms of mechani-
cal energy. This explains why heat is developed in a
chemical process. Every chemical process can be called
a combustion. In a violent disturbance of the atoms and
molecules of matter, we have the common phenomena of
fire and light. The fact is that heat is a source of stored
or convertible energy. The only source of heat at the
surface of the earth is the sun. The cell must obtain heat
or energy somewhere with which to produce the atomic
changes and molecular disturbances or chemical actions
and changes desired. Without heat the cell could not
produce the products required like fats, starches and
sugars, any more than man could produce his works of
art or. products from the factory where chemical action
or heat is requjred. The productions of the cell with
which plants and animals are put together are products
of art. They are products that the forces of nature cannot
produce. The irons and metals can never build an engine
nor can the stones and brick produce a house.
50 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
The blind forces of nature must be guided by an intel-
lect toward a purpose. To build a machine the ore must
be lifted from the mines, smelted into plates and bars.
These again must be forged into the shapes and sizes to
fit into every part of the machine. The cell will produce
food and building mate'rial for future use in precisely the
same manner as man will get the iron ore from the mines
and melt it into plates for future use. The intellect of
cell or man shows the same wisdom, foresight, and pur-
pose. The laws of matter and motion, cause and effect
which we have found are always the same in the universe,
will prevent the ores from coming out of the mountain
and building a steam engine. These same laws will also
prevent the material forces from producing plants and
animals. There must be a living being with an intellect
to guide the matter and force towards a fixed purpose.
The heat required to melt iron and metals is usually
very high, so the cell does not use iron, brass, copper, etc.,
but such material as carbon, hydrogen, sulphur, phos-
phorous, chlorin, potassium, sodium, magnesia, etc. By
the aid of the heat obtained from the sun, the cell is able
to mix and combine the atoms of these elements into such
material as may be required for future use in building up
and maintaining himself, plants or animals. The reduc-
tion of carbonic acid and water into carbohydrates is done
through the assistance and direction of the cells and from
the sun they get their power and energy. Left to itself,
we know that the sun could produce nothing/ Products
of art must be resorted to just as man takes advantage
of photograph cameras and lenses or burning mirrors. It
is very clear that the cell also -must use similar artificial
means with which to accomplish the results required. It
seems clear that the cells have invented, constructed and
possess artificial devices with which they ran gather and
WHAT IS LIFE? 51
direct the heat or energy of the sun and thereby mold mat-
ter and direct the actions of the atoms of matter as they
wish. At any rate we know that the sun may shine on
carbonic acid arrd water until eternity without producing
fats, carbohydrates and proteids. Without the intellect
of the living being we call cell interfering, they would
not be produced. The carbohydrates produced by the
cells of plants are products of art and so are all the prod-
ucts of cells.
Knowing it to be a scientific fact that matter and force,
•gravity, chemical affinity, etc. will behave just the same
everywhere in the universe, we know that the cell (whom
we also know to be a living animal or being) must employ
the same methods as man to effect his purpose and de-
sires. Without intelligence man could not produce his
products of art and it must be perfectly clear that the cell
must employ the same means and be possessed of the
same quality or power in order to be able to produce his
products.
Years ago before we had produced a microscope power-
ful enough to see the cell, we could see particles of matter
take their place and arrange themselves in order so as to
become collectively plants or animals, whose parts bore
a strict relation to the whole. From our knowledge of
matter we knew that it could not act in that way towards
a purpose unless it was guided by the intellect of some
being similar to our own, no more so than brick and stone
could take- their place in the construction of a house with-
out being guided by the intellect of some living being.
The thinker and observer could then as he can today, see
that matter was guided by a mind similar to his own,
towards a purpose. There seemed to be an invisible
spirit in charge, directing atoms and particles of matter,
which also proved to be the fact.
52 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
A being that is invisible is called a spirit. The cell is
now no longer the spiritual being which he was a few
years ago, but is a material living being. We can now see
this being in charge and that he is the cause of matter
growing into a plant or animal. He is the cause in the
same manner as man is the cause of bricks and stones
growing into a house. The designers and builders of
plants and animals were to us spiritual beings because we
could not see them. In the same way the designers and
builders of skyscrapers and battleships would be spiritual
beings to us if we could not get near enough to the struc-
tures to see the builders. The builders of the cell are at this
time passing from the spiritual condition into the mate-
rial, because at this time we can just barely see them and
not plainly enough to be able to say just what they are.
We find the cell is no primitive organism. He is again a
colony of primordial beings, which are, in fact, the real
actors and workers.
The cell is an animal that has evolved naturally from
the smaller primordial beings in the same mariner that
plants and animals have come to exist by natural evolu-
tion of the cell. It would seem that the cells who can
make food and building material by the aid of heat from
the sun, came into existence first. It is not likely that
the heat from the sun was used by the cells until after
the earth had cooled down to a certain temperature. It
is likely that the heat used by the cells ages ago in the
huge production of vegetable matter disclosed by the
coal deposits was the heat from the earth and not the
sun. It is generally understood that life cannot exist
without sunlight, air, water and food, but it begins to
appear now that life can exist almost indefinitely with-
out any of these. The seeds from many plants, I know
from my own knowledge, can live from five to fifteen
WHAT IS LIFE? 53
years, and it is claimed that some can live a much longer
time under conditions where they are noc attacked by
other cells or bacteria. This also goes to show that the
cell must have fuel, air, heat and water when he is active
producing living structures just as man must have when
he is building and running factories, railroads, etc.
The microscope disclosed to us a new world. If they
had told us years ago that a drop of water contained
hundreds of living animals that eat, drink, fight, love
and reproduce, they would have had a hard time making
us believe it. The school boy or anyone else today is
compelled to admit that it is a fact, because through a
microscope he can see it with his own eye.
Now since a world of teeming animal life really ex-
isted, which was not known to us because we did not
have eyes suitable or powerful enough with which
to see it, does it not seem plausible that there must
still exist a world of still more microscopic proportions,
which we shall probably see some day? When that time
comes the builder of the cell will no more be a spiritual
being, but probably a material living animal or being as
the cell is today. It is easy to see what the materials
are which the plant cells work up into building material
for their habitation or colonies, which we call plants and
animals. We also know that they use the heat and
energy of the sun as a power. The atmosphere contains
oxygen, nitrogen, carbonic acid and ammonia. The soil
contains silica, iron, lime, potash, phosphorous, sulphur
and ammoniacal salts. The soil and atmosphere contain
all the material which is found in animals and plants and
in the same manner we can point out the raw material
contained in a railroad or battleship, but the cells, the
builders, must separate, join and place the material in
exactly the right place and in correct proportions to
54 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
effect the purpose desired. To do this it is just as neces-
sary for the cell to be skilled and intelligent as it is for
man. It has been repeatedly shown that the smallest
cell, known as germ or bacterium, is constantly changing
its habits and methods of life, and that any common,
harmless species of germ may change its method of liv-
ing and become a disease germ. Leahman and Neuman,
the best authorities on this subject, state : "The division
of bacteria into pathogenic and non-pathogenic, etc. as
is still always done in textbooks, has failed absolutely.
We can understand and know the pathogenic variety
only if we study simultaneously the non-pathogenic
from which the former have once originated and still
always originate." They then go on and show that
the different disease germs, such as typhoid, diphtheria,
scarlet fever, etc., can be changed from one to the other
by cultivation in different places and conditions. This
is very significant to show how life in the microscopic
world is a struggle for existence and how the cell in
every place in life prepares and adapts itself to condi-
tions. It is the same in the microscopic world as in our
world, everything is in a state of evolution and change
there, as well as elsewhere. Evolution itself shows that
there is a struggle for a purpose. Evolution really proves
intelligence because it means progress step by step. The
cell will progress and build a tree or animal step by step
in the same manner that man produces his structures.
In order to cause matter to evolve in a certain direc-
tion to produce a certain end or structure, and none
other, the material must be directed and guided by in-
telligence, as we do not find property or matter any-
where with a tendency to develop towards any purpose.
Desire and will of the cell must be back of matter to
produce the organic or living things we see. Man,
WHAT IS LIFE? 55
animals, plants and cells all show the same intellect in
their places in life. How could it be otherwise when we
consider the fact that man, animals and plants are also
cells? If the products and industry of man arise from
his desire and ideas, so must also the industry and prod-
ucts of the cell. Insects will build a nest of clay and
other material, lay their eggs in it and provide food for
the young, which they will never see. Insects will do all
these things without having had any previous instruc-
tions. The philosopher and thinker would observe these
marvelous actions and adaptations involving so many
different ideas, and he would say, how is it possible for
mere matter to pursue a purpose involving such com-
plicated plans and combinations of ideas? He would
say that the insect or matter of which it was composed
was in charge of or guided by a Divine Will or invisible
being or spirit. We find now that the thinker and ob-
server was correct.
The insect was, in fact, built by, was in the charge of
and guided by an intelligent living being we call cell.
They were to us at that time invisible, so they were
correctly called Spiritual Beings. We see battleships
and submarines move about on the surface of the water
like ducks. They signal each other in like manner, and
from all appearances and from their actions an observer
and thinker would be compelled to say, looking at them
from a distance, that they were directed and guided by
spirits or some other intelligence. However, if he could
use field glasses or the telescope or could get nearer, so
as to be able to see the beings in charge of the boats, he
would discover the beings or animals in charge of the
battleships and these spirits would change into material
living beings and the mystery would be solved. Every
part of a body or plant reveals its use — for instance, the
56 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
lungs reveal their use. It is the same in the battleship
or other structure produced by man. Every part of ship
or machine is made for a certain purpose. Oxygen of the
air is necessary to produce heat and power in the battle-
ship, so chimneys are provided to draw the air into the
furnace. The gills are machines to separate the oxygen
from water, and lungs to separate it from air. When we
see the parts we know for what purpose they have been
made. When we see a part of a battleship or railroad,
we know what it is for unless we are very ignorant like
the savage. In like manner when we see a part of a plant
or animal we know what it is made for and that it is
made by the cell.
The intention and purpose reveals the same intellect
in both cases. Just as man in possession of the same
building material of metals, bricks, wood, etc. can con-
struct buildings and machines very different from each
other, so also can the cells with the material they possess
in the elements, produce organs of plants and animals
very different in external form and appearance. The
savage or an ignorant man looking at a battleship or
complicated machine, would have no comprehension how
the ship or machine had come to exist or had been put
together. So today, too, many people who have not
studied life and the cause and composition of living
structures, cannot form any conception of what a plant
or animal really is.
The brain of the bee contains only a few cells and is
invisible except when viewed by the microscope. Still
these cells in the brain of the bee, who direct all his
actions, will manage a very effective battle against in-
telligent man, as will appear from the following, from
my daily paper :
"Oakdale, Cal. — Forty school children were held pris-
WHAT IS LIFE? 57
oners for half a day at Langworth school recently by a
buzzing swarm of bees, which finally broke up the school
for the day.
"The bees had lived in one corner of the roof for
weeks, and had been undisturbed until some of the
youngsters threw clods and dislodged the hive. The
bees attacked their tormentors, who took refuge in the
school house. Miss Ida Warford, the teacher, put her
head out of the door to see the cause of the commotion
and was stung on the nose. Hundreds of bees swarmed
into the half opened door and the children sought refuge
in the next room while the teacher and the older boys
did battle with the bees with wet cloths and whatever
weapons they had handy. They, too, were finally forced
into the other room, and the entire school was made pris-
oner until some of the parents, alarmed at the absence
of their children, came to the rescue. They were forced
to flee, too, but finally came back armed with sulphur with
which they routed the bees."
What possible difference can there be in the intelligence
evidenced by these people and the bees, fighting each
other. The bees will behave and bother no one if left
alone but in defence of their home and colony, they will
fight to the last. In what manner do the actions of man
differ from those of the bee? The cells that make the
bee have had to fight animals for ages, and they are
equipped with a poisoned dagger of a deadly character.
Man was originally made not to fight but to escape from
enemies through the trees from branch to branch. For
that reason, he is a very helpless victim in a fight with
other animals, but since his discovery of the club he has
been king in the animal world, and has since been pro-
gressing very rapidly. While he was fighting only a
few years ago with clubs, spears, bows and arrows, etc.,
58 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
he is now fighting with liquid fire. The bees first con-
quered the teacher and the school children and then
chased the farmers home. The farmers came back with
reinforcements and fought the bees with fire and poison-
ous gases. The bees fight with poisoned daggers and
man fights with deadly gases. Both sides fight with
poison in defence of their children. In what manner do
they differ in their actions as intelligent beings? The
cells building the bee must make the dagger and prepare
the poison for a purpose, just as man does in his actions
of foresight and preparedness. The cells in the head of
the bee, as well as in man, are the parties who direct all
the actions of this battle, and I fail to see any difference
in their intellectual capacity.
Not long ago we had no microscope enabling us to see
the builders of a plant or animal. At that time we were
compelled to say that they simply grew but now we have
seen the builder, and the next question is, — how are
those builders able to build these structures? In order
to be able to discover the real cause, it will be necessary
to first inquire into the inner life of these builders, how
they live, eat and multiply, how and where they get their
ideas and building material. That would be the only
sensible way to find out how the sky scraper was con-
structed. We have penetrated far enough into the mys-
teries of matter, molecule, atom, and electron. We can
at this time clearly see that matter and force in the uni-
verse is everywhere the same; they always follow fixed
laws and cannot be destroyed. The form and nature of
the energy can be changed from one to the other ; for
instance, in the dynamo we see mechanical energy trans-
formed into electrical energy, which in turn may be
transformed into heat energy in the electric furnace ; or
the electric energy may be transmitted to a distance and
WHAT IS LIFE? 59
be converted once more into mechanical motion by means
of the electric motor. The kinetic energy of a waterfall
may be transformed into mechanical energy by means of
the old-fashioned mill wheel, and we might go on in this
manner considering one series of transformations after
another. The force of a living being is different from
these natural forces in this, that it directs and guides the
natural forces to its own purposes.
Not many years ago we did not know that cells pro-
duced the trees, plants and animals we see, — we did not
know that those builders existed. When I first became
interested in nature and biology, we were told by the
scientists that the cause of plant growth was endosmosis
and crystallization. We know now that the plants and ani-
mals that we see are structures produced by smaller
animals we call cells. By reason of a more powerful eye
made partly by ourselves and partly by the cell, we can
see these individuals. The cell makes our eyes as nearly
suitable for every day use as he thinks best, but for a
further special use like seeing smaller things like cells,
or for distant objects like planets, we add to or change
the arrangement of the lenses of the eye to effect the
purpose desired. It requires just as much intelligence
to build the eye in the first place as to change it for any
special or particular purpose afterwards. The cell is not
a mass of matter composed of electrons, atoms or mole-
cules, but is a highly organized and specialized living
being. We shall find that he is made up of possibly
millions of still smaller living beings. It seems clear that
the only method to solve the mystery of life is to more
completely investigate the inner life of the cell and put
all the questions to him.
It seems to me the only reason that so many ideas and
differences of opinion about life have arisen is the fact
60 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
that we have not been able to look upon the cell as the
primary source of life and intelligence. The mechanical
side could see nothing but matter and force, the other
side could see nothing but mind and intelligence back of
it. The fact seems to be clear, that the same mind and
intelligence is back of the production of plants and ani-
mals, in the same way and to the same extent that mind
and intelligence is back of all those structures produced
by man. In either case the mind and intelligence is and
must be in the actual builder of these structures.
We know that it is not matter that is building plants
and animals. It is the microscopic wonder we call the
cell. We must remember that life came into existence
millions of years ago and how it started we can only
guess. It has had time to develop in so many millions
of ways that we cannot hope to comprehend just how it
came to be in the condition that we now find it. We all
have a right to guess on that subject. We know that life
is not heat because it can exist in a frozen condition for a
long time; the seeds of wild plants live in the frozen
north for years. Some experiments of late go to show
that fish can be frozen for months in solid ice and live
when thawed out, as will be seen from the following
clipping from a Scientific Journal : "The feat of freezing
live fish and reviving them several weeks or months later
has been achieved by the Swiss scientist, M. Pictet. The
scientist put twenty-eight live fish in a box that contained
water rich in oxygen, in which several pieces of ice
floated. The temperature of the water was then reduced
slowly until it froze. At the end of about two months
the cake was gradually thawed and the fish, it is said,
were found alive. In such an experiment, the scientist
reports, it is essential that the water be gradually frozen
and that it shall have contained pieces of ice for from
WHAT IS LIFE? 61
fifteen to eighteen hours before the whole mass is frozen.
The process of thawing must also be slow.
"Through this process it is believed that Siberian stur-
geon and Alaskan salmon can be exported alive to dis-
tant markets."
It is clear that life is not sunlight nor has sunlight pro-
duced life because the lower organisms or cells such as
bacteria are disorganized and destroyed by sunlight. We
also know that life is not electricity or magnetism because
we see this force employed only by some animals and not
by others as in the great electric eel of Africa where the
electric organs weigh more than one-third of the entire
fish. Life is not any of the forces of nature that we have
yet discovered. The cell is the animal that contains life.
We contain life because we contain the cells, in the same
manner as a ship contains life because it contains people.
The cell builds with the crude elements of matter and
force in the universe in the same manner as man does.
In answer then to the question, what is life, — we are
compelled to say that it is the activities and products of
the living animal or being we call cell.
CHAPTER III.
THE CELL.
We shall now investigate the inner life of the cell as
far as we can go with the evidence at hand up to the
present time.
I shall try not to deal with the speculative side of the
subject any more than will be necessary to show up some
of the problems yet to be solved. Some of the theories
will'be referred to in order to show where we are at, and
which will point to further investigation of the facts.
This chapter will attempt to discuss the actions of the
cell in reference to his inner life, his methods, appearance
and actions. No distinction will be made between animal
building cells, single cells and plant building cells, as
there is no difference in their primary method of living
and reproduction.
The reader must understand that in this short chapter
no complete history or description of cell life can be
attempted. All I can do is to briefly outline those facts
about the cell that now seem to be admitted, so that the
reader can see for himself what kind of an animal or
being the cell appears to be. We shall consider the cell
mainly under two heads : First — Its general appearance,
structure and organs. Second — How they multiply and
increase in numbers.
In my investigation of books discussing the life of the
cell, I found Edmund B. Wilson, professor of zoology of
THE CELL 63
Columbia University, New York, about the best writer
on this subject and shall quote him more than anyone
else, to show the reader what we know about the cell at
this time. I think he is very careful in his statements,
and does not state any propositions as true unless ad-
mitted and backed up by very good authority. The fol-
lowing is a part of his introduction to the study of the life
of the cell :
"Among the lowest forms at the base of the series are
an immense number of microscopic plants and animals,
familiar examples of which are the bacteria, diatoms,
rhizopods and Infusoria, in which the entire body con-
sists of a single cell, of the same general type as those
which in the higher multicellular forms are associated to
form one organic whole. Structurally, therefore, the
multicellular body is in a certain sense comparable with
a colony or aggregation of the lower one celled forms.
This comparison is not less suggestive to the physiologist
than to the morphologist. In the one celled forms all of
the vital functions are performed by a single cell. In the
multicellular forms, on the other hand, these functions
are not equally performed by all the cells, but in varying
degree distributed among them, the cells thus falling into
physiological groups or tissues, each of which is espe-
cially devoted to the performance of a specific function.
Thus arises the "physiological division of labor" through
which alone the highest development of vital activity
becomes possible and thus the cell becomes a unit not
merely of structure but also of function. Each bodily
function and even the life of the organism as a whole may
thus in one sense be regarded as resultant, arising through
the integration of a vast number of cell-activities ; and it
cannot be adequately investigated without the study of
the individual cell activities that lie at its root."
64
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
This description is practically the same as the one I
quoted earlier from our High School Physiology. You
notice the same statement, that whether the structures
of life are plant or animal they are based on the cell. Now
the first thing the reader will want to know is this, has
the cell special organs and how does it look? Fig. 3 is a
*ttraction-«;ihtre enclosing two centrosomes.
Plastids lying in the
cytoplasm
ucleus
Vacuole
Passive bodies (met
plasm or paraplasn
suspended in the c;
tc/plasmic meshwoi
FIG. 3.— The Dia_
numerous minute granules (microtomes)
substance. — WILSON.
jnd traversing a transpa
•k containing
rent ground-
general sketch of this animal as it looks through a power-
ful microscope. The cell is a complete animal made up
of still smaller individuals and organs just as a larger
animal is. It has a head or directing center, which seems
to direct the actions of the other parts. This directing
center is called the centrosome. Then it has a bunch of
THE CELL 65
sub-heads or skilled workers who are located in the
middle of the body of the cell. These skilled workers
have charge of all work in general. They seem to be the
part of the cell which contains the power, knowledge and
skill to perform the different kinds of work which the
cell is required to do in order to exist. These specifically
skilled workers located in the middle of the body of the
cell are called the nucleus, and appear to be not one
individual, but a very large colony of individuals. That
this part of the cell called the nucleus is the part which
has the power and knowledge of how to build the differ-
ent structures in life, is shown by the fact that if this is
destroyed, the cell cannot do any more work nor repro-
duce itself nor feed itself. In the same manner an animal
is made helpless and is generally destroyed by the re-
moval of its head. Besides the body, head, sub-head or
skilled worker, it also has some sort of covering and a
number of other special organs, not yet understood.
The cells are not all of the same size. Some are more
highly organized than others and very likely contain a
larger number of the primordial cells of which they are
composed, and other special purpose cells. The smallest
are the bacteria ; then come the fungi and plant cells ; the
largest are the animal building cells and those similar to
them who live separate lives in the water and do not
build colonies like plants and animals. My school book
on botany describes these smaller cells such as bacteria,
plant cells and fungi in the following language :
"It would be hard to imagine a simpler plant, and the
plant kingdom can be thought of as beginning with in-
dividuals consisting of one green cell and reproducing
by division. This one cell, however, absorbs material,
makes food, assimilates it, conducts respiration, etc., in
fact, does all the work of living carried on by plants with
66 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
roots, stems and leaves, although they may contain mil-
lions of cells
"Bounding the cell there is a thin elastic cell-wall com-
posed of a substance called cellulose. The cell-wall,
therefore, constitutes a delicate sac, which contains the
living substance. It is the substance that has formed
the wall about itself in the same sense that a snail deposits
the shell about its body. It is organized into various
structures which are called organs of the cell. One of
the most conspicuous organs is the nucleus, a compara-
tively compact and usually a spherical body and gener-
ally centrally placed within the cell.
"The fungi do not contain chlorophyll and this fact
forms the sharpest contrast between them and the algae.
The presence of the chlorophyll enables the algae to be
independent of any other organism since they can manu-
facture their food out of carbon-dioxide and water. The
absence of chlorophyll compels the fungi to be depen-
dent upon other organisms for their food. This food is
obtained in two general ways: either (1) directly from
living plants and animals, or (2) from organic waste
products or dead bodies. In case a living body is at-
tacked, the attacking fungus is called a parasite and the
plant or animal attacked, the host. In case the food is
obtained in the other way, the fungus is called a sapro-
phyte. For example — the rust that attacks wheat is a
parasite and the wheat is the host ; while the mold which
often develops on stale bread is a saprophyte.
"Bacteria include the smallest known living forms.
Even to distinguish ordinary bacteria, the highest powers
of the microscope are necessary and to study them is too
difficult for the untrained student. However, they are so
very important to man on account of their useful and
destructive operations that every student should have
THE CELL 67
some information about them. Public attention has been
drawn to them chiefly on account of the part they play in
many infectious diseases, in which connection they are
often referred to as 'microbes' or 'germs'."
I have now given a general description of the different
classes of cells known as plant cells, animal cells, single
cells and bacteria. However, all scientists agree that
they are all of the same family ; that they are all alike as
far as inner structure of life is concerned ; that they differ
only in size, outside covering and appearance. They use
different methods of obtaining their food and perpetuat-
ing their existence.
I wish to have this part perfectly clear to the reader,
that all living things are either cells living singly and
alone as separate individuals which we call single cells,
like bacteria and others, or else a colony of cells number-
ing up into the billions, like plants, animals or trees,
where the cells all work together for the benefit of all.
As long as the tree or animal lives, they all live, but if
the tree or animal dies, it is the cells in the tree or animal
that die. By reason of the higher power microscope now
made, it has been shown that the cell is made up of still
smaller cells. These smaller units of life, which I would
call primordial cells, have been described by various
authors under a number of different names. The follow-
ing are some of the names given to these hypothetical
units of which the cell is supposed to be composed : Gem-
mules, pangens, plasomes, micellae, Plastidules, Bio-
phores, bioplasts, somacules, idioplasms, idiosomes, bio-
gens, microsomes, gemmae. This is only a partial list of
the names and they all mean the same. Each name rep-
resents a different author and generally a different theory.
While these theories are interesting, they are as yet only
68 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
theories, as the units that make up the cell are too small
to be clearly seen by any microscope yet invented.
It must be remembered that the cell organs that we are
able to see like the centrosome, nucleus, vacuole, chromo-
tophore and many others, are large crowds of these units
located at different places in the cell body to perform
special and different kinds of work. Some digest food,
some effect respiration, some move the body, some manu-
facture food, etc. As these crowds are divided up in the
cell to do different kinds of work, they look different. In
this way the cell has organs with which to perform its
different kinds of work, just as our bodies have organs to
effect different kinds of work. In reference to this, Wil-
son states :
"Closely interrelated as the cell organs are, they have a
remarkable degree of morphological independence. They
assimilate food, grow and divide and perform their own
characteristic actions, like co-existant but independent
organisms of a lower grade than the cell, living together
in colonial, or symbionic association. Yet we may still
inquire whether the power of division shown by such
protoplasm masses as plastids, chromosomes, centro-
somes, nuclei, may not have its root in a like power resid-
ing in ultimate protoplasmic units of which they are made
up. On the strength of these facts Boveri concluded that
the chromosomes must be regarded as 'individuals' or
elementary organisms that have an independent exist-
ence in the cell.
"The highest power of our present microscopes have
not laid bare the ultimate organization of the cell. The
cell might be composed of more elementary units ranking
between the molecule and the cell.
"Whether the plastids arise solely by division or also
by new formation, the foregoing observations on the plas-
*HB CELL 60
tids give a substantial basis for the hypothesis that pro-
toplasm may be built of minute dividing bodies, which
form its ultimate structural basis The
cell is, in Burke's words, an elementary organism, which
may by itself perform all the characteristic operations of
life, as in the case with a unicellular organism.
Even when the cell is but a constituent unit of a higher
grade or organization as in multicellular forms, it is no
less truly an organism and in a measure leads an inde-
pendent life, even though its functions be restricted and
subordinated to the common life."
These statements by Prof. Wilson show that the cell,
whether living his separate life in the water or other
places, or acting as one of the units that make up the
individual animal or plant, is an animal that has the
power to perform all the functions of life. They also
show clearly that all the different and separate special
organs of the cell are crowds or colonies of still smaller
cells or units that lead individual and separate lives
within the body of the cell ; that they feed and multiply
within the cell in the same manner that the cell lives a
separate individual life within the body of plants and
animals. It shows that when the cell divides it is simply
a division of a crowd of specifically skilled workers or
beings and that when the cell multiplies by division each
colony of specifically skilled workers in the centrosome
and nucleus divides in two and each half then multiplies
until it again reaches its original number and size when
it is ready to divide again. The most wonderful thing is
the centrosome or the directing center of the cell, which
when the cell divides has charge of the work of looking
after and seeing that the different crowds of specifically
skilled workers are equally divided.
The centrosome seems to be the center of intelligence
70 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
and will power of the cell. In regard to this part of the
cell Prof. Wilson makes the following statement : "From
our present point of view, the centrosome possesses a
peculiar interest as a cell organ which may be scarcely
larger than a cytomicrosome, yet possesses specific
physiological properties, assimilates, grows, divides and
may persist from cell to cell without loss of identity.
Nearly all observers of the centrosome have found it
lying in the cytoplasm outside the nucleus, but apart
from the protozoa there is at least one established case
in which it lies within the nucleus, a fact that proves
that its position is nonessential ; that the centrosome is
an active center rather than a passive body or one created
by the aster formation is strongly indicated by its be-
havior."
Then Prof. Wilson after having stated the general func-
tions of the centrosome, sums up in the following lan-
guage : "These facts seem explicable only under the
assumption that in these cases the centrosome or the
substance which it carries gives an active stimulus to the
cytoplasm, which incites the aster formation about itself
and in words of Griffin disengages the forces at work in
mitosis.
"The centrosome must, however, be something more
than a mere division center, for on the one hand in leu-
cocytes and pigment cells, the astral system formed about
it is devoted, as there is good reason to believe, not to
cell division but to movements of the cell body as a
whole, and on the other hand, as we have seen, it is con-
cerned in the formation of the flagella of the spermato-
zoon and probably also in the cilia of epithelial cells."
You will see from this, that the centrosome is the party
in the cell who seems to direct its several actions. It will
also appear that the centrosome leads a separate life
THE CELL 71
within the cell and multiplies by division in the same
manner as the cell itself.
We shall now consider the functions of another im-
portant organ of the cell, the nucleus. This consists of a
crowd or colony of skilled workers, who perform, look
after and direct the different kinds of work. You will see
later on, that the nucleus has a number of crowds or col-
onies specialized in different kinds of work. These col-
onies are called chromatin granules or grains and when
lined up for division are called chromosomes.
Here is a description of the nucleus by Prof. Wilson :
"The nucleus usually lies in the center, but as the outer
wall thickens the nucleus moves toward it and remains
closely applied to it throughout its growth, after which
the nucleus often moves into another part of the cell.
That this is not due simply to a movement of the nucleus
toward the air and light is beautifully shown in the inner
walls of the cell. The same position of the nucleus and
movement of the nucleus is shown in all cases toward the
place or near the place where the work is to be done."
I wish to make it clear to the reader that in the con-
struction of any product in the body like bile, milk or
digestive fluids, it is not produced by the gland, liver,
etc., but by the individual cells of which they are com-
posed ; and that these individual cells are again made up
of still smaller individuals, who do the actual work. You
see the cell itself is a very highly organized being, just
as the human body. The cells that build our body were
not always in the habit of building themselves into large
co-operative colonies like those we see now as animals,
plants and trees. We find them still with other habits
and methods of life, living the single and separate lives
in ocean or fresh water and nearly all of them have some
peculiar ways and actions that show wonderful skill and
72 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
intelligence. The following is a description of the pro-
tozoa by Ernest Haeckel :
"Many of the aquatic protozoa have the power of auto-
nomous and independent locomotion and this often has
the appearance of being voluntary. Among the simplest
fresh water protozoa are the (arcellina) little rhizopods
that are distinguished from the naked amoeba by the
possession of a firm envelope. They usually creep about
in the slime at the bottom but in certain circumstances
rise to the surface of the water. As Wilhelm Englemann
has shown, they accomplish this hydrostatic movement
by means of a small vesicle of carbonic acid, which ex-
pands their unicellular body like an air balloon ; the spe-
cific weight of the cell body which is of itself heavier than
water is sufficiently lowered by this. The same method
is followed by the pretty radiolaria which live floating (as
plankton) at various depths of the sea. Their unicellular
body is divided by a membrane into a firm inner central
capsule and a soft outer gelatine covering. The latter
known as the calymma is traversed by a number of
water-vesicles or vacuoles. As a result of an osmotic
process carbonic acid may be secreted or pure water
(without the salt of the sea water) be imbibed in these
vacuoles ; by this means the specific gravity of the cell is
lessened and it rises to the surface. When it desires to
make itself heavier and sink, the vacuoles discharge, their
lighter contents. These hydrostatic movements of the
radiolaria attain by simple means the same end that is
accomplished in the siphonophora and fishes by air filled
and voluntarily contractile swimming bladders."
You will notice from this description by Mr. Haeckel,
that this particular kind of cell understands all the laws
of hydrostatics. He understands how to make and in-
flate his coat with a gas which lifts him to the surface of
THE CELL 73
the water whenever he wants to go there for food or air.
Whenever he gets through with his work at the surface
of the water he allows the gas to escape and goes back to
the bottom. I wish to call the reader's attention to these
very complicated acts, showing that the cells which still
live and lead a separate life possess a mind and intellect
of a high order. You will notice that in the past some
writers and scientists have made the remark that the
cell appears to have a mind and a free will. Whether
they have or not will be a question for the reader to
determine for himself after having read this book. It has
taken man a long time with a mind and free will to rise
from the savage state to civilized life. Intelligence and
free will have placed man where he is today and I believe
that the same forces have been back of the progress and
development of cell life which is back of man.
One writer makes the following statement about the
single cells living in the sea : "A great number of classi-
fications for the methodical distribution of these beings
has been proposed but not one of them is altogether
satisfactory. Some inhabit fresh and salt waters, serving
as food for a great many other organisms or contributing
by means of their calcareous or silicious skeletons to the
formation of continents. Others live as parasites in the
organs of animals and plants and induce more or less
serious disorders in the constitutions of the organisms
they have penetrated. Others again, acting like ferments
produce important chemical modifications in organic
matter in the course of decomposition."
You will notice from this statement that the cell is
able to effect chemical modifications and changes in
organic matter. This would seem to clearly indicate that
the cell is familiar with the laws of chemistry. Mr.
Ernest Haeckel makes the following statement about the
74 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
cell : "When the cell-theory developed in the course of
the last half century, the common anatomic ground work
of all living forms was recognized in the cell, and the
conception of the cell as the elementary organism led to
the further belief that our own frame like that of all the
higher animals and plants is a cell state composed of
millions of microscopic citizens, the individual cells,
which work more or less independently therein and co-
operate for the common purposes of the entire commu-
nity. This fundamental principle of the modern cell-
theory was applied with great success by Rudolph Vir-
chow to the diseased organism and led to most important
reforms in medicine. The cells are in his view inde-
pendent 'life units'." The reader will notice from this
that the cell is now looked upon as a separate living in-
dividual and that in plants and animals cells live together
in a co-operative community.
It seems to be the aim in nature to improve and de-
velop. Improvement in a social way can come only at
the cost of some of the liberties of the individual citizen.
In proportion as society organizes itself and rises in
scale, so does a shrinkage enter the private life of each
of its members. In order to obtain the comforts and
security of society the individual must abandon some of
his personal liberties and work towards one purpose, the
economic and political perfection of the race. Is it not
wonderful that plants and animals happen to be perfect
political and economic organizations of individual cells,
just like our own organized society? Think of the count-
less billions of cells that have gone down in a terrific
struggle with the elements in the past ages, in order to
place civilized man in his secure and comfortable home.
We look down at the actions of the cell like a man
looking at us from the sun or another world, never think-
THE CELL 75
ing that we are looking at our maker through a telescope
made by him, the eye. It is no wonder that man, who
was built and guided by the intelligence of the cell, was
able to organize himself into a higher civilized life, be-
cause his builder had gone through all those experiences
before. The customs, laws, virtues political and eco-
nomic, now practised by civilized man have been practised
by the cell for the past million years.
Before I go any further I shall quote some more pas-
sages by Prof. Wilson as to the general appearance, in-
ner actions, and organs of the cell. The word protoplasm
used now and then in reference to the cell is an old word
which now is practically meaningless. However, as nearly
as I can see, it means the whole cell. The following is
by Prof. Wilson : "A minute analysis of the various parts
of the cell leads to the conclusion that all cell organs,
whether temporary or permanent are local differentia-
tions of a common structural basis. Temporary organs
such as cilia or pseudopodia are formed out of this basis,
persist for a time and finally merge their identity in the
common basis again The facts point
toward the conclusion that the power of division not only
of the cell organs but also of the cell as a whole may have
its root in a like power on the part of more elementary
masses or units of which the structural basis is itself
built If such bodies exist they must,
however, in their primary form, lie beyond the present
limits of the microscope The phenomena
of cell division show, however, that the dividing substance
tends to differentiate itself into several orders of visible
morphological aggregates At the bot-
tom of the series there must be masses that cannot be
further split up without loss of their characteristic prop-
erties and which form the elementary morphological
76 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
units of the nucleus These facts point
unmistakably to the conclusion that these granules are
perhaps to be regarded as independent morphological
elements of a lower grade than the chromosome.
. The smallest chromatin grains may successively
group themselves in larger and larger combinations of
which the final term is chromosome
Whether these combinations are to be regarded as in-
dividuals is a question which can only lead to a barren
play of words. Are these the ultimate dividing units as
Braur suggests? When all these facts are placed in con-
nection we find it difficult to escape the conclusion that
no definite line can be drawn between the cytoplasmic
granules at one extreme and the chromatin granules at
the other. And in as much as the latter are certainly
capable of growth and division, we cannot deny the pos-
sibilities that the former may themselves have or arise
from elements having like power.
"A fragment of a cell deprived of its nucleus may live
for a considerable time and manifest the power of co-
ordinated movement without perceptible impairment.
Such a mass of protoplasm is, however, devoid of the
powers of assimilation, growth and repair, and sooner or
later dies For these and many other
reasons to be discussed hereafter the nucleus is generally
regarded as the controlling center of cell-activity and
hence a primary factor in growth development and the
transmission of specific qualities from cell to cell and so
from one generation to another."
In its simplest form the centrosome is a single minute
granule, which may, however, become double or triple as
in the white blood cells of the body, connective tissue
cells or epithelial cells or skin cells During
the formation of the spermatozoon, the centrosome
THE CELL 77
undergoes some remarkable changes and is closely in-
volved in the formation of the contractile structures of
the tail. The existence of cell organs, which have the
power of independent assimilation and growth and divi-
sion is a fact of great theoretical interest in its bearing on
the general problem of cell organization for it is one of
the main reasons that have led Boveries, Weisner and
many others to regard the entire cell as made up of
elementary self propagating units. Besides the active
substance, the cell contains various lifeless bodies sus-
pended in the meshes of the network. Examples of these
are food granules, pigment bodies, drops of oil or water
and excretory matters Among the life-
less products of the body must be reckoned also the cell
wall or membrane by which the cell bodies may be sur-
rounded."
We shall now begin to consider the subject of repro-
duction. The cell multiplies by dividing itself into two
parts. In this performance the directing center called the
centrosome takes charge of the performance and looks
after the details to see that the different specialized and
skilled workers in the cell body are exactly equally
divided. As this colony of skilled workers called the
nucleus possesses the knowledge and experience handed
down through past ages, it is very important that division
be equal, so that each and all of the cells shall be pos-
sessed of the same amount of power, knowledge, skill and
information. For this reason the centrosome or directing
center of the cell takes full charge of this most important
act.
The following illustrations, Figs. 4-5-6, by Prof. Wilson,
will show how the performance of cell division looks
through the microscope. The first act is division by the
centrosome ; next, the skilled workers, scattered pro-
78
CELL, INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
FIG. 4. — Diagrams of cell showing the first stages in act of division. — WILSON.
A. Resting stage of cell. B. Beginning of division. C. Centrosome
divided. E. Nucleus or crowd of skilled workers beginning to divide. F.
Skilled workers lined up for division.
THE CELL
79
miscuously about in the nucleus, line themselves up in
rows for division. Then the two centrosomes move over
to opposite sides of the cell body. Then each centro-
FIG. 5. — Diagrams of the later stages of division. — WILSON.
G. Crowd of skilled workers beginning to divide. F. Division completed.
some takes charge of just half of each crowd of skilled
workers called chromosomes. The centrosomes then pull
each their equal share of the crowd contained in the
80 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
nucleus towards their side of the cell bodies, and finally
the body itself divides, and each centrosome in that way
obtains by this act just half of the original cell. Who is
this most wonderful being, the centrosome, who directs
these actions? Seen through the most powerful micro-
FIG. 6. — Centrosome highly magnified. — WILSON.
scope, he looks like an individual who is in touch with
all the other individuals around him by some method or
means that is not yet understood. He seems to be con-
nected with everything in every direction as you will
see from the illustration.
In reference to the work of the centrosome Mr. Wil-
rHE CELL 81
son makes the following- remark : "The division of the
cytoplastic granules must remain a quite open question,
yet we should remember that in dividing plastids of
plants cells are often very minute, and that in the centre-
some we have a body no larger in many cases than a
microsome, which is positively known to be in some cases
a persistent morphological element; having the power of
growth, division and persistence in the daughter cells.
When we consider the analogy between the centrosome
and the chromatin grains, when we recall the evidence
that the latter graduate into the oxychromatin granules,
and these in turn into cytomicrosomes, we must admit
that Burke's cautious suggestion that the whole cell
might be a congerie of self propagating units of a lower
order is sufficiently supported by facts, which constitute
a legitimate working hypothesis."
You will see from this that the general opinion of
scientists is that the cell is a colony of still smaller cells
or beings ; and that the centrosome is simply one of these
smaller cells specifically in charge and organized to be
the general director and manager of the whole organiza-
tion we call the cell. Figure 7 of the centrosome shows
clearly that it is in contact with every part of the body
of the cell. The reader can clearly see that the individuals
organized together to make the complete whole we call
cell are too small to be clearly seen and to have their
individual actions studied.
Now we come to consider the most wonderful per-
formance in plant and animal life, which are the repro-
ductive actions of the cells that build plants and animals.
As the reader probably knows, all life we see, such as
plants and animals, begins as one single cell. In ref-
erence to this point Prof. Drummond makes the following
remark : "The embryo of future man begins life like the
82 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
primitive savage in a one room hut, a single simple cell.
The cell is almost microscopic and round in shape. An
outer covering almost as transparent as glass surrounds
this little body and in the interior imbedded in the proto-
plasm lies a bright globular spot ; in form, size and com-
position there is no difference in this cell and that of any
other animal. The dog, elephant, lion and a thousand
others begin their lives the same way. At an earlier
stage before it has taken on its pellucid covering, this
cell has affinities still more astounding for it is a fact in
modern science that the first embryonic abodes of moss*
fern, pine, shark, crab, lizard, lion and man are so ex-
actly similar that the highest power of microscope and
mind fail to trace the smallest distinction between them."
You will see from this statement by Mr. Drummond
that what I have told you heretofore is true, that every-
thing starts from one single cell. That they are all alike
except as to outside covering and size. The cells that
build man, mouse or plants look alike in the same way
that a shoemaker and a preacher look alike, but their
knowledge and experience in life have been different. For
that reason the work they do and the structures they
build will be different, depending on what their education
and experience have been. The actions of a living being
are based on his knowledge, derived from previous experi-
ence.
To return to the question, — where does this first cell
come from: When the cells build the animals, special
organs are built in the male and female where the cell is
prepared, educated and dressed up ; these are the sex
organs. In a certain place in the female bodies, arrange-
ments have also been made to furnish these cells with
food and building material, so they can multiply and
build another body. This place is called the womb. Now
THE CELL 83
how do they prepare for this act of meeting in the womb
for the purpose of building a new body? In the overies
of the female the cell prepares for the occasion in this
way : It discharges or dispenses with half of the skilled
workers located in the nucleus, and also its centrosome
or general manager and provides itself with food
FIG. 7. — Structure of the centrosome in the polar asters. — WILSON.
enough to last several days. With this food she goes into
the womb and waits for the cell to come from the male.
How is he prepared? He also discharges or abandons
half of his skilled workers in the nucleus but keeps the
general manager or centrosome, so when the two meet
and join their forces together, there will be a complete
cell with a full nucleus, centrosome and also food enough
to last them until connections have been built up in the
womb with the body, where they can obtain and be fur-
nished with such food and building material as will be
84 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
required to build the new structure. I must further de-
scribe the male cell, who makes elaborate preparation to
be able, not only to meet the female cell, but to be able to
be the first one to reach her in the mighty race and strug-
gle that takes place between a thousand or more of them
in a dash for the goal.
The male cells, or spermatozoons, who prepare to meet
the female cells in the womb, change their form so com-
pletely that no one not familiar with them could possibly
recognize them as a human cell. They were thought
to be parasites when first discovered and not in any way
connected with or a part of the body. The male cell is re-
constructed to effect a certain purpose, which is to push
its way through obstacles in a competitive race that is
to take place by thousands of individuals at the same
time. To be swift and effective, the centrosome is placed
in front, protected by a hard point; next, back of Kim is
the entire crowd of skilled workers known as the nucleus ;
then back of them there is a powerful tail or propeller,
constructed from the common workers and laborers of his
whole body, which is designed to push the male cell
with the centrosome in front, directing the course to the
place where the female cell is waiting for him in the
womb.
The following is a description from Prof. Wilson of the
male cell generally called the spermatozoon : '"In its
more usual form the animal spermatozoon resembles a
minute, elongated tadpole, which swims very actively
about by the vibrations of a long slender tail. Such a
spermatozoon consists typically of four parts. Fig. (8).
First — The nucleus, which forms the main portion of
the head and consists of a very dense and usually homo-
geneous mass of chromatin staining with great intensity.
It is surrounded by a very thin cytoplasmic envelope.
THE CELL
85
Apical body or acrosome.
Nucleus.
End-knob.
•Middle-piece.
Erweltps of the tail.
.Axial filament,
End-piece.
Fig.
FIG. 8. — Diagram of the flagellate spermatozoon. — WILSON.
Second — An apical body, or acrosome lying at the front
end of the head, sometimes very minute, sometimes al-
most as large as the nucleus and in some cases terminat-
ing into a sharp spur by means of which the spermatozoon
bores its way into the ovum.
86 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Third — The middle piece, or connecting piece, a large
cytoplasmic body lying behind the head and giving at-
tachment to the tail from which it is not always distinctly
marked off. At its front end it is in some forms (mam-
mals) separated from the nucleus by a short clear region,
the neck.
Fourth — The tail, or flagellum, in part at least, a cyto-
plasmic product, developed in connection with the cen-
trosome. From a physiological point of view we may ar-
range the parts of the spermatozoon under two categories
as follows :
First — The essential structures, which play a direct
part in fertilization ; these are : (a) The nucleus which
contains the chromatin. (b) The middle piece, which
either contains a formed centrosome or a pair of centro-
scmes (end-knob), or is itself a metamorphosed centro-
some. This is probably to be regarded as the fertilizing
element par excellence, since there is reason to believe
that when introduced into the egg, it gives the stimulus
to division.
Second — The accessory structures, which play no direct
part in fertilization, viz ; (a) The apex, or spur, by
which the spermatozoon attaches itself to the egg or bores
its way into it. (b) The tail, a locomotor organ, which
carries the nucleus and centrosome, and as it were, de-
posits them in the egg at the time of fertilization. There
can be little doubt that the substance of the flagellum is
contractile and that its movements are of the same nature
as those of ordinary cilia. Ballowitz's discovery of its
fibrillated structure is therefore of great interest as indi-
cating its structural as well as physiological similarity
to a muscle fibre.
"Tailed spermatozoa conforming more or less nearly
to the type just described are with few exceptions found
THE CELL 87
throughout the metazoa from the coelenterates up to
man."
The reader will see from this statement, Fig. (8), by
Prof. Wilson, that it appears clearly the male cell is a
structure built up and composed of a multitude of still
smaller primordial beings ; that the central part of the cell,
the nucleus, contains those who are skilled and under-
stand the work that has been done and is to be done in the
future, and that the centrosome is the directing center
and general manager whose duty it is to guide the actions
of all ; that the main body of the cell which is called cyto-
plasm, contains the common laborers and servants, who
work and act from instructions and orders given by -the
skilled workers or centrosome. We see that the male cell
in this race to find the female cell employs the entire force
of common laborers in the body of the cell to push and
carry him to the desired place. Consider for a moment this
preparation of thousands who are willing to prepare for
this race, where all but one must fail to reach the goal,
and all but one must perish. However, it is a fair race,
based on the law of evolution, that the best man in a
struggle for existence will win. In this act, as in all other
schemes in nature, where there is intelligence there is
authority, design, purpose, wisdom and victory. Here
it seems that microscopic and mysterious beings we call
the centrosomes are able to direct all the other micro-
scopic beings in the cell to subjugate and organize mat-
ter, so as to create for themselves an existence on the
planet. It appears that the centrosome is the real source
of will and intelligence in the cell, just as the brain cells
are the source of intelligence in animals and man.
This male cell of animals is so very similar in shape and
actions to male cells or spermatozoons of plants and in-
sects, and also cells living a single and separate life in
88 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the water, that I shall quote a description of them from
Ernest Haeckel.
"The same may be said of the traveling spores of many
of the algae and of the most remarkable of all ciliated
cells, the spermia or spermatozoa of plants and animals.
As a rule they are cone shape, having an oval or pear
shape, (though often also rod shape) head, which tapers
into a long and thin thread. When their lively move-
ments were first noticed in the male seminal fluid (each
drop of which contained millions of them) two hundred
years ago, they were thought to be real independent ani-
malcules like the infusoria and so obtained their name of
seed animals (spermatozoa). It was a long time (60
years ago) before we learned that they are detached glan-
ular cells, which have the function of fertilizing the ovum.
It was discovered at the same time that similar vibratory
cells are found in many of the plants (algae mosses and
ferns). Many of the latter (for instance, the spermato-
zoids of the Cycadea) have instead of a few long whips,
a number of short lashes (cilia) and resemble the more
highly developed ciliated infusoria.
"The ciliary movement of the infusoria is held to be
a more perfect form of vibratory movement, because the
many short lashes found on them are used for different
purposes and have accordingly assumed different forms
in the division of labor. Some of the cilia are used for
running or swimming, others for grasping or touching
and so on. In social combination we have the ciliated
cells of the ciliated epithelium of the higher animals— for
instance, in the lungs, nostrils, and oviducts of verta-
brates."
The reader will clearly see from this description by Mr.
Haeckel, that the male cell of man, animals and plants is
THE CELL 89
in no way different from the other single cells leading a
single life in the water. That he is a very active animal
with organs of touch, locomotion, and a great number of
others to assist him in his life. Many male cells of plants
and animals swim about in the water for a long time and
long distances in se'arch of the female cell. It shows
clearly that at the start we are just what Prof. Drum-
mond stated, "Apparently no different from plants in-
sects, and animals." These tiny microscopic beings will
of their own free will go ahead and multiply into groups,
and tie and arrange themselves into the different shapes
and forms we afterwards call plants, animals or man.
By this time, I think the reader must see that the cell
is the one who is at the base and is the cause of life that
we see, as in plants and animals. He is the cause of all
living structures. He multiplies by division, as heretofore
described, and with the building material at hand or fur-
nished by other cells, the work continues until the plant
or animal is completed. We see him move about from
place to place in search of food and material for his struc-
ture just as other animals do.
We know that he requires food, air and water just as
we do. We know that he understands how to select the
right kind of material at the right time and with it, build
the most intricate and complicated structures. We know
this because we see him do it and from these facts, we
must naturally conclude that he acts in a similar manner
to other animals including man. We find that he acts for
a purpose. When man acts for a purpose, we say he is
intelligent. When a person is able to produce any struc-
ture by reason of being intelligent, we mean that he is
instructed or skillful in the particular work which he does.
When a large building is being constructed, it seems in
90 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the distance to simply grow larger from day to day; it
appears in the distance to take form slowly and impercep-
tibly. If we could never get near enough to the building
to clearly see what was going on, we would be compelled
to say that it simply grew. Why? Because we had not
eyes powerful enough to see what was being done ; but
with the aid of the telescope we could increase the power
of our eyes to see more clearly and determine the facts,
that the building was not being formed by magic but by
the work and industry of a number of human beings. So
it is in every day life, we see a tree or plant or animal grow.
That is as far as we can see. By increasing the power of
our eye with a miscoscope, we can see that it does not
simply grow, as by magic, but that it is being constructed
in the same manner as a building would be by man. Every
part of the plant is occupied by active individuals, con-
tinuously at work, feeding themselves, multiplying and
building the plant or animal or its parts.
We shall again consider what takes place in the process
of division of the cell. All modern authority now seems
to agree that the cell itself is a colony of beings, organ-
ized to work together for the mutual benefit of all. From
the fact that not only the cell itself, but also each specifi-
cally skilled crowd of workers contained in the nucleus
divides exactly in two equal parts, so that each cell gets
exactly its equal half of the skilled workers, makes it
clear that those individuals of the cell who are concerned
with the work of building and keeping a record of past
experiences, which we call memory, are at all times kept
double or in duplicate. After the crowds have divided as
takes place in the division of the cell,-another division will
not take place until that crowd has again doubled. It
seems clear to me that those chromatin granules, as they
are called, are individuals or primordial beings possessed
THE CELL 91
of the special knowledge and skill of building those struc-
tures from whence they came. The fact that the centro-
some, who takes charge of the act of division, causes such
division to be exactly equal, tends to show a definite pur-
pose to divide the specifically skilled working force
equally. How this force of individuals is again able to
grow and increase in the cell to its full number and size,
the microscope is not yet powerful enough to disclose to
us. However, we can clearly see that it does again in-
crease and grow to its original number and size.
In the act of fertilization where the male cell prepares
to meet the female cell, it is clear that each one knows
what the other is going to do and acts accordingly. The
female cell must know that the male cell will bring a cen-
trosome or general manager and the male cell must know
where to look for the female and also have some idea what
she will have and what she looks like. They must have
the faculty of memory, skill and intelligence to do these
things. Every act connected with this performance of
the male and female cells of preparing for and meeting in
the womb, is an intelligent act requiring judgment and
will, which must be based on memory. We do not know
how the cells in our brain can remember past experiences,
but we know it to be a fact. We know every cell in our
body including our muscles must also be possessed of
this faculty of memory, just as the cells composing our
nerves and brain are, if not we could learn nothing from
practice nor form a habit. Habit is based on the mem-
ory of the cells of that part of the body trained or prac-
tising. By repetition the acts are fixed in the memory of
the cells in the muscles that take part in the act, and fin-
ally they are remembered and then we call them habit.
We have seen that the cell is an individual again com-
posed of individuals called granules; that these granules,
92 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
usually called chromatin granules, group themselves into
crowds who have their own specific work to do in the
same way that in our body we have special colonies or
crowds of cells, who have special work to do and are
called organs, like the heart, liver, lungs, stomach, etc.
So in the cell the skilled crowds, who each have their spe-
cial work to do in the body of the cell, are called organs.
There is the centrosome, who is the directing center or
general manager of the whole cell body. Then there is
the nucleus, that contains an enormous number of crowds,
each skilled in his particular kind of work, as we shall see
later. Then there is the group that has nothing to do but
make starch for food. This crowd of special workers are
found only in the plant building cells and those plants
who are able and understand how to make their own food
out of the raw material of earth, air and water. Then
there is the crowd of general workers, which you might
call common laborers, who compose the main body of the
cell. How do the cells communicate with each other?
That they have some method of certain and rapid com-
munication is clear, and is evidenced by the rapidity with
which sensations and ideas are transferred from one place
of the body to the other. It has been demonstrated that
the nucleus in one cell will take charge of the common
laborers and workers in another cell, who have been de-
prived of their nucleus. Here is Prof. Wilson's statement
of those experiments : "If correct, these experiments give
clear evidence of transference of physiological influences
from cell to cell by means of the protoplasmic bridges,
showing that the nucleus in one cell may thus control the
membrane-forming activity in an unnucleated fragment
of another cell." This is very significant in showing with
what loyalty they co-operate and work together for the
general welfare of the entire colony or body.
THE CELL 93
I must here explain to the reader more about the repro-
ductive cells of plants and animals, — how they differ from
those cells that build the body. They are called germ
cells and as you remember, the male cell is called the sper-
matozoon and the one that comes from the female is called
the egg. However, the reader must not forget that the
egg and spermatozoon are cells, in every way just alike,
except that they are built and prepared to perform differ-
ent kinds of work and for that reason, they look different.
The egg or female cell is prepared to just sit and wait for
this spermatozoon with food for both to last them until
they can be connected with the nourishment from the
body. The spermatozoon is built with a powerful pro-
peller with which he is enabled to push his way through
obstacles and obstructions in a mad competitive race with
thousands of others, who all start at the same time in
search for the same object, the female cell. This act of
the spermatozoon and female cell meeting and joining is
called fertilization. You remember that the nucleus,
which always contains the same number of specifically
skilled crowds of workers, always divides exactly in two
whenever the cell reproduces itself or multiplies by divi-
sion. Now it is also a singular fact that the cell from the
female and also from the male discharge just half of the
specifically skilled crowd of workers in the nucleus, which
are called chromosomes, so that when the male and
female cells get together and find each other, and the two
join together to form one cell, the two together will be
a complete cell, and will have a full number of specifically
skilled workers, and the correct number of chromosomes.
The body cells or cells that build the body are called
somatic cells, and are always a little different from the
germ cells. Whenever these cells, which build the body,
begin their task, — as a liver cell, or muscle cell, — they
94 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
first discharge or dispense with a part of their nucleus or
specifically skilled workers, according to the kind of work
they have to do. These facts are very significant in that
they prove that the nucleus contains groups of workers
specifically skilled in all the departments of work per-
taining to the building of the body. When a cell takes
charge of the work of building and maintaining the liver
or lungs it retains only that group of specifically skilled
workers who understand that particular line of work,
and discharges all the others. In reference to these facts,
I will here quote some more from Prof. Wilson :
"The germ from which every living form arises is a
single cell derived by division of a parent cell of the pre-
ceding generation. In the higher types the germ cells
are more or less definitely organized in groups supported
and nourished by somatic cells, specially set apart for that
purpose, and forming distinct sexual organs, the ovaries
and spermaries, or their equivalents. Within these organs
the germ cells are carried protected and nourished and
here they undergo various differentiation to prepare them
for their future functions. The structural difference thus
brought about between the germ cells is, however, only
the result of physiological division of labor. The female
germ cell or ovum supplies most of the material for the
body of the embryo and stores the food by which it is
nourished. It is therefore very large and contains a large
amount of cytoplasm laden with food matter, and in many
cases becomes surrounded by membrane or other enve-
lopes for the protection of the developing embryo. On
the other hand the male germ cell or spermatozoon con-
tributes to the mass of the embryo only a very small
amount of substance comprising as a rule only a single
nucleus and a very small quantity of cytoplasm. It is
thus relieved of the drudgery of making and storing food
THE CELL 95
and providing protection for the embryo and is provided
with only sufficient cytoplasm to form a locomotor ap-
paratus by which it seeks the ovum. It is therefore very
small and performs active movements. The plant ovum
which is usually known as the oosphere shows the same
general features as that of animals. The flagellum or tail
is merely a locomotor organ, which plays no part in fer-
tilization. Its most characteristic feature is the axial fila-
ment, which is composed of a large number of parallel
fibrillae like a muscle fibre. Both the ova and spermato-
zoon take their origin from cells known as primordial
germ cells, which become clearly distinguishable from the
somatic cells at early period of development and are at
first exactly alike in the two cases. Moreover, from the
outset the progenitors of the germ cells differs from the
somatic cells not only in the greater size and richness of
chromatin of its nuclei but also in its mode of mitosis,
for in all those blastemers destined to produce somatic
cells, a portion of the chromatin is cast out into the cyto-
plasm where it degenerates and only in germ cells is the
sum total of the chromatin retained. Only the germ cells
receive the sum total of the egg chromatin handed down
from the parent. All of the somatic cells contain only a
portion of the original germ substance. The original
nuclear constitution of the fertilized egg is transmitted as
if by law of primogeniture, only to the one daughter cell
and by this again to one and so on. While in the other
cells, the chromatin in part degenerates, in part is trans-
formed so that all of the descendants of these side branches
receive small reduced nuclei. The number of chromo-
somes arising from the germ nuclei is always the same in
both and is one-half the number characteristic of the tis-
sue cells of the species. The two nuclei do not fuse, but
96 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
only place themselves side by side and in this position
give rise each to its own group of chromosomes."
"The difference between the two sexes is probably due
to the physiological division of labor between the two
germ cells, the spermatozoon being motile and very small,
while the egg contains a large amount of protoplasm and
yolk. The evidence is steadily accumulating, that reduc-
tion is accomplished by two maturation divisions through-
out the animal kingdom, even in the unicellular forms.
The one fact of maturation that stands out with perfect
clearness and certainty amid all the controversy sur-
rounding it, is a reduction of the number of chromosomes
in the ultimate germ cells to one-half the number char-
acteristic of the somatic cells. It is equally clear that
this reduction is a preparation of the germ cells for their
subsequent union and a means by which the number of
chromosomes is held constantly in the species."
You will notice that the actions of the individuals which
compose the cell show that they are very careful not to
lose any of the crowds of specifically skilled workers ;
that great care is exercised to see that the division is ex-
actly equal. The one who always takes charge of the act
of division is known as the centrosome. You will also
notice from Mr. Wilson's statement, that the group of
workers in the nucleus do not "fuse," as we used to think
when we did not have microscopes powerful enough to
see what became of them. You will notice that they sim-
ply remain side by side and apparently do so during the
entire life of the individual. From the evidence before us
now it begins to look quite clear how the cell can and does
build a structure like a plant or animal. A cell is a com-
bination of a multitude of highly organized and special-
ized primordial beings. The cell contains in itself num-
erous crowds of specifically skilled workers, numbering
THE CELL 97
thousands or millions. How these primordial beings that
make up the cell actually multiply and grow, we have no
means of knowing nor microscope to tell us. You see life
is based on organization and specialization. When the cell
multiplies by division there is simply an equal division of
the colony of specifically skilled workers in the cell, which
is called the nucleus. In this way, you can clearly see,
that the knowledge, skill and experience possessed by the
cell, or more correctly speaking, by the individuals com-
posing the cell, and which they have accumulated through
the past ages of experience, is handed on to posterity and
preserved.
It is a singular thing how everything works out accord-
ing to a preconceived plan ; how exactly one part is made
to meet or fit into another part in the course of develop-
ment. The spermatozoon knows what the female cell
will have to start in life with so he comes to meet her pre-
pared accordingly. The female cell seems to know what
the spermatozoon will bring, so she leaves those same
things behind. She knows what he will have to contend
with in his struggle to reach her and that he cannot be
bothered with carrying a food supply, so she provides the
food. She seems to know how much she will need and
how long it will take the body cells to connect them with
food supply from the body. In several species special
food carriers .are provided, which are called nurse cells.
They stay with the germ cells and furnish them with food
until they get started in life. Here is what Prof. Wilson
has to say about them :
"As the primordial germ cells enlarge and form the
mother cells of the egg, they almost invariably become
intimately associated with neighboring cells, which not
only support and protect them but also serve as a means
for the elaboration of food for the growing egg cells. In
98 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
most cases, as ovarian development proceeds, definite as-
sociation is established between the egg and surrounding
cells. As a rule the material elaborated by the nutritive
cells is passed into the egg either in solution or in the
form of granular protoplasmic substance. In some form
each egg is accompanied by a single nurse cell attached
to its side with which it floats free in the body cavity. The
nurse cell is at first much larger than the egg cell. The
egg cell rapidly grows, apparently at the expense of the
nurse cell, which becomes reduced to a mere rudiment,
attached to one side of the egg and finally disappears. In
mysostoma, the young egg is accompanied by two nurse
cells, one at either end."
This shows clearly that the germ cells, as they start
out from one body with the intention of building another
and new body, are generally provided with food to give
them a start in life ; and in many cases separate cells or
servants are provided who go with them and carry the
food for them. The reader must be able to see at this
time that the cells in all the details of their inner life act
precisely as we do. They act with a purpose and accord-
ing to a preconceived plan. Why should they act differ-
ently? The ideas that direct our actions are nothing more
than the ideas of cells located in our head, who have
charge of that particular work in our bodies of thinking
and directing our actions:
There must have been a time in the past million years
when those primordial cells that make up the cell and
which they call chromatin granules, lived separate and
single lives alone in the world, just as a great number of
species of the single cell are doing today. You might say
that from the way it looks, the cell is not the real builder
but that the real builder is the primordial cells that have
associated together and organized this individual we call
THE CELL 99
cell. However that may be, the cell is clearly a separate
living individual or animal regardless from what he is
organized or of what composed. Ernest Haeckel states,
"The cells are individual life centers, and the uni-
fied life of the whole man is the combined result of the
work of his component cells. In this way the cells are the
real life' units of the organism. Their individual inde-
pendence is at once seen in the permanently unicellular
protists of which several thousand species are already
known to us."
It appears that the cell has organs with which it is able
to see, feel and hear. Still I do not see how they can have
these organs in the same sense that we consider hearing
and seeing. Here is what one scientist has to say about
the cell possessing organs of sight and hearing: "It is
impossible to believe that these organs are not eyes for
they have the same structure as eyes of comparatively
higher classes of animals, such as certain worms, tubu-
laria, rotifers, lower class crustaceans, etc. All these or-
gans are similarly formed of a small crystalline globule
inclosed in a small mass of pigmentary matter. The iden-
tity of structure naturally leads to the assumption of the
identity of functions."
Ernest Haeckel claims for the cell a definite mouth and
annus. Here is what he has to say :
"The great class of rhisopods is distinguished by the
fact that their naked plasma bodies can take in ready
formed solid food at any point of the body. On the other
hand most of the infusoria have a definite mouth opening
in the outer walls of their unicellular bodies and some-
times a gullet tube as well. Besides this cell house we
usually find also a second opening for the discharge of
indigestible matter, a cell annus."
Prof. Haeckel has also been able to see the movements
100 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
of the primordial cells inside of the cell and this is what
he says in reference to their appearance :
"In the rhizopod, the remarkable protozoan who as a
unicellular organism sheds so much light on the obscure
wonders of life, we notice a curious streaming of the gran-
ules in the living plasm. Within the cytoplasm of the
amoeba particles travel up and down in all directions."
The following is Prof. Haeckel's observation in refer-
ence to how they act in conjugation :
"When two ciliated Infusoria conjugate, they place
themselves side by side and connect for a time by means
of a bridge of plasm. A part of the nucleus of each has
already divided into two portions, one of which functions
as the female standing nucleus and the other as the male
traveling nucleus. The two mobile nuclei enter the plasm
bridge and move through it, pushing against each other
into the body of the opposite cell ; they then coalesce with
the deeper lying standing nucleus. When the fresh nu-
cleus has thus been formed (by amphimixis) in each of
the copulating cells, they again separate. The two re-
juvenated cells have once more acquired the power to
propagate for a time by division."
Mr. Binet, who believes the cells show a psychic phe-
nomena, makes the following remarks : "The sexual ele-
ments and especially the spermatozoid of all unicellular
organisms are certainly the ones which show the most
highly developed psychical functions : the act of seeking
and approaching the ovule, which is frequently situated
at quite some distance from where the male element is de-
posited ; the length of road to be traveled ; the obstacles
to be overcome ; all point to faculties in the spermatozoid
that are not explainable by simple irritability."
The reader by this time will see that not only has the
cell all the special sense organs possessed by animals in
THE CELL 101
general but in addition has others, the purpose of which is
not yet understood; and that it performs all the actions
and functions of life performed by animals. It must begin
to appear to the reader at this time that the cell must
have a mind and intelligence similar to our own. How-
ever, the scientists of today do not seem to so consider it.
Therefore, I must use these statements of others in refer-
ence to the actions of the cell to demonstrate my conten-
tion.
We shall now consider their method of nutrition and
respiration. The reader must remember that the cell is
a perfect and complete animal, that it must have food, air
and protection from the elements in the same manner as a
human being. While it has been quite conclusively
shown heretofore that the cell must have oxygen from
the air and also food in order to exist, I shall quote a few
statements from scientists to show the actions and re-
quirements of the cells. "There seem to be three classes
or methods by which cells obtain their food, viz :
First — The plant cells that make their own food from
the raw material of earth, air and water through chemical
action brought about by the aid of sunlight.
