{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_75505/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_75505","id":"gutenberg_75505","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/75505","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Human beings","Human biology","Life (Biology)"],"text":"[Illustration:\n\n  M. \u00c9LIE METCHNIKOFF\n]\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n                             NATURE OF MAN\n                    STUDIES IN OPTIMISTIC PHILOSOPHY\n\n                                   BY\n\n                            \u00c9LIE METCHNIKOFF\n                   PROFESSOR AT THE PASTEUR INSTITUTE\n\n\n                        THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION\n\n                               EDITED BY\n\n                          P. CHALMERS MITCHELL\n                           M.A., D.SC. OXON.\n             SECRETARY OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON\n\n\n                          G. P. PUTNAM\u2019S SONS\n                          NEW YORK AND LONDON\n                       =The Knickerbocker Press=\n\n\n\n\n                            COPYRIGHT, 1903\n                                   BY\n                          G. P. PUTNAM\u2019S SONS\n\n                           Eleventh Printing\n\n\n\n\n                         EDITOR\u2019S INTRODUCTION\n\n\nWhen Pasteur died a remarkable article appeared in one of the Paris\nnewspapers. The writer described the intimate routine of the life at the\nPasteur Institute, and compared it with that of a medi\u00e6val religious\ncommunity. A little body of men, forsaking the world and the things of\nthe world, had gathered together under the compulsion of a great idea.\nThey had given up the rivalries and personal interests of ordinary men,\nand, sharing their goods and their work, they lived in austere devotion\nto science, finding no sacrifice of health or money, or of what men call\npleasure, too great for the common object. Rumours of war and peace,\nechoes of the turmoil of politics and religion, passed unheeded over\ntheir monastic seclusion; but if there came news of a strange disease in\nChina or Peru, a scientific emissary was ready with his microscope and\nhis tubes to serve as a missionary of the new knowledge and the new hope\nthat Pasteur had brought to suffering humanity. The adventurous exploits\nand the patient vigils of this new Order have brought about a revolution\nin our knowledge of disease, and there seems no limit to the triumphs\nthat will come from the parent Institute in Paris and from its many\ndaughters in other cities.\n\n\u00c9lie Metchnikoff, now Professor at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, is\none of the most distinguished of the disciples who left all else to\nfollow Pasteur. He was born on the third (16) May, 1845, in a village of\nthe Government of Kharkoff (Little Russia). He was educated at the\nGymnasium and the University of Kharkoff, passing through the Faculty of\nScience. From 1864 to 1870 he worked at Zoology at Giessen, G\u00f6ttingen\nand Munich, successively under three well-known zoologists, Leuckhart,\nHenle and Von Siebold, and was then appointed Professor of Zoology and\nComparative Anatomy at Odessa. He made expeditions to Madeira, Teneriffe\nand the Kalmuck Steppes in connection with his zoological researches. In\n1882, in consequence of administrative difficulties, arising as part of\nthe troubles that followed the murder of the Tzar, Alexander II., he\nresigned the Professorship and became Director of the municipal\nBacteriological Laboratory. In 1888 he went to the Pasteur Institute,\nand has remained there since that time.\n\nThe earlier part of Metchnikoff\u2019s career was devoted to Zoology, and\nchiefly to investigation of the embryological history of the lower\ninvertebrates, and the sequence of his discoveries should afford food\nfor reflection to those Baconian economists who are unwilling to shelter\nany tree of knowledge that does not give immediate promise of marketable\nfruit. The labour of many years spent in minute tracing of the\ndevelopment of insects, echinoderms, worms and jellyfish, would appear\nsufficiently unprofitable to those who give a scanty support to Botany\nas the provider of drugs, who tolerate Chemistry because it has supplied\naniline dyes, and who patronise the physical sciences from a lively\nsense of the convenience of telephones and telegraphs. And yet from\nthese remote, inhuman interests, Metchnikoff, without intellectual\ntransition, passed directly to results affecting vitally the human race,\nand became one of the high priests of Bacteriology and a guardian of the\nPandora\u2019s box of modern times.\n\nFrom observations made originally on water-fleas, he was led to discover\nthe functions of the white corpuscles of human blood. He showed by what\nmechanism these made perpetual war against the intruding microbes of\ndisease, and he laid the foundations of knowledge as to the agencies\nthat weaken and the modes of strengthening these guardians of our\nhealth. In a series of investigations into the phenomena of inflammation\nin men and lower animals, he carried his observations into new fields,\nand explained the relations of the white corpuscles to the juices that\nattract and repel them (chemotaxis). It was he, for instance, who\ndiscovered that these corpuscles, under certain circumstances, migrate\ninto the hairs and absorb and remove the pigment, so producing the\nblanching of old age. Although popularly the most interesting this was\nfar from being the most important of the changes of senile decay that he\nfound to be due to the activity of the wandering cells of the body. And,\nas will be seen in the present volume, the actions and interactions of\nthe bacteria harboured in the body, the white corpuscles that are a\nnatural part of the body, and the various juices or serums produced\nnaturally or introduced by accident or design, are concerned in life\nitself and the decay of life.\n\nMetchnikoff is an expert of experts in the science of life, and has\ngained the right to a hearing by forty years of patient devotion and\nbrilliant research. In the volume that he has now given to the public,\nhe has addressed himself to the gravest and the most serious problems of\nhumanity, to life and sex and death and the fear of death. From the\nearliest days when man could spare time from the satisfaction of his\nimmediate wants to reflect upon his nature and destiny, these problems\nand the invention of fantastic solutions or evasive anodynes have\nabsorbed his attention. The folklore and philosophy, the religion and\npoetry of all races and of all stages of culture, from savage barbarism\nto decadent refinement, revolve round these obsessions of the mind, and,\nas Metchnikoff most plainly shows, no enduring comfort has yet been\nfound. Now for the first time in the history of thought, the exact\nmethods of science have been brought to the statement of the problems.\n\nIn revising this translation of Metchnikoff\u2019s book for the\nEnglish-speaking public I have had to content myself with seeing that\nthe plain meaning of the French was transformed to plain English, and\nthat references to French editions were changed, so far as was possible,\nto corresponding references to English editions. Some of the phrases\nthat recur were difficult to express. \u201cHuman nature\u201d for instance is not\nan exact equivalent of _la nature humaine_, for the latter phrase has a\ncomplete significance, and very definitely implies not only the mental\nqualities of man, but his bodily framework, with its inherited and\nacquired anatomical structure and physiological functions. The phrase\n\u201chuman constitution,\u201d especially in the common medical sense, carries\nmore of the meaning, and I have used it occasionally. The word \u201charmony\u201d\nmeans harmony with the environment, and disharmony is want of harmony or\nimperfect adaptation to the existing environment. In the case of the\nhuman organism, which has passed through profound changes at a rate\nprodigious in the history of evolution, many parts of the constitution\nare no longer in gear with the existing environment, and it is in such\ndisharmonies that Metchnikoff finds the source of the troubles that have\nperplexed mankind.\n\nIn several parts of this volume, and particularly in the chapter dealing\nwith disharmonies in the reproductive functions, there is much plain\nspeaking on matters that modern civilisation attempts to conceal. I have\nnot had the impertinence to suppress or to alter a line or a word of\nthese pages. They are written in high seriousness on fundamental facts\nof the constitution of man; they relate to problems and difficulties\nthat every age in the history of man has had to face, and that are dealt\nwith in the plainest language in the books of all the religions. For the\nfirst time proper knowledge has been brought to the task, and it is to\nbe remembered that this volume is an attempt to explain mysteries of the\nflesh and of the spirit of which all existing explanations have failed\nto satisfy humanity. The volume is avowedly no more than a preliminary\nstatement, a rallying-point for the work of future generations. But it\nawakens a new hope for humanity now that the old are fallen dumb; as\nMetchnikoff himself says, \u201cIf it be true that man cannot live without\nfaith, this volume, when the age of faith seemed gone by, has provided a\nnew faith, that in the all-powerfulness of science.\u201d In every country,\nthe new Order of priests of science, in the vigils of the laboratory, is\nworking for the future of humanity.\n\n                                                   P. CHALMERS MITCHELL.\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE\n\n\nIn offering this book to you, reader, I feel that I must justify its\npublication. I admit freely that more could be said for a finished study\nin which hypotheses were replaced by exact fact. But to get together\nassured results in a field so little explored is a great task, calling\nfor time and much labour.\n\nI remembered the adage, \u201c_Ars longa, vita brevis_,\u201d and I decided to\npublish what is really a programme of work to be carried out as fully as\ncircumstances may permit. At all events, I hope that such a programme\nmay have its value for younger investigators, who wish a point of\norientation for their labours.\n\nMy book is addressed to disciplined minds, and in especial to\nbiologists. As I wrote it, I had not the general public in my mind, and\nso I did not hesitate to devote nearly the whole of a chapter to\n\u201cdisharmonies in the apparatus of reproduction.\u201d I see in that apparatus\nthe clearest proof of the essential disharmony in the organisation of\nman.\n\nI have to thank those friends who were familiar with my views and whose\nadvice and assistance have helped me to develop them.\n\nIn particular, I desire to thank my friends Dr. E. Roux, who was at the\npains to make my French more French; and Dr. J. Goldschmidt and Dr.\nMesnil, who have read and revised the proof-sheets.\n\n                                                       \u00c9LIE METCHNIKOFF.\n\n\n  PARIS, _February 8, 1903_.\n\n\n\n\n                                CONTENTS\n\n\n                                                                  _Page_\n EDITOR\u2019S INTRODUCTION                                               iii\n\n AUTHOR\u2019S PREFACE                                                     ix\n\n\n                                 PART I\n\n                    DISHARMONIES IN THE NATURE OF MAN\n\n\n                                CHAPTER I\n\n INTRODUCTION\u2014SUMMARY OF OPINIONS ON THE NATURE OF MAN                 3\n\n   Importance of the study of the nature of man\u2014The nature of man\n     as the foundation of morality\u2014Greek worship of human\n     nature\u2014Matriopathy of ancient philosophers\u2014Rationalism of\n     the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries\u2014Degradation of human\n     nature by religious doctrines\u2014Influence of these conceptions\n     on actual life and on art\u2014Reaction of the Reformation\n     against the degradation of human nature\u2014Mutilation of the\n     human body by primitive races\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n\n HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES AMONGST BEINGS INFERIOR TO MAN            17\n\n   The organised world before the appearance of man on the\n     earth\u2014Absence of a law of universal progress\u2014Fertilisation\n     of vanilla\u2014The part played by insects in the fertilisation\n     of orchids\u2014Mechanism by which insects carry the pollen of\n     orchids\u2014Habits of fossorial wasps\u2014Harmonies in\n     nature\u2014Useless organs\u2014Rudiments of the pollinia of\n     orchids\u2014Disharmonies in nature\u2014Unadapted insects\u2014Aberration\n     of instincts\u2014Perversion of sexual instinct\u2014Attraction of\n     insects by light\u2014Luminous insects\u2014Law of natural\n     selection\u2014Happiness and unhappiness in the organised world\n\n\n                               CHAPTER III\n\n SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN                                                 40\n\n   Relationship of the human species with anthropoid\n     apes\u2014Analogies in the dentition, in the organisation of the\n     limbs and of the brain\u2014Resemblance of the vermiform\n     appendage of man and anthropoids\u2014Analogy between the\n     placenta and f\u0153tus of man and anthropoid apes\u2014Blood\n     relationship of man and monkeys shown by serums and\n     precipitates\u2014Transmutation of species\u2014Sudden transition from\n     monkey to man\u2014J. Inaudi, the calculator, as an example of\n     the sudden appearance of characters in the human\n     species\u2014Rudimentary organs in man\u2014Proportion of progressive\n     and retrogressive organs in the organisation of man\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n\n DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF MAN      61\n\n   Perfection of the human form\u2014The covering of hair\u2014The\n     dentition in general, and the wisdom teeth\u2014The vermiform\n     appendage\u2014Appendicitis and its gravity\u2014Uselessness of the\n     c\u00e6cum and of the large intestine\u2014Instance of a woman without\n     a large intestine\u2014Ancestral history of this portion of the\n     digestive tract\u2014Injurious effect of the microbes of the\n     large intestine\u2014Frequency of cancer of the large intestine\n     and of the stomach\u2014Limited usefulness of the stomach\u2014The\n     instinct of choice of food\u2014Futility of this instinct in man\n\n\n                                CHAPTER V\n\n DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE\n   REPRODUCTIVE APPARATUS\u2014DISHARMONIES IN THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL\n   INSTINCTS                                                          78\n\n                                    I\n\n   Remarks on the disharmonies in the human organs of sense and\n     perception\u2014Rudimentary parts of the reproductive\n     apparatus\u2014Origin and function of the hymen\n\n                                   II\n\n   Evolution and significance of the menstrual flow in\n     women\u2014Precocious marriage amongst primitive and uncivilised\n     races\u2014Disharmony between age of puberty and age of\n     nubility\u2014Age of marriage\u2014Examples of disharmony in the\n     development of the reproductive function\n\n                                   III\n\n   Disharmonies in the family instincts\u2014Artificial\n     abortion\u2014Desertion and infanticide\u2014Disharmonies in the\n     social instincts\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n\n DISHARMONIES IN THE INSTINCT OF SELF-PRESERVATION                   113\n\n   The instinct of self-preservation in animals\u2014Man\u2019s instinctive\n     love of life\u2014Indifference to life during childhood\u2014Buddhist\n     legend on instinctive self-preservation and the fear of\n     death\u2014Fear of death treated in literature\u2014Confessions of\n     Tolstoi regarding the fear of death\u2014Other opinions on the\n     subject\u2014The fear of death an instinctive\n     phenomenon\u2014Development in man of a love of life\u2014Treatment of\n     the aged\u2014Murder of old people\u2014Suicide of old men\u2014Absence of\n     harmony between the love of life and the conditions of human\n     existence\u2014The part played by the fear of death in religions\n     and systems of philosophy\n\n\n                                 PART II\n\n   ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE\n        HUMAN CONSTITUTION (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS)\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VII\n\n RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE\n   DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION                            137\n\n   Animism as the foundation of primitive religions\u2014The Jewish\n     religion in relation to the doctrine of immortality of the\n     soul\u2014The religions of China\u2014Ancestor-worship in\n     Confucianism\u2014The conception of immortality in Taoism\u2014The\n     persistence of the soul in the Buddhist religion\u2014The\n     paradise of the Chinese Buddhists\u2014Ancestors worshipped as\n     gods\u2014Influence of religious faith on the fear of\n     death\u2014Pessimism of the doctrine of Buddha\u2014The meaning of\n     Nirv\u00e2na\u2014Resignation as preached by Buddha\u2014Objections to\n     immortality of the soul\u2014Irritability of the tissues and\n     cells of the body\u2014Religious hygiene\u2014Religious means of\n     controlling the reproductive functions and of preventing\n     diseases\u2014Failure of religions in their attempts to combat\n     the ills arising from the disharmonies of the human\n     constitution\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n\n ATTEMPTS IN SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY TO REMEDY THE ILLS ARISING\n   FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION                   166\n\n   Some philosophical systems are in intimate union with\n     religions\u2014Ideas of ancient philosophers on the immortality\n     of the soul\u2014The teaching of Plato\u2014The scepticism of\n     Aristotle\u2014The Stoics\u2014Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius\u2014Modern\n     philosophical systems\u2014Pessimism and its origin\u2014Lord\n     Byron\u2014Theories of Schopenhauer and Hartmann\u2014Mailaender\u2019s\n     philosophy of deliverance\u2014Criticisms of pessimism\u2014Max\n     Nordau\u2014Ideas of modern thinkers on death\n\n\n                                PART III\n\n  WHAT SCIENCE IS ABLE TO DO TO ALLEVIATE THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN\n                              CONSTITUTION\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n\n WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO AGAINST DISEASE                                 203\n\n   Formation of the experimental method\u2014The intervention of\n     religion in disease\u2014Disease as a basis of pessimistic\n     systems of philosophy\u2014Advance of medical science in the war\n     against disease\u2014The revolution in medicine and surgery due\n     to the discoveries of Pasteur\u2014The beneficial results of\n     Serum Therapy in the war against infectious diseases\u2014Failure\n     of science to cure tuberculosis and malignant\n     tumours\u2014Protests against the advance of science\u2014Opposition\n     of Rousseau, Tolstoi and Bruneti\u00e8re\u2014Proclamation of the\n     fallibility of science\u2014Return to religion and mysticism\n\n\n                                CHAPTER X\n\n INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE                     228\n\n   General account of old age\u2014Theory of senile degeneration\n     amongst unicellular organisms\u2014Conjugation amongst\n     infusoria\u2014Old age in birds and in anthropoid apes\u2014General\n     characters of senile degeneration\u2014Sclerosis of the\n     organs\u2014Phagocyte theory of senile degeneration\u2014Destruction\n     of higher elements by macrophags\u2014Mechanism of whitening of\n     the hair\u2014Serums acting on cells (cytotoxins)\u2014Sclerosis of\n     the arteries and its causation\u2014Harm done by the microbes of\n     the alimentary canal\u2014Intestinal putrefaction and the modes\n     of preventing it\u2014Attempts to prolong human life\u2014Longevity in\n     biblical times\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n\n INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH                       262\n\n   Theory of the immortality of lower organisms\u2014Immortality of\n     the sexual cells in higher organisms\u2014Immortality of the\n     cellular soul\u2014Occurrence of natural death in the case of\n     certain animals\u2014Natural death in the Ephemerid\u00e6\u2014Loss of the\n     instinct of preservation in adult Ephemerids\u2014Instinct of\n     life in the aged\u2014Instinct of natural death in man\u2014Death of\n     old men in biblical times\u2014Changes in the instincts of man\n     and lower animals\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XII\n\n SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS                                             285\n\n   Disharmonies in the human constitution as the chief source of\n     our sorrows\u2014Scientific data as to the origin and destiny of\n     man\u2014The goal of human existence\u2014Difficulties in the way of\n     scientific investigation of the problem, What is\n     progress?\u2014Difficulty of including the whole human rate in a\n     scheme of progress and morality\u2014The instincts of life and of\n     natural death\u2014Application to real life of the doctrines set\n     forth in this book\n\n\n\n\n                             ILLUSTRATIONS\n\n\n Photograph of \u00c9lie Metchnikoff                           _Frontispiece_\n _Figs._                                                          _Page_\n 1.      _Catasetum saccatum_                                         24\n 2.      _Herminium monorchis_                                        26\n 3.      _Cerceris_                                                   28\n 4.      _Listera ovata_                                              32\n 5.      _Pelop\u00e6us_                                                   34\n 6.      C\u00e6cum and vermiform appendage of man                         44\n 7.      C\u00e6cum and vermiform appendage of chimpanzee                  45\n 8.      F\u0153tus of gibbon                                              46\n 9.      Human f\u0153tus                                                  47\n 10.     F\u0153tus of gorilla                                             50\n 11.     Human f\u0153tus                                                  51\n 12.     _Paramecium_ about to divide                                230\n 13.     Conjugation of _Paramecia_                                  231\n 14.     Section of a renal tubule invaded by Macrophags             241\n 15.     Brain cells devoured by Macrophags                          241\n 16.     Hair becoming grey                                          243\n 17.     _Ch\u00e6togaster_ about to divide                               265\n 18.     Ephemerids                                                  271\n 19.     Swarms of _Palingenia virgo_                                273\n 20.     