Perhaps, for my own credit, I ought to stop here.
Perhaps even for the cause I hope to serve - which is very much to lead
others to appreciate more God's gift to us of the creatures, and the
full purpose of this gift of God, - I might better stop, content with
what awakening of desire I may hope to have achieved, than go further
to show how small the distance I have travelled in these inviting
fields. I confess that with me that impulsive self of which the Duke of
Argyll has spoken to us, may be refusing the voice of that calm higher
wisdom which ought to be rather heard, when I attempt to face the
difficulties of the practical application of such principles as we have
been considering, and lead my reader face to face with Nature.
Let
it be conceded that we have obtained some real glimpse of the divine
side in her, - heard a Voice from its very familiarity strange from
such a quarter, - a Voice yet which sounds as a voice of home wherever
we hear it, - have got principles, too, which have not only stood
wonderfully the tests to which we have been putting them, granting all
which must be in fairness granted, yet we seem little furnished, after
all, for what evidently now lies before us. These types of nature,
though real, are yet but very slightly sketched; their inner meaning,
for which, Spiritual Law would say, they must above all exist, is yet
more a hint than a revelation; other principles, yet unknown, may (and
very likely will) come in to modify the application of those we have in
measure learned.* All this is true, and yet we must go forward. "Every
one that seeketh findeth" is a motto we may still take for our
encouragement. And have we not, in fact, found much while on the road?
It may be that our Father's book of Nature, like His other book of
Grace, requires less the learning of the sage to read it than the
teachable spirit of the little child.
*Thus it is to be remarked,
that no one must suppose that we are giving hasty adhesion to the whole
system of Messrs. McLeay & Swainson. We believe there is truth in
it; but that is very far from saying that it is the whole truth: we
neither accept it wholly nor, on the other hand condemn it for defects
or mistakes, which adhere to all that is merely human. In the work and
Word of God alone there are none.
One of the first places in
which we find our father Adam before the fall is among the creatures
"And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field,
and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see" - that
Adam might see - "what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called
every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names
to all cattle, and to every fowl of the air, and to every beast of the
field."
So that one of man's first lessons was a lesson of
zoology; for the giving names to all the creatures surely implies
intelligence about them; and the names stood for qualities in them that
might be and were discerned. Adam was possessor of no language but his
own, and could not hide in magniloquent Greek, as do our zoologists
now, the emptiness of an unmeaning name. Could we recall, as we cannot
now, those first names, we should surely find convincing proof that
Adam was a full-grown man, and that nature appealed to him in a
different way from that in which now it appeals to us, from our
textbooks of zoology. Indeed, the Hebrew names, which must be no very
far off kin to Adam's, may well contain plenty of treasure in this way
awaiting the explorer. Since then, we have dissected the forms, and too
much lost the life and power.
Perhaps even for the cause I hope to serve - which is very much to lead
others to appreciate more God's gift to us of the creatures, and the
full purpose of this gift of God, - I might better stop, content with
what awakening of desire I may hope to have achieved, than go further
to show how small the distance I have travelled in these inviting
fields. I confess that with me that impulsive self of which the Duke of
Argyll has spoken to us, may be refusing the voice of that calm higher
wisdom which ought to be rather heard, when I attempt to face the
difficulties of the practical application of such principles as we have
been considering, and lead my reader face to face with Nature.
Let
it be conceded that we have obtained some real glimpse of the divine
side in her, - heard a Voice from its very familiarity strange from
such a quarter, - a Voice yet which sounds as a voice of home wherever
we hear it, - have got principles, too, which have not only stood
wonderfully the tests to which we have been putting them, granting all
which must be in fairness granted, yet we seem little furnished, after
all, for what evidently now lies before us. These types of nature,
though real, are yet but very slightly sketched; their inner meaning,
for which, Spiritual Law would say, they must above all exist, is yet
more a hint than a revelation; other principles, yet unknown, may (and
very likely will) come in to modify the application of those we have in
measure learned.* All this is true, and yet we must go forward. "Every
one that seeketh findeth" is a motto we may still take for our
encouragement. And have we not, in fact, found much while on the road?
It may be that our Father's book of Nature, like His other book of
Grace, requires less the learning of the sage to read it than the
teachable spirit of the little child.
*Thus it is to be remarked,
that no one must suppose that we are giving hasty adhesion to the whole
system of Messrs. McLeay & Swainson. We believe there is truth in
it; but that is very far from saying that it is the whole truth: we
neither accept it wholly nor, on the other hand condemn it for defects
or mistakes, which adhere to all that is merely human. In the work and
Word of God alone there are none.
One of the first places in
which we find our father Adam before the fall is among the creatures
"And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field,
and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam, to see" - that
Adam might see - "what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called
every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names
to all cattle, and to every fowl of the air, and to every beast of the
field."
So that one of man's first lessons was a lesson of
zoology; for the giving names to all the creatures surely implies
intelligence about them; and the names stood for qualities in them that
might be and were discerned. Adam was possessor of no language but his
own, and could not hide in magniloquent Greek, as do our zoologists
now, the emptiness of an unmeaning name. Could we recall, as we cannot
now, those first names, we should surely find convincing proof that
Adam was a full-grown man, and that nature appealed to him in a
different way from that in which now it appeals to us, from our
textbooks of zoology. Indeed, the Hebrew names, which must be no very
far off kin to Adam's, may well contain plenty of treasure in this way
awaiting the explorer. Since then, we have dissected the forms, and too
much lost the life and power.
