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.)
This is absurd, for the cells which build up the embryo, are new combinations of the atoms of which they are composed; each embryo develops and grows anew for itself; neither the germ-cell nor any of its daughter-cells has any knowledge of the father, nor of the mother; nor of their mode of development and growth; nor of their organs and parts; nor has the embryo any power nor control over its own development and growth, nor to imitate the development and growth of its parents, even if it knew how they developed and grew.
Sec. 27. Differentiation (Metamorphosis) of Simple-Cells Into Bone-Cells, Muscle-Cells, Nerve-Cells, Vascular-Cells, Gland-Cells, Etc.
A cell is said to be “a simple-cell,” when it is composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen, with a possible trace of phosphorus and sulphur,—when it consists of plain protoplasm—and before it has been differentiated into a bone-cell, muscle-cell, nerve-cell or the like. To convert a simple-cell into one of these specialized cells certain atoms must be added to it, or taken from it; or certain atoms must be taken away and others added to it; or the chemical combination of atoms in it must be broken down and new ones formed. There is no change in the properties of the chemical elements, which compose the human body. For example, the nature and properties of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen remain the same whether they are in or out of the body, and the same is true of every other element.
The differentiation of simple-cells into bone-cells, muscle-cells, nerve-cells, vascular-cells, gland-cells, etc., is effected by changing the chemical elements, which enter into their composition; or by changing the proportion of these elements to one another and altering their molecular structure. In fact, it appears that every differentiation and specialization of any animal, or of any organ or part of one, is accomplished by changing its chemical constituents; or by changing their relative proportions to one another and thereby modifying its molecular structure, and by changing the mechanical arrangement of its atoms and cells.