“Strange thing that a rock can suddenly come to life...”
Not so strange. I saw it on Star Trek. The episode where Kirk and Spock and Lincoln and Serak battle against Jenghiz Khan and Col Green and Zora and Kalis.
Kirk touched the rock creature and got burned and the alien said something like “Do you find my body tempearature distressing, captain? You forget the nature of this planet.”
What chapter of Darwin’s book is that in? The Origin of Star Trek?