However, we will not theorize: we will go abroad
and breathe the fresh air of God's world, in which let us remember, not
a sparrow falls to the ground without Him, and He clothes the lilies of
the field with a glory beyond Solomon's. Our interest in it may well be
inspired by His interest and that which we find of Him in it be in
truth but fellowship with Him.
Supposing still that what is
written largest should be the plainest, and desiring to get, as the
introduction to all else, the general plan of creation, let us take up
the animal kingdom briefly now, to study its divisions - of course, the
largest ones.
The types of which we have been speaking apply
only to the divisions of the animal kingdom; but the numerical system,
as we have seen, goes beyond this, and characterizes all nature. We may
take it at least as a fixed principle, that wherever the numbers are,
they are meant to speak to us; they have a reason in the divine, and a
reason open to be discovered by us to an extent practically unlimited,
except by unbelief. Whatever is of reason is meant as an appeal to
reason, God's written Word being always the interpreter of the obscure
and parabolic utterances of the book of nature. This we shall find, the
more firmly we grasp it, and the more faithfully we adhere to it, to be
proportionately fruitful as a principle I appeal to the reader if we
have not found it so.
The kingdoms of nature are not five, nor
three, but four. The, organic kingdoms are, however, three; but they do
not constitute a circle. On the other hand, their 3 and 1 speak, as we
have seen, of the manifestation of the Creator in the creature, and
justify our search into it that we may find Him in it. An unmeaning act
would not be worthy of Him: we will not ascribe such to Him.
Are
there five types of form in the animal kingdom? To this, of course,
there will be various answers. We do not propose to discuss them. The
tendency now is away from the thought of original types at all. A
mindless evolution, of course, would work in its own blind way.
"Experience has shown," says Dawson, "that
those naturalists who discard the idea of intelligent plan as embodied
in nature, and who regard it as a mere chance product of conflicting
forces and tendencies, necessarily arrive at irrational modes of
classification."
Cuvier divided animals into four main groups,
basing this upon plan of structure. These divisions are those of
Vertebrates, Articulates, Mollusks, and Radiates. Prof. Henry James
Clark has, in his "Mind in Nature," elaborately argued for a fifth
division, commonly conceded now, that of Protozoa; and it is this
arrangement, I propose to take up and examine in the light of what
knowledge we have already gained. We will arrange them thus: -
I. Vertebrata.
5. Mollusca. 2. Articulata.
4. Radiata. 3. Protozoa.
If
this be a circle, as we have been told it must be, to form a natural
arrangement we may begin to trace the circle at any point within it. We
will begin, therefore, with the simplest because the lowest form, the
Protozoan.
"The type of this division," says Prof. Clark, "is found in its relation to a spiral; it is the oblique or spiral type."
Of this he gives many examples, entering into
details, as to which it would be, for our purpose, wholly useless to
follow him. The simple fact is what interests us; because the spiral
type is (as revealed by the arrangement of the leaves and flowers) that
of the vegetable kingdom and the number (3) attached is that of the
vegetable kingdom. In this, also, the lowest division among animals,
are found the forms actually nearest to the plants, which, strangely as
one might think, approach the animal- kingdom most nearly in their
lowest forms.
The forms here are mostly microscopic, and reveal
their structure only to the skilled observer. It is no .wonder,
therefore, that this should be in debate; nor is it possible for us
here to take part in these discussions even if we had (as we have not)
competency for them. We must refer those who desire it to Prof. Clark's
book.
In their minute size, the Protozoa are certainly
in contrast to Mr. Swainson's remarks on aquatic types, although they
are aquatic. He puts them, indeed, in his fourth group accordingly,
along with the zoophytes (corals, etc.); but this we shall have to look
at when we come to these. As putting them in this third division, we
have the facts simply of their being at the furthest remove from
typical forms, of which there is no doubt, and their spiral structure,
and other assimilation to vegetable forms. But of these lowly beings we
know too little to be able to speak with much understanding.
Still,
even here, we may find facts of a most curious interest, though through
this relation to the vegetable rather than any proper insight into the
nature of these animalcules. Can we find any "spiritual law" in a
spiral type? The leaf arrangement of the plant may suggest some answer,
strangely connected as it seems with the courses of the stars! But is
it not all one universe, the work of One Hand? Have we not been taught
that one mysterious law links the fall of the apple with the courses of
the stars? It is simple and familiar knowledge.
Prof. Cooke shall give us, from his well-known book,* the law in question.