Larva of an Ephemerid                                       276\n\n\n\n\n                           THE NATURE OF MAN\n\n\n\n\n                                 PART I\n                   DISHARMONIES IN THE NATURE OF MAN\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I\n                              INTRODUCTION\n                SUMMARY OF OPINIONS ON THE NATURE OF MAN\n\n\n  Importance of the study of the nature of man\u2014The nature of man as the\n  foundation of morality\u2014Greek worship of human nature\u2014Matriopathy of\n  ancient philosophers\u2014Rationalism of the eighteenth and nineteenth\n  centuries\u2014Degradation of human nature by religious doctrines\u2014Influence\n  of these conceptions on actual life and on art\u2014Reaction of the\n  Reformation against the degradation of human nature\u2014Mutilation of the\n  human body by primitive races\n\n\nNotwithstanding the real advance made by science, expressions of\ndiscontentment with it are familiar. Science, it is said, no doubt has\nameliorated the material conditions of human life, but is powerless to\nsolve those moral and philosophical questions that interest cultured\npeople so deeply. In this region science has done no more than to\ndestroy the foundations of religion. It has robbed mankind of the\nconsolations of religion without being able to replace them with\nanything more exact or more enduring.\n\nIt cannot be disputed that a general uneasiness disturbs the world of\nto-day. Although his environment is most favourable to the fulfilment of\nmany of his capacities, man finds himself without orientation when he\nhas to determine the course of his life, or to explain to himself his\ntrue relation to such categories of humanity as family, nation, race and\nhuman race. This uneasiness reveals itself as discontentment, and it\nleads to pessimism or to mysticism. Most of the philosophical systems of\nthe nineteenth century were steeped in melancholy, and led straight to a\ndenial of the possibility of happiness and even to an advocacy of\nextinction. The frequency of suicide has increased greatly among all the\ncivilised peoples. There is no need to tabulate proofs of a notorious\nfact.[1]\n\nA remedy for this malady of the age has been sought in the attempt to\nrestore religious and mystical faith. On all sides have sprung up\nefforts to found new religions or to amend the old. Many defenders of\nscience have gone the length of admitting its incapacity to solve the\nproblem of the existence of man; they have held that that problem was\ninsoluble for the human mind. Such a depressing conclusion has been\nformulated in spite of many attempts to reach a rational conception of\nthe universe and of man.\n\nIt is no new thing to ask if there be nothing but faith to control human\nconduct and to lead mankind towards universal happiness. Men of science\nand philosophers, in many ages, have thought that human nature itself\ncould provide all the materials for a rational morality.\n\nIn the ancient world and, above all, among the Greeks, human nature was\nheld in high esteem. The Oriental races, predecessors of the Greeks in\ncivilisation, generally represented their gods as fantastic or grotesque\nbeings, composites of men and animals. The Greeks made gods in their own\nimage, giving them all the most beautiful qualities of the human race.\nSuch a conception was a dominant factor in ancient Greek life and\ncivilisation. The adoration of Man embraced the human body, and led to\nthe despising of every mode of tampering with the natural body. Thus,\nfor instance, shaving[2] of the face was regarded as a humiliation, for\na smooth chin gave an unnatural, womanish cast to the face of a man.\n\nThe adoration of human nature by the Greeks appeared in Greek plastic\nart, and was the cause of its excellence. The ideal of art was to copy,\nin the most faithful way, the most perfect example of the human body,\nand Greek artists made measurements of the body so accurately that\nmodern science has confirmed their chief results.[3] As sculpture most\ncompletely realised the Greek ideal of the human body, it became almost\na national art among the Greeks.\n\nGreek philosophy had an equally high opinion of human nature, of the\nhuman body, and of representations of the human body. Just as Greek art\naimed at the presentation of the body of man, so Greek philosophy\nproclaimed the nobility of all human qualities, and inculcated the\ndoctrine of a harmonious development of all sides of human nature.[4]\nSuch a doctrine was formulated by Plato, and became a fundamental\nprinciple of the Old Academy; the New Academy assumed it, and handed it\non to the Sceptics. According to Xenocrates (fourth century), who\nbelonged to the Old Academy, happiness consisted not only in the\npossession of human virtue, but in the accomplishment of all natural\nacts.[5]\n\nThe principle of a worship of human nature is in itself rather vague,\nand it is not surprising that disputes and contradictions arose in\nrelation to its application. Thus Plato excluded pleasure from his\nconception of the good, while Aristotle, Plato\u2019s pupil, held a contrary\nopinion. For the latter pleasure was the natural motive of human action,\nand its attainment was associated as intimately with the perfect life as\nbeauty and health were associated with the perfect human body.[6]\n\nUnder the name _Matriopathy_ there arose, in the ancient world, a\ndoctrine the object of which was the study of the goal of natural\nmorality. This doctrine was held by many philosophers, but these applied\nit to the details of actual life in very different fashions. Thus, for\nthe Stoics, the _summum bonum_ and happiness, the most lofty aim, could\nnot be found except by conforming life to nature. Conduct was to be\nbrought into harmony with the rational order of nature in such a fashion\nthat every conscious and rational being would perform no actions that\ncould not be deduced from the general law.[7] The same principle of a\nlife in harmony with nature led the Epicureans to the conclusion that\n\u201cpleasure is a natural good, that is to say, a condition conformable\nwith nature, and so bringing with it intrinsic contentment.\u201d[8] Setting\nout from the same fundamental principle, the theories of the Stoics and\nEpicureans led in opposite directions.\n\nThe Roman philosophers adopted the principle of a life strictly natural.\nSeneca, for instance,[9] enunciated the maxim: \u201cTake nature as your\nguide, for so reason bids you and advises you; to live happily is to\nlive naturally.\u201d\n\nWithout following through the centuries the development of the idea in\ndetail, I may content myself with saying that resort has been made to\nit, wherever there was sought, outside the sanction of religion, a\nrational principle to guide human conduct. It recurs even among those\nconvinced Christians who rebelled against the asceticism and hatred of\nhuman nature that became prevalent in the early centuries of the\nChristian era.\n\nThe Greek conception of a life in harmony with nature found its most\ncomplete development in the rationalism of the Renaissance, and of the\ncenturies that followed it. Hutcheson,[10] a Scotch philosopher of the\neighteenth century, insisted that right was with the thinkers of the\nnaturalistic school, and that the realisation of their ideal was to be\nconsidered as the highest virtue. He thus placed himself directly\nagainst the Scotch clergy who asserted the greatest contempt for human\nnature. Buckle[11] proclaimed that it was a high honour for Hutcheson to\nhave been the first Scotchman to raise his voice publicly against the\ndegrading views of his time.\n\nThe French philosophers of the eighteenth century, who sought to replace\nthe religious foundations of conduct by rational principles, again had\nrecourse to human nature. Not long before the French Revolution there\nappeared a treatise in three volumes, written by Baron d\u2019Holbach, and\nentitled, \u201cUniversal Morality, or the Duties of Man based on\nNature.\u201d[12] Frankly a materialist and atheist, that writer laid it down\nas an axiom that \u201cto be universal, the moral law must be founded on the\nessential nature of man, that is to say, on the properties and qualities\nfound constantly in the human being, and that distinguish him from other\nanimals.\u201d To be well assured, \u201cmorality presumes a science of human\nnature.\u201d[13]\n\nThe principle of ancient philosophy reappeared in the works of\nrationalists of the nineteenth century. Wilhelm von Humboldt declared\nthat \u201cthe ultimate ideal of man, the ideal prescribed for him by the\nirrefutable and eternal laws of reason, consisted in a development as\nharmonious as possible of all his qualities in their entirety.\u201d The\nmodern historian, Lecky,[14] defines the aim of life as the full\ndevelopment of all that exists in the proportions determined by nature.\n\nPhilosophers and historians are not alone in the adoption of Greek\nrationalism. Many naturalists, and among these some very distinguished\nauthors, have spoken in the same sense. It is easy to see the Greek\nprinciple in such phrases as those of Darwin[15] when he wrote: \u201cThe\nterm general good may be defined as the means by which the greatest\npossible number of individuals can be reared in full vigour and health,\nwith all their faculties perfect, under the conditions to which they are\nexposed.\u201d\n\nGeorges Seidlitz,[16] an advocate of the great English naturalist, got\nstill nearer to the conception of the ancients. According to him, the\nmoral and rational life consisted in \u201cthe accomplishment of all the\nfunctions of the body, in due but full proportion.\u201d\n\nHerbert Spencer,[17] in analysing the aim of existence, came to the\nconclusion that morality should be adjusted so as to make life as full\nand complete as possible. As a criterion of physical perfection, the\nEnglish philosopher would accept only the complete devotion of all the\norgans to the accomplishment of all their functions, while his criterion\nof moral perfection was contribution to the general good. These views\nare plainly, if not exactly, expressions of the Greek ideal.\n\nWhile, then, rational philosophers in all the ages have sought the\nfoundation of morality in human nature itself, and have held human\nnature to be good, or even perfect, many religious doctrines have\ndisplayed a very different view. Human nature was regarded as being\ncomposed of two hostile elements, a body and a soul. The soul alone was\nto be honoured, while the body was regarded as the vile source of evils.\nSuch a view led to the flagellations and torturings of the body which\nform so strange and so widespread a phenomenon. The Hindu fakirs who\nswing themselves on hooks, the dervishes and Mussulman Assouans who beat\nin their skulls with clubs, the Russian Skoptsy who emasculate\nthemselves, and many other instances make it plain that natural\nperfection is not taken as the basis for conduct.\n\nBuddha[18] in the clearest way showed his belief that human nature was\nbase. Coming out from the apartments of the women, there came to him a\n\u201cvivid idea of the impurity of the body, a feeling of repulsion from it,\nand of blame of it; regarding his own body and seeing its wretchedness,\nhe began to despise it, and to formulate conceptions of impurity and\npurity; _from the sole of the feet to the crown of the head, to the\nlimit of the brain, he saw that the body was born in impurity, came from\nimpurity, and always let itself be drawn to impurity_.\u201d These\nreflections led him to the conclusion: \u201cWhat wise man, having regarded\nhis own body, will not see in it an enemy?\u201d\n\nTowards the end of the old world, the Greek theory of human nature\nyielded to a very different conception. The opposition between the\nopinions of the Stoics on morality, and their admiration of human\nnature, led Seneca, one of the last Roman Stoics and a celebrated\ncontemporary of Jesus Christ, to break completely away from the ancient\ndoctrine. Convinced of the moral weakness and imperfection of man, and\nof the persisting power of evil, Seneca declared that human nature\ncontained a vicious and essentially evil element. This element was\nseated in the body, which he regarded as so essentially vile that it is\nto be despised. Our body was no more than the dwelling of the soul, its\ntemporary home, a place in which it cannot be at rest. The body was a\nburden which the soul would be rid of, a prison-house from which it\nwould escape. According to Seneca[19] the soul must wrestle with the\nbody, for the body brings to it nothing but suffering, while the soul is\nessentially pure and spotless, and as much above the body as divinity is\nabove matter.\n\nA dualism still more pronounced was characteristic of the early\nChristian view of human nature, and led to the depreciation of the body\nas compared with the soul. In the fourth and fifth centuries of our era\nsuch a view was so dominant that a struggle against the material side of\nour nature became a rule of life. The most absolute asceticism spread\nthroughout the Christian world.[20] A struggle against hunger, thirst,\nand desire for sleep, rejection of all pleasures that come from\nimpressions of sight, of hearing, or of the palate, and, above all,\nabstention from sexual intercourse, became, in the opinion of believers,\nthe true aim of human life. The conviction that human nature was\nessentially corrupt led to a declaration of war against it; all the\npleasures were forbidden, even the most innocent of them being thought\nvicious. What could be more in contrast with the calm and joyous\nphilosophy of the Greeks, for whom there did not exist the idea of a\nstruggle against the supposed corruption and imperfection of man? The\ndualistic theory made such demands on its proselytes that these,\nabsorbed in the salvation of their souls, sank from the physical point\nof view to the level of wild beasts. Hermits resorted to the lairs of\nanimals, abandoned their clothing and went about naked with shaggy and\ndisordered hair. In Mesopotamia and a part of Syria there arose a sect\nof eaters of grass; these were people who had no dwellings and who ate\nneither bread nor vegetables, but wandered on the hills and fed on the\nherbage. Cleanliness of the body was regarded as an indication of\ncorruptness of the soul, and among the most highly venerated of the\nsaints were those who took no care of the body. Athanasius relates with\napproval that when St. Antony, the father of monks, became old he never\nwashed his feet.[21]\n\nSuch doctrines soon brought about a most serious perversion of the\ninnate instincts of the human race. The senses of family and of society\nbecame so weakened that fanatical Christians were more than indifferent\nto their kinsmen and countrymen. One saint was venerated because he was\nhard and cruel only to his relatives. It is told of the Abbot Siseuss\nthat on a believer asking to be received into the convent, he inquired\nif the suppliant had any one akin to him. \u201cI have only a son,\u201d said the\nChristian. \u201cWell, then,\u201d said the abbot, \u201ctake your son and cast him\ninto the river, for thus only may you become a monk.\u201d The father set\nabout to do the bidding of the abbot, and it was only at the last moment\nthat the order was recalled. For admission into a Christian community it\nwas necessary to renounce one\u2019s country.[22]\n\nSuch ideas have struck a deep and enduring root. In the opinion of the\nministers of the Scotch Church of the seventeenth century, according to\nBuckle,[23] there was nothing so surprising as that the earth could\ncontain itself in the presence of that horrid spectacle, man, and that\nit did not gape, as in former days, to swallow him in the midst of his\nwickedness. For certainly, in the created universe, there could be\nnothing so monstrous and so horrible as man.\n\nIt was to be expected that when such conceptions prevailed, celibacy and\nrepudiation of the reproductive instinct should have been made\nobligatory on the clergy. The words, reported by St. Matthew (xix. 11,\n12), that \u201cthere be eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the\nkingdom of heaven\u2019s sake\u201d were interpreted by some as implying a\nvoluntary renunciation of marriage, while others insisted on the literal\nmeaning and in consequence mutilated themselves more or less completely.\nThe breasts of women were removed to eradicate the maternal instincts.\nBut it is only the sect of Skoptsy, by no means a small body in Russia,\nthat applies the gospel command in this stringent fashion. The wish\nannounced by St. Paul (Corinthians vii. 7), \u201cI say therefore to the\nunmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I; but\nif they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is better to marry than\nto burn,\u201d soon became a command, and since the fourth century the\nCatholic Church has advocated celibacy of the clergy, although it was\nnot enforced until the eleventh century (under Gregory VII.). A low view\nof human nature has survived in the Catholic Church even to our own\ntimes. Pope Leo XIII., in his \u201cEncyclical on Freemasons,\u201d proclaimed\nit.[24] \u201cHuman nature,\u201d he said, \u201cwas contaminated by the Fall, and as\nit is therefore much more prone to vice than to virtue, in order to\nattain virtue it is absolutely necessary to restrain the wild impulses\nof the soul, and to control the appetites by reason.\u201d\n\nArt has reflected the Christian conception of human nature. Sculpture,\nwhich played so great a part in the ancient world, and which was\nintimately associated with Greek ideals, began to decline rapidly in the\nChristian era. It lasted longer in the Roman Empire of the East, but in\nItaly it was almost completely forgotten by the eighth century. Painting\nsurvived, but not without undergoing an extraordinary degeneration. All\nthe Italian works of art of the Carlovingian period, displayed the\nutmost indifference to natural form, and a loss of the sense of harmony\nand beauty. Later on, Italian art fell lower still. \u201cNo one dreamed any\nlonger of studying nature or of observing the human body. An epoch in\nwhich the interference of supernatural forces was generally accepted,\nand in which the conception of the universe was founded on a contrast\nbetween the natural and the supernatural, could not admit in its art the\nrule of natural law or a natural order of events.\u201d[25]\n\nThe intimate connection between the depreciation of human nature due to\nChristian doctrine and the inferiority of the art of the middle ages\ncannot be denied. Taine[26] writes of the period as follows: \u201cIf one\nconsiders the stained-glass windows or the images in the cathedrals, or\nthe rude paintings, it appears as if the human race had become\ndegenerate and its blood had been impoverished; pale saints, distorted\nmartyrs, virgins with flat chests, feet too long and bony hands, hermits\nwithered and unsubstantial, Christs that look like crushed and bleeding\nearthworms, processions of figures that are wan, and stiffened, and sad,\nupon whom are stamped all the deformities of misery and all the\nshrinking timidity of the oppressed.\u201d\n\nThe art of the middle ages fell lower and lower until the Renaissance,\nwith its return to the Greek ideal, brought new vigour. The great\nmasters of the Renaissance were in addition scientific men who had\nstudied mathematics and who employed the technique of mensuration; such\nwere Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Michel Angelo, and others. The return\nto the Greek ideals and to nature brought with it the taste for beauty.\n\nWhen the ancient spirit was born again, its influence reached science\nand even religion, and the Reformation was a defence of human nature.\nThe Lutheran doctrines resumed the principle of a \u201cdevelopment as\ncomplete as possible, of all the natural powers\u201d of man, and saw in that\nideal a guide for humanity. Compulsory celibacy was abolished, and free\nplay was given to all the tendencies in conformity with the laws of\nnature.[27]\n\nBesides those whose religion led them to despise the human body, there\nhave been many savage races and tribes who have practised mutilations of\nthe body. It would be a long list were I to set out all the modes in\nwhich the human body has been disfigured. Treatises on Ethnography and\nthe volumes of travellers contain a multitude of details of this sort.\nThe hair, the teeth and the lips have been subjected to treatment with\nthe object of making them as unlike the natural condition as is\npossible. Many of the lower races discolour their teeth, or remove some\nof them, or file them to points. Others insert in the lips pieces of\nwood, of stone, or of bone. A whole chapter might be occupied with an\naccount of the disfiguring devices of tattooers. The skull, the breasts,\nand the feet, have all been subjected to deforming treatment.\n\nAlthough there is not enough evidence to set down these practices to the\nexistence of definite and self-conscious religious or philosophic\ndoctrine, it is at least certain that the people among whom they occur\nare far from revering human nature in the fashion of the Greeks, but\nrather attempt to distort it in accordance with their own taste.\nDiscontent with the natural conditions of existence is, as we have seen,\nso widespread that there is good reason for an inquiry as to the\nexistence of some general principle underlying this diversity of opinion\nregarding human nature. I have already shown that this question of human\nnature has for long interested mankind, and has shared largely in the\nformation of ideas of the good and the beautiful. It is not too soon to\nsubmit the problem to rational investigation, using those rigid methods\nof science which have been learned in our epoch. I shall try to give an\nexposition of human nature in its strength and in its weakness. But\nbefore passing to man, I shall survey the lower forms of life, hoping to\nfix some landmarks that will be useful in the study of the larger\nproblem.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n       HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES AMONGST BEINGS INFERIOR TO MAN\n\n\n  The organised world before the appearance of man on the earth\u2014Absence\n  of a law of universal progress\u2014Fertilisation of vanilla\u2014The part\n  played by insects in the fertilisation of orchids\u2014Mechanism by which\n  insects carry the pollen of orchids\u2014Habits of fossorial\n  wasps\u2014Harmonies in nature\u2014Useless organs\u2014Rudiments of the pollinia of\n  orchids\u2014Disharmonies in nature\u2014Unadapted insects\u2014Aberration of\n  instincts\u2014Perversion of sexual instinct\u2014Attraction of insects by\n  light\u2014Luminous insects\u2014Law of natural selection\u2014Happiness and\n  unhappiness in the organised world\n\n\nLong before man appeared on the earth animals and plants were\ndistributed over it. Some of these were endowed with but vague senses,\nwhile others had well-developed instincts, and some even a certain\ndegree of intelligence which they applied for their self-preservation\nand for the propagation of their own kind.\n\nMany species, well adapted for the resistance of external influences,\nhave survived from very early times to the present day. In the\nCarboniferous period birds and mammals did not yet exist, and the thick\nforests, with undergrowths of gigantic ferns, were inhabited by large\nnumbers of articulated animals, amongst which were scorpions and\ninsects. The scorpions of that time resemble in every way those that\nactually live at the present day in tropical countries; and amongst the\ninsects of that early epoch were some very like the cockroaches of\nto-day. Certain tree-like ferns of the present time are also very\nsimilar to those of the coal period. Amongst the animals the bodies of\nwhich are protected by a shell, such as foraminifera and mollusca,\ncertain species have survived even from an earlier time than the coal\nperiod.