CHAPTER VIII. The Soul and the Cells.

 Living beings are alive because the very substance in them is living. Life belongs to this substance exactly as materiality belongs to matter. As living substance can exist only in the form of living individuals, all living beings fall outside the limitations of time and possess individual immortality² without exception. The cell, therefore, is as immortal¹ as man. But if this is the case, the fact that the duration of the earthly life of man is different from that of the cell must now at last appear in its full significance. During man’s life a series of cell-generations have lived, acted and disappeared, although the phenomenon here, as in the body of society, passes comparatively unnoticed because the cell is invisible to the naked eye. Of course we observe[125] a daily growth of nails, hair and of the whole outer skin. This outer layer consists exclusively of dead cells, which daily scale off by the millions through wear, washing or otherwise, and are replaced by other dying cells from the inner living tissues. The same process of dying and renewal³ takes place in the organs of the cell. As man’s lifetime often depends on the trade he has chosen, so it is with the cells in his organism. Those that perform heavy work, as for instance glandular⁴ cells, often die in the moment their mission is filled. This process commences even in the individual’s embryonic⁵ state. With lower animals, whose generation takes place outside the mother-body, we can often observe with the naked eye how whole organs normally die and disappear.

If the cells as well as men are immortal beings, the question naturally arises: what becomes of these incessantly⁶ dying cell generations? The answer must necessarily be apparent if[126] we can show, First, that the tie between the soul and the cells is indissoluble so that man’s organism, i. e., his spiritual body, consists of the same cell-individuals in a future life as here in time; Second, that the cells at the same time are self-existent and so independent of the soul, that in a future existence also, as here in time, they can and must build up man’s organism independently.

In such case no reason can be advanced that would prevent the dying cell-generations from immediately arising to a new and higher evolution, which, as we will endeavor to prove, must be identical with the upbuilding of the higher, transfigured body which man shall possess in a future life. This form of resurrection must be common to all organisms because they are all built according to the same general plan and are consequently subject to the same general process of evolution. Men are themselves the cells in another higher organism, humanity, which entity⁷ cannot rise to a richer life in another[127] world otherwise than through its upbuilding by the dying human generations under the new conditions that exist over there.

As a preliminary experiment in order to find out if the soul is indispensable to the life of the organism, or if the cells possibly might do without the soul, we may appropriately remove the latter from an organism and thus directly observe the importance of the soul for the cells.

But how can this be done, or at least, how may we deprive the organism of all influence from the soul? The physiologists⁸ have proved the possibility of such an experiment. It is fully⁹ established that the soul communicates with the body through the brain proper, or the cerebrum, and experience shows that this important organ may be removed and yet the body continue to live. We will here give briefly¹⁰ the results of such experiments made with animals.

If the brain be removed from a dove[128] or a hen, the bird often recovers from the radical¹¹ operation and may remain alive for months and even years. But the dove has become an entirely¹² different being. Immobile she sits on the same place. If she were not heard to breathe she might be taken for a stuffed bird. She lacks ability to judge her position and resembles a living machine that breathes, and swallows the food brought into her bill. The higher qualities of the dove are entirely lost. She shows no signs of fear and is incapable¹³ of initiative. She remains¹⁴ sitting in the same place and will not even fly down from small heights. If thrown into the air, she flies until her wings are tired or until she strikes an obstacle that she makes no effort to avoid. From the first day she must be fed artificially, but she digests her food as usual. The heart, the circulation of the blood, the respiration¹⁵, in short, all the vegetative functions of life continue regularly. Such a state[129] has been characterized by Flourens as a continuous sleep without dreams.

The same observations have been made with regard to dogs that have been deprived of a large part of the brain.

With lowered head and dead eyes, such a dog moves about indifferent to everything taking place around him. He shows no signs of fear, envy or joy. Neither threats nor friendly speech impress him. He never partakes in the barking of other dogs and is, as a rule, mute. Only should he be hungry he might set up a howl. Although indifferent to the strongest light or sound, he is not entirely blind or deaf. At the stronger sounds he might move his head slightly. All higher life is lost, but he digests his food and all vegetative functions continue just as regularly as if he were in normal condition.

