248 DESIGN IN NATURE 



Whatever view be taken as to the production and continuance of plants and animals on the earth, the necessity 

 for a First Cause or prime mover is abundantly evident. 



A wide survey of the subject compels me to believe that whatever modification there is in plants and animals 

 is due not to environment and surroundings, but to original endowment and inherent vital powers, which enable 

 plants and animals to accommodate themselves, within limits, to their surroundings. It is the plants and animals, 

 which, under guidance, modify themselves, and this only up to a certain point. In no case do external stimuli, and 

 environment, produce unlimited modification, or alter materially or permanently the form and functions of either 

 plants or animals. To assert this would be to maintain that the dead surroundings of plants and animals control 

 their activities, while in reality the surroundings are controlled by the plants and animals. 



When I say that cosmic changes affect plants and animals, I speak guardedly, and affirm that these changes 

 do not alter permanently the ultimate constitutions of plants and animals as a whole, but only individuals, and within 

 narrow limits. 



Thus a fertile soil, rich manure, and a suitable climate, under the direction of man, will increase the stature, 

 and, it may be, slightly alter the form of a plant ; the plant reverting to its original type when these conditions 

 are not complied with. The original or fundamental constitution of the plant is not materially altered in 

 either case. 



In Uke manner, the animal, say the horse, may by careful feeding, exercise, and training in a good climate, be 

 improved in size, form, power, and speed. The horse, however, at its best does not difEer fundamentally or 

 intrinsically from the pony or under-sized horse. The English race-horse and the Shetland pony are anatomically 

 and physiologically one and the same animal. They are both horses. 



Plants grown in the dark, and in cold places, such as a cellar, are feeble, and largely destitute of colour. A 

 potato or an onion grown under these conditions supplies the necessary illustration. The potato and onion, when 

 grown in the dark, do not cease to be what they were and are. On the contrary, when the same plants are grown 

 in the light, and under the genial influence of heat, they are the same as other potatoes and onions. 

 Similar remarks apply to animals. 



Animals habitually born and bred in confinement are never robust, and, after a time, degenerate. Though they 

 have enfeebled constitutions, the constitutions, such as they are, are not materially altered. 



Plants, for the most part, do not grow, or grow very little, during the winter. They assume great activity 

 in the spring. Summer finds them at their best. Autumn slowly but surely diminishes their power. Still the 

 seasons do not alter either the constitution or the original endowments of the plant. 



A plant grows more vigorously during the day, and when the sun shines, than during the night under stellar 

 or lunar influences. Day and night do not, however, destroy or modify the constitution of the plant, and the same 

 may be said of the animal. 



The seasons, the alternations of day and night, &c., are necessary to the well-being of plants. Plants have 

 necessarily periods of activity and repose. They have to be fed and rested, just as animals have to be fed and rested. 

 In the case of animals, the influence exerted by cosmic changes can readily be traced. In winter many animals, 

 such as the snake, hedgehog, &c., hibernate. Animals, as a rule, are active or work during the day, and rest during 

 the night ; but the seasons, and day and night, do not alter the idiosyncrasies of animals. Animals require to 

 drink more water in a warm, dry atmosphere than in a moist, cold one. More food is required in a cold than a hot 

 country. Animals are uneasy in a thunderstorm and when lightning is flashing about : still these external con- 

 ditions (and they are strikmg and marked) do not in the least interfere with the form and functions of the individual 

 Plants and animals are responsive to cosmic influences, up to a point. They are true to, and in sympathy 

 with, their origins. They are of the earth, earthy, and they do not disguise or disown their connection with the 

 elements of the inorgamc kingdom. Like true children, they acknowledge the sway of the universal parent but 

 m so doing they do not give up or lose their identity. They live in harmony, so far as they can, with their sur- 

 roundings. They are not at war with themselves or with their environment. They are not irritable entities which 

 reqmre for their growth, development, and well-being a ceaseless round of artificial stimulation, such as is supposed 

 to be provided by environment and cosmic surroundings. 



The leaves of plants open their stomata and freely imbibe moisture during wet weather. They close them 

 durmg seasons of drought. The rain and the drought are not the cause of the opening and closing of the stomata 

 These are not mechanical but vital acts. The opening and closing of the stomata are inexpUcable as apart from 

 the life in the leaves of plants. The natural effect of rain and moisture would be to close the stomata by swelUne 

 and of dryness and drought to open them by causing contraction and shrinkage. The daisy (hterally dav's eve 

 or the eye of day) closes its petals at night, and opens them in the early morning. The opening and closins move' 

 ments of plants are not caused by the darkness and hght. This follows because plants open and close at all hours 