\n\nIn contrast with this extraordinary survival, there are instances of the\ncomplete disappearance of numbers of species of animals and plants. In\nearly times, during the Tertiary epoch, the virgin forests of Europe\nwere inhabited by a large number of monkeys, of which fossil remains are\nnow found, especially in Greece. These formerly existed even in Europe,\nand some anthropoid apes (_Dryopithecus_) have left traces in the\ntertiary deposits of France.[28] These animals, notwithstanding that\ntheir organisation was superior to that of scorpions and cockroaches,\nhave not been able to adapt themselves to the altered conditions of\nmodern Europe. A similar fate has come upon some of the higher mammals,\nsuch as the mammoth and the mastodon.\n\nThese facts do not bear testimony to the prevalent idea that there\nexists in nature a law of universal progress tending to the production\nof organisms more and more perfect from the point of view of complexity\nof structure. It is incontestable that forms higher in the scale of life\nhave developed only after the appearance of lower forms. But it does not\nfollow that development always takes a progressive march. Man is one of\nthe later species that have appeared upon the earth, but there are\nothers of still more recent date. It is very probable that certain\nspecies of lice have appeared subsequent to man, particularly the\nclothes-louse (_Pediculus vestimenti_). Amongst the true parasites which\nlive only in the human body are some that have acquired their specific\ncharacters after the appearance of man. Such are certain tape-worms and\nmicrobes, such as a species of _gonococcus_. It is therefore amongst\nparasites and not to man that we must look for the latest products of\ncreation.\n\nIn nature, then, there is no blind tendency towards progress. Organisms\nalmost innumerable are born every day with variable characters. Those\namongst them which are adapted to existing circumstances survive and\nproduce offspring like themselves, but many do not reach maturity, and,\nliving only for a short time, die without leaving issue.\n\nTo give the reader a better idea of adaptations and of their importance\nto living creatures, it will, perhaps, be as well to devote some space\nto an account of examples of them. Amongst organisms that attract our\nattention by their pleasing aspect, there are not many that can rival\nflowering plants. Every one admires the great beauty of the blossom of\norchids. There can be no doubt that these flowers have not been\ndeveloped to satisfy the \u00e6sthetic tastes of man, for the simple reason\nthat orchids existed for a long time before man\u2019s appearance.\n\nAmong orchids there is one which, for more than half a century, has been\ncultivated by man in many tropical countries. This is the Vanilla, the\nfruit of which produces one of the sweetest of spices.\n\nIn former days the pods of only the wild vanilla, which is an\nundergrowth of the forests of Mexico and South America, were gathered.\nBut the employment of vanilla to flavour chocolate has rendered its\nartificial culture lucrative; consequently the plant has been\ntransported to several warm countries where it could be acclimatised. It\nhas flourished and borne numerous blossoms, but it has never produced\nfruit from which alone the aroma is obtained. As the question of the\nsterility of the vanilla was of great practical interest to the\ncultivator, the matter was investigated, and it was found that the\nflower remained sterile because the female and male parts could not come\nin contact. The pistils and stamens of the flower are well developed,\nbut between these sexual organs is a membrane which prevents\nfertilisation. After this discovery was made, the idea occurred that the\npollen of the vanilla flower might be transferred artificially to the\nstigma of the pistil so as to bring about \u201cartificial\u201d fertilisation. A\nyoung black slave, Edmond Albius, a native of R\u00e9union, discovered in\n1841 a practical method by which the male and female elements of the\nvanilla could be put in contact; and from this discovery there came a\ngreat extension of the cultivation of the orchid in many countries. At a\ncertain period a small bamboo point or the tooth of a comb is introduced\ninto the vanilla flower, and in this way, in a short time, a quantity of\nflowers may be fertilised and so made capable of bearing mature\npods.[29]\n\nIn the original home of the vanilla the intervention of man is\nunnecessary. In Guiana and Mexico fertilisation of the flower is the\nwork of small bees (of the genus _Melipona_). They frequent the vanilla\nflowers to extract nectar, the material of their honey. Small\nhumming-birds also hover over the vanilla blossoms, and by introducing\ntheir bills into the sexual organs of the flowers bring about contact of\nthe male and female elements.\n\nSterility of the vanilla in the countries to which it has been\nintroduced, before the employment of artificial fecundation, is easily\nexplained by the fact that in these countries there are no insects nor\nhumming-birds capable of transporting the pollen.\n\nBut it is not only the vanilla that requires the co-operation of living\nbeings to produce its fruits. It is the case with many other orchids. In\nthe flowers of these the pollen is massed together and cannot be\ntransported by the air. It needs the aid of insects, as had already been\npointed out by Sprengell in the eighteenth century, and above all by\nDarwin, whose splendid investigations are the basis of the following\npassages.[30]\n\nInsects, belonging to different groups, such as bees, wasps, flies,\ncertain beetles, and many butterflies and moths, visit orchids to sip\nthe nectar produced by the plants and stored in definite parts of the\nflowers. In order that their proboscis may reach the stores of sweet\njuice, the insects inevitably touch first the upper parts of the\nflowers, where the anthers are present. The pollen grains are clustered\nin masses, known as pollinia, and these adhere to the body of the\nvisiting insect by means of an adhesive fluid which is secreted by an\norgan of the flower known as the _rostellum_. In this way the pollinia\nadhere firmly, it may be to the proboscis of butterflies, or to the head\nor any other part of the body of insects. They can leave the flower and\nfly away without losing the adhering pollinia, and in this manner they\nserve as the agents for sexual contact and for fertilisation of the\norchids. M\u00e9ni\u00e8re relates that a person who kept bees near the garden of\nthe Facult\u00e9 de Toulouse complained that they returned from the garden\nwith their heads covered with tiny yellow bodies which he was unable to\nclean off from them. It was easy to recognise in these bodies the\npollinia of orchids very firmly attached to the bees\u2019 heads.[31]\n\nWhen an insect, bearing these pollinia, introduces itself into another\nflower of the same species of orchid, it inevitably comes in contact\nwith the female apparatus, more particularly with the viscous surface of\nthe stigma. Some of the grains of pollen contained in the pollen-mass\nadhere to the stigma and are thus enabled to fertilise the ovule. This\ncarriage of pollen from one flower to another brings about a crossing\nwhich is necessary for the production of good seed. On the other hand,\nthe seed which is the result of self-fertilisation of a flower is\ninferior.\n\nAn examination of the structure and form of the flowers of many orchids\nshow that they are adapted in a truly marvellous way to the visits of\ninsects that convey pollen. In each part of these flowers one can\ndiscern some useful arrangement to secure cross-fertilisation.\n\nFor the proper transmission of pollen it is necessary that the pollinia\nshould adhere very firmly to the body of the insects, and that the\nviscous substance which holds them together should have time to\nsolidify. It is thus of great advantage to the plant if the insects\nremain for a considerable time on the flower. In several orchids the\nnectar is not easily accessible, and frequently the insect has to search\nfor a long time before finding what it desires, and sometimes it even\nhas to pierce a membranous covering before reaching the fluid. The\noperation takes a certain time, and this is long enough to allow the\nmucus by which the pollinia adhere to the insect to set firmly.\n\nIn the case of orchids the mucus of which sets instantaneously, there is\nno reason for the visit of the insect to be prolonged. In such cases the\nnectar is easy to extract, and the insect finds it without loss of time.\n\nDarwin, after describing these facts, proceeds to say:[32]\n\n\u201cIn these five species\u201d (in which the viscid matter \u201cis so adhesive that\nit serves to attach the pollinia firmly to the insects without getting\nhard\u201d), \u201cand in these alone, we find copious nectar ready stored for\nrapid suction in open nectaries. On the other hand, whenever the viscid\nmatter gets hard by exposure for a short time to the air, it would\nmanifestly be advantageous to the plant if insects were delayed in\nobtaining the nectar; and in all such species the nectar is lodged\nwithin intercellular spaces, so that it can be obtained only by the\ninner membrane being penetrated at several points, and this will require\ntime. If this double relation is accidental, it is a fortunate accident\nfor the plants; but I cannot believe it to be so, and it appears to me\none of the most wonderful cases of adaptation which has ever been\nrecorded.\u201d\n\nSome orchids secrete instead of nectar a clear liquid like water. This\nfluid is collected in a petal inserted at the lower part of the flower\nand shaped into a deep cup-shaped receptacle. It does not attract\ninsects, but by wetting their wings compels them to leave the flower by\na different exit which passes close to the reproductive organs (_i.e._,\nthe anther and the stigma). The soft linings of the cup are greedily\ndevoured by certain insects, particularly by bees. Dr. Cruger, who\nobserved this, has often seen bees fall into the cup whereupon their\nwings became so wet as to prevent their flying away, and they have been\nobliged to get out by the channel that carries off the waste from the\nreservoir. As the saturated bees creep along the narrow passage after\ntheir involuntary immersion, they come inevitably in contact with the\nstigma and the masses of pollen. The latter adhere to the bodies of the\nbees and can be conveyed to the sticky stigma of a neighbouring flower.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 1.\u2014_Catasetum saccatum_ (from \u201cLa Lindenia,\u201d Gand, 1890).\n]\n\nIn other orchids (_Catasetum_, Fig. 1), the male elements are discharged\nby a spring-like arrangement on the body of insects. When certain parts\nof the flowers are touched, the pollinia are thrown off like arrows,\nwhich, in the place of the barbs, have viscid swellings. \u201cThe insect,\ndisturbed by so sharp a blow, or after having eaten its fill, flies\nsooner or later away to a female plant and, whilst standing in the same\nposition as before, the pollen-bearing end of the arrow is inserted into\nthe stigmatic cavity, and a mass of pollen is left on its viscid\nsurface.\u201d[33]\n\nAfter giving detailed descriptions of the cross-fertilisation of flowers\nby such peculiar means, Darwin makes the following remark: \u201cWho would\nhave been bold enough to have surmised that the propagation of a species\ndepended on so complex, so apparently artificial, and yet so admirable\nan arrangement?\u201d[34]\n\nOne orchid (_Herminium monorchis_, Fig. 2), which bears very small\nflowers, is remarkable for the way in which it is fertilised by insects.\nOnly very small insects are able to penetrate the flowers. The space\nbeing very limited these minute insects can enter the flower only in a\nparticular way, and at one of the corners. This causes the pollinia to\nbecome attached always to the same place, which is on the outer side of\none of the two front legs. When the insect, the carrier of the pollinia,\nenters a second flower, it can scarcely fail to fertilise the stigma,\nwhich is on the corresponding side. Darwin said that it would be\ndifficult to find a case in which there was so marvellously complete an\nadaptation to a very peculiar mode of fertilisation as the little flower\nof _Herminium_.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 2.\u2014_Herminium monorchis_\n\n  (after Sowerby, \u201cEnglish Botany,\u201d ix. 1869)\n]\n\nIn addition to orchids, there are other flowers the organisation of\nwhich is adapted in a remarkable way to fertilisation by insects. But to\nfind perfect harmony in the nature of living beings it is not necessary\nto confine our observations to flowers. The animal world furnishes us\nwith numerous examples. To avoid going into the details of these, I\nshall content myself with a description of the most remarkable\ninstances.\n\nEvery one has seen, flying near the ground, small, slender, and pretty\nwasps. From time to time these bury themselves in the earth or sand, and\nre-appear in a few minutes. These are the fossorial wasps, the\ninteresting habits of which have been studied by Mr. J. H. Fabre, of\nAvignon. They are not gregarious, but lead solitary lives and differ in\ntheir habits from their congeners. Bees feed their larv\u00e6 with honey and\npollen which they take to them during the whole period of their\ndevelopment. Wasps are carnivorous, predatory insects, and bring their\nspoils to their brood of soft and feeble larv\u00e6 which are unable to\nprovide for themselves. Bees and most wasps look after the welfare of\ntheir young ones in the fashion of human parents in nurseries.\n\nFossorial wasps act differently; they never see their young. They lay\ntheir eggs in burrows, sunk in the soil and hermetically sealed. The\nlarv\u00e6 are hatched underground and are never seen by the mother.\nProvision sufficient for their development, however, is made in advance.\nBefore depositing eggs, the females sink the burrows, and fill them with\nthe spoils of the chase, which consist sometimes of spiders and\nsometimes of crickets or other insects. Each species of fossorial wasps\npreys on a particular kind of insect or on its allies, for the purpose\nof provisioning the burrows. These wasps are most fastidious in the\nchoice of their food, and behave like collectors whose interest is only\nin a single or a few species of small animals. L\u00e9on Dufour, the\nwell-known entomologist, was much struck by the ability displayed by\ncertain wasps (_Cerceris_, Fig. 3) in seeking out and capturing the\npretty beetles of the genus _Buprestis_, which he had great difficulty\nin finding himself. In making a study of these beetles he collected the\nmaterial from the burrows of _Cerceris_, and so avoided the laborious\ntask of obtaining them in the natural state of freedom. The burrows were\nfilled with motionless, but perfectly well preserved, _Buprestes_.\nAlthough dead Coleoptera dried up in a short time, those recovered from\nthe burrows remained in a good state of preservation for weeks. L\u00e9on\nDufour came to the conclusion that the _Cerceris_ kill their prey, but\ninject into them some antiseptic liquid which perfectly preserves their\nflesh and intestines.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 3.\u2014_Cerceris_ (after Buffon).\n]\n\nJ. H. Fabre pursued the study of the habits of fossorial wasps further.\nHe ascertained that the captured insects were not dead, but only\nparalysed. The continuance of the function of certain organs\ndemonstrated that the _Buprestes_, the weevils and other small creatures\ncollected in the burrows of fossorial wasps, were alive. They could even\nperform some slight movements, but they were incapable of locomotion,\nand so could not escape. The mechanism of this paralysis, as far as\ncould be ascertained by Fabre, is one of the most remarkable phenomena\nin nature. The fossorial wasps, guided by their instinct, immediately\nafter having seized an insect or spider, bury their sting in the nervous\ncentre which controls the movements of the legs. When animals with soft\nbodies, such as spiders and young crickets, are attacked, the operation\ndoes not present any difficulties. But Coleoptera in general, and the\n_Buprestes_ and weevils in particular, are furnished with a very hard\ncovering which cannot be perforated by the small and slender sting of a\nfossorial wasp. To gain their object the wasps probe exactly between the\nfirst and second pair of legs in the median line of the under surface of\nthe thorax. The skin is thinner at this spot, and they introduce their\nsting into the ganglia from which arise the nerves of the legs. In the\ncase with the _Buprestes_ these ganglia are set close to one another,\nand a single prick suffices to affect the nervous centres of three pairs\nof legs. Once the sting has been inserted in this way the _Buprestis_\nbecomes paralysed, but lives for many days. \u201cThe _Cerceris_ which preys\non Coleoptera,\u201d writes Fabre,[35] \u201cappears to have made its choice\naccording to the dictates of an exact physiology and anatomy. It is\nimpossible to see in its proceedings the results of happy chance; more\nthan chance is required to explain adaptations so precise.\u201d\n\nAfter having filled the burrow with a sufficient quantity of insects or\nspiders, fossorial wasps lay their eggs and carefully close up the\nentrance. In due course the larva is hatched, and devours the food that\nit finds close at hand. If the gathered insects were not paralysed, they\ncould easily escape from their prison; if they were dead, putrefaction\nor desiccation (according to circumstances) would render them unfit for\nthe larv\u00e6. It is therefore sheer necessity that is the factor in the\ndevelopment of this marvellous instinct that induces the fossorial wasps\nto attack the nervous centres of their prey. When one insect has been\ndevoured, the larva proceeds to another, and so on, until it is fully\ngrown, whereupon it envelops itself in a case that protects it during\nthe winter and following spring. In summer it changes at first into a\nchrysalis, and later into a perfect insect. It frees itself from the\ncocoon, takes to flight, and enters upon life like that of its mother,\nwhich it has never seen.\n\nOf the harmonious phenomena in nature it is indeed difficult to find\nother examples so perfect as those of the habits of these fossorial\nwasps, or of the mechanism for the fertilisation of orchids. These\nharmonies in nature are constantly met with in the world of living\nbeings, and it is not astonishing that they have for a long time\nattracted the attention of many observers and philosophers. As it seemed\nimpossible to attribute them to the organisms themselves, because of the\nlow rank and lack of intelligence of these, it has seemed only natural\nto set them down as a manifestation of a superior force which organises\nand directs all natural phenomena. This argument, however, omits one\nside of the medal.\n\nAny close investigation of organisation and life reveals that, beside\nmany most perfect harmonies, there are facts which prove the existence\nof incomplete harmony or even absolute disharmony. The examination of\nthe flowers of orchids would lead one to the belief that each part, even\nthe smallest and apparently most insignificant, has its _r\u00f4le_ in the\nmechanism for fertilisation and cross-fertilisation. In reality it is\nnot so. There are in certain orchids organs which do not fulfil any\nfunction.\n\nEven among the species of _Catasetum_, in which the pollinia are thrown\nwith force on the bodies of insects, there are some female flowers in\nwhich the male organs are rudimentary and without utility. In these\nflowers, according to Darwin,[36] \u201cthe two membranous sacks containing\nthe rudimentary pollen-masses never open, but they easily separate from\neach other and from the anther. The tissue of which they are formed is\nthick and pulpy. Like most rudimentary parts, the pollen-masses vary\nmuch in size and form; they are only about one-tenth of the bulk of\nthose of the male.\u201d There are then, without doubt, some structures that\nare of no service.\n\nThe existence of these rudimentary pollinia, incapable of being\ntransported or of fertilising the female element, is easily explained by\nthe supposition that formerly the flowers of the _Catasetum_ were true\nhermaphrodites, but that in the course of time the male organs have\nbecome incompletely atrophied in certain flowers, in which, on the other\nhand, the female part has increased. The occurrence of an actual\ndegeneration is shown by the existence of rudiments of the pollinia too\ninsignificant to accomplish their normal functions.\n\nRudimentary and useless organs are widely distributed, and we find them\nin many places. Familiar instances are the atrophied eyes of animals\nthat live in the dark, and the sometimes rudimentary sexual organs of\nmany plants and animals.\n\nNot only are orchids and other flowers adapted to fertilisation by means\nof insects, but many insects display special adaptations to their habit\nof visiting flowers. Butterflies, bees, and many other insects, possess\nmouth organs modified for the purpose of penetrating flowers to secure\nnectar or pollen. Other insects, again, are not so fortunate in this\nrespect. Darwin[37] on one occasion \u201cfound an extremely minute\nHymenopterous insect vainly struggling to escape, with its head cemented\nby the hardened viscid matter to the crest of the rostellum and to the\ntips of the pollinia (of an orchid, _Listera ovata_, Fig. 4). The insect\nwas not so large as one of the pollinia, and after causing the explosion\nhad not strength enough to remove them; it was punished for attempting a\nwork beyond its strength, and perished miserably.\u201d\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 4.\u2014_Listera ovata_ (after Barla, \u201cFlora of Nice,\u201d 1868).\n]\n\nMany insects, well adapted for the purpose, delight themselves by\nsucking the nectar of flowers. Many others would wish to do the same,\nbut their want of adaptation baffles them. A small \u201clady-bird\u201d loves the\nsweet juice of flowers; it tries often to suck the nectar of the\ndandelion, but without success. Hermann M\u00fcller[38] has described the\nbehaviour of this insect in procuring the nectar of _Erodium\ncicutorium_. \u201cThe awkward way in which this beetle, unadapted to feed on\nthe plants, endeavours to obtain the honey, is too ludicrous not to be\nmentioned. After taking up a position on the petal, it puts its mouth in\nthe direction of one of the honeycups which are situated on both sides\nof the base of the petal. The petal soon breaks off, upon which the\ninsect fixes itself on a neighbouring sepal or falls to the ground with\nthe petal. In the first case it proceeds to creep over the flower and\nends by detaching all the petals; in the other case, on recovering from\nthe shock, it quickly ascends another stem of the same plant and begins\nagain. I have seen the same lady-bird fall four times in succession with\npetals which it had detached without gaining wisdom.