Chapter II: Part 2

If a portion of the silt at the mouth of the Mississippi should be deposited at its mouth in the form of a colossal man, showing his head, neck, body, arms, legs, hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, etc., it would be considered a great miracle. But the formation of the embryo body in the womb of its mother, with all its organs and parts is far more miraculous than the formation of the silt man of the Mississippi would be.

The reader may reply that the atoms of which the embryo is built up are not merely deposited but they are absorbed by the fertilized ovum and its daughter-cells, and converted into new cells; that these cells are chemically combined and differentiated and mechanically arranged in such a manner as to form the embryo body, etc. True; but force and motion are necessary to produce new cells, to make the necessary chemical combinations and mechanical arrangements; and these forces and motions must be generated, guided and controlled by a Being possessed of a conscious intellect, memory, will-power and creative force.

Sec. 12. Intellect, Memory and Will-power are Necessary, When

Conscious intellect, memory and will-power are necessary to generate, guide and control the force and motion employed in the construction of a compound physical structure, whatever its form or size may be.

Each spermatozoön is composed of myriads of atoms. The atoms of each are chemically combined and mechanically arranged in the same manner that those in every other are, all spermatozoä being identical in chemical composition, mechanical arrangement, form and size. The same is true of each ovum and fertilized ovum, and of the atoms in them, respectively, _vice versa_. So each embryo is composed of myriads of cells, the cells in each having identically the same chemical composition and mechanical arrangement that those in every other embryo of the same age and sex have; all embryos of the same age and sex having substantially the same chemical combinations and mechanical arrangements of their cells, organs and parts. It follows that each human spermatozoön, ovum, fertilized ovum and embryo, of the same age and sex is constructed according to certain prescribed “plans and specifications.”

We are, therefore, compelled to assume that the force and motion necessary to construct the spermatozoön, ovum, fertilized ovum and embryo are generated, guided and controlled by a Being with full knowledge of the “plans and specifications,” of the chemical elements, their affinities and combinations, of mechanical arrangements, etc. The Architect must know the “plans and specifications;” must be able to compare the work of construction with them, as the work progresses; must have memory to bear in mind and recall the plans and specifications; and must have will-power to begin and continue the work until the “structure” is completed. So He must see that each organ and part attains its proper form and size at the right time; that each organ and part is properly proportioned to and correlated with, every other on each day of its growth. In other words: He must see that the forces at work, and the motions produced in each organ and part of the embryo body are proportioned to and in harmony with the forces at work and the motions produced in every other; that the development and growth of each organ and part keeps pace with those of every other. This knowledge, power and creative force belongs only to the Creator.

Sec. 13. Spermatozoön

A spermatozoön is a microscopic body contained in the semen, to which the seminal fluid owes its vitality; and which is the immediate means of impregnating or fertilizing the ovum of the female; a spermatic cell or filament; a spermatozoid. (Cent. Dic. 7, p. 5819.)

The spermatozoön is composed of protoplasm and is one of the smallest cells in the animal body. The seminal fluid is called “sperm” or “the male seed.” Sperm, like saliva or blood, is not a simple fluid, but is a thick agglomeration of innumerable cells swimming about in a comparatively small quantity of fluid. It is not the fluid, but the independent male cells, which swim in it, that cause conception. They have, as a rule, “a peculiarly lively motion.” In most animals, the spermatozoä have a very small naked body, inclosing an elongated nucleus and a long thread like tail, hanging from it. It was long before we could recognize that these structures were simple cells. We now know that the spermatozoä are nothing but simple and real cells of the kind we call “ciliated” cells, equipped with cilia or “lashes.”

The body of the spermatozoön is divided into “head,” “trunk” and “tail.” The head is merely the oval nucleus of the cell; the body or middle part is an accumulation of cell matter and the tail is a thread-like prolongation of the trunk or body. The form of the spermatozoön is not peculiar to it; cells with similar forms are found in various other parts of the body. Such forms as the spermatozoön are called caudate or tailed cells. See Haeckel, _Evolution of Man_, p. 52-53.

“The spermatozoä,” says Professor Martin, “are motile bodies about 1/500th of an inch in length; they have a flattened, clear body or head and a long vibratile tail or cilium; the portion of the tail nearest the head is thicker than the rest, and is known as the neck. The mode of development of a spermatozoön shows that the head is a cell-nucleus and the neck and tail a modified cell-body.”--(Martin, _Human Body_, p. 651.)

According to Haeckel, the spermatozoön is about 1/10,000th of an inch in diameter. See _Evolution of Man_, p. 53, fig. 22.

“The striking differences,” says Haeckel, “of [between] the respective cells, in size and shape … are easily explained on the principle of division of labor. The inert motionless ovum grows in size according to the quantity of provision it stores up in the form of nutritive yelk for the development of the germ. The active swimming sperm-cell is reduced in size in proportion to its need to seek the ovum and bore its way into its yelk.”--Haeckel, _Evolution of Man_, p. 57.

These statements appear to be true; but the work described by Haeckel, cannot be done by man nor woman; nor by their sexual organs; nor by the blind unthinking atoms which go to build up the spermatozoön and the ovum. The Creator only, can make them!

