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. 



