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 