\u201d\n\nThe instincts of insects, well developed for certain functions, often\npresent aberrations more or less whimsical and remarkable. The\ncaterpillars of some butterflies, before changing into chrysalids,\nenvelop themselves in a wellwoven cocoon capable of protecting them from\nnoxious influences. Protected by this covering, the caterpillar changes\ninto a chrysalid, and later into a butterfly, which perforates the end\nof the cocoon in order to emerge. When any external agency destroys the\ncocoon, normal metamorphosis becomes impossible, and the larva dies\nbefore its maturity. Fabre[39] questioned whether the caterpillar during\nthe time of the weaving of the cocoon was capable of repairing it if it\nwas damaged. For this object he cut with a pair of scissors the end of a\ncocoon in the course of construction by the caterpillar of the beautiful\npeacock-butterfly. In spite of the hole thus produced, the caterpillar\ncontinued its ordinary work without suspicion that it would be of no\navail. On this occasion \u201cthe caterpillar of the peacock-butterfly,\nnotwithstanding the certain fate of the future butterfly, continued\npeaceably to spin, without in the least modifying the regular progress\nof its labour; when the time had arrived for the putting in of the last\ndefensive stitches it placed them in the perilous breach, but neglected\nto mend the destroyed part of the barricade. It performed its vain task,\nignoring what was indispensable for success.\u201d\n\nEven amongst fossorial wasps, the instincts of which are so admirably\ndeveloped, harmony is far from perfect. Fabre endeavoured to ascertain\nwhat effect was produced on these insects by taking away the egg laid in\nthe burrow. He chose for this experiment the fossorial wasp _Pelop\u00e6us_\n(Fig. 5), which preys on spiders. He took away the egg which had been\ndeposited in a carefully-prepared burrow, and watched the subsequent\nman\u0153uvres. \u201cThe _Pelop\u00e6us_ continued to store up spiders for the stolen\negg; it gathered provisions that were not to be eaten; it redoubled its\nefforts to replenish a larder that I was constantly robbing with my\nforceps.\u201d The insect neither discontinued its fruitless task nor\nappeared to be aware of its fruitlessness. Here, then, is an example of\na foiled maternal instinct that gained no useful end.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 5.\u2014_Pelop\u00e6us_ (after Buffon).\n]\n\nIn connection with such a slaughter for the benefit of a progeny that\nwill never exist, I may mention observations relating to a quite\ndifferent order of phenomena. There are many creatures that kill and\ndevour their progeny. Not infrequently rabbits kill and devour all their\nprogeny, or leave them to die without food or care. Sometimes the\nculprits are young rabbits without experience; but this aberration of\ninstinct is also met with in old rabbits, which once and for all have\ncontracted the habit of abandoning or eating their young. Some females\nof other species of mammals and of birds have often been surprised in\nthe act of deserting or of killing their offspring.\n\nPerversion of sexual instinct is frequent enough amongst animals.\nHuber[40] states that when male ants have a lack of females they ravish\nthe workers, the attacks being fatal, as the sexual organs are\nincompletely developed and functionally incapable. Abnormal pairing has\nalso been observed in the stag-beetle of the genus _Lucanus_, in bees,\nand, above all, in cockchafers.[41] Higher animals, such as dogs,\nfurnish analogous examples of sexual perversion.\n\nOnanism is well known amongst mammals. It is frequent among monkeys in\nmenageries, and also in rutting stags, the latter discharging the\nseminal fluid by friction with trees. Stallions and mares have often\nbeen observed in the act of satisfying their sexual appetites by\nabnormal means. There are several other species (dogs, bears, chamois,\nelephants, parrakeets, etc.,) which resort to onanism.[42]\n\nThese disharmonious instincts do not in the least cause the death of the\nanimals that manifest them. But there exist in nature instinctive\naberrations much more dangerous. Who has not seen in the summer numerous\ninsects gathered round lamps and candles, attracted by the light? Among\nthese are Coleoptera, Neuroptera (_Phryganea_), Ephemera, and, most\nfrequently of all, small nocturnal Lepidoptera. After flying round and\nround the light several times, they singe their wings and die in\nnumbers. This instinct is so constant and so developed amongst many of\nthese insects, that it has been used against them for their own\ndestruction. Thus amongst the means advocated for destroying a moth,\n_Botys sticticalis_, the caterpillars of which devour cereals and\nbeetroot,[43] is the lighting of numerous fires in the fields. The\nmoths, attracted by the light, fall in the flames and die in quantities.\n\nWhen the usual swarms of may-flies emerge from the water, fishers make\nstraw fires on their boats, and the insects singe their wings. The\ninnumerable bodies incapable of flight fall into the water, and provide\na coveted food for the fish.[44] This disharmonious and fatal instinct\nis displayed chiefly by nocturnal insects that rest during the day and\ndo not leave their retreats till after sunset. In the cornfields\nColeoptera of the genera _Anisoplia_ and _Rhizotrogus_, resembling each\nother in form and general appearance, are to be found. When a fire is\nlighted in the darkness of the night it is only the _Rhizotrogus_ that\napproaches it at the risk of its life. The _Anisoplia_ remains quiet in\nthe midst of the corn. The latter kind of beetle pairs during the day,\nwhile the _Rhizotrogi_ satisfy their sexual desires during the night.\nMoreover, it is the males only of this species that fly about in the\ndarkness and approach the fire, whilst the females rest at home in the\nplants.[45] It is probable, therefore, that light induces a sort of\nsexual excitement in these male beetles. The males, searching for the\nfemale, believe her to be in the midst of the flames, towards which they\nfly without being conscious of the danger they incur.\n\nSuch an interpretation of this disharmonious and suicidal instinct is\nconfirmed by the fact that the moths attracted by fire are also almost\nexclusively males. Moreover, entomologists have advised against the\nlighting of fires by agriculturists in the belief that they destroy the\nnoxious _Botys_, as they maintain that the females are not attracted.\nThese latter therefore live on, and, being capable of laying eggs,\nproduce a generation of voracious caterpillars.\n\nOf the _Ephemera_ attracted by fire in such great quantities males are\nby far the more numerous. It is therefore really very probable that the\nmad excitement which leads to the destruction of so many male insects,\nrepresents a sort of sexual aberration. In this connection it is to be\nremembered that, amongst Coleoptera, species exist of which the females,\nhidden in the grass, produce intense light which attracts the males. In\nthe common glow-worm, the female, which is devoid of wings, alone shines\nwith the familiar greenish glitter. Even in species of which the two\nsexes are luminous, the female shines more vividly. It is true that\nthere are some beetles with luminous larv\u00e6, a fact that led Darwin[46]\nto remark that the production of light by insects may serve to frighten\nenemies. This is possible, and it is also possible that certain insects\nmake use of their luminosity to light their way in the darkness.[47]\nBut, notwithstanding this, the sexual character of the luminous organ is\nso manifest in certain species that it is impossible to doubt its\nfunction as a means of attracting the male.\n\nIn conclusion I may say that it is not my purpose at present to discuss\nthe meaning of an instinct so fatal to insect life. I wish only to point\nout the frequency of the natural occurrence of disharmony, so that the\nsatisfaction of an instinct is fatal to so many of its possessors.\n\nIt is plain that an instinct, or any other form of disharmony leading to\ndestruction, cannot increase, or even endure very long. The perversion\nof the maternal instinct tending to abandonment of the young is\ndestructive to the stock. In consequence, individuals affected by it do\nnot have the opportunity of transmitting the perversion. If all rabbits,\nor a majority of them, left their young to die through neglect, it is\nevident that the species would soon die out. On the contrary, mothers,\nguided by their instinct to nourish and foster their offspring, will\nproduce a vigorous generation capable of transmitting the healthy\nmaternal instinct so essential for the preservation of the species. For\nsuch a reason harmonious characters are more abundant in nature than\ninjurious peculiarities. The latter, because they are injurious to the\nindividual and to the species, cannot perpetuate themselves\nindefinitely.\n\nIn this way there comes about a constant selection of characters. The\nuseful qualities are handed down and preserved, while noxious characters\nperish and so disappear. Although disharmonies tend to the destruction\nof a species, they may themselves disappear without having destroyed the\nrace in which they occur.\n\nThis continuous process of natural selection, which offers so good an\nexplanation of the transmutation and origin of species by means of\npreservation of useful and destruction of harmful characters, was\ndiscovered by Darwin and Wallace, and was established by the splendid\nresearches of the former of these.\n\nLong before the appearance of man on the face of the earth, there were\nsome happy beings well adapted to their environment, and some unhappy\ncreatures that followed disharmonious instincts so as to imperil or to\ndestroy their lives. Were such creatures capable of reflection and\ncommunication, plainly the fortunate among them, such as orchids and\nfossorial wasps, would be on the side of the optimists; they would\ndeclare this the best of all possible worlds, and insist that, to secure\nhappiness it is necessary only to follow natural instincts. On the other\nhand, the disharmonious creatures, those ill adapted to the conditions\nof life, would be pessimistic philosophers. Consider the case of the\nlady-bird, driven by hunger and with a preference for honey, which\nsearches for it on flowers and meets only with failure, or of insects\ndriven by their instincts into the flames, only to lose their wings and\ntheir lives; such creatures, plainly, would express as their idea of the\nworld that it was fashioned abominably, and that existence was a\nmistake.\n\nAs for man, the creature most interesting to us, in what category does\nhe fall? Is he a being whose nature is in harmony with the conditions in\nwhich he has to live, or is he out of harmony with his environment? A\ncritical examination is needed to answer these questions, and to such an\nexamination the pages to follow are devoted.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III\n                          SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN\n\n\n  Relationship of the human species with anthropoid apes\u2014Analogies in\n  the dentition, in the organisation of the limbs and of the\n  brain\u2014Resemblance of the vermiform appendage of man and\n  anthropoids\u2014Analogy between the placenta and f\u0153tus of man and\n  anthropoid apes\u2014Blood relationship of man and monkeys shown by serums\n  and precipitates\u2014Transmutation of species\u2014Sudden transition from\n  monkey to man\u2014J. Inaudi, the calculator, as an example of the sudden\n  appearance of characters in the human species\u2014Rudimentary organs in\n  man\u2014Proportion of progressive and retrogressive organs in the\n  organisation of man\n\n\nTo understand human nature it is necessary first to give an account of\nthe origin of man. This question has preoccupied mankind for ages, and\nfor a long time it was believed that a solution of the problem was to be\nfound in religious dogmas. Man was regarded as being of supernatural\norigin, the result of a special creation. Scientific criticism has now\nshown that there are no grounds for such a conclusion.\n\nNearly half a century ago Darwin applied to man his discovery of the\nprinciple of natural selection, and of the part played by that in the\norigin and transmutation of species. Soon after the publication of the\n\u201cOrigin of Species,\u201d attention was given to the special case of man. In\n1863 Huxley[48] gave an admirable review of the problem in his work on\n\u201cMan\u2019s Place in Nature.\u201d He brought forward arguments of the highest\nscientific validity in support of the thesis that man is descended from\nanimals, and that he is a mammal most nearly related to monkeys, and\namong these to the anthropoid apes. In spite of this masterly\nexposition, there are still persons of high intelligence and superior\neducation who declare that science has not yet answered the question as\nto whence he came, and that the theory of evolution will never provide\nan answer.[49] Close examination of the structure of man has proved, in\nthe most definite fashion, the existence of a near kinship with the\nhigher monkeys, or anthropoids. When the chimpanzee and the\nourang-outang were discovered, comparison became inevitable, and many\nnaturalists, including the great Linn\u00e6us, saw that the human race must\nfind its place in classification near the anthropoids.\n\nNow that all the details of the human organisation have been studied,\nand the anatomical structures of man and large monkeys without tails\nhave been compared, bone with bone and muscle with muscle, a truly\nastonishing analogy between these organisms is made manifest, an analogy\napparent in every detail. It is known that in the natural history of\nmammals the teeth play an important part as a means of determining\ndifferences and relationships. The dentition of man bears a very great\nresemblance to that of anthropoids. Every one knows the _milk teeth_ and\nthe _permanent teeth_ of man. The anthropoid apes bear in this respect\nan astonishing likeness to man. The number (thirty-two in the adult),\nthe form and general arrangement of the crown, are identical in man and\nanthropoid apes. The differences are to be found only in minor details,\nsuch as the exact shape and relative dimensions and the number of cusps.\nIt can be said in a general way that in the anthropoid apes the teeth\nare more strongly developed than in man. The canines are much longer and\nthe roots of the pre-molars are more complex in the gorilla than in man.\n\nBut the fact must not be lost sight of, that all these differences are\nless pronounced than those which exist between the dentition of\nanthropoid apes and that of all other monkeys. Even in the cynocephalous\nmonkeys, those that most nearly approach the anthropoids, the teeth\nexhibit marked differences. Thus, the forms of the upper molars are\nquite different in the baboon and in the gorilla. The canines are\nlonger, and the pre-molars and molars are still more complex in the\nbaboon.\n\nIn the monkeys of the New World, the dentition differs still more from\nthat of man and anthropoids. Instead of thirty-two teeth, they possess\nthirty-six in the adult condition. The number of pre-molars is twelve\ninstead of eight. The general form and the crowns of the molars are very\ndifferent from those of anthropoid apes.\n\nThese considerations led Huxley to conclude that \u201cit is obvious that,\ngreatly as the dentition of the highest ape differs from that of man, it\ndiffers far more widely from that of the lower and lowest apes.\u201d[50]\n\nAnother character which shows that anthropoids are nearer man than other\nmonkeys is furnished by the anatomy of the sacrum. In monkeys as a whole\nthe sacrum is composed of three, or rarely four, vertebr\u00e6, while in\nanthropoid apes it contains five, that is to say just as many as in man.\n\nThe whole skeleton, and particularly the skull of man, and the higher\nmonkeys, present certainly some marked differences; but here again the\ndifferences are less than those between the anthropoid apes and other\nmonkeys. As regards the osteology the proposition laid down by Huxley is\njust. \u201cSo that, for the skull, no less than for the skeleton in general,\nthe proposition holds good, that the differences between man and the\ngorilla are of smaller value than those between the gorilla and some\nother apes.\u201d[51]\n\nThe believers in the doctrine that the human species is essentially\ndistinct from all the known monkeys have laid great stress on the\ndifference between the foot of man and that of anthropoid apes. This\ndifference cannot be denied. Man assumes the direct posture habitually,\nwhile monkeys, even the highest of them, walk on two legs only\noccasionally. There has followed from this a greater development of the\nfeet in monkeys. Yet this difference ought not to be exaggerated. It has\nbeen sought to prove that monkeys are \u201cquadrumanous,\u201d and that their\nhind legs terminate in \u201chind-hands.\u201d But it is clearly shown that in all\nessential respects the hinder limb of the gorilla terminates in as true\na foot as that of man.[52] \u201cThe hind limb of the gorilla, therefore,\nends in a true foot, with a very movable great toe. It is a prehensile\nfoot, indeed, but is in no sense a hand; it is a foot which differs from\nthat of man not in any fundamental character, but in mere proportions,\nin the degree of mobility, and in the secondary arrangement of its\nparts.\u201d[53]\n\nIn all these cases the argument is confirmed, \u201cthat be the differences\nbetween the hand and foot of man and those of the gorilla what they may,\nthe differences between those of the gorilla and those of the lower apes\nare much greater.\u201d[54]\n\nThe comparison of muscles and of other internal organs leads to the same\nconclusion; the differences between monkeys are more varied and greater\nthan those between anthropoids and man. The anatomy of the brain has\nbeen much discussed with regard to this. Several distinguished\nzoologists, amongst them Owen in particular, have insisted on the\nabsence in all monkeys of certain parts of the brain peculiarly\ncharacteristic of man. Such are the posterior lobe, the posterior cornu,\nand the lesser hippocampus. Controversy on this topic has been animated;\nbut, ultimately, the opinion of Owen did not triumph, and now it is\nunanimously accepted that the parts of the brain in question are\n\u201cprecisely those structures which are the most marked cerebral\ncharacters common to man with the apes. They are among the most\ndistinctly simian peculiarities which the human organism exhibits.\u201d[55]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 6.\u2014C\u00e6cum and vermiform appendage of man (after Ewald).\n]\n\nAs regards the brain, the differences between man and anthropoid apes\nare certainly less marked than those that exist between the higher and\nlower monkeys.\n\nThe digestive tract affords another argument in favour of the affinity\nof anthropoid apes to man. The human c\u00e6cum is furnished with the very\nremarkable and strange vermiform appendage which often is the cause of a\ngrave and prevalent illness known as _appendicitis_. Now, it is quite\nremarkable that this organ is practically identical with the vermiform\nappendage of anthropoid apes. A glance at the accompanying figures (6\nand 7) will convince the reader of this. Yet none of the other monkeys\npresent any such resemblance with man.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 7.\u2014C\u00e6cum and vermiform appendage of the chimpanzee (from a\n    preparation in the Paris Museum of Natural History).\n]\n\nIt is not surprising, in the face of resemblances so numerous, that\nforty years\u2019 science has proclaimed the existence of a close affinity\nbetween man and the anthropoid apes. The view has become an established\ndoctrine, now that no single fact has been brought against it. Since the\ntheory was enunciated we have learned much regarding the natural history\nof these apes. Generally, when a theory is false, a new set of facts\noverthrows it. Attempts may be made to trim the new facts to the\nexisting theory, but such attempts are doomed to failure, and the theory\ndisappears. It is of special interest, then, to confront the simian\ntheory of the origin of man with a series of facts gathered by science\nsince the theory was propounded.\n\nWhen Huxley wrote, the embryological history of anthropoid apes was\npractically unknown. Darwin, Vogt, and Haeckel, in their attempts to\nsupport the theory of the animal origin of man, had not sufficient\nknowledge of the embryology of monkeys. It is only recently that\nimportant work on this subject has been published.\n\nIt is known that the history of development is very often an excellent\nguide in tracing the relationship of organisms. It is therefore\ninteresting to examine the established facts concerning the embryology\nof anthropoid apes. The material for these studies is very difficult to\nobtain, and it is not astonishing that even our present state of\nknowledge is still imperfect.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 8.\u2014F\u0153tus of gibbon (after Selenka).\n]\n\nThe placenta often gives information of great importance in the\nclassification of mammals. It is sufficient to glance at the zonary\nplacenta of dogs and seals to be convinced of the relationship of these\ntwo species, which at first sight seem so different. Now, the placentas\nof all the anthropoid apes examined up to the present are of the same\ndiscoid type as that of man. The arrangement of the umbilical cord of\nman, which was formerly considered as quite peculiar to him, is found in\nanthropoid apes, as has been established by Deniker[56] and Selenka[57]\nIt is striking that the anthropoids resemble man rather than the lower\nmonkeys in the relation of the f\u0153tus to the f\u0153tal membranes.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 9.\u2014Human f\u0153tus of three months and a half.\n]\n\nWith regard to the embryos themselves, the similarity between those of\nmonkeys and of man is very great. Selenka insists on the fact that the\nyoungest stages of human development that have been obtained can hardly\nbe distinguished from those of the lower monkeys either in position or\nin shape. More advanced stages exhibit greater differentiation, and the\nlater embryos of man resemble those of anthropoids much more closely\nthan those of the lower monkeys. The f\u0153tus of the gibbon, figured by\nSelenka (Fig. 8), presents the most striking likeness to a corresponding\nhuman f\u0153tus (Fig. 9).\n\nLater on, the characters that distinguish man from even the highest of\nthe apes become more and more pronounced. In the anthropoids the facial\nportion becomes more and more prominent, and betrays a bestiality absent\nfrom the human form. None the less the resemblance between the nearly\nmature f\u0153tus of anthropoids and human embryos of about the sixth month\nis evident enough. M. Deniker had the good fortune to obtain the late\nf\u0153tus of a gorilla\u2014a very rare piece of fortune\u2014and he has made an\nelaborate investigation of its structure. The general appearance (Fig.\n10) is quite enough to show the close relationship with a human f\u0153tus of\na corresponding age (Fig. 11). It is plain, moreover, that the young\ngorilla is more human-like than is the adult. Detailed anatomical\ninvestigation only confirms this conclusion.\n\nThe skulls of the young stages of anthropoids are much more human in\ntheir character than the adult skulls. Selenka states that such young\nskulls of different anthropoids not only resemble one another more\nclosely, but are more human. As soon as the teeth begin to appear, the\nindividual characters are assumed so rapidly, and become so marked,\nthat, in the absence of the intermediate stages, it would be difficult\nto establish the kinships.