*"Religion and Chemistry." (Revised edition, pp. 271-275)
"If we compare the periods of revolution [of the
planets] round the sun, expressed in days, we shall find an other
simple numerical relation, as shown by the following table: -
"It will be noticed that the period of Uranus is half
that of Neptune, the period of Saturn a third that of Uranus, the
period of Jupiter about two fifths that of Saturn, the period of the
Asteroids about three eighths that of Jupiter, the period of Mars about
five thirteenths that of the Asteroids, the period of Venus about eight
twenty-firsts that of Mars, and the period of Mercury about thirteen
thirty-fourths that of Venus. The successive fractions are very simply
related to each other, as will at once appear on writing them in a
series: - 1/2, 1/3 2/5, 3/8, 5/13, 8/21, 13/34, etc. "Notice that after
the first two, each succeeding fraction is obtained by adding together
the numerators of the two preceding fractions for a new numerator. From
this series, however, the earth is excluded. Its time of revolution is
almost exactly eight thirteenths that of Mars, and that of Venus nearly
thirteen twenty-firsts that of the earth; but although these fractions
do not fall into the above series, they are members of a complementary
series beginning -
½, 2/3, 3/5, 5/8, 8/13, 13/21, etc;
"This
simple relation was discovered by Prof. Peirce, and he has proposed an
explanation for the anomaly presented by the earth. But it is not
important to dwell on this point. My only object has been to show that
simple numerical relations appear in the planetary system, and this, as
I trust, has been fully illustrated."
One moment, to indulge
the theological fancy of a mind intoxicated if you will, with reason. I
have no spiritual understanding of the formula here, and can say
nothing as to it; but this exceptional relation of the earth does seem
as if it might be a note of - is certainly in strange accordance with -
its exceptional relation spiritually to the other creatures of God, is
it not?
Then notice, - "for ye suffer. fools gladly, seeing ye
yourselves are wise," - that, after all, the earth is reduced to
obedience to law: it is not left to be an anomaly among the planets,
but brought back, may we not say? And how? By a new beginning and a new
law, Which none less falls at last into harmony with the old older!! Is
it hot what grace has at any rate actually done for us?
Further,
look back a little. Behind Mars we find in the table that strange group
of asteroids, which always has seemed to me, and I suppose to others,
suggestive of catastrophe among the stars; they seem so like shattered
fragments of a world that was. Here, in a general way, however, the
order is maintained, but among them, as we may say, not by them. You
have to find an average among many divergences, as if law bound them
only as reigning spite of opposition. Was there not indeed a break like
this, before the earth left its orbit, when the angels rebelled?
And
yet then there was no new beginning! That began with - earth? No! but
with a planet standing in its right place in the former order of
things, as Mars stands between the asteroids and the earth, while it
begins the new one! Blessed be God! there is indeed One come into the
ranks of the obedient, new head of blessing for a restored earth, with
whom all begins again! Reader, have you owned His name, and taken your
place in the new order of things harmonious with the old? Will you
believe a gospel which the stars, in the light of the science of the
day, preach so convincingly?
Well, we have wandered: we will
return. Do you know that it was only Mr. Cooke's tables, and his
exposition of them, that just now led me into what are new thoughts to
me entirely, and the impulse to give them to you, reader, I have not
cared to resist. If all else is full of it, must there not be a gospel
also of the stars?
But to proceed with Prof. Cooke: -
"Passing
now to the vegetable kingdom, we find again the same numerical laws.
The leaves of a plant are always arranged in spirals round the stem. If
we start from any one leaf, and count the number of leaves around the
stalk, and the number of turns of the spiral until we come to a second
leaf immediately over the first, -we find that, for any given plant, as
an apple tree, for example, the number of leaves and the number of
turns of the spiral are always absolutely the same. The simplest
arrangement is where the coincidence occurs at the second leaf, after a
single turn of the spiral; and this may be expressed by the fraction
1/2, whose numerator denotes the number of turns of the spiral, and
whose denominator the number of leaves. The next simplest arrangement
is where the coincidence occurs at the third leaf, after a single turn
of the spiral, and may be expressed by the fraction 1/3. These two
fractions express respectively the greatest and the smallest divergence
between two successive leaves which has been observed. The angle
between two successive leaves, therefore, is greater than 180° or half
the circumference of the stem, or less than 120° or one third of the
circumference. The arrangement next in simplicity is where the
coincidence occurs at. the fifth leaf, after two turns of the spiral,
as is represented in the preceding figures. Other examples are given in
the table which follows, and it will be seen that we have precisely the
same series of fractions in the arrangement of leaves round the stem of
a plant which appears in the periods of the planets. The fractions of
this series are all gradual approximations to a mean fraction between
1/2 and 1/3, which would give the most nearly uniform distribution
possible to the leaves, and expose the greatest surface to the sun."
Thus
the Hand that has arranged the leaves of the plants has arranged also
the courses of the planets. But the analogy is not seen at its fullest
yet. For the orbits of the planets are said to be elliptic, while the
line that would connect the leaves of a plant is spiral?. But if we
take into account that the sun, with all its planets attending, is
moving through space in an orbit, doubtless of its own, (for every
thing in the heavens is obedient to law,) then these elliptical orbits
become, in fact, spiral paths, and the analogy between the vegetable
and the planetary world is perfected.
What, is the spiritual
meaning of the spiral, so interpreted? In the planet, it is onward
progress; in the plant, upward; - orbital, we may say, in each case, or
obedient to the centre; in the plant, a law of growth, of development
and production How well fitted to this third place in which we find it
in the Protozoan! Here, indeed, in minute forms, as if to teach us
lowliness as the accompaniment of this upward tendency. It is in our
littleness we climb Godward, and, blessed be God! it is in obedience,
and as connected with our Centre also, that we do this. Sanctification
for us is the ascending spiral: holiness is heavenliness Can these
lowest of creatures tell us this?
