and the 'moist' intermingling of the will-force with the actual forces
of the world.

*

It needs no further explanation to realize that sulphur and phosphorus,
by the way in which levity and gravity are interlinked in each of them,
are representatives of these very qualities 'moist' and 'dry'. As such
they are universally active bearers of these qualities in every realm
of nature's varied activities, as their physical presence in such cases
confirms. Consequently, sulphur is found in the protein-substances of
the human body wherever they are bearers of metabolic processes, while
the presence of phosphorus is characteristic of the nerves and bones.
(Although its full significance will become clear to us only later, the
fact may here be mentioned that the composition of the bone-material in
the different parts of man's skeleton, as scientific analysis has
shown, is such that the content of phosphate of calcium in proportion
to carbonate of calcium is higher in all those parts which are
spherically shaped, such as the upper parts of the skull and the upper
ends of the limb-bones.)

In particular the plant reveals clearly the functional significance of
phosphorus as the bearer of the quality 'dry'. For its healthy growth
the plant needs the quality 'dry' in two places: at the root, where it
unites with the element earth, and in the flower, where it opens itself
to the fire element. Root and flower as distinct from the middle parts
of the plant are both 'dry' formations. In a still higher degree this
applies to the seed, which must separate itself from the mother plant
to produce a separate new organism. All these are functions in the
plant which, as was mentioned in the last chapter, require phosphorus