Second — Saprophytic beings who live on decayed or
dead matter.
Third — Those that live on other lives. The second
class are called scavengers and the third class parasites."
I shall here quote Mr. Binet, who makes the statement,
that the actions of the cell show choice and discretion ;
and this is what he has to say in reference to their mode
of nutrition :
"Nutrition by endosmosis, or saprophytic. The organ-
ism nourishes itself by absorbing through the whole sur-
face of its body, liquids containing the products of yege-
102 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
table or animal decomposition. Saprophytic beings are
found in putrid waters or in infusions.
"There is now a last mode of nutrition, of which we
shall treat in minute detail ; viz., animal nutrition, where
the micro-organism seizes solid alimentary particles and
nourishes itself after the fashion of an animal, whether
it be by means of a permanent mouth or by means of
an adventitious one improvised at the moment of need.
"Animal nutrition requires very remarkable psycholog-
ical faculties in the organisms practising it. These mani-
festations of psychic life, the progressive complexity of
which we intend to trace in starting from the simplest
protozoic forms and arriving at the higher, prove that
these animalcula are endowed with memory and volition.
"The micro-organisms do not nourish themselves in-
discriminately, nor do they feed blindly upon every sub-
stance that chances in their way. Also when they ingest
food through some point or other of their bodies, they un-
derstand perfectly how to make a choice of the particles
they wish to absorb. This choice is sometimes quite well
defined, for there are species which feed exclusively upon
particular foods. Thus there are herbivorous Infusoria
and carnivorous Infusoria. Among the herbivorous ones
may be classed the chilodons, which feed upon small algae
diatomaceae and Oscillaria. The paramecia live princi-
pally upon bacteria, the leucophrys is a specimen of the
carnivorous class. It devours even the smaller animals of
its own kind."
"The Bodo caudatus is a voracious flagellate possessed
of extraordinary audacity. It combines in troups to at-
tack animalcules 100 times as large as itself as the colpods
for instance, which are veritable giants when placed along
side of the Bodo. Like a horse attacked by a pack of
wolves, the colpod is soon rendered powerless ; twenty,
THE CELL 103
thirty, forty bodos throw themselves upon him, eviscerate
and devour him completely (Stein)."
Here is what Mr. Haeckel has .to say about the parasitic
habits of some cells.
"By parasites in the narrower sense, we understand in
modern biology only those organisms which live on others
and derive their nourishment from them. They are numer-
ous in all the chief divisions of the plant and animal king-
doms and their modifications are of great interest in con-
nection with evolution. No other circumstance has so
profound an influence on the organisms as adaptation to
a parasitic existence.
"I have already spoken of the many peculiarities of me-
tabolism in the ubiquitous bacteria ; while many of them
cause putrefaction, they at the same time feed on the
parts of other organisms which have died. The fungi feed
for the most part on the .decayed remains of plants and
the product of putrefaction which accumulates on the
ground. In this character of scavengers they play the
same important part on land as the sponges do at the bot-
tom of the sea."
I must here tell the reader something about the cell
colony called the volvox :
These cells bunch themselves into colonies of about
twelve thousand individuals. Some are male and female
and some only workers or neutrals. The common labor-
ers or neutral cells are all provided with hands which
they use to push and propel themselves through the water
backwards or forwards like a raft or submarine. Five
thousand like the galley slaves of old paddle the water
with their arms at the same time and in that way trans-
port the other seven thousand males and females to such
places as they may choose to go. Just consider this, for a
minute : a boat or raft pushed through the water by five
104 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
thousand individuals, all working under the command of
some one cell directing their course. They must neces-
sarily work under the direction of one cell or else how
could all these five thousand individuals push or pull in
unison. How could they all pull or push together the
same instant in order to go either forward or backward
unless there was someone in command to give the orders
when to go either forwards or backwards. This shows
clearly how the cells are able to organize themselves so
as to work together in harmony to affect their purpose.
Still it is but a very crude organization as compared with
the high state of organization and co-operation practised
by the plant and animal building cells. Here is what Mr.
Binet has to say about this colony of cells called the
volvox :
"In the genus of volvox colonies are found of which
the structure is very complicated. Such are the great
green balls formed by the aggregation of diminutive or-
ganisms, which form the surface of the sphere and are
joined together by their envelope. They have each two
flagella which pass through the inclosing membrane and
swing unimpeded on the outside; the envelopes each
tightly holding the other form hexagonal figures exactly
like the cells of a honeycomb. Each volvox is at liberty
within its own envelope, but it projects protoplasmic ex-
tensions, which pass through its cuticle and place it in
communication with its neighbor. It is probable that
these protoplasmic filaments act like so many telegraphic
threads to establish a net work of communication among
all the individuals of the same colony. It is necessary, in
fact, that these diminutive organisms be in communica-
tion with each other in order that their flagella may move
in unison and that the entire colony may act as a unit and
in obedience to a single impulse. The number of micro-
THE CELL 105
organisms constituting a volvox colony is quite consider-
able; as many as twelve thousand have been counted.
"It was upon analogous phenomena that Gruber based
the existence of a diffused nervous system in the stentors.
The same line of reasoning may be followed in the case of
the volvox. Since unanimity of movement is demonstra-
ble among twelve thousand micro-organisms constituting
a colony, it must be inferred that their movement is regu-
lated by the action of a diffused nervous system present in
the protoplasm. This conclusion is all the more interest-
ing from the fact that these volvox are vegetable micro-
organisms. In the dioecian volvox the female cellules
and male cellules are joined together by themselves in
separate colonies. When the time of fecundation arrives
the male cellules scatter and proceed to conjugate with
the female cellules. The colony which bears the female
cellules also contains neutral cellules which are not desig-
nated for fecundation ; the latter simply perform a loco-
motive function ; equipped with one eye and two flagella,
they are intended to move the great colonial ball ; they
are the oarsmen of the colony. The volvox male, female
and neutral all seek the light, whether solar or artificial,
and settle near the surface of the water. As soon as the
female colonies have been fecundated, the oospores
change their color, they turn from green to an orange
yellow. At this time the colony is seen to draw away
from the light and to disappear from the surface of the
water. This change of position is affected by means of
the vibratile cilia with which each neutral cell is furnished
and which projects beyond the gelatinous sphere. Now
as no change of color or form is noticed in the neutral
cells after fecundation, it may be asked from what cause
they flee from the light which they formerly sought."
You notice he ends by asking why they leave the light
106 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
which they formerly sought. Now to me that is very
clear. These volvox cells are of the plant species. They
understand how to make their own food and building ma-
terial from the raw material at hand by the aid of sun-
light. They row their raft into the sunlight now and then
in order to make food consisting generally of starch and
such other material as they need and when they get
through, they move into the shade to rest up and enjoy
themselves.
There is one method practised in reproduction by the
smaller cells like bacteria and plant building cells, that
is, the forming of spores, which I must mention here
briefly. A spore is a cell protected with a hard covering
against wind, weather and climate, wherein it can remain
until favorable conditions shall arise to perform the or-
dinary functions of life or to begin the building of a new
structure. Some spores, however, are able to swim about
actively until they find their mates or places to locate and
build their new structures, whether plant or animal.
The following is from our High School Botany in re-
gard to these individuals called spores :
"Any one of these cells may produce within itself a sin-
gle large swimming spore, which escapes from the mother
cell into the water. At its more pointed clear end, there
is a little crown of cilia by means of which it swims about
rapidly. These spores finally anchor themselves and each
one produces a new filament. It has been observed that
these small swimming cells come together in pairs and
fuse, each pair thus forming one new cell. The cell thus
formed passes through a resting period (usually during
winter) then begins to grow and finally produces four
swimming spores, each of which is able to produce a new
filament of ulothrix. Here is evidently a third method of
reproduction, which is peculiar in the fact that two spe-
THE CELL 107
cial cells unite to form the spore that produces the new
cell.
"When these cells formed by internal division escape
from the mother cell into the water, it is discovered that
they are able to swim about by the lashing movements of
four cilia, that appear in a cluster at the pointed end.
"A special cell thus set apart for reproduction is called
a spore, and spores that swim are distinguished as swim-
ming spores. A very important fact about ulothrix there-
fore is that it reproduces not only by vegetable multipli-
cation but also by swimming spores.
"In other cells of the same filaments, or in cells of fila-
ments under different conditions, the same formation of
cells by internal division may be observed, but the con-
tained cells are smaller and more numerous. When they
escape it is discovered that they also are ciliated swim-
ming cells but since they do not produce new filaments,
it is evident that they are not swimming spores."
I think I have now covered in a general way the most
important features connected with the inner life of the
cell. I might mention that the ability of the cell to pro-
vide itself and build around itself protective coverings and
armor of different materials and designs, from a soft flexi-
ble covering to one as hard as flint, has been the stepping
stone by which the cell has been able to build the many
peculiar structures, and to display the marvelous archi-
tecture which we shall find when we come to consider
the living structures, in a chapter devoted entirely to that
subject.
CHAPTER 4.
THE LIVING STRUCTURES.
The crust of the earth discloses to us like the leaves in
a book an enormous number of animals and plants that
have lived in the past but are now extinct and no more.
Every layer and stratum is a page in the history of the
life that has existed on this planet in the past. Just what
was the cause of failure and its extermination in some
cases is not easy to tell. However in the evolution of
living structures, it is the same as in the evolution of other
structures and those produced by man, the best will be re-
tained and the inferior rejected.
The discovery by some animals of how to make feathers
with which to cover their bodies and wings with which to
fly, was a great invention and improvement, which caused
a great change in the flying animals. The living struc-
tures that have existed in the past show the same gradual
evolution and improvement by new inventions and dis-
coveries as the evolution of man from his savage state
up to the present time.
Mr. Haeckel states, "Cells are grouped together un-
der the idea of sculptors or builders because they alone in
reality build the organisms."
As to this fact, I agree with him, but I do not agree
with him when he states that the cause of the building is
only a chemical and mechanical force, and that it all
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 109
comes about by chance. The inorganic forces like elec-
tricity, heat, etc. do not produce anything for a purpose
nor do rocks and dead matter produce machines or
houses. Mr. Haeckel states: -"We notice the very re-
markable fact that the egg cell in its original condition is
so exactly the same in man as in all other animals that it
is impossible to discover any essential difference."
He gives the following figure 9 to illustrate this, and
then he goes on and gives a description of the cell to show
what a perfect and complete animal he is. He says : "In
order to be thoroughly convinced that every cell is an
independent organism, it is only necessary to trace the
active phenomenon and development of one of these tiny
bodies. We then see that it performs all the essential
life functions which the entire organism accomplishes.
Every one of these little beings grows and feeds itself in-
dependently. It assimilates juices from without, absorb-
ing them from the surrounding fluid. The naked cells
can even take up solid particles at any point of their sur-
face and therefore eat without using any mouth or stom-
ach. Each separate cell is also able to reproduce itself
and to increase. This increase generally takes place by
simple division. The nucleus parting first by a contrac-
tion round its circumference into two parts, after which
the protoplasm likewise separates into two divisions. The
single cell is also able to move and creep about if it has
room for free motion and if not prevented by a solid cov-
ering. From its outer surface it sends out and draws back
agai-n finger like processes, thereby modifying its form.
Finally the young cell has feeling and is more or less sen-
sitive. It performs certain movements on the application
of chemical and mechanical irritance. Thus we can trace
in the single cell all the essential functions, the sum of
which constitute the idea of life, feeling, motion, nutrition
110
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
FIG. 9. — Primitive eggs of various animals, performing amoeboid movements
(very much enlarged). All primitive eggs are naked cells, capable, of change of
form. Within the dark, finely granulated protoplasm (egg-yelk) lies a large
vesicular kernel (the germ-vesicle), and in the latter is a nucleolus (germ-spot);
in the nucleolus a germ-point (nucleolinus) is often visible. Fig. A 1 — A 4. The
primitive egg of a Chalk Sponge (Leticulmis echinus), in four consecutive condi-
tions of motion. Fig. B 1 — B 8. The primitive egg of a Hermit-crab (Chon-
dracanthus cornutus), in eight consecutive conditions of motion (after E. van
Beneden). Fig. C 1 — C 5. Primitive egg of a Cat, in four different conditions of
motion (after Pfluger). Fig. D. Primitive egg of a Trout. Fig. E. Primitive
egg of a Hen. Fig. F. Primitive human egg. — HAECKEL.
THE LIVING STRUCTURES HI
and reproduction. All these properties, which the multi-
cellular highly developed animal possesses, appear in
each separate cell at least in youth. There is no longer
any doubt about this fact and we may therefore regard it
as the basis of our physiological idea of the elementary
organisms."
After this general description of the cells of the differ-
ent parts of the body, he makes the following statement
in reference to the brain cells: "In the protozoa in the
one cell plants and primitive animals, the whole organism
permanently consists only of a single cell. On the con-
trary in most animals and plants, it is only in the earliest
FIG. 10. — Three epithelial cells from the mucous membrane of the tongue. —
HAECKEL.
period of individual existence that the organism is a sim-
ple cell. It afterwards forms a cell society or more cor-
rectly an organized cell state. The human body is not
in reality a simple life unit as is at first the universally
current simple belief of man. It is rather an extremely
complex social community of innumerable microscopic
organisms, a colony or a state consisting of countless in-
dependent life units of different kinds of cells. * * * All
the numerous tissues of the animal body such as the en-
tirely dissimilar tissues of the nerves, muscles, bones,
outer skin, mucous skin and of other similar parts are
originally composed of cells, and the same is true of all
112 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
the various tissues of the vegetable body. These cells,
which we shall hereafter consider more closely, are inde-
pendent living beings, the citizens of the state, which con-
stitute the entire multicellular organisms. We thus have
before us a highly complex apparatus, the more minute
structure of which we have hardly begun to know, even
with the help of our strongest microscope and the signifi-
cance of which we rather guess than know. Its complex
mechanism is capable of the most intricate psychical
functions. But even this elementary organ of mental ac-
tivity of which there are thousands in our brain, is only
a single cell. Our whole intellectual life is but the sum
of the results of the activity of all such nerve cells or mind
cells."
The living structures that we see include all those
things containing life such as plants, trees, insects, ani-
mals, birds, fish, etc. They are all produced by the cell.
They are constantly changing, a fact which proves that
the builders are all the time trying to improve their habi-
tation in order to meet some climatic or other condition,
or obtain some advantage in one way or another in the
struggle for existence. By reason of this fact, the scien-
tists have decided that it is impossible to classify them as
animals and plants because they overlap each other so
gradually that it is impossible to tell where the one be-
gins and the other ends. We might classify them gen-
erally as either movable or as stationary structures. The
plant building cells usually build stationary structures be-
cause they are able to make their own food and building
material by the aid of sunlight from the raw material of
earth, air and water. The animal building cells on the
other hand being compelled to move about in search of
food build movable structures. The classification would
not in all cases be correct, as some plants have movable
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 113
parts such as sensitive and insect catching plants. How-
ever, as a general classification, it is as good as any to con-
sider them as either stationary or movable habitations of
the cell, just as a house is a stationary habitation of man
while a ship is a movable one.
Some of the simplest structures are mere associations
or groups of cells like the micro gromia socialias. These
cells understand how to inclose themselves in shells, and
stick the shells together, and in that way remain together
in a social community. They have already discovered the
art of building covers or armours about themselves of
FIG. 11. — Blood-cells, which increase by divi-
sion, from the embryo of a young stag. Each
blood-cell has originally a kernel, and is globular
fa). When they are about to increase, the cell-
kernel, or nucleus, first separates into two
kernels (b, c, d). The protoplasmic body then
becomes pinched in at a point between the two
kernels, which become more widely separated
from each other (e). Finally a complete sepa-
ration between the two parts is effected at the
ooint where tfte original cell was pinched in, so
that there are now two cells (f). — HAECKEL.
lime and other materials, and the advantage of associat-
ing together for offensive and defensive purposes in the
struggle for existence. Fig. 12 is a description of this ani-
mal taken from a text book on zoology. This cell is
similar to the cell heretofore considered under the name
of volvox. Man in his first days of development is also a
mere cluster of cells, the same as this. After the cluster
is formed, then these arrange themselves into layers in
the shape of a cup, which is the beginning of the stomach.
A wonderful plant or animal, whatever a person may wish
to call it, is the Physalia. It is also called the Portuguese
114
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
man-of-war. In a book on Zoology it is briefly described
as follows :
"One of the most remarkable and best known of this
group. It consists of a pear shaped and elegantly crested
air sac floating lightly upon the surface of the water and
giving off from its under surface numerous long and var-
ied appendages. These appendages are the different mem-
bers of the community and perform different functions, —
some eating for the whole, others producing medusi buds
FIG. 12. — Microgromia socialis. A, entire colony; B, single zooid; C, has
undergone binary fission, with one of the daughter-cells creeping out of the
shell; D, flagellula; c. vac. contractile vacuole; nu. nucleus; sh. shell.
and others being the locomotive members, the latter hav-
ing tentacles with powerful stingers that stretch out be-
hind the floating community. The air sac is three or four
inches long."
The social community of cells that build this structure
called Portuguese man-of-war, show wonderful skill, as
they are able to sink or swim at will. The Albatross Ex-
pedition describes them as follows : "The slime on the
sea weed for instance may have come from a most poison-
ous jellyfish known as the Portuguese man-of-war, that
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
115
FIG. 13. — Physalia or Portuguese Man of War; the living animal floating
on the surface of the sea. cr. crest; p. polype; pn. pneumatophore.
has stung to death many valiant swimmers with its ten
foot streamers, that paralyze the body. On fair days
these formidable creatures lift their pink and blue oval
116 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
crests above the surface, but in rough weather they sink
and one of their streamers entangled in a tow net might
do serious harm, as happens on the slime banks of Behr-
ing Sea, where the cod fishermen suffer grievously when
their lines come up smeared with a poisonous jelly fish
excretion. It was the 'Albatross' that traced the cause of
this Behring Sea fishing trouble to a jelly fish."
We see that this colony of cells can sink when necessary
to evade the crushing force of the waves and again float
when the weather and conditions are favorable. This ani-
mal looks like the ordinary sea weed floating on the water
but upon a closer investigation we find that this is more
than a mere social gathering of the cells. Here they have
discovered the advantage of specialization ; each bunch of
cells takes charge of its particular line of work, such as
moving about, reproduction, capturing and devouring
smaller individuals for food. You notice that they have
also discovered a method by which they kill and capture
other animals for food by a powerful sting. It is not
likely that they can see or hear in the sense that we under-
stand that power. They can, however, feel, smell and
taste. The thinking capacity of the cells that make up
this social community must be the best, when we consider
the discoveries and inventions they have perfected in the
course of their development from the single cell to the
present state. Consider the million of individuals in-
volved and occupied with their different kinds of work,
in the make up of this social community. This colony of
cells we call Physalia or Portuguese man-of-war is called
an individual.
We might next consider the Star Fish. It has one eye ;
and has feet with sucker ends so that it is able to walk
almost anywhere and in any direction. It has developed
a very good smelling apparatus and is very well equipped
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 117
for life. It is encased in a star shaped structure, strong
and tough as bone and its star shape makes it a disagree-
able substance to swallow by any larger animal. The
cells that build this structure have been able to hold their
own in the struggle for existence and they have reason to
be proud of the progress they have made in the past ages.
We might consider next the species of sea plant or ani-
FIG. 14. — Starfish. General view of the ventral surface, showing the tube-
feet.
mal called the antedon. This animal fastens itself on the
sea bottom. It starts to grow in the same manner as any
other animal. The single individual cell who starts the
building of this animal, first swims about in the ocean,
then finally settles down and builds this structure. The
secret of the success and progress of this individual is in
the fact that it covers itself with such disagreeable build-
ing material that other animals will have nothing to do
with it and cannot use it as food. This animal has been
118
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
able to produce electric lights in different places of its
body, as you will notice from the following by the Alba-
tross Expedition : "In the midst of gorgeous submarine
forests and waving gardens that fringe the reefs of the
ocean floor and spread over its vast plains are abundant
clusters of shining trees or bushes, known as sea feathers
or sea pens, these also being animals, not vegetables.
FIG. 15. — Antedon. Side view of entire animal.
Their long stems glow with a dull phosphorescent light
when the trowl nets bring them up from the depths, and
if they are touched with ammonia they shine brightly. It
is thought that the light is dulled through their fright in
capture and it is probable that normally they give forth
a brilliant radiance when they desire to attract their prey
or to terrify their enemies. * * * Never was there an
animal so lacking in any immediate usefulness as the
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 119
Crinoid. It cannot move, it has no eyes ; it makes no at-
tack; it does no harm. It simply eats, playing the part of
universal scavenger of the seas, catching all foods that
fall through the waters, animal and vegetable, in its ten
or more waving arms, each of which has a long groove
lined with propulsive hairs that work the food along in
the manner of a moving stairway to a central mouth and
stomach. This stomach lies between the basis of the
arms, which rest either upon a long stalk or upon two or
three dozen legs, that cling fast to rocks or other animals
or spread out upon the surface of the mud. The crinoid
is perhaps the only creature in the sea that is not desired
as food by some other creature, but these animal lilies,
which eat everything, are not themselves to be eaten, be-
ing too brittle, too full of lime, all skeleton, as it were.
Even the stomach of a crinoid has its own skeleton."
You will notice that this animal is just as much a plant
as an animal. There is no difference in the beginning nor
in the development of a plant or animal. It is put up for
a purpose. If it is to be a stationary structure, it will look
like a plant ; if it is to be a movable structure it will look
like an animal. It all depends upon the purpose for which
it is made. This animal, which grows like a plant in the
bottom of the sea, is merely a house lit up with phos-
phorescent lights wherein dwell millions of individual
cells.
We might next consider a very large group of struc-
tures known as shell animals. The cells live in a social
colony which is protected with a shell made of lime and
other material. The shells that protect them are usually
of such strength and thickness as would be required to
withstand the pressure and force of the water at that par-
ticular place, or the animals that may attack them. They
are simply movable houses wherein live vast colonies of
120 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
cells. These cell colonies are generally specialized in
their work, as some attend to locomotion, some to diges-
tion, etc. Many have also developed special sense organs
like eyes and ears. They are all well adapted to their
FIG. 16. — Shell of Triton nodiferus.
place and condition in life and they live secure and com-
fortable in their strong and beautiful habitations.
We might next consider the individual known as the
cuttle fish and he is a wonder. The cuttle fish is covered
with a hard shell made of carbonate of lime and other
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
121
hard material. Its size is up to three feet in length, so it
is small enough to have a number of enemies. It is pro-
FIG. 17. — Sepia cultrata or cuttle-fish. Entire animal viewed from the dorsal
aspect.
vided with a sack of black material like ink, which it
throws into the water behind it when pursued by ene-
mies and in this way it escapes very easily. It has long
122 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
tentacles provided with powerful suckers, which hang on
to any animal that touches them. It does not look like
an animal, and for that season it is able to get near fish
and other animals on which it feeds. The scheme of
throwing ink in the face of its pursuers is not the only
wonderful invention of the cells that build this individual.
The most wonderful is its power to chaange its color at
will. If its surroundings are green, it will change from
black to green, etc. How is it able to do this? It has
been demonstrated that the cells in the skin get a picture
of the outside surroundings through the eye, that the
skin cells have several color shades on hand and that they
stick those tints up to the surface of the skin, which will
produce the shade desired. It shows how the cells in the
individual communicate and work with each other.
The skin cells gets a picture of the outside from the
brain cells, who must first get it through the eye. If you
injure his eye or the nerve leading to the eye, he is not
able to change his color. This invention of changing his
color at will so as to be able to escape enemies or get
closer to its victim is certainly wonderful. How long the
cells struggled with the elements and enemies before they
discovered and perfected these inventions to aid them in
the battle of life* we can only guess ; but from the time it
first discovered the advantages of working together in a
social community until it perfected the eye, next the ink
scheme and the power to change color, it must have been
ages. The eye must have been perfected first, or else it
could not know the effect of roiling the water with ink,
or of changing its color to correspond to surroundings.
We might consider now this wonderful structure
known as the torpedo ray, or sting ray, as it is sometimes
called. This is a fish that kills its victims with an elec-
tric shock. Here is a colony of cells that have built a
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
123
habitation with which to move through the water like a
fish and have also built up in it electric storage batteries,
Fig. 18. — A Torpedo-Ray with the electric organs dissected out. On the right
the surface only of the electric organ (oe) is shown. Oh the left the nerves
passing to the organ are dissected out. The roof of the skull is removed to
bring the brain into view. br. branchiae /, spiracle; o, eyes; tr, trigeminal; tr',
its electric branch; v. vagus; I, fore-brain; II, mid-brain; III, cerebellum; IV,
electric lobe.
in which it is able to collect and keep enough of elec-
tricity to give a powerful electric shock to its prey or
enemies. Think of all the experimenting that must have
124
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
been carried on, until they perfected a machine with
which to gather electricity from the surroundings and
keep it stored in batteries ready for use. It could not
have been of any advantage or use until they had it per-
fected and all the machinery working. Until that time
they must have had a committee of cells continually
working on the idea. They could not have commenced
experimenting until they had previously discovered the
effect of the electric shock and could see the idea of using
and developing it into a weapon for offensive and defens-
ive purposes.
Xffr
V
fictj
FIG. 19.— Ostracion (Coffer-fish), br. ap. branchial aperture; d. f. dorsal fin;
pet. f. pectoral fin; v. /. ventral fin.
Then we have the coffer fish. This individual is a per-
fect box made of some horn like material in nearly the
shape of a fish. The box has an opening for just the nec-
essary steering and propelling apparatus and the eyes
and mouth. It is protected with a color conforming to
its surroundings but it cannot change its color. It is a
wonderful submarine boat, well protected with armor
and so constructed that a larger fish will not eat it unless
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 125
very hungry, as its spikes make it a very disagreeable
morsel to swallow. The strong covering and protective
color give it such advantages that it has been able to hold
its own with others in the struggle for existence in the
past, and is with us today and not numbered among the
extinct species.
Another most wonderful individual is known as the
Stomiasboa or lantern fish. This fish is black with phos-
phorescent shining light in front, and two rows of bull's
FIG. 20 — Stomias boa or Lantern Fish. The white dots are the luminous
organs.
eye lanterns the whole length of the underside of his body.
These spots all shine like little electric lights and the
black form of the fish cannot be seen in the night, but
only his spots, which also light up his surroundings, so
that he can see his victims with his extraordinarily de-
veloped eyes adapted to see in the dark. He is covered
with a powerful scale, adapted to resist the pressure of
the water two miles deep in the ocean, where he stays in
the day time and wh'ere his enemies, the larger fish, can
not follow him. Think of the wonderful skill exhibited
in the construction of this individual, — his powerful eyes
and mouth, with his powerful search light at the end of
126 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
his nose enabling him to see in the dark. These things are
all necessary to an existence two miles down in the water.
This perfect arrangement of everything to meet condi-
tions, exhibited in this individual, must have also re-
quired ages of experimenting by the best intellects. The
Albatross Expedition describes him as follows :
"Among the strangest of these ascending night feeders
are the lantern fish, remarkable for this, that their bodies
are dotted over with electric lights ; certain round phos-
phorescent spots arranged in rows along the sides, that
glow brilliantly just as fire flies glow, especially a large
spot on the end of their noses that shines like a search
light. So these queer fish move through the water,
ascending and descending — small submarines all ablaze.
There may be a double usefulness in these phosphorescent
lights which flare up suddenly against a deep sea enemy
and frighten him away, or which lure the prey at higher
levels, as a candle lures the moth."
It must be conceded that to be able to build and main-
tain a submarine like this we call the lantern fish, which
can light up its surroundings and adjust the structure to
'resist the pressure of the water at different depths up to
two miles, is a task requiring the best engineering and
keenest intellect. Think of the details to be looked after
to keep it adjusted to the ever changing environment, to
keep all the lights going, to gather the material and manu-
facture the light.
Fig. 21, the Lure Fish, is another illustration of a fish
that tempts its prey by means of a phosphorescent light.
He has a bait that shines, attached td the other end of the
string which he lets out like a fishline to attract curious
individuals. The string to which his bait is attached is
such that he can let it out and pull it in at will. This you
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
127
will see is a moving habitation something like a sub-
marine with a fishing apparatus attached.
We never stop to consider the position occupied by the
individual cells that build animals and plants, who must
conceive and execute ideas. While this submarine like
FIG. 21. — Lure Fish.
individual was lying in wait for his victim, it must have
occurred to the cells occupying and in charge of it that
animals are attracted by a light. That if they could fix
up a shining bait, which they could let out a short dis-
tance to attract attention, they could hide their sub-
marine and decoy their victims within reach of their grap-
128 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
pling apparatus, called the mouth, arranged in front of
the individual. From this idea conceived, they would pro-
ceed to build this fishing apparatus. This is what the Al-
bastross Expedition has to say about him :
"The potency of light in attracting wanderers of the
deep is seen in the equipment of the Lure fish, a gro-
tesque creature with a huge mouth that hides its black
body in the mud, and waits patiently for victims, dan-
gling before them a phosphoresent bulb that shines at
the end of a long filament — a self-grown and self-baiting
fishing rod, curving forward from the animal's head and
hanging temptingly before its hungry jaws, ready to
snap open at the approach of a curious visitor. These
Lure fish are found at the depth of three miles or more."
Mr. Muffit gives the following interesting description
of a few of the enormous number of different kinds of
individuals found in the ocean :
"Another danger lurking in the tow nets is the possible
presence of a strange crustacean, related to a crab, an
uncanny creature about three inches long that is invis-
ible, literally invisible, owing to the fact that its head
and body, its arms, legs and claws are quite transparent.
The presence of this animal in the receiving pan is usu-
ally indicated by a disturbance among its visible neigh-
bors, the shrimps and fishes, and when it is lifted out with
a pair of tongs it appears like the glass model of a crab
with slowly moving glass legs and glass claws. When
killed this crab loses its transparency and reveals itself
in a dull white coloring like the white of an egg. The
'Albatross' encountered many of these invisible wrigglers
while fishing in Japanese waters. It is well known that
very young fish and tiny eels are quite transparent except
for two black dots, which mark their eyes.
"Each haul of nets brings up some deep sea wonder.
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 129
It may be the hideous viper fish with teeth so long that
they fold outside of his mouth like the tusks of a wild
boar, or the snipe eel with its bill like its name sake and
a body like a length of whip cord or the queer pelican
fish that will swallow a fish much larger than itself and
somehow digest it, or a dead ribbon fish with its almost
transparent body, 20 feet long and a foot wide and half
an inch thick, or a great red jelly fish full of poisonous
darts coiled up in its body, and ready to shoot out their
venom against any touch. In New England and arctic
waters some of these jelly fish grow to enormous size ,
their bodies measuring six or eight feet across and their
pendent streamers reaching down seventy feet or more.
I may mention also the giant squid or cuttle fish thirty
feet long, a whitish colored beast that is always found
dead, the same being true of the giant octopus with its
reach of seventy feet from tip to tip of its huge arms.
"The jewel beauties, swimming about rather tamely
would be helpless against the ravenous pursuers were it
not that they live in shallow tide pools and near coral
reefs where these pursuers dare not follow them. Why
not? Because coral reefs are full of stings of the
live coral creatures, stings that hurt a man's hand if he
touches them and might destroy the eyes of any big fish
that ventured among them. And tide pools abound in
sea urchins with sharp barbed spines, hundreds of them
that break off inside the wound." The fierce struggle for
existence that has been going on in the sea for ages has
produced these wonderful individuals, in the same man-
ner that the struggle for place and power that is now
going on in the war between the English and the Ger-
mans is causing inventions of many kinds, and
weapons and engines of destruction of different char-
acters. We must keep in mind that the builders of all
130 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
these individuals are the cells, just as the builders of all
the different structures now used in war in their struggle
for national existence, are the human individuals. The
structures produced by cells or cell communities are all
on the plan intended to resist attacks by hungry enemies ;
take, for instance, the common turtle with its armor plate
of bone, which in every way resembles a fortification.
Millions of living beings working together live inside of
this moving fort we call the turtle.
FIG. 22. — Skeleton of Turtle. Glyptodon clavipes.
What difference can there be in the intelligence or skill
required in building a submarine by human beings and
the building of a fish by the cells? In every case there
must be a preconceived plan, a purpose to capture and
escape, to do this or that. They are made with an end
and purpose in view. The time will evidently come when
every important battle will be fought either in the air or
under water. The submarine now must have eyes in
order to see where to go and so as not to run into nets.
Inside are the individuals who run it and take care of it
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
131
precisely in the same manner that the cells run and take
care of the individual they inhabit, be it animal or plant.
Think of that invisible crab ! How are the cells able to
build themselves into a structure so as to be transparent?
Those are secrets for us to solve.
FIG. 23. — A submarine made by the cell.
I must not forget the African fish that constructs a
moisture proof house in the mud where it sleeps for six
months, during the dry season, living on its own fat
gathered during its activity. It is described as follows :
"A remarkable fish known as protopterus annectens is
found throughout the whole of tropical Africa, but is
most common near the West coast, where it sometimes
attains a length of six feet. During the dry season, when
many of the ponds dry up, the fish descends some dis-
tance into the mud and forms a rounded hollow for a
132 CELL -INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 133
nest, which is lined by a capsule of hardened mucus
secreted by the glands of the skin. It hibernates thus
for nearly six months, drawing its sustenance from the
fat secreted when it is active." This fish is wonderful
in that it is able to make a nest in the mud, where it will
not lose any of its moisture, by lining its room with a
secretion which will prevent the escape of the moisture.
During its activity the cells in charge of this individual
gather and store away enough food in the way of fat so
they can live and enjoy life until the rainy season comes
again and provides the water to float them. The ability
of animals to store away food to be used at a future time
is a common habit, that is, with all animals that sleep in
the winter, like badgers, bears, etc. The cells in the body
gather and store food for the purpose of tiding over a
time when food will be scarce and hard to get. What
possible difference can there be in the intelligent purpose
evidenced by the cell in providing for the future, and the
animal and man doing the same thing? There can cer-.
tainly be none whatever.
Take again for instance protective coloration. The
military experts are now adopting and taking advantage
of the tricks of the cell. The zebra in its bright stripes is
almost invisible in the jungles of his natural habitat.
When the cells building the zebra gave him the stripes
which make him so conspicuous in the circus they knew
what they were doing. The experience of hunters all
testify to the fact that the tall grasses and trees in the
jungle where he lives make the zebra almost invisible.
In reference to the cause of the color of animals, plants
and fish we have now fully demonstrated that it is caused
by the action of cells occupying the individuals, especially
if they have eyes with which to take a picture of the out-
side surroundings, and transfer this to the skin cells, who
134
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
are in charge of the color business. The following- is a
very interesting article on this matter, altho it has been
demonstrated several times before, and in one case the
FIG. 25.— Zebra.
fish was able to produce a checker-board on his back
when the bottom of his aquarium was painted in that
way. S. O. Mast of Johns Hopkins University has pub-
lished in the "Proceedings" of the National Academy of
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 135
Sciences, April, 1915, some results of observation and
experiments made at the U. S. Biological Station at Beau-
fort, N. C. The work is to be published in full in the bul-
letin of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. He says :
"Nearly all fishes simulate their environment to some
extent and some flounders do so with remarkable accur-
acy and rapidity. It was found that flounders in glass
dishes became nearly white on a white ground and nearly
black on a black ground. They also assumed approx-
imately the colors of all grounds, except red. Fine and
coarse patterns in the ground produced correspondingly
fine and coarse patterns in the skin, but there was no
actual reproduction of patterns. Five days' sojourn in a
black pan was required to produce a maximum blackness
in a flounder that had been kept two weeks in a white
pan, but the change from white to black was effected in
two minutes in the same flounder after it had been trans-
ferred from one pan to the other. The change from black
to white always required an hour or more. Color changes
are comparatively slow. Yellow usually predominates in
the environment and is assumed more rapidly than green
or blue.
"The skin of flounders contains black and yellow cells
called chromatophores and opaque white cells called
iridoeytes. The changes in color and pattern are pro-
duced by changes in the arrangement of the colored cells
and in the extent to which they are hidden by the white
cells. These changes are regulated by ocular impressions.
Flounders become uniformly white when the head-end
is placed on white and the tail-end on black. They be-
come black when the head is on black and the tail on
white and they become gray when one eye is on white
and the other on black. Exposure of one eye to a fine
and the other to a coarse pattern produces a combination
136 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
of a fine and coarse pattern in the skin. The influence of
each eye extends over the entire body. The skin becomes
yellow when a yellow card is placed very near the head.
A flounder deprived of one eye simulates the background
quite normally, but there is no simulation whatever when
both eyes are removed. Flounders fail to simulate the
ground in very strong illumination from above and they
become white on all ground when their eyes receive no
light directly from above. Adaptation to the ground is
not effected by covering the skin with sand, so that the
fish cannot see it. Vision in fishes is very like human
vision in regard to shade and color, but less acute in
regard to size. Flounders distinguish between dots of
two millimeters and three millimeters and recognize dots
of one millimeter, but not those of five-tenths millimeters.
By means of a rotating background of black and white
sectors the acuteness of vision in regard to motion was
found equal to that of man. Flounders adapted to a given
color seek ground of that color, and color in the skin is
produced only by exposure to the same color."
It is a singular thing that scientists and the human
mind by reason of vanity or for some reason will not
conceive, or are not able to see that the minds that direct
these very difficult acts of effecting these protective colors
in fishes and animals are the cell minds and cell intellects.
They build the fish and take care of it for their own selfish
purpose. They alone are responsible for its success.
These are facts we do not have to guess at. We do not
have to spin any theory about it because we can see it.
In a daily paper I read the following in regard to the acts
of man and animals in reference to this same trait of
taking advantage of protective color: "If man has learned
clever tricks for deceiving his enemy he has been taught
bynature. In all nature there is scarcely an animal which
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 137
is not characteristically marked for deceiving his enemy.
Many butterflies are veined and marked like leaves and
flowers with such splendid accuracy that when they are
hidden in the petals of the flowers or hovering on the
foliage they are not to be distinguished. Likewise the
walking stick insect when it crouches among the green
leaves cannot be differentiated from the twigs. Bird
hunters are aware that it is difficult to discover grouse
and partridges because of their bark-like coloring.
Nature is so cautious in trying to protect many of her
children against their enemies that she often changes
their colors with the seasons. Most of the arctic animals
change from brown to white as the winter approaches.
This is no less true of many kinds of fish. Some have the
facilities for harmonizing colors with the particular char-
acter of bottom upon which they happen to be resting at
the moment.
The lesson of nature has not been lost upon man. From
time immemorial bird hunters have clad themselves in
green, that the animals would not distinguish them from
the foliage and the surroundings. The American soldiers
were the first to adopt the khaki uniform, because it is
the color of the earth. European armies have now acted
on our suggestion, although it has taken a long time to
teach the French soldiers that the bright red on their
uniforms is a menace, not an aid.
Just at present news dispatches tell of the increased
number of changes in the army uniforms in an effort to
make the soldier invisible — or as nearly so as the ingenu-
ity of man can make them. Russian artillerymen and
scouts have been clad in long white cloaks and caps while
fighting in the snow fields of the Carpathians.
It is said that the adoption of nature's methods of pro-
tecting animals has been so successful that it is impos-
138 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
sible to distinguish moving men from waving shrubbery
when but a few yards distant.
Practically every army involved — and they include
many nationalities and many picturesque styles of uni-
form practically unheard of on this side of the Atlantic —
is adopting this method of uniforming, to some extent.
You see that these acts of man and animals, which we
consider very intelligent when performed by man as an
individual, we refuse to consider intelligent when per-
formed by animals or more correctly speaking by the ani-
mals we call cells, who build the animals and perform
the work.
There is a moth called, "The Death's Head Moth,"
because it has the resemblance of a skull and cross-bones
on its head, which is merely an arrangement as a pro-
tective color. A scientific magazine makes the following
remarks about it : "The Death's Head Moth not only
has a mouth with which to eat, but it can make a noise
which resembles that of a mouse. It is the only moth
which makes any sound. It is this peculiar sound which
it makes, as well as its resemblance to a skull and cross-
bones marked upon its head, which makes superstitious
people afraid of it, for they believe that it brings them
trouble. The moth though forbidding in appearance is
entirely harmless, of course."
Now who are the most intelligent beings, the brain
cells directing the action of the man afraid of this moth,
or the cells that build and direct the moth? Which of
the two are the most profound thinkers? It would seem
that the cells in the moth discovered the superstitious
nature of man and adopted this style of protective color
to frighten him.
In reference to the intelligence of insect-building cells
of all kinds many of which are also able to change their
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 139
color at will, space will not permit going into details. In
their place in life, the struggle for existence is fierce and
competition very strong, and they have also discovered
nearly every trick and method used by fishes and animals.
The following article by A. L. Hodges states the situ-
ation in a general way: "Few people are familiar with
the fact that the diving bell was invented by a spider.
Such however is the case and if it was not actually in-
vented by him it was certainly used by him long before
our hydraulic engineers made one for the same purpose.
The diving bell is, as is well known, a cup-shaped body
with open end down which is let into the water. The air
is caught in the bell and keeps the water from rising
beyond a certain level at any specified depth and of course
allowing anyone inside to breathe and act as if he were
on the ground. The new improvement of the diving bell,
known as the Caisson, is a huge pipe which has compart-
ments into which the air is pumped from above. The
spider's bell is filled more in this manner than in the
other.
"The name given to these little spiders is very appro-
priate— Naiads of the family of Arachnida. The Naiad
will build a little house of water-proof silk, held fast by
strands fixed to neighboring blades of grass and stones,
several feet under water. He completes the entire struc-
ture before filling it with air — as if he knew that the air
would tend to make it rise to the top and thus hinder the
attaching of the anchors.
"But the method of getting air into their houses is per-
haps the most peculiar and interesting of all instinctive
acts of animals. Their abdomens are so made that a
bubble of air can be caught underneath them. This the
Naiad does, and swims to his house with it and turns it
loose in the airy structure. The process is repeated sev-
140 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
eral times until the little house is full of air. Of course
the open end of this house is down and this has to act also
as the entrance to it. In the little water-house the spider
spends the winter and rears its young ones. The house
also acts as a lair from which the spider can jump on un-
suspecting prey.
"Another peculiar thing about the Naiads is that they
never get wet. They have thousands of small hairs on
their bodies which hold and keep the air from being
washed off when they enter water and so the air sticks
and water cannot approach.
Scientists are acquainted with many other insect engi-
neers, but with none that approach Naiads in intelligence
and skill. The Water Beetle is probably the only other
one in their class. It builds a water-proof nest under
water, but does not live in it. It merely lays its eggs in
the nest, seals it up and leaves.
The Mason Bee is as his name implies a builder of
structures of stone and mortar. The nest is attached to
almost any solid structure and actually does consist of
small stone, cemented together with mortar. The house
consists of many cells of oval shape, and into each an
egg is laid. The cell is lined with silken web by the
mother who gets out of it by holding its top. Before
leaving, however, she hermetically seals up the cell and
leaves the youngster to its fate.
"However, such are the arrangements of nature. As
soon as he gets to feeling his oats and consumes the food
left him by the mother he finds himself supplied with
tools hard and sharp enough to cut through the walls to
freedom.
"A member of this family found in England makes his
own bricks, selecting brown clay for the purpose, which
he mixes with saliva, rolls into small balls which soon
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 141
become hard and then cements them together. These
pellets are as large as small peas and one bee has been
known to prepare as many as one hundred and fifty in a
single day."
I have watched the action of bees, beetles, spiders and
ants and other insects and must say that their actions
show intelligence of a very high degree and will refer to
many of their acts later on, which are simply wonderful.
You might say if the insect building cells are so intelli-
gent, why do they not build larger and stronger struc-
tures like ourselves or other animals. Upon that point
we need but consider all the structures produced in the
past ages, like the Mastodon and thousands of others that
went too far in that direction and got the structures too
large. Their skeletons are now conclusive evidence to
the insects and ourselves that size is not necessarily a
quality that spells success. The size must be considered
in the light of permanent and perpetual existence on this
planet, as well as the other features. I quote the follow-
ing from the Scientific American, which is very signifi-
cant : "Rarely is it safe to speak of anything as ultimate
in prehistoric life, but there is little doubt that the
American Museum now exhibits a skeleton of the largest
flesh-eating animal that has ever lived. This is Tyran-
nosaurus, the tyrant lizard, a dinosaur that lived during
the close of the Cretaceous period. It was one of the very
last expressions of its race and, judged by size and struc-
ture, was king of its kind. An idea of its immense size
can be formed from measurements of the skeleton, 47
feet in length, and, as mounted, 18^2 feet in height. When
fully erect this animal would have reached a height of 20
feet.
"Larger herb-eating dinosaurs have been found in
America and East Africa in older rocks of Jurassic or
142 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
FIG. 26. — Skeleton of Tyrannosaurus Rex No. 5027, 47 feet long and 18!
feet high. — SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
early Cretaceous age, but the flesh-eaters contemporan-
eous with them were a third smaller than the present
animal.
"The Tyrannosaurus was capable of destroying any of
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 143
the contemporary creatures and was easily king of the
period and monarch of its race."
Now if it is true that the cell is a builder of all living
things, both plants and animals, we should be able to
find the same intelligent scheme for self-protection and
self-perpetuation also in plants, or what we might call
their stationary habitations or structures ; and such is the
case, for the schemes and tricks employed by plants to
serve their purpose show intelligence of a high order. It
is impossible in this short chapter to go into the details
and describe the innumerable methods used by plants to
fight drought, animals, frost, heat, etc., but the following
article from the Literary Digest is a very good general
description of some of the methods. The article intends
to describe some of the unnecessary cruelties practised
by some plants on animals and insects in order to further
their own selfish purpose. It says : "Take the case of the
fruit of the Martynia, a South American plant, which is
armed with terrific hooks, sometimes as much as five or
six inches long, so curved that they seize hold of passing
animals and plunge deeply into the flesh. It is said that
the Bullocks are often thus driven half frantic and suffer,
dreadful wounds. Of course the final result is that the
seeds receive a very wide distribution, but a large amount
of needless suffering seems to be involved
Even more astonishing is the case of the Grapple Fruit
of South Africa (Harpagophytun). This species is of a
low growing habit and bears fruits which are freely
adorned with most formidable barbed appendages. The
fruit secures its dispersion in the following manner : in its
position out of the ground it is liable to be trodden on by
sheep, deer, etc. ; at once, of course the hooks catch hold
and these penetrate into the tender places of the foot
between the horny portions. The unhappy animals limp
144
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
*' 3
t*tt&n
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i
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THE LIVING STRUCTURES 145
about and it may be weeks before the dreadful burden
can be thrown aside. During this time the most dreadful
wounds are produced and as well the creature is very
likely to fall a victim to some beast of prey. In this con-
nection a very singular happening sometimes occurs
which is well authenticated ; viz., a lion captures an ante-
lope with a grapple root on his foot; when making his
meal, the lion gets the hook capsule in his jaws and the
barbs speedily become entangled in the mouth parts.
The more the lion fidgets the less likely is he to get rid
of the encumbrance, but owing to the pain and annoyance
the beast cannot leave his mouth alone, so the miserable
business goes on. Days pass and the lion is quite unable
to eat and as a consequence becomes weak and helpless.
So the king of beasts dies, killed by the fruit of the Grap-
ple plant.
It is of course recognized that plants must take certain
means to protect themselves against the attacks of
animals. Some of the measures which have been adopted
are positively vindictive. Take the case of the common
stinging nettle. Here the plant is covered with minute
hairs which penetrate the skin and at the same time in-
ject an irritant poison, the effect of which lasts f©r hours.
Some of the tropical nettles are much more terrible. The
following is an account taken from the Himalyan Journal
of Sir Joseph Hooker in which an Indian Nettle is de-
scribed: "This plant, called 'Mealum-Ma,' attains fif-
teen feet in height. It has broad glossy leaves and though
apparently without stings is held in such a great dread
that I had difficulty in getting men to help cut it down.
No wonder that the plant is avoided, for if a person is
stung by the microscopic hairs the results are appalling.
The pain is at first comparatively slight, but after a few
hours the effected part feels as if it were being rubbed
146 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
with a hot iron. Later the most distressing symptoms
arise in other parts of the body, which not uncommonly
involve the contraction of the muscles of the jaw and
other indications which are similar to those to be ob-
served in the case of lock-jaw. In one instance it was
nine days before the unhappy individual was free from
pain and discomfort. In such a case as this it would
seem that a huge amount of unnecessary suffering is in-
volved. It is possible to protect a plant from attack as
can be seen in many cases without adopting such brutal
methods.
"Self-defense has been carried to a fine art among
desert plants, especially the cacti. An array of spines is
of course an admirable means of preventing an attack,
but many species have carried the matter a good deal
further. In some kinds of prickly pear they have minute
barbs on their spines and if any animal should even brush
up against them the spines hold on firmly when driven
into the flesh. They are loosely attached so. that the un-
happy creature takes away a large number of spines
when he withdraws. These remain to produce festering
wounds. Another cactus which adds singular hooked
spines to the straight variety is called "The Wait-a-bit
Plant." The hook holds the clothes Or flesh and mean-
while the sharp straight spines do deadly work.
"It is of course well known that a certain number of
species find it needful to capture insects in order that
thev may supplement their supply of nitrogenous food.
In most of the schemes the unhappy victim is doomed to
undergo the torture of a lingering death. Very rarely is
the insect killed at once. First of all let us consider the
case of the Darlingtonia, a plant which usually catches
winged insects. The flies are lured by honey secretion
to enter the hooded process at the top of the pitcher-like
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 147
leaf. This they do by means of an opening on the under-
side. The whole of the upper portion of the hood is cov-
ered with transparent patches like so many windows.
Now when the fly wishes to leave he naturally flies up-
ward toward the light which streams down through these
windows. The real opening is hidden in the shade of
the under part and passes unnoticed. Thus the flies
simply beat themselves to death in a vain endeavor to
escape through the transparent places. This proceeding
may extend over hours, but it always has one ending. The
fly falls exhausted into the fluid at the bottom of the
pitcher and is drowned Many
flies meet with peculiarly brutal death in connection with
the Venus fly-trap. The insect is captured by its legs
and held fast; meanwhile it beats its life away in vain
endeavors to escape. In conclusion Mr. Bastin says:
"The instances given above are only a few out of a
very large number which might be brought forward to
show that in many ways plants are guilty of great
cruelty. One cannot get away from the idea that most of
the suffering involved appears to be quite unnecessary,
for there are plenty of instances to show that the same
ends can be achieved in less painful ways."
This article was originally written by Mr. Bastin in
the Scientific American to show some of the unnecessary
cruelties practised by some plants on animals and in-
sects in order to protect themselves or to spread their
young. However, we have no cause of complaint against
the plant for cruel and inhuman treatment, as we never
stop to consider the pain or feelings of the plants to fur-
ther our wishes, so why should the plant pay any atten-
tion to ours? I never can forget my astonishment when I
first met the drought and animal resisting structure called
the "Spined Cactus" found growing on the Western
148 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
Plains with spines so arranged that it would be impos-
sible for the deer or buffalo to attack and eat it without
suffering terrible torture. Lack of space will prevent a
consideration of the birds, except to refer to them in a
general way.
The discovery of the art of making feathers as perfect
as they are today, must have taken ages. Man was able
to perfect a flying machine in a very short time, but he
had the experience of the world at his feet to teach and
help him. The wonderful skill exhibited by young birds
in being able to fly the first time they make the attempt
will be explained later. However, it is no more of a mys-
FIG. 28.— Bird descending. (Made by cell.)
tery than the ability of the aeroplane to fly in its first at-
tempt. It is no more difficult to operate a machine than
to build it. If the cells understand how to build the aerial
structure with which they are able to navigate the air it
seems queer that they should not also understand how to
operate it. That question will be more fully discussed
under the chapter on cause of instinctive action of all
kinds, which so far has seemed to be a mystery to man-
kind. I can see no mystery in the instinctive acts of ani-
mals or plants. The builder should know, and does know
how to use the machinery he has put together. The living
structures which are made by living beings, the cells, are
all made for a purpose. For example, the long tongues of
woodpeckers and humming birds with which they reach
into deep crevices and holes, the web between the toes of
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
149
the swimming' animals and birds, and the long" neck of
the giraffe with which he reaches up to the high branches
of the trees on which he feeds are structures that arise
out of the desires and needs of the builders. Take for in-
stance hair, this is a covering mainly to keep the body at
an equal temperature. In a cold climate the covering
FIG. 29. — Bird descending. (Made by man.)
must be provided either by the cells in the body or by the
acts of the individual himself, as in the case of man. The
cells of a man do not make hair on the body, after having
discovered a better way of covering the same with the
skins of animals or otherwise, which covering can be re-
moved when not required. Hair is produced as it is de-
sired and necessary. On the animals farthest south the
150 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
hair is the thinnest and on those farthest north it is the
thickest, but the evolutionist steps in and states that this
is due to natural selection and survival of the fittest, —
that is to say, those animals in the north that happen to
be born with short hair will be exterminated by the cold
weather, and in that way all the short haired animals
would be weeded out and only the long haired animals
would be left to perpetuate themselves, and that is why
we find long haired animals in the north. This proposi-
tion you see leaves the whole cause of long hair in the
north, to chance and not to desire and intellect. Upon in-
vestigation we find, however, that the evolutionist is up
against it. You can take for instance, a bunch of pups
born in Iowa ; keep two in the house all winter, send two
to New Orleans and two to Alaska and let two run out-
doors and this experiment I believe will settle the whole
question. You bring the pups together again in the
spring in Iowa and you will be astonished at the differ-
ence in the length and thickness of the hair on the dogs.
There has been no time to produce the extra length of
hair by chance, natural selection or survival of the fittest.
Where the climate required the long and thick fur the
builders and caretakers of the body provided the cover-
ing. The same is true of horses, cattle, cats and other
animals. The hair will be short and thin on the animals
sent south, and thick and long on those sent north.
Everyone knows what long, thick hair the cattle and
horses have that have been running out all winter in open
sheds, among corn stalks and straw stacks. The necessity
of protecting the body from destruction by the cold
weather requires long and thick hair. The cells of the
surface of the body understand how to get the material
with which to build the protective covering, and they in-
crease its thickness and length for that purpose when
THE DIVING STRUCTURES 151
necessary and not otherwise. The actions of the cells in
building hair are brought about precisely in the same
manner as the actions of man in making and covering
himself with heavy clothing whenever it is necessary and
not otherwise. It is his needs and desires and require-
ments that spur him to action. It is of course true that
any person in a cold climate who does not have sense
enough to make and cover himself with clothes will per-
ish and be exterminated and this would be true of those
animal building cells. The builders of every animal have
sense and intelligence enough to increase the length and
thickness of the hair if necessary in the same manner that
man has, to provide himself with the clothes required.
The act requires skill and intelligence sufficient to gather
the material and build the structure, be it hair or clothes.
One requires just as much intelligence as the other.
There is a production of hair for a purpose, just as there
is a production of clothes for a purpose, just so we find
structures of all kinds produced in the living world for a
purpose, as for instance, the shells of the sea animals:
some are thick and powerful in order to resist the crush
of the water pressure in the deep ocean, or the crash and
hammering of the waves on the shore ; other shells are
thin like those which move over the mud in shallow still
water. The shells are the houses in which colonies of cells
live. Experience shows that if you plant them in deeper
and rougher waters they will build a shell stronger and
thicker, just as you might expect, for if the builders act
with intelligence in one place they will also do so in other
places. This fact has been shown in thousands of ways-,
for instance, one class of cells will take charge of the work
of another class, the cells in charge of the mucus mem-
brane will build an outside skin covering if necessary, or
the cells in charge of the ^utside skin will refuse to build
152 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
it if it is not the right thing to do. On this point Spencer
makes the remark : "That is to say, these literally outer
layers of skin are capable of rapidly assuming one an-
other's structures and functions when subject to one an-
other's conditions. Mucus surfaces normally kept covered,
become skin-like if exposed to the air, originally moist,
tender to the touch and irritated by the air. The surface
gradually becomes covered with a thick, dry cuticle and
scarcely more sensitive." The facts seem to be that noth-
ing is produced or changed except when it is necessary
and for a purpose. It never takes place by chance. We
find that differentiation will arise altogether from their
method, place and condition of existence ; that every
plant, insect, bird or animal is a structure designed to
meet certain conditions of life, in the same manner ex-
actly as a ship is designed to move over water, an automo-
bile over the ground and the airship through the air.
Plants and animals have so many structures in common,
which over-lap each other in so many ways, that it is im-
possible to tell in a great number of cases where the ani-
mal commences and the plant ends.
La Mark classified all creation according to the de-
velopment of the brain and nervous system ; such a classi-
fication proved later, of course, to be entirely erroneous,
as it was discovered later that insects showed intelligence
in their particular place in life equal if not superior to any
of the higher animals. The cell that builds the little air-
ship known as the lightning bug has the knowledge com-
pletely mastered of how to produce a light without heat.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent by the
most skilled chemists to learn the secret known by the
builders of this bug of how to produce a light without
heat. We have finally, after spending considerable money
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 153
in experimenting, learned from the silk worm how to
make artificial silk.
It is impossible to classify the living structures into
classes or individuals in a great number of cases, as for
instance, in the case of some sea-weeds or animals that
grow fastened to the bottom of the sea. At first this crea-
ture will be only a single cell, swimming in the water, then
it will change and build itself into a fish-like form swim-
ing in the ocean ; finally this form will change into a sta-
tionary structure settled on the bottom of the sea like
sponges or sea-weed.
Every structure, plant or animal, shows clearly that it
is made with a purpose of effecting certain ends and that
is to satisfy some desire. Take the case for instance of the
corn-plant. This plant in order to protect the cob from
field mice and other rodents never starts a cob down near
the ground. The starchy nutritious kernels embodying
the embryo corn must be protected from weather, insects
and birds, which is done by a very strong husk. This
strong husk prevents the male germs of the plant who are
located on top in the tassel from getting to the female
germ in the kernel. How did they solve that problem and
overcome that difficulty? By building a hollow tube
from the female germ in the kernel extending clear out-
side. When the male germ in the tassel falls down on
the silk, which is a hollow tube, leading to the female
germ he hunts up the end of the silk and crawls down
through this hollow tube which directs him to the place
of the female germ. Considered as a whole it is a won-
derful scheme and all the difficult problems have been
solved and taken care of in the best possible manner.
In-breeding must be prevented if possible so the male
cells are placed away as far as possible. There is a desire
to give the young corn plant a start in life so each cell is
154 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
provided with food consisting of the starch of the kernel
which is sufficient until they have been able to get them-
selves established in the soil and by the aid of sunlight to
make their own food and building material from the raw
material at hand. The corn building cells work with a
purpose in view arising from a desire to effect certain
ends. We build houses, make clothes, produce food. We
want and need these articles. We must be protected from
the weather. This causes the construction of all kinds
of structures to protect us from the elements. The need
of food of all kinds caused the railroads and in this man-
ner we can trace every desire to do any particular act to
arise from our wants and necessities. The desire has
stimulated effort, and effort has devised and conceived
structures and methods by which it could be accom-
plished. In the effort to build a house certain activities
take place involving judgment and discretion. Such ma-
terial will be selected as in the judgment of the builder
is most suitable. Every act will involve intelligence, in
order that the structure shall conform to the mental pic-
ture of what the'builder wants. In the same manner does
everything that we see come to be and exist from the most
complicated city block and railroad system to the smallest
living organism. In this particular I agree with Mr. Dar-
win, who states :
"That animals have a capacity to be modified by pro-
cesses which their own desires initiate." He states fur-
ther in another place that : "Their powers are excited
into action by the necessities of the creatures which pos-
sess them and on which their existence depends." Again
he states : "That from the first rudiment or primordium
to the termination of their lives, all animals undergo per-
petual transformations which are in part produced by
their own exertions in consequence of their desires, aver-
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 155
sions, pleasures, pains, irritations or associations." You
will see then that all living structures are caused by rea-
son of the desires of the parties who construct them,
which desires arise from the wants and necessities of the
parties. The desires will be likely limited to that party's
experience or knowledge. Every action in life is traceable
to an. effort to adjust and adapt itself to meet conditions
and external forces.
Professor Haeckel, the great German biologist states,
"Cells are grouped together as builders or sculptors
because they alone in reality build the organism." Still
Mr. Haeckel claims that the actions of the cells are caused
by merely chemical and mechanical forces, — that they are
not intelligent beings. It seems absurd to me to claim
that the living beings who are the sculptors and builders
of all living structures have no intelligence. It is simply
unthinkable.
In reference to the general course of development of
animals he states : "For example — from the fact that the
human egg is a simple cell, we may at once infer that
there has been at a very remote time a unicellular ances-
tor of the human race, resembling the amoeba. Again
from the fact that the human embryo originally consists
merely of two simple germ layers we may at once safely
infer that a very ancient ancestral form is represented by
the two layered gastraea. A later embryo form of the
human being points with equal certainty to a primitive
worm like ancestral form, which is related to the sea-
squirts or ascidians of the present day.
"If we go back to still earlier stages of development we
are unable even to discover any distinction between the
embryos of these higher vertebrates and those of the
lower, such as the amphibia and fishes. Finally if we go
still further back to the construction of the body from
156 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
FIG. 30. — Embryos in three stages of development. — HAECKEL
THE LIVING STRUCTURES
157
FIG. 31. — Embryos in three stages of development. — HAECKEL.
158 CELL, INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the four secondary germ layers, we may make the surpris-
ing discovery that these same four germ layers exist, not
only in all vertebrates but also in all higher inverte-
brates and that they are everywhere concerned in the
same way in forming the fundamental organs of the body.
And if then we inquire into the origin of these four sec-
ondary germ layers, we find that they develope from the
two primary germ layers, which are identical in all ani-
mals with the exception of the lowest division, the pro-
tista. Finally we see that the cells which compose the
two primary germ layers universally originate by fission
from a single simple cell, from the egg cell."
You will notice from this statement that the course of
development or building of an animal, including man,
takes place in the same manner in one animal as in an-
other, and his illustrations clearly show the similarity of
all animals in the lower stages of development. Figs.
30 and 31 show how the cell begins with the small
and simple and gradually builds the complicated living
structures. You see in the turtle how the cells have out-
lined the shape and frame of the shell. It shows that
every move is for the purpose of building a moveable cell
colony, which shall be covered with a protective armor.
In the same manner you can see a purpose and intention
of the builders in any other structure, as soon as it is
partly completed, just as you can see in a partly com-
pleted house or automobile the intention of the builders.
You can see a purpose in every act ; every brick and piece
of material must be placed exactly where it belongs ;
every part of the machine must be placed with a purpose
and intention of working in harmony with every other
part.
A being without intelligence could never work in this
way with a purpose and with an intention of producing
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 159
a work of art. Intelligence and skill of the highest order
is required to produce these well balanced and highly
complicated structures we call animals and plants. The
common frog is a good illustration of the course and gen-
eral development of an animal. He begins as a single
cell which multiplies into enormous colonies which again
group themselves into a fish. This fish gradually changes
into the perfect animal or frog. This shows how the
cells start building with a purpose and continue as far as
FIG. 32. — Tadpoles and Frog; a, tadpole with branching external gills; b,
gills absorbed and hind legs have appeared; c, fore legs have appeared; d, tail
shrunk and legs enlarged; e. perfect, young frog, — tail entirely disappeared.
The figures represent some stages in the life history of the frog. — SCHUTE.
they have had experience. This particular kind of cell
has been building these structures, and that is the extent
of its skill and experience. In the same manner some peo-
ple or animals have had experience in building certain
kinds of structures and houses, and they always build
those and none other because they are the only kind they
know how to build. That point will be more fully consid-
ered under the Cause of inheritance.
It must be clear to the reader by this time that all
160 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
structures in life are made for a purpose in a similar man-
ner as all structures put up by man are built for a pur-
pose. Living structures are made to move in air, earth
or water or to remain stationary on the earth. In the
same manner we build structures to move through the
air, over the earth and water. It requires intelligence in
the builder to produce these structures. For instance, to
build a wagon, the builder must know how and where to
obtain the wood, iron and other material, and he must
have an idea of what he is about to do. Every move must
be correct and for the purpose of completing the wagon.
He must have knowledge of the strength of materials in
order to produce a wagon that will carry the ordinary
load. In other words to produce any structure designed
for a purpose, requires intelligence. If it is to be a land
animal, it must be built to occupy and move over the sur-
face of the earth in a certain way. There are enemies,
weather and elements to contend with, and these must
all be considered in the making of the machine or moving
habitation. The experience of the past must be there to
amide the builder. From those experiences he must form
ideas that guide his actions. The ear is made for hearing,
just as a knife is made for cutting. These are both in-
struments made for a purpose and are produced by in-
telligence and not by chance. The eyes are made for see-
ing, just as opera glasses are made to help us see better.
The cell completes the structure little by little for a pur-
pose, just as if it had a model before it. What is the
difference between the act by man of building huts and
houses and the same act by the muskrat or the beaver.
Consider how they all work in harmony for a purpose
just the same as man. The birds build nests and a home
to raise a family, so does man ; the birds sing and display
their beauty to attract the opposite sex, so does the
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 161
human race. The bird is made to sail through the air.
Consider how perfectly everything is calculated and ad-
justed to effect that purpose. The bones are all made
hollow and extremely light, even lighter than aluminum.
Those little animals we call cells build and produce these
structures and attend to every detail in their production.
Think of the factors entering into the construction of the
eye. It is made to receive an image like a photographic
plate with the purpose of transferring impressions and
images received to the brain cells. Every step in the pro-
duction of the eye must be exactly calculated, and every
act performed with a purpose in view. Think of the per-
fect adjustment of the crystalline lens, vitreous humor,
and cornea of the eye and how the light is continually
regulated by those cells who have charge of the opening
and closing of the pupil of the eye to adjust the intensity
of the light falling on the retina. In reference to the de-
velopment of the eye Mr. Haeckel has the following to
say:
"The essential difference between the real eye and a
part of the skin that is merely sensitive to light is that
the eye can form a picture of objects of the outer world.
This faculty of vision begins with the formation of a small
convergent lens, a bi-convex refracting body at a certain
spot on the surface. Dark pigment cells, which surround
it absorb the light rays. From this first phylogenetic
form of the organ of vision up to the elaborate human eye,
there is a long scale of evolutionary stages — not less ex-
tensive and remarkable than the historical succession of
artificial optical instruments from the simple lens to the
complicated modern telescope or microscope. This great
"wonder of life" — the long scale of the evolution of the
eye — has an interesting bearing on many important ques-
tions of general physiology and phylogeny."
162 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Just note how Mr. Haeckel compares the acts of the
cell in perfecting the eye with the acts of man in perfect-
ing- and developing the telescope and microscope. The
following statement also by Mr. Haeckel seems to me
quite a conclusive admission by him of intelligence in the
cell mind : "The history of civilization teaches us that
its gradual evolution is bound up with three different
nrocesses :
(1) Association of individuals in a community.
(2) Division of labor (ergonomy) among the social
elements and the consequent differentiation of structure
(polymorphism) .
