CHAPTER II. 
THE MOVEMENTS. 
“ Einige klimmen 
Ueber die Hohen, 
Andere scliwimmen 
Ueber die Seen, 
Andere scliweben, 
Alle zum Leben!” 
Faust. 
The main foundation of all existence and being is 
movement: this is, in general, the evidence of life. 
Worlds roll on through boundless space—and live; the 
original substances of all things circulate one among the 
other, when about to attain the visible and tangible; the 
germinating seed expands and moves itself, as it changes 
into the plant; as long as life continues, the sap cease¬ 
lessly rises and falls. Movement is life, and life is the 
power of self-motion. 
In space everything moves under a law of necessity, 
and the living creature, alone, does so of its own free 
will,—truly a God-like gift. This power of volition 
exalts it above other creatures, just as man—in virtue 
of his intellectual motion, which has reached the highest 
step—rises far above the brute. The idea that an animal 
is perfect in proportion to the freedom and completeness 
of its movements naturally presents itself, and, indeed, 
appears, within certain limits, well founded. 
