Part 24

Not even are quadrupeds and men living souls, but they are vivified by the same breath and spirit. _Neshemet chayim_, or the _breath of lives_, and not the _breath_ of _life_ as the text of the common version has it, is said to be in the inferior creatures as well as in man. _Chayim_ in the Hebrew is in the plural number, and therefore the words _neshemet chayim_ should be rendered as above. Thus, God said, “I bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy _all flesh_ wherein is _ruach chayim_ spirit of lives.” And in another place, “they went in to Noah into the ark, two and two of _all flesh_, in which is _ruach chayim_ spirit of lives.” And _all flesh_ died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing, and every man; all in whose nostrils was _neshemet ruach chayim_, BREATH OF SPIRIT OF LIVES. Now, as has been previously affirmed, it was the _neshemet chayim_ with which God, according to the testimony of Moses, inflated the nostrils of Adam. If, therefore, this were a particle of the divine essence, as it is declared, which became the immortal soul in man, then all other animals have likewise immortal souls, for they all received breath of spirit of lives in common with him. Begotten of the same Invisible Power, and formed from the substance of a common earth mother, man and beasts were animated by the same spirit, and constituted to be _living breathing frames_, though of different species, and in God they lived, and moved, and had their continued being.

Returning to the philology of our subject, it is to be remarked that by a metonymy, or a figure of speech where the container is put for the thing contained, and conversely, _nephesh_, _breathing frame_, is put for _neshemet ruach chayim_, which, when in motion, causeth the frame to respire. Hence _nephesh_ signifies not only _breath_ and _soul_, but also _life_, or those mutually affective, positive and negative principles in all living creatures, whose closed circuits cause motion of and in their frames. By Moses these principles, or qualities of the same thing, are apparently styled the _Ruach Elohim_, or by Timothy the Spirit of Him “who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see,” and which, when the word was spoken, first moved upon the face of the waters, and afterwards disengaged the light, evolved the expanse, gathered the waters together, brought forth the green vegetation, manifested the celestial universe, vitalized the breathing frames of the dry land, the firmament and the seas, and formed man in His own image and likeness. This _ruach_, or spirit, was the instrumental principle commissioned by the glorious Increate for the elaboration of the natural world, the erection of this earthly house, and its equipment with living souls of every species; and it is this same instrumentally formative power that, together with the _neshemeh_, or breath, that keeps them from perishing, or returning to the dust. “If God set his heart against man, He will withdraw to himself _ruachu veneshemetu_, that is, _His spirit and His breath_; all flesh shall “perish together, and man shall turn again to dust.” “By the _neshemet el_,” or breath of God, “frost is given.” Speaking of reptiles and beasts, David saith, “thou withdrawest _ruachem_--_their spirit_--they die; and to their dust they return. Thou sendest forth _ruheck_--thy spirit--they are created.”

So feeble is the circumnutating movement of the terminal growing part, both of the primary and secondary radicles, that it can assist them but little in penetrating the ground, excepting when the superficial layer is very soft and moist. But it must aid them materially when they chance to break obliquely into cracks, or into burrows that have been made by earth-worms or larvæ. Moreover, combined as it is with the sensitiveness of the tip of the radicle to contact, it can hardly fail to be of the highest importance, for as the tip is always endeavoring to bend to all sides, it will press on all sides, and will thus be able to discriminate between the harder and softer adjoining surfaces. Consequently, it will tend to bend from the harder soil, and will thus take the directions of the least resistance. So it will act if it meet with a stone or the root of another plant in the soil, as must incessantly occur. If the tip were not sensitive, and did not excite the upper part of the radicle to bend away, whenever obstacles were encountered at right angles to its growing direction, it would undoubtedly be liable to be doubled up into a contorted mass. But with radicles growing down inclined plates of glass, as shown by experiment, it has been observed that as soon as the tip merely touched a slip of wood cemented across the plate, the entire terminal growing point curved away, so that the tip soon stood at right angles to its former direction; and thus, as far as the pressure of the surrounding soil would permit, would it be with an obstacle encountered in the ground. Thick and strong radicles, like those of the horse-chestnut, are endowed with less sensitiveness than more delicate ones, and would therefore be the better able by the force of their growth to overcome any slight impediment to their progress. Further, as radicles perceive an excess of moisture in the air on one side and bend towards this side, it is reasonable to infer that they will act in a similar manner with respect to moisture in the earth, for the sensitiveness of moisture resides in the tip, which determines the bending of the upper part. May not this capacity partly account for the extent to which drain-pipes often become choked with roots? The direction which the apex takes at each successive period of the growth of a root, ultimately determines its whole course. It is therefore very important that the apex should follow from the first the most advantageous direction. We can thus understand why sensitiveness to geotropism, contact and moisture should all reside in the tip, and why it should determine the upper growing part to bend either from or to the exciting cause. Darwin has compared a radicle with a burrowing animal, such as a mole, which wishes to penetrate vertically into the ground. By a process of circumnutation, or the movement of his head from side to side, he is enabled to feel any stone or other obstacle, as well as any difference in hardness of soil that may exist, and will therefore turn from that side; but if damper on one side than on the other, will turn thither as a more suitable hunting-ground. Nevertheless, after each interruption, he, guided by the sense of gravity, will be able to recover his downward direction and to reach to a greater depth.