(3) Centralization or integration of the unified whole,
or rigid organization of the community. The same fun-
damental laws of sociality hold good for association
throughout the entire organic world and also for the
gradual evolution of the several organs out of the tissues
and cell communities. The formation of human societies
is directly connected with the gregariousness of the near-
est related mammals. The herds of apes and Ungulata,
the packs of wolves, the flocks of birds often controlled
by a single leader, exhibit various stages of social forma-
tion as also the swarm of the higher articulates (insects,
Crustacea), especially communities of ants and termites,
swarms of bees, etc. These organized communities of
free individuals are distinguished from the stationary col-
onies of the lower animals chiefly by the circumstance
that the social elements are not bodily connected but held
together by the ideai link of common interest."
If the cell has gone through the same process of social
organization and evolution as man, why is he not also the
same intelligent being as man? Did you ever stop to
think what takes place when the surface of the body is
cut or bruised? The white blood cells, as they are called,
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 163
who are the general caretakers of the body, whose duty
it is to look after everything- in general, such as the fight-
ing of bacteria and disease germs and the general repair
work, will sacrifice their own lives by thousands if neces-
sary to save the body. They live in the body enjoying
complete liberty. They do not float in the blood stream
except when in a hurry to get somewhere, but move
around everywhere as separate independent beings to see
that everything goes right. If a bruise or cut happens
they are at once informed in some way. We do not know
just how, but they rush to the spot by thousands and
direct the repair work and if necessary they change their
own occupation and take a different job, that of making
connective tissue in order to bind the tissues together.
In nearly every open sore, bruise or cut, they are killed in
great numbers in their faithful efforts to repair and close
up the wound. A text book on physiology briefly speaks
of it as follows :
"When the skin is injured the white blood cells form
new tissue upon the surface, while the epithelium
spreads over it from the edges, stopping the growth and
completing the healing processes."
There seems to be no particular center in the body
around which intelligence revolves. Every cell seems to
be a center of intelligence and knows what his duties are
wherever he is placed and wherever we find him. Every
citizen of the cell republic is an intelligent patriotic be-
ing. It is a democracy where every individual enjoys an
intelligent independent existence, and all are working
together for the welfare of all. Nowhere can we find
more absolute sacrifice of the lives of the individuals to
the general welfare of all than we do in the cell republic.
The results cannot be obtained in any other way nor at
any less cost of individual sacrifice, so it is necessary to
164 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
their social existence. The principle of individual sacri-
fice to common welfare has been accepted and agreed
upon as the right thing and as their common duty, im-
partially distributed among them, and they perform their
allotted work and duties regardless of their own individ-
ual comfort. I wish again to call your attention to the
various intelligent acts of the cell, living as a separate
individual before he has begun the social life. We find
him then in the same place as savage man, before man be-
gan his social and civilized life. We find the cell using
weapons like spears and bow and arrow with which to
fight his enemy and capture his prey. I quote from Mr.
Binet and others of the different actions of single cells
as follows :
"With the cell the biologists can reconstruct the animal
and vegetable kingdom by studying the forms and be-
havior of single cells and one celled animals. One can
better understand the structure and physiology of the
highest and most specialized forms, even that of man —
for as Geddes has remarked : "The functions of the body
are the result of the aggregate functions of its cell and
are explained by variations or phases of the activities of
them. Food is taken by the protozoa into the interior
of the body, the digestible portion assimilated and the
portion of no use to the organism afterwards rejected.
The character of the nourishment also varies. Some
forms live on vegetable productions alone, while others
absorb any organic body, animal or plant, often devouring
rotifers, worms or Crustacea far higher in the scale than
themselves. In the higher protozoa the food is either
brought to the part of the body set aside for the recep-
tion of food by currents of water, created by the rapid
moving cilia, while in others the animals which are eaten
are in some unexplained manner benumbed by the pro-
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 165
tozoon and then devoured. The hunter infusoria are fre-
quently armed with trichocysts. Trichocysts are urtical
filaments, which serve the animalcula provided with them
to disable or wound other micro organisms.
"A large number of infusoria, the paramecia, the ophry-
oglene, etc., use their trichocysts as organs of defense.
With other species of which we shall speak more at
length, the trychocysts are organs of offense. They are
located either in the sides of the mouth or in parts adja-
cent thereto. This is the case with the lacrymaria, the
didinium, the enchelys, the lagynus, the loxophyllum and
amphileptus. These latter animalcula attack live prey
that constitute their food in the following manner : They
dash upon their victim and bury the trychocysts with
which they are armed into its body. The victim is imme-
diately brought to a halt whereupon the hunter siezes it
and swallows it."
There are a great number of species of single cells
which have invented weapons with which to fight their
enemy at a distance. These cells, that make weapons and
hunt their prey and also use them in defense, resemble
man in his savage state very closely. Still they are mic-
roscopic beings, similar to the amoeba and those cells
that build animals and plants. It seems to me absurd to
say that these individuals, (whether as large as a moun-
tain or smaller than a grain of sand), who display ability
to invent, make and use weapons, who organize them-
selves into high class societies and republics, and build all
the various living structures that we see are not endowed
with intelligence. The following is a description of the
cell who builds the human body from Conn and Buding-
ton's Advanced Physiology now used generally in the
high schools and universities. "The amoeba is one of
the simplest animals and lives in stagnant water. It is
166 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
only a lump of jelly about 1,000th of an inch in diameter
yet it is a complete animal for it moves, eats and grows
and produces other amoeba." Man is like an amoeba.
Each part of man's body is made of a multitude of living
beings, each of which eats and grows like an amoeba.
Each tiny being is called a cell. One collection of cells
form the skin, another the muscles of the arm and another
the stomach and so on through the body. Each collection
does its own work without interfering with the others.
The cells work together like a well trained army, so we
do not feel the workings of each separate cell. If a col-
lection is out of order the person is sick.
"Relation of cells — In the body formed by the cells
there exists a controlling spirit of life, whose nature is un-
known. When all the cells are obedient to its influence,
the body as a whole is alive, but if the cells are not obed-
ient, the body as a whole is dead, although each separate
cell may remain alive. For example, a blow upon the
head may disturb this controlling influence so that it
cannot tell the cells how to act. Then they instantly stop
work and the body drops dead. Yet each cell may remain
alive for minutes or hours just as each soldier may remain
alive after an army has been disbanded." This description
of the cell colony or individual we call man is very good,
as it illustrates its high state of organization.
Before I close this chapter on structure, I must call at-
tention to one of the wonderful fly catching plants that
grows in the bogs and swamps of South Carolina. It is
called Venus Fly Trap. This plant, which has roots and
obtains nourishment from the ground and air like other
plants, can manufacture its own food from the earth, air
and water like other plants by the aid of sunlight and does
not need flies and insects for food. It catches insects as
a mere pastime, sport and luxury. The fly trap is the
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 167
most scientifically built structure that could be conceived
to effect the purpose for which it is made. It opens and
closes just like the jaws of a steel trap. The trap is built
out at the end of the leaf showing that it was a later idea
conceived by the builders of the plant after having first
lived for ages without this trap. The idea of catching a
fly now and then for food or sport or amusement must
have arisen in the minds of the builders of this plant. The
complete fly trap must have been first conceived by the
builders before they could have entered upon the work of
FIG. 33.- Venus fly-trap.
putting it together. One botanist describes it in the fol-
lowing language : "This plant called the Venus Fly Trap
grows only in the peet bogs on a narrow strip of country
on the east coast of North America. The peculiarity of
the plant lies in its leaves. The leaf stalk has become flat-
tened out so as to be leaf like, while the blade proper has
become edged with teeth and has moreover six sharp little
bristles standing straight up three on each side of the
midrib. These midribs are sense organs. Touch one ever
so lightly and the halves of the leaves on which they are
placed close up together abruptly just like the slamming
168 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
to of a volume, the midrib serving as hinge while the
teeth at the edges interlock like clamped ringers. The
sense bristles too shut up, as a blade of a pen knife
closes. If the touch which evokes this response has been
given by say the end of a pencil the two halves of the
leaves will slowly open again and the bristles raise them-
selves but if some insect brushes against them, then the
rapid closing of the leaves makes it a prison, while out
of the glands of the surface of the leaves a digestible fluid
quickly overwhelms the poor victim. When the nutritive
parts are completely absorbed, the six sense bristles once
more stand erect ready for action like soldiers on guard.
Indeed it is an open question whether in the whole animal
world there is a more perfectly constituted organ of touch
than is found in the dionia or Venus Fly Trap."
I have myself examined a number of these plants and
the general description above is correct. On each side of
the leaf are three sentinels on guard, — simply hairs or
feelers to give notice to the thousand or more individuals
to act as one in slapping the trap shut and catch the insect
when he gets inside of the dead line. Consider the situa-
tion here — a colony of cells in the shape of a plant. Here
is no brain, nerves or muscles, as we understand them,
simply a plant. Still it is a colony of cells in the same
manner that an animal is a colony of cells. Insects are
not absolutely necessary as food for the builders of this
plant — still they have devised and built an elaborate and
effective machine with which to catch flies. Considering
the size of the fly trap enormous numbers are required to
perform the work of slamming the trap shut when notified
to do so. They are not fooled by anything, and the trap
doors only shut upon insects or food. It is inconceivable
that the builders and operators of this fly catching ma-
chine can be anything but conscious and intelligent be-
THE LIVING STRUCTURES 169
ings. Where does the chance theory of natural selection
and survival of the fittest of the evolutionist come in here?
That theory claims that everything- came to be as it is
by accidental variations beneficial to the being, that is to
say, every beneficial variation would make him the fittest
in the struggle for existence, and he would by reason of
such beneficial variation survive and perpetuate his kind.
However, in this case, as in all of the cases I have exam-
ined, the variations would not be of any benefit until the
structure towards which the variations tended was com-
pleted and in working order. No chance variation could
ever have produced this fly trap. Any variations or acci-
dental changes in the leaves of the plant could never have
produced the fly trap and could not have been a beneficial
variation until the fly trap was completed, but on the
other hand, rather an injury. It is true, of course, that in
the struggle for existence between individuals, the best
one will win, but that does not prove or in any way show
how those individuals came to be. For instan'ce — two
battleships meet out at sea in mortal combat, the best ship
will likely win out and will be left to produce more ships
of a like kind but it does not show in any way who pro-
duced the ships. What I want to get clear is this, that
the survival of the fittest theory is only an incident that
determines as between two individuals who shall live, as
there is not room for both, but it does not show the cause
of the existence of these individuals. With the micro-
scope that we now have, we can see what the cause is,
and who are the builders of all those living things we
call plants and animals, and it seems to me that it is time
to get down to facts and admit the truth as far as we can
see it. What process of development took place in the
past ages to produce the cell we have today, is another
question. How the primordial cell of which the cell is
170 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
composed came to be and multiplies is another question
which we are not at this time able to answer. It was just
as much of a mystery 35 years ago what produced the
plants and animals as it is now a mystery what produces
the cell. I believe that some day the mystery will be
solved.
CHAPTER V.
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE?
What is understood by the word Intelligence? What
should be considered an intelligent being or individual?
This must be settled before we go any further.
First, what is understood by intellect? The dictionar-
ies define intellect as, "That faculty of the human mind
which perceives, understands and thinks." Webster
states that it is the "Faculty of the human soul or mind
which receives or comprehends the ideas communicated
to it by the senses."
These definitions clearly show that the sense organs,
eye,, ear, nose, etc., are no part of the intellect. The intel-
lect then is the brain cells. They receive impressions and
think.
How do the dictionaries define intelligence? They de-
fine it as, "The power of discovering or understanding."
This definition includes both the senses and the brain.
To be able to, and to have the power to discover you
must not only have the brain cells to do the thinking, but
you must have the apparatus to receive and transmit to
the brain cells, impressions and conditions existing in
the world outside of the body, so they can have something
to think about, or something to understand.
The dictionaries define intelligent as well-informed
and skilled. A person could not be well-informed, skilled,
172 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
or intelligent, unless he possessed most of his sense or-
gans and also his brain cells or thinkers.
The five senses are the instruments by which the brain
cells obtain this information from the outside world. They
have nothing to do with the thinking.
The brain cells and their assistants, the nerves, have
charge of the business of receiving information from, and
being in touch with the outside world, and of directing
and guiding all the other members and cells of the body.
This will clearly show that the cells may be ever so able
to think and direct, — that is intelligent, as far as they are
concerned, but should they be deprived of information
from the outside world, they would not be able to exercise
their faculty of thinking and directing, especially in refer-
ence to matters taking place in the outside world, be they
ever so dangerous to the existence and welfare of them-
selves and the whole body in general. To illustrate : If
we left the house and went into the timber with a gun to
shoot a lion, and the gun should accidentally explode and
destroy the eyesight, we would likely iiave a hard time
finding the way back home, and would probably be eaten
by the lion. Why? Because the instrument by which we
convey continually to the brain cells information of the
outside world, so that the brain cells can think and know
what is going on outside, has been destroyed, and they
have no means of knowing of any impending danger, or
of where to go and cannot give any directions to the mo-
tor or any other part of the cell body.
It is the business of the brain cells to inform the other
cells of the body of the approaching lion, and where to go,
and to order the limbs to immediate action, in order to
save the whole body or cell community from utter de-
struction by the lion. The brain cells are, however, help-
less, because the instrument necessary to receive and
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 173
transmit the information is not working. If a person at
a distance saw a man standing on the road with a gun,
and a lion coming toward him, and this man made no ef-
fort to shoot or to get away, the person would declare that
the man was crazy and not possessed of any intelligence ;
and yet the man, or the cells of his brain, would be just as
intelligent as ever.
To further illustrate, if a submarine should start out
from Germany and by accident should destroy its head-
lights and periscope, it would not be likely that it would
get back home without being destroyed by an English
cruiser or battleship. When it came to the surface for
air, like the whale, it could not tell whether it was near
an English destroyer or not, nor could it see the dangers
ahead, when starting towards the steel nets stretched out
ahead of it. .
There is no difference whatever in the purpose and
functions of the periscope of the submarine and the eye
of a man, animal, or fish. The man at the other end of the
periscope gets a picture of the situation in the outside
world and from this picture he thinks, reasons and decides
what to do. If the battleship is too near, he orders the
different acts to be done by the parties in charge of the
propellers and rudders, in order to escape the enemy. In
the same way, in man the brain cells at the other end of
the eye get a picture of the situation and if they observe
an enemy approaching, or too near, they order immediate
action so as to get out of danger. The same is true of a
fish. — like a submarine, it would order the cells in charge
of the propelling apparatus and rudder to action to move
to a place of safety and away from the enemy.
This should clearly illustrate the proposition that the
senses are instruments which are constructed for a special
purpose of obtaining and transmitting information from
174 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the outside world, and have nothing to do with the think-
ing or reasoning, which will be necessary to intelligently
direct the actions of the other organs of the body to move
to a place of safety.
We see them in every organized body or being, like ani-
mals (and we shall see later also in plants), where there
has been a division of labor and a special organ arranged
for receiving and transmitting sensations or information,
that the bunch of cells which have any special work in
charge, like the cells which make up the eye and ear. have
nothing to do but receive and transmit impressions.
The thinking and directing is done by another bunch of
cells which we call the brain. The two things are neces-
sary in an intelligent animal, the brain and the senses,
that is, the thinkers or the brain cells, and the senses or
the cells engaged in, or in charge of the instruments for
receiving and transmitting information regarding condi-
tions existing in the world outside of the body.
There must always be the thinkers and the transmitters
of information to the thinkers. We shall see, however,
later, that the individuals who have charge of the receiv-
ing and transmitting of information are and must neces-
sarily be intelligent beings as well as thinkers. It re-
quires intelligence to execute orders received as well as
to give the orders.
It is a peculiar trait of the human being to consider
every one who does not agree with him in his ideas of
any civil, political or religious belief, foolish, ignorant and
not intelligent. We look upon the savage as being infe-
rior to us in mental capacity, when in fact investigations
lately have disclosed the fact that he is just as intelligent
in his occupation as any civilized man. I quote from the
Scientific Journal the following:
"Civilized man has so long scorned the savage races as
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 175
mentally inferior, that it will be hard for him to become
accustomed to the idea that even the repulsive Fiji Is-
lander is his equal in intelligence.
Yet this is exactly what is being found to be a scientific
fact, and the world must accept it if we are to have any
success in civilizing the lower races.
According to this revolutionary idea the difference be-
tween us and the savages is not one ot mental capacity,
but rather of the objects upon which that capacity is ex-
erted.
A man may, for example, display just as much intelli-
gence in tracking a kangaroo through the bush as in solv-
ing a problem in higher mathematics.
What makes the savage a savage is not the lack of in-
telligence, but the fact that his intelligence is exerted
largely upon foolish superstitions. The contents of his
brain differs from ours in kind, rather than breadth and
depth.
"Dr. Alfred G. Mayer, of the Carnegie Institution,
found some interesting evidence to support these argu-
ments among the Fiji Islanders, who are the lowest, most
cruel and most repulsive of primitive savages.
I remember how my parents used to consider the Cath-
olics a very ignorant and uneducated lot of people, and
the free thinkers, as we called them, the most ignorant of
all, and also dangerous to associate with.
As I came to maturity, I soon noticed that it was only
a matter of opinion and that one was about as smart as
the other.
My father, who read only republican papers, was a re-
publican, while my brother and I happened to read
some democratic literature and we turned out to be demo-
crats for a while, but later saw that it was all a matter
of politics. Whether any person is really sane, is a ques-
176 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
tion; sometimes it looks to me as if we all were walking
along the borderland of insanity, hysteria, dementia,
idiocy and imbecility, for most of us seem to be afflicted
with a mental weakness of some kind.
I believe that the cause of mental weakness in man
arises from over development of the mental faculty, the
brain. It becomes too complicated and the wires get
crossed. Consider all the religious beliefs ; the foolish
patent medicine schemes, faith cures, get rich quick, spirit-
ualist and other superstitious nonsense, which rope in
people. Consider how the asylums are being filled with
the insane of all kinds, people morally insane, intellect-
ually insane, as monomania, people afflicted with com-
mon mania or raving madness, dementia, imbecility and
idiocy. Very few human beings are capable of reasoning,
as we understand reason.
Think of the superstitions of the past centuries, the
burning of the witches, etc. The following article from
a newspaper is significant of the prevailing condition of
the human mental machinery : "The next time you are
inclined to scoff at any person for indulging in 'supersti-
tious' beliefs and practices, just stop a minute and con-
sider whether you are not in some degree superstitious
yourself. If you make an honest self-examination I have
not the slightest doubt that you will be more charitably
disposed toward the 'poor fool' whose belief in ghosts,
witchcraft or charms you were about to ridicule.
"Not long ago there was a notable trial in Boston of a
man accused of selling 'lucky stones.' In the course of
his trial, which ended in a conviction and jail sentence, it
developed that for several years he had done an enormous
business in these magic gems. His patrons, who annually
numbered up in the thousands, were by no means confined
to the ignorant and the uneducated. It was found that
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 177
men and women of prominence, people of real intellectual
power, had contributed to swell his profits, and some of
these people had even sent him letters testifying- to the
'good luck' which his 'lucky stones' had brought them.
Personal observation and research have indeed satisfied
me that education is as yet far from being an absolute
antidote for superstition.
"I once closely questioned a number of Harvard univer-
sity professors and instructors to ascertain their freedom
from, or indulgence in, superstitious customs. I found
that, with only two exceptions, every one of the highly
educated men whom I questioned confessed to having
some pet superstition. Several had the habit of 'knock-
ing on wood' to avert misfortune after a boastful remark.
Others could not pass a pin without picking it up. Others
believed it bad luck to go under a ladder. One eminent
historian, seemingly as matter-of-fact and hard-headed a
man as could be met anywhere, confided to me that he felt
quite uneasy unless he was standing in a certain position
when he caught his first glimpse of the new moon. Other
investigators — notably Prof. Dressier, who conducted an
extensive census of superstitions in California — have
found the same state of affairs. It would seem that, no
matter how well educated a man may be, he usually has
in him a 'superstitious streak.' "
This indicates prevailing conditions, how the brain cells
of the human being are limited in their capacity to com-
prehend matters rightly. There is no question about it
in my mind, that the cause of the mental weakness in
man is the abnormal development of the brain. We find
very little, if any, insanity among animals. They pursue
their line of work with the keenest intelligence as far as
pertains to their business in life.
I did considerable trapping and hunting in my younger
178 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
days, and have watched the musk rats construct their
houses for the winter in the marshes ; and it is a wonder-
ful work, when you take all the conditions into considera-
tion. The following is an article which I cut from a mag-
azine today concerning the beaver:
"That the beaver is a capable engineer from his own
point of view, and an indefatigable worker to boot, has
been impressed upon us from our infancy and is enshrined
in our daily speech. Every one knows what 'working like
a beaver' means. But few of us have realized that the
beaver's engineering feats are of benefit to us as well as
to himself. The beaver 'works for the nation,' as Harvey
Ferguson put it in an article contributed to The Technical
World Magazine (Chicago, July). 'He is one of the most
useful irrigation engineers we1 have,' for he builds dams ;
not very big ones, but a great many small dams will im-
pound as much water as one large one. His work is now
considered so valuable, Mr. Ferguson tells us, that he is
to receive special government protection. We read :
"The beaver is solving one of the problems which has
proved most vexing to engineers since irrigation became
prominent in the West. That is the problem of water-
supply; for while engineers, can construct dams and
ditches, they usually must rely upon nature to furnish the
water for the project. And that is where the beaver helps
— he sees to it that the supply of water is maintained.
"The beaver does not intend, perhaps, to do all this ;
he is simply interested in securing a lake in which to live.
But while he serves his own ends, up in the mountains, he
also impounds enough water to insure a constant supply
for irrigation-projects, and that is why he has won gov-
ernmental favor. Officers of the Forest Service, who are
doing all in their power to protect the beavers, and scien-
tists of the Geological Survey, who have studied the work
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 179
of the animals, say there is no doubt but that these beaver
lakes will be of great practical value."
The brain cells of the animals are not so numerous as
they are in the human being. They are more simple and
not likely to get mixed up with each other's business.
We pass through life without taking any notice of the
keen intelligence displayed by the birds and animals, as
far as it pertains to their life. You all remember how the
prairie plover and the prairie chicken and partridge will
act when you approach them on their nest. They will
first sneak off to one side of the nest as far as possible,
then pretend they are wounded, as if they had a broken
leg or wing. It fooled me at first to such an extent that
I did not find their nest when I went back to look for it,
as I followed them too far before I got wise to their trick.
I noticed that my dog did not get wise, as he would chase
them every time as far as he could. The manner in which
they will simulate a broken wing or leg is certainly per-
fect. Sometimes one wing will hang down loose to one
side just as if it were dead. You never hear any one men-
tion this common trick practiced by birds to fool other
animals. A trick is described in the following article
which I read the other day, which is identically the same
trick as practiced by the birds :
"Two boys, one the possessor of a permit, were fishing
on a certain estate when a gamekeeper suddenly darted
from a thicket. The lad with the permit uttered a cry of
fright, dropped his rod and ran off at top speed. The
gamekeeper was led a swift chase. Then, worn out, the
boy halted. The man seized him by the arm and said be-
tween pants :
"Have you a permit to fish on this estate?"
"Yes, to be sure," said the boy quietly.
"You have? Then show it to me."
180 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
The boy drew the permit from his pocket. The man
examined it and frowned in perplexity and anger.
"Why did you run when you had this permit?" he
asked.
"To let the other boy get away," was the reply. "He
didn't have none."
The human mind like the animal mind is the united
action of the brain cells. In the human brain they number
several hundred million. It is the impression and infor-
mation received by these cells and stored away for future
reference which make up the human mind. This power
and ability of the brain cells and all other cells to store
away information ' for future use we call memory, and
upon this power all reason and judgment is based. With-
out memory there could be no judgment or reason, as we
understand these words. We shall see later that all the
cells of the body have the power of memory.
It is now being recognized that many lower animals
and birds have keener senses than man, such as smell,
hearing and sight. I can remember from experience in
hunting geese from pits, that their sense of sight was
considerably better than mine. The following also seems
to indicate that the sense of hearing is keener in birds
than in man :
"British journals have commented on the strange dis-
turbance among the pheasants in northeastern England
while the naval battle in the North Sea was in progress
on January 24. The sound of the cannon could not be
heard in many places along the English coast, but it is
evident that the birds heard it and were greatly agitated
by it. This is another interesting proof of the fact that
keen as are the senses of men, those of many of the lower
animals are much keener.
"The human ear can not hear sounds that are produced
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 181
by sound-waves faster than about 20,000 to 28,000 to the
second. The ant, as has been demonstrated, can hear
sounds produced by a higher vibration, and for aught we
know animals of higher organism than insects have as
keen ears. They have a great advantage over us. And if
they have sharper ears they also have better eyes and
noses."
Now, whether or not their judgment or reasoning abil-
ity is any better, will be hard to tell. The sense organs
are the instruments constructed by the cells for specific
purposes, each for a specific purpose, the eye to take and
convey to the brain cells pictures of the surroundings ;
the ear to take vibrations from the air and convey them in
the same manner; the nose to catch particles of matter
floating in the air, analyze them chemically, and transmit
results of the analysis to the brain cells. It would appear
that the cells of one animal are about of the same intel-
lectual capacity as those of another. The reason that the
cells of the dog are able to produce a better smelling ap-
paratus is because they make smelling a business spe-
cialty. The effort is concentrated upon that point and his
eye and ear are very inferior to that of the bird. Again
you would not say that the bird is more intelligent than
the dog, because it has better eyes and ears, nor would
you say that a dog or a bird is more intelligent than a
human being, even if it has better eyes, ears and nose.
Still you would have to admit that dogs and birds act
with as much intelligence in their place in life as the aver-
age man.
We now come to another intelligence called instinct,
impulse and emotion. Most of the writers on psychology
do not allow for animals any power to reason, but claim
that animals are simply automatons, that they act from
what they call instinct. They claim that the acts of all
182 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
animals are instinctive, emotional and impulsive and are
not caused by intelligence and reason.
As man is an animal and performs as marty instinctive
acts as any other animal, we can easily clear up some of
the mysteries.
We will take the mating instinct, to begin with. Every
one is well acquainted with the male desire for the exclu-
sive possession of a certain female. This desire comes
on at about seventeen or eighteen years of age. Before
that time he had not the slightest desire for the possession
of, nor even the company of females, he preferred rather,
the company of the male sex. At this age also peculiar
masculine features appear, such as the beard, extra mas-
culine developments and change of voice. This change
also takes place in other animals. From whence comes
this desire?
Nothing in the world seems more perfect in form, sweet
in disposition, and beautiful of face than this particular
female, to which he happens to take a fancy. Heaven on
earth seems to be in sight, by obtaining possession of her.
Now who and where are the parties who seem to be
continually arguing this proposition to him? He seems
to believe and feels fully convinced of these facts, so much
so that it is almost impossible to demonstrate or prove
to him anything to the contrary. We know now that the
beings who are responsible for these opinions and ac-
tions are the cells who have the matter in charge of
building a new human being. These cells of the body
who have in charge the work of perpetuating themselves
and the human race, which is after all the most important
work of all, are called sex organs. We know now if
these are removed, no desire for the female will arise.
What method do these cells of the sex organs e'mploy to
make him(the brain cells) feel and believe that to marry a
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 183
certain female is the only right and proper thing to do?
These cells in control of the perpetuation of the race take
possession of the entire body and compel it to act in a cer-
tain way. They get control of the mind, that is of the
brain cells, and in that way get control of the entire body.
These actions of the sex cells or nerve centers of the
body, directing our actions, are called the mating instinct
or instinctive acts. There are a great number of these
nerve centers in the body, which give the body a large
number of instincts or instinctive actions. It is the same
in man as it is iii animals. They all have their instinctive
acts. These acts are performed with the will of the
brain cells, but the will does not originate in those cells.
At the very beginning of the construction of the human
individual, these cells are set apart and placed in charge
of the matter of the building of a new individual and the
perpetuation of the race. These cells are to attend to
nothing else. As an illustration take a submarine boat.
The submarine is an individual. We determine from the
actions of the submarine whether it is or is not an intelli-
gent individual or being. The submarine can only act
according to the will of the people in charge. The same
is true of man or an animal. It can only act as directed
by the beings in charge, which we call cells. The builders
of the submarine, if they should want the existence of it
perpetuated, would do the same thing as the builder of
the human being. They would leave the whole matter
to a special committee to take charge of that entire matter,
and to look after that and nothing else. This we find to
be exactly what takes place in man. The intelligence of
the boat or submarine is the combined intelligence of all
the individuals of which it is comprised and which have
it in charge. The same with the human being, animal or
plant. The intelligence of the plant or animal will be the
184 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
combined acts or intelligence of the entire community,
which we call the individual or animal.
Now we shall take up some of the different and special
work taken care of by special committees or nerve cen-
ters who have been assigned to look after it, such as
breathing, circulation, digestion, etc. Prof. Harris, after
describing the brain, makes this statement :
"Here are situated many of the most important nerve-
centers, or collections of nerve-cells, superintending such
bodily activities as breathing, the heart's action, the regu-
lation of the size of the blood-vessels, perspiration, the
flow of saliva, the flow of gastric juice, the chewing of
food, swallowing, voice-production, and the act of vomit-
ing; and there are other centers still.
"In a later chapter we shall discover what a center is
and what it does. Higher up the brain stem are centers
for facial expression, eye movement, iris (pupil) move-
ments, focussing of near objects and the secretion of
tears. In the brain proper cerebral cortex are centres or
areas underlying such states of consciousness as sensa-
tion, perception, memory, and emotion, besides speech
and voluntary movement."
This is a plain statement of the facts, how collections
of cells have been placed in charge here and there all
through the body to superintend this and that particular
work. These cells or collections of nerve cells are called
little brain or nerve centres. We have the same condi-
tions of affairs in other large organizations of individuals,
such as a battleship, German army or telegraph system.
The spinal cord is comprised of a great number of such
nerve centres. Prof. Harris states : "The spinal cord is,
however, something more than a conductor or transmitter
of impulses ; it is also a collection of centres in series from
above downwards. Nerves enter the cord and nerves
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 185
leave it at certain levels all the way down. The ingoing
nerve and the outgoing nerve are anatomically and
functionally linked in the interior of the cord ; this place
is called centre. A centre on its structural side consists
of at least one cell on or over which the ending of a nerve
fibre is distributed ; usually, of course, many cells go to
make up a single centre."
Then he makes the following statement: "But what,
in a few words, is the nervous system for? It is first of
all for carrying out certain activities, such as breathing,
on a sub-conscious plane, over which the constant super-
vision of consciousness would be tedious, if it were not
impossible, considering the enormous number of demands
made on the attention of the individual. It is in the next
place for carrying out certain activities with the greatest
possible speed compatible with the greatest possible ac-
curacy ; it is for linking up functionally the outer world
with our living bodies, allowing it to act on our bodies
within certain limits, and reversely acting itself on the
outer world, when and to what extent may be found nec-
essary. It is for maintaining our posture in stable equili-
brium, whether we are sitting, standing or walking, much
of this it also does on the sub-conscious plane, the cere-
bellum being the great central organ for attending to this
important but not necessarily always conscious affair.
"The element of speed is a very obvious one in the ac-
tivities of the nerves ; it is of supreme moment that you
drop the red-hot coal as soon as you possibly can, that you
wink away the grit in the eye almost the instant it alights.
It is of great importance to the artilleryman to fire off his
gun the instant he gets the order from the officer to do so,
a fraction of a second's delay may mean that he misses the
target. It is because the nervous system of the active
young man works promptly that he skips out of the way
of the motor car, whereas the old gentleman with his
186 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
much more slowly acting one may be run over. If you
are too slow at taking the 'service' at tennis, you will miss
the ball. But the nervous system attends to other matters
than mere speed ; it cares for accuracy too. Thus at ten-
nis not only must I strike the ball at the right instant, but
at the proper spot of my racket, not the handle, not the
wood. The muscular adjustments necessary to bring the
center of the racket in contact with the flying ball are car-
ried out by co-ordination. A large number of muscular
activities have to be co-ordinated to bring about any de-
sired activity; many, perhaps widely separated, muscular
groups have to be brought into simultaneous contraction,
while other muscular groups require to have their activi-
ties restrained. All games of skill, for instance, billiards,
gymnastics up to trapeze displays, and tight-rope walk-
ing, involve this co-ordination. The nervous system is
the essential in co-ordination, whether it be in the baker's
boy balancing his bread-board on his head, or in Cinque-
valli balancing two billiard balls on the top of a cue on the
end of his nose. Supreme accuracy of muscular adjust-
ment it is that underlies all these different performances,
but in smaller degrees we all employ it, as we are
bound to do. We co-ordinate our muscles to step out of
a carriage on to the ground, to ride on horseback, to ride
a bicycle, to steer a motor car, to use a typewriting ma-
chine, and so on.
"Besides accuracy of adjustment there is the element
of the precise amount of force to put into the muscles.
This putting forth the exact amount of force — neither too
much or too little, means the exact or right measure (of
force). Thus not only must the tennis ball be struck at
the right instant with the right spot of the racket, but it
must be struck with the proper amount of force in order
to be returned 'within court.'
"The nervous system as a rule learns by slow and pain-
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 187
ful experience. We must use the exact amount of force
in order to accomplish any result with accuracy. In or-
dinary walking we learn to put forth exactly the neces-
sary amount of energy, neither stamping heavily on the
pavement nor putting down our feet so feebly that we
would make no progress at all. * * *
"But it -is very clear that all this precision, co-ordina-
tion, and expenditure of the correct degree of muscular
energy is only possible in proportion as the muscular and
other senses are properly trained. * * *
"We see, then, that the nervous system puts us into
communication with the outer world and its inhabitants
which act on us, enables us with speed, accuracy and the
correct amount of force to react upon it, and then it makes
us aware of our own bodily position to the changing states
of the environment. In our nervous system we store
memories of what has happened, we register experience
for the future, we communicate as we will with our fel-
low beings and, maintaining our self-conscious identity,
we continue our conscious connection with the past.
Nerves and the nervous system not only protect the in-
dividual from injury, enabling him to seek food, avoid or
overcome enemies ; but they are constantly handing over
some activity or other from the conscious to the subcon-
scious realm. We educate the nervous system labori-
ously to perform certain actions, conscious attention be-
ing very much concerned in it. The acquisitions are rele-
gated to the unconscious or at least subconscious realm
and are at last carried on without the interposition of at-
tention at all. There is a very great saving of nerve en-
ergy here ; things so done are called habits. Such co-
ordinated activities as the maintenance of posture in walk-
ing are, in this way, carried on below the conscious level,
so that as we walk alone we can be engaged in solving a
188 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
problem, or if with a friend we can carry on conversation
without having to give any attention to the movements
of the limbs. Even talking can become an automatic af-
fair of this kind, as when we recite a poem without think-
ing of each word, and what comes after it, as we had to do
when we learnt it originally. Habit is the popular word
for all these activities which may or may not have been
originally learned, but which are now all relegated to the
subconscious sphere. 'Instinct' is the popular term for
habit as found congenitally present. We say that a child
knows how to suck by instinct ; certainly it is not by con-
sciousness, for children without brains at all (acephalic
monsters) can suck perfectly. The child inherits the
capability of carrying out the co-ordinated movements of
sucking; it does not require to learn these, they are poten-
tially present in its nervous system. We shall later see
that this sort of thing is only an example of a certain kind
of reflex action.
"One of the best illustrations of how the nerves work
is the one so often given, the telephone exchange. What
is a telephone exchange for? To put two people into
(verbal) communication with each other."
This statement will illustrate what we mean by a nerve
centre. It is as Prof. Harris states, a collection of cells,
set apart f.or superintending, looking after or having to do
with a particular function or activity of the body. We
have collections of cells looking after breathing, if we de-
stroy them the breathing stops. To illustrate, — if the
continual pumping of air into the submarine was neces-
sary to the lives of its inhabitants, the same as it is in the
animal, a number of individuals would be placed in charge
cf that work, and if those individuals were killed, the
pumping of air into the submarine would stop and the
submarine would be killed — all life in the submarine
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 189
would be destroyed for want of air. In the same way
want of air destroys all life in the animal.
Our consciousness is the cells or individuals con-
nected with the senses of sight, hearing and smell. We
can see that in the submarine as in the human being. It
should not be necessary that the cells of those special or-
gans should be bothered with this special work of breath-
ing or the pumping of air into the submarine ; those in
charge should know that to stop or neglect the work will
mean the utter destruction of themselves and the entire
individual.
Understand, now, that the nerve cells are not the cells
that do the work, the muscles are the workers or laborers.
The nerve cells are those in command. They are to
keep the workers informed at all times, not only when to
pump air, but how best to pump. Now you can clearly
see that it requires just as much conscious intelligence to
look after this pumping work as any other work. There
must be a conscious intelligence in charge of any special
important undertaking like this. Every collection of cells
we call a nerve centre or little brain must be a sort of con-
scious intelligence. It must be conscious of its work
in hand, in the same manner as we are.
The following statement by Prof. Harris illustrates
how information from the world outside of the body is
taken and transmitted to the cells within occupied with
nothing but thinking, such as the brain cells, and how
they may handle the information, and send out orders to
certain special nerve centres, whose business it may be to
take charge of this particular matter in hand. He says :
"Centres are, of course, not only executive ; we have
centres for the reception of impulses, whether these
arouse consciousness or not. Thus we have centres for
seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting, and so on.
190 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
These sensory centres are highly specialized portions of
the brain in which impulses from the end-organs of sense
are received and are usually worked up in consciousness
into the perception of an object, a sound, a thing in con-
tact with the skin, a smell or a taste. These centres are
specialized to receive, as the others are specialized to
emit. But it is quite clear that no centre can emit and
never receive. A sensory centre, in the first instance, re-
ceives and may for a time retain, but sooner or later it
transmits impulses either to an executive centre or to
another sensory centre. Thus when I see an apple,
impulses not only pass to the centre for vision, but on-
ward to the centre for taste, and from both these, impulses
can go over to the motor cells in the middle part of the
cerebrum, whence volitional impulses descend to the
muscles of the hand prepared to seize the fruit. That
this is the physical basis for the association of ideas
there is little doubt."
To illustrate with a submarine, the end of the peri-
scope of the submarine, which is the same as the eye of
an animal, discovers a British ship in the distance, and
gives orders which will cause actions to take place, like
firing up the boilers, putting on more speed, twisting of
the rudders, etc. One activity will lead to another. Now
we shall give illustrations of the actions in case 'of some
local trouble or disturbance. Prof. Harris states : "We
get some grit into our eyes, and in consequence there is a
great outpouring of tears. We are not weeping, there is
no emotion calling forth tears, idle or otherwise, and we
have certainly not willed tears to flow. The lachrymal
glands have been reflexly stimulated to secrete. Clearly
there must be accessible to incoming stimulation some
specialized portion of the central nervous system, which
is set apart for inducing secretion in the tear glands, just
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 191
as we saw there was a similar region for the salivary
glands. Such a specialized portion of the grey matter of
the central nervous system is a center, in this case."
Now it is plain that if some gravel or other substance
should get over the end of the periscope so as to interfere
with the entrance of the light or getting a good clear view
of the outside surroundings, it would be the business of
the party in charge of that end of the periscope to remove
the obstruction. Although it would annoy and irritate
the parties at the other end, still it would be none of their
business to remove it, in fact they are so far removed
from the place that they could not attend to it if they
would.
So the parties in charge of the other end of the peri-
scope take care of the trouble, and remove the grit or
obstruction without any orders from any one higher up.
He procures water and washes it off in the same manner
as the cells cause water to flow over the eye, with the pur-
pose of washing away the grit. Any one can clearly see
that every nerve centre, whether it is composed of one cell
or a thousand, when it has charge of any special matter
like this, must be possessed of intelligence. The only
purpose of these nerve centres or "little brains," as they
are sometimes called, is to receive information and give
orders to other cells who work under them. No beings
can take charge of the activities of other beings and guide
their actions to do or not to do the right thing at the right
time, unless they are intelligent beings. It requires just
as much intelligence to capture a fortification as to give
the order to do it. To sum up the nerve centre question,
I shall again quote Prof. Harris as to what it is, and how
each collection of cells attends to its own business and
nothing else. He says :
"A centre is a group of nerve-cells so constituted that
192 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
when these cells are stimulated in any way whatever, only
one kind of activity, some special activity, is the result.
A discharging centre is for an action, it presides over it ;
when stimulated^ that action occurs more intensely, when
inhibited that action is restrained or suppressed. When
the centre is destroyed, the action is rendered impossible.
The doctrine of centres affirms that there is specialization
throughout the nervous system, that certain cells and
these alone are concerned with the performance of a par-
ticular function, that if that group be destroyed some par-
ticular activity becomes impossible. If this functional
specialization did not exist, then any one cell-group in the
central nervous system could act vicariously for another,
but this does not happen. The respiratory centre cannot
act for the sweating centre, nor either for the vomiting
centre. Just as a gland is not a muscle and cannot do
a muscle's work, so the centre for salivation is not that
for the flow of tears and cannot do its work. There is, in
fact, higher specialization in the nervous system than else-
where. One neural region governs the muscles of
breathing, another the diameter of arteries, another the
glands of perspiration, another those of gastric juice, an-
other the act of vomiting, while still others are the places
of the uprising of emotions, volitions, speech or memory.
"The central nervous system is not a neural chaos in
which the units are unrelated or equivalent existences,
but it is a cosmos in which the functional units are differ-
ently endowed and are related to each other after the man-
ner of a hierarchy, the centres being arranged on several
functional planes. Centres are co-ordinated by being sub-
ordinated some to others. There is no equality of func-
tional position as there is no equality of capabilities. The
nervous system knows no such thing as socialism, if by
that is meant equality of position and powers. But in the
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 193
nervous system there is a neural society in which there
are aristocrats who rule and give orders, and servants
who serve and obey. Higher centres control but do not
domineer over lower. The doctrine of a neural hierarchy
is one of the most luminous in modern neurology."
It is a wonderful thing how the nerve centres take care
of the different special work here and there in the body,
many times against our will — that is against the cells of
the brain connected with our senses. Such acts as cough-
^ ing or sneezing in church we would like to stop, but the
tickling sensation in the nose or throat brings on the
5 sneezing or coughing, in spite of our wishes. If it were
V not so, we would soon get in more serious trouble, when
p dangerous germs attack the membrane of the throat or
V nose.
The nerve cells who have charge of the work of pre-
venting dangerous germs entering or getting lodged in
the lungs or throat, and in that way finally getting into
the blo<id stream and probably destroying the whole
^ body, are continually on the lookout for these dangerous
jj enemies, and when they lodge on the membrane of the
[y throat or nose, in the act of breathing, they attempt to
\ expel them or dislodge them by first secreting and envel-
N oping them in a sticky fluid and then blowing them out
entangled in the fluid, by the act of sneezing or coughing.
There are nerve centres who have charge of secreting the
K sticky fluid, and other centres in charge of the very com-
plicated, but very effective muscular act of coughing and
sneezing. The act of blinking is also a performance at-
> tended to without our knowledge or attention. Some-
\^ times certain nerve centres will be made active by causes
"N^ unknown to us, or by fear, anger, joy, etc., and cause a
' person to act in a different manner. The nerve centres
in charge of the heart sometimes by reason of fear or
194 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
anger, will cause the heart to beat very rapidly. Nerve
centres in some parts of the spine or brain will get con-
trol and direct the activities of the brain. The nerve cen-
tres in charge of balancing, walking, etc., are located in
the spinal cord. These acts are very complicated and to
be able to direct the execution by the muscles of the very
complicated and difficult acts with speed and dexterity,
certainly requires great intelligence.
The nerve centres will look after their business even
if the animal's head is cut off. For instance, a dog with
his head cut off or his brain removed will try to scratch
the place on his shoulder which you irritate in imitation of
a flee bite. In the same way a frog with his head cut
off will scratch away from his body a piece of paper with
acid on it, which is burning the skin.
These experiments show that the skin cells are alive
and suffer from pain just the same after the head is cut
off as before ; that the nerve centres, whose business it
is to order and direct the scratching, take charge 3nd com-
pel the leg to scratch the irritation or pain away from that
particular spot. Now this is very conclusive proof that
conscious intelligence exists in each and every separate
cell of the body. How can that dog's leg be made to
scratch that spot, unless directed to do so by some con-
scious intelligence? It would be impossible. The cells
in the nerve centre or little brain of. the spine of the dog,
directing all those complicated muscular acts of bringing
the hind leg up to the exact spot and scratching it, after
having first been informed by the skin cells of the serious
trouble, certainly show as much intelligence as any other
act directed by the brain cells while his head was attached.
To be able to direct the scratching to the exact spot
shows a will and a purpose, not only a will to do some-
thing but an ability to act so as to effect the purpose. In
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 195
regard to this one movement of the headless dog and frog,
Prof. Harris states : "Not only does there seem purpose
in this action, but their precision as regard to place aimed
at is very striking. There is no haphazard fumbling, as
it were, on the part of the muscles, they answer to the
message without undue delay and with all due accuracy.
Now this adaption or co-ordination must depend on a very
perfectly working intra-neural mechanism."
We now come to another interesting kind of intelli-
gence we call habit. We begin practicing certain actions,
as walking, riding, and playing a piano and at first every
act must be directed by the brain cells, as no particular
nerves have been set apart for any such special perform-
ance. But as we continue to perform these acts, special
nerve centres develop and take charge of the work, until
finally, after long practice the work will be performed
without much, if any attention whatever, from the brain
cells.
It seems to be the wish of all the cells of the body that
the cells of the brain who have charge of the special
senses shall not be occupied with other work more than
is necessary ; so as soon as is possible, when any special
work is required, the organs or limbs soon learn to take
charge of the work without requiring any direction to do
so by the brain cells.
You can clearly see the reason for this ; if the party in
charge of the periscope of the submarine should have to
be occupied continually with directing the performance
of details which could be done by others, he could not at-
tend to his own work, which should be obtaining infor-
mation from the outside world, and directing the more
important acts of the boat in its movements of capture
and escape.
^Started out to prove in this chapter that :
196 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
First — Any animal is an individual, made up of still
smaller individuals we call cells.
Second — That the intelligence of any individual will
depend on the parties in charge and directing its actions.
Third — That the parties in charge and directing the ac-
tions of an animal are those cells set apart for that pur-
pose, which we call nervous system or nerve cells.
Fourth — That because the cells of the brain are in
touch with all the other cells of the body, does not make
them any more intelligent or different from the other
nerve cells or nerve centres which work under them or
work separately and not under them.
Fifth — That every nerve cell or nerve centre is a center
of conscious and intelligent direction and directs and
guides the actions of certain muscles or cells they have in
charge.
Sixth — Therefore, every cell is an intelligent individual,
capable of either receiving an order or executing an in-
telligent act, or of receiving and ordering another cell to
do and perform intelligent acts.
Now it must be clear that every cell of the body is a
nerve cell, in so far as it has ability to receive information
together with those special qualities added which make
it a bone cell, liver cell, lung cell, muscle cell, kidney cell,
etc., as the case may be. That is, every cell must be an
intelligent individual, in order to be able to receive orders
and execute them. The cells of the liver, lungs, bones,
etc., have not only special work to do, such as would per-
tain to the special business or work they have in charge,
but they also have to receive instructions and orders and
perform the work they are told to do by the nerve cells.
From a consideration of these facts, it is clear that
every cell of the body must be an intelligent being. The
nerve centres as directed by the higher centres in the
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 197
brain and spine, are, of course, the caretakers and gov-
ernors of the body. They govern the different organs,
attend to the circulation of the blood, regulate the heart,
take care of waste matter, direct the digestive organs,
liver and every other organ.
The brain is the center of intelligence for the entire
body as a whole. The following is a good description of
a body or cell community, by Prof. Benjamin Moore, Pro-
fessor of Chemistry in the University of London :
"The body of one of the higher animals or man con-
sists of an enormous assemblage or community of many
millions of millions of such living units far outnumbering
the total population of human individuals on the earth,
and this vast community of living cells which together
constitute a living man or woman, are, in a state of health,
so co-ordinated and regulated as to excel, in goodness of
government and co-adaptation to one another's wants,
any social system which has ever regulated a body corpor-
ate in human history. There is just as much division of
labor and mutual assistance and government as in a state
or vast empire, and moreover there are scarcely any of
the defects of a bad government in the affairs of men in a
social community which may not find their parallel in the
organic happenings in a single human body when invaded
by disease. Similar types of cell are aggregated into for-
mations called tissues, designed for serving some com-
mon office of the body, and at times two or three tissues
are blended together to form what is termed an organ for
carrying out some special task. The stomach may be
taken as an example of such an organ. Internally it pos-
sesses a layer in which are millions of cells formed into
little tube-like glands, which secrete a digestive fluid and
pour it out by millions of minute ducts or pores upon the
food contained in the cavity of the stomach.
198 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
The cell must have lived for ages before it discovered
the advantages of working together in a social and co-
operative community, before it even started to build any
structures like plants and animals. So man lived for
ages before he discovered the benefits of working together
in a civilized community. However, we know that savage
man works and moves with a purpose and has the same
intellectual machinery as civilized man and other animals.
They all work for a purpose and do what they think or
believe to be the right thing to do. If the cells have or-
ganized these social communities, just as man has his,
why are the cells not as intelligent as man? Civilized
man only a few years ago thought that burning witches
was the right thing to do. Just a few years ago, you might
say, the most highly civilized people in the world tied
their wives, mothers and sisters to stakes and burned
them alive. They did it with a purpose, thinking it was
the right and proper thing to do. People are doing things
today just as ridiculous and absurd. We are intelligent
beings, at least we are supposed to be. Do insects ever
do anything as foolish? When we investigate the won-
derful organization of the cell communities which make
up the body of an animal or plant, it is impossible to see
anything but actions performed with a purpose and di-
rected by intelligence. Take for instance, in the case of
an infant, why is the baby born so helpless? Why is
he not born like the pig, with ability to care for himself
and run like a rabbit within twenty-four hours? When
you come to consider the matter, however, he is able to
do everything necessary for his existence. He can make
a noise, breath and suck. He knows how to suck as if
he had practiced it for years.
The cells of the body which have charge of the work
of building and starting a new human being in the world.
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 199
take care of the business at every step ; as soon as he
gets too large to be taken care of inside of the body, elab-
orate preparations take place for disconnecting him with
the inside conditions. Food is prepared for him by a force
of cells at the place where it is to be delivered to him after
he gets outside.
This food is so properly proportioned and balanced that
he will get everything necessary for the further develop-
ment of his body. Some one must be interested in his
welfare, and take care of him with the same faith and
good will as before, so the cells that had charge of him
while inside of the body continue to look after him, and
these cells are allowed full control of the brain cells and
all other cells of the mother. Her mind is taken posses-
sion of by these cells or nerve centres who have the work
in hand of perpetuating the race and she is compelled to
think that her infant is the only thing in the world worth
while. She will sacrifice her life and everything, if neces-
sary, to save her baby. »
We find upon investigation that nerve cells have been
placed near the lips and the mouth of the infant, which
direct every muscular act of the infant's mouth in the act
of sucking. We have found now that the infant's mus-
cles are able to walk when he is born, but he has not the
nerve centres developed to direct the muscular action
required in the act of walking ; that as soon as they are
developed, he will walk whether he has had any practice
or not. How the infant's mouth can know how to suck
and his feet to walk, will be explained under the chapter
on inheritance.
Some decline to consider the idea that anything as small
as a cell can have intelligence. How about the ant? He
lives a social life in the same manner as the most highly
civilized species of man.
He keeps captive certain bugs that secrete a sweet juice
for him, on which he feeds, just as we keep cows. He
keeps slaves, warriors, servants, has grave yards, per-
forms funeral services and many other social acts and
customs performed by man. The ant's brain, where the
center of his intelligence is located, is composed of but
few cells, — so few that the whole crowd of cells in charge
of all the social and various actions of the ant can be seen
only with the microscope.
Again the actions of a louse, which lives under the
mouth of the ant, exhibits just as much intelligence as a
man would show placed under similar circumstances. The
cell which builds the ant-louse, the ant, the animal and
man are one and the same kind of individual. There are
no features of distinction about any of them, so that you
can tell one from the other, when examined by the micro-
scope. The only difference that can exist in their make
up is a difference in their experience. One kind has been
living one kind of life and oae another.
One understands how to build an ant because he has
had experience in that work and in that kind of existence
and none other; the other kind has had experience in
building the individual we call man. In reference to the
intelligent acts of the ants and the ant-louse, I must quote
Prof. C. E. Walker, of the Royal College of Science in
London :
"A mite, Antennophorus uhlmanni, is parasitic upon an
ant (Lasius). The mite is of such a size that it would
hamper the movements of the ant if it were attached on
one side or the other. It attaches itself under the middle
of the ant's head. The mite eats the food of the ant, but
does not injure it individually ; for anything that pre-
vented the ant seeking its food would directly injure the
parasite. When the ant feeds, the mite moves forward
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 201
slightly, and takes its share of food from the ant's tongupii
Should a second mite attach itself to an ant, the first
moves over to one side and the second takes up a position
upon the opposite side, thus keeping the ant well balanced
and hampering its movements as little as possible. Should
one of the mites drop off, the other moves to the middle.
When three mites attach themselves to one ant they ar-
range themselves one on either side and one in the middle,
and if one drops off the remaining two arrange themselves
accordingly. Are these instinctive actions conceivable as
the outcome of a mutation? Hardly, unless of a long ser-
ies of minute mutations indistinguishable from fluctuat-
ing variations.
"Among the ants we find, besides species that live in
colonies in an independent manner, species that make
slaves of other species of ants. Among these slave own-
ers we find gradations between those which are often
without slaves and perfectly able to look after themselves
and their young, and those which are not able to feed
themselves or even to fight. Formica sanguinea is the
only slave-making ant' in Great Britain. Regular expe-
ditions are made in which the nests of other ants are at-
tacked, and the pupae are carried off by the conquerors.
When the pupae hatch out they do most of the house-
work for their owners, who are very lazy. There are
workers, however, who do the housework duties in the
absence of the slaves. Polyergus rufescens has gone fur-
ther in the slave-owning direction than F. sanguinea. It
is admirably adapted to its part. While F. sanguinea is
not really a great warrior, and fights only in numbers, P.
rufescens does not mind any odds, and fights single-
handed most splendidly. When in an attacking force,
however, these ants act in concert in the most remarkable
manner, the fierceness of the individual being subordin-
202 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
ated to the various necessary tactical movements, even
when these involve retreat. Their mandibles are so mod-
ified from the usual form that they are practically useless
to the owner except for fighting. The ant is thus not only
unable to perform the delicate actions involved in feeding
its own larvae, but it is quite unable to feed itself, and
will starve in the midst of plenty unless its slaves are
there to feed it. P. Rufescens attacks the nests of other
ants, killing many of them, and carrying off some of the
larger pupae. When these hatch out, they serve their
masters willingly and faithfully, even fighting in defense
of the nest. In an allied American species, the slaves
even carry their masters and mistresses when the colony
migrate, as the latter do nothing for themselves. The ex-
treme of dependence is exhibited by Anergates, which is
unable to feed itself or its larvae, and would be quite un-
able to cope with other ants that live with and tend it,
did the latter decline to serve."
The size of an animal has nothing to do with its intelli-
gence. Compare for instance the intelligence of the in-
sects with that of man. The insects do the same thinking
and planning that man does. The brain of the insects is
but a microscopic speck. The bees work together for a
purpose, like the organization of a large city or factory.
The ants have their slaves, and keep cows and milk them.
Some ants are parasites and live upon others as men do.
It is now admitted by the scientific world that the insect
known as the Hunter Wasp is able to perform surgical
operations which would puzzle the greatest scientists of
today. He is able to do so without any previous exper-
ience or instruction in the art. The Hunter Wasp catches
the caterpillar or cricket and stings it in such a way as to
paralize the creature completely, preventing all move-
ment and yet not destroying life. The insects like the
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 203
caterpillar, cricket, etc., have a nervous system which is
so well understood by the Hunter Wasp that he stings it
in the exact nerve center which will paralize, but not kill.
In this way the wasp provides fresh meat for its young.
The captured paralized victim is carried to the nest, and
the wasp lays its egg on a tender spot on the paralized
prey. No skilled surgeon can equal the wasp in suspend-
ing animation, and keeping the victim alive. It is now
conceded that if the wasp's victim 'was kept alive without
food or drink he would live but a few days, whereas that
same creature paralized by the wasp's poisonous sting
will live for several weeks. Where does man exhibit any
more foresight and intelligence than does this wasp?
The mother wasp provides for a generation to come,
which she has never seen. Some wise men do the same
thing. The young wasp who has never seen its mother,
nor had any experience or instructions in the stinging and
paralyzing business, starts out and does the same thing
over again that its mother did. It knows how to use its
sting to paralyze the cricket without destroying its life ;
it knows where to find them ; it knows where to find the
material with which to build its nest ; it performs no fool-
ish, silly and useless actions. Man, — that is some men,
show intelligence of a very high degree similar to the in-
sects ; but consider for a moment the countless absurd and
silly actions of the great majority of men today. I shall
not mention the every-day foolish actions that take place,
but shall call your attention to some, in the past, the con-
sideration of which will not be opposed by the prejudices
of the reader. I read in the Mason City Daily Times the
following:
" 'Festival of the Ass.' If you should enter the church
today and find an ass tied near the altar ; and if, at the
conclusion of the services, the priest or preacher should
204 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
bray three times, instead of the usual benediction, and the
congregation respond with a general 'hee-hawing'
wouldn't you immediately jump to the conclusion that
you were in the chapel of a lunatic asylum? Probably so.
Yet, what you had witnessed and heard might be nothing
less innocent than the revival of the ancient 'Festival of
the Ass,' which for centuries was celebrated annually on
the fourteenth day of January in churches throughout Eu-
rope. The assinine fiesta was one of the most popular of
the year, and, although it now seems ridiculous, it was
looked upon as a very solemn and sanctified occasion in
the days of our remote ancestors."
Nowadays the dictionaries define an ass as both quad-
ruped and biped, the latter being a 'dull, heavy and stupid
fellow, a dolt, a fool.' In the popular imagination an ass
is considered about the lowest in intelligence of the ani-
mal kingdom. As a matter of fact, there is no more rea-
son for condemning the ass as lacking in intelligence than
there is for praising the wisdom of the owl.
The ass has long played a prominent part in relig-
ious history. The celebrated ass of Balaam, as all stu-
dents of scripture know, was wiser than his master. In
the pagan mythology the ass held an honored place and
it was believed that an ass, by its braying, had saved
Vesta from violation. In the ancient world the 'corona-
tion of the ass' formed an important part of the feast of
the chaste goddess.
The observance of the Christian "Festival of the Ass"
on the fourteenth of January spread over Europe and for
centuries the feast held a prominent place in the Christian
Calendar. The animal was decorated with gold embroid-
ered trappings and was looked upon as sacred. After the
procession had wended its way through the streets of the
city or town, the marchers chanted a chorus interspersed
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 205
with loud 'hee-haws.' The ass was a matter of much con-
cern, as it was desirable to secure a gentle and obedient
animal. The ass is noted for his perversity and obstinacy,
and these qualities were often in evidence during the pro-
cessions. Often the 'sacred ass' manifested a decided ob-
jection to entering the church, and in many cases had to
be carried in — a proceeding which detracted from the dig-
nity of the occasion. It was considered a great triumph,
and a good omen, if the ass could be induced to bray dur-
ing the church services."
You notice the ass generally refused to go in and preach,
but when he did go in and stood in front of the altar and
brayed, they considered the noise a wonderful oration.
The ass could see no use or purpose in the fool business,
and sometimes had to be carried in. However even after
they had carried him in up to the altar, he would some-
times refuse to bray or preach for them, when of course
they would feel greatly disappointed. This is only one of
the countless absurdities performed by man and the old
notion that man alone reasons and animals act from in-
stinct is clearly without foundation. Animals never act
silly as the human race does today. The oyster building
cells can make a better pearl than the greatest scientist
today. The oyster in his ways and place in life is just
as smart as the brightest man in his place in nature. The
size of the being or cell colony does not determine its in-
telligence, capacity or wisdom.
The Dinosaur, one of the largest animals that ever lived,
is now extinct and no more. In its day it was probably
the most powerful animal that ever lived. The cells
building the Dinosaur went too far in the matter of size,
and failed altogether while the smaller cell colonies like
plants, insects, etc., are still with us and flourish in great
profusion. How can the young wasp know how to do all
206 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
this difficult work without any previous experience or in-
struction? The cells that build the young or new wasp
came from the mother wasp. It is the cells that know
how, not the wasp, just as it is the people in the battleship
that know how to shoot and not the battleship. Just so, it
is the cells in your head that know how to do a thing and
not yourself; and every specific part of your knowledge
is in charge of some certain bunch of cells in your brain,
who have that specific department of knowledge in charge.
It is likely that the wasp building cells experimented for
hundreds and thousands of years before they completely
mastered the profession of stinging the insects just in the
right place to effect the desired results. The cells in the
new wasp must be in possession of the same knowledge
as the mother as they are of one and the same family.
Compare the actions of the Hunter Wasp whose brain
is composed of possibly only a half dozen individual cells,
whose brain is but an invisible microscopic speck, with
the actions of man, whose brain is composed of more than
800 million individual cells. Whose actions show more in-
telligence, those of the wasp as a skilled surgeon, or those
of the men trying to make the ass make a fool of himself,
by putting him up in front of the altar to bray?
The brain of man is at least a million times larger than
the brain of the wasp, and still its capacity to reason is
not nearly as good as that of the wasp. The actions of
all animals, insects and plants when closely investigated
show no foolish and purposeless actions, like man's. This
is clear proof that the cell as a separate individual is just
as intelligent as a billion individuals. It is clear that if
the wasp building cells know how to make a special in-
strument or stinger with which to be able to pierce and
inject poison into the hard protected body of other insects,
they should also know how to use it when they are ready
WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE? 207
to do so. The cells build the wasp with his stinger, eyes
and limbs, with a purpose in view, just as we build a bat-
tleship with a purpose in view, and when we have it ready
we know how to use it. The actions of every wing, leg,
etc., of the wasp, are directed by cells in his body, who
have those specific actions in charge. So it is with our
actions, and so it is with the actions of the battleship.
The battleship can talk, just as we can, but the actions
of blowing the whistle and interpreting the meaning, must
be done by the individuals in charge.
You can say that the battleship New York signalled the
battleship Minnesota to do this and to do that, and in a
certain sense it is true that the battleships as individuals
talk to each other and direct each other's actions. In a
similar manner, animals and man talk to each other and
direct each other's actions, but with man and animals as
well as with the battleships, it is the individuals in charge
that signal and talk and direct the actions. In man, ani-
mals, and plants, it is the cell that does the signalling,
talking and directing, while in the case of the battleships,
railroads, cities, states, and nations, the signalling, talk-
ing and directing is done by man. All the mysteries of
life become clear when we understand what it is.
First we have the primordial cell, which at this time we
can hardly see with the most powerful microscope. These
have organized themselves together into a larger individ-
ual or colony, whose actions we can clearly see and which
we call a cell. These cells have again organized them-
selves into larger individuals or colonies which we call
animals and plants, depending on their method and place
in life. Then we have a certain species of these cell col-
onies or individuals we call men, organizing themselves
into individuals like battleships, cities, states and nations.
You will notice that one organization is based upon the
208 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
other, the larger on the smaller. At the base of all is the
barely visible primordial cell, who is organized into the
cells that build us and all living things we see. It is the
intelligence of man that directs the actions of battleships,
railroad trains, cities and nations, and it is the intelligence
of the cell that directs the actions of man, animals, and
plants.
I could go on indefinitely illustrating these matters,
that the size of brain or number of cells in the brain does
not increase the intelligence. The increase in numbers
gives the power to specialize in more different kinds of
thinking. It is clear that every line of thinking must have
its special committee of thinkers to take care of it. But
as the thinkers are cells and one can think as well as the
other, it is clear that the business in hand will be taken
care of as well in one case as in the other, whether it is
one cell or a million. The intelligent acts of the cell living
its single and separate life, clearly proves that fact. I be-
lieve that I have demonstrated what must be understood
by intelligence. It is a quality based on memory and pos-
sessed by the individual, who builds all organic life, the
being we call cell. So «far we' can clearly see and under-
stand life, at this time. Some day we shall understand
it still better.
CHAPTER VI.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL.
In a previous chapter we discussed the question as to
what was intelligence in an animal. We found it con-
sisted of the work of two departments of the individual,
the sense organs and the brain. The sense organs must
gather the information from the outside world and trans-
mit it to the cells in the brain and the brain cells must act
on such information. These are the requirements for the
performance of an intelligent act by an animal, based on
every other intelligent act and power, which we call mem-
ory. Memory is the power to take and keep a record of
past events and use it as a reference and guide to future
acts.
This power of storing away memoranda of different
transactions that have taken place in the past, we find is
possessed by all cells or living beings.
Three things are necessary to make up the mental ma-
chinery of an individual, viz., to receive, to think and to
direct. Those three things go together to make up what
we call the mind.
In the past the subject of mind had been studied as the
human mind, animal mind and child mind, but of late it
has been recognized that all living beings have a mind.
Now this question of mind can be studied in two ways ;
first, by examining your own mind and the actions arising
210 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
from it; and secondly, by observing the actions of others.
From late investigations, it has become clear that the
mind of man is the result of the minds of the individual
cells working together in his head, which we call in the
aggregate, his brain.
The real thinkers are the brain cells. They are there
for that special purpose. The minds of men are not all
alike because they have not all received the same informa-
tion from the outside world. The cells of the brain can
only act on such information as they get from the outside
world. If they are told for a number of years that the
Catholic religion is the best it will take considerable proof
to change them to Mohammedans, and just as difficult
will it be to change a Mohammedan into a Catholic.
Some one has said that the greatest thing in the world
is mind. It is true the mind in man has done all those
things that' man has produced, such as building railroads,
and other industries of commerce, literature, art, science,
social institutions and government. We can say further
that the mind of the cell has produced all those wonderful
structures we call plants and animals.
The mind has been generally considered from two
points of view, as thought and conduct, that is to say, first
as receiving information and learning, and then as acting,
willing or doing. I think it would be more correct to di-
vide it into three departments ; first, the receiving of infor-
mation from the outside world, such as is performed by
the senses; second, the consideration of such information,
such as the work of the purely thinking cells of the brain ;
third, the willing and doing department or motor brain
cells, or motor system, which commands and directs the
actions.
Now in order that the thinkers may be able to act on
any information received, they must of course be able to
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 211
use their power of memory — that is to refer to past rec-
ords and experiences, so as to be able to reason out the
best thing to be done at all times, as information comes in.
Let us consider this matter of conduct, in regard to de-
termining a person's mind. We know that every being
acts according to his mind. So from the actions of any
individual, we can determine his mental condition, intel-
lectual or mental capacity. We know this to be a fact,
so when we see some good piece of machinery or some
fine literary production or some beautiful structure or an
efficient organization, we are forced to admit that mind
and intellect were necessary for its production.
Before discussing any specific action of the cell, I shall
quote Dr. Swoboda's description of the cell as an organ-
izer and builder of the human body, to-wit :
"The human organism or body is developed and organ-
ized out of one cell. This original cell through sub-divi-
sion and growth creates billions of cells of different varie-
ties and character, and thus the body is but a nation or
vast army of individuals ; these individuals, the cells, live
together for a selfish purpose, while at the same time
having the community interest, just like man who is a
member of a nation or community.
