THE SCIEN 1 1ST. 
9 
For The K. C. Scientist . 
The Movoiiieiits of Aniiiials. 
D. C. Jordan 
The absence of avvkardness in the king- 
dom of birds niul animals is more than 
commonly remarkable. The movements 
of animals alibrds an almost infinite 
range of study in the field of grace. 
The common phrase "as clumsy as an 
Elephant" really and tndy has no place 
in language. There are few animals of 
any character or size whose total of 
muscular movements are so considerably 
perfect and graceful. The idea that all 
motion is a "falling forward" from the 
pitch of worlds through space to the 
infinitely delicate spiral movements of 
the Bmullus is suggestive of many inter- 
esting thoughts. 
Ten minutes with a playful kitten 
will suggest more graceful curves and 
movements of beauty than could be 
analyzed in many life-times. 
God means to avoid harshness and 
hardness and rough angularities in all 
life,from the physical tc- the spii-itual. A 
drop of water taken from a vase contain- 
ing cut flowers of a week's standing, 
showed under a 1-5 objective an army of 
infusoria, darting about in the ceaseless 
Hiinisti-y of their strange life, the end- 
lessly varying lines of movement gone 
through by these strange creatures im- 
pressed me with the absolute absence of 
gracelessness here. There seemed to be 
the most perfect adjustment of all 
motion to every condition of change de- 
manded by the tiny environment of 
water in which they lived. Some of 
them coming in contact with particles of 
organic matter, if after a hesitant judg- 
ment the particle bore evidences of 
nutrition, it was immediate!}^ assimilat- 
ed, if not suited to the fastidious taste 
of these strange creatures, it was as 
promptly rejected. Then, too,we all know 
that no animal, even man, can do two 
things precisely the same, without re- 
membering just how they were done, the 
first, second or 'Auy number of times be- 
fore. I have noticed these tiny animals 
repeat their movements with a peculiar 
regularity and zest, which suggested the 
presence of a high and delicately oi-gan- 
ized memory. It is not directly in keep- 
ing with the subject above to speak of 
the soul-life of these organisms, but so 
much of psychic beauty and so clear an 
insight is here to be had into what God 
thinks and does in the world we do not 
see with our natural eyes, it is too great 
a temptation to pass it without a word. 
It is a polite way of apologizing for 
God's inystei-ious^ ways to call every- 
thing outside of the realm of human 
mind-action, instinct and I am not at all 
certain that these organisms referred to 
above are entirely devoid of that subtle 
law which underlies all thought and all 
motion in the universe. In their quest 
for food the prehensile powers of search- 
ing to obtain carries with it a priori 
evidences of a subtle intellection, for the 
search is prompted by necessity. 1 he 
power of selection in taking that only 
which is nutritious, the knowledge of 
having obtained the elements to supply 
the first need is the result of a simple 
apprehension of ideas and there must 
certainly exist a delicately organized 
psj^chic system,so infinitely fine perhaps 
that even powerful objectives have no 
resoiu'ces to i-eveal. 'I»his is suggestive 
of many long and beautiful thoughts 
which will help us all into a wider 
knowledge of the kingdom of God. 
Evaporation aggregating a layer 
fourteen feet in thickness is the amount 
of water that goes annually from the sea 
to the clouds. These clouds are then 
born inland by the wind and the water 
decends to the earth again in the form of 
rain, which principally reaches its start- 
ing point tlirough the rivers. 