\n\nThe data derived from embryology do not point to any one of the existing\ngenera of monkeys as the ancestor of man. They lead us to infer, rather,\nthat man and the anthropoid apes had a common origin, and\npal\u00e6ontological evidence must be scanned to find this ancestor. The\ngreatest importance has been attached to a discovery in Java, made in\n1894 by Eug\u00e8ne Dubois. The remains, consisting of the crown of a skull,\ntwo teeth and a femur, belonging to a creature for which the name\n_Pithecanthropus erectus_[58] has been invented, have been interpreted\nby several anatomists as those of a form intermediate between man and\nthe anthropoid apes. However, as the facts about this creature are\nmeagre and have been interpreted differently, I shall not make use of\nthem in my argument. Even apart from them, the simian origin of man may\nbe taken as proved.\n\nThe series of facts that I have been employing as evidence of the\nrelationship between men and anthropoid apes has been drawn from the\nobservations of anatomists and embryologists. Darwin, seeking to broaden\nthe basis of the argument, called attention to the resemblances of the\nparasites of men and apes, as evidence of a close similarity of\nphysiological processes in the creatures. In the last few years,\ninvestigations in a very different field seem capable of throwing a\nnovel light on the question.\n\nWhen the blood of one mammal is injected into the body of another, the\nlatter shows remarkable modifications. When there is added to a serum,\nprepared from the blood of a rabbit and consisting of a colourless\ntransparent liquid, a few drops of blood drawn from another rodent (for\ninstance a guinea-pig), nothing unusual happens. The blood of the\nguinea-pig preserves its normal colour, and its corpuscles remain\npractically unaltered. If, instead of adding guinea-pig\u2019s blood to the\nserum of rabbit\u2019s blood, we add a serum drawn from the blood of the\nguinea-pig, still no special change occurs.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 10.\u2014F\u0153tus of gorilla (after Deniker).\n]\n\nIf, however, a serum be prepared from the blood of a rabbit into which\nthere had first been injected the blood of a guinea-pig, the serum shows\nnew and striking qualities. The addition to it of some drops of\nguinea-pig\u2019s blood brings about, in a very short time, a changed\nappearance. The red liquid, at first opaque, becomes transparent. The\nmixture of the prepared serum of the rabbit with the blood of the\nguinea-pig will assume the colour of claret mixed with water. The change\nis due to solution of the red corpuscles of the guinea-pig in the blood\nserum of the rabbit.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 11.\u2014Human f\u0153tus of about five months.\n]\n\nThis serum has still another property not less worthy of attention. If\nthere is added to it not pure blood but only blood serum of the\nguinea-pig, a disturbance in the mixture occurs almost at once, and\nleads to the forming of a precipitate more or less abundant.\n\nThe injection of the blood of the guinea-pig into a rabbit has therefore\nchanged the serum of the latter by introducing new properties: that of\ndissolving the red corpuscles of the guinea-pig and of giving a\nprecipitate with the blood serum of the same animal.\n\nFrequently the blood serum of animals prepared by previous injections of\nthe blood of other species of animals is strictly specific. In such\ncases the serum only gives a precipitate with the serum of the species\nwhich has furnished the blood for the injections, and only dissolves the\nred corpuscles of this same species. But there are some instances in\nwhich a serum of a prepared animal dissolves, not only the red\ncorpuscles of the species which has furnished the injected blood, but\nthose of allied species. Thus the blood serum of the rabbit, after some\ninjections of blood of the chicken, becomes capable of dissolving not\nonly the red corpuscles of the chicken but also those of the pigeon,\nalthough in a less degree.\n\nIt has been suggested that assistance could be rendered to forensic\nmedicine by making use of this property of serums, to discover the\norigin of a certain blood. As is well known, it is often very important\nto decide whether a stain was caused by the blood of man or of another\nanimal. Until quite recently it was not known how to distinguish human\nblood from that of other mammals. Experiments have been made to discover\nif the red corpuscles found in the blood stain could be dissolved by the\nserum of animals which had previously been injected with the blood of\nman. In a certain case the human origin of the stain in question was\nshown. But it was soon discovered that this method was not infallible.\nIt is now found that the method of precipitates gives much more\nconclusive results. It is done in this way: Human blood is injected\nseveral times into any animal (rabbit, dog, sheep, horse). Some time\nafterwards the animal is bled, and a clear and limpid serum, quite\ndevoid of corpuscles, is prepared. When there is added to this serum one\nor several drops of human serum, it forms immediately a precipitate\nwhich falls to the bottom. In this way it is discovered whether the\nprepared serum is sufficiently active. It then becomes possible to\nrecognise even dried human blood. A little of such blood is dissolved in\nnormal salt solution, and placed in a tube containing the serum of an\nanimal prepared by means of the injections of human blood. If a\nprecipitate forms in the liquid in a short time, the fact indicates that\nthe stain is really human blood. This method is being practised in\nforensic medicine.\n\nThis reaction is of great interest to us because it is of assistance in\nrevealing the relationship between species. The serum of an animal\nprepared with the blood of the fowl gives a precipitate, not only with\nthe serum of the fowl itself, but also with that of the pigeon; on the\nother hand, it remains undisturbed when the serum of mammals is added.\nThe reaction indicates then that there is a sufficiently marked degree\nof relationship between the fowl and the pigeon. Here is another\nexample: the serum of an animal prepared with the blood of an ox gives\nan abundant precipitate when there is added to it a little blood serum\nof the ox, but it does not produce this reaction with the serum of any\nof the other mammals, not even with that of the sheep, stag and\ndeer.[59] The relationship between the _Bovid\u00e6_ and these other\nruminants is then not so close as that between the fowl and the pigeon.\n\nHow does the serum of animals which has been injected with human blood\nbehave? The serum capable of giving a precipitate with human serum does\nnot produce the same reaction except with the serum of some monkeys (the\nsmall _Papio_).[60]\n\nGruenbaum, of Liverpool,[61] has been fortunate enough to procure a\nconsiderable quantity of the blood of three large anthropoid apes\u2014the\ngorilla, chimpanzee, and ourang-outang. He has been able to prove that\nthe serum of animals injected with man\u2019s blood gives a precipitate not\nonly with this blood but also with that of the above-mentioned apes. It\nwas impossible for him \u201cto distinguish this precipitate as regards\nquality and quantity from that which is obtained with human blood.\u201d\n\nTo verify this result, Gruenbaum prepared the serum of animals injected\nwith the blood of the gorilla, chimpanzee, and ourang-outang. These\nthree kinds of serum gave precipitates with the blood of these three\napes, and to the same extent with the blood of man. It is therefore\nevident that there exists between the human species and the anthropoid\napes not only a superficial analogy of body and of the principal organs,\nbut a close blood relationship.\n\nFacts of this kind could not be foreseen when the theory of the simian\norigin of man was put forward. In spite of this they have arisen to\nconfirm it in a truly astonishing way.\n\nIt is therefore impossible to doubt that man is a member of the group of\nprimates having a close connection with the higher monkeys of the\npresent time. This result is of great importance in all questions\nrelating to human nature.\n\nIt would certainly be of considerable interest to know more exactly what\nsteps were followed in this simian descent of man. On this question our\nknowledge is still very imperfect. In his researches on anthropoid apes,\nSelenka insists on a more intimate relationship between the chimpanzee\nand man. \u201cThe great resemblance of the pre-molars and of the molars in\nthe permanent dentition of the chimpanzee with human teeth appears to\nindicate that the chimpanzee and man have a common origin, and descend\nfrom extinct forms like _Dryopithecus_. This conclusion, however, is\ncontradicted by the fact that the milk teeth of the chimpanzee are much\nnearer those of the ourang-outang than those of man.\u201d[62]\n\nIt is evident that to clear up this question it would be necessary to\nhave a greater knowledge of fossil anthropoids such as _Dryopithecus_\nand its allies. In the present state of knowledge only a very general\nhypothesis can be formulated as to the exact mode of human descent.\n\nWe have already shown that the f\u0153tus of man and of the anthropoid\nmonkeys resemble each other much more than the adult forms, and that the\nyoung of these apes also bear a greater likeness to man than do the\nadults. The great development of the skull as compared with the face is\ncharacteristic of young monkeys and of man young or old. The jaws\ncontinue to develop in the anthropoids, while in man there occurs in\nthis respect a certain arrest of development. The hairs, so small in\nman, also show a similar arrest. Generally they remain during the whole\nlife in a state of incomplete development. It is especially on the back\nof man that this feeble development of hairs occurs. As this part of the\nbody in monkeys, on the contrary, is much more hairy than the under\nsurface, it has been held to constitute an essential difference between\nman and monkeys. But embryological study enables us to settle this\napparent contradiction. The f\u0153tus of the gorilla examined by M. Deniker\npossessed an almost entirely smooth back. \u201cThe f\u0153tus had true hairs only\non the head, the anterior surface, and around the lips and the genital\norgans, and the eyelashes and eyebrows. The remainder of the body was\nsmooth or covered with down not exceeding a millimetre in length.\u201d[63]\n\nThe skin of the under surface, smooth around the navel, was covered with\nsmall hairs more thickly than on the back. The abundance of hairs on the\nposterior aspect of the body of monkeys is a later acquisition, which\ndevelops but tardily during f\u0153tal life.\n\nAs regards the distribution of these hairs man resembles much more the\nembryos of monkeys than adult monkeys. This fact, instead of shaking the\ntheory of relationship between man and apes, gives us strong evidence as\nto the mode of his descent. Putting the known facts together, we may\ninfer that man is a case of the arrested development of some simian of\nancient days, as it were, a simian monster from the zoological point of\nview, although not from the \u00e6sthetic. Man may be regarded as a prodigy\nsprung from an ape, born with a larger brain and an intelligence more\nhighly developed than occurred in his parents. Such a view is in\naccordance with known facts.\n\nIt must be admitted that certain kinds of organisms, instead of evolving\nat a very slow pace, spring up suddenly, and that in such a case nature\nproceeds with a considerable stride. Darwin foresaw this possibility,\nbut it has been made plain to us by the remarkable researches of the\nbotanist Hugo de Vries.[64]\n\nDe Vries cultivated for fifteen years the Evening Primrose, a plant of\nAmerican origin (_\u0152nothera lamarckiana_). He obtained, suddenly, a set\nof flowers quite distinct from those of the original plant. They\npresented such great differences that he could separate them as several\nquite distinct species. During the first few years De Vries obtained\nthree species (_\u0152notera lata_, _\u0152n. nanella_, and sometimes _\u0152n.\nscintillans_), but variation becoming more and more prevalent, he\nultimately distinguished a dozen new species. These were grown from\nseed, and transmitted their specific characters to their descendants. De\nVries, in this way, was a witness of the sudden appearance of new\nspecies.\n\nIt is probable that man owes his origin to a similar phenomenon. Some\nanthropoid ape having at a certain period become varied in specific\ncharacters, produced offspring endowed with new properties. The brain,\nof abnormal size, placed in a spacious cranium, allowed a rapid\ndevelopment of intellectual faculties much more advanced than those of\nthe parent and those of the original species. This peculiarity would be\ntransmitted to the descendants, and, as it was of very considerable\nadvantage in the struggle for existence, the new race would hold its\nown, propagate and prevail. The extraordinary development of\nintelligence necessarily led to perfections in the choice of\nnourishment, perfections which approached the art of preparing more\ndigestible food. The jaws, under these conditions, had not such a\ndifficult task as before, and, moreover, they were no longer required\nfor attack or defence. They became less developed than in the true\nanthropoid apes.\n\nThese suggestions involve a conception of the mind that is in harmony\nwith known facts. From time to time prodigies are born with some talent\nfar greater than the gifts possessed by the parents.\n\nAbout twelve years ago a young native of Piedmont, Jacques Inaudi by\nname, became famous in Paris on account of his extraordinary power of\ncalculation. He had an astonishing memory for figures, and could perform\nmathematical calculations with surprising rapidity.[65] Two minutes were\nsufficient for him to multiply two numbers composed of seven and six\nfigures. Other arithmetical calculations, such as the extraction of\nroots, gave him but little trouble.\n\nTo attain this result, Inaudi made use of his extraordinary memory for\nfigures, founded on the persistence of auditory images. When he heard\nthe numbers pronounced, he remembered them. Inaudi declared to the\nCommission convened by the Academy of Sciences, that when he tried to\nrecall the numbers he heard them as if repeated aloud, in the tone of\nhis own voice, and that he could hear them for the greater part of the\nday. \u201cIn an hour, or in two hours\u2019 time, if I thought of the number that\nwas uttered, I should be able to repeat it as exactly as I have done\nbefore the Commission.\u201d\n\nNow this very extraordinary and rare auditory memory was developed in an\naltogether abrupt way. Inaudi, the son of poor peasants of Piedmont,\npassed the first years of his life as a shepherd. At the age of six his\nwonderful faculty of calculating figures appeared. He did not know at\nthis time how to read or to write. At eleven years of age he astonished\nthe members of the Anthropological Society of Paris by his phenomenal\nmemory, and it was only much later, at the age of twenty, that he learnt\nto read and write. Neither of the parents of Inaudi had shown in the\nslightest degree a calculating faculty like that of little Jacques. It\nmust then be admitted that it was developed as suddenly as the new\nqualities in the Evening Primrose that we have already mentioned.\n\nThe first men, also, were probably ingenious children, born of\nanthropoid parents. This hypothesis very well explains the fact that man\nis more like the f\u0153tus and the young of anthropoid apes than the adult\nanimals, and exhibits only a trace of many organs which are much more\ndeveloped in simian species.\n\nA very distinguished German anatomist, Wiedersheim,[66] has given in a\npamphlet a _resum\u00e9_ of our actual knowledge of the organs of man from\nthe point of view of their descent. He has found fifteen organs which\nshow in the human species a considerable advance on those of anthropoid\napes. The chief of these are the lower limb, well adapted for a constant\nerect carriage of the body; the strengthening of the pelvis and of the\nsacrum, as well as the broadening of the more slender pelvis of the\nfemale; the curvature of the lumbar part of the vertebral column; the\ndevelopment of the buttocks and of the calves; the difference of certain\nmuscles of the face; the nose; certain strands from the brain to the\nspinal cord; the occipital lobe of the brain; the greater development of\nthe cerebral cortex, and, lastly, the considerable differentiation of\nthe muscles of the larynx which permit speech.\n\nBut besides these progressive organs, Wiedersheim has counted seventeen\ndecaying organs, still able to fulfil their physiological function in a\nmore or less incomplete manner (amongst these are the decadent muscles\nof the leg and foot; the eleventh and twelfth pairs of ribs, the toes,\nthe c\u00e6cum, etc.), and not less than one hundred and seven rudimentary\norgans which serve no useful physiological purpose (to this category\nbelong the coccyx\u2014the vestige of a tail\u2014the thirteenth pair of ribs in\nthe adult, the muscles of the ear, the vermiform appendage, etc.).\n\nWe have already shown in the preceding chapter the great importance of\nrudimentary organs as aids to the tracing of the genealogy of organisms.\nThese organs, useless at present, are the vestiges of similar but more\ndeveloped organs, which fulfilled a useful function in our ancestors.\n\nThe extraordinary quantity of rudimentary organs in man furnishes\nanother proof of his animal origin, and puts at the disposal of science\ninformation of great value for the philosophic conception of human\nnature.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n    DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF MAN\n\n\n  Perfection of the human form\u2014The covering of hair\u2014The dentition in\n  general and the wisdom teeth\u2014The vermiform appendage\u2014Appendicitis and\n  its gravity\u2014Uselessness of the c\u00e6cum and of the large\n  intestine\u2014Instance of a woman without a large intestine\u2014Ancestral\n  history of this portion of the digestive tract\u2014Injurious effect of the\n  microbes of the large intestine\u2014Frequency of cancer of the large\n  intestine and of the stomach\u2014Limited usefulness of the stomach\u2014The\n  instinct of choice of food\u2014Futility of this instinct in man\n\n\nAlthough he is a recent arrival on the earth, man has made great\nprogress as compared with his ancestors, the anthropoid apes. A\ncomparison between even the lower races of man, such as the Hottentots\nor the aborigines of Australia and higher types such as the inhabitants\nof Europe and of North Africa, shows that a very great advance has been\nmade.\n\nHuman art has been able to surpass nature in many instances. No natural\nsound is so perfect as some of the more beautiful pieces of modern\nmusic. Even in the production of form, man has triumphed over nature.\nBreeders of flowers or of birds seek to produce new varieties. With this\nobject they often frame a conception of what they desire to produce,\nand, so to speak, set about to realise their programme. They prepare\nideal images to serve them as guides in the process of production. By\nthe method of artificial selection they often succeed in their wishes,\nand add to their collections some remarkable form. In such fashions\naviculture and horticulture have produced birds and flowers more\nbeautiful than any found in nature.\n\nIn regard to the human body, attempts have been made to surpass nature\nand to represent a body corresponding to an artistic ideal. To arrive at\nsomething more beautiful than man, the wings of birds or the characters\nof some other creatures have been added to his presentment. Such\nattempts have had no other result than to show that the human form, as\ncreated by nature, cannot be surpassed. The ancient conception of the\nhuman body as the artistic ideal has been fully justified. The views of\nthose religious fanatics who have thrown contempt on the body by\nrepresenting it in degraded forms, must be rejected.\n\nIt is impossible, however, to apply this result to our conception of the\nnature of man in general. The beautiful form of the human body appears\nonly in youth and in maturity. In old age, the bodies of men and women\nare generally ugly, and in extreme old age it is almost impossible to\nsee the traces of former beauty.\n\nNor can conceptions of perfection drawn from the human face and body be\nextended to the whole of man\u2019s organisation. A glance at some of the\norganic systems will make this plain.\n\nThe human skin is covered with little hairs, the history of which is\ninteresting. In one stage of embryonic life nearly the whole of the body\nis clad with hairs. This covering is known as the _lanugo_, and consists\nof strands of hair, disposed very regularly all over the body, save on\nthe nose and the hands and feet. There is no doubt but that this is\nfunctionless, and is no more than an inheritance from the old ape-like\ncondition. Later on, it falls out and is replaced by the ordinary downy\ncovering of the body. In adult life, and particularly in old age, the\nhairs of the second coat tend to grow very long and so to form a\ncovering that is neither beautiful nor in the least degree useful. We\nmay take this as a first example of a disharmonious condition in the\nhuman body. Hairs, incapable of protecting the body from cold, survive\nmerely as an ancestral relic and may become even harmful.\n\nThe human skin is constantly exposed to the microbes in dust; and the\nfollicles of the hairs, in which these microbes lodge, form receptacles\nvery favourable to their multiplication. In the hollows of the\nfollicles, certain microbes, as for instance some of the\n_Staphylococci_, multiply rapidly and give rise to acne and to pimples.\nThe process may even go the length of producing a chronic skin-disease\nvery unpleasant and even dangerous if it be associated with suppuration.\n\nIn the human race, intelligence, that is to say, the activity of the\nbrain, supplants many other functions, and man is able to protect\nhimself against the inclemencies of weather much better than his furry\nancestors were capable of doing. He is able to do this through his\ninvention of clothing which may be varied with the nature of the\nweather. But the obstinate laws of inheritance burden him with a\ncovering of hair, not only useless but frequently harmful. And this is\nonly one example among many.\n\nAlthough, in an extreme case, man is able to survive the total loss of\nthe teeth, it cannot yet be said that teeth are useless or harmful. None\nthe less, a study of the human dentition reveals that this set of organs\nis out of harmony with the fundamental needs of our race. The monkeys of\nthe old world (_Catarrhines_), although they belong obviously to the\nbrute creation, already exhibit a tendency to reduction in the number of\nteeth. While American monkeys (_Platyrrhines_) may possess thirty-six\nteeth, the old world forms do not possess more than thirty-two in all,\nat least as a normal occurrence. Selenka[67] has shown that among\ngorillas and ourangs individuals with a fourth pair of molars, bringing\nup the number of teeth to thirty-six, are not rare. He found these\nadditional molars in 20 per cent. of one hundred and ninety-four adult\nskulls of ourangs. On the other hand, in the cases of the chimpanzee and\nthe gibbon, the third pair of molars differ from the others in smaller\nsize and occasional absence. This reduction is to be associated with the\nsmaller jaws and less powerful mastication of these anthropoids.