are other forms within this kingdom so
different from the shell in a hundred respects that to mistake them
would simply be impossible.

In dealing with a man of fine moral character, again, we are dealing
with the highest achievement of the organic kingdom. But in dealing with
a spiritual man we are dealing with _the lowest form of life in the
spiritual world_. To contrast the two, therefore, and marvel that the
one is apparently so little better than the other, is unscientific and
unjust. The spiritual man is a mere unformed embryo, hidden as yet in
his earthly chrysalis-case, while the natural man has the breeding and
evolution of ages represented in his character. But what are the
possibilities of this spiritual organism? What is yet to emerge from
this chrysalis-case? The natural character finds its limits within the
organic sphere. But who is to define the limits of the spiritual? Even
now it is very beautiful. Even as an embryo it contains some prophecy of
its future glory. But the point to mark is, that _it doth not yet appear
what it shall be_.

The want of organization, thus, does not surprise us. All life begins at
the Am[oe]boid stage. Evolution is from the simple to the complex; and
in every case it is some time before organization is advanced enough to
admit of exact classification. A naturalist's only serious difficulty in
classification is when he comes to deal with low or embryonic forms. It
is impossible, for instance, to mistake an oak for an elephant; but at
the bottom of the vegetable series, and at the bottom of the animal
series, there are organisms of so doubtful a character that it is
equally impossible to distinguish them. So formidable, indeed, has been
this difficulty that Haeckel has had to propose an intermediate _regnum
protisticum_ to contain those forms the rudimentary character of which
makes it impossible to apply to the determining tests.

We mention this merely to show the difficulty of classification and not
for analogy; for the proper analogy is not between vegetal and animal
forms, whether high or low, but between the living and the dead. And
here the difficulty is certainly not so great. By suitable tests it is
generally possible to distinguish the organic from the inorganic. The
ordinary eye may fail to detect the difference, and innumerable forms
are assigned by the popular judgment to the inorganic world which are
nevertheless undoubtedly alive. And it is the same in the spi