290 THE Biocomos PARTICULARIZED. 



that this earliest Life-stuff is an hypothesis 

 (like Ether) ; also its first differentiation into 

 Plant and Animal has never been witnessed, 

 and probably will require other means for its 

 detection than the microscope perchance a 

 new sort of spectroscope. 



These three parts of animal Form have had, 

 accordingly, a very significant evolution, both 

 separately and together. The Trunk even in 

 man remains nearest to the vegetal form and 

 character. Respiration, Digestion, Circula- 

 tion, which take place in the Trunk of the hu- 

 man organism belong to the Plant also, which 

 has not the Head with its controlling brain, 

 nor the controlled Extremities. In fact it took 

 ages of evolution for the rising Animal to 

 throw off the Plant-form. After the Protozoa 

 there is a long line of living shapes which 

 though animal in function are more or less 

 vegetal externally sponges, star-fish, echino- 

 derms, even some of the mollusks. These may 

 be well designated as the transitional Plant 

 animals, being animal in essence but plant in 

 appearance. It would seem that animal Form 

 was of far slower evolution than animal Life. 

 The first living thing to develop out of the 

 original Life-stuff was probably a Plant, 

 which differentiated in time self-movement 

 and sensation and became an Animal, though 

 preserving relatively its own shape. The en- 