\n\nCases of supplementary molars are very rare in man, and occur more\nfrequently in the lower races, such as negroes, Australians, and natives\nof New Caledonia.[68] On the other hand, absence of the third pair of\nmolars, that is to say, of the wisdom teeth, is quite frequent,\nespecially in the white races. Nearly 10 per cent. of Europeans\nthroughout their lives have no more than twenty-eight teeth, the wisdom\nteeth being absent. This absence is more common in the upper jaw, where\nit occurs in from 18 to 19 per cent. of men. The loss of the wisdom\nteeth[69] is on the whole to be regarded as an advantage. Certainly from\nthe \u201cphysiological point of view the part played by the wisdom teeth is\nsubordinate. Their power of masticating is feeble; the loss does not\nappreciably interfere with mastication. The complete absence of all four\nhas no influence on mastication.\u201d[70] These teeth are cut very late,\noften not appearing until the thirtieth year and sometimes being delayed\nto extreme old age.\n\nEven if they were only useless, the wisdom teeth would furnish an\ninstance of disharmony in the human body. But these teeth often are a\nsource of trouble which, although it is not often serious, may lead to\ngrave diseases and even to death. No other teeth are so subject to\naccident. This is due partly to the slowness with which they develop and\nto the difficulty they encounter in cutting the mucous membrane. Dental\ncaries, moreover, is specially frequent in them.[71] The membrane\nsurrounding them is specially subject to small lesions by which the\ninfection spreads to adjacent parts. Inflammatory conditions frequently\narise from these teeth, and tumours, caries of the jaw-bone and even\ndiffused suppuration, leading to death, may be sequel\u00e6 of wounds of the\nwisdom teeth. Galippe[72] has described a case in which one of these\nteeth, failing to cut the gum in the normal position, made its way\nthrough the cheek. This produced an inflammatory suppuration of the\ncheek with numerous fistul\u00e6 and an inflammation of the masseter muscle\nwhich made it impossible for the mouth to open. Notwithstanding the\nextraction of the wisdom tooth that had been the cause of all these\ntroubles, the patient died of meningitis, which had started from the\ntooth. Other cases have been described in which a difficult eruption of\nthe tooth led to formation of an abscess in the bone, from which there\narose a fatal abscess of the brain.\n\nWisdom teeth may be the starting-point even of cancerous tumours.\nMagitot[73] writes that very many neoplasms of the jaw may be traced to\na source of origin in the socket of the wisdom tooth.\n\nThere is no useful function of these teeth to set against their\ndisadvantages. It was our remote ancestors, masticating hard food, that\nhad the advantages of these additional teeth. In man they are\nrudimentary organs, and provide another proof of our simian origin.\n\nThe c\u00e6cal or vermiform appendage is another rudimentary organ in the\nhuman body, and is interesting from many points of view. I have already\nreferred to its importance as definite evidence of our origin from lower\nanimals, and shown how striking is the resemblance of the human organ to\nthat of the anthropoid apes. It consists of a thick wall, containing\nglands, a muscular layer and lymphoid clumps. That it performs no\nfunction useful to man is made clear by the existence of undisturbed\nhealth in persons from whom it has been removed. Thanks to the advances\nof modern surgery, this organ has been removed very often, and sometimes\neven in cases where it did not appear to have been diseased. In a great\nmajority of the cases, the removal of the organ succeeded well, and the\npatients experienced no harm, but appeared to carry on all the processes\nof digestion with equal completeness.\n\nOn the other hand, the c\u00e6cal appendage in man is frequently obliterated,\nthere being no trace of the normal aperture, so that there is no\nconnection between it and the general digestive cavity. According to\nRibbert,[74] nearly one person in four possesses the appendage in an\nobliterated condition, the condition being particularly frequent in the\naged. In young persons and infants the aperture of the appendage is\nusually open. In cases where there is no communication with the cavity\nof the digestive tract, the processes of digestion appear to be normal.\nIt is logical to conclude that in the human being the function of the\nc\u00e6cum is either absent or very slight.\n\nEven in the anthropoid apes the appendage of the c\u00e6cum appears to be a\nrudimentary structure, with a function at most accessory to that of the\nlymphoid clumps. In lower old world monkeys the vermiform appendage does\nnot usually exist, cases such as that of _Cercopithecus sabaeus_, in\nwhich it is present as a little boss, being rare. It is necessary to\nseek the purpose of this structure still lower in the scale of life. In\nsome herbivorous creatures the c\u00e6cum is large, and ends in a portion\nrichly provided with lymphoid tissue, and similar to the vermiform\nappendage. The rabbit and certain marsupials are good examples.\nUndoubtedly, in their cases, the portion of the digestive canal which\ncorresponds to the vermiform appendage of man is active in the digestion\nof vegetable matter. The organ is a very old part of the constitution of\nmammals, and it is because it has been preserved long after its function\nhas disappeared that we find it occurring in the body of man.\n\nRudimentary organs for the most part display a congenital lack of the\npower of resistance, and, as Darwin suggested, for this reason they are\nfrequently the seats of disease. When Darwin wrote his work on the\n\u201cDescent of Man,\u201d more than a quarter of a century ago, many fatal cases\nof inflammation of the appendage had not been recorded. Darwin quoted\nonly two cases as known to him. Since then, appendicitis (the name given\nby American surgeons to the first acute or to the chronic inflammation\nof the appendage) has become a well-known disease in Europe and America,\nand occupies considerable space in treatises on the pathology of the\ndigestive tract.\n\nTo give an idea of the prevalence of appendicitis, I may mention that in\na single Paris hospital (H\u00f4pital Trousseau) four hundred and forty-three\ncases of the disease have been treated in the five years 1895\u20131899.[75]\nIn many of these cases the subjects were infants, as these as a rule are\nmuch more subject to appendicitis than are the aged. According to\nTreves,[76] the well-known English surgeon, 36 per cent. of the observed\ncases were under twenty years of age. Among old men, on the other hand,\nappendicitis is a rare exception. The varying incidence of the disease\nat different ages no doubt depends on the fact that in old age the\nappendage is often obliterated. The more easy communication with the\nother portion of the gut may be, the more chance there is for\ninflammation to occur. As it has a muscular layer, the appendage is able\nto void its f\u0153cal contents; and a Scotch surgeon, Parker Syms,[77] has\nseen an appendage that he had removed, in the act of writhing about like\nan earthworm. Such movements, undoubtedly, would aid the discharge of\nthe contents of the cavity.\n\nThe movements of the appendage, however, are usually feeble, and thus\nstagnation of the contents is common. Foreign matter is often found in\nthe cavity, such as the pips of fruit, seeds, hairs, thorns, and in rare\ncases pins or even tin-tacks. Such bodies are capable of wounding the\ninner wall of the appendage, and so giving an opportunity to the\nmicrobes that abound in the digestive tube, with the result that\nmicrobial infection and inflammation of the organ is produced. Often,\ntoo, intestinal worms pass into the appendage and become the carriers of\npathogenic organisms.\n\nAppendicitis is usually a grave disease, and is fatal in from 8 to 10\nper cent. of cases. It would be difficult to find anywhere else in the\nhuman body so flagrant a case of natural disharmony. The organ in\nquestion may be obliterated or removed without disturbance of function,\nand, moreover, in its normal condition is a frequent cause of serious\nillness!\n\nThe vermiform appendage is not the only part of the digestive canal that\nis out of harmony with the maintenance of life and health. The c\u00e6cum\nitself, of which the appendage is only a portion, is degenerating in the\nhuman body, as I stated in the last chapter. The human c\u00e6cum, in fact,\nis very little developed in comparison with the c\u00e6cum of most\nherbivorous animals, in which it is a true organ of digestion. In the\nhuman embryo the c\u00e6cum and the appendage are relatively better developed\nthan they are in the adult.\n\nDisharmony is exhibited in the human body not only by rudimentary organs\nsuch as the wisdom teeth and the appendage, or by degenerating organs\nsuch as the c\u00e6cum. Some very large parts of our alimentary canal must be\nregarded as useless inheritances, bequeathed to us by our animal\nancestors. It is no longer rash to say that not only the rudimentary\nappendage and the c\u00e6cum but the whole of the large intestine are\nsuperfluous, and that their removal would be attended with happy\nresults. So far as digestion goes, the latter portion of the alimentary\ntract is of little importance. Even from the point of view of absorption\nof the products of digestion its importance is strictly secondary. And\nso it is not astonishing to find that the removal or disappearance of\nnearly the whole of the large intestine can be supported well by man.\n\nAs one result of the astonishing progress of surgery, it has been found\npossible to excise certain parts of the gut, and particularly of the\nlarge intestine. Thus, in one case, K\u00f6rte[78] removed, along with part\nof the small intestine, a considerable part of the large intestine,\nleaving in place only the terminal portion. The patient, who underwent\neight successive abdominal operations, recovered. In the case[79] of\nanother patient, operated on by Wiesinger, two coils of the large\nintestine (the transverse and descending colons) which were ulcerated,\nwere isolated from the remainder of the gut, while the upper portion of\nthe large intestine (the c\u00e6cum and the ascending colon) was sutured to\nthe rectum. In spite of these serious interferences with natural\nstructure, the patients recovered, and appeared to derive great\nadvantage from the loss of the large intestine.\n\nI have quoted only two out of many similar cases. However, apart from\nsurgical evidence, there exists proof of the uselessness of the large\nintestine in man. The best argument in favour of the proposition may be\ndrawn from the case of a woman who for thirty-seven years discharged the\nwaste matter from the alimentary canal through an intestinal fistula.\nThe latter had opened spontaneously, as the result of an abscess seated\non the right side of the abdomen. Her complaint, however, had not\nprevented her from marrying, from bearing three children, nor from\npursuing an arduous calling. The person in question, who was a workwoman\nin Varsovie, was examined by a surgeon, M. Ciechomski,[80] thirty-five\nyears after the establishment of the fistula. The surgeon proposed to\noperate, hoping to restore her to the normal condition, and the woman\nconsented. However, when the abdominal cavity was opened, it appeared\nthat the large intestine had atrophied along the whole length, from the\nc\u00e6cum to the rectum; the inner orifice of the fistula had passed into\nthe digestive tract above the c\u00e6cum, opening into the small intestine.\nIn the circumstances it was impossible to close the fistula, and the\nsurgeon had to close up the abdominal wall, leaving the patient in her\nformer condition. The woman recovered rapidly, and continued her usual\nmode of life. She came under observation again two years later, but\nsince then had been lost sight of. The fact that a human being was\ncapable of carrying on an apparently normal life for thirty years in the\nabsence of a large intestine is good proof that the organ in question is\nnot necessary to man, although it has not yet become rudimentary. In\nthis case again, to find the useful stage of the structure, we have to\ngo to our remote ancestors.\n\nThe large intestine is much better developed in most herbivorous mammals\nthan it is in carnivorous forms. Although it is useless in the digestion\nof animal food, it has an undisputed importance in the digestion of\nvegetable matter. It has a very large calibre in herbivorous creatures,\nand the voluminous cavity contains quantities of microbes which are able\nto digest cellulose. As cellulose is a material that resists the\nordinary processes of digestion, it is easy to see the advantage derived\nfrom the harbouring of the microbes. It is more than probable that in\nthe horse, the rabbit, and in some other mammals, that live exclusively\non grain and herbage, the large intestine is necessary for normal life.\n\nOn the other hand, the large intestine discharges a function similar to\nthat of the urinary bladder. The urine, which is being secreted\ncontinuously by the kidneys, accumulates in the large reservoir provided\nby the bladder. Similarly the waste matter from the processes of\ndigestion accumulate in the large intestine and remain there for a\nlonger or shorter period.\n\nIn studying the natural history of the large intestine, it striking that\nthis portion of the gut is well developed only among mammals. These\nanimals, for the most part, lead an extremely active terrestrial life.\nMost of them have to move about very quickly, the predacious forms in\npursuit of their prey, the herbivorous forms to escape from their\nenemies. In such a mode of life, the need to stop in order to empty the\nintestines would be a serious disadvantage, and the possibility of\nretaining the dejecta in a large reservoir would be very useful.[81]\n\nSuch are the causes that have determined the growth of the large\nintestine among mammals. Birds, which live, so to speak, in the air, and\nwhich do not need to arrest their locomotion in order to void their\nexcreta, have no large intestine. Reptiles and amphibia, although they\nlive a terrestrial life, do not require a voluminous large intestine,\nand such is not found among them. These animals do not have a fixed\ntemperature; they are what we know as \u201ccold-blooded,\u201d and in consequence\nare small eaters. Most of them are sluggish, and do not lead an active\nexistence like that of mammals.\n\nIn the legacy acquired by man from his animal ancestors, there occur not\nonly rudimentary organs that are useless or harmful, but fully developed\norgans equally useless. The large intestine must be regarded as one of\nthe organs possessed by man and yet harmful to his health and his life.\nThe large intestine is the reservoir of the waste of the digestive\nprocesses, and this waste stagnates long enough to putrefy. The products\nof putrefaction are harmful. When f\u00e6cal matter is allowed to remain in\nthe intestine, as in cases of constipation, a common complaint, certain\nproducts are absorbed by the organism and produce poisoning, often of a\nserious nature. Every one knows that a high temperature may be the\nresult of constipation in women after childbirth, or in patients\nrecovering from an operation. This is due to an absorption of substances\nproduced by the microbes of the large intestine. Similar products may be\nthe cause of an attack of acne or of other skin diseases. In fine, the\npresence of a large intestine in the human body is the cause of a series\nof misfortunes. The organ is the seat of many grave diseases, among\nwhich dysentery is notable. In some tropical climates dysentery is a\nserious scourge. According to Rhey,[82] it is \u201cthe greatest danger to\nwhich a European is subjected in Tonkin. It is responsible for more than\n30 per cent. of the deaths caused by disease.\u201d European troops pay it a\nlarge annual toll in the colonies of the French and English.\n\nMalignant tumours seem to display a predilection for this region of the\ndigestive tract. Thus, among 1148 cases of cancer of the alimentary\ntract recorded in the Prussian hospitals in 1895 and 1896, 1022, or 89\nper cent., affected the large intestine, including the rectum and\nc\u00e6cum.[83] The small intestine is the only part of the digestive tract\nthat is indispensable, and it is attacked to a much smaller extent,\nproviding only 11 per cent. of the cases of intestinal cancer. The\nprobable explanation of these facts is that the contents of the gut\nremain in the small intestine a shorter time than in the large.\n\nStagnation is a familiar cause of disease, and is the probable cause of\nthe frequency of cancer of the stomach. Of 10,537 cases of cancer of all\nparts of the digestive tract recorded in the Prussian hospitals in the\nsame period, 4288, or more than 40 per cent., affected the stomach. The\nlatter organ is one that the human body would do well to be rid of. It\nis not so useless as the large intestine, since it is the chief seat of\ndigestion of albuminous substances, but the small intestine could take\nits place. Moreover, cases are known in which surgeons have removed\ncancerous stomachs. The results of such operations were favourable, to\nthe extent that the patients survived and were able to absorb sufficient\nnourishment. They had to eat rather more frequently, and performed the\nprocesses of digestion by means of the secretions of the small intestine\nand pancreas.\n\nIt is not surprising to find so many instances of useless or harmful\norgans in the alimentary tract. Our ancestors were creatures that fed on\ncrude and rough materials, such as wild plants and unprepared flesh. Man\nhas learned to cultivate plants that are digested easily, and to prepare\nhis meats in such a fashion as to be readily digested. The organs that\nwere adapted to the mode of life of the animal predecessors of man have\nbecome to a large extent superfluous. Many creatures that have found the\nopportunity of obtaining their nutriment in a highly digestible\ncondition have lost, more or less completely, the digestive organs. Many\nparasites are instances of this, as for example the tape-worms, which\nlive in the human digestive tract, bathed by a nutritive fluid which\nthey absorb directly; they have lost the digestive tract completely.\n\nIn the case of man such an evolution has not occurred, and there remains\nin the body a harmful organ like the large intestine. In consequence, it\nis impossible for him to take his nutriment in the most perfect form. If\nhe were only to eat substances that could be almost completely absorbed,\nthe large intestine would be unable to empty itself, and serious\ncomplications would be produced. A satisfactory system of diet has to\nmake allowance for this, and in consequence of the structure of the\nalimentary canal, has to include in the food bulky and indigestible\nmaterials such as vegetables.\n\nAt this point I may refer to a topic of considerable general interest.\nAnimals, in the choice of food for themselves or for their young, are\nguided by a blind and innate instinct. As I have shown in my second\nchapter, creatures like the fossorial wasps select only particular\nspecies of spiders or insects. Instinct directs them to the kind of food\nbest suited to the wants of their progeny. Bees are attracted by the\nsweet juices of flowers; the silkworm instinctively devours the leaves\nof the mulberry and rejects most other plants. In higher animals,\ninstinct plays the chief part in the choice of food. The difficulty of\ngetting rats to eat poisoned food is well known; an instinct warns them\nof the danger of the material offered to them. In the same way dogs\nrefrain from food that has been poisoned.\n\nEvery one has seen the minute attention bestowed by a monkey on food\nbefore beginning to eat it. It turns over what is offered, smells it\ncarefully, cleans it, and before beginning to eat, subjects it to an\nexamination that seems to us ridiculous. Monkeys often throw away food\nwithout even biting it. None the less, in spite of an instinct so highly\ndeveloped, monkeys poison themselves with all sorts of dangerous\nsubstances, even when these exhale a strange odour. I have seen monkeys\ndie poisoned by the phosphorus of matches, or even by iodoform which\nthey had contrived to steal.\n\nIn the case of man, aberrations of instinct in the choice of food are\ncommon. As soon as babies begin to walk, they lay hold of everything and\ntry to eat it. Bits of paper, lumps of sealing-wax, the mucous matter\nfrom the nose, all appear to them to be things to eat. Constant guard\nhas to be kept to prevent them from doing themselves an injury. Fruits\nand berries they cannot resist. Cases of poisoning very naturally are\nextremely frequent, and as every one must know of instances, I shall\nmention only a single case. \u201cMessrs. Beadle and Sons, oil manufacturers\nat Boston, had thrown out, from the door of their establishment, a\nquantity of castor beans that were decayed and useless. Some children\nplaying in the street mistook the seeds for pistachio nuts, and shared\nthem with their friends. All the children seem to have eaten of them,\nwith the result that more than seventy showed serious symptoms of\npoisoning.\u201d[84]\n\nThe consumption of ergotised rye and of maize contaminated with certain\nleguminous plants (_Lathyrus_) frequently produces epidemics of\npoisoning without instinct intervening to protect the victims.\n\nWhile the large intestine, acting as an asylum of harmful microbes, is a\nsource of intoxication from within, the aberrant instinct of man leads\nhim to poison himself from without with alcohol and ether, opium and\nmorphia. The widespread results of alcoholism show plainly the prevalent\nexistence in man of a want of harmony between the instinct for choosing\nfood and the instinct of preservation.\n\nThe digestive apparatus, then, affords abundant proof of the\nimperfection and disharmony of our nature. Moreover, there are many\nother proofs, as I shall show in the chapters to follow.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V\n  DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE REPRODUCTIVE\n       APPARATUS. DISHARMONIES IN THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS\n\n\n                                   I\n     _Remarks on the disharmonies in the human organs of sense and\nperception.\u2014Rudimentary parts of the reproductive apparatus.\u2014Origin and\n                         function of the hymen_\n\nThe digestive organs are not alone amongst the parts of the human body\nin exhibiting a greater or lesser disharmony. More than fifty years ago,\na great German physiologist, Johannes M\u00fcller, showed that although the\nhuman eye was regarded as a very perfect organ, its power of correction\nfor aberration of light was poor. Helmholz, another famous German man of\nscience, stated that the optical study of the eye brought complete\ndisillusion. \u201cNature,\u201d he said, \u201cseems to have packed this organ with\nmistakes, as if with the avowed purpose of destroying any possible\nfoundation for the theory that organs are adapted to their environment.\u201d\nNot only the eye, but the other organs by means of which we are\nconscious of the outside world, present natural disharmony. Therein lies\nthe cause of our want of certainty about the sources of our perceptions.