"Originally cells evidently existed in an environment
which made it possible for them to live and perform all
their functions of life individually without the aid of co-
operation and organization, but conditions generally and
persistently changed so that the cells were compelled to
unite into organizations which were more aggressive and
capable of self-preservation accordingly as the various
experiences indicated and demanded, and in harmony
with their capacity to organize under the influence of
conscious energy, the designer, organizer, evolutionizer
and life of the body.
212 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
"In a community the complete function of life is sub-
divided. Some individuals perform one kind of labor
while other special duties are assumed by individuals who
have especially adapted themselves to the requirements of
the specific labor function. For instance, there are those
who are engaged in banking, while others are engaged in
the transportation of matter from one community to an-
other ; there are men who make storage their business and
life function, while some raise cattle and thus provide the
meat for the rest of the individuals. Then there are the
doctors, the lawyers, and the many specialists who per-
form peculiar labors which are essential to the happiness
and success of the community, and from this collection of
individuals are chosen men who pass the laws and govern
the citizens.
"Identically this same organization and specialization
of the units prevails in the body. All cells have developed,
to an unusually high degree, some special characteristic
under the influence of conscious energy, so as to perform
a special labor in the body for the benefit of the commun-
ity cells, in return for which they are supplied with the
necessaries of life just as the farmer has his clothes made
by another, his coal dug by still another and his imple-
ments manufactured by those who have specialized in
these matters and who, in turn, receive the benefit of the
farmer's labor.
"As I said before, in the body as well as in the civilized
state, community or city, there is co-operation, organiza-
tion and specialization of the individuals. There are the
liver cells, muscle cells, kidney cells, bone cells, digestive-
system cells, nerve cells, and many other cells of which
all of the organs and tissues are composed. Thus it is
clearly seen that the entire community of cells, or the
body, through all of its organs, performs the labor neces-
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 213
sary to its survival or the self-preservation of the cells in
harmony with, and in spite of, the many adverse condi-
tions of nature at the present age.
"The brain and nerve cells are the individuals who at-
tend to the desires and the needs of the different cells, as
well as of the body, by informing the different localities
of their duties. In other words, the nerve system is the
governor of the body ; it is made up of thousands of small
nerve centers and a few large collections of nerve centers.
"The thinking center is located in the surface of that
side of the brain, which controls the more active or
stronger side of the body."
This is a good description of the activities of the cells
in the body. If the cell is the designer, organizer and
evolutionizer of the human body, as he states he is, every
one must admit that he is the one that does all the busi-
ness, and I for one am compelled to say that he is an in-
telligent being. If they can organize, design and live to-
gether in a social community, for their own selfish pur-
pose, in , a moving structure like a human being, they
must be intelligent.
Did you ever stop to think of the enormous amount of
skill and knowledge necessary to maintain and repair the
body? There is no work in the development of organic
life that requires such accurate knowledge and faithful
execution at all times, as does the work of keeping the
body in repair. This will also include disposing of waste
material and worn out parts. This work is taken care of
without the knowledge of the upper brain cells. Disease
bacteria or germs of all kinds are everywhere, watching
for the slightest opportunity to enter the body. These
lodge in the throat, nose and mouth and are known as a
cold or catarrh or pneumonia germs. They must be de-
214 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
stroyed before they multiply and get into the blood. Who
looks after this work?
The cells of the body, which we call the white cells, are
cells that have not taken upon themselves any particular
work, like the cells of the muscles and nerves, but live as
separate beings in the body in the same manner as the
amoeba now lives in water. These cells have the work
of destroying invading armies of other cells, such as dis-
ease bacteria of all kinds, and also of repairing broken
parts. If you cut your finger, they will rush to the spot
in countless numbers and commence at once to close up
the cut. To do this they will sacrifice themselves, if nec-
essary, in destroying and fighting germs, trying to enter
the body through the cut. In the struggle for existence
it is necessary at times under certain circumstances for
one individual to sacrifice his life for others. It is done
by an intelligent being exercising his intelligence and
judgment in the matter on the theory that it is the best
that can be done under those particular circumstances.
Here we might also consider the fact that the body has
to do the best that can be done in each particular case, —
for instance, if for some reason a broken bone in an animal
can not be healed, it will proceed to make a joint at the
place. I quote from Spencer :
"But the most remarkable modification of this order
occurs in united fractures. 'False Joints' are often formed,
joints which rudely simulate the hinge structure or ball
and socket structure according as the muscles tend to
produce a motion of flexion and extension or one of rota-
tion. In one case according to Rotikonsky, the two ends
of the broken bone became smooth and covered with per-
iosteum and fibrous tissue, and were attached by liga-
ments that allowed motion, and in the other case the ends
similarly clothed with the appropriate membrane became
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 215
the one convex and the other concave, and were enclosed
in a capsule and were even occasionally supplied with
synovial fluid." Think of the broken bone, the torn blood
vessel, waste matter that must be removed and new parts
reconstructed. In their efforts to repair a broken limb
the cells decide what is the best possible thing that can
be done under the conditions of that particular case, and
a hinge joint or a ball and socket joint is formed according
as the conditions may require. Under these particular
circumstances there is nothing done by chance. Every
step requires intelligence and good judgment. The right
thing must be done at the right time.
This is only one instance. Think of all the conditions
and emergencies that arise during the life of an individ-
ual. Think of the "rough and tumble," ever varying game
of life, and how it is necessary that the builders of these
structures be not only good builders, but that they each
and all be equal to any emergency that may arise. Here
is where the old idea of chance is wiped out. Think of the
enormous amount of work that must be done just so, de-
pending upon the particular circumstances of the case.
In a case of repairing a crushed or broken limb, some-
times new arteries must be provided, if not, the limb fur-
ther down could receive no nourishment.
When the white cells rush to the place, like a wrecking
crew to a railroad wreck, and proceed to clear away the
wreckage and build it back into a useable condition, every
act must be done with a purpose, to effect certain ends.
Every move must be intelligent, just as in the taking care
of a railroad wreck. The correct size of the artery and
other blood vessels must be determined upon, proper ma-
terials provided, and so on in every detail of the work.
How are these beings able to communicate to each
other what each shall do in these cases? We do not know
216 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
their language any more than we know the language of
bees and ants, who also live a social life, like civilized
man. Mr. Binet has the following to say about the actions
of certain cells :
"Infusoria placed in a preparation where they are at
their ease, swim quietly about; if any sharp excitation dis-
turbs them, they accelerate their pace ; those armed with
a rigid bristle at the posterior extremity rush precipi-
tately onward whenever another infusory chances to
touch that tactile appendage.
"It is not known whether there are many animalcula
that perceive the presence of nutriment from a distance
and without coming in direct contact with it ; it appears,
however, that this is the case with the Didinium which
shatters its prey from a distance and without touching it."
Can you conceive those actions here described by Mr.
Binet, as being anything but the ordinary intelligent ac-
tions of animals that you know? He describes the "Did-
inium" as being able to kill its victim at a distance. Can
you conceive of any being who is able to make a gun, go
hunting and kill its victim as not being intelligent?
Those are acts performed by the cell that lives singly
and separately in the water, taking care of himself in the
best way he can.
A text book on Physiology describes the cell which
does our thinking as follows :
"Like the functions of all other organs, those of the
brain are effected by the cells, which make up the organ.
These brain-cells, which are also known as soul-cells,
ganglionic cells, or neurona, are real nucleated cells of a
very elaborate structure. It is true that the senses are
the original source of all knowledge ; but, in orde'r to have
real knowledge and thought the specific task of reason,
the impressions received from the external world by the
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 217
sense-organs and their nerves and centers must be com-
bined in the association-centers and elaborated in the con-
scious thought-centers. The conducting path which
unites a sense-organ with the cerebral cortex, or the lat-
ter with a muscle, appears as a chain of living individuals
of which every member, although always dependent upon
its neighbors, still leads a separate life, the specific char-
acter of which is generally different in the different parts
of the nervous system."
This description goes on further and shows how the
brain is simply groups of cells, each group having charge
of their particular department of the work; and that dis-
ease or destruction of a particular place or part of the
brain, destroys a particular faculty. It states :
"Thus disease of the speech-centre, in the third frontal
convolution, destroys the power of speech ; the destruc-
tion of the visual region (in the occipital convolutions)
does away with the power of sight; the lesion of the tem-
poral convolutions destroys hearing. When cells in
charge of the work are destroyed the business stops."
Mr. Haeckel makes the following statement in refer-
ence to the basis of morality. He goes on to show how
the idea of morality was first conceived by the cells, when
they began to work together for the common good of all,
that is, when they began to associate themselves into com-
munities, and with their united efforts produced those
structures we call plants and animals. He says :
"We find, even among these unicellulars (first pro-
tophyta, then protozoa), the important principle which
lies at the base of morality, association, or the formation
of communities. The adaptation of the united cell-in-
dividuals to each other and to the common environment
is the physiological foundation of the first traces of moral-
ity among the protists. All the unicellulars that abandon
218 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
their isolated eremitic lives and unite to form communi-
ties, are compelled to restrict their natural egoism, and
make concessions to altruism in the common interest.
Even in the globular coenobia of volvox and magosphaera
the special form and movement and mode of reproduction
are determined by the compromise between the egoistic
instincts of the individual cells and the altruistic need of
the community."
This great German scientist has got his mind so filled
up with the old ideas of what is understood by intelligent
beings, that he can not get his mind to work into seeing
the possibility of a microscopic being like a cell possess-
ing intelligence. He thinks that his size is against him.
He must admit that the cell has had enough intelligence
to build up the intelligent individual known as Mr. Haec-
kel, and still Mr. Haeckel will claim the intelligence him-
self and deny it to his maker. The following description
of a single cell and of those just beginning to associate
themselves together in communities like plants and ani-
mals, is from a textbook on zoology :
"In some cells, special parts are covered with count-
less hairs or cilia, which strike the water in a uniform
direction, like a row of oars, and force the animal for-
ward. Thus we see that the single cell is capable of very
different adaptations and so we can not be surprised if
the cells that compose the higher animals assume such
enormously different forms. In the protozoa, the one
cell discharges all the vital functions of locomotion, nutri-
tion, respiration and reproduction.
"There is a certain animal in our fresh waters called
the Pandorina. It consists of sixteen cells, all homogen-
eous, and each discharging all the functions. Each can
produce the animal by detaching itself from the cluster
and subdividing until it makes sixteen cells. Here is no
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 219
division of labor. As the first step in the division of labor,
we might suggest the volvox, a green globule about the
size of a pin head, consisting of a number of cells. Most
of the cells in this animal have taken charge x)f nutrition
and locomotion and a few others of reproduction."
You see it is just as natural for these individuals to see
the benefit of specializing, as it is for us to let each one
or each crowd look after his particular line of work. We
never stop to consider all the different matters to be
looked after in maintaining a plant or animal. There is
the simple matter of keeping the animal at even temper-
ature, regardless of the temperature of the surrounding
atmosphere ; there must be some method to retain or
drive out the heat from the plant or animal. The follow-
ing article by Mr. Bastin in the Scientific American is in-
teresting :
"In the first place the process of respiration is associ-
ated with considerable liberation of heat, as in germinat-
ing seeds, which show a difference of 2 degrees Fahr. in
peas. The respiration of the seeds involves the taking
in of oxygen and the giving out of carbon dioxide, the
same process as that in animals. It is the habit of the
Alpine plant, Soldanmillas, to start active growth early
in the Spring before the snow goes away, yet owing to
the large amount of heat which is liberated by the shoot-
ing flower, these are able to bear their way up through
the snow. The flower stalks are very slender which is
simply owing to the heat they liberate that they can make
their way through the snow crust which is generally ex-
ceedingly hard. Where the snow is very deep, they do
not reach the surface at all but expand in a cavity which
they have thawed out in shape of a dome where they
blossom and develope their pollen.
"Experiments have shown that inside the spathe of the
220 • CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Brazilian Delkciosa, the temperature was 100 degrees
Fahr., while the air outside was 78 degrees Fahr. Even
more astonishing was the case of the Arum Italicum.
Here, when the outside air was registered at 60 degrees
Fahr. the inside of the spathe showed a temperature of
110 degrees Fahr. The temperature of a plant, like that
of an animal, is a fairly stable feature. No matter what
the external conditions may be, the ordinary temperature
of the human being remains at about 98 degrees Fahr.,
whether living in the tropical or arctic regions. It is the
same with plants ; the long spells of hot dry weather in
Australia are notorious, but however scorching the sun
may be the sap of the plants remains cool. The long
roots of the Eucalyptus tree are tapped for their cool sap
by the natives. The root 20 to 30 feet running in 6 inches
of baking soil, is cool and delicious. Melons and gourds
of all kinds are astonishing in their powers of keeping
cool, even under the most scorching conditions. In the
testing of the temperature in a fairly strong sun, it ran
up to 110 degrees Fahr., yet the temperature in the in-
terior of the fruit was little more than 60 degrees. The
maintaining of the temperature in the plant is a process
which is directly associated with the life of the specimen.
The coolness of the gourd remains only so long as it is
attached to the plant. When the fruit is cut it rapidly
becomes the same temperature as the atmosphere, like
any other object. The moisture in the plant can not be
kept cool by evaporation, as it can spare no water but
must conserve every drop. Everything we know about a
plant which lives in a dry hot climate shows that all
kinds of devices are employed to check and prevent loss of
moisture. The loss of moisture by evaporation through
the thick skin of the gourd is very slight, while the
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 221
leathery skin of the others, like the cacti, hardly transpires
at all."
To keep the human body in an even temperature and to
keep the plant warm enough to melt the snow around it,
is a continuous job, requiring great skill. The cells know
how to create heat and in the same way the southern
plant knows how to create cold. They obtain the- results
but in different ways.
In the previous article from the school physiology, we
noticed that the cells in the brain although they were
connected together in a mass, still retained their individ-
ual separate existence, so each one must have a mind of
his own. Still, all working together, they form the mind
of the individual in the same way as all the combined
will of a nation or body of people becomes its will ; as
for instance we speak of the will of the Legislature, or
the sentiment or mind of the council, public, or the Ger-
man people. There is the separate mind of the individual
cell and the combined mind of the body or brain. The
human mind or brain is generally considered superior to
all others, by reason of its size. Mr. Haeckel has the
following to say about the brain :
"With the most improved means of modern histology,
the most perfect microscopes and coloring methods, we
are only just beginning to penetrate into the marvelous
structure of the phronetal cells and their complicated
grouping. Yet we have advanced far enough to regard
it as the most perfect piece of cell-machinery and the
highest product of organic evolution. Millions of highly
differentiated phronetal cells form the several stations of
this telegraph system, and thousands of millions of the
finest nerve-fibrils represent the wires which connect the
stations with one another and with the sense-centres on
the one hand, and with the motor centres on the other.
222 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Comparative anatomy, moreover, acquaints us with the
long and gradual development which the phronema has
undergone within the higher class of the vertebrates,
from the amphibia and reptiles up to the birds and mam-
mals, and, within the last class, from the monotremes and
marsupials up to the apes and men. The human brain
seems to us today to be the greatest marvel that plasm,
or the 'living substance,' has produced in the course of
millions of years."
You notice here how he states that the human brain is
the greatest marvel that "plasm" or "living substance"
has produced in the course of millions of years. Why not
call them cells or beings, instead of such nonsense as
"plasm" and "living substance." Those words are not
only meaningless but misleading.
There is no difference whatever in the brain of the
jackass and the brain of the President of the United
States, except that one contains more cells than the other.
The cells are themselves the same kind and size, but the
human brain contains more of the individual cells, which
gives the human mind or brain more chance or power to
specialize and to think in more ways and on a larger
number of subjects.
There is no question but that this extra size of the
brain has weakened the power of the human mind to
reason and think in a general way. I cut the following
article from the Kansas City Daily, not long ago, which
should give one some food for thought :
"Ten years in the federal prison at Atlanta was the
penalty inflicted upon four young Navajo Indians of
Arizona, who murdered a medicine man, Gi Shin Beta,
because they believed the arts he practiced upon the sick
'were shot with witchcraft born of the devil,' resulting
in the death of two patients who never recovered from
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 223
the uncanny spell cast over them. The murder was com-
mitted by order of the chief without knowledge or fear
of the white man's law and in the name of the Great
Spirit, says the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
"Natani Bezab, Hoskay Oho Neeth, Natch We No and
Bitsie No Dozio were found guilty after a trial fraught
with difficulty and delay. The defendants never had
learned even a smattering of the English language, mak-
ing it necessary to translate every question and answer.
The jury consisted of white men. Bitsie No Dozio did
not actively participate in the crime and was told by the
court that a parole or pardon would be recommended for
him within a short time.
"A young woman of the Navajo tribe was afflicted with
tuberculosis. Her parents sent a messenger for Gi Shin
Beta, who had a reputation for healing the sick and cast-
ing out devils. He had also a black spot on his long
record. Four years ago he attended a young woman ill
of a similar disease and was said to have cast a spell over
her from which she never recovered.
"The girl was found in a dying condition. The four
men charged with murder waited without while the
treatment was being administered. The medicine man
went out and consulted the stars when he noted her con-
dition. Returning he said that he had seen a large wheel
in the heavens and two men shoveling ashes into the
center of it. This meant that there was no hope for her
recovery.
"After she died a black spot was found over her heart,
and her father instantly divined that the medicine man
had shot an arrow of witchcraft through her body, there-
by causing her death. He consulted his friends and the
belief became general in the Indian camps that Gi Shin
Beta possessed a 'body full of devils.'
224 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
"In the former case he had cast over the young woman
a spell that lasted for many days. He was importuned to
take it away, but he steadfastly refused, holding that he
had no power to do it.
"Another medicine man was called and after examining
the girl, he confirmed the beliefs of other Indians that,
could the spell be removed the girl would recover. This
was recalled and Gi Shin Beta was informally sentenced
to die. Conforming to an unwritten law of the tribe and
in the belief that they were doing their fellowmen a
justice, the four young Indian braves went to the moun-
tain lodge of Gi Shin Beta, took him from the house and
killed him with an axe. They left the body in the yard
and there it remained for several hours. A friend of the
four came along later and rolled it into a ditch.
"The plea of H. H. Linney, council for the defendants,
was unique. The defendants, he said, knew not what they
did. They were following a wild call of other genera-
tions of their kind, — not the Old Testament call of an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but the call that rings
in behalf of society and the peaceable livlihood of those
interested in the welfare of their kin and kind. Linney
declared that the white man is inconsistent in condemn-
ing a belief in witchcraft, as it has been but a few years
comparatively since white men were burned at the stake
by their own kind for the practice of witchcraft.
"There are thousands of men today who believe that
humans are possessed of the power to cast out devils,
Kinney argued, and the white man should not be too
prone to condemn the Indian for holding such a belief.
Religious belief- is strong in all mankind, he said, and
these four slayers could scarcely, in justice to their be-
lief, be measured by the tape of the white man's law.
"There is consternation in the camps of the Navajos.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 225
No argument that their simple minds can conceive justi-
fies the white man in depriving members of their band
of their liberty for doing their duty as patriotic represen-
tatives of a dwindling tribe."
What right have we to interfere with the religious
beliefs of these people, when we believe in the same creed
ourselves? Christ believed in it and practiced it, and we
believe in Christ. Only a few years ago, we, the intelli-
gent citizens of America, burned our mothers and sisters,
in the belief that they were possessed of the devil.
In accordance with the Bible quotation, "Thou shall
not suffer a witch to live," thousands of women were
burned alive. Such highbrows as preachers, judges and
statesmen were the people who directed the work, think-
ing that it was the best thing and the fight thing to be
done. Three-fourths of the people of the United States
are just as silly today as they were then. What has man
to boast of, in the way of reasoning powers?
We find no such preposterous and foolish actions in
any animals as we do in man. There is of course prac-
tically no difference in the mind of the animals and man.
This fact has now been well established on the question
as to the origin of the human faculty. Mr. Romanes
states, in substance as follows :
"All the emotions such as fear, surprise, affection, pug-
nacity, curiosity, jealousy, anger, play, sympathy, emula-
tion, pride, resentment, emotion of the beautiful, grief,
hate, cruelty, benevolence, and the emotion of the ludi-
crous, are found in the animal mind."
This list exhausts all the human emotions, with the
exception of those which refer to religion, moral sense
and perception of the sublime. Romanes states that:
"The emotional life of animals is so strikingly similar to
the emotional life of man, and especially young children,
226 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
that I think the similarity ought fairly to be taken as
direct evidence of a genetic continuity between them.
"And so it is with regard to instincts, — such as have
reference to nutrition, self preservation, reproduction and
rearing of progeny."
No one will venture to dispute the fact that all these
instincts are identical with those which we observe in
the lower animals. Language has arisen from sign mak-
ing, etc. As man has come up thru the same stages of
development as the other animals, and as only a few cen-
turies ago he lived the life of an animal as animals live
today, it is only natural that his thinking organization
would be on the same plan, and that he would have the
same nerve centres, which would produce the same ac-
tions and emotions.
Haeckel, describing the brain or thinking machinery of
man states : "The phronema is the organ of thought in
the same sense in which we consider the eye the organ
of vision, or the heart the central organ of circulation.
With the destruction of the organ its function disappears.
Between these central organs of sense lie the intellec-
tual or thought organs, the instruments of presentation
and thought, judgment and consciousness, intellect and
reason ; they are called thought-centres, or association
centres, because the various impressions received from
the sense centres are associated, combined and united in
harmonious thought by them."
Then in another place he makes the following state-
ment, showing how the human mind is deceived and
tangled up with all kinds of foolish ideas :
"Modern spook-seeking has no more value than me-
diaeval magic, babalism, astrology, necromancy, dream-
interpretation, and invocation of the devil. We must put
at the same stage of superstition the spiritism aad occult-
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 227
ism we find mentioned so much in modern literature.
There are always thousands of credulous folk in educated
countries who are taken in by the performances of the
spiritualists and their media, and are ready to believe the
unbelievable. Spirit-rapping, table-turning, spirit-writing,
the materialization and photographing of deceased souls,
find credit, not only among the uneducated masses, but
even among the most cultured, and sometimes among
imaginative scientists."
It is necessary to call the attention of the reader to
these facts and conditions to show what the human men-
tal machinery really is.
The conjugation of the single cells living a separate
life is described by Binet, as follows :
"Nevertheless, the two Stentors continue to be united
for a certain length of time by a bridge of matter, located
even with the point where the contraction took place ;
.this bridge of matter gradually grows thinner and thin-
ner and becomes as fine as a thread. Now Gruber has
observed that the two Stentors united by this bridge of
protoplasm exhibit perfect harmony in their movements ;
they always sway in the same direction at the same time ;
and this harmony is necessary, because the least con-
trariety of motion would suffice to break the feeble bond
that unites them. Moreover, their vibratile cilia beat in
unison. To explain this concordance in the movements
of the two animals, Gruber assumes that the entire mass
of their protoplasm performs the function of a diffused
nervous system, which has the effect of regulating their
movements and of making them harmonize."
Just note the actions described here, and the opinion
that these actions indicate a nervous system. Now it does
not make any difference what they have or what you
call it, we must admit that they show intelligence of a
228 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
high order. We have no microscope at this time power-
ful enough to see the individual or primordial beings,
that make up the individual we call cell, but we can
clearly see the actions and methods of the cell, and I wish
the human mind to understand this proposition right and
acknowledge the intelligence of his maker, the cell.
Mr. Haeckel gives him a name, as if he had no more
intelligence than a stone, calls him a "plasm" or "living
matter." Later in his book, he gives a description of him
in a different light and compares his acts of special pro-
gress, with those of man. He makes the following state-
ment:
"We need only to glance back half a century, and com-
pare life today with what it was then, in order to realize
the progress made. If we regard the modern state as an
elaborate organism (a 'social individual of the first
order'), and compare its citizens to the cells of a higher
tissue-animal, the difference between the state of today
and the crudest family groups of savages is not less than
that between a higher metazoon (such as a vertebrate)
and a coenobium of protozoa.
"The progressive division of labor, on the one hand,
and the centralization of society, on the other, prepare
the social body for higher functions than in isolation, and
proportionately increase the worth of its life. To see
this more clearly, let us compare the personal and social
value of life in the five chief fields of vital activity, —
nutrition, reproduction, movement, sensation, and mental
life."
Now if the cell has gone through the same process as
man in gradually learning, discovering and taking ad-
vantage of the benefits of social life, why has he not done
so by reason of his intelligence, just as man has.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 229
One writer describes the actions of the mental machin-
ery of man, in the following language :
"The physiologist, as a physicist, observes how a beam
of light, a wave of sound, or a vibration of heat affects the
organs of sensation ; how they enter the nerves, are trans-
formed into an irritation of the nerve-fibers and conducted
to the brain cells. Here he loses all trace of them.
"On the other hand, he observes a spoken word coming
from the mouth of a speaking person ; he sees the person
move his limbs, and finds these movements are caused
by muscular contractions produced through motor nerves
irritated by the nerve-cells of the central organs. Here
again he is at his wit's end. The bridge which should
lead him from the irritated sensory nerve to the irritated
motor nerve, is indicated in the labyrinthian connections
of the nerve-cells, but he lacks a clue to the infinitely
involved processes which are interposed in this place."
Now the actions of any submarine would seem just as
mysterious if we did not realize the fact that the in-
dividual itself, which we call submarine, was in charge of
intelligent beings, which are directing its actions and
course according to the information that it receives from
the outside world.
Just think of the busy life inside of the animal or
human individual. The heart and circulating system
causes a continuous supply of nourishment and oxygen
to every individual cell. It is the cells in the animal that
must have oxygen and food, not the animal. In the same
way with the submarine, it is the people that occupy it
and run it that must have the food and air. Think of the
thousands of orders, going to the storage tank we call
the stomach, for material to repair this and that. Think
of the millions of chemists, one making gastric juice, one
bile, one saliva, one tears, one this and one that. Think of
230 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the millions continually carrying food and oxygen, and
the millions carrying away waste matter. Think of the
millions on guard and duty night and day as superin-
tendents and questioning all suspicious characters and
killing enemies. Nothing like this order and method can
be equaled in the social communities of man.
We must come back again to the consideration of the
ciliated cells that live single separate lives in the water.
The following is a description of the actions of those cells
by Mr. Binet :
"In case of the hunter ciliates proper, the mouth is
constantly closed. The act of absorbing each object cap-
tured is accomplished by the process of deglutition com-
parable in every phase to the like process in higher
animals. Furthermore, these species feed only upon liv-
ing prey, which they capture and entrammel by means of
their trichocysts. By this very act they exercise a choice
in the selection of food.
"These hunter-Infusoria are constantly running about
in quest of prey; they move rapidly hither and thither,
changing their direction every moment, with the part of
the body bearing the battery of trichocysts held in ad-
vance. When chance has brought them in contact with
a victim, they let fly their darts and crush it ; at this point
of the action they go through certain manoeuvres that are
prompted by a guiding will. It very seldom happens that
the shattered victim remains motionless after direct colli-
sion with the mouth of its assailant. The hunter accord-
ingly, slowly makes his way about the scene of action,
turning both right and left in search of his lifeless prey.
This search lasts a minute at the most, after which, if not
successful in finding his victim, he starts off once more to
the chase and resumes his irregular and roving course."
How do these actions compare with the actions of man
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 231
when he is hunting? Still our great German philosopher,
like all other scientists, calls this being, this intelligent
hunter who makes his own weapons, with which he is
able to kill his victim at 'a distance, only a "plasm" or
"living matter."
We never have time in our busy lives to stop and con-
sider all the wonderful things which take place in the
living world around us. The acts of insects are simply
astonishing. I read the following in my Sunday paper
the other day, which mentions a few of their perform-
ances :
"David Fairchild, the plant explorer, has discovered
that the champion athlete and aeronaut of the insect
world is the king grasshopper. It can jump one hundred
times its own length, and has been known to sail for one
thousand miles before the wind.
"The carrying power of the song of the cricket is extra-
ordinary. There are species whose strident notes can be
heard for a mile, although their bodies are scarcely more
than an inch in length. The males alone are musical.
"Of all creatures in our houses, the cockroach is the
most detested. Housewives may be surprised to learn
that a cockroach can live five years, and that it takes a
year to develope to maturity. The female lays her eggs
in a horny capsule like a spectacle case, which she carries
about with her until she is ready to deposit it in some
suitable place. Later she returns to help her baby cock-
roaches out of their shells.
"The song of the cicada is the noisiest in the insect
world. The seventeen-year cicada has been called the
Rip Van Winkle of the insect world. From its tiny eggs
there issues a creature with soft white body and mole-
like front legs. - It hurries to the ground and disappears
beneath its surface, sometimes to thp deoth nf twenty
232 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
feet. For seventeen years it digs its way around in
absolute darkness, and then comes to the surface to join
in a marriage revelry of a few weeks. It is a full-fledged
creature of the air, though encased still in grave clothes
of parchment; but it soon splits these up the back, pulls
itself out, dries its powerful wings and flies away with
the whirr of an aerodrome to live but a few weeks."
Certain fish have a habit of catching insects by squirt-
ing water on them so they will fall off the plants into the
water.
Squirrels gather food for winter and hide it, but can
always find the graneries despite the deep snow. A rat
in Siberia, the Sagonies Pica, gathers grass in the fall
which it will need in the winter; and one observer states
that like any farmer he spreads it out to dry in the sun,
then collects it in ricks which it shelters from rain and
snow.
The crested Grebe makes a raft which floats for a nest,
and i.f you get too near it, will push it away from you by
paddling, as you would a boat.
I could go on indefinitely describing these different
actions of animals, showing that all animals, including
man and the insects, are intelligent beings. They appear
to us to be possessed of different degrees of intelligence,
but the fact, is that the one who may appear the most
stupid may be the most skillful in the particular line of
work which concerns him and his well being, in that
particular place in life where he exists.
Wherein do the actions of animals that watch and pur-
sue their prey, lay snares for it, like the spider, and
devour it, differ from the actions of man, when he hunts
and does the same things? Wherein do the actions by
which the animal hides itself, avoids the snares laid for
it, invents deceptions for its defense, differ from the
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 233
actions of man, now taking place in this war? Man acts
for an end, so do animals. However, we must not forget
that the real actors are the cells, in the same manner that
the real actors in the submarine are the men inside.
When we see a man building a house, painting a pic-
ture, or digging a ditch we know that the man is working
with a desire, an idea or purpose. We can not read the
internal actions of his mind but we know from our ex-
perience what the facts are, from our own mind. It is
not even necessary to see the man do the work. The
work itself is proof positive of an idea or purpose.
It must be admitted that every work or product based
upon an idea or purpose can be caused only by intelligence
and not by chance. The actions of man and animals are
for a purpose. When the' cell in his single state makes his
dart with which to kill other cells, it is clear that he is
working with an idea or purpose. When he shoots his
dart at another cell, he clearly does so with a purpose
and with an idea that he is going to kill and have some-
thing to eat. We see in cells of both animals and man,
actions identical. They are all the same kind, and for a
purpose. I shall have to describe all these different
things, so the reader can determine for himself.
I am here to defend the cell, to show that he is pos-
sessed of judgment and understanding, that he does
nothing blindly. His existence still with us as a single
cell is proof certain that he has a mind possessed of
extraordinary resources, to be able to combat cold, hun-
ger, death and all the elements and enemies of living
matter, or else he would not be in existence today.
Our limited intellect is not a competent tribunal to
pass judgment on the cell and his actions, — on one who
has produced all the wonderful structures that have ex-
isted in the past history of our planet. His works in the
234 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
past and today are beyond our comprehension. The idea
of a true intellect in anything outside of ourselves, and
especially in a microscopic being seems absurd to some
people. However, when we study the actions of the cell
swimming in the water, or the cell in our brain doing
our thinking, we are studying the same individual, but
in different situations in life.
The 'cell in the man's brain occupies the same place as
the superintendent of a large railroad, while the single
cell in the water occupies the same place as the savage
who still roams the forest and hunts for a living. Each
one understands his work in life, and each one acts with
a purpose.
A most wonderful experiment to test and prove that
every cell of the body has intelligence, as well as the
brain cells, can be made with the decapitated frog or
headless frog. I have tried it myself several times. Prof.
James describes it as follows :
"As good an instance as can be given is the often quoted
instance of the decapitated frog, which can not of course
see or feel, and can not consciously perform any move-
ment. Yet if a drop of acid is placed on the lower surface
of the thigh of the frog in this state, it will rub off the
drop with the upper surface of the foot of the same leg;
if this foot be cut off, it can not thus act. After some
fruitless efforts it gives up trying in that way, seems
restless, as though it was seeking some other way, and at
last it makes use of the foot of the other leg and suc-
ceeds in rubbing off the acid. Notably here we have not
merely contractions of muscles but combined and har-
monized contractions in due sequence for a special pur-
pose. These are actions that have all appearances of
being guided by intelligence, and instigated by will, in
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 235
an animal, the recognized organ of whose intelligence
and will has been removed."
This instance and many similar show that will and
intelligence are everywhere in the body, and that the
brain is not the only place where it is found. The brain
cells have been removed, but as all cells of the body are
thinkers and intelligent, other cells take their place and
give orders.
And as I said before it requires intelligence to obey
instructions promptly, as well as to give instructions.
The cells that contracted the frog's muscles and lifted the
foot to the right spot and moved it from place to place,
so as to remove the acid, required just as much intelli-
gence as the cells that ordered the muscles to do it. It
required knowledge, skill and intelligent execution, to be
effective. I do not see how a more conclusive test could
be made. These actions will also take place in other
animals with the head removed. Think of the hundreds
and thousands of cells involved in the act of lifting the
leg and making it rub off the acid. So I claim that each
and all of the cells of the body are possessed of intelli-
gence just as the original cell which started the con-
struction of the body.
Under our discussion in a previous chapter of what life
really is, we found that it is not any of the chemical or
physical forces that we are acquainted with at the present
time, but that the life force is in the being we call a cell ;
that this life force distinguishes itself from all other
forces in this, that it is able to direct and make use of the
other forces in nature, like electricity, gravitation, the
movements of water and wind, heat, cold, light and the
different kinds of chemical action. Certain kinds of cells
that are produced by the clover-plant understand how to
extract the nitrogen from the air and store it away for
236 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
future use. One of the greatest chemical discoveries and
inventions of the age was the secret of extracting nitro-
gen from the air by electricity. Why does this act by
man prove him to be any more intelligent than the cell,
which lives in the clover-plant and performs this same
act?
The most important power or knowledge that certain
kinds of cells possess, is the power of making starch and
different kinds of materials which we call carbohydrates
and fats from the raw material of soil, air and water. All
the cells which build plants have this power, but in order
to do this they must have sunlight. The cells who have
this power have also a speck which resembles an eye.
These cells nourish themselves by making starch with
sunlight, so if they are deprived of the sun's rays, they
can not make their food and thus starve to death. These
cells that understand how to make starch from the air,
earth and water, have a special organ for this purpose,
which the other cells do not have. This organ is called the
chlorophyl pigment or chromatophore. These cells carry
a tiny chemical laboratory with them, with which they
change a crude substance into a finished product like
starch which they use for food. It is a singular thing that
they should use the same substance for food that we do.
These cells that carry a starch factory with them have
also an eye. In regard to this, one observer states :
"If flagellates possessing chromatophores, that is organs
generating starch, have ocular spots at the same time, it
is because these rudimentary eyes enable them to find
their way towards the light, which is the necessary agent
of chlorophyl action. Accordingly all micro-organisms
having eyes nourish themselves as plants do. In their
case, the object of the eye is to direct the performance ot
a vegetable function.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 237
"In the case of the euglenae, the chromatophores are
formed of small discoid plates ; they are situated directly
under the cuticle, so that the light can act upon them.
"In certain species of flagellata, they are exhibited un-
der the cuticle in the form of two large plates which en-
velop the protoplasm like a cuirass formed of two pieces."
We have to admit that we do not know yet by what
process of alchemy the crude material of earth, air and
water are combined or transformed into starch, but we see
that it takes place. Only to those cells that depend on
that method of making a living is the secret known, and
the secret is passed along as the common knowledge from
generation to generation.
In late years there have been some discoveries in refer-
ence to the chemical effect of sunlight on different kinds of
matter. The heat or electric energy in sunlight is evi-
dently used by the cell to start a certain molecular activ-
ity in matter which molecular activity the cell is able to
direct to form the different chemical compounds wanted.
This photo chemistry, as it is sometimes called, is be-
lieved by some now to be an electric energy. I read the
following interesting article in regard to it some time ago,
in the Scientific American :
"The subject of Photo Chemistry is one about which
comparatively little is known ; while the application to
ordinary photography is well understood, the theory that
leads to the chemical action of light is far from being per-
fectly comprehended. The chemical action of sunlight,
such as that shown in the bleaching process and blue
printing has been known for a long time. Recent investi-
gations have taught us that numerous compounds are
sensitive to light, and convinced us that we are dealing
with a mutual action between ether vibrations and chem-
ical force, but it takes place only in special cases, as light
238 CELL, INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
is considered to be the vibration of ether. When the
ether vibrations traverse any material, they produce two
different results : First, they raise the temperature ; sec-
ond, they occasion chemical energy. The first is called
absorption of light, the second chemical change. Gases,
liquids and solids all respond to ether vibrations, such as
the explosive mixture of hydrogen and chlorine, chlorine
water, which gives up oxygen, and phosphorous which
changes to red, or cinabar which turns to black. Now,
what is the cause of these light vibrations?
"The latest authorities maintain that light vibrations
are produced by electric agitations, and that in the chem-
ical action of light we deal with phenomena not far re-
moved from the formation and decomposition of com-
pounds under the influence of the galvanic current.
"The action of light waves (according to latest theo-
ries) are the rapidly alternating electric fields. From these
conclusions we may assume that the ultimate cause of the
photo-chemical action of light lies in electric phenomena."
The most common and abundant single cell that we
have in our ponds and lakes which makes its own starch
or food, is the cell called euglena. This is what you
might call a minute invisible green plant. These Euglenas
are again eaten by other cells that do not understand how
to make starch for food. The Euglena is known as the
green scum of sewers, lakes, ponds, streams and muddy
places. As soon as it finds itself in darkness or light too
weak to aid it in its starch-making activities it moves into
a better light. Euglenas are cigar shaped with a tail for
a propeller, which works like a cork screw. The starch
factory is carried at the front end. Under the microscope
these creatures can be seen gathering together at certain
places where the light is not too weak nor too strong,
generally about two or three inches under the water.
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 239
They are able to distinguish between the different shades
of light. They move about up and down until they get
into just that degree of light which seems to them about
right, and then remain as nearly stationary as possible,
and while in such position, cause their starch machinery
to work full speed.
It is clear that this cell can see, although his eyes have
not yet been discovered. It has the motor apparatus, with
which it is able to go to the place where it can obtain
energy from the sun with which to run its starch factory.
It has a mind with a will to go to the place when and
where it is necessary to go. It has the skill to run the
starch factory. It has the keen sense to distinguish and
discover when it is in the right position and place where
the radiant energy of the sun is not too weak or too strong
for it to operate its starch machine in the proper manner.
Thus we see life is not sunlight, heat, cold nor electricity
nor any other of the forces of nature, with which we are
acquainted. All life that we see such as plants and ani-
mals, is caused by intelligent acts of the cell. These in-
telligent beings are able to take advantage of all these
different forces of nature and turn them into some useful
purpose for themselves. They understand how to effect
chemical combinations of crude matter, like earth, air and
water, so as to mould them into such structures as they
need for food building material or for other defensive pur-
poses.
The sun's heat is a wonderful kind of energy with
which to effect chemical changes in matter. The cells
have had a chance to experiment with this energy for mil-
lions of years and they have discovered how to set up
molecular disturbances and activities in matter and to
direct the actions of atoms and molecules, so as to be able
240 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
to effect any particular molecular combination of matter
they wish.
All plant and animal cells know how to use sunlight
for making the different kinds of building material which
they may need. The tree must have an outside covering
so with the energy of sunlight, the cells who occupy it
make what we call bark from the crude material taken
from earth, air and water. Heat is required to start chem-
ical action. The sun is usually the only source of heat at
the surface of the earth, and it was the most natural thing
that the cell should discover methods to utilize this power.
Just think what a discovery it would be, if the human race
should discover this method of making starch or other
fibers from earth, air and water !
Since we have already discovered the secret of extract-
ing free nitrogen and a number of other chemicals from
the air, which was known only to a few species of cells a
few years ago, why should we not in time discover this
most important secret of all, how to make starch and fats
from crude matter? We can not hope to learn how to do
these things by merely observing the actions of the cell.
Our eyes are made to see things a thousand times larger.
We are living in a different world. However, it is a chem-
ical secret and it can be discovered by experimental work.
We see in this microscopic wonder who makes food for
himself and also for us, the same living being as ourself.
He is a composition of intelligence and matter, race and
individual, life and death, past and future, all gathered to-
gether in one, just as it is in us.
We see that the matter of size makes no difference.
How many ages did the cell live singly and separately in
the world, in this manner, making its own food, before it
learned to associate itself into communities like plants
and animals? When we consider the old ruins left in the
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 241
earth's crust, of all the different animal and plant struc-
tures which were at one time the abode of the cell, we
get an idea of the vast experience and work of the cell,
and the tremendous age of this planet.
We must now consider the actions of plants. A plant
is a stationary abode, so constructed that its occupants
can get out into the sunlight in the summer and make up
the different building material and food that it may need.
Trees generally build temporary structures for the season,
called leaves, where they get the use of the sunlight.
When they get a "hunch" that winter is coming, they
scurry back into the tree, cut the leaves loose and close
up the connections. Some plants climb up the sides of
other plants and structures. They build out tendrils with
which they grasp hold of other plants and attach them-
selves permanently.
In reference to these moving, grasping, highly sensitive
plants, Darwin has this to say :
"We see how high in the scale of organization a plant
may arise, when we look at one of the more perfect ten-
dril bearers. It first places its tendrils ready for action,
as a polypus places its tentacula. If the tendril be dis-
placed, it is acted upon by the force of gravity and rights
itself; it is acted on by the light and bends towards or
from it, or disregards it, whichever may be most advan-
tageous. During several days the tendrils spontaneously
revolve with a steady motion. The tendril strikes some
object and quickly curls around and firmly grasps it. In
the course of some hours it contracts into a spire, drag-
ging up the stem and forming an excellent spring. All
movements now cease, by growth the tissues soon be-
come wonderfully strong and durable. The tendril has
done its work and has done it in an admirable manner.
"Spreading out their branches in contact with any
242 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
nearly flat surface, they develop discs — these adhere by
the secretion of some cement to a wall or even to a pol-
ished surface. The rapid development of these adherent
discs is one of the most remarkable peculiarities possessed
by any tendril. In the first species, the tendrils resemble
in shape a bird's foot, they can seize firm hold of a twig
or branch."
I have myself conducted some very interesting experi-
ments with climbing plants, which have lead me to be-
lieve they can both see and feel like an animal ; in fact, I
have no doubt about it, as they will change their direction
and move towards and find a stake or plant. When we
consider the fact, however, that cells build these partly
stationary and partly moving structures, we should not
be surprised at their actions. You will have to admit that
anything that will build these feeling and grasping struc-
tures with the idea and purpose of climbing up the side
of other structures and thereby fastening themselves per-
manently, and with the one purpose in view of getting
into the sunlight, must be possessed of a guiding and di-
recting mind.
You can not believe that matter alone can climb up and
grasp hold of a twig, or side of a wall. They wish to climb
up into the sunlight and make carbohydrates, and they do
it. You might say that a plant does not possess those or-
gans wherein will, intellect and instinctive action reside.
That is to say that a plant has no brain. What is a brain
but a community of cells? And what is a plant but a
community of cells?
This being a fact, we should expect to find the same in-
telligent and purposive acts in one place as in another.
Mr. Haeckel makes the following comparative statement
between the social organization of man, and that of the
cell:
INTELLIGENCE OP THE CELL 243
"The original physiological independence of the cells
which have combined to form tissues is more completely
lost in proportion to the closeness of their combination,
the complexity of their division of labor, and the differ-
entiation and centralization of the tissue-organism. Hence
the various kinds of tissues in the body of the histona be-
have like the various classes and professions in a state.
The higher the civilization and the more varied the
classes of workers, the more they are dependent on each
other, and the state is centralized.
"The complicated modern state, with its remarkable
achievements, may be regarded as the highest stage of in-
dividual perfection which is known to us in organic na-
ture. But we can only understand the structure of this
extremely complex 'organism of the highest order/ and its
social forms and functions, when we have a sociological
knowledge of the various classes that compose it, and the
laws of their association and division of labor ; and when
we have made an anthropological study of the nature of
the persons who have united, under the same laws, for
the formation of a community and are distributed in its
various classes. The familiar arrangement of these
classes, and the settling of the rank in the mass and the
governing body, show us how this complex social organ-
ism is built up step by step.
"But we have to look in the same way on the cell-state,
which is made up from the separate individualities in
human society or in the kingdom of the tissue-animals, or
the branches in the kingdom of the tissue-plants. Their
complex organism, composed of various organs and tis-
sues, can be only understood when we are acquainted
with their constituent elements, the cells, and the laws
according to which these elementary organisms unite to
244 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
form cell-communities and tissues, and are in turn modi-
fied in the divers organs in the division of labor."
He states that the complicated modern state with
its remarkable achievements may be regarded as the
highest state of individual perfection which is known to
us in organic nature," and he compares the social achieve-
ments of man with those of the cell, and in fact arising
from the cell. The social life lived in a plant or animal
compels us to recognize among the cells a spiritual com-
munication, similar to our own. A fair consideration of
these facts compels us to admit that the cell has the same
intellectual capacity as man.
The remarkable harmony and unity of action, the ex-
traordinary division of labor, the regularity with which
one group of workers will take the place of another, con-
vinces me that there is no difference in their intelligence.
Many plants, if not all of them, can both see, feel and
hear. I do not mean that they can do so to the extent that
we can, nor is it necessary for their existence that they
should. There has been a great amount of investigation,
of late, in regard to the question of the existence of a will
and consciousness in all plants. Some time ago the fol-
lowing appeared in Current Opinion :
"Only within recent years has- systematic observation
been made of the results consequent upon the division
into two sexes of the conspicuous forms of plant life.
"They have eyes which see (to follow the elucidation
of Royal Dixon, a student, of what he deems the human
side of plants), they have mouths with which they eat and
stomachs to digest their food in. The stomachs of plants
are in the form of leaves ; but they subserve the purpose.
Plants have lungs with which they breathe and they
actually drink water. They are organisms, and because
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 245
they are organisms they perform the functions of such
things ; they actually mate.
"Plants have not always had the same manner of eat-
ing, drinking and sleeping, nor have they always had the
mating customs prevailing among them at present. Plant
customs and habits change as do the habits of other or-
ganisms. Hence their mating habits have been modified
through the ages. Before the mating of any pair of
plants occurs, there is at this stage in the evolution of
many among them a brief period of what must be called
courtship. The happy and gallant wooer adorns himself
gorgeously with brilliant flowers, each having powdered
faces, calling to his love on every breeze. He must charm
or there will be no response. This, of course, refers to
matings among the more developed plants.
"When we speak of flowers we rarely stop to consider
just what the term means. It means not only the pistil,
which contains the undeveloped seeds or ovules; the
stamens with their pollen grains ; but the petals, or taken
together, the corolla ; and lastly the calyx — all these dif-
ferent parts combine to form the flower. The brilliantly
colored petals are really used as advertisements. The red,
yellows, oranges, greens, purples and whites are flags
that signal to the bees and butterflies to come and feast
on the honey — and thus to fill their fuzzy backs with the
pollen grains which will readily cling to the sticky pistil
of the next flower they visit.
"One of the most brilliant displays of color is that of
the flame azalea. It flaunts its gaudy blossoms over the
mountain-sides, beckoning to the pollen-bearers 'to come
and taste of its honey. Its flame colored flowers are pro-
duced in great profusion, and massed together, their blaz-
ing splendor gives the impression of the woods on fire.
246 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
The azalea, because of its gay blossoms, is becoming very
popular as a cultivated shrub.
"Some plants do not care to have their pollen distrib-
uted, but fertilize their own flowers by dropping the pol-
len grains upon their own pistils. But in all such cases
their children are degenerates, and only plants which are
very low and unsuccessful in life use this means of fer-
tilization. While in a very large percentage of flowering
plants the male and female elements both are present in
the same flower, if good healthy offspring are to be pro-
duced it is necessary for pollen to be brought from an-
other plant, or another flower of the same plant.
"It was long ago proved that close interbreeding pro-
duces degenerates in the plant kingdom. There are very
few instances among high-class plants where perfect
seeds have been produced without the ovules having been
fertilized in the regular way ; that is, by a transference of
the pollen from the male to the female flower.
"Among such plants as begonias, cucumbers, gourds,
squashes and the like there are many flowers that are dis-
tinctly male or female. If for any reason the proper in-
sects do not exist in the territory where such flowers are
to be raised, the flowers may be fertilized by carrying
pollen dust from the male to the female by means of a
feather or a dainty brush.
"Plants have various devices for securing a cross-fer-
tilization of their flowers. Some use the wind as an agent,
others depend upon the bees, the butterflies, the moths,
the snails or even the birds. Bird pollenation is a com-
mon thing in Brazil, where the abuntilon is fertilized by
the humming bird. Flowers use their beauty, perfume
and conspicuousness to attract to themselves insects that
will distribute their pollen.
"And in considering this plant courtship and marriage
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 247
there is one point which needs especial emphasis — a point
which must necessarily be reiterated time and again in
the consideration of the human side of plants. It is the
existence of some guiding force, too impulsive to be me-
chanical, too versatile and efficient to be instinctive, which
controls the actions and manners of plants in all the
stages of their reproductive functions. There is an al-
most human sagacity in these actions ; in the display of
brilliant colors and soft perfumes to attract their lovers ;
in the cunning which they show in imprisoning a bee if he
should arrive before the pollen grains are ready to be
sifted on his back, and of holding him, sometimes days at
a time, until he can go forth laden with the pollen that is
to adhere to a pistil and so find its way to the ovary and
perform the great miracle that results in seeds ; in the
many similar tricks which they use to entice and to hold ;
all working together towards that one great aim of plant
life-reproduction.
"Perhaps one of the strangest and most interesting
methods of securing cross-fertilization is that used by
certain water plants which have their flower-stalks en-
tirely hidden under the water. The Italian eel-grass
(Vallisneria Spiralis) uses this unique method of fertili-
zation. The female flowers grow on long, spirally twisted
stalks, and each flower is enclosed in a small bladder.
The male flowers grow in bunches, and each entire bunch
is covered with a thin skin-like sheath. The female
flower has continued to reach up her head until the flow-
ers rest on the surface of the water, while the male is
tied down below by a short stalk.
"Now the miracle happens! The gallant wooer delib-
erately breaks loose from his underwater position and
arises to the top, where his lady-love is peacefully float-
ing! The male flower bursts open his sepals and forms a
248 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
tiny raft and, by means of this raft, he is enabled to float
around until some kind of wind or wave brings him in
contact with his love. Some of the pollen from the male
adheres to the female flower; she drops to the bottom of
the water, and there remains while the seeds are being
developed."
"Plants, as this student of them affirms, after his care-
ful investigation of the evidence, possess a psychic sense.
There are numerous evidences of it in the plant's power
to discover the presence of objects necessary to its wel-
fare. A climbing plant, which needs a prop, will creep
toward the nearest support. Should this be shifted to a
spot several feet from its former position the vine will,
within a few hours, change its course to the new direc-
tion. Is it possible that the plant sees the pole? Such a
theory may explain the action in this instance, but if the
plant grows between two mounds or ridges and behind
the ridge stands a wall which will afford good climbing
but is invisible from the position of the plant, while be-
hind the other ridge is no form of support, the plant in-
variably will bend its course over the ridge which is
before the wall. Examples of this may be found wherever
climbing or creeping plants grow. The support is invis-
ible from the plant's starting point. There is no odor
which, as is possible in the location of water, might give
the plant some clue to the direction in which its support
may be found. The only explanation seems to be the
existence in the plant of a psychic sense."
"There is at least one other sense which is possessed by
plants in a marked degree. This may be called the physi-
cal sense. For example, most house plants which in their
domestication have assumed more or less artificial forms,
will, on being returned to their original haunts, reasiume
their original or natural forms. There must be in the
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 249
plant some prompting sense which makes it realize any
unfitness in its life or being.
"Plants, then, have seven senses: sight, hearing, feel-
ing, taste, smell, a psychic sense and a physical sense ;
or six senses and a reasoning power — if the physical sense
be admitted as such. These senses might be termed
'passive' mentality — that is, senses which, to perform
their functions, possibly do not require any command of
the will, but are merely natural to the plants. If, how-
ever, these seven senses are but passive powers, and not
in any way an evidence of intelligence in the plant, there
are certain actual and purposeful motions of the plant
which might be called its 'active' mentality."
It is the purposive and intelligent acts of the plant that
compel us to impute to them intellect, will and conscious-
ness. When we consider the fact that the being that
builds the plant is the same being that builds the animal,
we should expect that either structure, plant or animal,
should exhibit the same signs of being occupied by and
guided by intelligence. The facts are that those in charge
are intelligent, just as are those in charge of the sub-
marine or the battleship.
Man is supposed to be the most intelligent, but com-
pare his acts with those of the cell and you will be sur-
prised at the number of foolish and useless actions per-
formed by man.
Consider the actions of the plant called the Didinium,
who lives a separate life in the water. The following by
Mr. Binet is a description of his actions: "The most
complicated instance of localization is met with in the
Didinium, which we have so often cited ; the Didinium
knows precisely the position of the prey it follows, for it
takes aim at the object of its pursuit like a marksman,
and transpierces it with its nettle-like darts. Between
250 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
these two species, we find all the intermediate instances
of a localization of perceptions."
Now these are descriptions of the single cell, living the
wild life, where he struggles for existence as a sole sep-
arate individual. Compare the actions of these hunting
cells with those of Theodore Roosevelt, shooting deer
and bear. There is not the slightest difference in the in-
telligence exhibited by the cell and by Mr. Roosevelt
in their actions except in one thing, and that is, that the
cell had to first make his own gun, so that in this par-
ticular, the cell has Mr. Roosevelt beaten. But you may
say that a cell never does anything with the intention of
effecting a purpose.
When we see an Indian make a bow and arrow, we
know his purpose — to get something to eat. With that
idea spurring him into action, he works for a purpose,
When he shoots the arrow, it is for the same purpose —
his every act is for the one purpose, to get something to
eat.
The acts of the Amoeba and the Didinium must nec-
essarily be the same. They are the actions of an intelli-
gent being in either case. The cause of all life we see, is
the intelligence possessed by the microscopic builders, the
cells.
A short time ago I read in my Sunday paper the fol-
lowing article: "Botanists have long declared that
plants as well as animals have nervous organizations and
are capable of feeling and demonstrating that they feel
pleasure and pain and even that they show appreciation
for attention and droop under neglect.
Scientific proot of the truth of these theories is now
furnished in records of remarkable experiments conducted
by Professor Jagadis Chandra Bose, of Calcutta, India,
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 251
with the aid of ingenious mechanism invented by him-
self. This instrument is called a "Resonant Recorder."
Writing about it in the Modern Review, of Calcutta,
Professor Bose says : "There are rhythmic tissues in the
plant, which, like those in the animal, go on throbbing
ceaselessly. These spontaneous pulsations in one case, as
in the other, are affected by various drugs in an identical
manner. And in one case, as in the other, the tremor of
excitation is transmitted with a definite and measured
speed from point to point along fiber-like channels."
A writer in The Nation, London, describes the results
obtained in England by the use of Professor Bose's re-
cording device : "One of his delicate machines records
the exact rhythm of the leaf's pulsations. A needle sets
it down in dots on a piece of smoked glass. Then when
the professor doses the prisoner with alcohol the curve
becomes one of exhilaration. He gives it carbon dioxide
and the plant grows ill, and signifies the same in its
Morse code. He poisons it, and the pulse ticks dolefully
lower and lower till it finally stops." I have to use these
illustrations as arguments to overcome the natural
objection and prejudice that the reader will have against
believing that a microscopic being or a plant can possess
ieeling, pain and sorrow. It is hard for the reader to
comprehend that the little cell is his builder and care-
taker as well as that of the plant.
The following, is an article from the Pittsburg Dispatch,
which shows that some plants see, hear and speak :
"From far Brazil Harry J. Black, an American, is com-
ing with one of the most remarkable collections of or-
chids, valued at more than $75,000, together with several
.hundred other rare plants. Mr. Black is a well-known
editor-publisher of Buenos Aires, owner of Fraymocho,
an illustrated weekly printed in Spanish. He is arcom-
252 CELL INTELLIGENCE THIS CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
panied by his friend, Senor Diego Gibson, a native of
Buenos Aires, likewise Senor Ramon Caceras, a horti-
culturist from Montevideo. They are bringing the Black
collection of unusual plants for the purpose of exhibiting
them at, the third international flower show under the
auspices of the Horticultural society of New York, Grand
Central Palace, March 17-23.
"Mr. Black has spent twenty-seven years in South
America. Flowers are merely a hobby with him, and he
has made lengthy excursions thru the wilds of Bolivia,
Peru and Brazil, emerging from the dense forests after
a stay of several months, with plants never known to
have been seen by human eyes. Mr. Black was one of the
first to agree with Sir Francis Darwin when, as president
of the British Society in 1908, Darwin delivered an ad-
dress declaring that in plants there exists 'a faint copy of
what we know as consciousness in ourselves.' The fam-
ous scientist was laughed at by many in his theory that
plants can see and hear, but Mr. Black believed it and
indulged in research work that would prove it, as did Mr.
Jean Viaud-Brant, nurseryman of Poitiers, France, who
maintained that the rose could see the beautiful woman
inhaling its perfume, and furthermore that plants can
hear.
"In proof of these theories, Mr. Black is bringing some
specimens, one of which is a sensitive plant that folds up
its leaves in fright if a sharp noise is made nearby, and
the same plant is almost human in that in addition to
having the temperament of a nervous woman, it is also
rendered insensible by anesthetics such as ether, chloro-
form, heroin, etc. Its discoverer says that he has reason
to believe that plants have a system of speech and, like
Mr. Viaud-Brant, cites cases where the scent of flowers
is a manifestation of their vegetable life and living radia-
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 253
tion. Scent considered as an olfactory sensation is a
vibration, and scent therefore is the sound uttered by
flowers, or a song without words as it were.
"Among the astounding plants which Mr. Black will
bring is a species of jatropha from Colombia, known as
the ortiga brava albo (the cruel white metal) which
secretes a poison like a rattlesnake, and when touched,
two tiny organs which correspond to the tongue of a
snake shoot poison and inflict a deadly wound. He also
brings some varieties of stinging plants, which have long
hairs, and when a hair is snapped by contact, it dis-
charges poison in even sufficient quantity to kill a man.
He intends to demonstrate this by killing mice and in-
sects."
We see in every individual, plant or animal an effort
to improve and maintain its stage of existence on this
planet. Call it chance, or intelligence, or what you will, it
is the same in plants and animals as it is in man, and we
find it the same in the cell as in those individuals which
he produces. However, we know that chance can not
take care of a social community like a city or an animal.
There must be loyalty, duty, sleepless watchfulness, a
wisdom to make and unmake, and to keep careful watch
over all that happens within and without.
Did you ever stop to consider all the wonderful schemes
that plants have invented to cause their young or seeds to
be scattered over the surface of the earth? It is such a
common matter that we never stop to give it a thought.
The following is an extract from my common school
Botany : "Dispersal by currents of air. — Many seeds are
so light as to be carried about by currents of air. Ordi-
narily, however, the wind-dispersed seeds of fruits de-
velop special appendages to aid in their flight, commonest
among which are wings and tufts of hair. For example,
254
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
wings are developed by the fruit of maples and elms, and
by the seeds of catalpa and its allies. Plumes and tufts
of hair are developed by the seed-like fruits of thistle,
dandelion and many of their relatives and by the seeds of
milkweeds, willow herbs, etc. On plains or level
stretches, where winds are strong, a curious habit of seed-
FIG. 34. — Seed
r -for parachutes.
dispersal has been developed by certain plants known as
tumbleweeds or field rollers. These plants are profusely
branching annuals with a small root system in light or
sandy soil. When the work of the season is over and
the absorbing rootlets have shriveled, the plant is easily
broken from its roots by a gust of wind, and is trundled
along the surface like a light wicker ball, the ripe seed
vessels dropping their seeds by the way. In case of an
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL
255
obstruction, such as a fence, great masses of these tumble-
weeds may be seen lodged against the windward side.
This method of dispersal is far more effective than the
mechanical discharge ; but it is fitful, and its range usu-
ally is not very great. Thistle-down may be floated into
a neighboring field, and a strong wind may carry the
comparatively heavy-winged fruits of the maple and the
elm some distance ; but at best the scattering is only over
FIG. 35. — Seeds of beggar-ticks with barbed appendages.
a neighborhood. In many cases seeds or fruits or heads
develop grappling appendages of various kinds, forming
the various burs, which lay hold of animals brushing
past; and so the seeds are dispersed."
The skillful performance of the Russian thistle and the
tumbleweed is wonderful, while they are growing during
the summer. You can not possibly pull a plant out by
the roots, but as soon as it is ripe for seed dispersal, it
is cut loose by the cells that made it, and stands ready
256 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
to travel with the first good wind and is made into a
round ball showing the intention and purpose of the
builders. It is also so constructed that it hardly ever gets
tangled and caught in grass and weeds.
The balloons or parachutes attached to the seeds of
milkweeds and dandelion are certainly works of art. Is
it not absurd to state that all these perfect designs and
structures to effect certain purposes and ends could come
about by chance? Why should it require any more in-
telligence to build a parachute by man than by the cell?
One is a living animal just the same as the other, eating
the same kind of food, breathing the same kind of air and
made of the same kind of material. If the acts are pur-
posive and intelligent in one case they must be in the
other.
The following is a description of how the water plants
are adapted for water life. This is how the cells buila
their house-like plants in water, in such a manner that
they will be able to enjoy the comfort of both air and
water :
"Adaptations. — When a plant lives entirely or partially
submerged in water, its structure differs in many ways
from that of an ordinary land plant, and these adjust-
ments to water life are called adaptations. On parts
under water the epidermis is thin and permits absorption,
so that in a completely submerged plant its whole sur-
face absorbs. When this is the case, the root-system is
much reduced in extent as compared with a land-plant
of the same size, for it is not the only organ for water
absorption. In submerged plants the rigid tissues are
less developed than in land plants, for the buoyant power
of water helps to support the plant. This fact may be
illustrated by taking from the water submerged plants
that seem to be upright, with all their parts spread out ;
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 257
upon removal they collapse, not being able to support
themselves. Water-plants are also usually provided with
air-chambers and passageways that the air may be free
to reach the working cells."
In what manner do these structures differ from those
of man under similar circumstances? Although the cell
is an animal that lives naturally in water, still it also re-
quires air and as it is evidently easier to extract oxygen
from air than from water, it has provided air chambers
filled with air under water. I have examined a number of
water plants and every one of them has hollow open
chambers under water which are always filled with air.
Now some one must understand how to build these air
tight chambers and fill them with air. The air chambers
in bamboo rods are sometimes an inch across and five to
ten inches long. Those who think that it is an easy mat-
ter to build and maintain air tight chambers under water
and keep them filled with air had better try it and be
convinced that the cell is just as skilled and smart in his
line of business as any one else.
I do not pretend to know what intelligence is, nor what
memory is, but I want to show that the cell is a being
possessed of that something, whatever it is. If man is
intelligent the cell must be. The cell is an active living
animal, he mates, loves, feels, eats, drinks, breathes,
jumps, moves, and performs all the things that every
animal does, — that is, he has the essential attributes of a
living being.
Before closing this chapter, I must describe a few of
the hundred or more varieties of plants which have fly
traps with which they catch and devour insects of all
kinds. These plants should illustrate to the reader most
clearly what a plant or animal really is. The reader
should be able to comprehend from these plants provided
258
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
with fly-traps that every plant or animal is simply a
structure built for and occupied by smaller living animals
and beings we call cells.
FIG. 36. — Leaves of the Californian pitcher-plant, showing the twisted and
winged pitcher, the overarching hood with translucent spots, and the fish-tail
appendage to the hood. — After KERNER.
FIG. 37. — Leaf of Nepenthes, showing the blade-like base, the tendril portion,
and the terminal pitcher with its lid. — After GRAY.
The following is a correct description of these plants
from text books on botany used in the high schools :
"A much larger California pitcher-plant is Darling-
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 259
tonia, whose leaves are one and a half to three feet high,
the hood bearing a gaudily colored 'fish-tail' appendage,
the whole structure being a more elaborate insect trap
than are the leaves of Sarracenia. In these traps not only
are the remains of flies found, but bees, hornets, butter-
flies, beetles, grasshoppers and even snails have been
reported. The species of Nepenthes from the oriental
tropics, very common in conservatories, develop most
remarkable leaves, the lowest part being an ordinary
blade, beyond which is a well-developed tendril, at the
end of which there arises an elaborate pitcher with a lid.
There is the same sweetish secretion at the rim of the
pitcher, and the same accumulation of water within as in
the ordinary pitcher-plants. Leaves of sundews. — The
sundews are forms of Drosera and grown in swampy
regions, the leaves forming small rosettes upon the
ground. In one form the blade is round, and the margin
is beset by prominent bristle-like hairs, each with a
globular gland at its tip. Shorter gland-bearing hairs are
scattered also over the inner surface of the blade. All
these glands excrete a clear sticky fluid, which hangs to
them like dewdrops, and which, not being dissipated by
sunlight, has suggested the name of sundew. If an insect
becomes entangled in one of the sticky drops, the hair
begins to curve inward, and presently presses its victim
down upon the surface of the blade. In the case of a
larger insect, several of the marginal hairs may join
together in holding it, or the whole blade may become
more or less rolled inward.
Leaves of Dionoea. — This is one of the most famous
and remarkable of insect-trapping plants, being found
only in certain sandy swamps near Wilmington, N. C.
The leaf-blade is constructed so as to work like a steel
trap, the two halves snapping together and the marginal
260
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
bristles interlocking like the teeth of a trap. A few sen-
sitive hairs, like feelers, are developed on the leaf sur-
face ; and when one of these is touched by a small flying
or hovering insect, the trap snaps shut arrd the insect is
caught. Only after digestion, which is a slow process,
does the trap open again. Dionoea is popularly known as
the 'Venus fly-trap.'
FIG. 38. — Three leaves of Dioi
on an insect. — After KERNER.
.ea; two with the traps open, one with trap shut
"Sarracenia, Drosera, and Dionoea are conspicuous
representatives of the so-called carnivorous or insectivor-
ous plants, all of which capture insects and use them for
food. They are green plants, so that they manufacture
carbohydrates ; but for some reason they supplement their
food manufacture with a supply of food already manufac-
tured, and obtained from the bodies of captured insects."
INTELLIGENCE OF THE CELL 261
I have examined all of these plants and several others.
They stand as a living example of the inventive genius
and intellectual capacity of the cells which occupy them.
All of these plants understand how to make starch and
food from the crude material of earth, air and water;
there was no necessity for these traps in order to per-
petuate their existence. They could not in any case have
come to exist by slight beneficial variations of the leaves,
because they would be of no benefit until completed as a
fly-trap. The traps must have been fully planned in the
minds of the builders before they took any steps toward
their construction. Darwin's Theory of Evolution could
have had nothing to do with producing this structure by
beneficial chance variations.