However we must defer the
final answer till we have competed the zoologic circle. Until we find
the connection, Mr. Swainson would tell us we can not put in its place
any member of it. Let us go on to the -
that of Neptune, the period of Saturn a third that of Uranus, the
period of Jupiter about two fifths that of Saturn, the period of the
Asteroids about three eighths that of Jupiter, the period of Mars about
five thirteenths that of the Asteroids, the period of Venus about eight
twenty-firsts that of Mars, and the period of Mercury about thirteen
thirty-fourths that of Venus. The successive fractions are very simply
related to each other, as will at once appear on writing them in a
series: - 1/2, 1/3 2/5, 3/8, 5/13, 8/21, 13/34, etc. "Notice that after
the first two, each succeeding fraction is obtained by adding together
the numerators of the two preceding fractions for a new numerator. From
this series, however, the earth is excluded. Its time of revolution is
almost exactly eight thirteenths that of Mars, and that of Venus nearly
thirteen twenty-firsts that of the earth; but although these fractions
do not fall into the above series, they are members of a complementary
series beginning -
½, 2/3, 3/5, 5/8, 8/13, 13/21, etc;
"This
simple relation was discovered by Prof. Peirce, and he has proposed an
explanation for the anomaly presented by the earth. But it is not
important to dwell on this point. My only object has been to show that
simple numerical relations appear in the planetary system, and this, as
I trust, has been fully illustrated."
One moment, to indulge
the theological fancy of a mind intoxicated if you will, with reason. I
have no spiritual understanding of the formula here, and can say
nothing as to it; but this exceptional relation of the earth does seem
as if it might be a note of - is certainly in strange accordance with -
its exceptional relation spiritually to the other creatures of God, is
it not?
Then notice, - "for ye suffer. fools gladly, seeing ye
yourselves are wise," - that, after all, the earth is reduced to
obedience to law: it is not left to be an anomaly among the planets,
but brought back, may we not say? And how? By a new beginning and a new
law, Which none less falls at last into harmony with the old older!! Is
it hot what grace has at any rate actually done for us?
Further,
look back a little. Behind Mars we find in the table that strange group
of asteroids, which always has seemed to me, and I suppose to others,
suggestive of catastrophe among the stars; they seem so like shattered
fragments of a world that was. Here, in a general way, however, the
order is maintained, but among them, as we may say, not by them. You
have to find an average among many divergences, as if law bound them
only as reigning spite of opposition. Was there not indeed a break like
this, before the earth left its orbit, when the angels rebelled?
And
yet then there was no new beginning! That began with - earth? No! but
with a planet standing in its right place in the former order of
things, as Mars stands between the asteroids and the earth, while it
begins the new one! Blessed be God! there is indeed One come into the
ranks of the obedient, new head of blessing for a restored earth, with
whom all begins again! Reader, have you owned His name, and taken your
place in the new order of things harmonious with the old? Will you
believe a gospel which the stars, in the light of the science of the
day, preach so convincingly?
Well, we have wandered: we will
return. Do you know that it was only Mr. Cooke's tables, and his
exposition of them, that just now led me into what are new thoughts to
me entirely, and the impulse to give them to you, reader, I have not
cared to resist. If all else is full of it, must there not be a gospel
also of the stars?
But to proceed with Prof. Cooke: -
"Passing
now to the vegetable kingdom, we find again the same numerical laws.
The leaves of a plant are always arranged in spirals round the stem. If
we start from any one leaf, and count the number of leaves around the
stalk, and the number of turns of the spiral until we come to a second
leaf immediately over the first, -we find that, for any given plant, as
an apple tree, for example, the number of leaves and the number of
turns of the spiral are always absolutely the same. The simplest
arrangement is where the coincidence occurs at the second leaf, after a
single turn of the spiral; and this may be expressed by the fraction
1/2, whose numerator denotes the number of turns of the spiral, and
whose denominator the number of leaves. The next simplest arrangement
is where the coincidence occurs at the third leaf, after a single turn
of the spiral, and may be expressed by the fraction 1/3. These two
fractions express respectively the greatest and the smallest divergence
between two successive leaves which has been observed. The angle
between two successive leaves, therefore, is greater than 180° or half
the circumference of the stem, or less than 120° or one third of the
circumference. The arrangement next in simplicity is where the
coincidence occurs at. the fifth leaf, after two turns of the spiral,
as is represented in the preceding figures. Other examples are given in
the table which follows, and it will be seen that we have precisely the
same series of fractions in the arrangement of leaves round the stem of
a plant which appears in the periods of the planets. The fractions of
this series are all gradual approximations to a mean fraction between
1/2 and 1/3, which would give the most nearly uniform distribution
possible to the leaves, and expose the greatest surface to the sun."
Thus
the Hand that has arranged the leaves of the plants has arranged also
the courses of the planets. But the analogy is not seen at its fullest
yet. For the orbits of the planets are said to be elliptic, while the
line that would connect the leaves of a plant is spiral?. But if we
take into account that the sun, with all its planets attending, is
moving through space in an orbit, doubtless of its own, (for every
thing in the heavens is obedient to law,) then these elliptical orbits
become, in fact, spiral paths, and the analogy between the vegetable
and the planetary world is perfected.