“The phenomena we have described,” he says, on another page, “can only be understood and explained by ascribing a certain lower degree of psychic activity to the sexual principles. They feel each other’s proximity and are drawn together by a sensitive impulse (probably related to smell); they move towards each other and do not rest until they fuse together.” (Haeckel, _Evolution of Man_, p. 58.)

There is no pretense that the spermatozoön has any brain, eyes, ears, nose, taste or touch; nor that the ovum has any such organs. Then, how can they have any “degree of psychic activity;” how can “they feel each other’s proximity;” how can “they move towards each other?” How could either know in what direction to go in order to reach the other?

It is absurd to suppose that the spermatozoön and ovum have any knowledge of each other, or of anything else; and the only reasonable hypothesis is that the Creator generates, guides, and controls the forces which bring them together and fuse them into the germ-cell.

Sec. 14. Ovum

The word ovum is defined as: “An egg in a broad biological sense; and the proper product of an ovary; the female germ or seed, which, when fertilized by the male sperm, is capable of developing into an individual like the parents.… An ovum consists of a quantity of protoplasm or cell-substance called the vitellus or yolk inclosed in a cell-wall or vitelline membrane, and provided with a nucleus and nucleolus.” (Cent. Dic. 5, p. 4212.)

“The ovum (egg) is extremely small,” says Haeckel, “being a tiny round vesicle about 1/120th of an inch in diameter; it can be seen under favorable circumstances with the naked eye as a tiny particle, but is otherwise quite invisible. This particle is formed in the ovary inside a much larger globule, which takes the name of the Graäfian follicle, from its discoverer, Graäf, and [which] had been previously regarded as the true ovum.” (Evolution of Man, chap. 3, pp. 16-17.)

“Man is developed,” says Darwin, “from an ovule (little egg) about the 1/125th of an inch in diameter, which differs in no respect from the ovules of other animals.” (Descent of Man, chap. 1, p. 9.)

“In man,” says Romanes, “as in most mammals, it (the ovum or egg-cell) is about 1/120th of an inch in diameter.” (Romanes, _Darwin and After Darwin_, 1, p. 120.)

Supposing the human egg to be 1/120th of an inch in diameter and an ordinary pin’s head to be 1/16th of an inch in diameter, which is about its size, the egg would be about 1/7th of the size of a pin’s head.

Haeckel says: “In the lower vertebrates the formation of ova (eggs) in the germ-epithelium of the ovary continues throughout life; but in the higher animals it is restricted to the earlier stages, or even to the period of embryonic development.

“In man it seems to cease in the first year; in the second year we find no new-formed ova (eggs) or chains of ova (Pfluger’s tubes.) However, the number of ova (eggs) in the two ovaries is very large in the young girl. There are calculated to be 72,000 in the sexually mature maiden.” (_Evolution of Man_, chap. 29, p. 347.)

“The human ovum,” says Haeckel, “whether fertilized, or not, cannot be distinguished from that of most other mammals. It is nearly the same everywhere, in form, size, and composition. When it is fully formed, it has a diameter of (on an average) about 1/120th of an inch. When the mammal ovum (egg) has been carefully isolated and held against the light on a glass-plate, it may be seen as a fine point even with the naked eye. The ova (eggs) of most of the higher animals are about the same size. The diameter of the ovum (egg) is almost always between 1/250th and 1/125th of an inch. It has always the same globular shape; the same characteristic membrane; the same transparent germinal vesicle with its dark germinal spot.

“Even when we use the most powerful microscope,” he continues, “with its highest power, we can detect no material difference between the ova (eggs) of man, the ape, dog, and so on. I do not mean to say that there are no differences between the ova (eggs) of these different mammals. On the contrary, we are bound to assume that there are such [differences] at least as regards chemical composition. Even the ova (eggs) of different men must differ from each other; otherwise we should not have a different individual from each ovum (egg). It is true that our crude and imperfect apparatus cannot detect these subtle individual differences which are probably in the molecular (atomic) structure.”--(_Evolution of Man_, _chap. 6_, p. 44.)

Sec. 15. Spermatozoön and Ovum are Special Creations

Each human spermatozoön is formed in the genital organs of a particular man. So each human ovum is formed in the genital organs of a particular woman. Each of them is a new chemical combination, and a new mechanical arrangement, of the atoms of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen (protoplasm) of which they are composed; which atoms are now, combined and arranged, for the first and last time, into a spermatozoön or an ovum. The atoms in a spermatozoön are chemically combined according to a prescribed formula, and mechanically arranged according to a specific plan; and the same is true of the atoms in an ovum. Each spermatozoön has the same chemical composition and the same mechanical arrangement, the same form and size, that every other has. So each ovum has the same combination and arrangement, the same form and size that every other has.

The materials, forces and motions employed in making each spermatozoön are similar to those employed in forming every other; but they are wholly different from, and independent of, those employed in making any other; and the same is true of the materials, forces and motions employed in making each ovum.

In other words, each spermatozoön is composed of its own atoms, and these atoms are selected, assembled, combined and arranged by forces and motions, peculiar to itself, independently of and wholly different from, the forces and motions which build up every other. The same is true of each ovum, the necessary changes being made.