In fact, in every case where I have investigated the
theory of evolution's producing any structure, I have
found that it does not produce. The theory of the sur-
vival of the fittest, in so far as its causing the existence of
anything, is a myth. . It is an incident that determines
which of two shall live, but that is not necessarily the best
man. It ignores the activities of the producer and does
not pretend to point out who the producer is.
In a struggle for existence between two men, the
stronger will not necessarily survive, the weaker is just
as likely to survive. He may use poison, or some other
unfair means against his opponent. The one with the
most inventive skill and intelligence will generally sur-
vive. So in any way you examine it, intelligence is the
cause of all living structures, whether they are houses,
railroads or battleships built by man, or plants and ani-
mals built by cells. Someone must be there with the in-
telligence, as so far we have not found anything produced
by magic or a miracle.
The singular and significant thing about these plants
262 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
with fly-traps is this, that it is not always the pure neces-
sity of the case which prompts the cells to build any par-
ticular structure, as they can live without these insects,
just as qther plants do. They have produced these fly-
traps for mere sport and luxury.
In this particular they also resemble man in his most
highly civilized state. Where can you find any traps or
snares invented and constructed by man to catch ani-
mals that can beat these for skilful construction and in-
ventive genius?
Think of the trick employed to fool the insect in the
California pitcher-plant. First the flaring colored flag
hung out to attract his attention, to make him think it is
a flower, then the sweet smell coming from the inside of
the trap to tempt him to enter, the glazed surface on
which he will slip, the spikes to keep him going straight
on in, after he gets started, the transparent covering on
the top, to fool him to fly or go ia in the wrong direction,
so that he never can get out. Then there is the water in
the bottom where he will drown, and where the cells
swim in and devour him, and feed his drowned carcass to
the other cells in the body of the plant.
The cells who build this plant with this fly-trap attach-
ment need take no back seat for any being on earth, even
an inventor, Edison not excepted. The intelligence of the
cell is the same in all places, whether he is in charge of a
plant, insect or animal or living singly in the water and
killing his fellow cells with weapons at a distance, or in
the human brain directing the actions of the German
army.
CHAPTER 7.
CAUSE OF HEREDITY.
It always has been and today still seems to be a stand-
ing mystery how the seed from a plant, tree, animal or
insect can develop into the same kind of living structure
as the one from which it came. Why does a kernel of
corn develop into a corn plant and not into a sunflower?
There is, however, nothing very mysterious about this
when we consider all the facts in the case. The kernel of
corn is a cell, a living animal or being. Where did he
come from? What has been his former experience?
What has he been doing and what does he know?
When we look up his past history we find that he has
been in the business of building corn plants for ages. He
has been educated in that work and none other. He has
been sent into the world with instructions to build the
corn plant and has been provided with enough food and
building material to get a good start in life. Mr. Ribot
defines heredity as "that biological law by which all be-
ings endowed with life tend to repeat themselves in their
descendants." I think Spencer gives a better definition.
He states that it is "the capacity of every plant or animal
to produce other individuals of a like kind." The cause
of heredity is the intellect of the cell based on his power of
memory.
Every intelligent animal or being has a memory where
264 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
his past experiences are recorded, and with its help he
will be able to repeat what he has experienced in the
past. The animal or plant not only inherits the features,
form and constitution of the parent but also the intellect;
that is to say, it will also inherit the parents' habits, ac-
tions and mental qualities. The young muskrat or beaver
will inherit not only the form of its parents but also theii
architectural skill. It will build houses over the water
on the prairie marshes and streams, from mud and grass.
The houses will be of such size as will be necessary to
take care of the family. If it is a large family, a large
house will be provided. The house of the muskrat will
usually have two rooms; one will be a dry, cozy, warm
place where they sleep, the other will be a place a little
lower down where they eat. If not disturbed by man or
mink during the winter they would lead a very cozy and
comfortable life in the most severe prairie climate, in the
fiercest snow storms, with a temperature forty below
zero. In what way does this house of the muskrat differ
from the log, brush and sod houses of man?
When the early settlers first came to Minnesota, they
dug holes in the side of a hill and covered them with brush
and grass, because they could not get any lumber. They
were then cave-dwellers. The fox also dug holes in the
ground, but he never covered his holes with anything.
He was a cave-dweller also. The badger was more like
the early settlers. He dug holes and covered them with
earth and grass when he retired for the winter. Before
any crops were raised, the early settler and the fox led a
similar life. They both had to hunt for a living. Two or
three years later, the early settlers improved upon this
primitive cave-dwelling, and put up one on a plan sim-
ilar to the muskrat. They built a two-room house on
top of the ground out of the material at hand, which was
CAUSE OP HEREDITY 265
earth, grass and brush. A little later on the railroad came
through the country and brought lumber for better
houses. This simply goes to show that man adapts him-
self to conditions, just as other animals do.
However, what I started to show was this, that the
rat knows how to build houses over the water in which
to live, and not houses in the trees like squirrels, nor
houses in the ground like the badger. The building of
the houses of the muskrats is an experience and ability
possessed by this animal alone, that is, by the cells in
his brain. They know how to build these and none other.
The houses of the muskrat are always about the same.
They are for a specific purpose. They are intended to
provide the occupants with a place to live over the water
in the severe winter, with entrances into the water under
the ice, where they can obtain the roots, insects and grass
in the water for food. They must be just so, or they
would not answer the purpose. It requires considerable
skill to build these houses because the thick ice, which
will cover the marsh in the coming severe winter, must
be correctly calculated. The singular thing about this
animal, as well as other animals and birds, is that it knows
how to build these houses without ever having seen one
before, and without ever having had any previous instruc-
tion in the art. He is born with the knowledge. We shall
see upon further investigation that this knowledge is lo-
cated in certain cells of the body. The cells that build
the rat not only know how to build him as a structure
specifically adapted to live in water, but also know how
to build another structure for his home, using him as a
machine with which to do it. The young duck knows that
it is proper to jump into the water, and goes in the first
opportunity it gets, while a young chicken will keep away
from the water. Without having had any previous ex-
266 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
perience or information in the matter they know from the
beginning what is the right thing to do. Why? Because
one is a structure made to move on both land and water,
while the other, the chick, is made to move on land only.
It would be absurd to think that the builders of these
structures did not know for what purpose the structures
were made.
The majority of scientists now seem to agree that there
is no difference between instinct and intelligence. Mr.
Ribot states, after having considered the different instinc-
tive actions of man and animal : "There is therefore no
absolute distinction between instinct and intelligence.
There is not a single characteristic that remains the ex-
clusive property of either." Then he cites as illustrations,
among others, the actions of the bees, ants and wasps,
and states: "Neither is instinct always^so blind, so me-
chanical as is supposed, for at times it is at fault. The
wasp that has faultily trimmed the leaf begins again. The
bee only gives the hexagonal form to its cell after many
attempts and alterations." Bees that have never seen
the gathering of honey nor the building of the comb will
go at the work as if they had been practising for years.
A bird raised in captivity, who has never seen a nest be-
fore, will at the proper time build one just like its parent's
if given a chance. These intelligent acts are called in-
stinctive. This intelligence must be somewhere in the
animal. The cell that caused the construction of the
young bird had been in the nest building business for
ages.
We do not need to know how life originated nor what
it is in order to know the cause of heredity and of develop-
ment of life, because we can see by the power of the
microscope that certain animals or beings we call cells
are the builders of all those living things that we can see
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 267
without the microscope. In the same manner we do not
need to know who built man in order to know who built
railroads, skyscrapers and ships. It is not material to the
question of the cause of heredity and development, to
know who built the cell.
If we find that this microscopic animal is the builder of
all these things, then the only question is, why is it that
one cell will produce this structure, and another cell,
which looks just like him, will produce one entirely differ-
ent? When we consider that he is a living animal just
like ourselves, and just like the thinkers in our head, we
need only ask, why do some men build sod houses and
some skyscrapers, and why does a squirrel build in trees,
and muskrats over water? The answer is plain — one
knows how to build one kind and the other, another kind.
It is simply a matter of education and experience of the
cells. Mr. Walker states:
"Every part that is alive of an animal or plant consists
of cells and of nothing else. There are parts of the bodies
of animals and plants that are not composed of cells, but
these are not alive. The hard parts of the bones in man
are an example of lifeless substance within the body.
Such dead material, however, has been produced by cells,
which form a part of the animal or plant during its life."
Investigations have shown that a person will inherit
the same shaped bones or frame-work as his parents.
Bones are not alive — they are only the structure built by
the cells from lime and other material to serve as the
frame or supporting structure. The cells station them-
selves here and there in the bone with the purpose of
keeping them in repair. The following by Chas. Walker
will start us in the investigation of the cell a little more
in detail: "All the multicellular organisms commence
their existence as single cells. This single cell divides
268
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
CAUSE OF HEREDITY
269
into two cells. Each of the two thus produced divides
again, and this process continues until the whole body of
the multicellular animal or plant is built up. Among the
cells of the earlier generation there is a great similarity
^-«J . I ->
FIG. 40. — How cells multiply and begin building _.. _ _. . .,
5, section through blastula showing hollow sphere; 6, gastrula showing outer
4, morula:
layei of cells (epiblast) and inner layer (hypoblast) ; the 6 is at the mouth of
tht cavity (enteron) of the gastrula. — HAEC
in appearance, in fact, until a great number of cells have
been produced, it is impossible to see any difference be-
tween them. As in the higher animal, the cells that are
eventually going to be thrown off to form new individuals,
the sexual cells, are differentiated at a very early period,
270 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
frequently long before birth. These cells live a parasitic
existence in the body, which has produced them, and in
a certain sense can hardly be regarded as forming an in-
tegral part of it. They are certainly not necessary to
the individual, but they are necessary for the production
of new individuals and are thus essential to the race.
"The body of the multicellular organism is practically
a colony of unicellular organisms living together and de-
pendent upon each other; and with certain limitations
this idea is sufficiently near the truth to be very helpful
in obtaining a proper idea of the nature of a multicellular
organism and of the transmission of character from par-
ents .to offspring.
"We may for the sake of clearness divide the whole of
4ie living organisms into the two great groups — the
unicellular, those in which an individual contains but
a single cell, and the multicellular — those in which the
individual contains more than one cell. The vast ma-
jority of the unicellular organisms are invisible to the
naked eye, but nevertheless they perform the same func-
tion of digestion, secretion, excretion, etc., as the whole
body of a multicellular organism, which may be built up
of many millions of cells."
You notice the fact that even before birth a certain
group of cells is set apart and a separate place is provided
for them in the body where they live only a parasitic life.
That is to say, they do absolutely nothing but study the
subject of how to make the next body and how to improve
it, if possible. These cells begin their training and edu-
cation the first thing, and occupy their mind with nothing
else. They are in continual mental touch with every
part of the body, and can send out messengers at any
time for information that they may want ; or they can
make personal excursions themselves by riding in the
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 271
blood stream at any time or to any point or part of the
body, and take note of this or that, just as the other white
cells do now, who are the soldiers and general inspectors
of the body. When we consider what the cell really is,
that he is in fact a colony of beings, that half of him has
the experience of ages and the other half of his crowd has
the experience of the last body he occupied he should be
very well informed indeed. You see, however, that this
knowledge must necessarily be limited to those bodies or
structures from which he came. The world in which he
lived was the body of the plant or animal from which he
came.
We might investigate here a little further into the de-
tails of how the cell multiplies and grows. We do not
know how he grows but we know how he multiplies. He
simply divides himself into two parts, then these two
halves again grow back to full size, and then these again
divide into two and so on. Figure 41 illustrates the way
he looks through the most powerful microscope now
made. He has a great number of special organs, the pur-
pose of which we do not yet understand. We do know
that he has a centrosome acting like a general superin-
tendent, which looks after the division of the individual
cell and sees to it that the division is exactly equal, as far
as the central part of the body or head is concerned. This
central head is called the nucleus, and seems to be made
up of a crowd of separate individuals called granules,
which are no doubt the living primordial beings that make
up the cell because they move about in obedience to the
orders of the centrosome. The centrosome seems to be
the main head or directing center, the general manager,
and the nucleus seems to contain the sub-managers, or
skilled workers, and the body or cytoplasm, as it is called,
272
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
consists of the common laborers or unskilled workers of
the body of the cell.
The general appearance of the cell would indicate him
to be a highly developed and specialized being made up
of multitudes of smaller primordial cells or beings. They
FIG. 41. — The cell. A, nuclear membrane. B, masses of chromatin, joined
by threads of linin containing chromatin. C, Nucleolus. D, Centrosomes.
contained in E, the archoplasm. F, Contractile vacuole. G, Food particles. H.
Plastids. — WALKER.
seem to co-operate and work together in a social way like
the cells of our body. The wonderful thing that we ob-
serve is this, that when the centrosome gives orders to
divide, they line up in rows like soldiers and the crowds
divide exactly in two. There are evidently two or more
beings or possibly crowds of beings in each granule, so
CAUSE OF HEREDITY
273
U,,
FIG. 42. — Diagram illustrating Mitosis or cell division. A, the cell commenc-
ing activity; B, C, D, phases in the formation of the spindle and the chromatin
loops or V's, also showing that the mother V's have split into daughter V's;
D, the chromatin loops forming the equatorial plate, chr; E, F, G, separation
of the daughter loops (daughter chromosomes) and their passage towards the
poles of the spindle, thus fori
d their passage towards the
ormng daughter nuclei; H, I, division of the
protoplasm so as to form two daughter cells; at, attraction sphere enclosing a
entrosome; n m, nuclear membrane; chr..
c w, cell wall; sp, spindle. — SCHUTE.
chromatin threads; p, protoplasm;
that when the cell divides each half gets its full number
of individuals, skilled and otherwise.
I quote from Walker : "What has been said with re-
gard to the selective mode of division, which insures that
an exactly representative half of each chromosome is
274 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
handed on at each division applies to the linin even more
forcibly than to the chromatin. The mode of division in
the chromosomes seems to insure that half of every in-
dividual portion, of every individual chromosome, will
be handed on throughout the succeeding generation ot
cells, for the division of the chromosome does not appear
to be merely a nonselective division of the bulk of sub-
stances forming it."
In regard to the same point Wilson makes the follow-
ing remarks : "The splitting of the chromosomes is there-
fore in Boveries' words, 'an independent vital manifesta-
tion, an act of reproduction on the part of the chromo-
somes, an independent reproductive act of the chromatin.
The construction of the nucleus and in particular the
breaking up of the chromosome after division into small
granules, and their uniform distribution through the nu-
clear cavity, is in the first place for the purpose of allow-
ing a uniform growth to take place and in the second
place after the granules have grown to their normal size,
to admit of their precisely equal quantitative and qualita-
tive division.' These observations certainly lend strong
support to the view that the chromatin is to be regarded
as a morphological aggregate — as a congerie or colony
of self propagating elementary organisms capable of as-
similation and growth and division.
"Summary in conclusion — All cells arise by division
from preexisting cells, — cell body from cell body, nucleus
from nucleus, plastids from plastids, and centrosomes
from centrosomes. The law of genetic continuity thus
applies not merely to the cell considered as a whole, but
also to some of its structural constituents."
On this point there seems to be no question or disagree-
ment. The following by Mr. Wilson is also interesting,
showing his view of how the cell, by equal division, is
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 275
able to pass on continually from cell to cell every expe-
rience and tradition of the ages. A record is taken of the
past and preserved, and continually handed on to the next
generation. The following by Prof. Wilson will further
illustrate this and also show that the centrosome is the
intelligent directing center of the cell, and that if the nu-
cleus is disconnected no work will take place. He says :
"The interpretation of cleavage as a process of cell divi-
sion was followed by the demonstration that cell divi-
sion does not begin with cleavage, but can be traced back
into the foregoing generation, for the egg cell as well as
the sperm cell arises by. the division of the cell pre-exist-
ing in the parent body. It is therefore derived by direct
descent from an egg cell of the foregoing generation and
so on ad infinitum.
"Extending backward from existing plant and animals
to that remote and unknown period when vital organiza-
tion assumed its present form, life is a continuous stream.
The individual body dies, it is true, but the germ cells
live on, carrying with them, as it were, the traditions of
the race from which they spring and handing them on to
their descendants."
A peculiar thing takes place when the cell divides. The
granules in the nucleus line up in groups or strings which
are called chromosomes, which we see from the following
by Mr. Wilson are always of the same number in every
plant or animal or species of cell. He states: "The re-
markable fact has now been established with high prob-
ability that every species of plant or animal has a fixed
and characteristic number of chromosomes, which regu-
larly recur in the division of all of its cells, — and in all
forms arising by sexual reproduction the number is even.
Thus in some of the sharks the number is 36, in certain
gastropods, it is 32 ; in the mouse, the salamander, the
276 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
trout and the lily, 24; in the ox, guinea pig and in man,
the number is said to be 16, and the same number is char-
acteristic of the onion." It is very likely that these chro-
mosomes represent different departments of the special-
ized individuals.
A conclusive proof that it is no chemical proposition
but that the cell is an active, intelligent being and knows
what he is about to do, is the fact that if you destroy the
original cell or any one of them up to the number of fifteen
cells after the first division, any one of the remaining cells
will go on and build the body and finish the work just the
same. This experiment seems to me to be conclusive
proof that the cells build and work entirely from memory.
They know what they are there for and what they started
out to do, and whether one or more are accidentally killed
in the beginning does not stop the rest of them from go-
ing on with the work and completing the structure. The
following by Mr. Walker also tends to prove the proposi-
tion :
"On the other hand, Roux also found that in his ex-
periments, when carried on further, the existing half em-
bryo restored more or less completely the missing half.
Later experiments by other observers were made with
the eggs of several other animals, which appear to show
that in the earlier stages of development, at any rate, all
the cells into which the fertilized ovum divides retain the
power of producing all the tissues that would under or-
dinary circumstances be produced by the fertilized ovum
itself. Driesch, Morgan, Wilson, Zoja and others have
separated the cells produced by the division of the fer-
tilized ovum when development had gone as far in some
cases as the sixteen cell stage. These experiments seem
to prove that the characters cannot be represented by en-
tities that are distributed in a selected manner among dif-
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 277
ferent cells during- the process of development, as as-
sumed by the Roux-Weisman theory. If it were so, this
selection of different entities must begin at the first cell
division, but it has been proved by experiment that even
when the sixteen cell stage has been reached, each of the
sixteen cells possesses within itself the power of produc-
ing, not only the tissues, which it would produce under
normal conditions were the ovum left to itself to develop,
but when separated from its fellows, also all of those tis-
sues that would have been produced under normal con-
ditions by the other fifteen cells."
This also shows that in division each one is able to pass
on to the next one in some way the record of past events
and experiences, which evidently is what we call the
power of memory. In what manner the record is taken
and kept we do not know. We can clearly see that they
are very strict and careful in seeing to it in division that
each one gets his equal half of the entire colony of pri-
mordial beings which make up the cell. It is evident also
that the force in the cell is kept in duplicate. We do not
understand the phenomenon of memory nor is it neces-
sary in order to understand the cause of heredity and de-
velopment. We know memory to be a fact, because the
cells in our head can remember what took place in our
childhood fifty or eighty years back. We know that
there cannot be such a thing as intelligence without mem-
ory. We know that all animals, including man, reason
and act from past experiences.
The cell is an animal. From the facts based upon what
we see the cell do in the act of division, we are forced to
the conclusion that every cell is able to remember not
only what he has experienced during- his own life but also
what took place in the immediate generation before him.
Another experiment also goes to show that it is not
278 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
merely a chemical action or blind force which guides and
directs the cell in the construction of plant or animal, to-
wit : After the cell has started to build a plant or animal
and it has multiplied into a bunch of say 15 to 100 individ-
uals and they have arranged themselves in their proper
places and begun the building of the different parts, if you
then mix them up and flatten them out, disorganize and
dislocate them, they will again scurry around and find their
places and go on with the work as soon as possible. In
reference to this Wilson states : "To both these tenden-
cies is related the growth-process to which the future
embryo will owe its form and every attempt to explain
the position of the cells and the direction of cleavage
must reckon with the morphological process taken as
a whole — not merely a cell, dividing under the stress of
rude mechanical conditions ; it is beyond this, a builder
who lays one stone here, another there, each of which
is placed with reference to future development. Yet such
eggs when released of pressure continue to segment with-
out re-arrangement of the nuclei and give rise to perfect,
normal larvae."
Driesh and Hartwig say, "The cells produced by cleav-
age are completely equivalent and indifferent and they
may be thrown about like balls in a pile without the least
degree impairing thereby the normal power of develop-
ment."
It seems to me this should settle the question as to
whether the actions of the cell are guided by intelligence
or whether by merely blind chemical force. If you tear
down an ant hill it will again be rebuilt. The same will
be done if a wind or some other cause tear down struc-
tures produced and occupied by man. Structures pro-
duced or torn down by the blind forces will not be re-
built. Notice that the author stated that the builder, the
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 279
cell, is a person who "lays one stone here, another brick
there, with reference to future development." How does
a skilled architect proceed to lay the foundations for his
structures? He would also do the same thing. He would
lay one stone here, another there, having in view and in
mind all the time what kind of a structure it is going to
be when it is finished. It is just as necessary for the cell
in building the skeleton on which the rest of the body will
be supported that he place and arrange the material and
particles of lime just so and all in the right place, keeping
in view what he intends to ultimately accomplish, as it is
for the skilled architect in building a house or a machine.
The cell must build the skeleton from lime, phosphorous,
etc., the ingredients must be mixed in proper proportions
and placed in the right place. So must man mix the mate-
rials of concrete and stone and place them in the right
place. The builder must have a mind that knows what is
necessary and required at every step. The following by
Mr. Wilson will illustrate how the cell in building animals
or plants must have the material with which to build or
else it cannot produce another individual like the one from
which it came. He says :
"Every little organism at every stage of its existence
reacts to its environment by physiological and morpho-
logical changes. The developing embryo like the adult is
a moving equilibrium — a product of the response of the
inherited organization to the external stimuli working
upon it. If the stimuli be altered, development is altered.
This is beautifully shown by the experiments of Herbst
and others on the development of sea urchins. Pouchet
and Chabry showed that if the embryos of these animals
be made to develop in sea water containing no lime salt,
the larvae fails to develop not only its calcareous skele-
ton but also its ciliated arms and a larvae thus results
280 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
that resembles in some particulars an entirely different
specific form." You will notice that if no lime is at hand
the cells cannot produce the skeleton.
Before going into further discussion of development in
general, I wish to call the reader's attention again to the
fact that the cell is an animal divided into three general
departments, the centrosome, which is the general super-
intendent, the nucleus, which seems to represent the
skilled workers, and the cytoplasm or the main body,
which does the general labor such as muscular work, etc.
This shows clearly that the animal has special organs and
that there is division of labor. Mr. Wilson calls our at-
tention to it in the following language after fully dis-
cussing the matter: "The facts reviewed in the forego-
ing pages converge to the conclusion that the differentia-
tion of the cell-substance into nucleus and cytoplasm is
the expression of a fundamental, physiological division of
labor in the cell * * *." Hemmingway concludes that
"the centrosome is the motor center of the kinoplasm,
both for the external and for internal manifestation. Len-
hossek regards them as motors for the control of ciliatory
action as well as for the spermatozoon and perhaps also
for that of the nucleus fibrillae." Zimmerman concludes
that the micro-centrosome is the motor center of the cell,
also that it controls ciliary action. It is important to have
a general idea of the make up of the cell and to remember
that he is a very highly organized and specialized being.
First there is a general manager called the centrosome,
next a multitude of skilled workers or submanagers
called nucleus or chromatin granules, and next, the gen-
eral laborers or workers called the cytoplasm.
I wish now to call the reader's attention to one very
important discovery and that is in reference to the future
actions of the cells in the building of the animal. Why
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 281
do some cells know how to do this work in the body and
some another kind of work? I stated before that the nu-
cleus contained the crowds of skilled workers, who are
informed and trained in all the work necessary to build
the entire animal. There is evidently in the nucleus of
every germ cell a multitude of primordial cells with spe-
cific training- for each specific department of work to be
done in the body, such as brain work, digestive work,
muscle work, respiratory work, etc. When the cell under-
takes to perform some specific work, for instance a brain
cell or liver cell, he has no use for those other skilled work-
ers in the nucleus that are not necessary to help him in his
department, and so they are excused from further service.
This was a very important discovery, and Mr. Wilson
has the following to say in this matter : "Boveries' re-
markable observation on the nuclei of primordial germ
cells demonstrates the truth of this view in a particular
case, for here all the somatic nuclei lose a portion of their
chromatin and only the progenitors of the germ nuclei
retain the entire ancestral heritage. Boveries himself has
in a measure pointed out the significance of his discovery,
insisting that the specific development of the tissue cells
is conditioned by specific changes in the chromatin that
they receive. It hardly seems possible to doubt that the
limitation of the somatic cell in respect to the power of
development arises through a loss of particular portions
of the chromatin. Its application to development be-
comes clearer when we consider the nature of the 'nuclear
control' of the cell, i.e. the action of the nuclei upon the
cytoplasm."
This goes further to prove what a highly organized and
specialized individual the cell really is. Just consider
its actions! In the first place, each new one takes his
place as it multiplies. One group stations itself where
282 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
the leg is going to be ; others where the brain and head
are going to be; another where the liver will be, and so
on Each group goes to work in harmony and with an
understanding with all the others.
Let us now briefly consider what problems the cell has
to contend with, in the building of an animal or man. It
must remember the correct place to begin and the posi-
tion of every part must be calculated to the minutest frac-
tion in its relation to other parts. We see from their
actions that the true position and place of every part must
be profoundly inscribed in their memory. Even if some
accident happened to displace them, they do not get mixed
up and forget the true position of the parts, but they take
their correct positions again. Perfect plans and outlines
of the structures must be indelibly fixed in their memory.
In this little room we call the womb, provided specifically
for their work, sheltered from the elements and disturb-
ances of the outside world, they must lay the foundations
of the future structure, keeping in mind that their struc-
ture must soon be moved outside. There must be assur-
ance of memory, accurate calculation, skill and faithful
industry. This multitude of independent intellects ac-
cept their work and proceed in perfect harmony and com-
plete their allotted tasks, if possible. They never get
discouraged, disappointed nor lose faith in the future or
the purpose for which they start to work. In a room with
nothing to direct them, they must lay the plans for the
future cell republic, and correctly they must mark out
the locations of the parts of the machine or habitation
that must be produced as quickly and economically as
possible. In this labyrinth of complicated parts existing
only in their memory, the numerous requirements of the
large cell colony must be considered. They must remem-
ber how the different needs of the cell colony or city were
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 283
taken care of in the body from which they came. They
must remember how the special committees were ap-
pointed to take charge of this and that department. They
must remember all the different things necessary to run
the social organization of the cell colony which we call
animal. The gathering and storage of food, the distribu-
tion of the same, general information, policemen, trades-
men, etc, — all this work must be taken care of and pushed
along according to the records of the past. The streets,
passages and stores must be placed at such places, and
made of such material as they think best, that is in accord-
ance with what they can remember from their past ex-
perience. How do we know that the cell has the power
of memory? We can prove it in many ways. First, we
know that the cells in our brain — our thinking cells, have
the power of memory. We know that a brain cell is no
different from any other cell of our body. Ideas come
and go in our minds. My acts of yesterday or twenty or
fifty years ago appear before me and go away like actors
on the stage or in a moving picture. When the actions
took place fifty years ago, they were preserved in a record
in such a manner that they are ready and available for
future use and reference. We speak of the unconscious
life or unconscious mind, and unconscious memory. It
would be more correct to speak of the mind and memory
of those cells of the body that are not immediately con-
nected with our senses. It is now, however, generally
understood that memory belongs to both consciousness
and unconsciousness.
The muscles of the body could not be trained to per-
form any difficult act if they did not possess the power
of memory. I begin tc run my automobile at first very
slowly — every act must be directed with my conscious-
ness. After a while certain nerve centers or cells learn
284 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
what is wanted and take full charge of the business of
running- the auto, so that my consciousness (which is the
cells in charge of my sense organs) can attend to some-
thing else. So it is with walking, balancing or playing a
piano. These acts are taken charge of by certain cells
or little brains, as they are sometimes called, and it is the
consciousness of these cells that has charge of and directs
the various actions of the muscles of the arm in steering
the auto or playing the piano. All movements we per-
form are the results of long difficult practice, except some
inborn actions we call instinct.
The medical profession now well knows the reason why
a person can become immune to any particular disease.
The immunity is based on the memory of the cells of our
bodies, especially the white cells or those whose business
it is to look after the welfare of the body in general. They
can remember for fifty years any experience in the past
in fighting such dangerous enemies as the germs of
typhoid, diphtheria, smallpox, etc., and whenever any
such bacteria get into the body after having had a pre-
vious experience with them they do not allow them any
chance to live, multiply and spread into the body, but
they are immediately attacked and exterminated by these
white cells as fast as they appear. Before they have had
an attack by disease germs, and suffered the serious and
dangerous experiences resulting from such attacks, they
are generally careless, so that the disease germs get time
to multiply and spread all through the body before their
dangerous character is discovered. Relying upon these
facts the medical profession make "serums" which are
merely dead bodies of disease germs suspended in a liquid
and when injected into the blood stream they frighten
the white cells by leading them to think the disease germs
have gotten into the body at some place, and they im-
CAUSE OP HEREDITY 285
mediately prepare to fight the disease. However, we find
that no "reaction," as they call it, takes place unless the
body cells have had some previous serious experiencc
with the particular germ injected. For instance, if a
person has been sick with tuberculosis, and never had
typhoid, the injection of dead typhoid germs will create
no disturbance in the body but the dead or live tubercu-
lar germs will do so, even fifty years after the disease was
cured. They remember their experiences fifty years back.
I can remember how my consciousness had to direct
each finger when I first started to play the piano. Now
consciousness needs only give a hint as to what is wanted
and my nerve centers take full charge of the matter and
execute the necessary acts. If my consciousness should
be compelled to direct every detailed muscular act or
motion, nothing could be accomplished worth while. If
the judge in the district court had to look after the execu-
tion of all his orders and judgments, he would have no
time to do the judging and directing. If the cells of the
body did not all possess the power of memory, how could
they be instructed and trained to perform the different
acts required.
The mind of any individual is entirely based on his
memory. All our ideas and conceptions are based upon
it, we could form no ideas or judgments without a past
experience to refer to. We know from the way the cells
are connected and in touch with each other, that what
one knows can easily be known by the others, if it should
be necessary to their business. We notice how they work
together in the case of sex instinct. The nerve centers in
charge of the business of perpetuating the race are able
to make the thinking cells connected with one's senses
or consciousness believe that a certain female is abso-
lutely indispensable to one's existence. The sex cells are
286 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
able to present the female to the thinking cells as the
only thing worth living for. The nerve centers directing
the muscular movement of your arm steering the automo-
bile must have a mental picture of the ground ahead at
all times just as your conscious mind must have. The
picture of the ground is transmitted direct to the nerve
cells in charge of the special business of guiding the auto-
mobile. In the same manner the picture of the surround-
ings is transmitted direct to the skin cells of the fish that
is able to change his color at will. This shows clearly
how the cells are able to keep each other informed in
every line of action.
As bearing upon heredity, it is interesting to note that
the cells in the sex organs set apart to build another being
at the proper time are in very close communication with
every part of the body. They are in close touch with
each other. Every cell has the same power of memory
as the other. We know mind cells can remember acts
performed by the individual in his childhood. The cells
build from memory. That is also proven by the fact that
no living being or animal is able to remember just ex-
actly, but he will remember well enough so that his pro-
ductions will resemble his previous productions or the
place he came from more closely than any other produc-
tions. He cannot produce a structure just exactly like
the place he came from, but it will be as near to it as he
can remember. This fact will apply to all living beings
from the cell to man. You can generally tell by the ac-
tions of a person and from his business what he is, what
his experiences have been and what is recorded in his
memory. When we remember the manner in which the
cell multiplies we can see that his past experiences are
passed on from generation to generation like a continu-
ous record. It seems to me very clear how one individual
CAUSE OP HEREDITY 287
can produce another one like himself when we consider
the facts. Every organ in the body as a whole can be
trained ; the hand can be trained to do this and that until
it remembers just how to do it. For instance in writing,
every cell of the hand must remember the different move-
ments. You can train the eye, arm or leg by repetition,
just as you can the mind or thinking cells. One will
learn as well as the other. Memory is a fact. It is a
faculty possessed by all the cells. We know by our own
experience that our mind is a record of the past. The
records of past events and experiences are piling up all
the time. The records are there, but the most difficult
thing to do sometimes is to find the one we want, and we
say we have forgotten.
It has been proven that cells are always of the same
size. In reference to this Wilson states : "Measurement
of the cells from the epidermis, kidney, liver, then alimen-
tary epithelium and other tissues, shows that they are on
the whole as large in dwarfs as in giants, and the same
appears to be the case in the plants." In the same man-
ner the size of a house or an ant hill has no effect on the
size of the individuals that build and occupy it.
Walker states that it is easy to see how individual char-
acters can be transmitted from parent to offspring. He
states : "How this happens in the case of the individual
character is easy to see, for we have individual entities,
the chromosomes, that are distributed from cell genera-
tion to cell generation, from parents to offspring, in a
manner that coincides exactly with the behavior of the
individual character."
We come now to consider the question of the trans-
mission of individual characters. There are some who
claim that the action of the environment will cause varia-
tion and different characters in the offspring. This prop-
288 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
osition is true to a certain extent, that is, if it is a cold
climate the length of the hair will be long; if it is warm,
it will be short. In the same way man will vary his
houses and his bodily covering as to best serve his needs,
but to say that it is the climate that puts up the house
or makes the coat and puts it on the man's back is simply
absurd. It is the intelligence and industry of man that
makes the coat and builds the house. In precisely the
same way, if it is necessary, the cell communities are able
to change or vary the structure. Regarding this matter
Walker states : "The action of the environment upon an
organism has been claimed by some writers as the cause
of variation in its offspring. In considering this question,
it is necessary to have a very clear idea of what it means.
We have seen that the environment may produce very
great modifications in the individual. These modifica-
tions are acquired characters and appear in the individual
at different periods of its life in response to stimuli from
without. They are not inborn characters and unless the
necessary stimulus is applied they will not appear." You
notice his statement that if these modifications are not
necessary, they do not appear. In the case of man, if he
does not use the shovel and the hoe, but only the pen, the
inside of his hand will be nearly as soft as any other part
of his body. However, if he should change his occupa-
tion, the inside of his hand will develop a thick horny
covering. Why? Because if the skin cells inside of his
hand did not build up these buffers, the spade handle
would very soon cut through the skin and tendons and
destroy the hand. The evolutionist will say that the work
and the spade handle provided for and built up those
callouses in the man's hand. The climate will not build
hair or make a coat nor will the spade handle build a
horny covering to protect the inside of the man's hand.
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 289
When I helped load a wagon with concrete tile, I had to
stop and get a pair of gloves, because the rubbing of the
rough tile against the end of my fingers soon wore away
the protecting outer skin, and unless I had provided pro-
tection in some way, the tips of my fingers would soon
have started to bleed. The callous under your feet and
the sole leather in your shoes are produced for one and
the same purpose. The ground will not produce shoes
or callouses to cover your feet nor will the tile produce
gloves or the callous covering to protect your hands.
Man must produce the shoes and gloves and the cell must
produce the callous.
We might again consider some of the sexual characters
referred to heretofore. Mr. Walker has the following to
say on that subject: "Secondary sexual characters are
those which though appearing in all individuals of the
same sex and not in those of the other sex are not con-
nected directly with the sexual function, that is, with re-
production. Such characters are the beard and voice of
a man and the antlers of the stag. There is a great deal
of evidence which suggests that the potentiality of pro-
ducing these characters is present in the individuals of
both sexes. Among mammals and birds we constantly
find that the characters of the young male are those of the
female minus of course a few special characters. The
plumage of the young cock pheasant is similar to that of
the adult female. A boy's voice is similar to that of a
woman. If during infancy the sexual glands are removed
from a male animal the male secondary sexual characters
do not appear. Not only are the physical characters such
as changing the voice and plumage inhibited, but mental
character such as pugnacity do not develop. There are
some direct experiments which suggest very strongly
that the appearance of the secondary sexual characters
290 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
is dependent on the presence in the body of the sexual
glands."
You will notice that it is the same also with these sex
characters. They are not produced unless necessary.
The history of the human race shows that man battled
with his fellow man for the possession of the female and
in this battle it was an advantage to employ these mascu-
line characters. It is also plain that it was a method of
preparedness, both offensive and defensive, instigated by
the sexual cells as soon as they felt ready to possess or
defend a female. We find that if the instigators are re-
moved no sexual characters are developed.
In insects we have the most wonderful illustration of
the tearing down or destruction of one structure and with
the same material rebuilding it into a new and different
structure. For instance, the cells first build a caterpillar
or worm ; this worm as a structure is demolished by those
same cells who put it up and a new and different struc-
ture is put up with the same material, known as a moth
or butterfly. In some other cases, if the worm is cut in
two, each half will be torn down by its occupants and the
half will again be rebuilt into a complete worm, but each
worm will be only half the size by reason of the lack of
material. There is nothing mysterious about this because
the structure is of no use as it is, so the only thing to do
is to tear it down entirely and rebuild it. Man would do
the same thing if someone cut away half of our house and
we had no other material to fix it with, the only thing to
do would be to tear it down entirely and with the mate-
rial build a smaller one. Wilson has the following to say
on this subject :
"Morgan's remarkable observation on 'planaria' finally
shows that here also when the animal is cut into pieces,
complete animals are produced from these pieces but
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 291
only in small degrees through the formation of new tis-
sues and mainly by direct remolding of the old material
into a new body, having the correct proportion of the
species."
Coming back to the question of variation I quote the
following from Mr. Walker: "Variability appears to be
a property common to all living organisms in spite of the
fact that individual animals and plants produce new in-
dividuals that are generally similar to themselves. For
instance, if a collie dog be mated with another collie, the
pups produced will grow to about the same size as their
parent, they will have similarly shaped heads and be
similar in general. Every individual in the litter of pups
will differ in some way from its brothers and sisters and
also from its parents. But though these differences are
very evident, upon careful examination they are in the
overwhelming majority of instances comparatively small
differences. The pups will in fact, though differing from
their parents, still resemble them beyond all comparison
more nearly than they will resemble a fox-terrior or any
other breed of dog." Now this is just what we should
expect, that the cells would build the pups as nearly like
the parents as they could remember, but we know that
in building anything from memory, it is not likely that
the structures will be exactly alike. However here is a
different proposition stated by Mr. Walker: "The cry-
stalline lens of the eye is produced from epiblast but when
it is removed in the salamander the new lens grows from
cells that were produced from the mesoblast. Under
normal conditions mesoblast cells in the salamander
would never become modified into anything at all like the
crystalline lens. Here the mesoblastic cells have still
retained the general potentiality of the fertilized ovum
in a very high degree and are able to reproduce such a
292 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
specialized structure as the lens in spite of the fact that
under normal conditions this is only produced from epl-
blastic cells.
"Some butterflies vary greatly in their appearance at
different times of the year, so that they are protected by
their similarity to their surroundings in both the wet and
dry seasons, when conditions vary enormously. The dif-
ference is so great in some cases, that the wet and dry
season phases have been classed as different species.
'Naturalists were fairly astounded when in 1898 Mr. Guy
K. Marshall first bred the black and blue dry season
Preus sesamus from the black and red Precis natalensis.
The two butterflies differ in size, form, pattern, colors,
relation of upper to under surface and habits."
This again certainly illustrates the same fact that the
cells will produce such structures and habitations as will
be necessary to protect their lives or that may be required
in any particular place or under particular circumstances.
Like does not produce like, as is the case in chemical and
natural forces, but such things will be produced as will
be required and are reasonably necessary. Such color will
be provided as will most likely deceive his enemies and
save his life and the same will be done by a general in the
English army. The mesoblast cells understood how to
make a lens for the eye, and when it became necessary it
was produced.
The following by Mr. Walker in reference to the ac-
tions of some insects is also interesting: "There is a
phenomenon in nature so striking and so general that no
theory of evolution can be accepted as plausible, or even
possible, which fails to explain it. This is the extraor-
dinary adaptation of living organisms to their surround-
ings. Not only are they adapted to their physical con-
dition but above all to each other. The mutation hypo-
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 293
thesis not only fails to explain this, but a careful consid-
eration of its postulates shows that the co-adaptation of
living organisms to each other and to their environment
and the origin of species by mutation are incompatible.
There is no living organism which would not serve as an
example of the phenomenon of adaptation. We must,
however, consider a few individual cases in order to real-
ize its full significance.
"Sitaris humeralis, a beetle belonging to the family
cantharidae is a parasite upon the solitary bee, antho-
phora. The female Sitaris lays over 2,000 eggs, burying
them in the earth near the entrance to the nests of the bee.
These eggs hatch, producing larvae, which possess six
legs, as is usual in the larvae of beetles. The larvae are
triungulins, that is, they possess three claws at the ex-
tremity of each leg. This is exceptional among beetle
larvae. The larvae hibernate until the following spring
when they become active. They do not, however, try to
enter the nests of the bees, but attach themselves to any
hairy object that happens to approach them. No discrim-
ination is shown in the choice of an object beyond the
fact that it must be hairy. The majority of the larvae are
doomed to extermination for they attach themselves to
any hairy object with which they come in contact and
there is a vastly greater number of chances that they will
fix upon the wrong than upon the right insect. The}
have been found upon hairy beetles, flies and bees of the
wrong kind. Those, however, which are fortunate enough
to chance upon Anthophora are carried to the nest. Now
the male Anthophora appears about a month earlier than
the female, therefore, most Sitaris that arrive at their
proper destination are attached to the males. They trans-
fer themselves, however, to the female. When the female
Anthophora lays her eggs in the cells of the nest the
294 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
triungulin larvae slips off her body onto the egg she has
just deposited upon the honey. Here the larvae remains,
balanced carefully upon the egg, for if it left for the honey,
it would be drowned. The bee then seals up the cell, and
the larvae proceeds to eat the egg, living upon its con-
tents for about eight days. It remains in the shell of the
egg during this time for it would be suffocated if it came
into contact with the honey. At this period the larva
moults and appears in the form specially adapted to float-
ing upon the honey, which is to be its food for the next
six weeks. The legs of the triungulin stage have disap-
peared together with the other appendages and the larva
now seems but little more than a vesicle. It is shaped,
however, in such a way that one surface must float upper-
most in the honey, and round this surface are the open-
ings of the spiracles, so that the animal is adapted to
breathe while it floats passively upon the surface of the
honey, which is its food. When it has finished the honey
it is metamorphosed into a pseudopupa.
Individual Sitaris may vary in their subsequent life
history before reaching the stage of the perfect insect,
but we will leave these stages and deal with those de-
scribed. The main adaptations here are : the numerous
eggs laid by the female, which meet the high mortality
among the larvae, the three claws upon the leg, which
enable the larva to cling to the bee ; its emergence from
hibernation at the same time that Anthophora appears ;
the instinct to leave the male bee and go to the female
and to leave the female and float upon the egg; the
equally remarkable instinct through which it rigidly
keeps within the egg; the metamorphosis into a shape
unknown among other beetles, which is perfectly adapted
to a passive existence, floating upon the honey in the cell
of the bee."
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 295
This shows the wonderful skill and intelligence of the
cells in building the smaller individuals like insects. You
will notice how the cells are able to change the form of
the insect as it becomes necessary to effect the results
desired. Sometimes he is this and again he is that, as
circumstances require. In the past ages their knowledge
and experience in life have taught them how to build all
these different structures and perform all these different
and difficult acts. Their memory of the past must neces-
sarily direct them in every act. Those actions and ex-
periences are their knowledge, that is to say, the cells that
occupy the insect and build these different forms, co-
operate in a social way and build these structures which
are adapted and required in order to be able to rob the
bee of its honey and convert it to their own use.
The various constructions produced by the cells show
that they produce what they deem necessary and what
may be required for their perpetuation and the continu-
ance of life. They follow no fixed rule, but have an ideal
and purpose, which one also finds in the productions of
man. Can intelligent man equal the performance of this
cell colony called Sitaris? I think not.
Mr. Binet has ventured so far as to show by their ac-
tions that they must be possessed of instinct, just as
animals are and makes the following statements :
"We may reply upon this point, that there is not a
single ciliate Infusory that cannot be frightened and that
does not manifest its fear by a rapid flight through the
liquid of the preparation.
"If a drop of acetic acid be introduced beneath the
glass slide in a preparation containing quantities of In-
fusoria, the latter will at once be seen to flee from all
directions like a flock of frightened sheep.
"Memory, according to M. Romanes, first begins with
296 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the Echinoderms. Now Maebius, upon the occasion of a
treatise upon the Folliculina ampulla, a ciliated Infusoria
presenting complicated and interesting movements, prop-
erly remarks that every time an animal repeats the same
action under influence of the same excitations, that fact
proves that the animal is possessed of a memory. In fact
memory is one of the most elementary of psychological
facts.
"Lastly the primary instincts, according to M. Ro-
manes, begin first with the larvae of insects and with
annelids. We give in contradiction of this statement the
recent observations of Verworn, which reveal the exist-
ence of curious instincts among the rhizopods. The
DifHugia urceolata, which inhabits a shell formed of par-
ticles of sand emits long pseudopodia, which search at
the bottom of the water for the materials necessary to
construct a new case for the filial organism to which it
gives birth by division. The pseudopod, after having
touched a particle of sand, contracts and the grain of sand
adhering to the pseudopod is seen to pass into the body of
the animal. Verworn instead of grains of sand placed
small fragments of colored glass about the animal ; some
time afterward he noticed a heap of these fragments on
the bottom of the shell. He then saw a bunch of proto-
plasm issue from the cell, representing the new difflugia
produced by division. Thereupon the materials collected
by the mother-organism — the fragments of colored glass
— came forth from the shell and enveloped the body of the
new individual in a sheath similar to that encasing the
mother. These fragments of glass loosely interjoined at
first were now cemented together by a substance secreted
by the body of the animal.
"Two facts are to be remarked in this observation :
First — The act whereby the difBugia collects the mater-
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 297
ials for providing- the young individual with a case is an
act of preadaptation to an end, not present but remote
This act, therefore, has all the marks of an instinct. Fur-
ther the instinct of the difflugia exhibits great precision,
for the difflugia not only knows how to distinguish at the
bottom of the water the material available for its purpose
but it takes only the quantity of material necessary to
enable the young individual to acquire a well built case ;
there is never an excess.
"It is interesting to note that the difflugia does not act
differently from animals possessing more highly compli-
cated organization and endowed with differentiated nerv-
ous system, as for instance, the larvae of Phryganids,
which form their sheaths from shells, grains of sand or
minute slivers. We shall not regard it as strange, per-
haps, to find so complete a psychology in the history of
lower organisms when we recall to mind that agreeably
to the ideas of evolution now accepted a higher animal is
nothing more than a colony of protozoans. Every one of
the cells composing such an animal has retained its primi-
tive properties, giving them a higher degree of perfection
by division of labor and by selection. The epithelial cells
that secrete the nails and the hair are organisms per-
fected with reference to the secretion of protective parts.
Similarly the cells of the brain are organisms that have
been perfected with reference to psychical attributes."
The cells described here by Mr. Binet are those still
living a single life in the water. This cell has the habit
of making a case around himself from the material at
hand. If no fine sand is at hand, he is able to use pow-
dered glass. A large number of other cells use the lime
and other material found in solution in water to make
their shells or covering. The actions of these single cells
are not instinctive as Mr. Binet suggests, they are con-
298 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
scious intelligent acts. The cell knows what he wants
and what he is doing. As far as his experience in life has
been, he has only gone so far as to make for himself a
covering of some hard material. We must remember that
he not only picks up such grains of sand or glass as he
thinks necessary, but he knows how to change this ma-
terial into forms and substances with which he makes a
shell and covering for the young cell.
You can see that he must have a knowledge of chem-
istry and also of the right proportions of mixing the mate-
rial with which he makes his armour. He must understand
how to dissolve the crude matter and with it make a mix-
ture that will harden into a shell after having first been
formed into the proper shape. He must perform all this
work, having in mind and in view placing therein of the
young cell as soon as he gets the new structure completed.
Every act in this performance requires the same purpose
and foresight as similar actions in man.
Mr. Binet also gives the following interesting descrip-
tion of the action of the male cell in animals :
"Let us now follow the spermatozoid in its journey to
the ovule. It is known that the road it has to travel in
certain instances is extremely long. Thus in the hen the
oviduct measures 60 centimeters, and in large mammifers
the passages have a length of from 25 to 30 centimeters.
We might ask ourselves how such frail and minute crea-
tures come by a power of locomotion great enough to
enable them to traverse so long a path. But observation
discloses the fact that they are able to overcome obstacles
quite out of proportion to their size. Henle has seen
spermatozoids carry along with them masses of crystals
ten times larger than themselves without appreciably les-
sening their speed. F. A. Pouchet has seen them carry
bunches of from 8 to 10 blood globules. M. Balbiani has
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 299
attested the same fact. These globules, which have fast-
ened themselves about the head of the spermatozoid have
each a volume double, that of the head. Now according
to Welcker, the weight of the globule of human blood is
0.0008 of a milligram ; allowing that the spermatozoid has
the same weight, we may then say that it is able to carry
burdens four or five times heavier than itself."
This germ cell from the male looking for the female
cell certainly shows activity and a will power. After
considering the actions of the male cell, Mr. Binet also
makes the following remarks : "Another remarkable cir-
cumstance is that the copulation of the two sexual ele-
ments is not without analogy to the copulation of the two
animals from which they originated. The spermatozoid
and the ovule to some extent repeat on a small scale
what the two individuals perform in their larger sphere.
Thus it is the spermatozoid that in its capacity of male
element goes in quest of the female. It possesses, in view
of the journeys it has to make, organs of locomotion that
are lacking in the female and are useless to it.
"In fine, the spermatic element, in directing itself to-
ward the ovule to be fecundated, is animated by the same
sexual instinct that directs the parent organism towards
its female."
This is only what we should necessarily expect when
we consider the matter. The intelligence that guides the
actions of man or animal in reference to their mating in-
stinct is and must be the same as that of the germ cell.
The actions of animals called the mating instinct are orig-
inated and instigated by these very germ cells ; that fact
is shown conclusively by the removal of the organ con-
taining the cells.
It is now admitted, I believe, that habits are based on
the power of memory in the cell or organs performing the
300
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
actions. If the cells of the body possess the power of
memory so as to be able to remember how to perform the
complicated movements involved in playing a piano, guid-
ing an auto, etc., it seems only reasonable that the germ
cell should be able to remember how to build another
body like the one from which it came, especially when he
M
FIG. 43. — Seed-cells or sperm-cells from the se
broad side of the flattened, pear-shaped nucleus portion of the sperm-cell (the so-
called "head of the sperm-animalcule") is represented in the drawings marked
7; the narrow side in those marked // : k, kernel of the sperm-cell; m, central
portion (protoplasm) ; s, active tail-like process (whip) ; M , four human sperm-
cells; A, two sperm-cells of the ape; K, of the rabbit; H, of the common mouse;
C, of the dog; S, of the pig. — SCHUTE.
has been set aside as a special committee to look after
that work and nothing else. The cause of heredity, then,
is the memory and intellect of the cell. Memory is the
power possessed by the cell to take and keep a record of
past events and experiences in such a way that they can
be used and referred to in the future when necessary to
guide the actions of the individual. Mr. Ribot states :
"Some recent authors, among them Dr. Maudsley, attri-
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 301
bute a memory to every nerve cell, to every organic e)e- f
ment in the body. Dr. Maudsley states : 'The perman-
ent effects of a particular virus, such as that of variola or
syphilis in the constitution show that the organic ele-
ment remembers for the remainder of its life certain modi-
fications it has received. The manner in which cicatrix
in a child's finger grows with the growth of the body,
proves, as has been shown by Paget, that the organic
element of the part does not forget the impression it has
received. What has been said about the different nervous
centers of the body demonstrates the existence of a mem-
ory in the nerve cells diffused through the heart and the
intestines ; in those of the spinal cord, in the cells of the
motor ganglia, in the cells of the cortical substance of
the cerebral hemisphere.' "
You notice that he calls the cell "Organic elements"
and "Cortical substance," similar to Haeckel, who called
them "Plasm" or "Living substance." There seems to
be no one yet who seems to realize what the cell really is.
They seem to think that because he is small he is merely
a living matter or substance. Those who know his vari-
ous activities seem never to stop to consider that he is a
very highly organized and specialized being, and that he
is possessed of a number of special organs, the purpose
of which we do not know. While we see and know con-
siderable about him, still our knowledge is very limited
and very likely he has many powers and senses we yet
know nothing about. We know practically nothing about
the inner life of the primordial being of which the cell is
composed. We may some day be able to produce a micro-
scope powerful enough to be able to see the separate ac-
tions of these primordial beings that we now call cell
granules, and if so, we shall likely discover the first
302 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
We can see enough of the actions of the cell to demon-
strate, I believe, those facts which I claim for him. Take
for instance the actions of the single cell called Didinium,
which is able to make darts or spears and throw them at
its victim from a distance. Its actions are described by
Mr. Binet in the following language : "These organs are
the weapons used by the Didinium in attacking the live
prey which constitutes its sole nourishment. Not only
does it attack and devour animalcules almost as large as
itself, but frequently it even seizes individuals of its own
kind. In such cases it is always Infusoria and never the
Rotatoria, although the latter often abound in waters
which the Didinium inhabits. It appears, moreover, to
have a marked predilection for certain species and so it
happens that the huge and inoffensive paramecium aure-
lia is almost always its choice by preference among the
animalcules that inhabit the same liquid.
The prehension of food by the didinium exhibits inter-
esting aspects which have not as yet been observed in
any other Infusory. M. Balbiani in his first observations
had often been surprised at seeing animalcules that the
didinium had passed by without touching, suddenly stop
as if violently paralyzed ; whereupon our carnivorous
specimen straightway approached and seized them with
seeming facility. More careful examination of the didin-
ium's actions soon furnished the key to this enigma. If,
while swiftly turning in the water, the didinium happens
into the neighborhood of an animalculum; say parame-
cium, which it is going to capture, it begins by casting at
it a quantity of bacillary corpuscles, which constitutes its
pharyngeal armature. The paramecium immediately
stops swimming and shows no other sign of vitality than
feebly to beat the water with its vibratile cilia ; on every
side of it, the darts lie scattered that were used to strike
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 303
it. Its enemy then approaches and quickly thrusts forth
from its mouth an organ shaped like a tongue, relatively
long and resembling a transparent cylindrical rod; the
free, extended extremity of this rod it fastens upon some
part of the paramecium's body. The latter is then grad-
ually brought near, by the recession of this tongue shaped
organ towards the buccal aperture of the didinium, which
opens wide, assuming the shape of a vast funnel in which
the prey is swallowed up."
We have hei;e a single cell who has built around him-
self an armor hard as stone for his own protection in bat-
tle with other cells or enemies. He has made holes in
regular rows around his body covering, through which he
sticks hands, with which he paddles himself through the
water. He also makes hundreds of darts or little spears,
which he carries with him while hunting for other smaller
cells and with which he is able to strike and kill from a
distance his victims, which he devours as his food. He
must be able to see and judge distances, or else how could
he guess or know when his victim was within striking
distance? He must be able to feel and taste or else how
could he tell when he had hold of it or what he was eating,
and so on, all through his different performances. This
being is a cell. It multiplies by dividing in two, in the
same manner as all cells, including the cells that build the
human being and plants. In what manner do the actions
of this cell differ from those of a human being as far as
showing intelligence, considering simply the actions
themselves, and not the size of the actor? In what man-
ner do his actions in covering himself with an armor
differ from the same actions by man? In what manner
do his actions in making weapons and in hunting other
animals for a living differ from those same actions per-
formed by man?
304 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Consider again the actions while mating of the cell
living a single life, and those of the germ cells pursuing
the female cells. Mr. Binet states that "the movements
they execute admit of exact comparison with the actions
attendant upon copulation among higher animals," and
then illustrates their maneuvering in the following lan-
guage :
"Upon the approach of the period for propagation, the
paramecia come in from all points of the fluid and assem-
ble like little whitish clouds in more or less numerous
groups about the objects that float upon the surface of
the water or adhere to the sides of the vessel, containing
the tiny artificial sea in which the animalcula are held
captive. Intense excitement, which the need of food does
not suffice to explain, prevails in each of these groups ; a
higher instinct appears to dominate all these tiny organ-
isms. They seek each other's company, chase each other
about, feel here and there with their cilia, adhere for a
moment or so in an attitude of sexual coition and then
retire, soon to begin anew. When these minute assem-
blages are dispersed by shaking the liquid, they quickly
form again at other points. These singular antics where-
with animalcula appear to incite each other mutually to
copulation often continue for several days before the
latter act is definitely affected."
All these actions of the cells that we have now been
considering, whether single cells or social cells, like those
who build animals and plants, are in general identical
with those of the higher animals, including man, who we
all agree are intelligent beings.
Before closing this chapter we shall examine a few
cases which will illustrate more fully the fact that like
does not always produce like as is generally understood,
but that the cell will put up such structures as will be re-
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 305
quired and necessary under the particular circumstances.
Take for example the life and development of a butterfly.
The egg is laid in the fall and in the spring this egg, a
single cell, multiplies and with the material furnished by
the parents and at hand, such as the leaves of plants and
trees, builds itself into a structure like a worm and moves
about, filling this structure during the summer with, more
building material to be used later on; this worm or cater-
pillar is now a moving structure like an animal or automo-
bile. The next thing that happens is that towards fall
this moving structure changes into a chrysalis which is
a stationary structure.
What is the purpose? It is for the purpose of chang-
ing later on into a flying machine. The worm or cater-
pillar takes part of himself and with this material builds
a house or covering around himself; then he tears him-
self to pieces and rebuilds himself into an aeroplane and
occupies the house first built as a work shop, while re-
building himself into an aeroplane or flying machine.
However, we must remember that it is not the. worm or
caterpillar that does these things, it is the cells of which
he is composed and which put him together in the first
place. They take the first structure, the worm, apart,
tear it down as man would a house and with the same
material build a new structure, a flying machine — the
butterfly. Now you will notice that in this case as in a
great number of other cases, like does not produce like.
The worm does not produce a worm nor does the butterfly
produce another butterfly. In this case, the worm pro-
duces a butterfly and the butterfly produces an egg. Their
heirs are in no way similar to themselves. The fact is
that no animal or plant produces anything, it is the cell
that produces. In the same manner the submarine or
house does not produce anything; it is the builders of
306 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
these structures, man, that produce them. In the case
of the caterpillar changing into a butterfly, the caterpillar
is entirely destroyed as an individual, but the builders
and material are still there and they take the same mate-
rial and with it build a new and different structure calcu-
lated to move through the air. Mr. Walker states that
there are various actions caused by the nourishment
which they obtain. The following are his ideas about
the cause : "Take the life history of a moth or butterfly,
as an example. A caterpillar hatches out of the egg com-
plete in all its parts and capable of looking after itself.
Directly it hatches out it simply grows in response to
the stimulus of nourishment. It does not require any
knowledge with regard to the kind of food which is neces-
sary for its well being; it is born with this knowledge,
When the next stage in its life-history arrives, it spins
itself a cocoon and that without ever having seen a co-
coon. This knowledge and skill is an inborn character
and the caterpillar is prompted to spin a cocoon at the
proper time, purely by instinct. When in the cocoon, the
caterpillar is metamorphosed into a chrysalis and in the
chrysalis all the parts of the perfect butterfly or moth
are developed simply by growth. When the butterfly or
moth hatches out in due course, all its muscles and organs
are developed and it is not dependent upon the stimulus
of use, that is of exercise in the case of the muscles, for
development." He states that it simply grows in re-
sponse to the stimulus of nourishment and that the but-
terfly or moth is developed simply by growth. Mr.
Walker has written what is considered to be a good up-
to-date work on the cause of heredity, but I do not agree
with him in the matter. He does not consider the cell
anything but a chemical force. There is nothing in life
that "simply grows." Everything is put together for a
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 307
purpose and it is put together by someone. It does not
come together by chance. Mr. Walker calls our atten-
tion to a peculiar plant and worm living together in part-
nership as one individual. The plant lives inside of the
worm and inside of this worm the plant makes food and
building material for both. He states : "A still more
remarkable case is afforded by a low form of worm (con-
voleta roscoffensis) which lives symbiotically with green
algae. The algae appears to form a special assimilation
tissue within the worm enabling it to live like a green
plant. The worms are elongated and colored green and
at Roscoff live in the sandy tide pools fully exposed to
the sun's rays, looking like a mass of floating weed upon
the surface of the water. Now the stomach and indeed
the whole of the alimentary apparatus has disappeared
in the worm and it lives exclusively upon carbohydrates
formed within its body by the algae. The algae has un-
dergone most profound changes. It has lost its mem-
brane, thus allowing its secretions and excretions to pass
freely among the cells of the worm and it cannot live
independently. If the worm dies the algae contained in
it die. All the allied forms of this worm seek the dark
and live concealed under stones and vegetation and they
are carnivorous. Convoluta, however, being dependent
upon the well being of the algae for its nourishment
seeks the sunlight and the surface of the water. The
sunlight is necessary to the growth and metabolism in
the alga, which in its turn supplies food to the worm,
which has cea'sed to be carnivorous. The two forms are
thus absolutely dependent upon each other and incapable
of living apart."
I am quite certain that Mr. Walker and others who
have examined this creature are mistaken in reference
to the facts. I think it will be found upon further ex-
308 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
amination, that this cell colony is made by the same fam-
ily of cells, and that it is not a co-partnership of a plant
and an animal. This individual moves up into the sun-
light where it can manufacture starch, etc., from the raw
material found in the water by the aid of the sun's heat
or rays. It is necessary to get into the sunlight in order
to be able to make starch for food and the outside trans-
parent mobile skin like a worm's is simply a structure
made by the cells for the specific purpose for which it is
used. There is no difference in the general appearance of
a plant or animal cell. The cell can make either plant
or animal and will make animal parts such as will be
necessary for its use in its struggle for existence. They
call it a plant cell when the cell knows how to make food
and other building material from the raw material with
the aid of sunlight. The other cells are supposed to live
a parasitic life and to depend on the plant cells for their
food and building material. However, the distinction is
not reliable nor of any consequence, as we find the plant
cells also are at times carnivorous and live on insects and
>ther similar food, as for instance in the case of the
pitcher plant.
Before closing this chapter I wish to again call the
reader's attention to the fact that the old idea of the law
of heredity, that like produces like, is of no particular
significance, but that the cell will produce such structures
or habitations as they think will be the most useful and
necessary in every particular case, and even change those
already produced, if they think best.
Take the case for instance of the bee. Here we have
males, females and neutrals or workers. The female lays
the eggs that produce all these three kinds of individuals.
Mr. Haeckel states : "In the bees we have the remark-
able feature that it is only decided at the moment of
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 309
laying the egg whether it is to be fertilized or not; in
the one event a female and in the other a male bee is
formed from it."
The egg is a cell and it knows how to build any one of
these three individual structures. The workers indicate
what is wanted and when the cell is placed in the comb it
is told by the cells in the Queen what is wanted. The
cells of the female bee know at all times by being in close
touch with the crowd and the colony just what is most
needed in the community and every cell as it is placed in
the comb will know what it has to do, and in this manner
the swarm is constantly kept in proper proportions. There
is nothing more strange in this case than in the case of
the butterfly, or in the building of an animal. After the
stomach of the animal has been started the cells first
begin to gather in crowds here to start the head and there
to start the limbs, etc., and unless they understood each
other perfectly, they could not possibly go ahead with
their work in perfect harmony and understanding and
complete a plant or animal. The next and last illustra-
tion I shall give in this chapter on heredity is that of the
social ants, in order to fully illustrate that there is a guid-
ing mind and intellect which directs the course of devel-
opment of plants and animals. In many of these classes
of social ants there are as many as five different kinds
of individuals, such as males, females, workers, soldiers
and slaves ; and in one case, some of the insects turn into
storage tanks in which the honey is stored and as such
are suspended under the roof of their dwellings. Mr.
Walker has the following to say in reference to some of
these social ants :
"In some ants such as the driver ants of Africa (Typh-
lopone) the physical differences between the queens and
neuters is so great that even trained entomologists have
310 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
been mislead and have classed them as entirely different
insects. Thus the queen, the male and the worker of
Typhlopone are now known, but until comparatively
recently the queen was put in one genus (Dicthadia) the
male in another (Dorylus) and the worker yet in another
(Typhlopone) and this mistake was made by skilled
entomologists, who were misled by the enormous differ-
ence in the structure of the three kinds of individuals.
The male has well developed eyes while the worker has
none.
"The polymorphism among social ants and bees has
been the subject of much argument and has produced a
great deal of speculation. We are not here concerned
with such questions as how polymorphism has arisen.
It is sufficient to emphasize the fact that the potentiality
of producing the various morphological characters pe-
culiar to the different forms of workers, to the males and
to the queens, must be present in the eggs of the queen,
though neither she herself nor any direct ancestor has
•possessed those that appear regularly in the workers.
Among the honey ants (myrmecocystus) some workers
are used by the others as reservoirs for honey. These in-
dividuals remain in the nest clinging to the roughened
ceilings of certain galleries. In the other galleries the
ceilings are smooth. They remain in this position for
the rest of their lives. Beforehand they feed on honey
for some time and when they have eaten as much as they
can, take up their positions in the nest. Here the other
ants feed them with honey until they are distended to
many times their normal size. Honey is not procurable
at certain seasons of the year and the stored honey is
regurgitated by these individuals as it is required to feed
the larvae and workers. It is obvious that nothing of
this kind can ever happen to the queen.
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 311
"Nor are our instincts the only characters transmitted
through individuals that do not possess them. The same
thing happens with regard to very striking physical char-
acters. The soldier ant in a case of true ants is an exam-
ple. The soldier ants are neuters and in them the head is
greatly enlarged as also are the mandibles. Various
parts of the body coverings are modified and serve the
purpose of defense. In fact, the soldiers of the colony
are so different from their parents, the males and queens,
that the untrained observer would class them as belong-
ing to a different family."
Now it is in this case perfectly clear that like does not
always produce like and that the males and females pro-
duce animals that are not only unlike themselves in size
and general appearance but unlike in their ways and
habits. The workers and soldiers produce no offspring,
so their characters cannot be transmitted to posterity
through heredity in the sense in which it is generally un-
derstood and which with the evolutionist is the cause of
species. There cannot be any more of a mystery in this
case than in the case of the development of a plant or
animal from one single cell. The individual that is hung
up under the ceiling and used by the others as a storage
tank for honey surely cannot transmit any of his form
and characters to his heirs or posterity, as he never has
any nor is it intended that he should. From our point
of view it would seem cruel punishment to be suspended
under the ceiling and treated in this manner, but when
we consider it rightly from the standpoint of the builder,
the cell, — and that someone must be in charge of the
food, we can see that the individual cells which together
make up this storage tank for honey are alloted just as
easy work as any of the others. Someone must be in
charge and take care of the honey, for many kinds of sin-
312
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
gle cells such as bacteria or fungi would eat this honey ii
permitted, and it is a wise thing to have it taken care of
in this way. It is no punishment to the colony of cells
known as the caterpillar, to reconstruct themselves into
a butterfly, that is, from an ordinary moving structure or
habitation to a flying structure, nor will it be any pun-
ishment to this colony of ant building cells to change
their moveable habitation into a stationary structure
where they can live in comfort and eat all the honey they
please.
