THE MYCETOZOA 305 



great variety ; in the lowest animals it is dif&cult or impossible to trace diSerentiation, but it cannot be doubted 

 that it exists. 



The fact that the simplest living forms and the ovum are heterogeneous goes far to prove that differentiation 

 of a kind occurs in every department of the organic kingdom, and from the first. Without differentiation, potential 

 or actual, no advance whatever could be made in the development of even the simplest living form, and differentia- 

 tion, which means division of labour in particular directions and to given ends, goes on through the whole animal 

 series up to man himself. The point here raised is not one of words but of actual fact. In the lowest plants and 

 animals, differentiation of a kind is always present. There is always a sufhoient amount for the perfect adaptation 

 of the plant and the animal to their surroundings. There is in them a potential epitome of life. They live, can 

 reproduce themselves, take in food, discharge effete matter, circulate and aerate their nutritious juices, respire, 

 secrete and excrete, &c. By far the greater number of the functions performed by the highest animals are performed 

 by the lowest. It, however, does not follow that the higher and highest animals are manufactured by a process 

 of evolution out of the lower and lowest. On the contrary, each animal only reproduces its Idnd. The lowest 

 plants and animals are apparently inextricably mixed up, but this causes no confusion, as law, order, and design 

 everywhere prevail. The means of classification are also assured. As plants and animals only reproduce their kind, 

 so they are arranged according to types and in an ascending series ; a state of matters which admits of improve- 

 ment up to a point, but does not result in the obliteration, sooner or later, of species, genera, and families, which are 

 persistent to an almost incredible extent. 



The pecuUarities of the lowest plants and animals, in one sense, lie on the surface ; in another and wider sense, 

 they are studiously concealed, and require for their expiscation the aid of experience, and an extensive knowledge 

 not only of particular groups but also of the groups as a whole. The wider the knowledge, the safer the deductions. 

 In the borderland occupied by the lowest plants and animals, the intricate path has to be threaded with great care. 

 As explained in the early part of this work, there is a visible and an invisible world — a world of causes and a world 

 of effects. In the visible and invisible, the realms of plants and animals must also be included, as in them cause and 

 effect have free play. 



There is nothing in the highest plants and animals which does not have its roots in the apparently undifferen- 

 tiated protoplasm of the lowest plants and animals. The prevailing view is that in plant and animal protoplasm there 

 is no differentiation, and that the process of building up a plant or an animal begins by a division or splitting up of 

 the so-called homogeneous protoplasm (ovum or otherwise). This cannot be regarded as a full, final, or satisfactory 

 explanation. The question remains : What causes the primary division alluded to ? This is not an accidental 

 process. It occurs at a given period, and always in the same way. The effect is obvious ; the cause is, so far, in- 

 exphcable. If we were to seek for the cause in an apparently homogeneous impregnated ovum we would have 

 nothing tangible to show. The cause, hke other causes, belongs to the invisible world. It is not, however, doubtful 

 that a cause exists. What is said of the original cleavage of the ovum appUes to all subsequent cleavages which 

 result in differentiation. It is maintained by the great majority of biologists and physiologists of the present 

 day that the original cleavage is followed by subsequent cleavages of greater or less magnitude ; each cleavage 

 inaugurating a progressive series of changes, which result in the development and final completion of the plant and 

 animal respectively. But (and this is the crucial point) none of the subsequent cleavages and changes have any better 

 explanation to give of themselves than had the original cleavage, which, as explained, is altogether inscrutable. 

 Differentiation in plants and animal textures is based on a hypothesis, and that hypothesis fails to explain the most 

 important fact connected with reproduction and the earliest stages of development. It is easy to say that the ovum 

 is homogeneous (I beheve it to be heterogeneous), that it spontaneously divides, that a set of primary changes is 

 induced which begets a second set, that the second set begets a third set, and that any changes which occur in 

 it are self -induced. 



All this is beside the question. An answer has still to be given to the query. Who or what begins the 

 division and the differentiation ? It is denied that the impregnated ovum is a microcosm, but it cannot be shown 

 that one differentiation leads to or produces another. There must be a Power outside or beyond the ovum, and 

 that Power represents design and the very essence of wisdom. It is present at the inception of every plant and 

 animal, and is the major factor in the Ufe history of everything that exists. 



Design, and design alone, can satisfactorily explain all that comes under reproduction, development, and hfe. 



It would be difficult to find more illustrative examples of lusty life in a low organism than are furnished by 

 Badhamia wtricularis and Brefeldia maxima. 



A consideration of these strange plant-animals throws a strong light on the so-called vegetative processes 

 in the higher animals, man included. Their workings and manifestations are all vital in their nature. They are 

 also fundamental and independent. Their movements (rhythmic and amcebic) are inherent ; their modes of throwing 

 VOL. I. 2 ^ 



