The Summary of Physics Restored

167We should not suppose that forms generate other forms like themselves in matter, for generation belongs properly to bodies. The right and office of form is rather to move its organs harmoniously, and through them dispose the seminal matter for generation; to enclose in it a ray of light, or hidden spark of life, as though enclosing a treasure; and to impress its own specific character upon the life-giving spirit concealed in the seed. In the work of generation, through brooding heat and at the appointed time, this spirit unfolds into a soul, whether plant or animal. Thus what was a hidden, formative spirit in the seed becomes form in the mixed body. In this way what is hidden in Nature’s bosom becomes manifest and is brought from potentiality into actuality.