FIG. 44. — Ants. A, Male of Typhlopone, formerly classed in a separate genus
(Dorylus). B, female, formerly classed in a separate genus (Dicthadia). C,
Neuter soldier (worker). D, Neuter minor (worker). [Actual size.] — WALKER.
In this case of the social ants, it is clear that the cells
of the males and females are in close touch with the
whole social community of ants, and as each egg or germ
cell is laid it is instructed as to general conditions and
as to what is wanted or needed in the colony, and upon
such direction the germ cells act and produce a worker,
soldier, male or female, according to the order from the
outside through the parents. That the cells receive and
CAUSE OF HEREDITY 313
act upon communication from the outside is shown in
many ways, as in the case of the flat fishes where a pic-
ture of the outside color and formation is transmitted
from the eye to the skin cells. For instance, the skin cells
of the fish will change both the color and shape of the
skin to simulate the shape and color of the rocky bottom
of the sea on which he is resting. Just as in the case of
the social ants, the one and the same germ, cell of the
animal can build different kinds and different shaped or-
gans, as head, tail, stomach, hair and limbs. All these
five structures are entirely different and for a different
purpose. The cells must be told in some way what to
build and be able to communicate and understand each
other very clearly or else they could not possibly work
in harmony, and have no one interfering with the other,
but each producing just what is required and nothing
more.
The seventeen-year locust lives in the earth seventeen
years as a worm ; then he tears down the seventeen year
old structure and with the same material he builds a
flying machine, a new and entirely different structure,
which is known as the cicada. This flying machine or
cicada is produced for the one special purpose of finding
a mate and thereby perpetuating his kind. This flying
machine lives but a month or two. At first he lived the
life of a worm and was a worm but, as a worm, he had no
offspring and no one could inherit his character. But
when we understand life correctly, that all living things
that we see are structures produced by an intelligent
being for his special purpose, we can clearly see why
like does not always produce like and that living struc-
tures are produced only when wanted or considered neces-
sary by the builders.
CHAPTER 8.
CAUSE OF INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX
ACTION.
Life is both form and action, but the more important
part is action. I have not been able to find anyone who
has understood the cause of instinctive, emotional and
reflex action. The reason for this it seems to me, is be-
cause no one has ever been able to comprehend and look
upon the cell as an intelligent being. The old phrase-
ology and idea that only man can reason and that all ani-
mals act from instinct is to blame for it. One side claims
that the intelligence back of instinctive acts of animals
is God or nature and the other side does not claim to
know. Take for instance, the instinctive actions of the
young pig. The instant he is born he is able to go to work
and obtain nourishment from the mother. Without hav-
ing had any previous experience or training he knows
how to do those complicated acts as if he had been prac-
tising for years. These actions are called instinctive.
They are intelligent acts but still according to the old
ideas we cannot consider any actions intelligent unless
performed by man based upon previous experience and
training. There are a great number of actions performed
by animals and plants and man that are performed with-
out any previous experience and are called instinctive.
The instinctive actions are similar to those performed
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 315
without our consciousness such as we call habitual, reflex
and automatic. Now it is clear that these actions are all
directed by someone. Who is this someone? In the sub-
marine or battleship it is man, the builder of these struc-
tures, who directs their movements ; so it is with organic
individuals we call plants or animals, it is the cell, their
builder, who directs their movements.
It would be just as consistent to say when looking at
a battleship or submarine from a distance, not being able
to see the man in charge, that the battleship or submarine
had an instinct to shoot and hit a target at a distance,
without having had any previous training. The swallow
can fly the first time it makes the attempt. It makes no
attempt until it is fully developed and ready. So with
the aeroplane, which can fly the first time it makes the
attempt because as is evident and natural, those who
know how to build the machine also know how to oper-
ate it. Following are extracts from Hallock's Psychol-
ogy, defining the different kinds of actions :
First — "Unconscious, reflex action — such as the uncon-
scious movement of the sleeper's hand when touched.
Second — "Conscious, reflex action — such as winking
the eye, due to sensitiveness to light. This is illustrated
by a sensation which reaches the brain and hurriedly
passes out in motor action.
Third — "Impulsive action — Here a hazy idea of a pur-
pose toward which the action tends makes its appearance.
Fourth — "Instinctive action — This cannot always be
separated from impulsive action.
Fifth— "Deliberate action.— Here a deliberate Will
chooses between alternative courses of action. Shall I
spend this money for books or several other things?
"It is sometimes hard to believe that reflex actions are
not consciously willed. We have seen that a decapitated
316 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
frog raises its hind foot to brush away a needle or a drop
of acid on its side ; if the leg on that side were amputated,
the other leg would display purposive endeavor to remove
the object.
"It is difficult to appreciate properly the complexity of
reflex action. Many movements which seem to exhibit
all the purposive guidance of the deliberate will are noth-
ing but reflex actions, which were at first consciously
willed and often sink to the level of reflexes, such as
walking, writing, balancing and many other muscular
movements.
"Laws of Central Nervous Action — Whenever a sens-
ory stimulus is transmitted to a central nerve cell, the
force is never lost but intends to flow out again in motor
action. By central nerve cells we here mean ganglia in
either the brain or the spinal cord. Whenever a sensory
stimulus pours into nerve cells, there will be a tendency
for it to pass out in motor action, which causes muscular
movement. This law holds equally good for conscious
or unconscious stimuli.
"No reflex action shows the presence of will in its
higher deliberative form, although purposive reflexes may
indicate a time when they were the slowly formed prod-
ucts of all the individuals, intelligence and will power.
"Instinctive action — Whenever a conscious sensation,
due either to external or internal stimuli results in pur-
posive action toward a given end, (which is not forseen)
that action is instinctive.
"A young stork left alone in a northern latitude would
emigrate southward on approach of winter; had the bird
never been south before, it could have no idea of the pur-
pose of its flight although its actions were directed
toward an intelligent end. Certain sensations of organic
origin prompt the young bird to build its first nest. This
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 317
bird has never been taught nor has it had any experience
of nest building, yet the first nest is constructed on the
same plan and fashioned as well as any of its successors,
all the actions, gathering of straw, grass and twigs, are
a series of complex movements blindly directed toward
an intelligent end.
"Instinctive compared with reflex actions — Instinct has
much in common with reflex actions. Whenever certain
stimuli are present, definite, unvarying actions tend to
result in both cases. We saw that a sensory stimulus on
the side of a decapitated frog was followed by a definite
action suited to remove the cause. When the caterpillar
feels certain stimuli, it mechanically begins to weave a
shroud in a blind reflex way and the action is automatic
as long as the stimulus is operative.
"A reflex movement is simpler and does not involve the
whole body in action. A limb may be moved ; an eye
winked ; one muscle contracted. When a bird builds a
nest, the instinctive tendency results in movement of
wings spread in flight, ocular search for materials, alight-
ing and seizing them with either bill or claw, carrying
them to proper place and fixing them in position. Here
the instinctive movements constantly change and the one
is not a mere repetition of the other.
"An ant will hoard grain for the winter and the cater-
pillar provide for a butterfly existence.
"Bees construct larger cells for young Queen bees and
feed the Royal Larvae with more and richer food, al-
though there is originally no difference between them
and the Larvae of Workers. Similar reflex tendencies
would result in making all cells the same to start with
and feeding all the young the same way. Hence, some
call all instincts examples of 'lapsed intelligence,' that is
the actions were at first the result of a highly voluntary
318 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
process, but from a continued repetition they became un-
consciously habitual.
"In the South Sea Islands, a species of bird accustomed
to build nests on the ground placed them in trees after
cats were introduced.
"Instinct urges the bee to labor hard to gather hone),
against the time when the flowers will be gone.
"After instinctive action has been once performed a
certain amount of foresight of the end must remain in
memory.
"The hen that has once kept eggs warm until they art
hatched must have a certain idea of the results of the ac-
tion when she again sets. By the law of contiguity the
association would run straight ahead to the chickens, but
this cannot be said of the first performance of any in-
stinctive action, nor can it ever be maintained in such
cases as when the animal dies or changes its form after
an instinctive act.
"The silk worm never has an idea of the end in weaving
its shroud."
The reader will notice that all these actions described
by different animals will seem very mysterious and in-
consistent if you do not stop to consider the situation
correctly. You will admit that all the actions of these in-
sects and animals seem intelligent but yet you cannot see
how they can be, as the animals have had no experience,
training or instructions in the matter. These actions have
been called "Lapsed intelligence" meaning that they musi
have been intelligent at some past time, but when you
stop to think of it how could they ever have been more
intelligent at any other time? Did the hen at one time in
the past possess the intelligence of man, God or the Cre-
ator?
When we talk about the peculiar actions of plants and
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 319
animals without taking into consideration the individuals
that build and maintain them, we get all mixed up, and
our statements become a jumble of meaningless words
and mysteries. These actions — reflex, automatic, impul-
sive, emotional or instinctive, are all intelligent acts.
What we call a reflex act, like winking the eye, requires
just as much intelligence as any other act. However, the
intelligence is located in a bunch of cells in the brain that
have that particular business in charge, and the other
brain cells such as are in charge of receiving sensation?
from the outside world through sense organs, like the
eye, ear, etc., do hot have to be bothered with such de-
tails. Those cells that are in charge of receiving informa-
tion from the outside world are what we call our con-
sciousness. You can clearly see that it requires conscious
intelligence, to be continually on the watch out for dan-
gerous materials and to keep them from getting into the
eye. The eye requires constant and careful attention and
the wonderful manner in which it is taken care of by the
cells in charge amidst the many dangers in life, shows
loyalty and intelligence. The cells in charge of receiving
information from the outside world must attend to this
business of receiving, and they cannot be bothered with
details like balancing, walking and other muscular de-
tails. These actions are for that reason delegated to
other cells which we call nerve centers. These actions,
when performed by us without any knowledge or con-
sciousness, we call reflex, habitual, or automatic. These
are simply names for something that so far has not been
understood. Writers on psychology have not been able
to comprehend that just as much conscious intelligence
is required in one place as in another; that the cells in
charge of one line of work are just as smart as the cells
in charge of work in another place. The cells in the spine
320 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
that look after the balancing and the action of the heart,
must be just as intelligent as the cells which are located
in the head and direct the actions of your arm or hand
when you are learning how to perform some particular
action like writing or balancing.
Instinctive actions in animals are of course the same as
those in man. We are perfectly conscious of the act and
still we feel as though something gets possession of us,
as for instance when the mating instinct takes possession
of us. We are then in love as we call it. The act of per-
petuating the race is the most important thing of man's
life and it also requires the combined acts of the whole
individual. For these reasons the cells see fit to give both
mental and bodily control to the nerve center or cells who
have that matter in charge. No individual will act except
in accordance with his thoughts, so it is clear that in all
instinctive actions in man and animals, insects or plants,
the actions are the will of the party who performs them.
The following by Mr. Hallock shows some instances of
animal intelligence : "A man allowed a sow pig about a
year old to run in his orchard. He watched her go to a
young apple tree, shake the tree and eat the apples which
fell. Having finished these, she again shook the tree,
pricked up her ears and listened for more to fall, but as
none fell she went away.
"Another sow, with a litter of pigs, was accustomed to
spending the day in a forest, returning home at night to
be fed. When her pigs were of sufficient age, three were
taken to be roasted, at different times, being caught when
she returned home with them. After the third had been
taken, she came without the pigs. The next evening a
watch was set to find out what had become of them, but
she would not allow them to follow her farther than the
edge of the forest and drove them back repeatedly; she
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 32J
then went to the house to get her own supper and re-
turned to them. She had evidently discovered their dis-
appearance on going to the house, and took this course
to save them.
"A man once desired to test his dog, which was lying
down quietly sleeping. In the midst of a general conver-
sation, he inserted the words, 'The cow is in the potatoes.'
The dog jumped up at once, dashed out to the garden and
appeared surprised at not finding the cow there.
"Another dog had for some time chased a rabbit, which
ran in a circular course to a burrow and escaped the dog.
Finally the dog, on starting another rabbit, ran indirectly
across the circle to the mouth of the burrow and awaited
the rabbit there.
"It is well known that some ants keep a certain species
of insects called aphides. These stand in precisely the
same relation to ants that cows do to human beings. The
aphides are regularly milked by the ants and a sweet nu-
tritious liquid somewhat resembling honey is thus se-
cured. The ants sometimes build stables for their cows,
allowing them to pasture on certain plants in such a way
that the cows cannot escape. Naturalists have repeatedly
seen ants milk their cows.
"Three species of ants keep other ants as slaves. The
slaves tend the aphides, milk them, and often climb trees
and plants in order to find male aphides to increase the
dairy. The slaves even put the food into the mouths of
their masters. Bugs are also enslaved by ants and made
to carry heavy burdens.
"Ants have been seen to make a bridge across a small
vessel of water, using pieces of wood and straw. The
ants might have brought earth for this bridge, but they
illustrated the choice of means to ends, and used instead
pieces of wood and straw.
322 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
"Ants have cemeteries and funeral processions. Two
ants bear the corpse at the head of the procession, which
is followed two by two. When the first two are tired the
next two take up the body and on arriving at the burial
ground, they dig a grave and inter the body. A lady,
wishing to see a funeral procession, killed a number of
soldier ants. She watched the procession as above de-
scribed. On reaching the cemetery, six or seven of the
ants refused to help dig the graves. These ants were
caught, brought back and killed at once, like deserters
from an army. A trench was then dug, in which they
were all buried together. It was observed that ants
would not bury their slaves in the cemetery used for the
masters. Darwin called the brain of an ant one of the
most marvelous atoms of matter in the world."
The dog that ran to the potato patch knew from asso-
ciation with the expression "cow" and "potato patch"
what was needed or wanted, he remembered it. From
the dog's recollection of his experience with the rabbit,
he decided that it was useless to try to catch him as he
would beat him to the hole, so he decided to try this new
experiment and take the rabbit by surprise.
In hunting jack-rabbits, every one knows the trick of
the jack, to always turn square to one side as soon as he
goes over a hill and out of sight. This trick will always
fool both man and dog.
The pig could observe and remember that when he
shook the tree an apple would fall. His actions were
based on previous experience fixed in his memory. The
pig reasoned from experience just as man would. The
animals, like man, are able to reason and learn from ex-
perience. In their place in life they are just as intelligent
as the German Emperor or the Judge of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 323
In order to give the reader a more comprehensive view
of the perfect, intelligent organization of the individual
cells that build and direct the actions of the animal and
man, I will give Mr. Hallock's description of the brain
and nerves of the body. He says :
"Suppose that a child of intelligent parents was ushered
into the world with perfect brain, with no optic nerve to
transmit the glorious sensations of the eye, no auditory
nerve to conduct the vibrations of the mother's voice, no
tactile nerves to convey the touch of the hand. Could
such a child live? No matter how perfect might be the
child's brain and body, his faculties would remain
shrouded in darkness. Perception could give memory
nothing to retain and thought could not weave her fabrics
without materials.
"It is the business of the nervous system to transmit
the effects resulting from internal or external stimuli.
This function of reporting stimuli may be compared with
the machinery of an associated press agency, which gath-
ers news from the world. The manager may be sitting
in his office in New York or London and he cannot see
what is taking place in the rest of the world, but there is a
click of the telegraph instrument, and he learns that an
ocean steamer has been wrecked on the Irish Coast. An-
other instrument vibrates with a message that a certain
city cannot be heard from. The manager himself sends
a dispatch for news and he now illustrates the second
capacity of the nervous system, that of transmitting com-
mands by its own peculiar automatic power; but he tele-
graphs in vain, for the wires leading to the city are
broken.
"These telegraph wires are analogous to the nerves of
the ear, eye and other senses. It is the business of these
324 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
nerve cells to report what is taking place in their own
special world.
"The brain cell in its dark chamber can receive dis-
patches from them alone. If a man loses his sight, the
optic nerve brings in no further news and the case is
similar to that of the distant city whose telegraphic com-
munications have been broken by an earthquake or other-
wise.
"The nerve cells traverse every region of the body, just
as telegraph wires thread a continent. Without some
such method of transmission, the sensations of sight,
hearing, touch and other special senses could as we have
seen never reach the brain, neither could commands, such
as to move the muscles, be sent out from it.
"There are nerves which regulate the size of the blood
vessels and the nourishment of the body, control the
secretions and perform various other offices connected
with transmitting stimuli, which are neither sensory or
motor.
"A ganglion is an aggregation or group of nerve cells.
Each ganglion is in some respect a little brain. The
spinal ganglia receives a sensory impulse and sends out
a motor dispatch without calling on the brain. The spinal
cord is largely made up of nervous ganglia, sometimes
called the little brain.
"If one were to prick the toe of a sleeper, the sensory
nerve at that point would report the fact to one of the
lower masses of nerve cells or ganglia, without waiting
to hear from the brain ; it would issue a command to the
motor nerve cells and the foot would be immediately
withdrawn. Unless the thrust was severe, the sleeper
would not awaken, nor would he be conscious of pain or
the movements of the foot.
"Thus the cells of the brain are not only saved the
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 32$
trouble of attending to every little movement, but much
time is gained.
"After the child has learned the difficult art of balanc-
ing himself on his feet, walking is largely attended to by
other nerve cells than the brain.
"If acid is placed on the side of a decapitated frog the
animal will bring its foot to the spot and try to brush
the drop away. Man also has this power after death.
"The pectoral muscle of a beheaded French criminal
was pinched and the right hand was raised to the spot,
as if to remove the cause of the injury.
"The medulla oblongata at the upper end of the spinal
cord has more or less control of the sympathetic nervous
system, which regulates the heart, lungs, blood vessels
and various abdominal organs. If the muscular action of
the heart were under direct mental supervision, a person
might become so interested in something or so excited by
an accident or unusual event that he would forget, until
it was too late, to move the muscles of the heart. The
same would also be true in respiration. The medulla has
power to attend to these, without calling on the brain
and obtruding the unnecessary details on consciousness.
"The brain, like a large city, has much of its complex
business systematized and localized. The senses report
to certain parts of the brain, while other well denned
parts send out a motor order to raise a hand or speak a
word.
The motor zone, or that part of the brain concerned in
sending out orders to move the body, lies on either side
of the fissure of Rolando. So definitely has this area
been mapped out that it is possible to find for the purpose
of a surgical operation so small a center as that which
moves a vocal cord, directs a thumb or winks an eye,
"Sensory brain tracts are those concerned in receiving
326 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
impressions from the senses. The center of sight is in
the occipital part of the brain, that for hearing in the
rear, two-thirds of the first and second temporal convolu-
tions.
"The Senses : — If currents from the various sensory
nerves did not flow into the brain, we should get no
knowledge of the outside world. The brain gets de-
spatches from the optic, olfactory, tactile, gustatory and
other nerves. These despatches are the data from which
we get our knowledge of the world."
Now just consider for a moment what this means!
What conscious intelligence and foresight is required to
be able to effect a social organization like this ! Man has
been able to effect a similar civilization only in the last
few centuries. The cell has understood the power of
organization for a million years before it was conceived
by the mind of man ; still man as an individual pretends
to be more intelligent than the cell, his maker, — like a
submarine trying to be more intelligent than the man
who put it together and directs its actions, or like a house
knowing more than the architect that put it up.
Th. Ribot states that instinct and intelligence are one
and the same thing except that "Instinct is unconscious
intelligence," but Mr. Ribot does not understand what
this unconscious intelligence can be. There are several
books written about the unconscious intelligence and no
one seems to know what nor where it is. It is perfectly
plain that the acts we call instinctive and reflex are those
performed and directed by those nerve cells of the body
whose specific function it is to direct and perform those
acts. A child can suck and make noises ; he has had no
previous experience or training in this matter, but he
knows how. His mouth and throat were made for these
specific functions. The makers are in charge, directing
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 327
the different complicated movements of these structures
and they know how to direct the work for which they
were made. They know how to adjust the tension of
vocal cords so as to make a noise when the air is applied.
A kitten that has never had his eyes open, or ever had
any experience with a dog or a man, will show all the
symptoms of terror and fright if placed near a dog. How
does he know that dogs are dangerous, not having had
any experience with them?
We say that instinct tells him. That is not true. In-
stinct is but a word expressing certain kinds of actions.
Some one must tell the kitten and direct the kitten in its
actions. Who is this some one? It is the builder of the
kitten.
If the English ship should meet a German submarine
in its first trip out at sea, it would act just like the kitten ;
although the ship had never met a German submarine be-
fore, it knew what to do because it had a crew in charge
directing its actions who well knew that it was a dan-
gerous enemy to the English ship.
When you consider who is in charge and directs the
actions of the kitten, they are no more of a mystery than
are the actions of the English ship, showing signs of
fright upon the approach of the German submarine. Ex-
periences of the past thousand years with the dog has
taught the cells that he is a dangerous enemy.
We gave a name to this unknown cause and called it
instinct, nature, providence or destiny but we know the
cause of these instinctive, emotional and reflex actions,
and all these actions go to prove that the cell is an intelli-
gent being.
A text book on physiology describes the body in the
following language : "The human body viewed from a
328 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
mechanical aspect is the most perfect piece of work that
it is possible to imagine.
"Most of us are willing to accept the facts that we can
see, hear, taste, obey the impulses of our wills and think
on what has past and what is to come without ever giving
a thought as to how it happens that our bodies are so
equipped as to enable us to do these things.
'"The great foresight and preparedness of the German
Empire has been the marvel of the age, but it sinks into
nothingness when compared with the extraordinary
equipment that the human body is possessed with."
The mind cells of man occupied with other matters
have not time to comprehend all the details that are taken
care of in the human body. The details are as vast and
numerous as those of the largest city or empire, and are
based upon the experience and intelligence of the ages
while man has only begun to co-operate and organize in
a social way. The reason we have never really under-
stood causes in nature is our inability to overcome our
old prejudiced idea, dished up to us in all our school
books, that only man is intelligent. Think of all the
complicated actions and movements of a chick ! He is
provided with an instrument with which to break his
shell, and at once he is able to run about and pick up
grains of sand, like his mother. Think how many extra-
ordinarily difficult and complicated movements he is able
to perform the first time without the slightest previous
experience ! He is not only endowed with an inborn dex-
terity in motion, but has also a powerful perceptive fac-
ulty. Without hesitation he picks up a kernel of grain.
To do this he must be able to see and judge correctly and
move his head and limbs with great precision. He could
learn nothing in the shell.
We must remember, however, that but a month ago
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 329
the builders of this chick had taken part in the actions
and were a part of the parents from which he came. Not
only did this germ cell remember how to build the struc-
ture from which it came, but also how to maintain and
operate it. The actions of the chick are called instinctive,
but they are in fact no different from any other intelligent
acts. The building, maintaining and directing of this
structure we call a chick has been performed by this
particular kind of cell 'for ages. His knowledge and ex-
perience is limited to this kind of structure.
The bee constructs a cell, the birds build a nest, the
worm changes to a butterfly. These are all acts that the
bird, bee or caterpillar have not had the slightest expe-
rience in or information of from the outside world.
In the case of the caterpillar and the butterfly, there is
no chance to say that the caterpillar builds anything, be-
cause he is destroyed, gradually torn down, and rebuilt
into a butterfly, a new and different structure. The cells
or occupants of this caterpillar are all there, and so is the
building material, and they change it into a flying ma-
chine.
The worm or caterpillar is in the hands of a power that
can change him into a new and different individual.
Think of the extent and magnitude of the operations per-
formed in this task of tearing down the worm and re-
building him into a butterfly. It must be admitted that
it can not be done without a perfect system and plan,
skillfully pursued and executed.
The cause of instinctive actions has seemed so myster-
ious to people in general, that preachers have used it in
their sermons to prove the existence of a God, claiming
that God is the instigator of all instinctive actions. I
read the following Sunday Sermon from a Daily Paper :
"It is not intelligence in the animal, nor of it. Back of
330 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
instinct is law and back of law is the lawgiver. And who
is that lawgiver but God? The intelligence of instinct is
the intelligence of God. The laws of nature are the
thoughts of God ; and if instinct be only the outcome of
law, it is the direct product of God's thoughts."
"Intelligence of all kinds comes from God," according
to Dr. John P. D. John, former dean of DePauw Univer-
sity, who addressed an audience last evening in Grace
Episcopal Church. He spoke on the subject, "A Glimpse
of God in Instinct."
"The horse sometimes reasons ; likewise the dog, cat
and various other animals," he said. "An animal makes
use of reason when it profits by its own experience.
There are three kinds of animal actions in which means
are adjusted to ends. These are reflex, instinctive and
rational.
"Reflex actions are beyond the control of the will and
are generally beyond the sphere of consciousness. The
beatings of the heart and the chief processes of digestion,
circulation and respiration are instances of reflex action.
The intelligence in these actions does not belong to the
animal itself.
"Instinctive actions are under the control of the will
and the animal is conscious of them. All the animals of
the same species under the same circumstances do the
same things in the same way. They work according to
a plan, but they do not perceive that it is a plan. Each
animal does its work just like every other animal of its
species, and just as its ancestors have done and as its
posterity will do afterward. This class of actions em-
braces the greater part of the volitional work of the lower
animals, such as the cell building of the bees, the nest
building of birds and other forms of animal industry. In
these cases the animals seem to proceed consciously to
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 33!
adopt means to ends, but they do it blindly. In this case
of actions the animal does not benefit by its individual
experience. It strikes out on no new path. Rational ac-
tions are those in which the animal profits by its own ex-
perience and strikes out on new paths.
"Numerous instances were given by the speaker as
illustrations of the different kinds of actions. There is
intelligence manifested in each kind of action/ he said.
'The intelligence of the reflex action is obviously not
that of the animal itself, for it is not conscious of the ac-
tion. The intelligence of the rational act is evidently
that of the animal itself, for it profits by its own expe-
rience.' "
I agree with this minister in that these instinctive acts
are intelligent, but not that they are God's actions. If
God is back of the different instinctive acts in this world,
I would consider him a bad actor. The mating instinct
in man causes him to murder his fellow man sometimes
upon the slightest provocation. His extra muscular de-
velopment arose only from the mating instinct and we
know from other animals of his kind that such muscular
development is only for the purpose of contending with
his fellow man for the possession of the female. His mat-
ing instinct drives him against his own reason to murder
and suicide. This instinct will compel him to run away
with his wife's sister and leave his own wife and family
or to run away with another man's wife, while he has a
wife of his own living. You remove the cause of this
mating instinct and those instincts and troubles do not
arise.
The instinct of the cat is to play with a mouse until
it is dead, and sometimes to keep up the torture of the
little nervous, sensitive creature for hours. This instinct
to torture the little innocent mouse is unjust and un-
332 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
reasonable. The tiger will do the same with a child. The
claws of the animal are made for that purpose. I could
go on indefinitely and describe instincts of this character
which would impute to God the instigation of actions
most cruel and unjust.
The suffering in the world has been pointed out by
philosophers and naturalists. Saint George Mivart says :
"The world not only suffers, but has suffered for millions
of years ere man was. For untold ages bloodthirsty
rapine has raged and reigned, and cries of pain due to
cruel wounds and to limbs crushed in bloodstained jaws,
have continually resounded in the only one of God's
worlds we are able to know and understand. The very
existence of many creatures is bound up with the suffer-
ings of others, and parasites, external and internal, tor-
ture their helpless and involuntary hosts, by implements
carefully contrived for securing their hold and aiding
their progress." All these different cruelties they call
instinctive actions in animals and plants, yet I do not be-
lieve they are God's doings.
Bergson has the following to say about instinct in in-
sects : "When the horse fly lays its eggs on the legs or
shoulders of the horse, it acts as if it knew that its larvae
have to develop in the horse's stomach, and that the horse
in licking itself will convey the larvae into its digestive
tract. When the paralizing wasp stings its victim, in
just those points where the nervous center lies, so as to
render it motionless without killing it, it acts like a
learned entomologist and a skillful surgeon. But what
shall we say of the little beetle sitaris, whose story is so
often quoted? This insect often lays its eggs at the
entrance of the underground passages dug by a kind of
bee, the anthophora. Its larva, after long waiting, springs
upon the male anthophora as it goes out of the passage,
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 333
clings to it and remains attached until the "nuptial flight",
when it seizes the opportunity to pass from the male to
the female and quietly waits until it lays its eggs. It
then leaps on the egg which serves as a support for it in
the honey, devours the egg in a few days and resting
on the shell undergoes its first metamorphosis, organized
now to float on the honey it consumes this provision of
nourishment and becomes a nymph, then a perfect insect.
"Everything happens as if the larva of the sitaris, from
the moment it was hatched, knew that the male antho-
phora would first emerge from the passage. That the
"nuptial flight" would give it the means of conveying
itself to the female, who would take it to a store of honey
sufficient to feed it after its transformation, that until this
transformation it could gradually eat the egg of the an-
thophora, in such a way that it could at the same time
feed itself. And all this happens as if the sitaris itself
knew that its larva would know all these things.
"The yellow Sphex, which has adopted the cricket for
its victim, knows that the cricket has three nerve centers,
which serve its three pairs of legs, or at least it acts as if
it knew this. It stings the insect first under the neck, then
behind the pro-thorax and then where the thorax joins
the abdomen. Is it not plain that life goes on to work
here exactly like consciousness, exactly like memory?"
Mr. Bergson is compelled to admit that the actions of
these insects show the same intellect as the actions of
conscious man. However, we find that nearly all writers
now agree that there is no difference between instinctive
and intelligent acts. I maintain first that intelligence
and instinct are one and the same thing; second, that the
cells as well as animals and plants show the same in-
stincts.
If you transfer any black bee to Australia or California,
334 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the habits will completely change. She will find out that
the perpetual summer will always' provide honey in
abundance and she will be content to live from day to
day and just gather enough for each day's consumption.
The same experience has been observed in man ; neither
man nor bee will hustle and store up provisions for the
future unless compelled to do so. The cells, in the brain
of the bee and man direct similar actions.
Coming back to the different kinds of instinctive ac-
tions of animals and insects, I think that protective color-
ation is the most interesting and significant. I quote the
following from Mr. Loeb's Mechanistic Theory of Life:
"That vision is based on the formation of an image in
the brain, is supported by a group of facts. Sumner has
shown that certain fishes are able to reproduce on their
skin rather complicated patterns, to-wit : — a chess board,
which forms the bottom of the aquarium. Panchet many
years ago showed that the adaptation of fishes to the
ground ceases as soon as their eyes are removed or as
soon as the formation of retinal images is prevented
through the turbidity of the refractive media of the eye.
This fact proves that the so-called adaptation of fishes
to their surroundings is only the transmission of the
retinal image to the skin.
"It has been shown that the destruction of the optic
fibers and the optic ganglia in the brain acts like the
extirpation of the eyes and finally it has been proven that
the *cu*ting of the sympathetic fibers which go to the
pigment cells of the skin also prevents the formation of
the picture of the ground on the skin.
"Hence, we know the path by which the retinal image
is transferred to the skin of fishes. The mechanism and
conditions for the change in coloration was made clear
by the investigations of Keeble &, Gamble on the color
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 335
change in crustaceans. According to these authors the
pigment cells can, as a rule, be considered as consisting
of a central body from which a system of more or less
complicated ramifications or processes spreads out in
all directions. As a rule, the center of the cell contains
one or more different pigments which, under the influence
of nerves, can spread out separately or together into the
ramifications. These phenomena of spreading and retrac-
tion of the pigments into or from the ramifications of the
pigment cells, form on the whole the basis for the color
changes. Under the influence of environment, when the
animal appears transparent, all the pigment is contained
in the middle of the cell while the ramifications are free
from pigment. When the animal appears brown both
pigments are spread out into ramifications. In the con-
dition of normal spreading the animals appear black,
while many animals show transitory changes in color
under influence of their surroundings ; in a few cases
permanent changes can be produced.
"The best examples of this are those observed by Paul-
ton, in the chrysalids of various butterflies. These ex-
periments are so well known that a short reference to
them will be sufficient. Paulton found that in gilt or
white surroundings the pupae became light colored and
there was often an immense development of the golden
spots so that in many cases the whole surface of the
pupae glittered with an apparent metallic luster. So
remarkable was the appearance that a physicist to whom
I showed the chrysalids suggested that I had played a
trick and had covered them with gold leaf. When black
surroundings were used they were as a rule extremely
dark."
Just notice the facts in these cases : first, a picture of
the ground is taken in the eye, transferred to the skin
336 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
cells through several stations or nerve centers, — they
must first get a picture of the outside surroundings ; sec-
ond, the cells of the skin then arrange the color plugs in
the surface of the skin in such manner as to effect the
desired shade. The facts prove that it is first a vision
transmission by a method of telephotography. If the
cells can build instruments of that kind it is reasonable
to think that man will also be able to produce the same
kind of instrument. Not only will these fishes produce
the same color on their backs as the bottom of the sea
but will also produce the same appearances of stones,
pebbles and other features to correspond with their im-
mediate resting place.
Now this should illustrate fully the idea that it is not
the fish, God, destiny, nature nor the devil that builds and
instigates the actions of plants and animals. Here we
have the cells arranging the pigment to conform to the
surroundings, as soon as they get a picture of it, so as to
have something to go by. Still Mr. Loeb believes, or at
least claims, that the cells have nothing to do with it,
that it is merely a chemical action, while the minister
says God's will or Divine providence is the cause.
Let us consider some of the common emotions, like
love, fear, and jealousy. Take for instance the actions
arising from love. A person can be perfectly sane and
still be under the control of those passions or emotions,
and while possessed of them commit some of the most
absurd and insane acts. The cells concerned with sex
are given full control of the body. A picture of a certain
female has been transferred through the eye to these
cells and they have decided that the possession of that
particular female must be obtained at any cost. A very
singular but significant thing has been shown, that the
actions of the male and female germ cells in the acts of
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 337
copulation as single cells are very similar to the actions
of the individuals, from whence they came. The fact is
that our actions are directed by the sex cells and not by
the brain cells. This fact has been fully conceded by
other scientists, as will appear by the following from
Ribot on the emotions :
"Solomon says that jealousy is as cruel as the grave.
Shakespeare agrees with the Bible and holds that only
fools are jealous. He also shows with wonderful insight
that jealousy is self-destructive and its venom more
deadly than a mad dog's tooth.
"Jealousy undoubtedly is a magnifier of trifles, and the
most accurate and precise mathematician or bookkeeper
correct to the letter ordinarily, will when jealous turn a
simple sentence into volumes of pseudo-history. Trifles
as light as air are to the jealous confirmations strong as
proofs of Holy Writ. A jealous woman believes all that
her emotions suggest. It is her jealous nature to swell
small things to great. Out of nothing she will conjure
much and then lose the truth amid the hideous phantoms
she has formed. She makes a true husband false by for-
ever suspecting him. Inquisitiveness never allays the
pangs of jealousy. You may as well expect drinking in
a fever to cure a thirst.
"Dr. Savage's first difficulty is the well known one of
defining what he means by supposedly simple words.
'Jealousy,' he says, 'is a personal feeling where you feel
powerfully a want of something which you are deprived
of by another. It is a feeling and not a thought.'
"So intimately is jealousy usually associated with one
of the other sex that you are prone to lose sight of the
fact that dogs are often jealous of new babies, children
of the same sex are jealous of each other, professional
men dislike each other because there is an unconscious
338 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
jealousy present, which they not only deny, but fail abso-
lutely to recognize. Close competitors are not only jeal-
ous of each other, but particularly and more strongly
jealous of those whom they see forging ahead of them.
Jealousy always has in it a suppressed, hidden and irri-
tating admiration or fear of the one you are jealous of,
unless it is of the opposite sex. Then love or passion or
the sense of possession comes also into play. When a
medical authority dislikes another physician, he is un-
aware of the fact that he is jealous of the other man's
prominence, progress and work and is equally uncon-
scious of the fact that he himself feels a sense of dis-
possession. Therefore he hates him and envies him,
although he is convinced that such a thing is beyond all
possibility. Just as hunting animals are always jealous
of others sharing their prey and will fight them, so a
jealous woman will fight all other women with her hand-
iest weapon, the tongue, and a jealous man will stop at
no means to be rid of the source of his envy. Even fish
at spawning time show fight to other males that dare
approach their spawning mate. 'This,' says Sir George
Savage, 'is important because the male fish and its mate
are never otherwise than mentally in touch, for the female
fish lays its eggs outside and they are fertilized there —
not within the body.'
"In birds sexual jealousy occurs before as well as at
the time of the period of mating. The struggle is often
between parent and offspring as to possession of the
female. In the case of mammals, the struggle is fiercely
in evidence. The meekest of mice and the fiercest of
wild beasts really seek out combats for the possession of
their mates. This is also true of apes, ourang-outangs
and other monkeys
"If the individual with this surplus of jealousy making
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 339
agencies is a self-depreciative, retiring, bashful person,
suicide may result. If, on the other hand, he is of the
bold, forward, belligerent, noisy kind, jealousy leads to
homicide. In either instance, insanity is the motive
force which has loosened the check reins of the will."
You see in this statement it is agreed that the brain
may be perfectly sound, but the body is placed in control
of some nerve center, or little brain, as they call it,
located somewhere in the body and not in the brain.
Take another emotion, for instance, that of fear; no
doubt certain special cells are given full charge of affairs,
when a person becomes frightened. He does things
swiftly and without thinking. Stampedes and other ir-
rational acts take place, as for instance in fires and
wrecks. A good illustration of an animal in charge of
special nerve centers controlling the body in case of fear,
is the frightened horse. When once frightened or pos-
sessed by the emotion of fear, he will run as long as he
is able; he will stop at nothing. Certain motor nerve
centers in control of the movements of running will com-
pel him to run as far and fast as possible. On the plains
where the horse lived for thousands of years in a natural
state, his only method of escape from his enemies was a
run for his life in this manner. The cells organized for
that purpose keep it up even now when it is no longer of
any use to the horse. His instinct to shy to one side of
any object is evidently also located in certain cells. No
doubt tigers and lions always hid behind different kinds
of objects and the horse soon learned that it was the
safest plan to steer to one side of all objects, no matter
what they looked like. It is a singular thing how sud-
denly and completely the nerve centers in charge of the
emotion of fear can take possession of an animal.
I have watched the actions of deer and elk. The deer
340 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
will be grazing quietly and if a dog or sometimes a man
gets in the way of his olfactory nerves, he will perceive
their presence and will instantly start off at full speed.
The instant that the cells in his nose by a chemical analy-
sis discover that the dust particles in the air are from a
dog and not from a deer, the motor apparatus is given
full control and he moves to safety immediately. If,
however, the smell should come from another animal,
like a cow or horse, the deer will raise his head and at
first look and investigate, before it starts running. This
is precisely what would take place in a similar case with a
battleship or submarine.
Every cell of the deer's body knows that the dog is his
enemy, so there is no need of stopping and investigating
the matter, but upon discovery orders are immediately
given to get away. So it is with the English ship ; as
soon as it discovers the submarine to be a German vessel,
the only thing to do is to escape. If, however, some ship
is in sight which has not the appearance of a German
vessel, the only natural thing to do is to further investi-
gate. It is not chance that controls the actions of the
deer but an intellect whose unsleeping watchfulness and
loyalty is equal in every way to that of man. It is the
intellect of the cell that keeps careful watch over all that
happens within and without the individual. In the same
manner it is the intellect and wisdom of man that guides
the destiny and welfare of the English ship.
A chicken raised from an incubator who has never
heard or seen a hawk, can tell a hawk from a crow at a
distance of half a mile. They will run to the house for
safety at the first sight of a hawk, but pay no attention to
other birds. In similar manner the crew of a battleship
can tell at a distance the first time they see a ship,
whether it is an enemy or a friend.
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 34]
The experiences of the ages are in the intellects of the
individuals that control and guide the battleship, and not
in the battleship itself. So it is with the chicken that
knows from past experience what kind of bird is dan-
gerous. The chicken has no more to do with it than the
battleship. The intellect that guides the ship will make
mistakes now and then, and so will the intellect that
guides the chicken.
A most si-ngular fact observed in the life of the cell as
in larger animals is that competition exists among them
in the same manner as among the animals and plants they
build. It is the intention of the cells that competition
shall exist. Thousands of male cells start out to find the
female cell at about the same time. The intention is
evident that there shall be fair play and the best man
shall have the opportunity to live and perpetuate his kind.
We find the same arrangement among the Social bees.
There is one Queen, and sometimes five hundred or more
males. The male that is the swiftest and overtakes her in
her nuptial flight will be selected to perpetuate himself.
It is a singular thing that in all organic life everything
is made for a purpose, that is, every animal is built with
a design or purpose to lead a certain kind of life. The
muskrat is a structure made for the purpose of moving in
water and on land. Its fur is adapted for water. It has
a thick fine hair oiled so that the skin may be in water
and still remain dry. Its feet are wide and flat, and
webbed so that it can swim. Its tail is wide and flat
covered with scales to assist in swimming. The house rat
is different and is fitted for its purpose and environment.
In the same manner every organ is made for a particular
purpose or use, which we may call function. Every
organ of a body, plant or animal is a body of cells grouped
342 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
together for a certain purpose, and assigned a certain
work to do.
The more highly organized any being becomes, the
more specialized and complex are the organs and the
work performed by them. In the lower beings like the
polyp there are no cells assigned to the special work of
receiving impressions and giving orders, and for that
reason this plant or animal, whatever you wish to call it,
has not what we call a nervous system : so if it is
touched it will act and pull in its tentacles, but its actions
are slow and from one tentacle to the other until they are
all in ; while in others just like it in appearance, but which
have cells arranged for the special work of receiving
sensations and giving orders, like the polyzoan, the ten-
tacles will all be pulled in quickly and at the same time.
These animals have what we call a nervous system.
These nerve cells have no other work to do and they be-
come specially adapted for this specific work and are able
to notify all the cells to act at the same time. In the
same manner the organs of every being become adapted
or in other words adapt themselves to the particular
work assigned to them.
The heart is a combination of cells arranged into
groups to form muscles, to push the blood in one con-
tinuous direction. The lung is a place where the cells
come in contact with the air, and breath and carry with
them enough oxygen for the stationary cells in the bone,
muscles, nerves, etc., whose work prevents them from
coming into direct contact with the air in the lungs.
There is at all times waste matter accumulating in the
blood, so the liver was organized, — which is another
group of cells with the special work to do of removing
waste matter from the blood. This is also true of the
kidneys and the bladder.
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 343
There must be a mill to grind the food, before it goes
into the stomach, so teeth are built up at the upper end
of the oesophagus, which we call the mouth. Every
thing is a group of cells, stationed at a certain place and
assigned a certain work to do, each group performing
its alloted work, faithfully and promptly, as is absolutely
necessary for its existence.
If any organs like the heart, kidneys, liver or lungs
should stop working, or even do the work poorly, all the
others would suffer. So when the work of any one is
interfered with the whole body is threatened.
It has been demonstrated that the nerve center which
has the breathing apparatus in charge, observes con-
stantly the condition of the blood flowing through it, as
to its aerated condition. This fact was demonstrated by
directing well oxidized blood through it, when the breath-
ing would stop, and when poorly oxidized blood was
directed through it the breathing became very rapid, re-
gardless of the condition of the blood in the body in
general.
We see from these facts that every movement of our
body, voluntary or involuntary, is performed by reason
of being instructed to do so by certain nerve cells or
nerve centers, who have that particular work to attend to.
We have seen that a nerve cell is a cell modified a little,
and adapted for a particular work.
Any way that we look at this matter of evolution and
development in life, we see that the actions oi the individ-
ual must be the actions of the cells that occupy it. Dar-
win and several others argue that instinctive actions must
have arisen at some time from conscious practise. That
is, the conscious practise must have been kept up until it
became a habit, and then the habit was inherited. Let
us briefly examine that proposition. The young bee will
344 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
proceed without any previous instructions to build the
cells of the comb, just as perfectly as the older bee. If
for any reason she gets started wrong, she will tear it all
down and start it all over again. She will work at it un-
til she gets it right. Where do these actions appear like
habit and when did the bee ever have a chance to prac-
tise in a conscious way, in the past any more than today,
so as to form a habit? You see the idea is absurd. Why
should the bee's acts be instinctive any more than Mr.
Darwin's? Why should the bee's actions be considered
blind and unconscious?
Take another case of the plant that makes traps in
which to catch insects. My school book on botany de-
scribes it as follows : "The leaves of pitcher plants form
tubes or urns of various forms, which contain water; and
to these insects are attracted and drowned. The com-
mon pitcher plant of the northern states, a Sarracenia, is
a well known bog plant, but is not so elaborately con-
structed for capturing insects as is a common southern
Sarracenia. In this plant the leaves are slender, hollow
cones, and rise in a tuft from the swampy ground. T,he
mouth of this conical urn is overarched and shaded by a
hood, in which are translucent spots, like numerous small
windows. Around the mouth of the urn are glands which
secrete a sweet liquid, known as nectar. Inside, just
below the rim of the urn, is a glazed zone, so smooth that
insects cannot walk upon it. Below the glazed zone is
another one, thickly set with stiff, downward pointing
hairs ; and below this is the liquid in the bottom of the
urn. If a fly attracted to the nectar at the rim of the urn
attempts to descend within the urn, it slips on the glazed
zone and falls into the water ; and if it attempts to escape
by crawling, the downward pointing hairs prevent. If it
seeks to fly from the rim, it naturally flies toward the
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 345
translucent spots in the hood, since the direction or
entrance is in the shadow; and pounding against the
hood, falls back into the water and is drowned. Now
you will have to say according to this theory, that in-
stinct arose from conscious practise at some time in the
past. When did the plant ever get the habit of eating
insects by conscious practise, or when did the plant have
a chance to get the habit of building this wonderful fly
trap, by conscious practise?
If the actions of the bee or plant were conscious in the
past, they must be so now. These absurd ideas arose
from man's egotism. Man thinks his brain cells are
smarter and different from the cells of any other animal,
insect or plant, and the fact is, they are all alike, one as
smart as the other. When the microscope first discovered
the cell for us, we gave it the name protoplasm. The
name is meaningless and misleading. The cells are the
superior beings that create all living things and as such
are the most highly organized beings in existence. All
actions of plants and animals, habitual, instinctive, emo-
tional, reflex or impulsive are caused by cells. Watch
the actions of a squirrel or bird building its nest. He
knows what he wants, where he wants it and how to build
it. Still he has this knowledge without having had the
slightest education or instruction in the work. His nest
is an artistic production. He selects and carries the right
material, weaves it together and, like any skillful work-
man, makes the forces of nature subserve to his wants.
Like man the bird builds and weaves; like man the spider
lays snares and prepares an abode for its young; like
man, the squirrel gathers provisions for the winter; like
man, the caterpillar makes itself a coat. In other words,
the animals without any previous instructions practice
all the industries of man.
346 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
We say that man's acts are intelligent because he does
these things purposely and knowingly for an end. Ani-
mals, we say, act blindly, not knowing the purpose of
their actions ; except for the fact that man acts knowingly
and the animals blindly or unknowingly the actions are
the same, that is, intelligent. What right has man to
make such silly statements, being himself an animal?
Why should his actions be any more knowing than the
actions of the other animals?
In regard to instinctive actions of insects and plants
the following by Mr. Walker is interesting :
"In the pitcher plants the leaves take the form of up-
right pitchers. The upper secretes honey, which attracts
numerous insects. Below this zone is a slippery surface,
the slide-zone, which causes the insects to fall into the
water below. These hairs are inclined downward, so that
they catch and prevent the insect from climbing out;
they are drowned in the water at the bottom of the
pitcher, where they decompose and provide food for the
plant.
"It has been said that a further adaptation takes place
in one species of pitcher-plant (Nepenthe bicalcarata).
The species occurs in Borneo, where a little lemur (Tars-
ius spectrum) has learned that it can get a number of in-
sects from a pitcher-plant without the trouble of catch-
ing them for itself. This particular pitcher plant has got
the better of the lemur, however, for it grows two long,
strong prickles from the lower side of the base of the lid.
These project downwards into the opening of the pitcher,
so that the would-be robber is seriously scratched.
"The manner in which some other carnivorous plants
catch their prey is equally remarkable. The leaves of
Drosera are provided with numerous tentacles, at the
ends of which are glandular enlargements. The tentacles
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 34?
round the margin of the leaf are long, those in the middle
are short. The glands secrete a quantity of a glistening
and very sticky substance, which insects mistake for dew
or honey and are attracted. Now if the short central ten-
tacles are stimulated, all the long peripheral tentacles
bend over so that their enlarged ends cover the middle of
the leaf. If an individual long tentacle is stimulated, only
that particlar tentacle moves.
"Let us see what happens when an insect touches any
of the tentacles of the leaf. If it touches the central ten-
tacles, it is held by the sticky substance, and all the long
peripheral tentacles bend over and enclose it. If it
touches one of the long peripheral tentacles, it is alsc
held fast by the sticky secretion, and the tentacle bends
over and deposits it on the centre of the leaf. This stim-
ulates the short central tentacles, and so all the other
large tentacles bend over and enclose the victim. When
the prey is thus secured, the glands proceed to secrete a
ferment that digests the insect, and the products are
absorbed by the leaf.
"In Scorpirurus the pod containing the seed in some
species closely resembles a caterpillar, with the result
that insectivorous birds are tempted to seize it. They
probably carry it some distance before discovering the
mistake, and thus distribute the seeds. In Acanthorhiza
adventitious roots provide a thorny palisade above the
ground at some distance from the tree, thus preventing
the approach of animals. The extraordinary instincts
observed among insects have been brought forward in
support of the theory that acquired characters are trans-
mitted. The instincts of Ammophila and Sphex, two
genera of fossorial wasps, have been given as particular
cases. The larvae of Ammophila feed upon caterpillars,
those of Sphex upon crickets and grasshoppers which are
348 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
supplied by the female. In both cases the female wasp
first makes a nest, then drags the prey into it and lays
her egg or eggs upon the animals which were destined to
provide food for the larvae when they hatch out. The
female then seals up the nest and does not visit it again.
Now, in providing food supply for the future larvae, sev-
eral extraordinary instincts come into play. It is neces-
sary that the caterpillars, crickets, and grasshoppers
should be paralyzed when they are caught, otherwise the
wasp would have tremendous difficulty in conveying
them to her nest, for frequently the prey is much larger
than the wasp. Again, when the larvae are hatched out,
they are very delicate in structure, and if these compara-
tively large animals were able to move about freely they
would probably kill the larvae instead of providing them
with food. On the other hand, if the prey were killed
outright by the wasp when caught, decomposition would
set in in a few hours, and thus the provision made by the
female wasp would be useless to the larvae. This diffi-
culty is, however, overcome by the wasp. When Ammo-
phila catches a caterpillar she stings it in each of the
segments of the body. In the caterpillar there is a sep-
arate nervous centre (ganglion) in each segment, and if
only one or two were stung, the other segments would
still be able to move quite freely. In the prey of Sphex,
however, — grasshoppers and crickets — there are three
separate nervous centers (ganglia) which control the
movements of the animal. These are situated in the
thorax, and when the Sphex catches her prey she stings
it in these three separate ganglia. The result of this is that
the prey is rendered unable to move, but is not killed.
Fabre, who first described these phenomena, was- at first
unable to understand how it was that the prey he found
in the nests of these fossorial wasps did not decay, but he
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 349
subsequently showed exactly what happened by some
very ingenious experiments.
"He took some of the crickets and introduced poison into
their bodies with a needle. When this was done indis-
criminately, that is, in no particular part of the animal's
body, it either killed the animal or produced very tem-
porary results, according to the amount of poison intro-
duced. When, however, he introduced the needle into the
three nervous centres (thoracic ganglia) which control
the movements of the insect, he found that complete par-
alysis ensued. More than this, the metabolism was
checked, and the paralyzed insect continued to live with-
out food for several weeks, which it certainly could not
have done under normal conditions. An interesting point
about this instinct of Sphex is that the prey is stung in
one particular point where the tissues are soft and the
nerve centres are easily reached from the surface. Much
the same thing happens in the case of Ammophila and its
prey, the caterpillars, only here the wasp has to apply its
sting many times, so that all the middle segments, at
least, of the animal's body are paralyzed.
"Now the supporters of the theory that acquired char-
acters are transmitted say that it is impossible to account
for the origin of these instincts in any other way than
that the ancestors of the existing wasps first exercised a
certain amount of intelligence. A wasp found that when
it stung a grasshopper in a particular place, that grass-
hopper was paralyzed and was much more easily carried
to the nest. It remembered this, and led by past exper-
iences, always stung its prey in the same place. This
habit produced an effect on the germplasm, and the off-
spring tended to sting their prey in the same manner
until the instinct became established, and so no longer
depended upon the intelligent action of the wasp. This
350 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
interpretation, however, appears to break down when
carefully considered. To begin with, it assumes that in-
telligent action preceded instincts. We find that the
higher we go in the animal kingdom the fewer the in-
stincts and the greater the intelligence. We only find
intelligent action as a very late product in evolution.
"To place intelligent action before an instinct, in fact, to
derive instincts from intelligent actions, seems to be plac-
ing the cart before the horse. Another very important
point is that the capture of the grasshopper, crickets, and
caterpillars, paralyzing them without killing them, and
storing them in the nest, is not of the slightest use to the
individual wasp. It simply provides food for the larvae
which the wasp will never se.e, and of whose needs it can
have no experience. This interpretation, in fact, attrib-
utes to the wasp a prophetic knowledge with regard to
subsequent events, of which neither it nor any of its an-
cestors have had any experience."
You notice Mr. Walker has considered the idea of in-
telligence preceding instinct, and discovered its absurd-
ity. You notice the wasp is a skilled hunter and surgeon
and a good provider. He provides for the future off-
spring which he will never see, just as intelligent man
provides for future offspring, which he may never see.
What right has man, who is made and guided by the same
being, the cell, to say that these same acts in the wasp
are less intelligent than his. The animals that the wasp
captures and carries home to his family are three or four
times larger than himself. He has by practise through
generations and ages learned that the caterpillar has cer-
tain cells that direct the actions of all other cells. These
are called nerve centres. He has also found that if he
destroyed these the other cells would still live but would
not be able to direct any movements of the body of the
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 351
caterpillar. After having made that discovery, he saw
the advantage of paralyzing the caterpillar in that way,
so that his young would be provided with fresh food.
But, you will say, how can the wasp know or learn this
method of partly killing the caterpillar, when he has
never seen it done, or ever received any instructions.
There are only a few microscopic spots that must be
punctured, while there are a million other places to punc-
ture, where it would not be effective. How can he know
the right spot, not having ever seen a caterpillar before?
The answer is very simple. The builders of this flying
structure, the wasp, have provided it with tools, and to
think that they would not know how to use them would
be a foolish idea. The cells that built the wasp had the
experience of ages fixed in their memory. They had
been practising the dagger thrusts while in other wasps
before him, for centuries. Every movement and thrust
of the dagger on previous occasions would be fresh in
their memory. The wasp is but a flying machine with
tools to affect these several actions. The cells have made
the machine and the tools and they know how to use
them.
Let us now consider the pitcher-plant of Borneo, that
has trouble with a species of ape called the lemur who
steals the insects from his trap. This plant, who is of
an inventive turn of mind anyway, soon discovered or
conceived some scheme to prevent the ape's stealing the
insects from its trap. The fly trap itself is a wonderful
invention. It is a most perfect and scientific arrangement
to effect a certain purpose ; however, you know that the
plant itself could not build these things, any more than
a house could build an addition to itself.
The builders and occupants must be given credit for
the means and the intelligence evidenced by these in-
352 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
ventions and productions. What difference is there be-
tween the mechanical skill required to build a heart with
which to pump or push the blood through the system, and
that required to build the fly-trap. It was a bright idea
of the plant to provide these prickles, in order to stop the
ape from stealing his property. It is, however, equally
intelligent to invent the eye, more so than the specs and
telescope invented by man to aid his instrument in seeing
smaller or larger objects for which it was not made. The
cell builds instruments we call ears, with which to catch
the vibrations of the air; man builds ear trumpets to aid
him in hearing better. All these are instruments and
productions of art, and can only be produced by a mind
or intellect. The cause must be mind or intellect, which
can direct and mould the blind forces of nature into those
things desired by the builder.
The purpose of this book is not to explain the origin of
the cell and its high organization and what the mind and
intellect in the cell really are. In this discussion it makes
no difference what you call this quality or ability to mould
and direct crude matter and blind natural forces. Call
it soul, vital force, nature, God or intellect, it makes no
difference, for it is in any case the cause of all living con-
structions. In man it is called intellect; so we may as
well call it that. As in the cell, it is the intellect in man
that is the cause of his structures, like houses, railroads
and ships. What difference can there be in the acts of
the cell making a crystalline lens for the eye and the act
of man making lenses? What difference can there be in
the act of the cells in the chicken gizzard, using stones
to grind grain, and the analogous act of man grinding
grain with mill stones? The instruments used and the
purpose are the same.
Is there any difference between the industry of the cell
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND IlEFLEX ACTION 353
which makes the body or organs or instruments of the
body, and the human industry which makes a building
and machines, similar but on a larger scale? We have
called the intelligence of animals instinct, but, as I have
stated before, a number of scientists of late have admitted
that the instinctive acts of animals are intelligent acts.
The cell that directs the involuntary actions of organs
inside of the body sometimes directs the voluntary acts
outside of the body. In the work of the cell as well as
in the work of man, there is a relation of the parts to the
whole and also a method by which the part or the whole
is to be used in a machine or structure made by man, as
well as in a machine or structure made by the cell. Like
a plant or animal, each part has a meaning or place in the
general idea or scheme of the whole machine or struc-
ture. Every part has its place in the whole machine.
The periscope is an instrument with which the sub-
marine can see. We may liken it to the human eye.
These are, however, mere instruments back of the peri-
scope, while back of the eyes are the individuals whose
intellect must judge and decide and direct the actions of
the individual, be it man or submarine. In each case the
purpose of the instrument is the same. The eye could
see nothing without the cells in the brain to receive and
interpret the pictures transmitted. Nor could the peri-
scope see anything without man, its builder, who is there
to receive and interpret. All the organs of our body are
instruments put together like a machine for a purpose,
each part made to fit in and work in harmony with every
other part. You see the cell, like man, is a skilled artist
that pre-arranges each and every part of the whole. We
see with our eyes how the cell attends to all the details
of maintaining the body in proper repair. We know that
to do so requires about the same skill and intellect as to
354 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
build it. The skilled engineer that is able to run and keep
his locomotive in proper repair is considered just as in-
telligent as the builder. His intellect must comprehend
and understand the relation of each part of the machine
to the whole. . A sure and certain proof that cells are
able to judge, remember, reason and direct, is that they
do so in our head.
It is not the man who reasons, it is the cells occupied
with that business in his head. If a wound in the arm
destroys a main artery carrying blood to the hand, a new
artery will be constructed around the wound, of a suffi-
cient size to carry the necessary and usual amount of
blood to the hand. How can natural selection have any-
thing to do with these new actions? The ability to do
this requires the best skill and judgment. Who deter-
mines the circumference and size of that artery? In these
acts there must be some one who decided on what should
be done in each particular case. The power to do this
can be accounted for, by their general knowledge of arter-
ies gained from ages of experience, and also the experi-
ence had in the construction of the body to start with,
and in its maintenance. From this experience we must
presume they know how to make a new artery at any
time and in any place. The builders of any structure
would necessarily possess the knowledge of how to re-
pair any particular part of it. It would not be as good
as the original structure, and would not look as well, but
it might serve the purpose for which it was intended for
a long time. It is just the same with repaired organisms.
Nerves are strings or bundles of cells who have a certain
line of work to perform, in receiving impressions and
giving orders. By use they also become expert, as we see
in the nerve cells of the fingers of the blind, who can read
by feeling. In the same manner muscles are strings and
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 355
bundles of cells that have only a special work to do and
by use they become expert and stronger.
This ability to adapt itself to what is required in any
particular case that may arise, shows that there is some
being ready to do the right thing at the right time in any
and all emergencies. It has the ability to do a thing that
never was done before. I have an illustration of that now
on my farm. We have some Angora goats ; three of them
have walked on their knees for a couple of years. I ex-
amined their knees a few times and found that a callous
substance, just like hoofs, has formed on their knees.
They get diseased feet from walking on the soft wet
ground, and for that reason walk on their knees. In order
to continue walking on their knees, something must be
provided for the knees to prevent the wearing through
of the skin, flesh and knee cap. In order to prevent this,
hoofs are provided in a place where they never were be-
fore. In this case and all similar cases, there is no chance
for natural selection to get in its work nor have anything
to do with it.
I can remember one of my tenants who had a pig one
summer with a broken back or paralyzed hind legs, who
propelled himself over the ground by dragging his body
by his fore legs. This pig developed wonderful power in
his limbs, and also developed a horny scale-like skin on
the center part of his ham where it was in continuous
rubbing contact with the earth, as it was dragged along.
He lived and grew just like the others. This power to
adjust itself to conditions is the power to change or con-
struct parts different from whatever had been before.
This shows clearly that the cells conceive ideas of what
should be done, and some ideas are better than others,
depending on what may happen to be required in the
356 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
particular circumstances. In addition to this we find
them trying out new and further experiments.
The cells of the body of any animal adopt such colors
as are most beneficial to it, under the particular circum-
stances and environments which it has to contend with.
If no color is necessary, none is provided, as we can see
in the white skin of the human race in the North. This
matter of deciding color, length of hair, or repairing
broken parts, is an intellectual quality, as it will always
depend on the intellect of the party who does it, whether
or not it will come up to the requirements. We find that
those animals and races of men with the best mental fac-
ulties will invent and try new and better ideas ; they will
always be equal to any emergency, when any contingency
arises that must be provided for. The men with the best
intellect will be the most likely to be able to do the right
thing at the right time.
The cause of all living things is the intellect of the cell.
Upon this fact we can proceed to discover other facts
which may some day disclose the cause of intellect in the
cell. We may some day by a more powerful microscope
be able to see and understand all the different organs and
parts of the cells, may be able to even see the actions of
the primordial cell or being that organizes and builds the
cells. But before the unknown, we can only guess.
A writer who believes that some God makes the bee,
states, "Hardly are all the parts of the young bee dry,
when it knows all it will have to do during the rest of its
life. Let us not be astonished that it is so well instructed.
It had been so by Him who formed it."
Now you see this expression is literally true. The bee
can only get his instructions from those who formed him.
As the entire scientific world now knows that the cell
forms the bee. it should clear up the whole mystery of
INSTINCTIVE, EMOTIONAL AND REFLEX ACTION 357
instinctive actions. Man that forms the ship and sub-
marine must also instruct the submarine. It could not
be otherwise. If the builder knows how to produce ma-
chines for a certain purpose, he will also know how to
use them and instruct others how to use them. The plant
which catches insects makes a gastric juice which digests
and dissolves them. These actions are not different from
those of man catching animals and preparing them. The
object and purpose of the actions are the same.
The plant cells that make seed pods which look like
worms or caterpillars, in order to fool the birds into carry-
ing them around and scattering the seeds, show the same
intelligence as man in his attempts to fool other people.
The plant that builds fortifications some distance from
itself, of thorns, to keep animals away, does so with an
intelligent purpose, just as man has. However, in the
case of plants, it is the cells that build tne plant -and fur-
nish the intelligence.
The books are full of attempts to distinguish between
instinct, reflex action and reason, but they all fail. The
fact is, they are all intelligent acts. There is no distinc-
tion. The old popular phraseology, that animals act only
from instinct and that man alone acts from reason, is ab-
surd and without foundation.
The cell builds all animals and plants and directs the
action of all. They are all intelligent acts. The insec-
tivorous plants decoy and catch insects in large numbers.
The single cell pursues and captures other cells and de-
vours them. The actions are deliberate and purposive,
'just as in insects, animals and man; there is no distinc-
tion. The young swallow can fly in its first attempt be-
cause in the memory of the cells that made him and oc-
cupy and guide his body, there is stored all the experi-
ences of past generations together with those recently
358 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
acquired in the parents from which it came. The build-
ers of the machine know how to operate it. There can
be no more mystery about the cause of instinctive action
than there is about the cause of a man's running a boat
or a machine which he has built.
CHAPTER IX.
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION.
Evolution as understood by some is the cause of our
existence. Evolution, however, means progress, growth
and development. By others it is understood to be a
cause of development from lower organisms to a higher.
We can trace the evolution and progress of man grad-
ually from the savage through the ages of stone, bronze
and steel. With every new discovery he was able to bet-
ter his condition and became more able to defend himself
against the elements and his enemies.
The greatest discovery in the history of the world, as
far as man is concerned, was the discovery of the club.
From that instant man as he is now known and distin-
guished from other animals, was produced. It was the
creation and birth of man. Until that moment, man had
been at the mercy of the tiger, the wolf, and the bear and
other animals. At that moment evolution or whatever
you wish to call it took the crown from the lion and
placed it on man. At that moment evolution as the judge
proclaimed man king of the beasts. From that time man
as an animal began to develop into a man. In order to
be able to wield the club effectually he had to stand up-
right and he soon got the habit of walking altogether on
his hind legs, from pure necessity of having to carry a
weapon so as to be ready to defend himself at any mo-
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 361
ment. The crust of the earth discloses to us a continuous
record of his progress since in the use of implements from
those made of wood, bone, clay, stone and bronze, up to
the steel and electricity of today. This natural progress
is called evolution, but you will notice that the cause of
discovery and invention by which evolution and progress
are possible must be through the intellect of someone.
The cause of the first act of discovering or x defending
himself with a club could not have been an accident or
chance. The cause was the intellect and mind of the in-
dividual who conceived the idea. The use of a club in
self-defense by primeval man in a fight with his enemies
required the same will and skill as is required by him
today in defending himself either with a club or with the
larger weapons.
The club is a wonderfully effective weapon if skillfully
handled, as one blow on the head will put man, lion, bear
or tiger out of commission. However, it would have to
be used with speed and intelligence. The idea of how
and when and where to use it would have to be fully con-
ceived in the mind of the individual before any effective
use of it could be made. The primary cause of the act
was and must have been the idea or intellect. The next
thing necessary was the means with which to execute
the idea. This individual was happily in possession of the
means, the instruments with which to grasp and swing
the club. The hands of the ape family are wonderful
instruments for grasping and for that reason he was in
possession of the instruments with which to grasp and
handle a club. In his case all that was necessary was the
idea. As soon as the mind cells in his head conceived the
idea, it was then able to direct the actions of all the other
millions of muscle cells who would have to do the work
of using the club.