Destruction of the tip of a radicle does not prevent the adjoining part from bending, if this part has already received some influence from the tip. As with a horizontally extended radicle, whose tip has been cut off or destroyed, the part which should bend most remains motionless for many days or hours, even though exposed at right angles to the full influence of gravity, we cannot do otherwise than conclude that the tip alone is sensitive to this power, and transmits some stimulus to the neighboring parts, thereby causing them to bend. Direct evidence of such transmission has been obtained. When a radicle was left extended horizontally for an hour or an hour and a half, by which time the supposed influence will have travelled some distance from the tip, and the tip was then cut off, the radicle subsequently became bent, although it was placed in a perpendicular position. Terminal portions of several radicles thus treated continued for some time to grow in the direction of their newly-acquired curvature, for being destitute of tips they were no longer acted upon by the power of gravity. New vegetative points, however, appeared, and being acted on by this influence coursed themselves perpendicularly downward as was their custom.

Investigation having shown that it is the tip of the radicle that is sensitive to geotropism in the members of such distinct families as the Leguminosæ, Malvaceæ, Cucurbitaceæ and Gramineæ, which may be represented by the Clover, Mallow, Gourd and Rye, we may justly infer that this character is common to the roots of most seedling-plants. Whilst a root is penetrating the ground, the tip must take the incipient step, as it has to determine the direction of the entire root. When, however, it is deflected by any subterranean obstacle, it is essential that a considerable length of the root should be able to bend, particularly as the tip itself grows slowly and bends but little, so that the proper downward course should be recovered. Immaterial as it would seem whether the entire growing part should be so sensitive to geotropism as to effect this movement, or that it should be brought about by an influence transmitted exclusively from the tip, we should, however, remember that it is the tip that is sensitive to the contact of hard objects, causing the radicle to bend away from them, thus directing it along certain lines in the soil where the least opposition interposes. It is again the tip that is alone sensitive, at least in some instances, to moisture, causing the radicle to bend towards its source. These last two kinds of sensitiveness conquer for a time the sensitiveness to geotropism, which, however, ultimately prevails. But the three kinds most often come into antagonism, first one prevailing, and then the other. It would, therefore, be an advantage, perhaps a necessity, for the interweighing and reconciling of these different kinds of sensitiveness, that they should all be localized in the same group of cells which have to transmit the command to the adjoining parts of the radicle, necessitating it to bend to or from the source of the irritation.

Though generally believed by authors that the modification of the upper or lower surfaces of a radicle, whereby curvature is induced in the proper direction, is the direct result of gravitation, yet there can be no question from all that has been said that it is the tip alone that is acted on and that transmits some influence to the adjoining parts, causing them to curve in a downward manner. Gravity, it would seem, does not act in a more direct way on a radicle than it does on any lowly-organized animal, which moves away when it feels some weight or pressure.

When we consider what we have written, it is impossible not to be impressed with the resemblance between the movements of plants and many of the actions performed by the lower animals. With plants an astonishingly small stimulus suffices. One plant may be highly sensitive to the slightest continued pressure, while a closely-allied form just as highly sensitive to a slight momentary touch. The habit of moving at certain periods is inherited both by plants and animals; and other points of similitude have been specified. But the most striking resemblance is the localization of their sensitiveness, and the transmission of a stimulus from the exciting point to another, which consequently moves. Yet plants do not, of course, possess nerves or a central nervous system. May we not therefore infer, and wisely so, too, that with animals such structures but serve for the more perfect transmission of impressions, and for the more complete intercommunication of their several parts?