\nMemory, the faculty that registers our mental processes, becomes active\nmuch later than other faculties lodged in the brain. If the new-born\nhuman child were relatively as well developed as the young guinea-pig,\nit is probable that we should know far more as to the history of our\nconsciousness of the external world. But without lingering over the\ndisharmonies in our senses and faculties, I shall pass at once to a\nconsideration of the apparatus for maintaining the species.\n\nI have shown that the alimentary tract, the chief organ involved in the\nmaintenance of the individual life, affords no proof of the theory that\nhuman nature is perfect. Is it the case that the organs of reproduction\ngive a better result? When I wished to describe the most perfect\nexamples of harmony to be found amongst plants, I chose the mechanism by\nwhich fertilisation is accomplished in flowers. The persistence of the\nspecies is secured, in the case of flowers, by a marvellous series of\nstructures and functions.\n\nIs the maintenance of the human species similarly provided for? A\ndetailed investigation of the male and female human reproductive organs\nshows that these contain parts of diverse origin. The apparatus contains\nportions of extremely ancient origin, and portions that have been\nacquired recently. The internal organs display traces of a remote\nhermaphroditism. In the male, there occur traces of the female\napparatus, rudiments of the uterus and fallopian tubes. In the female,\non the other hand, rudiments of the male structure persist. These traces\ndate very far back in the history of the race, for they occur also in\nmost other vertebrates. The facts seem to indicate that, at a very\nremote period, the ancestral vertebrates were hermaphrodite, and that\nthey became divided into males and females only gradually, still\nretaining in each sex traces of the other sex. Such traces occur\nfrequently, even in adult man, in the form of rudimentary organs (known\nas the organs of Weber, of Rosenm\u00fcller, and so forth). The rudiments not\nonly are functionless but sometimes, as frequently happens with\natrophied structures, form the starting-point of monstrous growths, or\nof tumours that interfere with health. Thus the hypertrophy of a part of\nthe male prostate gland (the organ of Weber) brings about the formation\nof a _uterus masculinus_, and so produces a sort of abnormal\nhermaphroditism. The rudimentary organs in the male reproductive\napparatus frequently are the starting-points of hydatid cysts. In the\nfemale, cysts such as those of the _parovaria_ are produced by the\nproliferation of rudimentary structures. These, although usually benign,\nnot infrequently become malignant. Lawson Tait,[85] a celebrated English\nsurgeon, has published a case of this kind. He removed from a young\nwoman a parovarian cyst that was apparently benign, but in six weeks\nsymptoms of cancer arose, and the patient died of cancer in three\nmonths.\n\nA comparison of the rudimentary organs in the human reproductive\napparatus with those in the similar structures of lower animals, shows\nthat many relics have degenerated further in man than in other animals.\nThus the duct of the embryonic kidney (known as the Wolffian body) is of\nrare occurrence in adult man, although it is retained throughout life in\nthe case of some herbivorous animals, in which it is known as Gaertner\u2019s\nduct. There are, however, many rudimentary organs in the human\nreproductive apparatus, organs that are always useless and not\ninfrequently more or less harmful to health and life.\n\nAlongside organs which have been useless from time immemorial, the\nreproductive system of man possesses structures of recent acquisition.\nThese deserve special attention, as it might have been supposed that in\nthem would have been found special instances of adaptation to the\nreproductive function.\n\nI have already referred (chap. iii.) to the discussions that have taken\nplace over the simian origin of man. All attempts to demonstrate the\npresence in the human brain of parts that were absent in the simian\nbrain have failed. It is a curious fact that man displays a more marked\ndifference from monkeys in the structure of the reproductive system than\nin the structure of the brain. There is no _os penis_ in man. This bone,\nwhich facilitates intromission, occurs in many vertebrates, not only\namong rodents and carnivora, which are widely separated from man, but in\nmany monkeys, and most notably in anthropoid apes.[86] For some reason\nimpossible to establish, man has lost this bone. It may be that certain\nossifications of most rare occurrence[87] may represent an atavistic\ninheritance from our remote ancestors.\n\nIn the male sex the difference between man and the anthropoid ape is the\nloss of an organ; in the female sex it is the acquisition of an organ.\nThe hymen, the physical indication of virginity, is peculiar to the\nhuman race. That organ would serve the purpose of those disputants who\nmake every effort to discover the existence of a structure peculiarly\nhuman, far better than the posterior lobe of the brain, or the\nhippocampus minor. Bischoff[88] has determined its absence in the\nanthropoid apes, and his result has been confirmed by other observers.\nDeniker[89] failed to find it either in the f\u0153tal gorilla or in the\nyoung gorilla. In the case of the f\u0153tus of the gibbon, he found a slight\nelevation round the entrance to the vagina \u201cwhich might be homologised\nwith the hymen,\u201d[90] but which, however, was not the membrane in\nquestion. Deniker[91] himself decided that the \u201cmembrane was absent in\nanthropoid apes at all ages.\u201d Weidersheim, in his summary of the\norganisation of the human body,[92] also sets down the fact that \u201cin\nmonkeys a hymen is not present.\u201d\n\nThe fact that this structure appears late in the development of the\nfemale f\u0153tus bears out the supposition that it has been acquired\nrecently by the race. According to several observers, who agree in this\nmatter, the membrane does not develop until at least the nineteenth week\nof f\u0153tal life.\n\nAlthough organs very ancient in origin, and now become degenerate\nrudiments, may be useless, it is to be expected that an organ of recent\nappearance and still in a progressive condition, would have an important\nfunction. Of what utility is this membrane to a woman? Wiedersheim[93]\nremarks that its function has not been made out.\n\nThe hymen sometimes plays a large part in family and social relations,\nand, regarded as the evidence for virginity, has had moral significance\nbestowed on it. A minute examination of this structure is frequently a\npart of the judicial procedure in cases of supposed rape and so forth.\nThe destruction of the hymen has led to the death of many hundreds of\nmen and women.\n\nFrom our point of view, however, it is the possible physiological\nfunction of this structure that is interesting. It seems impossible to\nconclude otherwise than that in existing races it has practically no\nfunctional value. Its atrophy as the result of sexual congress not only\nis no bar to sexual relations, but removes an unpleasant impediment. In\nmany races the structure is removed as soon as possible. In some parts\nof China it is destroyed as part of the toilet of young children, and\nindeed many Chinese physicians are ignorant of its existence. A similar\nstate of affairs occurs in some parts of India. In Brazil, among the\ntribe of Machacuras, virgins, in the European sense, do not exist, for\nthe mothers destroy the hymen in female children soon after birth. In\nKamchatka the aborigines regard it as disgraceful to be married with the\nhymen intact, and the mothers operate on their daughters.[94] Among\nother races, again, the disagreeable duty of defloration is assigned to\nspecial persons. Among the natives of the Philippines there formerly\nexisted well-paid public officials the duty of whom was to destroy the\nvirginity of the girls and so to make marriage pleasanter for the\nhusbands. A similar custom occurs among the inhabitants of New\nCaledonia, and Moncelon states that there virginity is held in little\nesteem. \u201cI have proof of the curious circumstance,\u201d he wrote, \u201cthat when\na husband shrinks from destroying the virginity of his wife, he employs\nsome one from a regular profession to take his place.\u201d\n\nSuch examples, selected from amongst many, may be taken as proof that\neven such a peculiar and recently acquired organ has not a physiological\nuse.\n\nOn the other hand, especially among Christians and Mahomedans, the\nexistence of the hymen in an intact condition is regarded as very\nimportant. The ancient Jews began to set a high value on virginity.\nAccording to the old Mosaic law, if, at the time of her marriage, a\nyoung girl were found to be no longer a virgin, \u201cThen they shall bring\nout the damsel to the door of her father\u2019s house, and the men of her\ncity shall stone her with stones that she die; because she hath wrought\nfolly in Israel, to play the whore in her father\u2019s house\u201d (Deut. xxii.\n21). The religions that have sprung from Judaism have retained this old\nview of virginity, although in an attenuated form. Among some Christian\npeoples, material proofs of virginity at the time of marriage are\ndemanded, and among some Mahomedans such proofs are exhibited to friends\nand relations on the day after marriage. However, the actual defloration\nis not always left to the husband, but among Arabs and Copts and amongst\nthe natives of Egypt, the operation is performed by a specially selected\nmatron.[95]\n\nIt is plain, then, that this membrane is of no direct service in the\nsexual process. It may even give rise to more or less serious\nmisfortune. Thus, when it is unusually rigid, the adjacent peritoneum\nmay be torn and the results may be disastrous. Occasionally the rupture\nof an abnormally vascular membrane may give rise to bleeding of a\nprolonged and even fatal character.[96] Moreover the membrane is a\nfrequent seat of ulcers, specific or otherwise.[97]\n\nI have already mentioned that among some races a rigorous toilet\ninvolves the destruction of the hymen. It is plain that the existence of\nthe membrane interferes with strict hygiene of the vagina, especially at\nthe periods. Probably some blood is retained by the membrane and\nfurnishes a soil for microbes that may be dangerous to health. It is\nquite possible that certain forms of an\u00e6mia, as for instance the\nchloran\u00e6mia of virgins, may be produced by microbial growth. This would\neasily explain why marriage is the readiest cure for such an\u00e6mia, as\nmarriage involves destruction of the membrane, and so makes possible the\ncomplete discharge of fluid from the vagina.[98]\n\nWhat then can be the meaning of this organ, useless as it is for the\nsexual functions, sometimes dangerous to health, an organ that is no\nancestral heritage and that must be destroyed by the act of sexual\nunion? Formerly, when it was accepted that characters acquired in\nindividual life could be transmitted to offspring, the question was\nasked as to why this membrane had not disappeared. The instance was one\nof those which helped to overthrow the dogma of the inheritance of\nacquired characters.\n\nAlthough it is useless to existing man, this organ may yet come to be\nexplained by science. As yet we have to fall back on suppositions. The\nhypothesis which seems most probable is that in the earlier period of\nthe existence of the human race, sexual relations were begun at a very\nearly age, before the male organs were mature. Under such circumstances\nthe hymen would not only not have been a barrier, but would have made\ncongress more satisfactory. Gradually the hymen would have become\ndilated without being torn, until it was capable of admitting the adult\norgan. This hypothesis implies that in early times the membrane was not\nbrutally torn, but that it was gradually dilated and that violent\nrupture is a modern necessity. In support of the hypothesis it may be\nmentioned that amongst certain living races sexual union begins at a\nvery early age. In Ceylon, marriage takes place when the boys are from\nseven to ten years old and when the girls are from four to six years,\naccording to Roer, or about eight years according to Beierlein. After\nthe actual wedding ceremony the bride returns to the house of her\nparents, and it is only a few years later, when she is adult, that she\ngoes to her husband. Roer states that he has seen cases where a father\nand son were attending school together.\n\nAmong the Vedas, a low caste of tropical India, boys marry at the age of\nfrom fifteen to sixteen years, certainly before the sexual organs have\nattained their full dimensions. The missionary Etern was struck with the\nagitation of the natives of Keradif (in Abyssinia) when they were\nordered within fourteen days to marry all their boys more than fourteen\nyears old to girls more than nine.[99] In Madagascar, in the beginning\nof the seventeenth century, it was the custom for boys to marry at an\nage of from ten to twelve years. The natives of German New Guinea marry\ntheir boys at the age of fourteen to fifteen. Even in England a law\nstill exists permitting marriage to boys fourteen years old. The law is\nnow a dead letter, but is evidence of the ancient practice.\n\nIt is known that even at the present time the hymen is not always\nruptured in sexual congress. Budin has recorded its existence in\nseventeen per cent. of primiparous women. Among seventy-five cases of\nwomen in their first confinements he found the hymen intact in thirteen\ncases. Since provision for children has fallen on fathers these have\ntaken to deferring marriage to a later age than when children were left\nto the mother. That is the probable reason why there are now fewer\nmarried boys. Thus, formerly, the proportion of women who at the first\nchildbirth still possessed unruptured hymens, was much greater, and it\nis not difficult to suppose that in still earlier times such a condition\nwas normal. It is plain that there is here an instance of a very\nrecently acquired disharmony.\n\nThe homology between certain portions of the male and female\nreproductive apparatus is well known. The male homologue of the female\nhymen is a little fold that hinders the mingling of urine with the\nseminal fluid during emission, and that is known to anatomists as the\n_caput gallinaginis_ or _colliculus seminalis_. It is very much smaller\nthan the hymen, so that we cannot regard the latter as a rudimentary\nhomologue of a useful organ. However, the prepuce of the male is a clear\ninstance of the presence in the male organs of useless parts. It is\nremoved by circumcision among very many races, such as the Hebrews and\nArabs, and other Mahomedans, and amongst Persians, negroes, Hindus,\nTartars, and its absence seems to bring about no inconvenience.\n\n\n                                   II\n _Evolution and significance of the menstrual flow in women.\u2014Precocious\n marriage among primitive and uncivilised races.\u2014Disharmony between age\nof puberty and age of nubility.\u2014Age of marriage.\u2014Examples of disharmony\n           in the development of the reproductive function._\n\nNotwithstanding their imperfections, the human organs of reproduction\nare able to fulfil their functions. A close scrutiny, however, shows\nthat there are many sides on which they are disharmonious or badly\nadapted.\n\nThe occurrence of bleeding is usually a sign of disease. Bleeding from\nthe nose or of the lungs or intestines or kidneys is an indication of\ndisease more or less serious. Discharge of blood from the female\nreproductive organs may also be an indication of disease, as for\ninstance when due to tumours of the uterus. The only exception to the\nrule is the periodic flow in the case of women, by which they lose\nhundreds of grammes of blood (100 to 600 gr.). There is something\nparadoxical in such a physiological occurrence, and it deserves minute\nconsideration.\n\nThese periodic losses, unlike the possession of a hymen, are not a\npeculiarity of the human female. \u201cHeat\u201d in lower animals is analogous,\nalthough in that case the chief indications are swellings of the mucous\nmembrane with a slight discharge of fluid, hardly tinged with blood. The\nstate indicates the awakening of the sexual instinct and readiness for\ncoition.[100] Among monkeys there has been observed a flow much more\nclosely resembling that of woman. In the case of macaques and\ncercopitheci, it has been observed even that the flow is monthly.\nHeape,[101] while in British India, took advantage of a valuable\nopportunity for making observations on this subject.\n\nAmong two hundred and thirty females of _Macacus rhesus_ of which the\ngreater number were adult or nearly so, seventeen displayed signs of\nmenstruation, consisting of a swelling of the genitalia accompanied by\nthe discharge of a pale and viscid fluid. Usually the flow assumed a\npale rose tint, due to the presence in it of blood corpuscles, but cases\nwhere it was highly coloured were rare.\n\nAlthough they are distinctly analogous to the menstrual flows of women,\nthese occurrences in monkeys are distinguished by the predominance of\nthe swelling of the genitalia, the viscid character of the discharge,\nand the relative absence of blood. They present a condition intermediate\nbetween the \u201cheat\u201d of lower animals and the human phenomena.\n\nIn anthropoid apes a similar menstruation has been observed. Bolau,\nEhlers, and Hermes, record it in the case of the chimpanzee. \u201cAt this\nperiod,\u201d wrote Hartmann,[102] \u201cswelling and reddening of the genitalia\noccurred. The labi\u00e6 majores, which are usually inconspicuous, enlarged\ngreatly, and a similar increase took place in the labi\u00e6 minores and the\nclitoris.\u201d\n\nIn the case of women swelling of the genitalia is very slightly marked,\nand the chief occurrence is the flow of blood. It is plain, then, that\nsomething new has been acquired in the menstruation of women.\n\nThe condition of the flow at the present time is probably the result of\nmodifications acquired recently in the history of the race. Among\nprimitive peoples sexual union occurred at a very early age, and\npregnancy occurred before menstruation. The latter did not appear during\npregnancy nor in the time of suckling, and probably the latter was\nhardly over before a new pregnancy had occurred. In that way there was\nno opportunity for the onset of menstruation.\n\nThe human capacity for procreation throughout the year made the race\nextremely prolific. Probably this prolificness is the reason why man has\nspread over the surface of the earth, and has multiplied so enormously,\nin spite of the barriers to his progress and the high rate of mortality\nto which he is subjected.\n\nInstances are known from recent observation of pregnancies occurring\nbefore the onset of menstruation. According to Rhode, among the Guatos,\nIndians inhabiting the mouth of the Rio S\u00e2o Lourenzo in Paraguay,\nmarried women not more than five to eight years of age are to be met\nwith, and these must have married before menstruation. Among the Vedas\nof tropical India, girls marry before they are nine years of age, and\nhave relations with their husbands before sexual maturity. In Chiras in\nPersia, girls marry before puberty, and while their chests are still\nflat. In Syria, according to Robson, girls marry at the age of ten, and\nso before puberty. Du Chaillu related that the Achira of West Africa did\nnot defer marriage until after the appearance of puberty. Abbadie, while\non his voyage in Nubia, found that men bought young girls and had sexual\nrelations with them before the time of menstruation. Among the Atjeh of\nSumatra, girls marry at an age certainly before that of puberty, as they\nhave hardly lost their first set of teeth. Although the husbands are a\nfew years older, they are still unfitted for sexual union. The couples\nsleep together, and attempt sexual union before they are fitted for it.\nAmong the islanders of Viti, again, marriage takes place before puberty.\n\nThe ancient Hindoos married at a very early age. B\u00f6tlingk quotes from\nthe Sanscrit poems in which hell was awarded to the fathers of girls who\nhad not been married when puberty came on. In other verses it was\nwritten that not only the father but also the mother and the elder\nbrother were to be carried down into hell if the daughter began to\nmenstruate before she had been married; the girl herself was to descend\nto the lowest degree of \u00c7\u00fbdr\u00e2, and was never to be taken as a wife.\n\nThere is no doubt as to the possible fertility of marriages contracted\nat these early ages. Polak[103] gives examples taken from Persia. It is\nnot necessary for impregnation that it should have been preceded by a\nmenstrual flow. Facts making this clear have occurred not only in warm\nclimates but in our own latitude. Rakhmanoff,[104] in Russia, attended\nin childbirth a woman not more than fourteen years of age, of poor\nconstitution, and badly nourished, and with features still infantine.\nMenstruation had not yet taken place; the confinement was normal.\n\nIt is reasonable to suppose that in former times these early marriages\nof girls under the age of puberty were more common, if indeed they were\nnot customary. In such circumstances menstruation would have been a rare\nphenomenon.\n\nIt must be remembered that the examples of menstruation observed in the\ncase of monkeys were taken from creatures living in abnormal conditions,\nisolated in zoological gardens and passing their lives in captivity. It\nis highly probable that the periods as they exist to-day, with copious\nsanguineous discharge, are a recent acquisition of the human race.\n\nAs he emerged from the primitive condition man had to restrain his\nprolificness. The history of savages and of civilisations shows that\nprogress and culture have been accompanied by a rise in the age for\nmarriage. In this way the menstrual periods could develop without check,\nand attain the present condition. In these circumstances it is not\nwonderful that menstruation should appear so abnormal and even\npathological. A copious discharge of blood, preceded and accompanied by\npain and by nervous and mental distress as so frequently happens, has no\napparent kinship with the processes of normal life.\n\nIt is now easy to see why among so many races there are special rules\nmade for women during this period. Most of the races of the earth, says\nPloss, regard menstruating women as impure. The occurrence is so\nwidespread that it is unnecessary to adduce particular cases, but a few\nwith some point of special interest may be noticed. Thus, among the\nHindoos a high-caste woman is regarded as a pariah in the first day of\nthe period, and as one of the murderers of Buddha on the second day.\nAmong many races a woman in this condition is forbidden to come near\nmen, or to touch a number of objects, as she is regarded as capable of\nsetting up many diseases and of doing serious damage. The Germans of the\neighteenth century believed that the hair of a menstruating woman buried\nin manure would engender snakes.\n\nIt is not surprising that the origin of menstruation has been attributed\nfrequently to evil spirits. The Iranians held that it appeared first in\nDchahi, the goddess of immorality.[105] Such opinions implied vaguely\nthat there was something abnormal in the process. The history of the\nevolution of menstruation explains well the origin of such a notion.