362 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
The legs of other animals are not provided with such
grasping apparatus and for that reason, even if they
should have conceived the idea of defending themselves
with a club, the idea could not have been executed. The
cell minds had produced these hands for the purpose of
grasping limbs of trees in order to escape from other
animals, but the hands of the ape and monkey tribe, or
tree climbers, turned out to be very handy instruments
with which to perform all kinds of work. Since the dis-
covery of the club one idea has led to another and count-
less inventions have been conceived by the mind of man,
leading up to such acts as sewing, weaving, writing,
painting, etc. We know that today all inventions and
discoveries must come about by reason of the idea first
conceived by the mind, and no actions of any kind
directed towards a purpose can take place unless first
conceived by the mind of someone. Therefore, it seems
clear that the cause of evolution, progress, and develop-
ment is intellect in the cells who are the real directors
of all acts, and not variation, environment, natural selec-
tion or survival of the fittest. These are mere phrases
and combinations of words describing mere incidents and
conditions that take place in the evolution of life. Take
for instance beneficial variations. It is claimed that there
are no two individuals just alike, that they all vary in
some respect; that the one that by chance happens to be
born with some variation that is beneficial to him will
win out in the struggle for existence and be able to per-
petuate his kind. Now this is generally true, but it is
simply an incident. It does not build the individuals that
do the struggling nor does it produce the variations. For
instance, the gorilla is provided with a callous covering
on the knuckles of his hands. It is argued that this cal-
lous covering is a beneficial variation to him because
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 363
when he walks over the ground he walks partly on his
knuckles and any gorilla that was not provided with cal-
loused knuckles would not be able to get over the ground
by aiding himself in this manner with his hands; so in
this way, those gorillas with a callous covering over the
knuckles would have an advantage over those without
such a covering and would be preserved ; in that way the
callous was produced on the knuckles of the gorilla. Now
we know after a full investigation that this kind of rea-
soning is without foundation because the cells that build
the gorilla will provide this callous covering at any time,
if necessary, and will also provide it at almost any place
on the body. If the gorilla persists in rubbing his
knuckles on the ground, they will have to be covered
with something or else they will be destroyed and for
that reason the callous develops on his knuckles.
Now while it is true that these beneficial variations like
callous on the hands and knuckles might under certain
circumstances be the means or cause of saving the life of
the individual, still it must be clear that it does not in
any way explain the cause of the callous, nor does the
ground or environment produce these beneficial varia-
tions, as some evolutionists would have it. The cells are
builders ; they are expert chemists, artists, sculptors and
mathematicians and produce everything that we use for
food and clothes and a great number of things that we
use for building material. They produce all our starches,
sugar, acids, pigments, perfumes, wood, cork, fibers and
so on, things too numerous to mention. If the knuckles
have to be rubbed against the ground, they will have to
be provided with a covering of such strength and dura-
bility as will stand the wear and tear arising from a con-
tinual rubbing contact with the ground. The ordinary
hair and skin will not last long. Something tough and
364 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
hard must be provided. We do not know how or from
what the cells are able to build this horny, callous pro-
tection over the skin when necessary, but we know they
do it. The evolutionists would make us believe that the
callous is caused by the ground or by accidental chance
variations, but it certainly is very clear that nothing of
the kind has ever happened or can happen. The callous
is a scientific production for a purpose, produced at the
right time and at the right place. It was not produced
until wanted nor was it produced on a place where it was
not necessary.
The chemical knowledge and skill required to produce
the callous show conscious intelligence, of a high order.
Take the simplest single cell like the foraminifer, which
makes for itself a shell of limestone in which it lives. It
leads a single independent life in the ocean and also
associates in colonies. This animal is sometimes referred
to as merely living matter. However, when this little
animal discovered the secret of how to cover its naked
body with a hard shell, it had the best of those other
single cells in the struggle for existence and was able to
exist in deeper water and resist the attacks of other cells.
It was a great discovery and the chalk cliffs of England
stand today as a perpetual monument to their effort and
intellect. It required just as much intellect to select the
microscopic lime from the water and mix it with the
proper ingredients to make a strong shell and then form
it into the perfect and proper shape, as it does to mix
sand and cement into a mixture for the foundation of a
house. Consider again the skill of the cells that can make
bone or horns and can cut and destroy bone and horn
whenever it is necessary; for instance in the case of a
broken bone, the splinters will always be liquified and
carried away. Even ivory pegs, if driven into bone, will
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 365
be torn down and carried away by the cell. Children's
teeth in t-he same manner are taken apart as microscopic
particles and carried off, so that new ones can be formed
in their places as permanent teeth.
Take another instance of the wonderful architectural
skill of the cell in building the antlers of the deer and elk.
The antlers are built up in the spring and summer and
fall off again in the fall after they have been used and are
not necessary any more for the purpose for which they
were built. They are built for only one purpose and that
is as a weapon with which to fight other male deer. While
these antlers are growing, they are covered with a deli-
cate skin called velvet, and through this velvet the blood
circulates, carrying the multitude of working cells and
the building material of which the antlers are made. The
cells work together and build up the snags, beams and
tynes that make up the antler. Like a hive of a million
busy bees or skilled workers, they work beneath the
warm velvet all spring and summer to form those enorm-
ous weapons, sometimes five or six feet high. In the
early fall the cells quit work and retire into the body.
The velvet under which they had worked falls like the
autumn leaves and the hard bony weapons are exposed
ready for battle. As soon as the antlers are ready the
male deer is also ready to challenge another male deer to
mortal combat and they fight for the possession of the
female, who stands by ready to take the victor as her mate.
As soon as the loves and battles are over and the mating
is completed, the antlers are no longer of any use and
they are shed. That is to say, they are cut off near the
skull by those who formed them — the cells.
The deer is a nation of a billion or more individual
cells who work together in harmony for one purpose, for
one idea, the welfare of all, just as does the German or the
366 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
English Empire, whose purpose is to perpetuate and
maintain its existence on this planet. To effect that pur-
pose these antlers or fighting machines must be made.
What difference can you possibly perceive in the in-
tellectual capacity or foresight in the organizing, co-
operating and building of implements of war by the
nations of the world and the same act by the cell nations
we call the deer and elk. Think of the gathering, grind-
ing and mixing of the minerals required to produce the
material with which to build the antlers on the deer!
Think of the intellect required to guide and direct the
details of the actions of those millions of workers ! All
this work of building the antlers goes on without any
trouble or bother to the cells connected with the senses
or consciousness of the deer, as they must be occupied
with other and more important work, such as receiving
information as to the approach of enemies and the place
to find food and building material for the workers inside.
The white cells of our bodies, who are called the gen-
eral inspectors and move through our bodies from one
place to the other looking for enemies that may have got
into the body in some way, such as bacteria, which they
kill and destroy, show the same watchful care and loyalty
as any human beings. The million of workers, who built
up the antlers with only one purpose in view and then
dropped them as soon as the fight was over, show the
same intellect as that which guides and directs the actions
of the German Emperor.
Chemistry and mechanics must be understood in order
to produce the antlers. The chemist must first know
what the effects will be of mixing certain substances in
his crucible and applying the heat before he can go ahead
and produce what he wants. Next he must know what
he wants before he begins to build, if not, he could not
CAUSE OP EVOLUTION 367
possibly produce an instrument for any particular pur-
pose. You may employ a man to build a house or ma-
chine and you furnish him with lumber, iron, brass,
cement, clay and tools, but if he has not the knowledge
to build what is wanted, if he has not a mental picture of
the structure and a record of details of the work stored
away in his memory, he can produce nothing. The cells
that build the antlers likewise must understand their
business. Men gather the iron, wood and other material
to build cannons ; the cells gather lime, minerals and
other materials to build the antlers. Both work for a
purpose and the constructive skill required in the case of
one is exactly as necessary in the other. If man is an
intelligent being the cell must be, too. A brain is not
necessary to intelligence. The star fish, polyps and
several others have no brains, still when their actions
are examined, they show just as much intelligence in their
place in life as any other animal. Their actions, how-
ever, cannot be directed with the speed of those who have
a brain, or a common center to direct the actions of all.
A species of single cell that lives in the sea called deflu-
gia, picks up microscopic grains of sand from the bottom,
cements the grains together and in this way builds around
himself a hard covering or armor we call a shell. In the
armor the creature makes holes through which he sticks
out his hands or feet and paddles himself through the
water in search for food. This cell, as far as we are able
to discover and understand the matter, has neither brain
nor a nervous system, but still has a mind and intellect
that directs his actions, similar to ours. Another kind of
cell called the Arcella builds for itself a covering of a
different material ; and the method of building this coat
or shell, which resembles in texture the coat or wing
covers of insects, is not understood by man's limited in-
368 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
telligence. Another species called diatones build around
themselves a covering like transparent flint, and are able
to produce styles and patterns of great complexity and
beauty. They imitate the designs produced by the natu-
ral forces in matter called crystallization. Man also does
the same thing. In what manner do the actions of the
cell building itself a protecting coat and going in search
of food, differ from those of man when he also provides
himself with clothes and goes in search of food. Another
species of single cell living in the ocean has not only
provided himself with a covering hard as flint and trans-
parent as. glass, but also with search lights. It is called
the noctiluca, Fig. 46. Mr. Schute in his book on Evolu-
tion describes it as follows :
FIG. 46. — Noctiluca miliaris. Dorsal view. — SCHUTE.
"This little one-celled animal has the power, through
its special chemical activities, of manufacturing and mak-
ing light. It is through the agency of myriads of these
little creatures that the diffuse luminosity of some seas is
produced and can be observed at night. If the jar be
placed in the dark and agitated in the slightest degree,
there is an instantaneous display of light which is of a
beautiful greenish tint and is so vivid that it can be ob-
served in ordinary lamplight. This phosphorescence is
only of one instant's duration and a short rest is necessary
for each renewal." The special locality of the searchlights
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 369
has been found to be in the outside transparent coat of
flint covering the body of the cell. Can you say that a
being who can provide himself with an armor of trans-
parent flint studded with flash lights, does not possesss
intelligence, just as man does? The same covering could
also be produced by the most highly civilized man for his
use and defense, but not any better.
Coming back again now to the theories of the evolu-
tionist, such as natural selection and the survival of the
fittest producing the different structures in life, we shall
again consider some of them. They say that any acci-
dental and beneficial variation will help the animal in his
struggle for existence and the variation will be transmit-
ted by inheritance, as the creature with such beneficial
variation will have an advantage over his competitor in
the struggle for existence and will be able to live and per-
petuate his kind. But the trouble about this theory is
that the variations would not be of any benefit until fully
developed ; on the contrary, they would be a burden and a
hindrance to the individual in his struggle for existence.
Take as an illustration the pockets of the pocket gopher.
The gopher uses the pockets to carry grass to its store
house in the ground. He has a big pocket on each side
of his head and these pockets he stuffs full of leaves and
grass. In this way he can transport clean and fresh food
to his underground warehouse with great ease and con-
venience and without dragging his food over wet and
muddy ground ; but until these pockets were completely
formed, they could not have been of any benefit to the
animal. It must be perfectly clear that these pockets on
the pocket gopher could never have been formed by slight
accidental variation. Take another illustration, of the
gizzards of birds living on fish and meat ; we find that
while so doing, they have practically no gizzards and eat
370 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
no gravel with which to grind their food, but if you
change their diet to hard food, which requires grinding,
they will also eat gravel and the stomach will gradually
change into the ordinary gizzard.
What do all these things show? Simply this, — that the
individuals in charge have not only sense enough to pro-
duce a particular kind of machine, but when it is neces-
sary they know how to change it in such manner as
circumstances may require and that nothing takes place
by chance. It is very likely that some day man will be a
toothless and hairless animal. Things are tending that
way very rapidly.
The following from my daily paper I believe tells the
truth : "The reason man has so much trouble with his
teeth is that nature has concluded teeth are an extrav-
agance for human beings and she is taking them away
from us. This is the theory of Dr. Lloyd Marix, a Lon-
don physician, who believes that man will eventually
become as toothless as a baby and be glad of it. When
man cracked nuts and bones and gnawed roots, to say
nothing of his enemy's jugular vein, he had little or no
tooth trouble. His jaw was, at least, a third bigger and
protruded beyond his chin and even his nose. The teeth
themselves were big, hard and more numerous. But
nature has given man of today a bigger body, and what
is still more costly of energy — a bigger brain. She has
economized where she could, taking toll from the hair,
teeth, nails, appendix, of anything that could be spared.
A hairless, toothless race without toe or finger nails will
be the final result, according to Dr. Marix. The gums
will probably increase in height and act as a brace to the
lips and be available in the way of substitutes for teeth,
as organs of speech. Absence of teeth should be a bless-
ing because by that time man is certain to have his chew-
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 371
ing, and doubtless at least part of his digesting done for
him by machinery. Dentists, barbers and manicurists
will turn to more productive forms of labor preceded
probably by soldiers, lawyers, and others who make their
living on human misery."
It is only what we should expect when we remember
that an animal is a nation or colony of still smaller in-
dividuals. If we begin to live on food that needs no
grinding, teeth will be useless and will be gradually dis-
carded. We, as a nation or as individuals, would do the
same thing. Nothing will be produced and maintained
except what is necessary and for a purpose. Take for
instance the case of bees and ants. They are not as large
as man, still they display the same intelligence in refer-
ence to their affairs as man. Their social actions and
organizations are just like those of man and the cells that
build man. The history of the gradual social evolution
of the bee is the same as that of man. The following
from a newspaper is a good description of it :
"The bees are like human beings in this : they get the
habit of work and sometimes they continue working for a
little while even after work becomes unnecessary — as you
see a rich old man still working, though he need not work,
but bees, like others, are spoiled by prosperity, and before
long all of them lose the habit of working.
Buchner, the German scientist, observed that near
sugar factories in the Barbadoes, the bees give up the
troublesome work of visiting flowers. They soon learn
that they can get all the sugar they want all the year
round — which is what the sons of rich men learn very
easily. In warm countries, where flowers bloom all the
year, the bees give up the storing up of honey for the
winter — they forget about the cold and rainy days and
only gather enough honey and pollen for each day. To
372 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
make such bees work, it is necessary systematically to
take from them what they have gathered. Like the
workers in many tropical countries, who disappear when
they have enough money to last them for a day, the
tropical bee loses the habit of labor.
There are almost 5,000 varieties of wild bees and
among them patient study would undoubtedly discover
peculiarities as numerous as those among the different
kinds of human beings. You may even find among the
bees primitive, ignorant, uncivilized individuals, corre-
sponding with the Bushmen of the desert or even with
the cave man of a hundred thousand years ago. One
little wild bee called the Prosopis you may see flying
about in the bushes. If you knew bees and could study
these they would seem to you as different from the pros-
perous bee of the hive as a half naked bush-woman seems
different from the comfortable lady in her furs. But that
little wild bee, half starved and ignorant, is the ancestor
of all the civilized bees. And what is more important, as
the scientists point out, it is probably to her that we owe
nearly all our flowers and fruit. A hundred thousand
varieties of plants would disappear from earth if the bees
did not visit them, carrying the pollen.
"We human beings would understand ourselves better
if we knew more about the insects that live in organized
civilization at our feet or in the air above us. In propor-
tion to their power the bees and ants are infinitely more
highly civilized than we are. They are as far above us
as the careful, painstaking worker and saver is above the
worthless tramp and idler. For thousands upon thou-
sands of years before men had dreamed of civilization or
settled in great communities, the bees and ants were
working out their problems of co-operation, organiza-
tion, defense and attack. Aristotle wrote about the bees
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 373
and their civilization, their laws and their habits, more
than 2000 years ago. With scientific exactness and from
his day to our day in which such men as Darwin and
Buchner have studied the planning, lawgiving insect
kingdom, there has been in all probability no change
whatever in their lives. Long before man had cities or
villages, the bees and ants had their great nation. Thou-
sands of years ago they knew all that they know now
and they probably know now all that they ever can know.
So, at least, it seems to us bigger creatures who study
them. They are our superiors in proportion to their
strength, but we are still developing, and therein lies our
hope."
What is here said of the bees and ants, of their high
state of civilization, organization and co-operation, can
also be said of the cell, who builds the bees and ants. For
thousands and thousands of years before the bees and
ants and man had dreamed of civilization or settled in
great communities, the cells were working out their prob-
lems of co-operation, organization, defense and attack.
We can trace the gradual social evolution and progress in
the cell, the bee and man. I do not see that the size of the
things produced can have anything to do with the intelli-
gence required to produce them. It is just as difficult to
design and make a good watch as it is to plan and build a
threshing machine. It must be just as difficult to design
and arrange a structure made of atoms, molecules or
grains of sand as one made of bars of iron, stone or brick.
It is now well known that the cells lining the stomach
and intestines stick out their hands and grab those par-
ticles of food and building material that are required.
They select and choose what is wanted and leave the other
alone. As the food and other material is selected, it is
handed on to the lymph cells, who carry it to the places
374 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
where it is needed. Mr. Binet has the following to say
about this :
"To illustrate, it was at one time conceded that the
phenomena of resorption and nutrition were explainable
by diffusion and endosmosis ; Dutrochet, upon his discov-
ery of endosmosis imagined even that he had discovered
the principle of life. At the present time we know that
the walls of the intestines do not in any wise act like the
inanimate membrane used in experiments in endosmosis.
They are covered with epithelial cells, each of which is an
organism endowed with complex properties. The proto-
plasm of these cells lays hold of the food by an act of
prehension exactly as the ciliate Infusoria and other uni-
cellular organisms do, that lead an independent life. In
the intestines of cold-blooded animals, the cells emit pro-
longations, which seize the minute drops of fatty matter
and carry them into the protoplasm of the cell, convey
them thence into the chylifactive ducts. There is still
another mode of absorption of fatty matter, met with
among cold-blooded as well as warm-blooded animals.
The lymphatic cells pass out from the adenoid tissue,
which contains them, so that upon arriving at the surface
of the intestines, they sieze the particles of fatty matter
there present and, laden with their prey, make their way
back to the lymphatics."
It requires just as much skill and intelligence to select
the required material from the stomach as ordered by the
cells in other parts of your body as it does to give the
orders for the material. The cells in the stomach must
be just as intelligent as the cells in your spine or head
that give the orders for material with which to build hair
or the callous in your hand. It is clear that when the
cells begin building the plant or animal from which they
came they must have in their mind ideas or a mental pic-
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 375
ture of what they are about to do. Not only must they
have a mental picture of the particular structure that they
start out to build, but they must also have a mental pic-
ture or knowledge stored in their memory of how they
shall go about to accomplish the work.
It is, however, nothing more than reasonable to expect
that they should know how to do this, as they have per-
formed the work millions of times before. We see in
our body that the white cells are soldiers, which have not
been stationed at any certain permanent work as nerve
cells, muscles, etc., have, but have a general knowledge
of performing almost any act that may come up and may
be required as necessary to the welfare and existence of
the body. In the case of the healing of a fracture of a
bone or a wound, some will take the job of building
epithelial cells ; some will build connective tissues and
some will build bone; others will destroy themselves in
their effort to destroy invading hordes of dangerous
enemies like germs and bacteria. They all go to work
immediately in case of a bruise, cut or broken bone with
the skill and knowledge accumulated in the past ages in
their memory, each at his job, knowing just how to do
any or all of the work, each and all willing to do any-
thing that may be necessary to affect a repair, each one
working in harmony with the other in such manner as
not to interfere with the work of the other. Thus alone
could it be possible for them to fix up a broken leg or
other bruised, crushed or mutilated organ.
The religion of the cell is similar to that of the Japan-
ese. Patriotism is the expression of his religion. The mind
of the cell does not split hairs as to his individual rights
or the rights of the body or of the race. So far as he is
concerned the welfare of the body and its perpetuation is
the whole object of life. The body is the object to live
376 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
for and to die for. The cell is not an individualist. He
has developed both moral and national consciousness.
He is not interested in his own welfare, except in so far as
it is the welfare of the body. He is in a similar relation to
nature as the bee worker is to the hive, himself nothing,
the body or cell community everything.
I repeat, the religion of the cell is similar to that of the
Japanese and the most admired quality of the Japanese
is his patriotism. Mr. Huxley describes the sponge as a
large city and states : "The sponge represents a kind of
sub-aqueous city where the people are arranged about
the streets and roads in such manner that each can easily
appropriate its food from the water as it passes along."
As a matter of fact, every animal or plant is a city of
some sort, sub-aqueous, aerial or terrestrial and occupied
by the cells who have built it. Every such city is built
on a plan or with a design or purpose to take care of the
millions of inhabitants who occupy and maintain it. These
cities or abodes when examined are found to be con-
structed with a purpose in view or a design to meet a
condition or existence of some particular kind. They are
found to be constructed with wonderful skill and design,
to meet the most severe and complicated conditions in
life.
Upon close investigation it is found that the cells who
build the city we call the sponge are just as intelligent
as the cells that build the fish, animal or man. They
understand how to build the house on the bottom of the
sea of such material, lime and fiber, that the other animals
cannot make any use of it and so will not eat them. They
understand how to cause a continuous stream of water to
flow through their protected habitation, and in this stream
of water, they pick up their food and other building ma-
terial they may need. The young sponge starts out in
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 377
life as a single cell and swims around in the ocean for
months until it finds a mate, then they settle down and
commence housekeeping on a suitable rocky place on the
bottom of the sea, and there they begin to multiply in
numbers and build an enormous colony which we call the
sponge. The building process, however, is quite slow, as
they gather the food and building material from the sea
water.
The sponge building cells live on smaller cells usually
called bacteria and microbes. These smaller cells are by
no means less intelligent in their place in life than the
larger ones. The cells that know how to make their own
food like starch, sugar and other carbohydrates are gen-
erally smaller than the other cells. They usually make
only stationary abodes like plants and trees. It seems,
however, that upon their knowledge of how to make food
and several other kinds of material depends the existence
of all the others. The following from a daily paper seems
to be a true expression of the situation : "Few things in
science are more startling than the realization that man's
existence depends absolutely on tiny vegetables so small
that they can only be seen with the most powerful micro-
scope. It is these minute growths which produce the
larger vegetables man uses for food and were it not for
them the human race would starve to death.
"The origin of life may be a disputed matter, but the
operation of life is unquestionably due to microscopic
forms of plant life which we call bacteria. There have
been many learned definitions of the differences between
plant and animal, but few are more satisfactory than that
which declares a plant to be an organism that can derive
its food from mineral substances and an animal to be an
organism that cannot."
Did you ever realize that the cells of every plant or
378 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
animal, man included, must keep up a continual fight for
existence? Some small species of cells like the diphtheria
cells or lock-jaw cells fight our body cells with poison.
Their poison is so deadly that the white cells or soldiers
of our bodies, who have the business in charge of de-
stroying all the enemies of the body, are compelled to
actually fight these diphtheria germs at a distance and
apparently also with poison. The following from a reli-
able medical textbook is interesting :
"Very important members of the cell community are
certain colorless cells, the white blood corpuscles or leu-
cocytes, which float in the blood stream or wander in the
tissue spaces. These cells are the sanitary inspectors,
the police and the scavengers of the community. They
can be seen to approach intrusive microbes, inclose them
with their own substance and destroy them, apparently
by digestion, or else perish themselves, apparently by
poisoning. On account of this function of ingesting
microbes, they have been termed phagocites. The skin,
food and air passages swarm with bacteria all the time
and only now and then do they enter and get a foothold.
The fact that microbes of disease are often able to break
down the defense and enter the tissue, whereas the harm-
less types are unable to do so, points to the fact that the
former have special means of offense and have adapted
themselves by special means of offense and defense.
"Some microbes like tetanus and diphtheria elaborate
a poison in self defense. The toxin or poison enters the
blood stream at the small area affected and produces the
symptoms of poisoning. Toxins like pepsin and trypsyn
are digestive secretions.
"It appears that phagocites and possibly other cells of
the body secrete substances as harmless to themselves as
pepsin is to the stomach cells, which act as counter toxin
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 379
and poison the microbes, and that they are stimulated to
this act by the presence of the microbes and their toxins.
Presumably those toxins are the same as are used by
phagocites to destroy microbes by ingestion. The toxins
of all microbes are not alike as shown by different symp-
toms from diphtheria and tetanus. In acute diseases such
as diphtheria and tetanus, though the phagocites crowd
towards the infected area until the red and inflamed tis-
sue surrounding it is full of them, killed or paralyzed by
the concentrated toxins, they do not ingest the microbes,
at any rate, at first. If unable to cope with the invaders,
the sufferers die, but in case of recovery they gradually
get the upper hand and in the latter stages of the disease
the disintegrating microbes may be seen within them."
A most wonderful experiment to show the extraordi-
narily keen sense of smell possessed by the white cells of
our body, who fight and kill the dangerous cells or bac-
teria, is described in the following from a medical jour-
nal:
"If microbes are introduced into the body, inclosed in
a capillary glass tube, the ends of which are plugged by
a substance that permits a free diffusion of fluids but
prevents the escape of the micro-organisms or the
entrance of the phagocites, the latter collect about the
tube in clusters at the open ends. As sanitary officials,
they are attracted by the secretions (toxins) of the
microbes."
Just notice how the soldiers of our body we call white
cells are able to detect the presence of the dangerous
enemies inside the glass tube and wait there at the
entrance in sufficient numbers to be able to destroy them
if they should escape from the tube. Here we have a
good illustration of the fact that the sense organs of the
cell are in every way just as keen as those of the higher
380 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
animals. The cell must know from experience with those
bacteria in the past ages that they are very dangerous.
His knowledge of the germ tells him that he must not
run any chances but destroy it on sight. It is a very
singular thing, but statistics show it to be a fact, that the
germ cells of consumption will not kill a woman with
child, but will always give her a chance to give the child
a start in life. This would seem to indicate that the germ
of consumption is a friend to the human race. We never
stop to realize that the cells are at the base and the cause
of all life that we see. A school text on botany has the
following to say about the cells that build plants and
trees :
"The peculiar work of green plants or green parts of
plants is to manufacture the kind of food best known as
sugars and starch, such foods being called carbohydrates.
This manufacture is exceedingly important, for all life is
dependent upon it. If green plants should stop the manu-
facture of carbohydrates, the food supply of the world
would soon be exhausted. All other forms of food are
derived from carbohydrates in some way and only green
plants can add to the stock that is being drawn upon con-
tinually. This means that green plants must manufacture
carbohydrates, not only for their own use but also for the
use of animals and of plants that are not green." While
this statement is true, still we must remember that the
plant does not produce anything. It is the cells in the
plant that produce in the same manner as it is the men in
the factory who are the real producers.
Man has been able to discover but very few of the
chemical secrets known by the plant building cells and
the other cells who know how to make their own food
from the raw material of earth, air and water. The power
to produce a light without the expenditure of heat has
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 381
been known to the cell for ages. Man with the phenom-
enon before his eyes on sea and land, spending fortunes,
investigating this and trying to discover the secret, is
not yet able to produce it. A text book on physics has
the following to say about it :
"We burn a jet of gas in order to produce artificial
light. We are seeking to set up ether waves of a certain
length but in doing so we produce only three per cent of
these waves and 97% of waves we do not wish and could
do very well without, as they are simply dark heat waves.
The hotter the body is which is setting up the ether
waves, the better is the percentage of useful waves, but
even with electric arc lamps we can only attain an effi-
ciency of ten or fifteen per cent. If we could only imi-
tate nature as we see her producing light in the glow
worm, where practically the whole of the ether disturb-
ance is in the form of visible light — no dark heat waves
being produced — we should be able to cause illumina-
tion on a grand scale. Referring to the luminosity of the
glow worm, Sir Oliver Lodge has remarked that if we
could only obtain this secret from nature, a boy turning
a crank could furnish sufficient energy to light an entire
electric circuit."
You will notice how they put it. They say if we
could "imitate nature" or "discover the secrets of na-
ture." Why not tell the truth and say the secrets of the
cell? What is the reason for all this meaningless lan-
guage and jumbling of words? Whether you say the
secrets of nature, the secrets of the universe, the secrets
of the world or the secrets of the moon, we understand
one about as well as the other. If the cell living a single
life in the open, or in a colony like the glow worm or
lightning bug, can produce this light, why not be honest
about it and admit the truth? There can be no question
382 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
about the facts. The roots of plants taste, feel, and select
from the soif only the material necessary to build the
plant and reject all other material. It is also evident that
a great number can taste and feel with their leaves as is
evidenced by the fly catching plants. Even Haeckel
admits that much intelligence and makes the following
remarks in reference to it :
"The digestion corresponds to the gastric juice in the
animal and is only secreted by the corpuscles if the solid
foreign body is nitrogenous (flesh or cheese). Hence the
leaves of these insectivorous plants taste their meat diet
and distinguish it from other solids to which they are in-
different. In the broader sense, in fact, we may describe
the points of the roots of plants as organs of taste. They
plunge into the richer parts of the earth, which yield more
nourishment and avoid the poor parts."
You see from this that the cells in the plant feel, taste
and digest with a gastric juice in precisely the same man-
ner as we do. In fact, after close investigation it has been
fully established that all cells whether living singly or in
colonies like plants and animals, digest, reproduce, re-
spire and perform all the functions of an animal. They all
have to have oxygen and food, the only difference is their
method of obtaining it. You can see the same process of
social development in all the lower animals, insects and
cells, as in man. There is no difference whatever, and on
this point Mr. Haeckel makes the following remark :
"Division of labor or differentiation, which has just
recently begun to be correctly valued, forms a sixth evo-
lutionary function of special importance. We have al-
ready seen that division of labor is the strongest impulse
towards progressive evolution, not only in civic and social
life but also in the social cell confederacy of every many
celled organism. A glance at any community or state
CAUSE3 OF EVOLUTION 383
organization shows that the first condition of higher de-
velopment and civilization is on the one hand the division
of the various duties among the various classes of the
citizens and on the other hand, the co-operation of these
individuals for the common purpose of the state. This
is exactly the case also in every many celled organism.
Every multi-cellular individual in the plant or animal
kingdom is more perfectly developed and ranks higher in
proportion as the division of labor among its constituent
cells, the differentiation of its cell individuals is more
perfect. Therefore in the various classes of organisms,
we find this differentiation, sometimes in a more, some-
times in a less perfect condition. The simplest form of
division of labor occurs in those lower animals in the
bodies of which only two kinds of cells have become dif-
ferentiated. This is the case for example, in the lowest
plant animal, in sponges and the simplest polyps, as well
as in their common parent form, the gastraea.
"Throughout the entire many celled bodies of these
there are only two different kinds of cells, the one kind
affect nutrition and reproduction of the animal, the other
kind are its organs of feeling and motion. These two
kinds of cells are identical with those which first come to
perfection in the first process of differentiation of the
germ layers in the human embyro, but in most higher
animals, the differentiation of the cell proceeds much
further. Some take merely the office of nutrition ; others
that of reproduction ; a third group constitute the outer
covering of the body and form the skin ; a fourth group,
the muscle cells, form the flesh ; a fifth group, the nerve
cells, develop into the organ of sensation, of will, of
thought, etc. All these different kinds of cells originally
proceeded by differentiation or specialization from the
single egg cell and from the homogeneous descendents of
384 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
that egg cell, owing to division of labor. This differentia-
tion of the cells or this division of labor originally arose
in tribal history from causes similar to the division of
labor in the civilized states of men. Afterwards it ap-
pears in the germ history and by that time it has been
made over to heredity and is merely repeated in accord-
ance with the fundamental law of biogeny."
The reader will notice that Mr. Haeckel attempts to
make it plain that the cell has developed from his single
separate savage life to the high state of civilization and
organization that we now find him, in plants and animals
in precisely the same manner as the human race. No one
can conceive how the cell or insect could have developed
their social institution without intelligence of the same
nature as man. It is simply foolish to try to evade plain
common sense and attempt to bewilder us with meaning-
less phrases. Our ordinary experience and common
sense is bound to bring us to these natural conclusions
because they stand out as the simple naked truths and
facts.
Every plant or animal starts from one single cell, which
multiplies and as the body grows and the organs are
completed in size and structure, we have these groups of
cells known as organs or cells of the brain, cells of the
liver, cells of the skin, cells of the muscles, of the bone,
etc. We see that the cells of the body are of the same
family, but by reason of their different occupations they
have become a little different in general appearance in
just the same manner as the children of a family, who
would occupy different positions in life, would by virtue
of their difference in occupation look a little different. If
one was a book-keeper, one a butcher, one a farmer, one a
soldier and one a preacher, they would all look a little
different in general appearance. Every animal will be-
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 385
come adapted to the particular work he has to do and this
we find is also the case with the cells as well as man.
This being the situation, the cells must and do possess
the same intelligence. That they all possess the same
general knowledge and skill is evidenced by the fact that
they can do such work as may be necessary in any par-
ticular situation, as for instance in the case of repairing
broken limbs or cut tissues. As I said before, this work
required in any particular place just as much intelligence
as building the part anew. Any work in life requires in-
telligence; the blacksmith, clerk, butcher, lawyer, all
must use intelligence in their work, and so it is with the
cells of our body. The intelligence may differ in degree
in the same manner that there are good and poor lawyers
and blacksmiths, but to be a lawyer or blacksmith at all
will require intelligence.
Can the cells of muscle and motion perform the work
of sensation or direction? Can one cell do the work of the
other? We find that they can, but not as well. Take for
instance in the case of the polyp and polyzoan which
in every way are just alike in appearance, but one has cells
which we call the nervous system, for the special purpose
of keeping watch and giving notice of the approach of
enemies, while the other has not. The polyp when
touched will attempt to escape but, as it has the work of
notifying all the other cells to contract, its rapidity of
contraction is interfered with. The cells of the polyp,
although they can do the work of the nerve cells, cannot
do it with the skill and rapidity that the nerves do it, who
specialize in that work and have no other work to do.
We find this to be the case with animals and men in ex-
actly the same degree. In reference 'to this Spencer
states : "A polyp and a polyzoan, two similar in outward
appearances, but very unlike in their internal structure,
386 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
will serve for comparison. A tentacle of a polyp when
touched slowly contracts, and if the touch has been rude,
the contraction presently extends to the other tentacles
and eventually to the whole body, but if you touch a
tentacle of a polyzoan or slightly disturb the water near
it the whole cluster of tentacles is instantly withdrawn,
along with the protruded parts of the creature's body,
into its sheath. The one creature has no specialized con-
tractile organs or fibers for conveying impressions. The
other has definite muscles and nerves."
This should illustrate clearly what a nerve cell really is
and that the cells of a structure can perform different and
various kinds of work and do so until they discover the
better and more effective way of doing it, which is to
specialize and allot to each one his particular and specific
work. The polyzoan, however, has no brain, simply a
nervous system, that is, cells strung all over and through
the body who have nothing else to do but watch for
enemies and direct the actions of the individual.
We have seen that the cell is a perfect animal, having
all the attributes of the highest developed animal. Ages
before the social cells discovered the advantages of asso-
ciating together for mutual protection and assistance,
they lived separate lives in different tribes and classes,
each one adapting itself to the particular climate or con-
ditions to which it happened to become exposed. It did
this just as plants, animals, and man do today. Just as
man is the cause of all the structures on earth produced
by him, such as railroads, armies, navies, cities, etc., so
the cell is the cause of the living things that we see. The
power in man to do these things is his intelligence, and in
the same manner it is intelligence that gives the cell his
power. The structures produced by man are based on
centuries of accumulated experience and so it is with the
CAUSE OP EVOLUTION 387
cell. He also must act in accordance with the knowledge
accumulated in the past ages.
Although Mr. Drummond does not see life in the same
light that I do I shall quote his impressions of the situa-
tion : "Now all these complicated contrivances, bones,
muscles, nerves, heart, brain, lungs are made out of cells.
They are themselves in their furthest development simply
masses of centers of cells modified in various ways for
the special department of household work. They are
meant to serve. No new thing has entered into the em-
bryo since its first appearance except building material.
It seized whatever matter lay at hand, incorporated it
with its own quickening substance and built it into its
appropriate place, so the structure rose in size to the
stature of man. The immense distance man has come
between the early cell and the infant's formed body, the
evolutionist sees concentrated into these few months,
representing the labor and progress of ages. Here before
him is the whole stretch of time since life first dawned
upon earth. The human form does not begin as a human
form, it begins as an animal. At first there is nothing
wearing the remotest semblance of humanity ; what meets
the eye is the vast procession of lower forms of life. To-
day in the embryo of still living things, we find again a
resurrection and life in the frame of man himself. The
proposition is not only that man begins his earthly ex-
istence in the guise of a lower animal-embryo, but that in
the successive transformations of the human embryo
there is produced before our eyes a visible, actual, physi-
cal representation of part of the life history of the world."
This description of the situation by Mr. Drummond is
both very good and instructive. It shows how the cells
in the course of construction of the human being are
compelled to follow in their path of past experiences.
388 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
The human being evolving from the cell to the new born
babe takes on all the forms of the past life of man for
ages. The size of the structure does not make it any less
complicated and difficult to produce. Take for instance
the spinning apparatus of the spider, — the spider's weav-
ing machine is considered the most intricate and perfect
device in the world for its purpose. It has over 600 spools
and bobbins so small that they can only be seen with a
microscope, magnifying about 200 diameters. The threads
which the spider produces are formed in the following
manner : the raw material for the web is a cellulose mix-
ture and is contained in sacks ; muscular pressure forces
this liquid through minute ducts and this liquid is so
made that it immediately hardens into a fiber when ex-
posed to the air. This fiber is brought to the desired
degree of thickness and thinness by winding over and un-
der the various spools and bobbins. He has claws made
specifically for handling his threads and spinning machin-
ery and with these specially made hands he is able to han-
dle his machinery with wonderful skill and speed. He is
able with this machine to produce threads of different de-
grees of strength, depending on the purpose for which
they are to be used. The silk worm uses a similar method,
but his is crude compared to the spider's. The material
used, however, is almost the same. Man has been experi-
menting until he discovered the substance or raw material
used by the cells in the silk worm and is now able to
imitate it tolerably well and produce an artificial silk
fairly good.
Several Germans and Frenchmen are experimenting
with spiders, trying to breed a special kind who might be
a competitor of the silk worm. Just think of what the
spider building cells have to do to build this spider! The
building of a tree, man or elephant is simple as compared
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 389
with the building of the spider. Think of a spinning
machine with 600 spools and bobbins and the dexterity
required to handle it, and the job o^ manufacturing the
cellulose from other crude material with which to weave
the threads to be used for snares and other purposes !
Where does man produce any such rapidly moving, com-
plicated factory? Until a person has seen some of the
productions of the cell through the microscope, he does
not comprehend what life is. A certain species of the
spider, we remember, weaves a waterproof 'diving bell,
which he ties to the grass under water, and in which he
dwells with his family and catches water insects for food
when they come near him. He carries the air from above
down into his underwater dwelling, which is both air and
water-tight.
The intelligence of man cannot produce any structure
involving as many complicated acts of skill and design as
the spider, nor can man show any more social progress
than the bee. There is no doubt that the bees have some
method of simple and rapid inter-communication. If any-
thing happens to the hive or if some new place to get
honey is discovered, they all know about it very quickly.
Mr. Maeterlink has the following to say about this :
"Let us now in order to form a clearer conception of
the bee's intellectual power proceed to consider their
methods of inter-communication. There can be no
doubting that they understand each other ; and indeed it
were surely impossible for a republic so considerable,
wherein the labours are so varied and so marvelously
combined to subsist amid the silence and spiritual isola-
tion of so many thousand creatures. They must be able
therefore to give expression to thoughts and feelings by
means either of a phonetic vocabulary or more probably
of some kind of tactile language or magnetic intuition
390 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
corresponding perhaps to senses and properties of mat-
ter wholly unknown to ourselves. And such intuition
well might lodge in the mysterious antennae — containing
in the case of the worker, according to Cheshire's calcula-
tion, 12,000 tactile hairs and 5,000 'smell-hollows', where-
with they probe and fathom the darkness. For the mu-
tual understanding of the bees is not confined to their
habitual labours ; the extraordinary also has a name and
place in their language, as is proved by the manner in
which news, good or bad, normal or supernatural, will at
once spread in the hive ; the loss or return of the mother,
for instance, the entrance of an enemy, the intrusion of a
strange queen, the approach of a band of marauders, the
discovery of treasure, etc."
It has been shown that bees take advantage of every
invention and discovery which they may run across and
that they use their building material or food to the very
best advantage. In reference to this matter, Mr. Maeter-
link has also the following to say :
"Scarcely had it been formulated when another natur-
alist, Andrew Knight, having covered the bark of some
diseased tree with a kind of cement made of turpentine
and wax, discovered that his bees were entirely renounc-
ing the collection of propolis and exclusively using this
unknown matter, which they had quickly tested and
adopted and found in abundant quantities ready prepared
in the vicinity of their dwelling.
And indeed, one-half of the science and practise of
apiculture consists in giving free range to the spirit, of
initiative possessed by the bees and in providing their
enterprising intellect with opportunities for veritable dis-
coveries and veritable inventions. Thus, for instance, to
aid in the rearing of the larvae and nymphs, the bee-
keeper will scatter a certain quantity of flour close to the
CAUSE OP EVOLUTION 391
hive when the pollen is scarce, of which these consume an
enormous quantity. In a state of nature in the heart of
their native forests in Asiatic valleys, where they existed
probably long before the tertiary epoch, the bees can
evidently never have met with a substance of this kind.
And yet, if care be taken to 'bait' some of them with it
by placing- them on the floor, they will touch it and test
it; they will perceive that its properties more or less re-
semble those possessed by the dust of the anthers ; they
will spread the news among their sisters and we shall
soon find every forager hastening to this unexpected,
incomprehensible food, which in their hereditary mem-
ory must be inseparable from the calyx of flowers where
their flight for so many centuries past has been sumptu-
ously and voluptuously welcomed."
The brain of the bee, which directs all its actions, con-
tains but few cells. The power that nearly all cater-
pillars or young butterflies have of changing their color to
harmonize with the place in which they are living is cer-
tainly wonderful, and its value has not been understood
by man until lately. During this last European war, the
following article appeared in my paper on the subject:
"A striking instance of the application of scientific
knowledge to the purpose of war is the color of the Ger-
man service uniform, a kind of invisible grey-yellow-
green, which blends with the prevailing hue of a land-
scape, so that bodies of troops become as it were con-
cealed in a chromatic haze.
"Naturalists have long been familiar with 'protective
coloration', which is found among many species of insect
and other animals, and it is rather surprising that this
principle, which science declares to be a result of evolu-
tionary adaptation, has not sooner been employed in the
apparelling of armies. Khaki uniforms, whichuhave been
392 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
widely adopted since the Boer war, represent a first step
toward the development of a scientific military invest-
ment Evidently a dress that tends to
conceal the movements of troops is almost as important
as smokeless powder, which keeps the secret of the loca-
tion of guns, and its importance is accentuated by the
increased distance at which armies now fight one another.
Troops dressed in dark or flaming colors can be seen afar
off, but the modern scientific uniform possesses some-
thing of the concealing power of the chromatic pattern
with which leopards, tigers, and zebras are covered.
"Those who have never seen these animals amid their
natural surroundings can form no clear idea of the blind-
ing effects produced by protective coloration. Hunters
in Africa have told almost incredible stories of herds of
zebras standing in plain sight of the observer and yet
actually invisible to him until a sudden alarm sent them
away in wild scamper. Their color and their markings
are wonderfully accordant with yellowish hues and the
barrings of black shadow that characterize the landscape
amid which they live.
"In our day the Assyrian wolf no longer comes down
upon the fold, his cohorts gleaming in purple and gold,
but he steals along like the tawny lion in the tawny des-
ert, while his dusty hued prey slips off concealed against
the background of sand.
"These things may have a determining influence in dis-
gusting mankind with war. Mars in the guise of a cham-
eleon loses all his romantic attraction and shows himself
up as a hideous monster, whose doings become more
repulsive in proportion as they are more brutally prac-
tical."
Figs. 47-49 and 50 and others by Mr. Shute are pub-
lished in this book by courtesy of the Open Court Pub.
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 393
Co. These figures show the wonderful skill with which
the cell colonies in butterflies, beetles, etc., are able to
build their moving structures or habitations in shapes
and colors so as to deceive and escape their enemies. Fig.
47 shows that they have in addition painted the inside of
the wings a most beautiful color to attract the opposite
sex. Intelligent man is doing the same thing today, but
he did not discover the art nor its benefits until just re-
cently. The cells who build these beetles, caterpillars
and butterflies have understood and practiced the art for
ages. They knew the secret of how to produce the color-
ing matter and with it paint these artistic figures thou-
sands of years before man lived in houses.
I have myself experimented with caterpillars, who can
color themselves as may be necessary to simulate the
place on which they are resting and it certainly is won-
derful when you consider the situation, that the cells of
the skin must first have a picture of the outside before
they can arrange the pigment so as to affect the desired
color. Just as wonderful is the ability of the cells, which
make up the caterpillar, to tear down and dismantle the
caterpillar and with the same material build a new and
different structure designed to navigate the air, which
we call a butterfly. A text book on zoology has the fol-
lowing on Protective Coloring: "Mr. Leslie inclosed
certain caterpillars of one kind in two boxes, one black
and the other white, and he found that the color of the
chrysalis in each case harmonized with the color of the
box. Mr. R. Holland also found the cocoons of the Em-
peror moth to be either white or brown, according as
they were spun on paper or amid dead grass, or on soil.
Mr. E. B. Poulton has ascertained that in a large number
of larvae of a Vanessa butterfly surrounded by variously
394 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
colored papers, the colors of nearly all the pupae were
like, or related to that of the paper about them."
In what manner do the actions of the cells in animals,
taking advantage of the color protection, differ from the
same acts by a German general? In what manner does
the act of the bee going after and storing food for the
winter differ from the act of the farmer rilling his barn
with hay for the winter? They are all directed for a pur-
pose. At every step in our investigation of the cause of
evolution, development and progress in life, we shall find
that it is intelligence in the cell that is the cause. It is
not chemical nor mechanical force nor blind chance, as
some will have it, nor is it nature, destiny or some other
mystic force as others call it. It is the cell ; and the rea-
son he is able to produce these different things is the
same as the reason that man is able to produce those dif-
ferent things produced by him. We find that he has
taken advantage of all the blind forces of nature and
converted them to his own purpose and use, just as man
has. Only a few years ago we knew nothing about this
invisible architect and we could only say that a tree or
man simply grew, but now we know there is one who
directs the work in the building of a tree or animal, just
as there is one who directs the work in the construction
of a house. The structure goes up piece by piece. The
materialist,physicist, or mechanist states that when cer-
tain conditions get right, the chemical force will do the
rest and produce all the different living structures we see.
This statement we know is not true from what we know
at the present time. Nothing is produced today, nor has
anything been produced in the past, unless some intelli-
gent being was back of it to direct the dead matter and
blind forces in the universe.
The natural and chemical forces applied to matter will
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 395
always produce the same result and will always follow
fixed laws. We know that back of all those things we
see like houses, factories, ships and railroads, is the in-
telligence of man. We see the cell build analogous pur-
posive structures we call plants and animals, and we are
compelled to say that back of them is the intelligence of
the cell. If it is necessary in one it is also necessary in
the other. We are not able to say or explain the cause of
intelligence in the cell any more than we can explain the
cause of electricity and gravity. However, we know that
its existence is a fact. We know it is intelligence that
guides the actions of man, animal and cells just as we
know it is gravitation which guides the stone towards
the ground. We find that it is the same force in all
places which guides them in their acts, just as it is the
same force that pulls all objects toward the ground. We
find that the hydra can be turned inside out without per-
ceptibly injuring the animal and that in that case the cells
will change work. The outside skin layer of cells, which
before did all the respiratory work, will now do all the
digesting, and all the inside layer of skin cells will do all
the breathing or respiratory work. What does it prove?
Simply this, — that the cells are intelligent, — they know
what their duty is and what must be done and know how
to do the right thing at the right time under all circum-
stances. In the larvae of the dragon-fly and a number of
other insects, the alimentary canal respires, digests and
excretes. It might seem singular that the stomach cell
can do all these different kinds of work, but when we
consider that the larvae or insect is simply a colony of
individuals who work for themselves and do whatever
is necessary to perpetuate and protect their colony, it is
only what we may reasonably expect. One will take
396 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
charge of and do the work of the other or all the work
when it may be necessary under certain circumstances.
These facts simply show that the actions of the cell are
in every detail similar to those of man, and they show that
chance variation is not the cause of producing anything
in life any more than chance would produce anything like
houses and railroads, and that chance variation is in no
way the cause of evolution and progress. Take for in-
stance the electric organs of fishes used by them both for
offensive and defensive purposes. They are very large
and until fully completed they could be of no use to the
individual. It could not have been of any benefit to the
fish to carry that large complicated electric mechanism
around with him until perfected to such an exten-t as to be
used. It could not possibly have been a beneficial variation
until completed. The following is a description of one of
these fishes from a scientific magazine : "The marshy
waters of Bera and Rastro in South America are filled with
innumerable electric eels, which can at pleasure discharge
from every part of their slimy, yellow-speckled bodies a
deadening shock. This species of gymnotus is about five
or six feet in length, and is powerful enough to kill human
beings and the largest animals when it discharges its
nervous organs at one shock in a favorable direction. It
was once found necessary to change the line of road from
Uritucu across the steppe, owing to the number of horses
which in fording a certain rivulet annually fell a sacri-
fice to these gymnoti, which had accumulated there in
great numbers."
The production of these powerful electric machines is
nothing more than what we should reasonably ex-
pect when we consider who the builder of the electric fish
is and his mental and inventive capacity. If you should
examine the cell that builds electric fish with a powerful
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 397
microscope, side by side with the cell that does the think-
ing for the great inventor, Thomas Edison, — compare
them critically and closely, they would appear to you to
be one and the same cell and the one could not be dis-
tinguished from the other.
There is a plant in Persia called the Devil plant, that
has invented a scheme by which it is able to capture deer,
cattle and animals by the nose and kill them with poison,
and when the animal dies the plant grows in the soil
made rich by the decaying carcass. This plant (or rather
the cells that build it) makes a pair of spring hooks about
6 inches long and 4 inches apart at top, so as to fit over
the nose of the animal. The hooks spring inward and
are tough as steel. The following is a brief description
of the plant :
"The Devil plant they call it in Persia, and well they
may, for it is more deadly to the flocks and herds that play
so important a part in their life than is the loco weed to
the herds of our southwestern states.
It is in the fall that the Devil plant gets in its deadly
work. The flowers give place to seed pods with great
belly like capsules and long stiff claws like those of a
beast of prey. These are hidden under the brown and
yellow leaves and when a grazing animal — a sheep, a
camel, a wild ass or an antelope for example — browses
among the foliage, the claws hook themselves into its
nostrils. The animal tries to rub them off but the more
it rubs the deeper it forces the claw like hooks into its
skin. Its throat becomes so inflamed that it can neither
eat nor drink and consequently it dies of starvation and
pain. The animal's body lies in the open and decays and
into the decomposing flesh the hundreds of black seeds
contained in the capsules of the clawed pod are dis-
charged, For it seems that earth is not rich enough for
398 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
them and only in decayed flesh can they find enough
nourishment. Drivers of caravans curse the Devil plant
FIG. 48. — Seedpod of the Persian devil plant, with its claws four inches acrost
for it may cost them many of their beasts when these are
turned loose to graze at night. But most of the semi-wild
beasts that graze in the country have learned to avoid it,
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 399
even as the American herds have learned to avoid the
deadly loco weed."
Do you think a scheme like that could have come about
and have been produced by chance? Before they could
in any way become effective, both of those hooks
had to be just so far apart and curved over just so and
made of extraordinarily strong material to effect the pur-
pose for which they were intended. This grappling ma-
chine would have to be complete and perfect in every
way before it could be effective. It seems almost un-
reasonable to think that a plant could figure out this
scheme with which to be able to catch, kill and eat cattle,
sheep and camels, but such are the facts. This plant is
a stationary abode of a colony of cells. The cattle,
sheep and man are movable abodes of cell colonies. The
cells of a stationary colony should have just as much
time and opportunity to figure out schemes and inven-
tions with which to protect themselves or obtain their
food as the cells of the movable colonies. When the
matter is considered rightly, we should expect to find
precisely the same inventive genius, skill and intelligence
in one place as the other.
Before closing this chapter I shall quote the following
by Ernest Haeckel from his works on Embryology. It
is a little long but it is a good comparison of the human
cell with other cells living singly and as separate lives.
He says :
"Though the amoeba is therefore only a simple cell, it
shows itself capable of performing all the functions of a
many celled organism. It moves itself by creeping, it
feels, it feeds, it reproduces its kind. Some species of
amoeba are visible to the naked eye, but the greater num-
ber are microscopic. Our reasons for regarding the
amoeba as the particular one celled organism, the phylo-
400 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
genetic relations of which to the egg cell are of peculiar
importance, will be evident from the following facts. In
many lower animals the egg cell remains in its original
naked condition until it is fertilized ; it requires no cover-
ing and is often indistinguishable from an amoeba. Like
the latter, these naked egg-cells can extend processes and
move about. In the sponges these active egg-cells creep
freely about as though they were independent amoeba,
even within the parent organism. In this condition they
were observed by earlier naturalists and were mistaken
for amoeba, living as parasitical intruders in the body of
the sponge. It was only afterwards that it was discovered
that these supposed one celled parasites were in reality
the egg cells of the sponge itself. This remarkable phe-
nomenon is also found in other lower animals — for ex-
ample— in those pretty bell shaped plant animals (me-
dusae) ; the eggs of these also remain as naked uncovered
cells, which stretch out amoeboid processes, feed them-
selves, move, and from which after fertilization the many
celled medusae-organism is indirectly or directly devel-
oped by repeated division.
"It is therefore certainly no wild hypothesis but an en-
tirely sober conclusion which regards the amoeba as the
particular one celled organism which gives us an approx-
imate representation of the ancient one-celled ancestral
form common to all many celled organisms. The naked
simple amoeba possesses a less differentiated and more
primary character than most other cells. To this may
be added the circumstance that similar amoeboid cells
can be shown in the full grown bodies of all many celled
animals. For example, they occur as the so called white
blood corpuscles among the red blood cells (corpuscles)
in human blood and in that of all other vertebrates. They
also occur in many invertebrate animals, for instance, in
FIG. 49. — Caterpillar B of a Geometer Moth (Prochoerodes transverrata) on
the stem of a plant (Ailanthus) A. Illustrating protective resemblance in both
color and form. Schute.
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 401
the blood of the snail arid in 1859 I showed that these
colorless blood corpuscles like independent amoeba can
assimilate solid particles, can, therefore, eat. Lately it
has been found that very many different cells, if they
have room, are able to move and eat and to act entirely
like amoeba.
The capacity of the naked cell to make these character-
istic amoeboid movements depends on the contractility
(or automatic movableness) of the protoplasm. This
seems to be the universal property of all young cells.
Where they are not surrounded by a strong membrane
or shut up in a cell prison, they are all capable of amoe-
boid movements. This is as true of the uncovered egg
cell as of other uncovered cells of the moving cells of
various kinds, lymph cells, mucous cells, etc.
"Our examination of the egg cell and comparison of it
with the amoeba has afforded us the best and surest
basis for the history of the germ as well as for the history
of the tribe. From it we have drawn the conclusions that
the human egg is a simple cell ; that this egg cell is not
essentially different from those of other mammals and
that we must therefore infer the existence of a primeval
one-celled ancestral form, which in all essential points
was of amoeboid form.
"The very important bearing which the Cell Theory
has on the whole conception of organic nature is thus
very clearly seen. The 'Place of man in nature' is radi-
cally explained by it. Without this theory, man is an
unintelligible puzzle. Philosophers, therefore, and cer-
tainly the psychologists, ought especially to acquaint
themselves thoroughly with the Cell Theory. The human
mind can only be really understood by means of this
theory and its simplest form is illustrated in the amoeba.
The extant amoeba and the kindred one-celled organism,
402 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
arcellae gregarinae, etc., are therefore of great interest,
because they show us the simple cell in a permanently
independent form. The human organism and that of
higher animals, on the contrary, is only one cell in its
earliest immature condition. As soon as the egg cell is
fertilized, it multiplies by division and forms a commun-
ity or colony of many social cells. These differentiate
themselves and by their specialization by various modi-
fications of these cells, the various tissues which com-
pose the various organs are developed. The developed
many-celled organisms of man and of all higher animals
resembles therefore, a social, civil community, the num-
erous single individuals of which are indeed developed in
various ways, but were originally only simple cells. * * *
"We have reached the conclusion that the original, an-
cestral form of man, as of the other animals, was a one-
celled organism. The whole difficult problem of the His-
tory of Evolution is thus now reduced to the simple ques-
tion : How has the complex many celled organism arisen
from the simple one celled form? By what natural
process has the simple cell been transferred into the
complex life apparatus with all its various organs, the
apparently rational and purposive construction of which
we admire in the developed body?
"Turning now to answer this question, we must bear
in mind the view to which we have already alluded, that
the many celled organism is ordered and constituted on
the same principle as a civilized state in which the sev-
eral citizens have devoted themselves to various services
directed towards common ends. This comparison is of
the greatest service in enabling us thoroughly to under-
stand the construction of man from many cells of various
kinds and to understand also the harmonious co-operation
of these various cells for an apparently preconceived
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 403
purpose. If we bear this comparison in mind and apply
this significant idea of the developed many celled organ-
ism as a civil union of many individuals to the history of
the evolution of this organism, we shall obtain a correct
view of the real nature of the first and most important
processes of evolution. We can even on deeper reflection
guess the first stages of development and establish them
a priori, before we call observation, a posterior knowl-
edge, to our aid.
"Let us therefore first answer this question : 'Granting
the correctness of the fundamental law of Biogeny, how
would the original one-celled organism, which founded
the first cell state and thus became the ancestor of the
higher many celled animals — how must that organism
have acted at the beginning of organic life on the earth
or at the beginning of creation, as it is usually expressed?'
The answer is very simple. It must have acted just as
man who founds a state or a colony for a given purpose.
"Their only purpose in life for centuries has remained
as simple as that of the lower animals or plants ; the sim-
ple aim of self preservation and of the production of de-
scendants. They have been contented with the simplest
organic function, nutrition and reproduction. Hunger
and love are their only motive for action. For a long
period these savages must have aimed at the one single
object of self preservation. Gradually, however, several
families collected at certain places — larger communities
arose and now many reciprocal relations began to arise
between individuals ; in consequence a rude division of
labor took place. Certain savages continued to fish and
hunt, others began to cultivate the ground, others de-
voted themselves to religion and medicine, which now
began to develop, etc. In short the ever increasing divi-
sion of labor specializes the people into various ranks
404 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
or castes, which always tend to become more sharply de-
fined in proportion as the state became more highly de-
veloped ; all follow diverse occupations and yet work
for a common end. A process similar to this, and the de-
tails of which each can easily fill up for himself, took
place millions of years ago when, at the beginning of
organic life on the earth, one celled organisms at first
developed and were afterwards followed by many celled
forms.
"The single cells which arose by reproduction from the
oldest parent-cells must at first have lived in an isolated
condition ; each one performed the same simple offices as
all the others. They were satisfied with self preservation,
nutrition and reproduction. At a later period isolated
cells gathered into communities. Groups of simple cells,
which had arisen by the continued division of a single
cell remain together and now began gradually to perform
different offices in life. The first traces of specialization
or division of labor soon occurred, as one cell assumed
one office, another another. One set of cells may have
devoted themselves especially to the absorption of food
or nutrition. Other cells may have busied themselves
only with reproduction and others again have formed
themselves into protecting organs for the little commun-
ity, etc. In short, various classes or castes must have
arisen in the cell state following diverse occupation and
yet working together for the common end. In propor-
tion as this division of labor progressed, the many celled
organism or the specialized cell community became more
perfect or civilized."
Mr. Haeckel is a great student of life but he does not
think that the cell is possessed of any intelligence, but
believes that the actions of the cells are caused by chem-
ical energy. I think he is mistaken, — at least, all facts
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 405
that we know so far are against him. He makes this
statement : "How must that organism (meaning the
cell) have acted at the beginning of organic life on the
earth or at the beginning of creation, as it is usually ex-
pressed? The answer is very simple. It must have acted
just as man who founds a state or a colony for a given
purpose."
It seems to me perfectly clear that if the cell organized
his civilized communities and colonies in the same man-
ner as man did his, that he should also be and necessarily
was an intelligent being like man. If man is able to do
these things by reason of his intelligence, the same reason
or cause must also be back of the cell. Our knowledge
of the cell is, as yet, very limited, but if man is intelligent
so is the cell that built him. If the cell can invent and
produce machines for different purposes and organize
himself socially in the same manner as man does, why is
he less intelligent? I want the reader to carefully con-
sider the following statement by Mr. Haeckel in describ-
ing the actions of the single cell called amoeba, which is
so very similar to the man and animal building cell. He
states :
"If one of these creeping amoeba is touched with a
needle or if a drop of acid is added to the water, the whole
body at once contracts in consequence of this mechanical
or chemical irritation. Usually it reassumes its spherical
form. Under certain circumstances, for example if the
impurities remain in the water, the amoeba begins to
encase itself. It exudes a homogeneous envelope or cap-
sule, which immediately hardens and in a state of repose
assumes the form of a spherical cell surrounded by a pro-
tecting membrane."
Now what would you do under similar circumstances?
If someone should punch you with a crowbar or soak you
406 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OP EVOLUTION
in acid, would you not also become irritable, would you
not begin to think it was time to cover yourself with a
protecting membrane? That is just what the amoeba
does. He understands how to make and carry a material
along with him, with which he is able to cover his body
and protect himself when necessary under certain dan-
gerous circumstances like this. To be in position and to
be able to provide for such emergencies shows an extra-
ordinary degree of intellect and foresight. A material
must be discovered and made and carried ready at hand,
which when exposed to the air immediately hardens into
a protective shell. An animal who can conceive the idea,
discover and make the substance and use it when neces-
sary, as does the amoeba, certainly shows skill and fore-
sight of a high degree. We have no reason to doubt his
intelligence, for as Mr. Haeckel himself states, he looks
and acts in every way like the animals that do the think-
ing for us, so if Mr. Haeckel is intelligent, so are the cells.
When the cells build a plant or animal they proceed
in the same manner as man in building a structure. They
build all the parts with a view of combining them all into
one whole. The parts are made to work in combination
with every other part. The organs of the body are in that
regard like the skillful combinations found in the arts and
industries of man. The diversity of functions and divi-
sion of labor begin with the production of organs in order
to take care of the different wants of the cell colony. To
satisfy these wants certain labor and work must be done
and each organ is a delegation to do certain and special
kinds of labor. The cells working together in the in-
dividual can build organs to a certain extent and purpose
with the material at hand and man can extend or increase
the use of these organs with other material obtained from
the outside, — as for instance, the efficiency of the hand is
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 407
increased by tools of different kinds for digging, striking,
etc. The cell builds teeth with which to grind the food.
Man invented another scheme on a larger scale for the
same purpose, the mill. The cell made eyes with which
to see. Man extended the eyes' efficiency so as to see far-
ther and smaller objects, by the invention of microscope
and telescope. The cell builds organs of locomotion to
move over the ground. Man invents better and quicker
methods by the use of the railroad and automobile.
We know how and why we build and so we should
know how and why the cell builds because we are one and
the same. In our memory we have a record of past
events and experiences. This record constitutes what
we know — it is our knowledge and our intellect. From
this past record of experiences we form judgments, which
determine our actions. Every being must act from ex-
perience and not otherwise. The knowledge and expe-
rience of the human cell is only that of building the
human individual and in the memory of the germ cell
there is a record of the experiences of building and guid-
ing the actions of countless individuals in the past to-
gether with the record of new and further experience
gathered from the life of the individual from which it
came. That all the cells of our body have a memory sim-
ilar to our thinking cells is clearly proven by the fact that
we can teach our limbs to perform acts like playing a
piano, walking, etc., and when they have learned to per-
form these acts they will perform them without troubling
or demanding any attention from our thinking cells or
consciousness. By consciousness I mean those cells in
charge of our sense organs, which we also call us, or our-
selves. Every cell must be a conscious and intelligent
being as well in one place of the body as in the other. If
certain actions are performed often enough, so as to be
408 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
a prominent part in the records of the individual's past
experience or memory, those actions will likely reappear
in the new individual. We do not understand how the
cell is able to take and keep a record of past events for
future use (which power we call memory) but we know
this to be a fact. From this fact of memory, the power
to use the records of the past to guide the actions in the
future, we are able to clearly understand the cause of
heredity, evolution and progress. Why does a kernel of
corn grow into a corn stalk and not into a sunflower?
Just for the same reason that a carpenter will build houses
and a watchmaker will build watches, and just for the
same reason that a muskrat will build huts in which to
live over the water while the squirrel will build his nest
in the tree. Stored in the memory is a record of past ex-
periences of each of those individuals. The corn building
cell has had no experience in building the sun flower nor
has the squirrel had any experience in building houses
over the water, nor has the carpenter had any experience
in building watches.
Many meaningless words have been invented, — for in-
stance, such as geotropic and heliotropic, which are used
to express certain properties of plants ; that is to say, the
roots of plants are said to be geotropic because they grow
downward into the earth, while the stem and branches
are said to be heliotropic because they grow upward into
the sunlight. Now the fact is, there are no such things.
The root is not compelled to grow down into the earth
nor the stem to grow up towards the sunlight by reason
of anything except the own free will of the cells or build-
ers. The cells building the roots are working for a pur-
pose and that is to get down into the ground to get the
minerals for building material and the cells building the
stem must get up into the sunlight, to get the heat which
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 409
they must use to effect chemical action in the manufacture
of the different kinds of building material and food. All
the cells of the plant, be it root or stem, understand their
business and know what they are about and what they
want. This is clearly proven by the fact that a piece of
root placed in the ground will grow in both directions
and so will a piece of stem or branch. The cells in either
place in the root or stem know what they must have to
develop their colony, which we call a plant. A plant is
a vast colony of individual cells, working together to per-
petuate their existence. To build their habitation called
a plant, they must have building material, and this they
produce from mixing chemically and mechanically the
minerals of the earth and the elements contained in air
and water. The cells of the plant building the root going
down into the ground for minerals are no more geotropic
than a professor going down into his cellar for a can of
sour milk ; nor are the cells building the stem up into the
sunlight any more heliotropic than a preacher going up
into his garret for a piece of dried mutton. They all act
for a purpose.
Such is the case also with the polyps. Any part of them
will grow into a complete polyp. It is clear that in cer-
tain cases each cell from the entire colony of cells knows
how to build the entire animal or plant. We find this
to be the case until the animal or plant becomes very
highly organized and specialized, and then we find certain
cells are set apart for the specific purpose of building the
individual at the proper time, and these are given, as you
might say, a special training and college course in the
business.
The industries of the bee and their social organization
is so very similar to that of the cell that they can be used
to illustrate the actions of the cell in many ways, espe-
410 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
cially to show the same intellect in the smaller beings or
structures as in the larger. For instance when the bees
are taken south to perpetual sunshine they quit storing
honey for the winter. Whole communities of bees some-
times take to theft and live by robbing other hives, just
like man plundering his fellow man, and they will de-
stroy the queen first, so as to create a disturbance and
disorganization among the workers.
The ants rob and plunder each other, take each other
captive as slaves and compel the captives to do all the
work while the others live in idleness and luxury. It is
perfectly natural that we should find these acts purposive
and intelligent to the same degree in the ants and bees
as in man, because both man and ant are put together and
guided by the same individual, the cell. The cells are in-
dividuals that build just as man does and they use the
same matter and forces in the production of their differ-
ent structures. Man has been and is today studying the
various building schemes and methods for production and
protection now used by the cell.
