Page 124 - The Miracle of Human Creation

THE MIRACLE OF HUMAN CREATION

the heart. Then, as if they had heard that the formation of the heart had
begun, thousands of other cells begin to construct the blood vessels that
will extend all around the body. So, with their conscious deployment to
the appropriate places, the formation of the blood vessels is completed
around day 21. Now, the circulatory system is ready to function, and after
its first beat about day 25, the heart will maintain a rhythm of 60 beats a mi-
nute during its first month of development. The first contractions move
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throughout the whole length of the heart like a wave, but when the forma-
tion of the heart is finished, the contraction is distributed among the diffe-
rent chambers.
The heart begins to beat, but there is no blood yet. For this also the-
re are the appropriate cells. These cells, in fact, calculate in advance that
the newly formed human body will need a substance called "blood", and
they turn into blood cells. Before long, blood starts to flow in the blood
vessels. At the end of four weeks, blood begins to fill the heart and the
blood vessels completely. Indeed, the formation of the heart, the circula-
tory system and the blood is in itself an astonishing thing. While none of
these yet existed, the cells, executing a perfect plan and going to the right
place at the right time, construct the circulation system indispensable for
human life. None of the stages we have outlined here is the result of any
chance operation; this perfect plan of construction cannot possibly be ma-
de by cells which came into being from one single cell. At this point too,
what confronts us is the evident truth of creation.
Not only the formation of the circulatory system but also the characte-
ristics possessed by every element of it are created in an astonishing balan-
ce. The blood of a baby developing in its mother's womb has many more
special qualities than that of a mature individual. For example, the haemog-
lobin in the baby's blood is able to hold more oxygen than that of an adult.
The number of red blood cells in one cubic centimetre of the blood taken
from an embryo is higher than that found in the same volume of blood from
a newly born baby. At fourth months, the cord can carry a circulation equ-
ivalent to 24 litres a day between the baby and its own placenta. This circu-
lation flows in constant round trips, bringing supplies to the baby from the

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