What, is the spiritual
meaning of the spiral, so interpreted? In the planet, it is onward
progress; in the plant, upward; - orbital, we may say, in each case, or
obedient to the centre; in the plant, a law of growth, of development
and production How well fitted to this third place in which we find it
in the Protozoan! Here, indeed, in minute forms, as if to teach us
lowliness as the accompaniment of this upward tendency. It is in our
littleness we climb Godward, and, blessed be God! it is in obedience,
and as connected with our Centre also, that we do this. Sanctification
for us is the ascending spiral: holiness is heavenliness Can these
lowest of creatures tell us this?
However we must defer the
final answer till we have competed the zoologic circle. Until we find
the connection, Mr. Swainson would tell us we can not put in its place
any member of it. Let us go on to the -
RADIATA.
Here we find Mr. Swainson's third
division, along with a part also of his fourth, under the name of
Acrita, which includes the corals and other animals formerly called
Zoophytes, as well as those of the last division. Prof. Clark, whose
arrangement is followed here, preserves the old Cuvierian division,
with the separation only of the Protozoa from them.
The type of form is indicated by the name.
A TYPICAL RADIATE: THREE POLYPES OF RED CORAL
"There is a regular disposition of parts around a
common centre, as in the star-fish or the sea-anemone, which in the
most characteristic forms are but repetitions of each other; and one or
more of them may be removed without injury to the functions of the
rest. In most of parts so lost are replaced by a new growth; and not
unfrequently it would appear that these parts may themselves reproduce
the whole structure."
In this last respect they show, it has
been said, an affinity with the vegetable kingdom, as also in their
circular symmetry, so that they have been sometimes called "the flowers
of the animal kingdom," - nay, in old time, were mistaken often for
flowers. As our fourth division, however, they stand opposite the
Mineral Kingdom, and radial symmetry is as well that, of the crystal
(as in the snow-flake,) as it is that of the plant. It is in this
division also that we find the corals accumulating their masses of
actual stone. This coral is an internal, not an external secretion, and
forms the support as well as the retreat of the polype. The urchins and
sea-stars crust themselves over with calcareous tests. The animal
functions are almost at their lowest sensation and motion are alike
torpid.*
*Here indeed, there seems a contrast with the activity
ascribed by Mr. Swainson to the ." suctorial" type; but it will be
observed that he limits ins remarks as to this to the Vertebrata. The
number says nothing as to it.
It will be noted, on the other
band, that the capability of division which characterizes the Radiate
is strictly according to their numerical Place. Four is the first
number that is capable of division.
common centre, as in the star-fish or the sea-anemone, which in the
most characteristic forms are but repetitions of each other; and one or
more of them may be removed without injury to the functions of the
rest. In most of parts so lost are replaced by a new growth; and not
unfrequently it would appear that these parts may themselves reproduce
the whole structure."
In this last respect they show, it has
been said, an affinity with the vegetable kingdom, as also in their
circular symmetry, so that they have been sometimes called "the flowers
of the animal kingdom," - nay, in old time, were mistaken often for
flowers. As our fourth division, however, they stand opposite the
Mineral Kingdom, and radial symmetry is as well that, of the crystal
(as in the snow-flake,) as it is that of the plant. It is in this
division also that we find the corals accumulating their masses of
actual stone. This coral is an internal, not an external secretion, and
forms the support as well as the retreat of the polype. The urchins and
sea-stars crust themselves over with calcareous tests. The animal
functions are almost at their lowest sensation and motion are alike
torpid.*
*Here indeed, there seems a contrast with the activity
ascribed by Mr. Swainson to the ." suctorial" type; but it will be
observed that he limits ins remarks as to this to the Vertebrata. The
number says nothing as to it.
It will be noted, on the other
band, that the capability of division which characterizes the Radiate
is strictly according to their numerical Place. Four is the first
number that is capable of division.
Thus their numerical place seems fully justified.
The number 4 speaks of weakness and passiveness, for which the
strength. of the rock is their defence not only outwardly, as we have
seen, but inwardly, - strength imbibed and experienced,' their own and
yet not their own. Thus it is that the true experience of the strength
of the Rock - Of divine strength - does not make something of us, but
every thing of God. We remain what we ever were. "Confidence in the
flesh" is broken, and all self-confidence is recognized as confidence
in the flesh.
' In the urchins and sea-stars, external; but they are not now considered typical of the Radiata.
Here
we may encounter easily the reproach of torpidity and passiveness, such
as we find in the Radiate. Sensation and motion may seem at a low ebb.
In fact, the apprehension of God for us gives quietness and patience;
and if "patience have her perfect work," we are "perfect and entire,
wanting nothing." There ensues the stillness which is so little
understood, and for which even the Marthas of their own kindred turn
upon the Marys sitting at His feet, and rebuke, them solemnly before
the Lord. But it is not spiritlessness, nor carelessness, only the
controlling power of His presence over the soul; and He will justify it.
Good
will it be if we get fast hold of the lesson given us by these lowly
creatures. If the sluggard may get his lesson from the ant, the
restless heart may learn of the coral blossom. from the rock. God has
filled nature with these pictures, preaching to the eye, though, alas!
having eyes, we see not.
