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Article SCIENCE AND THE BIBLE. * ← Page 5 of 7 →
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Science And The Bible. *
of the institution of the first life-kingdom , in the words : " which has seed in itself ; " for this is the fundamental characteristic of living beings , as distinct from inorganic existence .
The evolution of the germ— -in its essence , a simple memberless cellule — resulting in a successive individualization of parts : the more fundamental first : then , by degrees , leading on to the completed complex organism in all its details , is an exhibition of another grand law of the highest significance ; one , in an important sense , typical of all progress .
The spiral Ihle of development as the initial in evolution , and retained in its perfection in the spiral arrangement of leaves in plants , as well as in the parts of some animals , is another grand law , which since has evolved from , the mass of facts before us in the plantkingdom . And this law has its more special announcements : follow the leaves , from one leaf , a , as a starting point around the stem , taking the course of the spiral , to another leaf , 3 , in the same vertical line with the first : and if there are two or three leaves in the w-vwv * -. *^ . ~ .. « „« ^* . M M ^ V * ^ VUWJ . V / M ^ V ^ 1 / »» v ., Vi . ^ X VV ^^ , VW *** w *^
^ , spiral , the spiral goes around but once before reaching leaf b ; if there are 5 leaves in the spiral , the spiral revolves 2 times before it reaches leaf n ; if there are 8 leaves , it revolves 3 times ; if 13 leaves , it revolves 5 times ; if 21 leaves , 8 times ; and so on , and the converse , by an inflexible rule . Placing the number of leaves above , and number of turns below , the following series expresses the relation : — 2 3 5 8 13 21
112 3 5 8 Now the last 8 , the number of revolutions for a spiral of 21 leaves , is the sum of 5 and 3 of the two next preceding spirals in the series ; and 21 , of 13 and 8 of the same two preceding spirals . In this way the series extends on , in exact mathematical relation . Thus
law rises above law , in God ' s plan , to mathematical harmonies ; and when we shall establish the connection between the nature of growth and the production of such spirals , this will be still another law , not obliterating the former , but only opening a profounder view into the mysteries of creation .
In the animal kingdom also , there are laws above laws in a long progression . There are relations of structure or concurrent conditions that run through the kingdom as a whole ; others for each class ; others still of less profound character , but no less strict or beautiful ,
for each order , or family , or genus ; and then in species itself there are still other analogies between different parts , which are like higher tones in the grand system of harmonies . These science has partly studied out , and she still labours to comprehend them all .
As one example : after tracing the analogies of parts between the fore and hind limbs of a quadruped , it has gone on and shown that in the Divine plan , one system or type of structure is at the basis of the arm of man , the log of the horse or lion , the wing of the bird ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Science And The Bible. *
of the institution of the first life-kingdom , in the words : " which has seed in itself ; " for this is the fundamental characteristic of living beings , as distinct from inorganic existence .
The evolution of the germ— -in its essence , a simple memberless cellule — resulting in a successive individualization of parts : the more fundamental first : then , by degrees , leading on to the completed complex organism in all its details , is an exhibition of another grand law of the highest significance ; one , in an important sense , typical of all progress .
The spiral Ihle of development as the initial in evolution , and retained in its perfection in the spiral arrangement of leaves in plants , as well as in the parts of some animals , is another grand law , which since has evolved from , the mass of facts before us in the plantkingdom . And this law has its more special announcements : follow the leaves , from one leaf , a , as a starting point around the stem , taking the course of the spiral , to another leaf , 3 , in the same vertical line with the first : and if there are two or three leaves in the w-vwv * -. *^ . ~ .. « „« ^* . M M ^ V * ^ VUWJ . V / M ^ V ^ 1 / »» v ., Vi . ^ X VV ^^ , VW *** w *^
^ , spiral , the spiral goes around but once before reaching leaf b ; if there are 5 leaves in the spiral , the spiral revolves 2 times before it reaches leaf n ; if there are 8 leaves , it revolves 3 times ; if 13 leaves , it revolves 5 times ; if 21 leaves , 8 times ; and so on , and the converse , by an inflexible rule . Placing the number of leaves above , and number of turns below , the following series expresses the relation : — 2 3 5 8 13 21
112 3 5 8 Now the last 8 , the number of revolutions for a spiral of 21 leaves , is the sum of 5 and 3 of the two next preceding spirals in the series ; and 21 , of 13 and 8 of the same two preceding spirals . In this way the series extends on , in exact mathematical relation . Thus
law rises above law , in God ' s plan , to mathematical harmonies ; and when we shall establish the connection between the nature of growth and the production of such spirals , this will be still another law , not obliterating the former , but only opening a profounder view into the mysteries of creation .
In the animal kingdom also , there are laws above laws in a long progression . There are relations of structure or concurrent conditions that run through the kingdom as a whole ; others for each class ; others still of less profound character , but no less strict or beautiful ,
for each order , or family , or genus ; and then in species itself there are still other analogies between different parts , which are like higher tones in the grand system of harmonies . These science has partly studied out , and she still labours to comprehend them all .
As one example : after tracing the analogies of parts between the fore and hind limbs of a quadruped , it has gone on and shown that in the Divine plan , one system or type of structure is at the basis of the arm of man , the log of the horse or lion , the wing of the bird ,