We need not understand by this that every rock turned into a plant, and every plant into an animal, and every animal into a man. The soul is direct from heaven; it functions in a body, and it is this body through which it experiences life on the earth more fully. Rocks, trees and animals, therefore, may not be considered as the ancestors of the soul. It is the body which is the outcome of the activity of all these different kingdoms, which are the development of one another. A question arises, "Why must a soul function in a human body? Why not in an animal, bird or insect?" The answer is that it does so function. Every soul is not the same ray, has not the same illumination, the same far-reaching power, or the same volume; and therefore it is true that souls do not only function in a human body, but in all forms, however insignificant and small.