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 



