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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