But we must go on. The fifth class, for Mr. Swainson and for ourselves, is now the Mollusk. The Mollusc
plainly reach up toward the Vertebrata, and in
character are intermediate between these and the Radiata. The
repetition of parts and the radial symmetry are gone the body of the
Mollusk is "monomerous" - an indivisible unit: On the other hand the
sluggishness of movement in general remains the animal functions being
only somewhat more developed than in the last case "The body of the
Mollusca is almost entirely occupied by the organs of nutrition and the
organs of sensation and locomotion are entirely subservient to the
supply of These. We find in the lowest tribes of this group living
beings which are fixed to one spot during all but the earliest period
of their lives, and n which scarcely possess within themselves so much
power of movement as that enjoyed by the individual polypes in a mass
of coral; and yet these exhibit a powerful and complex. digestive
apparatus; a regular circulation of blood, and an active respiration.
But we nowhere find, throughout. the whole animal kingdom, that the
conformation of these organs governs the shape of the body; they rather
adapt themselves to the type which predominates its structure, and
which is principally manifested in the disposition of the locomotive
organs Thus the stomach of the star-fish sends a prolongation into each
ray, whilst in the Articulata, on the other hand we find the digestive
cavity prolonged into a tube, in accordance with the form which the
body there possess.
"Thus we see that, in regard to external
shape and arrangement, the apparatus of organic life has no definite
plan of its own, and in the Mollusca there is an absence of any general
type to which it may be made conformable. Hence the shape of the body
varies extremely in those classes in which it is entirely or
principally composed of these organs, and no general character can be
given which shall apply to all or even a large part of the animals
composing them." (Carpenter's Zoology.)
character are intermediate between these and the Radiata. The
repetition of parts and the radial symmetry are gone the body of the
Mollusk is "monomerous" - an indivisible unit: On the other hand the
sluggishness of movement in general remains the animal functions being
only somewhat more developed than in the last case "The body of the
Mollusca is almost entirely occupied by the organs of nutrition and the
organs of sensation and locomotion are entirely subservient to the
supply of These. We find in the lowest tribes of this group living
beings which are fixed to one spot during all but the earliest period
of their lives, and n which scarcely possess within themselves so much
power of movement as that enjoyed by the individual polypes in a mass
of coral; and yet these exhibit a powerful and complex. digestive
apparatus; a regular circulation of blood, and an active respiration.
But we nowhere find, throughout. the whole animal kingdom, that the
conformation of these organs governs the shape of the body; they rather
adapt themselves to the type which predominates its structure, and
which is principally manifested in the disposition of the locomotive
organs Thus the stomach of the star-fish sends a prolongation into each
ray, whilst in the Articulata, on the other hand we find the digestive
cavity prolonged into a tube, in accordance with the form which the
body there possess.
"Thus we see that, in regard to external
shape and arrangement, the apparatus of organic life has no definite
plan of its own, and in the Mollusca there is an absence of any general
type to which it may be made conformable. Hence the shape of the body
varies extremely in those classes in which it is entirely or
principally composed of these organs, and no general character can be
given which shall apply to all or even a large part of the animals
composing them." (Carpenter's Zoology.)
In a large part of the sub-kingdom, while the
body is thus, as one may say, shapeless, what gives them, for the mass,
most of the interest they possess, is the often large and curiously
made shell, on account of which they are familiarly known as
"shell-fish." The beauty of form and colour which is lacking in the
animal itself is bestowed upon the shell and yet for the animal itself,
except as shelter the shell is of small account apparently; and all
this elaborate ornamentation seems thrown away. The shell after the
death of the animal, is all that remains to recognize it by, as the
body (as conveyed by the name of the group) is entirely soft, and
passes away, the shell, on the other hand, abiding quite untouched.
Thus
the 4 and 1 are easily recognizable in this sub-kingdom. The bodily
weakness and the rock shelter of the Radiate find place in the Mollusk,
which rises yet into an indivisible unity quite opposite to what we
find, in the other, developing in the higher forms head-characters, and
even an internal cartilaginous sheath for the nerve-centres, which
assimilates these animals to the Vertebrata.
But what about
the numerical stamp in its inner meaning? - how holds the spiritual law
again in regard to this number 5, which seems at first sight as if it
would be so little capable of application to these lower creatures? Let
us see if we can under stand it.
The number 5 has, as we have seen, for its
fundamental meaning the thought of man in his weakness in relation
to the almighty God. We have seen it as the centre of all harmony for
man to be here in his place, in creature-nothingness, but with God his
God. Christ, in His name "Emmanuel," brings these two together, - is,
for man, this God in relationship, his strength, his, hiding-place. How
beautifully does the feeble Mollusk in his shelter speak of that!
Not,
however, as one might at first think, the lesson of the Radiate over
again. The strength that is found in weakness there images a strength
which is imbibed and internal. The rock that shelters there is yet
within (in what is most typical). Only in the Mollusk is it really
apart from, though in intimate companionship with, the being that it
shelters. "Thou art my hiding place," - "Thou hast been our
dwelling-place, (Ps. xxxii. 7; xc. i,) is only fully brought out in
this type, of form. Here, how true it is that the Mollusk hides itself
in its shell! not merely as its refuge, let us remember, but as giving
all the glory to its place of refuge! How exquisite, in this light, are
the painting and sculpture of these beauteous shells! For - let us
remember again - it is the Mollusk that makes its shell; and so do we,
by our own receptivity of the divine revelation, (as the being we are
considering, by its receptivity of light and air and food, the divine
provision for it,) make, each for himself, the One we go with.