It is a well known fact that each human spermatozoön is so adapted to, and correlated with, each human ovum that these two cells will, under suitable conditions, fuse and produce a new human being. It is also true that no other substance, on the earth, will fuse with such an ovum with the same result. The same is true of each ovum _vice versa_. These facts prove that each spermatozoön, and each ovum, has a specific composition, and definite arrangement of its atoms; that each spermatozoön has the same composition, and, substantially the same form, size, and structure that every other has; and that each ovum has the same composition, form, size and structure that every other has.

We cannot doubt that each spermatozoön and each ovum is produced anew, separately and apart from, and independently of every other, the production of each having no relation to the production nor to the existence of any other.

Intellect, memory, will-power, force and motion are necessary to group two or more atoms into a prescribed chemical combination, or into a specified mechanical arrangement. So supernatural, psychic and creative force are necessary to endow the human spermatozoön and ovum, with the vital properties and potentialities which they are known to possess.

Thus it appears that each spermatozoön and each ovum has mysterious and wonderful properties peculiar to itself. We cannot believe that they are produced by accident, nor by chance; nor that the atoms, of which they are composed, assemble and group themselves, automatically, into the form of a spermatozoön or an ovum; nor that they are evolved by the factors of evolution. The man in whose genital organs the spermatozoön is formed, has no conscious part nor voluntary agency in its production; nor has he any control, nor any power over it. His sexual organs “grind it out” as a mill grinds out meal. Nor has the woman, in whose ovary the ovum is formed, any part nor agency in its production; nor any control nor any power over it. No man, however wise, scientific and great he may be, can make any combination of atoms with the properties and potentialities of the spermatozoön; nor with those of the ovum.

The atoms in each spermatozoön are unique and peculiar to it, they being similar to, but differing from, those composing any other spermatozoön; and the same is true of the atoms composing each ovum. So, each spermatozoön appears to be endowed with the power to produce a child with a form, features, characteristics and traits resembling those of its father. In like manner it appears that each ovum has the power to produce a child with a form, features, qualities and traits resembling those of its mother.

But the smallest ant is a giant, in comparison with the spermatozoön or the ovum. Neither of them has any brain, nor eyes, ears, nose, touch, nor taste--no brain nor sense-organs. It is impossible to believe that the spermatozoön knows the color of its father’s hair and eyes; his complexion; the length of his nose; the size and form of his head; his facial expression; his characteristics and traits. Nor can we even imagine that the ovum has any knowledge of its mother, nor of her anatomy, organs, form, features or characteristics.

But assuming for argument that the spermatozoön and ovum do know all these things, it would be absurd to suppose that they can, automatically, combine, arrange and differentiate their atoms, and the new daughter-cells, which are produced in the embryo body, in such manner and form as to reproduce the hair, eyes, complexion, form, features, characteristics and traits of the father and mother. The work, which the spermatozoön and ovum appear to do is, in fact, done by the Creator, Himself, He employing them as instruments with which to do the same.

In view of all the facts, we are compelled to infer that the Creator selects the atoms, which form the spermatozoön and the ovum and that he generates, guides and controls the forces, which assemble, group and arrange them into the form of a spermatozoön and ovum.

It follows that each human spermatozoön and ovum is a new, direct and special creation by Almighty God.

Sec. 16. Germ-Cell, Stem-Cell or Fertilized Ovum

The fertilized ovum is variously called, “germ-cell,” “stem-cell,” “first segmentation sphere,” “parent-cell,” “impregnated ovum,” “fertilized egg cell,” and other names of like import, all these phrases meaning the same thing.

Under the head, “Conception,” Haeckel says, among other things:

“The process of fertilization by sexual conception consists, therefore, essentially, in the coälescence and fusing together of two different cells. The lively spermatozoön travels toward the ovum by its serpentine movements and bores its way into the female cell. The nuclei of both sexual cells attracted by a certain affinity approach each other and melt into one.”--(Haeckel, Ev. Man, p. 53.)

How do they acquire this “affinity?” How do they know each other? Have they intellect, memory and will? Are they not driven toward each other by a supernatural, psychic force?

Continuing he says:

“The fertilized cell is quite another thing from the unfertilized cell. For if we must regard the spermia [spermatozoä] as real cells, no less than the ova, and the process of conception as the coälescence of the two we must consider the resultant cell as a quite new and independent organism. It bears in the cell and nuclear matter of the penetrating spermatozoön a part of the father’s body, and in the protoplasm of the ovum a part of the mother’s body. This is clear from the fact that the child inherits many features from both parents. It inherits from the father by means of the spermatozoön and from the mother by means of the ovum. The actual blending of the two cells produces a third cell, which is the germ of the child, or new organism conceived. One may also say of this sexual coälescence that _the stem cell is a simple hermaphrodite_, it unites both sexual substances in itself.” (Ev. Man, pp. 53-54.)

“The individual development,” he says, “in man and the other animals, commences with the formation of a simple ‘stem-cell,’ of this character, and this then passes by repeated segmentation (or cleavage) into a cluster of cells, known as ‘the segmentation sphere,’ or ‘segmentation cell.’” (Haeckel, Ev. Man, p. 54.)

On another page (56) he says:

“Hence the essential point in the process of sexual reproduction or impregnation is the formation of a new cell, the stem-cell, by the combination of two originally different cells, the female ovum and the male spermatozoön. The process is of the highest importance and merits our closest attention. All that happens in the later development of this first cell, and in the life of the organism that comes of it, is determined from the first by the chemical and morphological composition of the stem-cell, its nucleus and its body.” (Ev. Man, p. 56.)

