 In the process of the generation of a human being, the father transmits to the descendent matter—endowed with seminal reasons, which contribute to the preservation and continuity of the species—and the corporeal spirit. These are present in the semen, as the first principle of life and the power of the principle of life. The principle of life is that which first receives the action of the soul, the one in which the soul is realized; the power of the principle of life is that which acting as an efficient cause brings the active potency in matter to actuality. In the same way as a plant germinates from a seed, the vegetative and sensitive souls (the principle of life) exist in an inchoate state in the semen separated from the father, and they are educed from this matter by the action of the corporeal spirit (the power of the principle of life—D43Q 34, 37; QLIIS 85, 239).