mention them in our next lesson, but it must be apparent to all that
Life is constantly manifesting in the sprouting of seeds; the putting
forth of stalk, leaves, blossoms, fruit, etc., and in the enormous
manifestation of force and energy in such growth and development. One
may see the life force in the plant pressing forth for expression and
manifestation, from the first sprouting of the seed, until the last
vital action on the part of the mature plant or tree.

Besides the vital action observable in the growth and development of
plants, we know, of course, that plants sicken and die, and manifest
all other attributes of living forms. There is no room for argument
about the presence of life in the plant kingdom.

But there are other forms of life far below the scale of the plants.
There is the world of the bacteria, microbes, infusoria--the groups of
cells with a common life--the single cell creatures, down to the
Monera, the creatures lower than the single cells--the Things of the
slime of the ocean bed.

These tiny Things--living Things--present to the sight merely a tiny
speck of jelly, without organs of any kind. And yet they exercise all
the functions of life--movement, nutrition, reproduction, sensation,
and dissolution. Some of these elementary forms are all stomach, that
is they are all one organ capable of performing all the functions
necessary for the life of the animal. The creature has no mouth, but
when it wishes to devour an object it simply envelopes it--wraps itself
around it like a bit of glue around a gnat, and then absorbs the
substance of its prey through its whole body.

Scientists have turned some of these tiny creatures inside out, and yet