“Hertwig,” he continues, “puts his theory of conception thus:

‘Conception consists in the copulation of two cell-nuclei, which comes from a male and a female cell.…’

“As the phenomenon of heredity is inseparably connected with the reproductive process we may further conclude that these two copulating nuclei convey the characteristics which are transmitted from parents to offspring.” (Ev. of Man, p. 56.)

“As, moreover, there is a complete coälescence (fusion) of the mutually attracted nuclear substances in conception, and the new nucleus formed (the stem nucleus) is the real starting point for the development of the fresh organism, the further conclusion may be drawn that the male nucleus conveys to the child the qualities of the father, and the female nucleus the features of the mother.

“We must not forget, however, that the protoplastic bodies of the copulating cells also fuse together in the act of impregnation; the cell-body of the invading spermatozoön (the trunk and tail of the ciliated cell) is dissolved in the yelk of the female ovum. This coälescence is not so important as that of the [two] nuclei, but it must not be overlooked; and though the process is not so well known to us, we see clearly at least the formation of the star-like figure, (the radial arrangement of the particles in the plasma) in it.” (Haeckel, Ev. Man, p. 56.)

In another place (p. 57) he says:

“It has been shown that the tiny sperm-cell (spermatozoön) is not subordinated to but co-ordinated with, the large ovum. The nuclei of the two cells, as the vehicle of the hereditary features of the parents, are of equal physiological importance. In some cases we have succeeded in proving that the mass of the active nuclear substance, which combines in the copulation of the two sexual nuclei is originally the same for both.

“These morphological facts are in perfect harmony with the familiar physiological truth that the child inherits from both parents; and that on the average they are equally distributed. I say ‘on the average’ because it is well known that a child may have a greater likeness to the father, or to the mother; that goes without saying, as far as the primary sexual characters (the sexual glands) are concerned. But it is also possible that the determination of the latter--the weighty determination whether the child is to be a boy or a girl--depends on a slight qualitative or quantitative difference in nuclein or the colored nuclear matter which comes from both parents in the act of conception.” (Ev. Man, p. 57.)

Haeckel continues, (p. 57):

“Quite in harmony with this new conception of the equivalence of the two gonads (ovum and spermatozoön) on the equal physiological importance of the male and female sex-cells and their equal share in the process of heredity, is the important fact established by Hertwig that in normal impregnation only one single spermatozoön copulates with one ovum; the membrane which is raised on the surface of the yelk immediately after one sperm-cell has penetrated, prevents any others from entering. All the rivals of the fortunate penetrator die without.” (Ev. Man, pp. 57-58.)

Sec. 17. Germ-Cell Does Not Contain Any Skeleton, Model nor Performed Outline of the Coming Embryo

At this point it should be noted that the stem-cell does not contain any skeleton, model nor other preformed outline of the coming embryo for the following reasons: (1) neither the ovum nor the spermatozoön contains any such skeleton, model nor outline; and if each of them contain such a thing, both would be destroyed when these primary cells fuse and merge into the germ-cell. (2) The germ-cell first divides into two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and sixty-four daughter-cells, and so on into the millions; and this segmentation of the stem-cell and daughter-cells would surely annihilate any skeleton, model or other outline that might exist in the germ-cell; (3) the germ-cell first divides into two daughter-cells and so on, to infinity, as already stated; and these daughter-cells form what are called “germ-layers” or sheets of cells from which the human body and all of its organs and parts are built up. (Haeckel, Ev. Man, pp. 14, 16, 59, 92; Encyc. Brit., (9th ed.) 3, p. 682; 8, pp. 165, 744; 24, p. 631; Cent. Dic. 3, p. 2500, “Germ-layer.”)

This mode of growth, by the segmentation of cells and formation of germ-layers, is called “epigenesis” which Huxley defines as “the successive differentiation of a relatively homogeneous rudiment, into the parts and structures, which characterize the adult.” (Encyc. Brit. 8, p. 744. Cent. Dic. 3, p. 1968, “Epigenesis.”)

According to the theory of _epigenesis_, which is now held by all the scientific world, the human body grows anew from the germ-cell, without any skeleton model or any other kind of preformation.

“Every living thing,” says Huxley, “is evolved from a particle of matter, in which no trace of the distinctive characters of the adult form of that living thing is discernible. This particle is termed a _germ_.” (Encyc. Brit. (9 ed.) 8, p. 746.)

He defines a germ as “matter potentially alive, and having, within itself, the tendency to assume a definite living form;” and says that this definition “appears to meet all the requirements of modern science.” (Encyc. Brit. (9 ed.) 8, p. 746.)

“In all cases,” he says, “the process of evolution [growth] consists in a succession of changes of the form, structure and functions of the germ [fertilized ovum], by which it passes, step by step, from an extreme simplicity, or relative homogeneity, of visible structure to a greater or less degree of complexity or heterogeneity; and the course of progressive differentiation is usually accompanied by growth, which is effected by intussusception.” (Encyc. Brit. 8, p. 746.)

