204 



FACTS AND FANCIES. 



and perfect in its mechanical arrangements 

 for strength (Figure 20). Even in the old 

 Cambiian rocks there are remains of sponges 

 which seem already to have practically solved 

 the geometrical problems involved in the pro- 

 duction of these wonderful skeletons ; and with 

 a Chinese-like persistency, having attained to 

 perfection, they have adhered to it throughout 

 geological time. Nor is there anything of 

 mere inorganic crystallization in this. The sil- 

 ica of which the skeletons are made is colloidal, 

 not crystalline, and the forms themselves have 

 no relations to the crystalline axes of silici. 

 Such illustrations might b€ multiplied to any 

 extent, and apply to all the beauties of form, 

 structure, and coloring which abound around 

 OS and far excel our artificial imitations of 

 them. 



5. The instinctii of the lower animals imply 

 a Higher Intelligence. Instinct, in the theistic 

 view of nature, can be nothing less than a 

 divine inspiration placing the animal in relation 

 with other things and processes, often of the 

 most complex character, and which it could 

 by no means have devised for itself. Further, 

 instinct is in its very essence a thing unimprov- 

 able. Like the laws of nature, it pperates 



