TISSUE FORMATION. 69 



is spirally coiled around another by the forward and 

 rotary motion of the bioplasmic cell. 



1 6. We may consider the living organism, either ani- 

 mal or vegetable, as a building, a workshop, or a labora- 

 tory, and in each view the cell, or bioplasm, plays the 

 most important part. 



If we regard an organism as a building, the cells are 

 the constituent parts, or building-stones. The most 

 simple forms of life, as we have said, are single cells, 

 while the more complex are composed of myriads of 

 these cells, with the materials produced by them, ar- 

 ranged in various forms, according to the nature of the 

 individual. Thus in the yeast-plant (Torula) the cells 

 touch each other at only one or two points, while the 

 wood-cells of higher plants adhere in their entire extent 

 by means of formed material. Vessels, or ducts, are 

 either elongated hollow cells, or are formed by the 

 union of cells. In every structure, except the most 

 primitive, we also find secret chambers and grottoes 

 which we should not previously have suspected ; and 

 where strength is needed, provision is made for it by the 

 deposit of hard substance, and by the interlacing of 

 fibers, once cellular, in a most wonderful manner. Even 

 the temple of Solomon, in all its glory, was not more 

 complete in architectural details than the structure of 

 many of our plants and animals. As that temple was 

 said to have been erected without the sound of hammer 

 or saw, so the animated edifice is built silently, story 

 after story, from day to day, until its life-work is accom- 

 plished. 



Such a structure is a workshop, as well as a building. 



