UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 



by life. The scientific philosophers find no tendency 

 or activity in living matter that they cannot match 

 in the non-living; hence to them there is no differ- 

 ence between the two that experimental science can 

 grasp. But behold the difference to our conscious- 

 ness ! The difference lies in the purposive activities 

 of one that are absent from the other. There is no 

 purpose in the facets of a crystal in the sense that 

 there is purpose in the forms and structures of living 

 bodies. The hinge of a bivalve has purpose that is 

 determined by the needs of the organism; but what 

 purpose have the lines of cleavage in the rocks, or 

 the contours of the hills, or the courses of the 

 streams? All these things may serve man's purpose, 

 but they are meaningless when regarded in their 

 own light. There is no significance in the whistle of 

 the wind about your house, but a whistle of another 

 kind there in the darkness would startle you. The 

 sounds of inanimate nature mean nothing, but all 

 sounds that proceed from living, moving things are 

 significant. The rainbow is an optical phenomenon, 

 and, though a beautiful symbol to us mortals, it is 

 not purposive; it plays no part in the physics of the 

 storm. There is no purpose in the glint of the dew- 

 drop nor in the sparkle of the diamond,. but there is 

 purpose in the flash of the firefly and in the beam of 

 the glow-worm. The gay plumage of certain birds 

 has a deep significance that does not attach to the 

 brilliant hues of precious stones. 

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