96 PRODUCTION OF NATIONALITY 



the phenomena of " purpose " and " intelhgence " 

 to these creatures, in the " construction of their 

 tests, either with a view to adaptation to environ- 

 ment or for defensive purposes." Sometimes the 

 shells or tests are composed of rare materials such as 

 fragments of garnet or magnetite, picked out from 

 more abundant material ; sometimes of sponge spi- 

 cules, of particular lengths or arranged in particular 

 ways, so as to be suitable for a muddy ground or such 

 other local condition. Paley would have regarded 

 such adaptations, which of course abound in the 

 different groups of the animal kingdom, as evidence 

 of the existence, power and wisdom of the Creator. 

 In the fashionable modern philosophy, which, very 

 curiously, has been hailed as a rescuing of science 

 from the clutches of Darwinian materialism, they 

 are held to testify to purpose and intelligence in the 

 Protozoa. 



Intelligence, purpose and choice, are meaningless 

 phrases unless they impty consciousness and the 

 sense of freedom. Anyone who has seen mobile 

 micro-organisms darting hither and thither or 

 writhing through a drop of blood, under the high 

 power of a microscope, or in the beautiful cinemato- 

 graphic films of Messrs. Pathe, will readily extend the 

 conceptions of unforeseeability and spontaneity to 

 them, at least if he has no knowledge of the fashions 

 in which their movements can be accelerated, re- 

 tarded and controlled by conditions that an expert 

 is able to alter. 



If consciousness and freedom, purpose and intelli- 

 gence are to be ascribed to lowly animals, I can see 

 no reason why they should be withheld from the 