Observation of the effect of certain accidents and diseases intimates that man forms no exception but that the same[130] results would probably be obtained from similar experiments with him. Though such experiments are out of the question, we can, however, in many different ways ascertain¹⁶ that the soul of man is also inactive in the vegetative functions of his organism. In earliest childhood this is perfectly¹⁷ evident. To possess a soul that has no functions is, as far as the result is concerned, identical with possessing no soul.

If we observe a child during the very earliest period of its life we will find that it behaves essentially¹⁸ just as the animals referred to above. Even the child remains in the position it is given and is unable to comprehend what happens around him. The child would likewise starve to death unless food were brought to his mouth, but he swallows and digests the nourishment¹⁹ normally. The movements of the heart, the circulation of the blood and respiration all take place as normally as with the fully developed man during[131] sleep when his soul also ceases to function.

The fact that the vegetative processes of the organism are not governed and controlled by the soul may be observed by anyone also during his conscious state. In regard to respiration we may repress it only for a few minutes. A command is soon given by certain cells in the central nerve-system which against the soul’s will brings the organ in question into action. Experience tells us that strong agitations²⁰ generally disturb the vegetative processes. Sudden fear, for instance, accelerates the heart’s motion. Therefore these processes take place more evenly with animals deprived of their brain just because disturbing influences from the soul are then impossible.

Thus it is certain beyond doubt that the cells not only execute but regulate and control through the central nerve-system a multitude of functions in which the soul does not take part. But just as certain it is that there are[132] many functions which the cells could not perform without the co-operation of the soul. Vision, hearing, smelling, tasting and feeling would be entirely meaningless to the cells without the aid of the soul. The same is the case in a high degree with the motions of the body which also require such a higher guidance. The dove could fly, the dog walk, and so forth²¹, but the motions were relatively²² purposeless. The predetermined plan was lacking. The cells could assimilate the food, when brought into the body, but they could not search it in nature. Such action requires a power of combination that exceeds their measure of intelligence.

We see consequently that the cells may do without the soul in such functions as are not related to the exterior²³ world comprehensible through our senses. Here they need the guidance of a higher, more developed intelligence. In the outside world with its more complicated relations, the soul is[133] to the cells very nearly what we mean by the word Providence²⁴. The soul performs, in the interest of the cells, such a higher, regulating and guiding function.

The organism, then, is divided into two sections, separated by a sharply defined boundary. As independent and autocratic as the cells are in one of them, is the soul in the other. This bisection in two widely separated spheres is in itself remarkable²⁵, but may be explained, if we remember that the organism is an individual composed of lower individuals. As different as these classes of individuals are in their nature and faculties²⁶, equally incongruous are also the realms in which they dwell. The cells move in the atomic and molecular²⁷ world. To them the molecules²⁸ and atoms appear with a clearness comparable to the plainness with which the exterior world reveals itself to us. It is natural then that the cells attend to the vegetative functions of the organism which just fall within[134] their sphere of life, a sphere of which the soul can obtain knowledge only indirectly²⁹ by way of deductions³⁰. Equally obvious it is that only the soul can employ the organs of the body, the functions of which fall within the visible world.

We have now endeavored to obtain an understanding of the importance of the soul to the cells by depriving the latter of the direct influence of the former. This resulted from the removal of the brain, the organ by which the soul more directly expresses itself. But the soul is not actually removed from the body. It still remains in the whole cell-mass. The brain itself consists of cells, in which the soul is not present except as in all the other cells. The difference is only that the brain-cells are developed for the functions of thought, whereas the cells in the other organs are intended for their specific purposes. In order to remove the soul from the body we must remove the life from every cell. The soul, as we intend[135] to show, is inseparably connected with every particular cell-individual. But in order to understand how the cells may be at once independent of, and yet intimately united with the soul, we must first know what an organism really is. Its nature and fundamental idea is the only thing that can explain this remarkable relationship. But it is just here as to the essential qualities of an organism that the conceptions are generally very dim and vague.