Huxley is surely mistaken in saying that “the process of evolution [development and growth] consists in a succession of changes in the form, structure and functions of the germ,” for the germ (fertilized ovum) immediately divides into two daughter-cells, these into four, these into eight, sixteen and so on to infinity. Thus, it appears that germ (germ-cell) becomes “a drop in the sea,” its identity being wholly lost. Huxley states this fact, in substance, in the quotation below.

“The substance,” he says, “by the addition of which the germ is enlarged is in no case, simply absorbed ready-made form the not-living world, and packed between the elementary constituents of the germ.… The new material is, in a great measure, not only absorbed but assimilated, so that it become part and parcel of the molecular structure of the living body into which it enters. And so far from the fully developed organism’s being simply the germ plus the nutriment which it has absorbed, it is probable that the adult contains neither in form, nor in substance, more than an inappreciable fraction of the constituents of the germ; and that it is almost wholly made up of assimilated and metamorphosed nutriment. In the great majority of cases, at any rate, the full grown organism becomes what it is by the absorption of not-living matter, and its conversion into living matter of a specific type.” (Encyc. Brit. (9 ed.) 8, p. 746.)

The substance of these quotations is that the germ (fertilized ovum) has, within itself, a tendency to assume the form of a man or woman. But, as above remarked, this is not true. On the contrary the “germ” divides into two daughter-cells, and these continue to divide until millions of them are produced. These daughter-cells are so distributed, combined, differentiated, grouped and arranged as to produce the embryo body with all its organs and parts. According to Huxley and other materialists the “germ” and its daughter-cells do all this work spontaneously without the aid or guidance of any extraneous psychic or creative force. Is this possible?

Sec. 18. Germ-Cell Has No Inherent Power to Evolve, Spontaneously and Automatically, the Body and Organs of the Embryo

The germ-cell (fertilized ovum) has no brain, no eyes, ears, nose, touch, nor taste--no brain nor sense-organs--no organs whatever. It has no knowledge of chemical elements; nor of their affinities; nor of their combinations. It has no knowledge of mechanical arrangement; no knowledge of the human body nor of its organs and parts; nor of their chemical constituents; nor of their mechanical arrangement. It has no idea of time nor space; nor of the adaption of a means to an end; nor of a contrivance.

The germ-cell has no memory of any of these things, for it is impossible for any being to remember a thing that it never knew. This would be a contradiction of terms--an absurdity. I know that Haeckel and other writers speak of “unconscious memory,” “organic memory,” etc. But these are vagaries of the evolutionist and materialist, having no foundation in fact.

So far as our experience goes, there is no such thing as intellect nor memory without and apart from a living physical body. Before there can be intellect or memory, there must be such body to serve as its dwelling place. It is absurd to suppose that the spermatozoön, the ovum or the fertilized ovum has intellect or memory. But even if any of the three has either of these faculties, it would be preposterous to suppose that the spermatozoön, ovum or fertilized ovum, remembers anything that happened before the atoms, of which it is composed, were grouped together as such. In other words, we cannot even imagine that any living being remembers anything that happened before it came into existence as such being. It is too clear for argument that no parent ever transmits to his or her child the memory of any thing that he or she ever saw, heard, felt or knew. Every man knows that he has no memory of anything that happened to either of his parents. It follows that the memory of each animal is limited to the period of his own existence, as such; and that there is no such thing as “unconscious memory,” or “organic memory,” in the sense in which these terms are used by the evolutionist.

But “unconscious memory,” “organic memory,” etc., if there were any such thing, have no constructive force. I might have a vivid memory of every spring, wheel, and part of a watch and yet have no power to make one. So, an anatomist may know and remember every bone, muscle, artery, vein, nerve and part of the human body; but this knowledge and memory would not enable him to form the chemical combinations and make the mechanical arrangements necessary to construct the human body and impart life to it.

Nor has the germ-cell any will-power to begin and continue the work of building up the embryo body until it is completed. We cannot even imagine that the germ-cell has the semblance of a will in any sense of the term.

To construct the embryo body a sufficient number of atoms of the necessary chemical elements, such as carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, etc., must be selected, assembled at the proper places and there combined, in certain proportions, to form the required chemical combinations; next these combinations must be grouped and mechanically arranged in such a manner as to form the embryo body, with all its organs and parts in their proper places.

Can the germ-cell, and the millions of daughter-cells arising from it, do this miraculous work, automatically, without the aid and guidance of the Creator?

Let us imagine that Edison or some other scientific man should build a tank large enough to hold a brick house with six rooms; that he put into the tank a “magic brick,” composed of silica, aluminum, iron, lime, magnesia, manganese, soda and potash combined in the proper proportions, (Encyc. Brit. 4, p. 280); that he turned a stream of water, charged with these elements, upon the brick; that it absorbed these substances from the water and assimilated them into its own body; that it afterward split into two “daughter-bricks,” these two into four, these into eight, sixteen, thirty-two, sixty-four, one hundred and twenty-eight, and so on to infinity; that these bricks, automatically, assumed such positions on top of each other as to build up the four walls of the house, without the aid of man or any other psychic force; that the bricks left spaces for doors, windows, etc.; that they also built up the chimneys, fire places, etc.; that some of the bricks, spontaneously, metamorphosed themselves into marble slabs for window-sills, door-sills, hearth-stones, etc.; that other bricks were converted into oaken mantels, with mirrors, etc.; that others were converted into slabs of slate and assumed the proper form, size and positions to form a slate roof!