Let
us not wonder, then, at the great variety, and difference as to beauty,
of these shells; or that there are naked Mollusks also, wanderers from
their type. Nature depicts for us, not merely what is normal, but the
whole range of what exists. And with which of us is the God he goes
with the all glorious God He ought to be? How blessed yet to be able,
in our measure, to glorify Him! Let the being that adorns its shell and
not itself show us what is the sure sign of one who walks with God. And
let the weak and perishable nature of the being that takes refuge in
the shell, compared with the permanence and beauty of the shell itself,
warn us how the glory of man shall perish, but the glory of the Lord
abide forever!
We must not leave the Mollusk,, however, before
we have noted that that which is developed in it is, above all, the
nutritive function. Digestion is everywhere its strongest point, as we
have seen: it is made up for this, if we may say so; and this is of the
very simplest application in relation to the spiritual idea which
governs it - of which it is the: expression. We must receive from Him
to whom we give, for of His own :alone do we give to Him. She who had
the box of ointment for Christ's head is that Mary who had her place
first at His feet; and if we are to imitate her in the last, we must
acquire competence where she did. It is a good part which shall not be
taken away, although the service to which it leads may be as little
appreciated, even by disciples, as was hers.
In the order in which we have been
proceeding, the next group to be considered would be the Vertebrata;
but as this is the most comprehensive type of all, and needs to be
compared with all the rest, we shall approach' it now from the other
side, and for this purpose take up first the -
ARTICULATA.
A TYPICAL ARTICULATE.
A TYPICAL ARTICULATE.
These constitute; for Mr. Swainson and ourselves, the
second or subtypical group, - a most distinct and easily comprehended,
as well as excessively numerous one. What with insects, crustacea, and
worms, its numbers exceed that of. all the other sub-kingdoms put
together. According to the character ascribed by Mr. Swainson to the
subtypical groups, we shall be prepared to find it the most aggressive
and destructive of all types; but, as we have already hinted, we must
not limit it, therefore, to what is significant of evil. Strife and
destruction, though incident to an evil state, of course, are not
necessarily therefore themselves evil: far from it. Christ came that He
might "destroy the works of the devil," and "him that hath the power of
death, - that is, the devil" himself. And we are all enlisted in this
strife; Christ's people are His soldiers, and must "war a good
warfare," "fight the fight of faith," "contend earnestly," "wrestle
with principalities and powers." And though "the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal," yet are they "mighty through God; to the pulling down
of strongholds."
The number 2 is stamped upon the Articulata in
the most perfect way. In them, bilaterality is most perfectly developed
from the head to the extremity of the body, while the whole animal is
divided into rings, which consist of an upper and an under arch, each
of four pieces arranged in pairs on each side of the middle line. Eight
pieces give us thus the cube of 2.
second or subtypical group, - a most distinct and easily comprehended,
as well as excessively numerous one. What with insects, crustacea, and
worms, its numbers exceed that of. all the other sub-kingdoms put
together. According to the character ascribed by Mr. Swainson to the
subtypical groups, we shall be prepared to find it the most aggressive
and destructive of all types; but, as we have already hinted, we must
not limit it, therefore, to what is significant of evil. Strife and
destruction, though incident to an evil state, of course, are not
necessarily therefore themselves evil: far from it. Christ came that He
might "destroy the works of the devil," and "him that hath the power of
death, - that is, the devil" himself. And we are all enlisted in this
strife; Christ's people are His soldiers, and must "war a good
warfare," "fight the fight of faith," "contend earnestly," "wrestle
with principalities and powers." And though "the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal," yet are they "mighty through God; to the pulling down
of strongholds."
The number 2 is stamped upon the Articulata in
the most perfect way. In them, bilaterality is most perfectly developed
from the head to the extremity of the body, while the whole animal is
divided into rings, which consist of an upper and an under arch, each
of four pieces arranged in pairs on each side of the middle line. Eight
pieces give us thus the cube of 2.
"The different rings or segments of the body
always bear a strong resemblance to each other, and sometimes, as in
the Julus [wire-worm] and the Scolopendra or Centipede, they seem like
actual repetitions of each other. Each ring may bear two pairs of
appendages, or members." (Carpenter.)
"The tendency to
repetition exhibited by the segments of the body is as remarkable in
the, disposition of the muscles and of the nervous system as it is in
the arrangement of the general envelope. In most animals of this
sub-kingdom, each ring in its complete state possesses a pair of
nervous ganglia, united, on the central line; and these ganglia are
connected together by a double cord of communication which runs along
the lower or ventral surface of the body.
"The muscles, like the parts of the body
themselves, are arranged with great regularity and exactness on the two
sides of the median or central line; so that the lateral symmetry of
the Articulata is most exact. Where the segments and their appendages
have a similar form and action, their muscles are but repetitions of
each other."
