THE VIBRATORY SENSE 



towards a bait which might be its food, then driven 

 from it by the vibratory sense which excites its dis- 

 trust by warning it of an unaccustomed circumstance, 

 excellently shows, by its responsiveness and its swift 

 action, how these organs work to its advantage. They 

 allow life to function, to continue, taking from the 

 environment every possible advantage, drawing from 

 it everything that it can yield, directing it towards 

 those places where it can best subsist. They reach 

 it by receiving the radiations of energy, waves and 

 vibrations, and making them perceptible according to 

 their intensity and direction. They reduce the inertia 

 of matter and make it less servile. They raise life 

 to consciousness and to appreciation. Matter, in 

 and for life, is only a means and a support; it is 

 energy, in fact, which forms and animates it. ' If both, 

 of necessity, unite in the creature, it is energy which 

 takes the lead and becomes dominant, for it is energy 

 which leads to action. Life, a complex of energy, is 

 really spirit. 



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