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 