If any such thing should ever happen it would be justly considered a great miracle.

But the development and growth of the embryo are far more mysterious and wonderful than the building of a house in this manner would be; for the embryo is a live miniature model of a man or woman--the work of a supernatural creative force--Almighty God.

Huxley says, in substance, that the germ-cell has “within itself the tendency to assume a definite living form.” He also says “that the great characteristic of the germ is, not so much what is, but what it may, under suitable conditions, become.”--(Encyc. Brit. (9 ed.) 8, p. 746.)

The common belief of mankind, in general, is that the germ-cell, spontaneously and automatically, develops and grows to be a man or woman, without the aid of any extraneous psychic or creative force.

But it is clear that the germ-cell divides into two, four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two and sixty-four daughter-cells; and so on to infinity. It follows that the germ-cell is annihilated within a few hours after it is formed; and that its identity, as the germ-cell is wholly lost in the myriads of daughter-cells which arise from it, and go to build up the embryo body; each daughter-cell containing, theoretically, a portion of the germ-cell.

It follows that the germ-cell has no tendency “within itself to assume a definite living form;” nor has it any power to become a living form, nor anything else.

Obviously, the microscopic germ-cell, when whole, would be powerless to develop and grow to be a man or woman; and for a much stronger reason the infinitesimal fragments of it would be powerless to do these things.

Apparently, the Creator uses the germ-cell to inaugurate the growth of daughter-cells in the embryo body, in the same manner that a grain of wheat is used to start the growth of a stalk of wheat.

Sec. 19. Reproduction, its Phenomena

All the phenomena of reproduction may be grouped under the following heads: (1) Production of the spermatozoön, (2) production of the ovum, (3) their fusion into the fertilized ovum, (4) production of daughter-cells, (5) distribution, mechanical arrangement and grouping of cells, (6) differentiation of cells into the different tissues, (7) waste of cells.

Sec. 20. Spermatozoön, its Production

The first step toward the reproduction of a man, woman, or any other mammal, (an individual of a species which suckles its young), is the formation of a spermatozoön in the genital organs of a male. See index, infra, “Spermatozoön.”

Sec. 21. Ovum, its Production

The production of an ovum in the genital organs of a female is the second step. It is immaterial which of them is produced first. The essential point is that they shall meet and fuse into the fertilized ovum.

See Sec. 14, supra; Index, infra, “ovum.”

Sec. 22. Germ-Cell, its Production

The third step is the fusion of the spermatozoön and ovum into the germ-cell, stem-cell or fertilized ovum. See index, infra, “germ-cell,” “stem-cell,” “fertilized ovum.”

Sec. 23. Daughter-Cells, Their Production

The fourth step is the production of daughter-cells. The germ-cell (fertilized ovum) is the primordial cell, from which every other cell in the human body is directly or indirectly, produced by fission or self-division. As already stated, the germ-cell divides into two daughter-cells, these into four, these into eight, sixteen, and so on to infinity. Every cell is composed of a vast number of atoms. A portion of these atoms is differentiated into “the inner nucleus (caryoplasm)” and “the body of the cell (cytoplasm).” (Haeckel, Ev. Man, p. 38.) Again he says: “In a mesh of the nuclear net-work … there is, as a rule, a dark, very opaque, solid body, called the nucleolus.” (Ev. Man, p. 38.) On another page, he says: “Some cells have a ‘nucleolinus’ in the center of the nucleolus.” (Ev. Man, p. 40, fig. 9.)

We cannot believe that any microscopic cell in the human body has intellect, memory, will-power nor creative force. For a stronger reason, we cannot imagine that any of the atoms of which any cell is composed, has these faculties. Nor can we conceive that a portion of these atoms, automatically, metamorphose themselves into a nucleolus, others into a nucleolinus, while the remainder continue to be a simple cell-body.

How do the cells know when the time has come to divide into two daughter-cells; where the dividing line should run in order to divide the cell-body, nucleus and nucleolus into two equal parts? For further discussion of cells see Index, infra, “cell.”

Sec. 24. Animals, Their Sizes are Determined, How?

Why does the elephant grow larger than the mouse. Both are mammals and are built of cells. The mouse has identically the same organs and parts that the elephant has. The mode of reproducing each is the same as that of the other. The spermatozoön, ovum and germ-cell are common to both.

How does it happen that all normal adult individuals of each species of animal in a given region and of each sex, have substantially the same form and size, called: “the mode?”

The reader may reply that nature fixes the size and form of every individual of each species. The evolutionist will say that the law of heredity and environment determine the sizes and forms of animals and plants; that the mouse is small because his ancestors were small; that the elephant is large because his were large.

But these replies do not explain the phenomena. Each animal grows anew, for itself. His body is a new combination of the atoms and cells of which it is composed. The forces and motions employed in its construction are new and peculiar to it. When the cells in an embryo body begin to grow there is no apparent reason why they should not continue to grow and multiply, forever. Now, what psychic force or agency ascertains and determines when the work of building up the animal body has been completed? What force or agency equalizes the growth and waste of cells in a mature animal body and keeps it of the same form, size, and weight until the decay of old age comes on?

