The vermiform appendix, so necessary to the bone eaters of a carnivorous age, has no part in the physical economy of a later and more highly-evolved generation. The pineal gland and the pituitary body are adjuncts of the brain whose functions have long been in latency. The _Anastatica hierochuntica_, commonly called the Rose of Jericho, is a wonderful example of functional latency. The plant will remain for ages rolled up like a ball of sun-dried heather, but if placed in water it will immediately open out and spread forth its nest of mossy green fronds, the transition from seeming death to life taking place in a few minutes. The hygrometric properties of the plant are certainly exceptional. They illustrate the responsiveness of certain natures to a particular order of stimulus, and in a sense they illustrate the functions of the human soul. The faculty of direct vision is like the latent life of the vegetable world. It waits only the conditions which favour its activity and development, and though for generations it may have lain dormant, yet in a few days or weeks it may attain the proportions of a beautiful flower, a thing of wonder and delight, gracing the Garden of the Soul.
There are two kinds of vision, and each of these may be perceived in two different ways. The two sorts of vision are called the Direct Vision and the Symbolic Vision.
The first of these is an exact representation of some scene or incident which has taken place in the past or will subsequently be experienced in the future. It may have relation to the experience of the seer, or of those who are present at the sitting, or yet may have a general or public application.
The second order of vision is a representation by ideograph, symbol or other indirect means, of events similar to those conveyed by direct vision. The visions of Ezekiel and John of Patmos are of the symbolic order, and although to the seers themselves there probably was a very clear apperception of their import, yet for others they require interpretation. In most cases it will be found that the nature of the vision has relation to that sphere of life and interest in which the seer or those for whom he is serving are concerned. But this is not always the case, for there are some peculiarly sensitive seers whose visions have a wider range and a more general application. In the first case it would seem that the impressions latent in the individual sphere of subconscious activity are brought into evidence, and in the other case the seer comes into relations with the world-soul or earth-sphere, so that political, social and cosmic events are brought out of latency into conscious perception. In most cases it will be found that answers to questions are conveyed by symbols, though this is not an invariable rule, as will appear from the following remarks.