The cell is the architect, builder and guardian of all liv-
ing things we see such as plants, animals and man, in the
same manner as man is the architect, builder and guard-
ian of all those things we see produced by him, such as
houses, railroads, machines, factories, etc. Because man
cannot produce a microscope powerful enough to see how
the cell produces all his different structures and watch
his organs perform their various functions, there is no
reason to deny the facts because we know that matter
everywhere in the universe follows fixed laws whether it
be a molecule, atom, grain of sand, stone or brick. Heat,
light, electricity, gravitation, chemical affinity, also obey
fixed laws. This we find to be the case everywhere in
the universe. The cell interferes with the laws of matter
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 411
and force just a's man does, and as a master of force and
matter, he compels them to serve him. The cell colonies
we call electric fish gather and store electricity in pre-
cisely the same manner as man. The cells of the oyster
build strong houses of the microscopic lime and mineral
matter that they gather in the water and in order to pro-
duce the required hardness they are compelled to employ
the aid of chemistry, like man.
There is precisely the same distinction between a cell
and other microscopic dead matter as there is between a
man and a stone. The cell is a thinking, conscious, in-
telligent being like man. How can he be anything else
when we consider the fact that we are but a colony of
these beings? There is no cause for dividing life into
animal and vegetable. There are but two kingdoms, the
living and the dead. The vegetable and animal start
alike and are all built by cells. The cell colonies produce
those structures that will be necessary to their existence
and which come within their knowledge and experience,
as man does.
The cells manifest all the functions of the highest life
like eating, choosing, digesting, secreting, working, ex-
creting and generating. Vegetable building cells do just
the same thing as animal building cells as far as the func-
tions of life are concerned. Their knowledge and expe-
rience and ability to produce things are of course differ-
ent, as in animals and man. Every cell accommodates
and adapts himself to the work to be done, as man does.
When not subject to pressure the cell is round, but when
subject to pressure he takes on such forms as allow the
most freedom and give the most efficiency in accomplish-
ing his work. Thus we see him everywhere manifesting
the same reason and actions as man. The male cell of
animals in his preparation to meet, and in his effort to
412 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
find the female cell shows the same wisdom, foresight and
intelligence as the smartest general in the army. The
centrosome or general manager of the cell body in his
careful management of the division of the cell body shows
the same foresight and intelligence. His forces are wisely
conserved and correctly used. In the face of these clearly
and wonderfully intelligent acts, it is absurd to use such
words as "instinct," "heliotropism" and "Natural Law."
Anyone who can see any explanation in such words and
phrases is clearly lacking in the power to correctly ob-
serve things. It is just as sensible to say that man is able
to produce his battleships, etc., by reason of his "instinct"
or that he goes to a banquet by reason of his "heliotropism
or that he writes a book by reason of natural law." The
difference between the living and the dead is clear and
certain. The science of chemistry has proven that atoms
and molecules of matter must obey fixed laws in just the
same manner as the larger particles of matter like grains
of sand or stones and bricks, that everywhere in the uni-
verse matter does, always has and always will follow
fixed laws.
Based upon these facts man can now produce a large
number of things contained in the body and found in liv-
ing structures, such as carbon compounds and many
others. We must, however, not lose sight of the fact that
these are not the cell itself, not the living beings them-
selves. These chemical compounds are the productions
of the cell for his own use and purpose. We must remem-
ber that the cells cannot produce them for his own use in
any different manner than man. The cell or man must
follow and observe the fixed laws of matter and force in
order to be able to produce the particular article desired.
The same laws must be observed in handling atoms and
molecules as in handling mortar, bricks or electricity.
CAUSE OF EVOLUTION 413
The same reason, consciousness, and intellect must be
there to guide matter and force in the microscopic world
as well as in our world. Knowing and observing the laws
of matter, man can mix certain materials like cement and
sand and produce a concrete, in similar manner the cell,
knowing and observing the same laws, can mix lime and
other materials and produce a shell, and knowing and ob-
serving the laws of matter, man can make a substance
that, when forced through capillary holes, will harden
when exposed to the air and when wound into threads
will be artificial silk. The cells in silk worms produce
the real thing in exactly the same manner. We imitate
and follow the process used and observed by the cells in
the silk worm, step by step. The production of the silk,
whether done by the cell or man, involves a knowledge of
chemistry and mechanics and requires intelligence.
Each in his place could produce nothing without knowl-
edge, experience and intellect. I could go on indefinitely
in this manner and compare the action and production of
man and cell and show the exact similarity. The hard
frames of trees and plants and animals and tough pro-
tecting covers of trees, plants and animals are produced
by the cell colonies for their use and purpose, to protect
themselves, in precisely the same manner as man pro-
duces his houses, clothing, etc., to resist and protect him-
self from enemies and the elements.
The intelligence of man is inferior to that of. the cell
because he must learn and get his advice from the cell.
We can see that the cell understands how to handle the
different forces in nature like heat, light, sound, electric-
ity, motion, etc. They use these forces for this and that
purpose to produce certain desired results just as man
does. They make and use heat to warm up their habita-
tions. They make a light to guide their actions, and elec-
414 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
tricity for both offensive and defensive purposes. We
find the cell employing all these blind forces also before
he discovered the advantages of social life and while he
was living the life of the savage. We see the cell living
the single separate life of the savage today and we see him
make darts and arrows. We see him go hunting for his
food. We see him begin the social life as in the Volvox
and sponges. We see him develop social habits. We
see him finally in the highly organized colonies of cells,
such as plants and animals. We see him in this highly
organized social state build antlers on the deer. We see
him build the fly traps on plants. We see him tear down
and dismantle the caterpillar and with the same material
build a flying machine we call butterfly, and we see him
paint the wings and body of his flying machine, so as to be
able to deceive all his enemies. We see him do all these
things and we are forced to the conclusion that if man is
intelligent so is the cell. We are forced to the conclusion
that if man produced his various structures by reason of
intellect, then the cell also produced his analagous struc-
tures by reason of intellect. There can be no distinction.
CHAPTER 10.
CONCLUSIONS.
We have now investigated and discussed so many
points tending to show what plants and animals really
are, that I shall close with this chapter, and state what
I think should be the natural conclusions from the facts
at hand.
We shall take a general survey of the whole situation
again, and see if we are not forced to admit that all plants
and animals are built by and for the cells, in precisely
the same manner that the structures produced by man are
also produced by and for men ; that the cause of man's
ability to produce houses, railroads, ships and other struc-
tures is the fact that he is intelligent ; that the cell also
is so in no less degree. In fact I believe that the cells
living singly, like the cells that make weapons to kill
their prey at a distance, and many social cells like those
who build climbing plants, and also those who build and
invent contrivances with which to catch and poison large
animals like deer, camels and even lions, have a keener
intellect than man.
We remember how Dixon showed that plant building
cells must have not only all of the five senses that we
have but also two more which he called psychic and
physical sense, because it is a fact that some climbing
plants will creep towards the nearest support, and if the
416 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
support is shifted several feet from its former position,
the vine will within a few hours change its course, in the
new direction. This it will do even if the view of the
support is obscured and concealed by ridges of earth.
How do we account for the "homing instinct" in the
pigeons and the bee? We say we do not understand it;
we give it a name, call it instinct, act wise, and say that
those instinctive acts were at one time performed with
a conscious intelligence and were repeated until they
became automatic and instinctive. This method of ex-
plaining something not understood by giving it a name,
leads only to confusion. If these plants and pigeons have
a sense and intellect that we do not have nor do not un-
derstand, why not admit it? If instinctive acts are in-
telligent,— which fact they now admit, — why do they not
admit also that they are intelligent whether produced by
plant, animal or man?
We have not the ability to penetrate into the future
and the unknown, but we should apply common sense to
what we do know. The idea that there is nothing in life
but matter and force I do not believe has been proven, but
is yet apparently without foundation. We find matter
and force in the organic world ; they follow fixed laws.
In the organic or living world, we find matter, force and
intelligence. If the living things defy the natural forces,
and act differently and only for themselves, we must
admit the fact that life or living things are directed by
an intelligent force. As far as we have explored the ac-
tions of natural forces from the molecule to the distant
solar systems, matter and force obey fixed laws. In
life we find all living beings from the cell to man moving
contrary to the fixed laws of matter and force. They
control and direct matter and force for their own pur-
pose. The fixed laws of gravitation cause all water in
CONCLUSIONS 417
streams to run into the ocean. The intelligence of man
and the beaver can stop and compel the water to wait,
and to serve man or beaver in building- houses, dams or
irrigation works.
Some people claim for the cell only irritability and not
intelligence. The word irritability is meaningless. They
poke a needle into a cell, or pour acid on him and when
he jumps around trying to escape or defend himself, they
say he is irritable. Such experiments and expressions
are pure nonsense. You tie any man down, and poke his
naked body with sharp iron bars, and burn him with acids
and poisons and his actions would also be irritable, what-
ever may be understood by that word.
The actions of the cell when examined in his natural
habitat show the same intelligence and foresight as man.
Think of the amoeba, carrying with him material with
which he can make a coat of armor and cover himself
when necessary for self preservation. Whether this ani-
mal we call cell or amoeba came to exist by a chance
assemblage of matter or not we do not yet know. It took
place ages ago, before any plants or animals existed. We
find the same struggle for existence down on the lower
plane of life in the microscopic world where the cells live
as we do in the life of the larger beings of plants and
animals.
It is not necessary in discussing the question at hand
to know how the cell came into existence. We are con-
cerned at this time with the questions, who produces
plants and animals, and how is it done. From careful
investigation of all the facts, it must be answered that
the cell produces plants and animals precisely in the same
manner as man produces houses, ships and railroads.
The magnitude of the work done by the cell in the
past ages as evidenced by the coal deposits and fossil
418 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
remains, shows the enormous length of time in which he
has been engaged in battle with the elements in his strug-
gle for existence. The cells like other animals are of
different sizes ; they live on and off each other in the same
manner as plants, animals and man do ; the larger devour
the smaller. The amoeba, which most resembles the man
building cell, is among the largest. The organic material
we need for food and clothing is manufactured by the cells
in plants and animals from other raw material in the soil,
water and air. The material generally used is water,
salts, carbonic acid and ammonia. The plant, cells can
combine carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen to form
these substances known as fats, sugar, starch and other
carbohydrates.
The cell uses the heat of the sun to separate the oxy-
gen from the carbon and the nitrogen from the hydrogen
in the manufacture of sugar, oil, starch and other carbo-
hydrates and which may be again reconverted into heat
by burning in the animal fire or in the open fire. The
only beings in the world that can and know how to do
these things, how to manufacture these things we need,
are the cells that, build plants. Man is bending his ener-
gies in the effort to discover and grasp the secrets from
the cell. Think what a change in the world when the
secret is discovered, when man can change the crude ele-
ments into sugar, starch and oil for food.
We have made a beginning, as we have already dis-
covered how to extract the nitrogen from the air and
many other things made by the cell. You see it is the
same with the cell as with man, if anything is to be done,
the cell must do it. His intelligence must be there to
guide and direct matter and force in such a way as to
effect certain results.
If no intelligence is there to guide it, matter will al-
CONCLUSIONS 419
ways follow fixed laws. Air will stay air and water will
remain water. The intelligence of man is necessary to
control, guide, direct and arrange the blind forces and
dead matter to effect the results desired, as in the manu-
facturing of nitrogen, or extracting it from the air. It
is also equally necessary to have the same guiding in-
telligence in the production of this same material by the
cell. If you furnish the hen building cells with lime, they
will cover the eggs with a shell. The cell can not pro-
duce anything by magic any more than man. The mate-
rial must be at hand, but the material alone will produce
nothing. Some intelligent being must arrange or direct
the arrangement of the raw materials, before we get the
production of the structures.
The forces of magnetism, electricity, light, heat, and
motion follow fixed laws. The cell takes advantage of
these laws just as man does and by so doing produces
the food and building material which he needs. The cell
is no chance product, he is a living conscious being.
Watch him under the microscope ; watch his movements
in the water, how he darts about in search for food, and
how he regulates his speed, so as to avoid colliding with
other cells; watch him as he chooses this food 'and rejects
the other, and you will be forced to admit that his actions
are voluntary and those of an intelligent being.
The cell has the same work to perform as man. He
must provide himself with food and cover. He must take
in food and dispose of waste matter. He must exercise
all the bodily functions of man, such as respiration, cir-
culation, movement and excretion.
We delude ourselves with the idea that intelligence
can only exist where there is a brain and nervous system.
We must remember that man, animal or plant is only a
colony of cells and that plants with neither brain, nerves
420 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
nor muscles can think and invent traps with which to
catch insects, showing the most extraordinary skill and
inventive genius.
As soon as the insect gets far enough inside the trap,
the signal to slam the trap shut is given and the insect
is caught. The plant cell then cuts him up into micro-
scopic particles with an acid combination called gastric
juice and the cells eat the insect.
In the plant called Sundew, the trap is also set and
baited. The tentacles of this plant all work together,
pushing the helpless insect towards the center where it
is treated in a similar manner. It is digested with a liquid
similar to the gastric juice of man. If anything touches
those traps which is not good to eat, they get rid of it in
the best way they can and pay no attention to it.
These actions are in every detail the same as those of
intelligent man would be under similar circumstances.
The individual directing the actions of that part of the
plant composing the fly-trap show the* highest degree of
skill. The fly-trap is no chance product. It is a carefully
considered, well-ordered scheme and arrangement, cal-
culated and designed to effect a certain purpose. The
forces at work here catching the foxy insects are no blind
chance forces, they are intelligently controlled and di-
rected.
We have investigated the effects of all the material
forces, such as gravity, electricity, chemical action, light,
heat, cold, wind, water, etc., and we have found that life
is not any of these forces, but that the cell is affected by
these forces in precisely the same manner as man, ani-
mals or plants. It is of course only what we should ex-
pect, as all plants and animals are colonies of cells, and
the cell could not be affected by these forces any differ-
ently in one place than in another.
CONCLUSIONS 421
We have also found that the cell uses the raw material
and natural forces to build and produce his structures,
fight his enemies and assist him in his struggle for exist-
ence, in precisely the same manner as plants, animals
and man do. This too, of course, is what we should ex-
pect to find, when we consider what the cell is and that
he is the one who made us and directs our actions. His
desires and needs must be, and are the same in one place
as in another. Life, we see, is produced by the activities
of the cell.
Consider how the cells live a separate parasitic life in
the sex organs of plants and animals, taking no part in
the general work of the body. They live a college life,
taking a preparatory course, and in the meantime they are
fed and taken care of by the other cells of the body. The
cell performs all the work done in the body. The muscle
cells do the hard work of pulling. The gland cells pro-
duce the different kinds of secretions, like milk, tears,
oil, saliva, digestive juices, etc. The white cells, blood
cells, lymph cells bring and carry away material, and the
brain cells and nerve cells do the thinking and directing.
The intelligence in man, as well as in the cell, is neces-
sary to direct matter and natural forces. The whole
fabric of man's civilization, as well as that of the cell col-
onies we call plants and animals, would collapse if this
guiding intelligence was destroyed.
We should also remember that the cell is a highly or-
ganized individual, having all the special organs required
to perform all the functions necessary to the life of plants
and animals, and having in addition other special organs,
the use of which is not yet understood by man. It is very
likely that the cell has some special sense organs which
give him a different and a superior intellect to our own.
This is evidenced by some animals, insects and birds
422 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
possessing special powers, like for instance the "homing
instinct" in pigeons, which enables them to find their
home under such circumstances as would seem impossi-
ble to a human being.
We know that some cells have a special machine and
apparatus with which they can make their own food from
the crude material of earth, air and water, like fats,
starches and sugar. We can see the machine and see it
produce the starch, but we can not see how they do it.
We know that they use the heat from the sun as a force
in the same manner as we use coal in the forges and fur-
naces of our factories. We use heat to create a mole-
cular disturbance in matter, just as they do, but on a much
larger scale.
All the structures made by cells, just as those made by
man, show a purpose, intention and design. The bird is
made to fly, the deer to run, the fish to swim. The feet
of land animals are specially constructed to suit require-
ments.
Some evolutionists claim that environments produce
organs ; that cold climate will grow hair ; that the parti-
cles flying in the air will produce a nose ; that the vibra-
tion of air will build the ear, and the vibration of light
will make the eye. In like manner, they claim that the
ground produces the organs of walking, the air, the wings,
and the water, the fins on the fish. Now this idea is ab-
surd; environment will produce nothing; if anything is
to be produced the cell must produce it. This can be
clearly demonstrated by certain experiments heretofore
referred to. The hair on an animal will grow when it
is necessary to protect the animal from the weather. If
the animal in a cold climate is kept indoors or covered
with clothes the hair will not grow. It is the same with
the callous on your hands or feet. You or the cells in you
CONCLUSIONS 423
must provide something on the bottom of your feet or on
your hands, to prevent the wearing into the flesh. If you
protect the bottom of your feet with sole leather or your
hands with gloves, no callous to speak of will grow. The
intelligence of man or cell will produce a protecting cover
for your feet or hands, but the ground will not do it.
It is clear that bees, ants, spiders, birds and animals
can no more build their houses, provide their food and
carry on their various domestic activities without con-
scious intelligence than man can build his houses and
provide his food without intelligence. The actions of the
plant catching an insect and the actions of man catching
a rat are identical. The actions in either case are directed
by an intelligent designer and builder.
A plant has neither nerves, muscles or brain, as we un-
derstand those terms ; it has, however, the same beings,
the cells. The cell is the builder and caretaker, and we
find the same purposive and intelligent acts in a plant as
we do in an animal. The old notion that only man acts
from reason, and that other animals act without reason,
is simply foolish. They prove that instinct has arisen
from conscious intelligence, by the fact that the acts of
walking and playing a piano, etc., are first directed by our
conscious intelligence, and after they are learned, they
become, as they say, automatic, reflex or instinctive, or
habitual. Let them call it what they please, the fact is
that our hands and limbs are trained and instructed, and
as soon as the muscle cells and nerve cells in charge learn
what there is to do, they take care of the work, permitting
the cells in charge of our sense organs to do something
else more important.
Every cell of your body has the power to remember
and learn, just as the cell in your brain. The honey comb
of the bee, the dwellings of the ants, and the nests of the
424 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
birds are marvelous works of art. They admit that these
structures are wonders in design and architecture, but
that the beings producing them have no intelligence now,
but that at some time in the distant past, these acts were
performed with intelligence so long that they finally be-
came a habit, automatic and instinctive. Can anyone
comprehend how or when any animal, including man, was
any more intelligent than he is today. It is nonsense.
To say that a bird or an animal performs intelligent pur-
posive acts blindly, is only playing with words. The acts
of a being performed with precision and certainty to
effect a certain purpose, are not done accidentally nor
blindly, any more in the case of one kind of being than
in another. When the insect, fly or beetle, gets inside of
the trap of the plant called Venus fly-trap, the trap snaps
shut and holds him. The plant or rather the cells in
charge of the trap are notified that he is far enough inside
of the trap, and so they slam it shut ; as soon as the insect
is caught, gastric juice is made to flow over him and
digest him ; when the insect is eaten, the trap is again
opened and set for a new victim. If this plant is fooled
by a substance not food, it will not catch it, nor will it
try to digest it. The cells in the plant can distinguish and
choose what they want. Can intelligent man build and
operate a trap any better, or show any more intelligence?
The structure produced, occupied and operated by these
cells has no blood, bones, nerves or brain like man, but
the beings who direct the actions of this structure are the
same and can not be distinguished from the others in
general appearance under the microscope. If the cells
of man and the cells of a plant look alike and act alike,
why should one be any more intelligent than the other.
The cell builds everything just as a highly skilled man
or an architect does.
CONCLUSIONS 425
The mind which controls the actions of insects, ants
and animals, including man, is the mind of the cell. It is
this master mind that directs all living things, plants
or animals ; therefore, we find about the same degree of
intelligence in all these structures. If you place mustard
or acid on the thigh of a headless frog, it will scrape it off.
It will try with one foot first, and should that foot be re-
moved or hindered, it will attempt to scrape it off with
the other foot. This simply shows that the brain or head
is not necessary in order to give intelligent directions and
orders to the limbs, and that intelligence resides in every
cell. The digestive system, the circulatory system, the
respiratory system and the lymphatic system are all spe-
cial departments looked after in our bodies by cells, who
have each their special and specific work to do. All such
work requires the conscious intelligent directing of some
cell. The star-fish, for instance, has no brain, but his
acts are as intelligent as any other animal's, considering
his habitat, environment and place in life. In fact volun-
tary movements take place in plants and animals whether
there is any brain or not. It is very clear that no brain is
necessary.
The cells, plants and animals, manage each their own
affairs, in spite of the interference of the elements. They
employ matter and force in building up their different
structures, and they control and direct the force and mat-
ter employed. They select some elements and reject
others ; they override and suppress some physical forces
and employ others, as circumstances require. A plant
will grow upward in spite of the force of gravitation, if
it is necessary that it get the aid of sunlight.. The forces
of attraction, repulsion, capillarity, adhesion, etc., are
taken advantage of and employed freely by cell, plant,
animal or man. The fossil remains of plants and animals,
426 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
like the ruins of old cities, dwellings and tools once used
by man, are a record and history of the past ages where
each one can read and study for himself what has taken
place in the past history of life. These ruins, however,
are in no wise as interesting as the living beings which
have left no ruins, like insect life and others.
Let us consider for a moment the subject of protective
coloring. Some caterpillars not only color themselves
the color of the objects on which they rest, but in many
cases they change their shape so as to simulate some other
object, like leaves, twigs, etc. This illustration by Mr.
Schulte (Fig. 50) is a good example of what they can do.
You notice in this picture how closely the caterpillar is
able to imitate a young twig, both in color, size and gen-
eral appearance. Man has just begun to understand the
great advantage of using these tricks of protective color-
ing to deceive his enemies in battle. Colors intended to
deceive the enemy are now being used on battleships,
soldiers and artillery. The cell which builds and directs
this caterpillar and the cell which builds and directs the
actions of man, cannot be distinguished, one from the
other, under the most powerful microscope. There can
be no difference between the purpose, wisdom and fore-
sight exhibited by the actions of this caterpillar and the
purpose, wisdom and foresight exhibited by the actions
of man, when he covers his body or machine gun to de-
ceive the enemy. The actors look alike and their actions
are alike. Plants as well as animals take stock of and
comprehend their situation and environments. In this
respect there is no difference in cells, plants or animals,
each will change and modify itself to surroundings.
Some claim that life is caused by chemical action, that
life is purely a chemical action of matter. It is useless
to guess as to the first cause of life. We are concerned
CONCLUSIONS 427
first about the cause of plants and animals, we must first
understand plainly the cause of them and then it will be
time to begin to understand the cause of the cell. In
order to understand who builds skyscrapers and railroads,
it is not necessary to understand who built man. The
fact which I wish to make clear in this book is that the
cell builds all living things we see, and the reason that
he is able to do so is the fact that he is an intelligent being.
The cell is a self directed, self acting, intelligent and ag-
gressive being, superior to his surroundings and able to
direct and control matter and the forces of nature just as
man can. We find him so at this time ; what he has been
or was in the beginning, millions of years ago, we do not
yet know or understand, perhaps some day we shall.
The idea that climate will produce fat and fur on ani-
mals in the frozen North, is foolish. These things are pro-
duced for a purpose by the beings or cells which built the
animals. Water will not produce the swimming appara-
tus on a fish any more than it will produce a propeller on
a steamship. Back of all these structures, there must be
some one who can direct and form blind forces and crude
matter to effect the desired purpose. In walking, my acts
can be directed either by my brain cells or by the cells in
my spine. In either case the actions are intelligent. The
movements, whether directed by the one or the other, re-
quire the conscious intelligence of some one. This some
one must be somewhere.
A great number of educated people of late have come
to the conclusion that nearly all animals reason. If they
would investigate and stop to think, they would soon be
convinced that not only do animals reason but also plants
because they are both produced and occupied by the same
beings. The idea that some actions are reflex, automatic
and instinctive because performed by animals is without
428 CELL, INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
foundation. There are hundreds of plants now known
which catch and devour insects with as much skill and
dexterity as man catches the larger animals. The com-
mon cell called the amoeba which lives in fresh water
ponds, and which most closely resembles the man build-
ing cells, is no fool. He looks simple but he is not any
more simple than a human being. He eats, drinks,
breathes and moves from place to place. He knows what
he wants to eat, because he chooses one kind of fpod and
rejects the other. He carries with him a concealed coat
or armor with which he can cover his body in case of
drought or other danger, and which he removes when the
water comes back or danger is removed. Where does
man show any more mechanical skill or foresight than
does this amoeba, the primitive ancestor of man?
We must not forget what the intellect in man is under-
stood to be. Webster defines it as that "Faculty of the
human soul or mind which receives or comprehends the
ideas communicated to it by the senses." You will notice
from this that the intellect is considered to be those
groups of cells connected with your sense organs which
receive the information and do the thinking. The five
senses are the instruments by which the brain cells ob-
tain information from the outside world, they have noth-
ing to do with the thinking. The cells inside of the man
do the thinking, and not the man, just as it is the man
inside of the ship or submarine that thinks and directs its
actions and not the ship or the submarine. We speak
of the ship "Maine" as an individual, doing this or that,
forgetting that it is not the ship which performs the var-
ious actions, but that it is the men who are inside of the
ship. The same is true of the plant catching a fly ; it is
not the plant but the cells who are in charge of the plant
that capture the fly.
CONCLUSIONS 429
When I speak of the cell I generally mean the largest
cells and the social cells which have the habit of building
themselves into social colonies, like plants and animals.
The different sizes and species of cells are simply unlim-
ited. These smaller cells called germs and bacteria seem
to make food for the larger, in the same manner as ani-
mals feed one upon the other. It is evident that un-
counted numbers of ultra microscopic species of germs
exist that never will be seen. Those large cells that are
well known, however, such as build for themselves cov-
erings of a pearly, horny or flinty material, and still retain
their separate single existence, as well as those that or-
ganize themselves into social colonies, like plants and
animals, certainly exhibit all the characters of an intelli-
gent being; they discharge every function of the higher
animals. There is no doubt in my mind that every cell
is composed of still smaller cells, and that the size of
every cell depends on the number and organization of the
primordial beings which together make up the cell. Every
cell is a crowd of thousands or more individuals, each one
having this special work to do just as the organs of an
individual have their special work to do in different places
of the body.
When the cell multiplies by division, there is simply
an even division of the individuals, each half receiving his
share of the beings and equipment possessed by the cell.
Who is this being in the cell who takes charge of and
directs the work of equal division of the cell? We see
him do the work and we call him centrosome. Intelli-
gence is clearly shown by this individual, who looks after
this important work. A great number of the cells who
build plants and animals live a single and separate life
several months before they begin building the plants and
animals. Such is the case with several sea and water
430 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
animals and plants. After swimming around for some
months, they finally decide to build and settle down in
permanent habitations, like plants and stationary animals
in the bottom of the sea. They anchor their bodies and
colonies to solid objects ; they move about and have or-
gans of locomotion like other animals. The movements
of the cell are never without a purpose, any more than
are the movements of other animals. The cells dart
about with both speed and skill in pursuit of other cells
and other objects for food. They are careful to avoid
each other, unless they attack and seize each other as prey
for food. Their movements are clearly voluntary and
intelligent. Some have paddles, some have tails and some
have other mechanisms for propulsion ; their methods
vary just as methods vary among animals.
When we comprehend correctly what life is, that all
plants and animals are the productions of an invisible in-
telligent being, it is then easy to understand it. It is
impossible for us to do the work of the cell just as it is
impossible for the cell to do our work. We can, however,
understand what the mind of the cell is, from our own
mind. The cell has the same problems to solve as man.
Matter and force are the same everywhere in the uni-
verse ; they affect the cell as they do man. To direct the
blind forces and to form crude matter so as to best sub-
serve his purpose, are the problems of the cell as well
as those of man. The amoeba must provide himself with
food, and have material with him ready at hand at all
times, with which he may cover his nakedness when nec-
essary. The power to select and carry the raw material
that will instantly harden into a flinty armour when
spread around his body is a great discovery and a knowl-
edge which must be passed on from one generation to
the other.
CONCLUSIONS 431
Certain physicists, chemists and physiologists claim of
course that there is no such thing as life or intelligence
in the universe ; that there is nothing but matter and
force ; that force goes always with matter ; that matter
under certain conditions could and would assume life;
and that no intelligence is required to guide matter. It
is, in my opinion, useless to make any such statements
at this time. Whether matter could have got started
some time in the past million years, and developed finally
into the intelligent being we call the cell, which builds
and directs the actions of man, we do not know. But
from the evidence at hand it would appear that life, the
intelligent force, as distinguished from the blind forces
of nature, is a separate force in the universe. A clear line
can be drawn between the dead and the living. Intelli-
gence must have existed before structure. The idea
must first exist how to build and what to build. From
the facts before us it would appear that a separate intelli-
gent force may exist unseen in the universe, separate
from matter. The living intelligent cells, like man, con-
trol and direct matter and are masters of it. The cell that
builds man, and the cell that builds the tree that lives a
thousand years, look alike and are alike ; the only differ-
ence in them is their record of past events, their experi-
ence and knowledge. This same is true of animals and
man. The general appearance of a man who knows how
to build a skyscraper and that of the man who knows
how to build a hut, is the same ; the only difference in
them is in their knowledge, — in the experiences stored up
in their memories. Every species of cell can only know
how to build the structure from which he came.
The fact that everything is first produced before it is
used shows clearly that some one is building for a pur-
pose. At the right time milk will be made ready as fond
432 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE Or EVOLUTION
for the infant. Why is it always produced at the right
time and always when needed? The sense organs in the
same way are prepared and ready in advance, before used,
and are made for a purpose ; they are not chance produc-
tions, but are in every way similar to the intelligent pur-
posive acts of man. The fly-traps of plants and the elec-
tric organs in fishes are in the same manner made for a
use and purpose, in accordance with the ideas in the
minds of the makers. Not only do we find organs made
for a specific use but we also find that they are in charge
of beings that know how to use them.
Plants hibernate in the winter, just as many of the ani-
mals do. The cells of the plant build the leaves whereby
they are able to get in touch with the sunlight and make
their food and other material in the summer ; when fall
comes they go back into the tree and sever the leaves
from the tree. The twining plants produce first grasping
tackle they call tendrils ; the plant then moves its head
in a circle, feeling in that way for quite a distance around
itself for something to grasp. The builders make first an
apparatus with which to fasten their structure onto other
objects. They know what they intend to do and at the
first opportunity they do it. The plant cells show also
great intelligence and skill in producing brilliant colors
and sweet perfumes, to lure insects and compel them to
serve them in numerous ways.
The limited ability of the human mind to comprehend
things, and its liability to misunderstand things. — even
of the minds of those who should be the most likely to
see things in the right light, are clearly shown by Mr.
Loeb of the Rockefeller Institute in his description and
interpretation of the actions of the young beetle, which
came out of the ground in the spring hungry and knew
how and where to find something to eat; without any pre-
CONCLUSIONS 433
vious experience it went directly to the top of the tree
and ate the buds from the end of the twig. The ability
of the beetle to go directly to the top of the tree where
he could find something to eat, without having had any
previous instructions or experience, Mr. Loeb calls "helio-
tropism" while others call it "instinct." There are two
kinds of beetles that I am very well acquainted with in
this country, that live on the outside of the bark on trees
and they are a source of considerable amusement. You
cannot possibly see them except on the instant when they
move. They have their backs shaped like the rough
bumps on the bark and of course also have the exact color
of the bark. I can generally find one by passing my hands
or something over the bark of trees, especially of oaks.
When disturbed they will make a swift rush for a new
place to hide, and it will always be in a spot where their
shape will exactly simulate the edge of the bark. When
I discover one I usually call someone's attention to the
spot and ask him whether or not he can see the beetle,
and never yet has anyone been able to see him even when
I pointed directly at him, until the beetle made a swift
spurt to a new location. When I read Mr. Loeb's idea
of what was the cause of the young beetle going directly
to the top of the tree to eat the buds, I thought to myself
here absurdity has reached its limit. It seemed to me
that when a man like Mr. Loeb will believe and will at-
tempt to make others believe that it is the sunlight that
makes the beetle go to the top of the tree and eat the buds,
that it was time for someone to try to get the tangled mass
of contradictions and mystic absurdities straightened out
so that a person with ordinary common sense could un-
derstand it. The idea seems ridiculous to me that a beetle
should be heliotropic because he goes after something
to eat, and especially that as soon as he has eaten a bud
434 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
his heliotropism has left him and the sunlight no longer
attracts him. He goes even so far as to state that it is a
lucky thing for the beetle that the heliotropism leaves
him as soon as he has eaten the bud, for if it did not, the
beetle would be stuck fast, helpless, at the top of the twig
by the upward pull of the sunlight, which he calls helio-
tropism. What has become of our thinkers when such
statements will stand unchallenged and undisputed?
Mr. Loeb as well as others should know that sunlight
has no more effect on the beetle to pull him in any direc-
tion than it has on other animals ; and he should know
that the sunlight or heliotropism will not attract a beetle
towards his food any more than the same force will at-
tract a cow towards a haystack. He should know that
the beetle prefers darkness, and goes directly to the top
of the tree for something to eat in the darkest nights, as
well as at other times when he happens to get out of his
house in the ground, where he has been rebuilt from a
worm into this beetle by the cells that occupy him. The
cells that build the tree beetle need not "take a back seat"
for any other cells in the world for inventive ability and
constructive skill, not even for the cells that build and
guide Mr. Loeb or Mr. Rockefeller. I think the tree bee-
tles exhibit a most wonderful skill and intellect in the
builders, as is shown by the many inventions of shapes
and forms, in these illustrations (Fig. 51) from Mr.
Schute's Evolution. A tree beetle is a habitation built
by a colony of cells, so as to be able to dig holes in the
ground, run up and down the side of trees and navigate
the air; and he is of such shape and color as to deceive
all his enemies that might wish to devour him, and he
certainly is a great success. He is with us today while
the larger extinct structures are with us only as fossil
bones and remains, and he will be with us on this earth as
CONCLUSIONS
43.S
FIG. SO. — Central American Leaf Hoppers resembling the prickly and thorny
_rowths of plants on which they presumably live. Certain of them als<
sent gall growths on the plants. Protective resemblance. [Figures collt
Dr. L O. Howard '
cana.] — SCHUTE.
growths of plants on which they presumably live. Certain of them also repre-
sent gall growths on the plants. Protective resemblance. [Figures collected by
Dr. L. O. Howard, from various plates published in the Biologia Central i-Ameri-
I
436 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
long as man, and when a great number of larger, and
what we consider more intelligent individuals or cell col-
onies are no more. The cells that made and guide the
beetle can clearly remember from their former experience
in the parent beetle where buds could be found in the early
spring, and so they guide him directly to the place in the
top of the tree. In precisely the same manner would an
experienced captain of the submarine or ship guide his
structure directly to the proper place, by reason of his
knowledge and past experiences. There can be no mys-
tery, instinct or heliotropism about it.
The plant called the Venus fly trap with its actions so
similar to man's in making traps and catching flies, is a
very good illustration of design, intellect and foresight
by plant building cells. Still it is no better illustration
than many others are except that the actions of this plant
resemble so closely those of man. Take for instance the
fly traps made by the plant called the Darlingtonia. This
trap is a hood or box into which the insect is decoyed,
and the hood or box has transparent patches just like
glass, which lead the insect to think that they are open-
ings, and the insect attempts to escape through these win-
dows just as a fly attempts to escape through a pane of
glass. We could make very effective fly traps in the same
way, — in fact, we use some now made on the same plan.
The mind required to conceive, invent, and construct
these traps with these window lights for the purpose of
fooling the insects and in that way capturing them for
food is in no manner different from our own.
A plant called utricularia growing in the bottom of
ponds can uproot itself and can produce a gas, by means
of which like a balloon it can come to the surface and
flower. As soon as it is through flowering, it again be-
comes heavy by releasing its gases and settles to the
CONCLUSIONS 437
bottom of the pond, where it fastens itself again with
roots. Consider the elaborate machinery used in these
operations and the skill required to operate it. The
plant roots and uproots itself at pleasure ; it makes a gas
with which to raise itself to the surface just when re-
quired. The individuals who build and operate this plant
must necessarily understand and have as complete a
knowledge of hydrostatics and mechanical designs as the
builders and operators of our submarines. The ability to
make, keep and release certain gases at just the right time
so as to cause the plant to float or sink as required, shows
precisely the same skill in this plant building cell as in
man. Before it is ready it is anchored by its roots to the
bottom ; as soon as it is ready to float, they cut the roots
and release themselves. In what manner do these var-
ious actions differ from those of man with his air ships
and submarines?
Every flower has some peculiar scheme of its own to
compel insects to brush up against the pollen and carry
it on their backs or in some other manner around to other
plants. It would require volumes to describe all the dif-
ferent schemes and ingenuity displayed by plants to
cause dispersal of their young. The more you examine
into their methods, schemes and inventions, — especially
those of vegetable life, — the more sure and certain you
become of the fact that the cells who build plants and
animals and those cells that resemble these in size are all
possessed of the same degree of intelligence. They all
display the same conscious wisdom, foresight and inven-
tive genius in their place in life as man does in his. The
male salmon after having fought with other males and
obtained possession of the female scoops out a hole in the
sand where the female lays her eggs, and then he covers
the nest again with sand to prevent anything eating his
438 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
young. The young salmon is provided with food enough
to last him until he can get his swimming apparatus and
mouth ready, so as to be able to catch his own food. We
find the same thing to be true in the case of man ; the
germ cell is also provided with food to last about five
days or until it can be connected with the food supply
from the body and attended by the body cells. You see
in every place where you look into the actions and meth-
ods of the cells, whether in their stationary abodes, the
plants, or in their movable dwellings we call animals, the
same wisdom and foresight is displayed. Call it intelli-
gence or what' you will, it is the same as that of man. The
building of the animal body takes place in exactly the same
manner as the building of a large structure by man. Some
cells work at this and some at that ; some build the bones,
some the limbs and some the heart and arteries, etc. They
all work at the same time and in harmony with each
other; each crowd does its part, expecting every other
crowd to do its part too, so that when the structure is
completed, the whole will work harmoniously together as
one whole machine. They must understand each other
and what they are about ; and while the builders are rush-
ing the work, the body cells must do their part and fur-
nish the food and building material in abundance. When
the time conies that the new structure must be taken care
of in the outside world, the food is still furnished by the
cells on the inside, as they know best what he needs, and
the food is then supplied to the new structure at a differ-
ent and more convenient place outside.
The plant furnishes every young plant or seed with
enough provisions to give it a start in life in just the same
manner as animals. Every kernel of grain is the cell pro-
vided with food to give it a start in life, and we crush
and eat both the cell and his food. It has been clearly
CONCLUSIONS 439
demonstrated of late that the cells at the end of the roots
exercise the same selective power as the cells in the stom-
ach. Knowing what is required by orders coming from
different places of the body, they select those particles
and material which are called for, and reject all others.
The materials selected by the cell at the surface of the
roots are carried inward and up to the places where they
are required, in the same manner as in animals ; and the
leaves absorb all the moisture they can from the air, and
what more is necessary is brought up from the roots. The
plants have in a way a mouth at each end. They have
a circulation of the sap in different directions, up and
down, for the purpose of transportation, just as animals
have a circulation of the blood.
We do not know very much about the beings that go
to make up the intelligent individuals we call the cells.
We see them move about in the cells, produce this and
that, and we call them granules, just as a number of years
ago, we gave the name cell to the intelligent builder of all
life on earth that we now see, and which we call plants
and animals. When the cell was first discovered it was
thought to be merely a crystal of matter and was not
considered a living individual. Man could not then com-
prehend that he had discovered his maker.
It is singular how the cells of plants are affected by
chloroform, drugs and poisons in precisely the same man-
ner as man and animals are. It can be observed in sensi-
tive plants that they cease to be sensitive when chloro-
formed ; and sensitive plants who close their leaves when
jaired or disturbed will get used to it if this disturbance
is kept up for a time and will pay no attention to it, being
affected in the same manner as man and animals would
be. There is a plant called Nepenthes, which has an in-
sect trap like other pitcher plants that catch insects, but
440 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
in addition to the ordinary method it makes a poisonous
gas heavier than air which floats over the water in the
pitcher. The insect is attracted and fooled into this gas
by perfume and honey and when it becomes poisoned and
suffocated by this gas, it falls into the fluid below. This
fluid is possessed of digestive properties similar to those
of gastric juice, and the cells of the plant digest and eat
the insects. Where does man display any more inventive
genius and intelligent schemes, by which to catch ani-
mals for food? Do you suppose that the manufacture of
this heavier-than-air poisonous gas could come about by
chance? While every plant and animal displays actions
purposive and intentional to affect some future end, still
the insect catching plants are the clearest illustrations of
intelligent acts because they are analogous to those of
man. It is a singular thing and the cause is not yet
understood, why only the meat of insects and particles
good for food become stuck and fastened in the sticky
secretions on the leaves of insect catching plants. The
sticky secretion is in composition similar to that used by
man to catch flies, but it is so manipulated that if any-
thing like leaves, gravel, etc. touches it, it does not stick
but for an instant, unless good to eat. How are the cells
of the plant able to manipulate the stickiness of the fluid
so as to stick in one case and not in the other? The
human mind with its limited capacity has not yet been
able to understand or comprehend this secret of the plant
cells. The plant has specialized organs just as the ani-
mals have. When the insect is caught, one crowd of
cells holds him with the trap while another bunch pours
digestive fluid over him and the third group carries his
several microscopic parts to the interior of the plant
where he is eaten by the whole colony of cells that make
up the individual we call insect catching plant. The
CONCLUSIONS 441
seizure, capture and digestion of insects by plants require
precisely the same intelligence as do the capture and
eating of an animal by man. There is no difference in
the general appearance of the plant building cells and the
man building cells. The only difference in them is their
general knowledge, experience and education recorded in
the memory of the individuals. In the past ages the cells
have each accumulated the special experience and knowl-
edge which now guide and direct their actions in the same
manner that the experience and knowledge of every in-
dividual determine and guide his actions. In the insec-
tivorous plant called the Sundew, the tentacles with the
sticky material gradually push the insect over to the
center of the leaf where he is covered with a digestive
juice similar to gastric juice and digested. It is observed
that the juice begins to flow into the center of the leaf
where the plant expects to land the insect as soon as he is
fairly well secured. Intelligent man will act in a similar
manner. As soon as the animal is caught those who have
charge of preparing him for food start their work, an-
ticipating and knowing that the others in due time will
land him in the camp, ready for the kettle.
The plant is not fooled by other objects falling on the
trap and the trap is again set for another insect as soon
as the entrapped one is digested. This is precisely what
man would do under a similar circumstance. The amount
of digestive fluid produced will always be in proportion
to the size of the insect and no digestive fluid will be
wasted. If the trap is fooled into making a closing move
by some other material than food, no digestive juice will
be produced and it will very quickly discover the decep-
tion played on it by man and again open its trap. It
behaves exactly as man would under a similar circum-
stance. The individuals of this colony of cells known as
442 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the Venus fly-trap, and others, understand how to make
an elaborate fly tray and into this they entice and cap-
ture insects for food. They are not in need of this food
because they understand how to make food from the raw
material of earth, air and water by the aid of sunlight in
the same manner as other plant cells. The fly trap could
not have arisen or come to be by any beneficial variation
because it could be of no benefit until completed as a fly
trap, and the catching of flies and insects is a mere sport
and not a necessity. The whole scheme must have been
conceived, planned and discussed and experimented with
in this cell colony for a long time before they got it into
a working condition. No chance variation known as bene-
ficial variation could have possibly produced it. The idea
of catching insects must have existed in the minds of the
builders before they began to prepare and construct these
fly traps. The idea must come before the structure in all
productions of art by man, and it must have been the
same in this case with the cells producing the fly traps.
The methods used by other moving and sensitive plants
like those that sleep and climb, are similar to the methods
used by animals. The climbing plants attach themselves
by grasping hooks and suckers, and direct the several
movements by which they feel around for supports with
a purpose and end in view similar to other animals ; with
the aim in view of climbing up into the sunlight they
take advantage of the principles of engineering. The
schemes of plants for catching insects, however, are more
readily comprehended and recognized by man as intelli-
gent because they are similar to his own. The tricks of
the professional trapper and hunter are recognized in the
actions of the insect catching plants and these actions
show an intellect and skill similar to those of the trapper.
The acts of capturing insects are the same as those of the
CONCLUSIONS 443
hunter, who sets out his decoy birds and lies in wait for
the unsuspecting victims.
It seems clear that in order to produce the organs of
our body, like the eye for instance, the cells must have a
mind similar to that of the man who makes optical instru-
ments ; they must be fully acquainted with the law of
optics. Chance or natural selection knows nothing of
optical law and cannot produce the eye any more than it
can the optical instruments. The same may also be said
of the other organs and especially of the powerful electric
organs in fishes. While these electric organs were merely
in their experimental state, they could not have been of
any advantage to the fish in his pursuit and capture of
other animals for food. The inventive mind of the build-
ers of the fish must have been the cause in this, as in other
inventions ; accident and chance could not produce elec-
tric storage batteries and apparatus with which to gather
and discharge powerful currents of electricity at will.
Accident and chance could no more have produced them
in the fish than in the power plants we now have in our
cities. The fish is a colony of cells and the city is a colony
of men. Why should the production of the cell be that of
accident and chance, and the production of man that of
intelligence? Man attempts to argue that the actions of
other animals are not intelligent and calls these actions
automatic, reflex, habitual and instinctive. When con-
fronted with the fact that these instinctive and automatic
actions are as intelligent and purposive as his own, he
makes the absurd statement that they were at some prior
time directed by the intelligence of the animal until they
became habitual, automatic and instinctive. When could
man or animal have been any more intelligent in the past
than he is today? The words, "variation," "natural selec-
tion," and "adaptation" used by many evolutionists as a
444 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
cause of the production ofdifferent animals and organs of
animals are a delusion, — they are only a playing with
words. The multitudes of cells that make up the colony
or cell republic which we call a plant or animal, must
build or produce the structure, for the climate and chance
variations will produce nothing. It is clear that in the
battle for existence among several contending for space,
the best fitted individual or battleship will generally win
out and survive and perpetuate its kind. No one ever
questioned or disputed this fact, but it is only a fact and
law in the universe, and has nothing to do with the orig-
inal construction of the battleship. The cause of the bat-
tleship was the intelligent being who produced it and
directed its action in battle.
Many writers use words in such combinations that they
become complex and misleading; some wish to appear
wise and invent words and phrases to make you think
they understand something which they do not. These
people are an obstruction to a true'understanding of life
by the busy man. When Darwin, Wallace and Spencer
wrote their theories of evolution, they did not comprehend
that the cell was an intelligent living animal, so they
could not understand the cause of the different structures
in life. But they could clearly see that all plants and ani-
mals were not born or made alike; that all were a little'
different and that the best individual won out in the game
of life, and again produced his kind.
We are told by Darwin, Haeckel and other evolution-
ists that accident and chance produce the living things we
see, like plants and animals. Others tell us that an un-
known Creator produces them. Both sides seem to grope
about in the dark for a cause and deliberately ignore the
plain and real cause. It is just as clear that the cells build
plants and animals for their own use and purpose as is
CONCLUSIONS 445
the fact that man builds houses and ships for his own use
and purpose. One shows precisely the same intellect,
wisdom and foresight in his place in life as does the other.
They mold and form the crude matter and direct the blind
forces in the universe for their own use. The cell is the
builder and thinker in man as well as in all other living
individuals. We know that the cause of man's ability to
produce things is his intelligence, and we know that the
intelligence of man arises from the thinking cells in his
head, hence it seems to me there is no room for argu-
ment.
When we understand life correctly, that the cell is the
cause and builder, that he is intelligent, that he has mem-
ory and knowledge, that he can only act from experience,
just as we do, the mystery of heredity disappears and the
inevitable development of a kernel of corn into a corn-
stalk and not into a sunflower becomes perfectly clear.
These cells have never had any experience or knowledge
of how to produce anything but the corn plant. For that
reason, the corn stalk must necessarily be their specific
production. The cell lives in a different place in life — in
a different world, the microscopic world, but nevertheless
we can tell by his actions what he is and what he does —
"By their acts we shall know them." We know that the
thinking cells in our brain have the power of memory.
This gives us a fairly good understanding of what mem-
ory is in the cell. Why like will produce like and why, in
many cases, like bees and ants and caterpillars and butter-
flies, they produce not only like but also entirely unlike
descendants, is clearly understood because, like man, they
produce what they consider is best and necessary, and
what comes within their knowledge and experience.
We do not know the cause of chemical force, electricity
or gravitation; we do not know the details in the con-
446 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
struction of the cell, but it is not necessary to the question
at hand, and when we do not know it is best and right to
frankly admit it. In no place do we find intelligence in
the actions of the natural forces and dead matter. We
know that an amoeba when necessary can build around
itself a hard protective cover, and to be able to do this, it
would seem necessary that a number of separate in-
dividuals in the cell would be required to perform the act.
Who the builders are and how they work in the amoeba
we do not know because we cannot see them plainly
enough. The natural forces will act whether anything is
necessary or not. The actions of the blind forces like
electricity, etc., take place regardless of the will and
judgment of anyone. Hence -this case of the amoeba
putting on his coat only when it becomes necessary, it
shows at once that intellect is in command, directing the
natural forces and matter, and that the amoeba is an in-
telligent being. The centrosome or general manager in
the cell, who gives orders to the rest of the primordial
beings who make up the cell to either divide or to cover
itself with a protecting covering, is without doubt an in-
telligent being, as appears from his actions, which now
can be seen with a microscope. Not long ago the cell
could barely be seen and we thought it only a crystallized
matter of some sort. The cells build their structures for
a certain purpose, expecting and intending that they shall
be used for that purpose.
However, if it comes to pass that they will not be re-
quired, they will be gradually removed and abandoned.
This we find to be the case with all organs and even the
eye will lose its power of sight and will gradually disap-
pear if not required, — as is the case with fishes which
have acquired the habit of living in dark caves. This we
find also to be the case with man in his use of structures
CONCLUSIONS 447
and machines ; whatever is found to be of no use or ser-
vice would be abandoned and discarded as useless. The
light does not produce eyes nor does the vibration of the
air produce ears. The cell wherever you find him shows
by his actions the same intention and purpose as man.
In every place, the actions are intelligent and voluntary.
The amoeba, the single cell, which lives in the water and
so closely resembles the man building cell, can move in
any direction it thinks best, eat what it thinks best and
when in danger escape from its enemies, and, under ex-
ceptionally dangerous circumstances, it can cover itself
with an extra tough and hard cover wherein it can remain
until the danger is over. Other species of its kind make
and wear permanent covers of pearl, horn or flint wherein
they live and paddle themselves around through the water
in search of food. Others not only cover themselves with
armor but provide themselves with flash lights to better
see and capture their food and some make darts with
which they can strike and capture their prey at a dis-
tance. The other social cells that multiply and aggregate
themselves into colonies and cell republics which we call
plants and animals, show the same inventive skill as these
single cells. Their special skill consists mainly in being
able to produce large protective colonies.
It is hard for the ordinary man to comprehend that an
animal or plant could have any intellect without a brain,
head and nervous system. The easiest way to illustrate
intellect in the plant is with the actions of the various in-
sect catching plants. The fact that these fly traps are of
the most scientific construction and are operated in pre-
cisely the same manner as if they were operated by man
makes it clear that the cells who build and operate the
traps possess at least the same skill as man. The old
ideas about instinctive actions of birds and animals are
448 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
all cleared away when you understand life correctly.
How can a swallow fly the first time it makes the attempt
without having ever had any practice or instruction in
the art? It is clear that the cells who will do the flying
are the same individuals who have made the swallow.
They have designed and put him together, piece by piece,
for a specific purpose, and every part of him was placed
in the correct place and made of the right material. Every
individual cell that makes up the swallow is in his place,
and knows what he is there for and has charge of the
particular business in which he is skilled. There is no
difference whatever in the various purposive activities of
the cells building a swallow and those of man building an
air ship. Both are built for the same purpose and both
fly in their first attempt without any previous experience
or instruction. It is commonly said that the swallow
flies from instinct, then why not say that the air ship also
flies from instinct. Yet this would be ridiculous ; every
one knows that it is the builders who set these machines
which they have produced into motion. There is no dis-
tinction, in fact, between intelligent and what they call
reflex, automatic, habitual or instinctive acts. All these
are intelligent, purposive acts.
There is, in fact, no difference between a voluntary and
an involuntary act, — both are intelligent and purposive ;
for instance, I can wink my eye voluntarily and invol-
untarily. If voluntarily, the act is directed by my sense
cells in charge of consciousness ; if involuntarily, the act
is directed by the nerve cell having that particular busi-
ness in charge. Why is the same act any more conscious
and intelligent if directed by one cell than by the other?
If it is an intelligent act in one case, ,it must necessarily
also be so in the other. It has been shown that in civilized
man there is a bunch of cells near the side of the head
CONCLUSIONS 449
specifically delegated to direct all the actions in writing.
This "writing center", as it is called, is located near the
speech center and if these cells who have the writing busi- ,,
ness in charge are injured the individual will not be able
to write a word and all his knowledge of the art will be
entirely lost. It is the same with any other centers or
specifically trained cells in your head. If they are in-
jured or destroyed, that particular work or faculty will
thereby be lost to the individual. The brain is simply a
bunch of centers, each center or bunch of cells having
charge of their particular department of work. When you
kill or remove those individuals, their work ceases with
their destruction or removal. When we first learned to
write or walk the sense cells had charge of it, but as we
became more efficient other cells took charge and learned
it and finally relieved the sense cells of the work, so that
they could do something else.
When life is correctly understood, all these theories
about irritability, excitability, emotion, automatism, reflex
action, intuition, instinct, etc. become perfectly clear and
it can be seen that they are all the same thing, and that
they are all intelligent actions coming from differently
situated cells. How the cell, matter and force came into
the world we do not yet clearly know, but we do know,
however, how plants and animals come into the world
because we can see the actions of the builders that pro-
duce them, which we were not able to do some years ago
when we were compelled to say that they simply grew.
By virtue of his intelligence, man is able to control and
direct matter and force so as to effect results such as
houses, ships and cities, and in an analogous manner, we
find the cell is able to control matter and force in the
universe so as to cause the structures we call plants and
animals. We can only deal with these things we see and
450 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
know, such as cells, matter and force. In reference to
those other questions that we do not know, such as how
the cell came into the world or how force and matter came
to exist, one has as much right to guess as the other and
it does not prove anything. The power of memory is
without doubt the cause of progress and intellect in the
cell and no doubt some day this power will be better
understood, and I am satisfied that it will be based on
some physical and chemical skill understood by the cell.
I feel satisfied that we shall find that in some perfectly
natural way the record of past incidents and occurrences
are recorded and preserved in the same manner as man
now records and preserves his experiences by means of
books, paper or phonograph. You might ask where would
the cell, this microscopic individual, have room for any
such record. It is possible for the cell to carry with him
such records, for we find that the amoeba, which is the
most similar to the man building cell, is able to carry with
him material and force sufficient to build around himself,
whenever so desired, a house or cover, solid as steel,
wherein he can remain safe until the dangers which
threatened his life are over. Looking at him with our
most powerful microscope we can, as yet, only see what
appears to be a mass of microscopic and active granules,
running hither and thither. Where does the amoeba keep
all these materials with which he can, when he thinks it is
necessary, construct this coat of armor about himself and
where does, he keep all his specifically trained force, who
understand how to put the raw material into a covering
for his unprotected body? When we shall have produced
a microscope powerful enough to enable us to see the
detailed activities of the primordial beings that go to
make up the individual we call cell, or the amoeba, then
we shall very likely be able to discover how he is able to
CONCLUSIONS
USIONS 451
•// ,, ' Cjl
keep a record of past events and is able to refer to such
records when necessary to guide his actions, wHith/^ve
call memory.
Without this power of memory, the cell could not build
the plants and animals we see, nor could the civilization
of man be maintained without his ability to keep a record
of the past to guide his actions. The physical forces, pro-
vided with the same material to work on, always produce
the same results ; they always have done so and always
will. The rivers always have and always will flow to the
sea ; the heat of the sun has moved wind and water in the
past as it does today ; the chemical actions and crystalliza-
tions have taken place in the past just as they do today
and always will. Knowing the combination, the chemist
knows the result. In life it is different because the cell is
an animal or individual like man, who is able to override
and direct the blind forces of nature to his own use. The
environment of climate, wind, earth and water is made
to serve him and does not control him. The young barn-
acle, called copepod, looks like a cross between a crab
and a fish ; he has a nervous system, eyes and limbs for
locomotion. He swims about in the sea until he fastens
onto a fish and there becomes a stationary individual. He
tears down those structures and organs which are of no
more use to him, like eyes and limbs, and becomes noth-
ing but a sack fastened to the fish. This might seem a
very foolish thing to do from our point of view, — that is,
to destroy one's eyes and limbs and convert one's self into
nothing more than a sack or stomach. However, looked
at from the correct point of view, it is the right thing to
do if one can do it. While a free swimming animal the
copepod has to lead a very strenuous and uncertain life.
While moving about in search of food, he is liable to be
swallowed and his existence terminated any minute by
452 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
hungry fish or other enemies. If he can securely fasten
himself to a fish or some moving structure as a ship, for
instance, he can ride around with plenty of food at hand
and in comfort and safety for ever more. We must re-
member that this barnacle attached to some object is
simply a colony of cells like any other plant or animal ;
and that the cells that made up his limbs and eyes and
who were occupied with the strenuous work of locomo-
tion and seeing, can now quit this work and ride in their
little house in comfort and safety. How can environment,
such as the climate or the water, cause or direct these
actions and structures of the barnacle as claimed by some
evolutionists? It is simply absurd and unthinkable. When
the cells in the fish like barnacles make a sucker-like ap-
paratus with which to effect a quick attachment to the
fish should an opportunity arise, they must necessarily
know what they are about as it is a difficult task not only
to make the instrument with which to effect the attach-
ment, but it is also a difficult task to approach and attach
themselves to a fish. It could not come about by any ac-
cident and chance any more than a stone could jump and
ride a wild horse by chance.
The acts of the cell whether in a barnacle, oyster, plant
or animal show the same intelligence everywhere. They
direct the actions and destinies of all individuals, just as
man directs the actions and destinies of all his structures,
such as submarines, battleships, etc. The cells direct the
animals in their search for food ; they direct the birds in
their nest-building, and in their migration south upon the
approach of winter; they direct the bee in his flight for
honey, and the ant in his social economy ; they direct
insectivorous plants in their capture of insects and man
in his civilization. The seed from the wild parsnip,
which in its wild stage is tough and wiry, will in a few
CONCLUSIONS 453
generations in a good garden soil, well tended, produce
the plant as it now is. Why? Because in nature the
parsnip has certain enemies and elements to struggle with
which require that particular kind of tough condition of
the plant in order to exist, and it is also precisely the
same with animals and man. The wiry, tough wild boar
must remain so in his natural habitat in order to be able
to exist.
We see the same struggle for existence everywhere.
It is the same among the single cells on sea and land as
it is among plants and animals, and as it is among men
in business, and among nations for a national existence ;
the same schemes are invented by plants to perpetuate
their existence as by man, animals and nations. There is
a plant in Persia that puts forth a pair of hooks of mater-
ial strong as steel which fits over the noses of antelope,
deer, and camels, and kills its victims, after capture, by
the injection of a poison. It does this with the purpose
and intention that its young plants shall feed on the de-
caying carcass while building new plants like those from
which they came ; this shows an inventive genius and fore-
sight of the highest order. The idea that any chance vari-
ation could ever produce this far seeing invention to
effect the purpose intended, is as impossible as that an
automobile could be caused by chance. The cell which
built this plant shows that the cause of evolution is the
intellect of the builder and not chance variation.
If pigs are turned out into the timber and forced to
protect themselves as best they can, they will slowly and
surely revert back to the original type because it will be
necessary for self protection. In order to be able to live
on the scant supply of food in the timber, the pig must
hunt and hustle all the time and sometimes fight for his
life. He cannot have short legs and a heavy fat body and
454
CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
exist very long because he cannot get around quickly
enough to gather food, even if he could protect himself
against falling prey to the fox and the wolf. The builders
are wise — they know these facts and as quickly as pos-
sible they will change their structure to a veritable fight-
FIG. 51. — Wild Boar contrasted with a modern Domesticated Pig. Repro-
duced from Romanes' "Darwin, and After Darwin." By courtesy of The Open
Court Publishing Company. — SCHUTE.
ing and running machine, which can fight, dig and run
with such speed and dexterity as will be necessary for
existence. For this reason the neck and nose will be in-
creased in size for fighting and rooting, and the rest of
the body will be made to correspond to it and the legs
will be made as long and strong as necessary to make up
CONCLUSIONS 455
the perfect running, rooting and fighting machine which
will be required in a rough and tumble existence with the
elements and enemies that he will meet in the forest.
The cell whose wisdom must look after these details for
the hog will do the same for man, if he should be com-
pelled to hustle for himself in a wild forest. Man would
also be compelled to revert back to his savage ancestral
type. The cells, like man, will build such structures as
they know will be required in order to exist in the battle
of life. Climate, earth and air, which are called environ-
ment, produce nothing, but they cause the cells to build
structures differing in various places, depending on what
is required. Intelligent man does the same and so do all
living things.
Every part of your body, which is, in fact, a specialized
colony of cells, does just what is required and just the
right and proper thing in each particular case. Consider
for a moment the complex and skilled actions of the cells
that make up your mouth, tongue and throat, how they
guide the direction of the food in one way and the direc-
tion of the air in the other; how dexterously the tongue
is able to push the food around and between the teeth,
hardly ever getting caught ; how the muscles of your
tongue and mouth form themselves into shapes to cause
sounds of all kinds. Those actions are as truly intelligent
as the actions of your hand in painting the most artistic
picture, but no more so than the skillful acts of plants in
catching insects. The ear is an instrument that, if kept
up in proper condition, will detect the vibrations of the
air, but in order to be able to hear the ear drum must
always be strung up to a certain degree of tension ; if not
kept just so, you cannot hear. Who looks after these de-
tails? We find in every place in the body that every
456 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
Chimpanzee^
2. Gorilla.
3. Orang.
FIG. 52. — Man and monkeys. — HAECKEL.
4t Negro.
CONCLUSIONS 457
particular thing to be done and detail to be looked after
is in charge of some cell or crowd of cells.
A large brain or head does not necessarily contain any
more intelligence than a small one. Take, for instance,
the brain of the ant, which contains but a few cells. Dar-
win himself states, "It is the. most marvelous atom of
matter in the world," and it has been clearly established
that the ant is possessed of a very high degree of intelli-
gence. For instance, all writers seem to agree that they
store food for the winter, they live a social life like man ;
they build complicated nests and places to live in ; they
carry out the principle of division of labor; they adapt
themselves to circumstances ; they capture and employ
slaves; they confine in captivity Aphides, insects which
secrete a kind of honey which the ant uses as food. They
have perfect sense organs and memory, so they can
recognize and remember each other. They are emotional
and display affection for their young, which they caress,
tend and nurse. They can communicate with each other
and in case of danger and difficulty, they consult each
other and agree upon certain lines of action. It is also
shown that ants gather the eggs of Aphides and treat
them just like their own, guarding and tending them with
the greatest care. The Aphides are the same to the ants
as the milch cows are to man. And in a manner similar
to that of man caring for his domestic animals, ants care
for these Aphides. They even make covered ways be-
tween their houses and the trees and plants on which the
Aphides live. They gather the eggs of the Aphides in the
fall and protect them during the winter, then bring them
back for hatching in the spring. They farm the Aphides
in precisely the same manner as man takes care of his
live stock. They also keep other insects, such as gall
insects, caterpillars, etc., and in many cases, when neces-
458 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
sary, they keep their insects in separate stalls. It is con-
sidered a common thing for one animal to capture an-
other for food, but to capture another and keep him as a
slave to do the work for him is another matter. We
recognize our own mind in that of the ant. If a few cells
in the brain of the ant show the same mind and intellect
as our own, why is not every cell in the ant also intelli-
gent? Why is not every cell in the ant's brain endowed
with as much understanding as any other cell? Bees
also are skilled workers — they reason in the same manner
as man. If, at the beginning, their work has been started
wrong, they will tear it all down and change the part so
as to finally fit it to the general plan preconceived. They
will sometimes modify the whole structure in order to
meet and overcome some extraordinary difficulty to be
encountered later on. I have not space to describe fur-
ther the intelligence of bees and ants and other insects,
but they have been lately studied and there is beginning
to be a general agreement among most of the scientists
that such insects as bees and ants show the same intellect
as man possesses. The fact that the brain of the insect
is microscopic, consisting of only a few cells, goes to
prove without question that the cells, wherever found, in
plants, in the brain of man or insect, or living singly in
the water, are the same.
It is not necessary to go into any details in reference
to the intelligence of animals; anyone who has had any
experience with them knows that they reason in reference
to their particular business in life, just as man does.
Goats very often meet on very narrow mountain ridges
with a precipice or deep gofge on each side. They can-
not pass nor can they retreat, as there is no room in which
to turn about. Under those circumstances the goats will
stand and look at each other thoughtfully for some time
CONCLUSIONS
459
and mentally discuss matters ; then one of the goats will
kneel and lie down very carefully and the other will walk
deliberately over him; they never get rattled nor lose
their head. You will always find, however, that any
species of animal is about as clever as any other in the
particular line of business which concerns its existence,
FIG. 53. — Beginning of civilization. — LITERARY DIGEST.
and this we also find to be a fact in the cases of plants,
cells, and also of man.
Some claim that particles of organic matter like gravel,
stone, clay and other substances possess consciousness,
intellect, memory and soul. They claim there can be no
distinction between the dead and the living. I am unable
to see any foundation for such a claim. We have also on
460 CELL INTELLIGENCE THE CAUSE OF EVOLUTION
the other hand those who claim that some divine power
somewhere not only made all living things but also guides
their actions in life. I can see no foundation for such a
claim. There may be a higher power in charge of the
universe, or there may be intelligence in the atoms or par-
ticles of dead matter, but we do not know, — we can only
guess. It seems just as likely, if not more so, that there is
a separate intelligent and invisible something in the uni-
verse, which is able to direct, organize and form matter
and force to serve its own purpose, but we do not yet
know.
Phrase-making and abuse of language in order to mys-
tify, cover up ignorance or pretend to be clever has been
the common practice of late and it has lead to nothing
but confusion. Since the microscope discovered for us
that a plant or animal was a colony made up of still
smaller animals, it seems singular to me that we should
pay no attention to that fact, as a cause of the plants' ex-
istence, but still insist and claim that either some other
being somewhere in the universe is the cause and builder
of the plant or else that the dead matter itself is the cause.
After we have discovered that man builds skyscrapers
and -ships, why should we argue that the bricks and
stones alone build themselves into a skyscraper and why
should others ^gain argue that a divine something some-
where in the universe builds the skyscraper?
We have discovered the builder of plants and animals ;
we know who he is and what he looks like. Our first
investigation, it seems to me, should be whether or not
he is an intelligent being. If he is found to be such, then
we know how and in what way he is able to build and
produce the plants and animals that we see. I believe
that we can truthfully say from the evidence at hand that
the cell is a conscious and intelligent being like ourselves.
Date Due
CAT. NO. 23 233 Pf
— 4,
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY
A 000 502 870 9
Quevli, Nels.
Cell intelligence
QH581
Q5c
1917
MEDICAL SCIENCES LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA 92664
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