The size of every animal depends upon the size and number of cells in his body; and its form is determined by the manner in which these cells are grouped together. For example there are more cells in the nose (trunk) and teeth (tusks) of the elephant, in proportion to the size of his body, than there are in those of the mouse in proportion to his. It is clear that a mouse would grow to be as large as an elephant if the cells in his body continued to grow and multiply for a sufficient period of time. Why do the cells cease to multiply when the mouse has attained a certain size? Why do they stop work in the elephant’s body when he gets his normal growth? Do the cells in the mouse and those in the elephant know when their work is done? How do they know it?

The materialist denies the existence of a First Cause and maintains that every animal and plant is the result of “a natural continuous and necessary evolution.” (Haeckel, Evolution of Man, p. 26.) Huxley says, in effect, that “secondary causes” produce all the phenomena of the physical universe; and that man and the rest of the living world “are all co-ordinated terms in nature’s great progression.” (Man’s Place in Nature, pp. 150-151.)

But it appears that the materialist maintains that the law of heredity is fixed and unchangeable, at all events it is proof against secondary causes. For example, no sort of treatment, nor any kind nor quantity of food will make a mouse grow to the size of an elephant nor any larger than his ancestors were. Food and environment are “secondary causes;” but they have no power to change the form nor the size of the animal body.

Since all normal adult individuals of each species of animals, all over the earth, and in every age, have substantially the same form and size; and since each individual is built up, anew, of new cells (or atoms) by new forces and motions, we are compelled to assume that the same psychic force or agency determines the number of cells which shall go into each normal body, and the manner in which these cells shall be grouped together. In brief, the same supernatural psychic and creative force, always, determines the form and size of each animal, all over the earth.

Sec. 25. Distribution and Grouping of Cells in the Embryo Body

As already stated, every man and woman begins life as a germ-cell or fertilized ovum. This cell grows and divides into two daughter-cells; these into four, eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on. At first these daughter-cells are so distributed and grouped as to form a solid ball called “the morula;” next they take the form of a hollow ball, called “the blastula” with a single layer or sheet of cells and a fluid in the center; next a group of cells with two layers, called “the gastrula;” then they are so distributed or grouped as to form two germ-layers or sheets of cells, then into three layers, then into four. At this point a portion of the cells is so grouped as to begin the formation of the spinal cord and brain; and in course of time, other cells are so distributed and grouped as to form the bones, muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines, arms, hands, legs, feet and other organs and parts of the body.

The form of any animal body and each organ and part of such a body, depends upon the manner in which its cells are distributed and grouped. Thus, the form of the whale, elephant, giraffe, camel, lion, tiger, hippopotamus, alligator, python, horse, cow, eagle and humming-bird, is produced by the distribution of the cells or atoms in their bodies. If a man has a very large head, a long nose or big foot we are compelled to infer that these peculiarities are the result of depositing an unusual number of cells (“organic bricks”) in these parts of his body.

Sir Isaac Newton states his first law of motion in the words following:

“Everybody continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line, except in so far as it is compelled, by force, to change that state.”--(Encyc. Brit. (9 ed.) 15, p. 676.)

For example, if one should lay a stone on the ground it would remain there forever, unless moved by some sort of force. It would be absurd to suppose that the stone could, automatically, move itself.

There is no such thing as making _any thing_ out of _nothing_. Every thing is made of some other thing. The body of the horse is made of corn, hay and other vegetable and mineral substances. So the human body is made of bread, meat and other food-stuffs, eaten by the mother before birth and by the individual, himself, after birth. The germ-cell is deposited in the womb of its mother. It cannot develop nor grow, unless it receive nourishment from her body. She eats bread, meat and other things, these are converted into blood, and a portion of it is carried, by the force of her heart and arteries, to the germ-cell; it absorbs and assimilates a portion of the blood; produces cells; and these are so distributed and grouped as to form the embryo body with all its organs and parts.

It is obvious that the father has nothing to do with the circulation of the mother’s blood, which conveys nourishment to the embryo; it is equally clear that she has no conscious part in the circulation of her own blood, and that she has no power nor control over the development nor the growth of the embryo, except such as she may exert indirectly by the food which she eats.

The embryo begins life as a germ-cell. Atoms of building material must be conveyed, by the blood of the mother, to this cell, otherwise, it cannot develop nor grow. As new cells are produced, they are so distributed and grouped as to form the several organs and parts of the embryo body; or it may be said that new cells are produced and added to older cells, at such points as to build up the embryo organs and parts. For example, arm-buds and leg-buds appear on the surface of the trunk, as slight swellings or projections; new cells are added to these buds; they grow, in length, by the addition of cells at the distal (outer) ends, until they have attained the proper length, terminating in the fingers and toes. So the arms and legs grow to some extent in diameter by the addition of new cells; but the number of cells, which go to extend the length of the arms and legs, greatly exceeds the number which go to increase the diameter.

Every atom in a cell is a physical body, like a brick, and must be moved by extraneous force, having no power to lift and move itself, automatically. It may be said that the heart and arteries of the mother furnish the energy, which moves the atoms to the building site of the cells, in the first instance. But the atoms are not only moved; they are carried at the proper time and deposited at the right place to build up the organ or part which is being constructed. We cannot believe that the mother has any knowledge of, nor power over, the distribution of the atoms and cells, which go to build up the embryo body; nor can we even imagine that the embryo itself distributes them. So it would be absurd to suppose that the atoms and cells move and distribute themselves, automatically, in such a manner as to build up the embryo.