Commonly the organism is thought of as a very complicated mechanism³¹ whose members and organs mutually depend upon each other. The organism is what the word implies, a tool. But every tool is intended for somebody’s use. Who this one is, is not said, simply because it is considered self-evident. If it be a human organism, it is obviously the man who uses it; if it be an animal organism, it is the animal, and so on. That this is a truth, cannot be denied; but still it[136] expresses only half the truth and scarcely that. Every organic body is used directly by the individuals that form its building material. The human organism is a society of cells, and it is these latter that first of all use the body’s organs for their purposes. But so dominating are the old ideas about the body, that even the cytologists themselves have not been able to shake them off. The cells are continually studied from man’s point of view, but what man may be from the cell’s point of view is never thought of.

We do not hereby deny all justification³² to the old conception. The body is also an organ for the soul. The latter, as experience shows, uses the body for its own specific purposes. But this takes place only to a somewhat limited extent. The incomparably larger part of the soul’s work, cares, and endeavors, is devoted³³ to finding means to satisfy bodily wants. But so far as the soul provides for the necessities of the body, it acts as organ for the cells.[137] When man believes that he is running his own errands, he is in reality carrying out the missions of those beings that compose his body. These latter demand for their purposes, if not all, yet at least the largest part of all the work the soul performs in this world.

1 immortal   

adj.不朽的；永生的，不死的；神的

参考例句：

• The wild cocoa tree is effectively immortal.野生可可树实际上是不会死的。
• The heroes of the people are immortal!人民英雄永垂不朽！

2 immortality   

n.不死，不朽

参考例句：

• belief in the immortality of the soul 灵魂不灭的信念
• It was like having immortality while you were still alive. 仿佛是当你仍然活着的时候就得到了永生。

3 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

4 glandular   

adj.腺体的

参考例句：

• Terry has been laid low with glandular fever for nearly a month now.特里由于功能性高烧已卧床近一个月了。
• A malignant tumor originating in glandular tissue.腺癌起源于腺性组织的恶性肿瘤。

5 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

6 incessantly   

ad.不停地

参考例句：

• The machines roar incessantly during the hours of daylight. 机器在白天隆隆地响个不停。
• It rained incessantly for the whole two weeks. 雨不间断地下了整整两个星期。

7 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

8 physiologists   

n.生理学者( physiologist的名词复数 )；生理学( physiology的名词复数 )；生理机能

参考例句：

• Quite unexpectedly, vertebrate physiologists and microbial biochemists had found a common ground. 出乎意外，脊椎动物生理学家和微生物生化学家找到了共同阵地。 来自辞典例句
• Physiologists are interested in the workings of the human body. 生理学家对人体的功能感兴趣。 来自辞典例句

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

11 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

12 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

13 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

14 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

15 respiration   

n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用

参考例句：

• They tried artificial respiration but it was of no avail.他们试做人工呼吸，可是无效。
• They made frequent checks on his respiration,pulse and blood.他们经常检查他的呼吸、脉搏和血液。

16 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

17 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

19 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

20 agitations   

（液体等的）摇动( agitation的名词复数 )； 鼓动； 激烈争论； （情绪等的）纷乱

参考例句：

• It was a system that could not endure, and agitations grew louder. 这个系统已经不能持续下去了，而且噪音越来越大。

21 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

22 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

23 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

24 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

25 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

26 faculties   

n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院

参考例句：

• Although he's ninety, his mental faculties remain unimpaired. 他虽年届九旬，但头脑仍然清晰。
• All your faculties have come into play in your work. 在你的工作中，你的全部才能已起到了作用。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

28 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

29 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

30 deductions   

扣除( deduction的名词复数 )； 结论； 扣除的量； 推演

参考例句：

• Many of the older officers trusted agents sightings more than cryptanalysts'deductions. 许多年纪比较大的军官往往相信特务的发现，而不怎么相信密码分析员的推断。
• You know how you rush at things,jump to conclusions without proper deductions. 你知道你处理问题是多么仓促，毫无合适的演绎就仓促下结论。

31 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

32 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

33 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。