"The alimentary tube frequently passes straight
along the central line, from one extremity of the body to the other,
with a dilatation near its commencement, - the stomach; and where this
is not the case, the convolutions which the intestines make are usually
few in number. Instead of a heart, we find a dorsal vessel - a long
tube placed on the central line of the back, and divided into segments,
corresponding with those of the body, - each segment being, as it were,
the heart for its own division. The respiratory apparatus, too, is
arranged with the most perfect symmetry."
We have before
suggested the connection of this bilateral symmetry with power of
movement. Here, as necessarily among what are pre-eminently Nature's
warriors, we find the greatest activity.
"The development of the
organs of nutrition in articulated animals would seem to be altogether
subservient to that of the locomotive apparatus ; - their function
being chiefly to supply the nerves and muscles with the ailment
necessary to sustain their vigour. The power of these muscles is so
great, in proportion to their size, that, in energy and rapidity of
movement, some of the articulated tribes surpass all other animals."
When
we remember the ants, the white ants, the bees, etc., we realize that
social instincts also are developed in a striking manner among these,
and in the ants find specialized warrior-forces acting like a trained
host. A large proportion of the whole group, as the crabs, beetles,
wire-worm, centipede, have their coats of mail also for defence. Thus
the spiritual idea which reigns among the Articulata is not hard to
trace. That it is in complete harmony with their numerical place needs
also no insisting on. The general thought is all that we can here
trace: for details, we have no room; but there is here a fruitful field
for any who will labour in it.
We come now, lastly, to what is first in position among these types, - that of the -
VERTEBRATA.
The
Vertebrata are, as every one knows, so called from their possession of
a jointed column inclosing the spine, the skull being only an expansion
of the same in order to protect the brain in like manner. Brain and
spine, rather than the bony case which environs them, are really the
distinctive characters of these highest of the Animal Kingdom.
COMPARATIVE DIAGRAM OF VERTEBRATA (B) AND INVERTEBRATA (A)
(a) Body-wall (b) Alimentary Canal. (c) Circulatory System (n) Sympathetic Nervous System; (?) Cerebro-Spinal Nervous System
"In all Invertebrate animals, without exception,"
says Prof. Nicholson, "the body may be regarded as a single tube,
inclosing all the viscera; and consequently, in this case, the nervous
system is contained within the general cavity of the body, and is not
in any way shut off from the alimentary canal. The transverse section,
however, of the Vertebrate animal exhibits two tubes, one of which
contains the great masses of the nervous system, - that is, the
cerebro-spinal axis, or brain and spinal cord - whilst the other
contains the alimentary canal and the chief circulatory organs,
together with certain portions of the nervous system known as time
'ganglionic' or 'sympathetic' system. Leaving the cerebro-spinal centre
out of sight for a moment, we see that the larger or visceral tube of
the Vertebrate animal contains the digestive canal, the hamal system,
and the gangliated nervous system. Now this is exactly what is
contained in the visceral cavity of any of the higher invertebrate
animals; and it follows from this, as pointed out by Von Baer, that it
is the sympathetic nervous system of Vertebrates which is truly
comparable to, and homologous with, the nervous system of
Invertebrates. The cerebro-spinal nervous centres of the Vertebrata are
to be regarded as something superadded, and not represented at all
among the Invertebrata."
It is clear that this additional part
is that which governs the whole, moreover. Without being able to
attribute to the brain the mental power ascribed to it by Dr.
Carpenter, we may assuredly see in it a means of concentrating and
combining the powers existing in those storehouses of nerve-force which
we find in the ganglionic centres which make up the whole nerve-system
of Invertebrates. And thus a unity of control is established over every
part which we do not find in the latter, - a unity which is to be
discerned in the fact that in the Vertebrates such divisions of the one
animal into two, or even replacement of lost members, as we find in
other sub-kingdoms, is no longer possible. The animal is here one, and
indivisible, and that not by simplicity of organization, as in the
Mollusk, but by subjection to one controlling power. Unity, from the
full harmony of many organs and functions, - not the narrow unity of
one prevalent idea, but that which we have seen to. be characteristic
of groups pre-eminently typical - distinguishes the Vertebrate.
The
spiritual idea is easily read here as harmonious obedience, in which is
expressed that integrity or oneness which is indeed the first principle
of the life of faith, and which produces, where it is found the highest
development of every faculty of the soul. Thus in the Vertebrate now
every function is elaborated as in no other type, - digestion and
nutrition beyond the Mollusk, locomotion more perfect though not more
various than the Articulate, the internal support without the
immobility of the Radiate. In the circulatory system a true heart for
the first time appears, and becomes a new centre of force in the body.
Sensation is correspondingly awake, as the blood reddens, and the
nerve-power manifests itself in a new energy and directness of
application. How many pages could one write upon the spiritual meaning
of all this! Yet I shall not; for my object is not to sermonize but to
bring my reader face to face with the God of nature for himself, when
the application will be easy. These types are wonderfully full,
detailed, and life like pictures, needing little help to understand
them, when once we are in a responsive attitude of soul. What wonder,
when in them God has written, not for the philosophers, but the whole
race of man, just as He has written His other book of revelation. Near
enough to Nature's heart, we shall find that it is God, the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the Heart of Nature.