How do the cells know when to begin the formation of the morula? How do they know when it has been completed and when to begin the construction of the blastula? How do they know when to take the form of the gastrula, and when to enter the next stage?

The forces and motions required to build up the morula (a solid ball) are different from those required to construct the blastula (a hollow ball) and the gastrula (a two-layered hollow group of cells with an aperture at one end of it); the morula, blastula and gastrula, each, requiring forces and motions peculiar to itself. Now, what psychic force stops the forces and motions, which build up the morula, and sets to work the forces which construct the blastula and afterward the gastrula?

It is obvious that these cells, (if there be enough of them), may be so grouped as to form a sphere, cube, cylinder, plate or any other figure; and that any of these may be solid, hollow or porous. The head, brain, heart, kidneys and some other parts of the embryo, approximate the form of a sphere; the trunk, arms, legs and many bones are approximately cylindrical; other bones take the form of a plate, for example the bones of the skull. The form and shape of the embryo, and of every organ and part of it, depends entirely upon the manner in which its component cells are grouped.

How is it possible for these unthinking microscopic cells to know at what point to begin, and in what direction to grow, and in what manner they shall group themselves, in order to construct the skeleton, brain, spinal cord, heart, lungs, stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.?

The only reasonable hypothesis is that the production and placing of cells in the embryo body are directed and controlled by a supernatural psychic and creative force.

After the formation of a rudimentary head and trunk, two “arm-buds” and two “leg-buds” appear on the surface of the trunk. At first these “buds” are slight swellings or projections, but they soon take the form of a cylinder and continue to grow mainly in length and slightly in diameter, until the man or woman has finished his or her growth. Every embryo that ever existed, grew and behaved in this same manner, thus showing that the same supernatural psychic and creative force directed and controlled the growth and deposit of cells in the body of every man and woman that ever lived.

How could the cells possibly know at what point, on the body of the embryo, to group themselves together in order to build up the arms and legs? How could they contrive to give the arms and legs the form of a cylinder, the length being several times as great as the diameter? How could the cells possibly know that there should be only one bone in each arm above the elbow and two below the elbow and the wrist? How could they know the number of bones that should be placed between the wrist and fingers? How could they know that there should be a thumb and four fingers in each hand and the number of joints in each finger? How could it be possible for the blind unthinking cells to build up the two legs and feet, with all their bones, processes, joints, muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, etc., without the aid and direction of a supernatural psychic and creative force?

We are, therefore, compelled to assume that the Creator generates, guides, and controls the forces which distribute and group the atoms and cells in the body of the embryo.

Sec. 26. Distribution and Grouping of Cells in the Embryo Body, Continued

The atoms and cells of which the embryo body is built up, and those of which each organ and part is made, are carried to “the building site” and there grouped by force. This force, whatever it may be, must be sufficient to overcome the force of gravity and the friction, which one atom or cell encounters in moving on the surface of another. This force must be guided and controlled by a Being with a conscious intellect, memory and will-power in order to build up the embryo body, or one of its organs, and give it the proper form and size; for the right number of atoms or cells must be carried to “the building site” of each organ and part, or it will be too large or too small, and out of proportion to the other parts of the body; and these atoms or cells must be so grouped as to give the organ or part the correct form--not too long, too wide nor too thick; else it will not fit into its place, nor be in harmony with the other parts of the body. Intellect, memory and judgment are necessary to construct the body or any part of it with atoms or cells, for the builder must know the anatomy of the body; must know the time when each part of the work must be done; must know the relation of each part to every other part; must know the proper form and size of each part, and the present form and size; must compare each part with every other in order to preserve harmony and due proportion among all the parts, in form, size and function.

The atoms of lime, phosphorus, carbon and oxygen, are assembled in the body of the embryo and combined in such manner as to make the rudimentary bones rigid and stable; others are assembled, combined and so grouped as to form the muscles; others to form the brain, spinal cord and nerves; others to form the arteries, veins, etc.; each of these tissues has its own chemical composition and molecular structure, radically different from the composition and structure of every other tissue. Moreover, these chemical and molecular changes (specializations) are made side by side at the same time, all at once, the muscles being attached to the bones, and the nerves, arteries and veins, ramifying through the muscles, bones, etc. Not only so, but the atoms and cells, which form the bones, muscles, nerves, arteries, veins, etc., are assembled, grouped and specialized at the exact points, at which these tissues are needed to build up the embryo body.

What force or agency does this miraculous work? Surely, it is not the father, nor the mother. It is not done by accident nor by chance, for the same things happen in the development and growth of every normal embryo body in every age and country the world over. All this wonderful work is done in every embryo body by the same psychic and creative force, whose work is uniform, continuous and everlasting.

The evolutionist says the development and growth of an embryo results from “heredity;” that the child develops and grows as it does because its father and mother and all their ancestors, for thousands of generations developed and grew in the same manner; and that the embryo develops and grows by “a natural continuous and necessary evolution.”--(Haeckel, Ev. Man, p. 26.)