\n\nAnother bizarre and apparently abnormal feature of the reproductive\nprocesses receives explanation in the history of its evolution. The\nfeature in question is the painfulness of childbirth. It is truly\nastonishing and singular to find a phenomenon essentially normal from\nthe point of view of physiology accompanied by pain of so marked a\ncharacter. No doubt other animals suffer during labour, but among the\nmammalia woman undergoes the severest pain.\n\nObservations made on several Europeans who have been brought to bed at\nan abnormally early age have shown that, contrary to all expectation,\nparturition was easy and the sequel\u00e6 normal.[106] Moreover, Dr. Dionij\nhas stated his opinion that of two cases of a first childbirth at the\nages respectively of fifteen and of forty years, he would prefer the\nearlier age. The daughters of the colonists in the Antilles were\naccustomed to marry at very early ages. In 1667 Du Tertre related that a\nyoung woman of that region had informed him that the birth of her first\nchild took place when she was twelve years and a half of age, and that\nthe process lasted no more than a quarter of an hour and had been\npainless. The missionary Beierlein practised for long in Madras, where\nmarriages were very early, and found that parturition was much more easy\nthan in Europe.[107]\n\nOn the other hand, certain facts show that too young mothers are subject\nto a very heavy rate of mortality during childbirth, and soon after it.\nThe most salient fact in this connection is furnished by Hassenstein,\nwho has stated that the mortality of labour cases in Abyssinia is 30 per\ncent., and who has attributed this death-rate to the circumstance that\nmarriage takes place before the body of the woman is sufficiently\ndeveloped.[108] In British India the disadvantages of precocious\nmarriage have been repeatedly urged; and in a petition relating to this\nsubject, Dr. Mansell referred to the case of a woman of twelve years of\nage in whom parturition was interfered with by the undeveloped condition\nof the pelvis, so that the head of the child had to be destroyed.\n\nMatthews Duncan, the well-known English obstetrician, paid much\nattention to the mortality of labour cases, with the object of deciding\nthe best age for marriage. He came to the conclusion that women from\ntwenty to twenty-four years of age were best fitted for labour, that is\nto say, showed the lowest rate of mortality during labour or as a result\nof labour. He also showed that such women were most fertile, and that\nthe development of the pelvic bones was completed at that period of\nlife. Women who were of a lower or higher age showed a greater mortality\nrate in connection with childbirth.\n\nThe facts of which I have just given a summary lead directly to a most\nstriking instance of disharmony exhibited in the order of the\ndevelopment of the human reproductive apparatus. Puberty declares itself\nin a woman by the beginning of menstruation at a time when girls still\npossess infantile characters and when the bones of the pelvic basin are\nnot yet fully developed. Obviously there is a disharmony between puberty\nand the general maturity of the body, that is to say, the nubile\ncondition.\n\nThis disharmony becomes still more evident upon a closer examination of\nthe phases of development of the different reproductive functions. In\nthe human race, reproduction is brought about by the union of the sexes\nsuggested by sympathy or mutual love. The sexual union makes it possible\nfor the male elements or spermatozoa to reach the eggs and fertilise\nthem by passing into them. It might have been expected that the\ndifferent steps in the process would have been attuned so as to act in\nharmony. As a matter of fact there is no such relation. The different\nfactors of the sexual function develop independently and unharmoniously.\n\nLove and the sexual sense in the human race appear before the other\nfactors in the process. Ramdohr,[109] in the eighteenth century, stated\nthat little boys frequently exhibit amorousness towards women. They are\ncapable of being strongly affected by jealousy and by desire of\nexclusive possession of the coveted woman. This fact is well known, and\nhas been related of famous personages. Thus Dante, at the age of nine,\nfell in love with Beatrice; Canova was in love when he was little more\nthan six years of age, and Lord Byron was in love with Mary Duff at the\nage of seven.[110]\n\nSexual excitability appears at an age when there is no question but that\nthe sexual elements are undeveloped. In infants still in the cradle,\nobservers have noticed movements and attitudes showing the presence of\nsexual excitability. Curschmann and F\u00fcrbringer,[111] both competent\nclinicians, have noticed these feelings in children under the age of\nfive. Later on in life, the development of the sensibility is more\ncommon, and is practically universal among boys before the time at which\nthe spermatozoa are ripe.\n\nThis disharmony is the cause of onanism, which is common everywhere\namong boys. Before ordinary sexual congress is possible for them, boys\nexperience the characteristic pleasure of the sexual sensations, and by\na kind of natural instinct learn self-gratification. Onanism is\nsometimes defined as a \u201cgratification of the sexual desire by unnatural\nmeans.\u201d[112] But it is man\u2019s constitution itself that permits the\ndevelopment of the sensation precociously, before the development of\nsexual maturity. Letourneau is right when he says that such sexual\naberrations are abnormal, but not unnatural, as they occur among\nanimals.\n\nIn the case of young boys the habit is so common that, according to\nChristian,[113] \u201cvery few are able to say that they have avoided it\ncompletely.\u201d The same writer asks the question: \u201cIf it be remembered\nthat onanism among certain peoples, at certain times, has been\nrecognised as an ordinary event, it is difficult to avoid asking if\nthere be not a latent vice, hidden in the depths of human nature, and\nready to be provoked into activity by very small causes?\u201d The answer is\nsufficiently plain. The cause of onanism, this \u201cvice\u201d or \u201ccrime,\u201d as\nTissot and other authors have called it, undoubtedly is the result of a\nnatural disharmony in the human constitution, of a premature development\nof sexual sensation. Among the most civilised races and the lowest\nsavages the mode of satisfying the premature demand is equally common.\n\nIt is to be noticed that onanism is more common and earlier developed in\nthe male sex. The development of sexual irritability in the female\noccurs very irregularly. In some races onanism is so much a custom among\nlittle girls that no attempt is made to conceal the practice. This\noccurs, for instance, among certain Hottentot tribes, and is referred to\nopenly in talk and legends.[114] Similar instances occur elsewhere, but\nin most races the practice is thought wrong, and is concealed as much as\npossible.\n\nAmong girls,[115] onanism is less frequent than in the case of boys, a\ncircumstance in relation with the fact that sexual sensation usually\nappears much later in the female sex. It is almost a general rule that\ngirls who have arrived at sexual maturity have not acquired sexual\nirritability, while to many it comes only gradually after marriage.\nSometimes it does not occur until after the first child has been born.\nOn the other hand, love begins very early in young girls, although it\nlong retains a platonic character and is not associated with sexual\nsensation until much later.\n\nThe maturity of the spermatozoa in the male comes long after the\ndevelopment of sexual irritability and of love. None the less, it comes\nbefore the organism of the male is actually ready. It happens, in\nconsequence, especially among the highly civilised peoples, that\nmarriage and regular unions are impossible at the right time. The youth\nhas his education to finish, his profession to choose, and he must be\nready to support children before he is able to marry. As civilisation\nadvances, the age of marriage becomes later and later. In the case of\nEuropeans, sexual maturity occurs in the male at the age of twelve to\nfourteen years, while the average age at the first marriage is shown in\nthe following table:\u2014\n\n                 _Table of Age at First Marriage._[116]\n\n      Nationality. Age in years of males. Age in years of females.\n      English                       25.94                    24.69\n      French                        28.41                    25.32\n      Norwegians                    28.51                    26.98\n      Dutch                         29.15                    27.78\n      Belgians                      29.94                    28.19\n\nThese figures show clearly what a gap there is between the coming of\nsexual maturity and the age at which marriage can be undertaken.\n\nThe decay of the reproductive functions shows a series of disharmonies\nsimilar to those that occur during development. Spermatozoa continue to\nbe formed throughout the greater part of the life of a man, and may\nstill be found even in very old men. Pawloff, for instance, discovered\nthat they were present in abundance in the case of a man at the age of\nninety-four, and this observation is not unique.[117] But the presence\nof ripe spermatozoa is not the only condition necessary for functional\nvirility. In the case of old men it happens frequently that there is\nincapacity to make normal use of the spermatozoa that are produced. This\nbrings about a series of discomforts in the sexual functions of advanced\nlife which, however, do not prevent the retention of the specific\nsensation and desire until a very extreme old age. Doctors, in hospitals\ndevoted to old men, have noticed to what an extent their patients are\nengrossed by sexuality. Even some of the ancient authors have noticed\nhow the amorous sentiments of old men turn into a perverted attraction\nto youths.\n\nSexual irritability and amorousness not only appear before sexual\nmaturity and general fitness of the organism for marriage, but they\nremain after the disappearance of these. It is remarkable to notice how\nprofound is the difference between the disharmonies of the reproductive\nfunctions in man and the perfect condition of adaptation of the same\nfunctions in the higher plants. In the case of the higher plants, as I\ndescribed in my second chapter, the arrangements are complicated on\naccount of the necessary mediation of insect life. Notwithstanding this,\nthe perfection of the adaptation is remarkable. At the exact time when\nthe reproductive products are ripe, the petals open and the nectar is\nsecreted, while, in addition, at this time many flowers discharge odours\nagreeable to insects. Attracted by the scents and colours, the insects\nvisit the flowers in quest of pollen or nectar, and, becoming dusted\nwith pollen, carry it to the stigmas of the next flowers they visit. As\nsoon as fertilisation has taken place the petals fade, the scents are no\nlonger produced, and the insects cease to visit the flowers to which\nthey are no longer necessary.\n\nIt is not surprising that the disharmonies in the human reproductive\napparatus are a frequent source of trouble. Little children, in whom\nsexual irritability has awakened prematurely, learn to satisfy it by\nmeans called \u201cunnatural.\u201d In many cases damage rapidly follows. \u201cIn the\nchild,\u201d wrote Dr. Christian, \u201cthere is no secretion of spermatozoa, and\nit is in the child that the results of onanism are most disastrous to\nthe organism, and disastrous almost in inverse proportion to the\nage.[118] It is in early infancy that this aberration merits the evil\nreputation that it has acquired; it compromises health, intelligence,\nand even life. Quite young children wither, becoming pale, stupid, and\nfragile, when they have acquired this disastrous habit. The evil is\nalmost entirely a consequence of the unripeness of the organism for\nsexuality.\u201d Happily these evil occurrences are rare.\n\nA publication by Tissot, a Swiss doctor, on the subject of onanism, made\na sensation in the eighteenth century. The book was full of\nexaggeration, and it was very inexact, but it contained interesting\nconfessions from persons who had contracted the habit. A woman wrote to\nTissot in the following terms: \u201cBut for the restraint of religion, I\nshould have put an end to my life, which is ruined by my own fault.\u201d Not\ninfrequently the vice leads to melancholia.\n\nOther unfortunate results come from the ripening of the sexual products\nbefore the organism is ready for marriage, and before the character has\nbeen formed. As men cannot contract marriage before they are ready for\nit, irregular and frequently harmful sexual aberration may occur.\n\nThe survival of this specific irritability until too late a period of\nlife is another source of disaster. Old men who can neither excite\npassion nor satisfy it, often become victims of their own amorousness\nand unassuaged passions. It has been shown that passion may survive\nafter the complete atrophy of the functions of the organs. Similarly it\nis the case that women from whom the ovaries have been removed, may\ncontinue to retain sexual irritability completely.\n\nDisharmony of sexuality may also occur between persons of different\nsexes. The fact that sexuality is usually more precocious in the male\nsex often produces a disharmony in the case of married persons. At the\ntime when a woman is still in full possession of this specific\nirritability, the appetite in the man may be on the wane. From this\ndisharmony there often follows conjugal infidelity or passion between\npersons of the same sex.\n\nSchopenhauer devoted attention to this subject and wrote as follows:\n\u201cThat nature herself may produce a condition totally opposed to the\nnatural function offers a paradoxical problem of very deep\ninterest.\u201d[119] It is clear, however, when we consider the disharmonies\nin the development and activities of the functions in question, that the\napparently paradoxical and strange aberrations of sexuality are natural\nenough.\n\nThe existing disharmony gives rise to many evils from earliest youth to\nadvanced age, and, consequently, it is not surprising to find that\nreligions have denounced sexuality more or less severely. Dr. Christian\nexpresses his astonishment \u201cthat in nearly all religions it has been\nconsidered a homage to the Deity to abstain from sexual\nintercourse.\u201d[120] It is simply because the disharmonies of sexuality\nlead to sexual aberrations that religions have found cause for\ndenouncing human nature as vile.[121]\n\n\n                                  III\n _Disharmonies in the family instincts.\u2014Artificial abortion.\u2014Desertion\n        and infanticide.\u2014Disharmonies in the social instincts._\n\nAs the functions of reproduction are seated deep in the organic world\nand none the less present cases of striking disharmony in mankind, it is\nnot surprising to find similar want of adaptation in the family\ninstincts of man, as these instincts have been acquired more recently\nand are less widespread in the living world.\n\nIt has been shown that the animal world provides many examples of\nonanism and of aberrations of sexual congress. On the other hand, there\nare no cases in the animal world in which pregnancy is destroyed by\naberrant instincts.\n\nTo the human race belongs the distinction of having invented modes of\nsexual congress which are necessarily barren. No doubt the loss of the\n_os penis_ has made such occurrences more easy, as the presence of that\nbone would render interruption of coition more difficult. But there are\nmany ways in which the spermatozoa may be prevented from accomplishing\ntheir function, and these are so common and so familiar that it is\nunnecessary to enumerate them. In civilised countries procreation is\nlimited chiefly by such means. In its early days, the human race must\nhave been distinguished by its unusual procreative capacity, but with\nthe growth of civilisation many devices have been employed to limit\nthat.\n\nSavages and races of low civilisation have recourse to artificial\nabortion rather than to means for preventing fertilisation, and abortion\nis almost universal among them.\n\nThe great treatise of Ploss, \u201cDas Weib,\u201d to which I have made repeated\nreference, contains a whole chapter[122] on this subject. Deliberate\nabortion with the object of limiting the number of children is customary\nall over the globe. In most primitive races and among peoples of low\ncivilisation it is practised openly without the smallest restraint. Many\nof these peoples have adopted the custom of limiting the family to two\nchildren by procuring abortion in subsequent pregnancies. The aborigines\nof Kaisar and of the islands of Watubela observe the rule strictly.\nAmong the natives of the islands of Aaru it is rare to find more than\nthree children in a family, because any others are destroyed by\nartificial abortion.\n\nA similar custom is widespread in India, being quite as common among the\nHindoos who are ruled by England as among independent races. In the\npeninsula of Kutch, women frequently procure abortion, and one woman\nboasted to Macmurdo that she had made use of the practice five times.\nAbortion is equally common in Africa and America.\n\nEven in Europe there are nations amongst which abortion is permitted\nwithin certain limits. The Turks do not regard a f\u0153tus as being really\nalive until after the fifth month, and have no scruple in causing its\nabortion. Even at later stages, when the operation becomes criminal, it\nis frequently practised. In 1872, at Constantinople, more than three\nthousand cases of abortion were brought before the Courts in a period of\nten months. Under such circumstances it is not surprising that\nillegitimate children are rare in the East.\n\nArtificial abortion is not a modern invention, but was common in ancient\ntimes. The old Greeks practised it openly, without any legal restraint.\nPlato regarded it as within the province of the midwife, and Aristotle\npermitted it to married people when a pregnancy that was not desired\ntook place.\n\nSteller, writing of the natives of Kamchatka of the eighteenth century,\nstated that among them marriage was contracted rather for sensual\ngratification than for the procreation of children, because they\ninterfered with pregnancies by various kinds of medicaments and by\nviolent operative interferences.\n\nThe arts by which abortion has been produced are numerous and varied. In\naddition to the administration of drugs, chiefly of vegetable origin,\nimplements have been employed. The natives of Greenland use the ribs of\nseals or of the walrus, and the Hawaians of the Sandwich Islands employ\nfor the purpose a wooden implement fashioned as a deity.\n\nOn the other hand, certain races have strongly opposed the practice of\nabortion. In the ancient world such races were the Medes, the Bactrians,\nthe Persians, and Jews. Among the ancient Incas, abortion was a crime\npunished with death. Later on, the Christian nations followed this view.\nHowever, the reprobation of abortion occurs only in a comparatively\nsmall number of the nations of the earth, and even amongst these the\npractice is common in secret.\n\nAnimals which are unable to procure abortion very often destroy their\nyoung, as I described in the second chapter of this volume. In the human\nrace, infanticide is too common. The Greeks and Romans did not regard\nthe newly born infants as possessing any right to live. The old Germans\nheld themselves free to expose their infants. The Arabs, before the\nfaith of Islam had spread to them, were in the habit of burying many\nfemale children alive. In India a similar custom is common, and in China\nit is notorious. According to figures collected by Eitel,[123] the\nChinese of the province of Canton very often kill female children\nimmediately after birth. \u201cIt may be said,\u201d he wrote, \u201cthat the murder of\nfemale infants is the general rule among the Hak-lo, and especially\namong the Hak-ka of the agricultural classes. The Hak-ka themselves\nestimate the number of female children exposed as about two-thirds of\nthose born.\u201d In a little village in which the author lived for several\nyears, an investigation, made with the help of some Christians, showed\nthat without exception women who had given birth to two children had\nkilled at least one of them.\n\nIn Tahiti two-thirds of new-born children are killed, those of the\nfemale sex making up the greater part of the numbers. The first three\ninfants and all twins are killed, and as a rule not more than two or at\nmost three are actually reared.[124] Among the Melanesians the custom of\ninfanticide is very common. \u201cIt must also be assumed,\u201d said Ratzel,[125]\n\u201cthat in Ugi (Solomon Islands) all the infants are killed, to be\nreplaced by the Bauros.\u201d\n\nIt is not surprising that such a widespread occurrence of artificial\nabortion and of infanticide among primitive races is bringing about a\nrapid diminution in the numbers of these, and may lead even to their\nextinction. This is taking place in the case of the natives of New South\nWales, of New Guinea, and of the islands of Aaru. Nothing could show\nmore plainly the feebleness of the human family instinct. In more highly\ncivilised nations, the rude proceedings of savages have been replaced by\nclever devices to prevent conception, and infanticide has become rare.\nArtificial abortion is excited by modern methods suggested by the\nprogress of science. The embryonic membranes are pierced not by the ribs\nof seals or hair-pins, but by sterilised sounds, and the operation is\nperformed with strict asepsis. In averting the natural results of\npassion the woman is subjected to the smallest possible risk.\n\nIt is indubitable that more than one race has perished because of its\nlack of the instinct of family. However, it need not be feared that the\nhuman race itself will disappear because of the failure of procreation.\nBut it is plain that the readiness with which devices to prevent the\nproduction of children have been adopted shows the weakness of the\nfamily instinct in man, and opens up a problem to which the attention of\nmoralists and legislators may well be directed.\n\nThe family instinct is deeply seated, as it arose among animals more\nancient than man; none the less it exhibits disturbances and aberrations\nin the human race capable of bringing about the extinction of peoples or\nnations. It is, however, strong enough to secure that man will persist\nin the future.\n\nMan certainly is a social animal, but the instinct impelling him towards\nunion with his fellows is of recent origin. Such animal societies as are\nto be found among insects are not comparable with human associations.\nAmong mammals, the nearest allies of man, the social instincts are\ndeveloped only to a slight extent, and even the anthropoid apes show\nvery little progress in this direction. Many of these creatures have\nshown in captivity the aptitude to become friendly with man or with\nother animals, and thus have displayed the beginnings of the capacity to\nform societies. But, in the wild condition, anthropoids live only in\nfamilies, and these contain few individuals. As regards the social\ncapacities of the chimpanzee Dr. Savage wrote:[126] \u201cThey cannot be\ncalled gregarious, seldom more than five, or ten at most, being found\ntogether. It has been said on good authority that they occasionally\nassemble in large numbers in gambols. My informant asserts that he saw\nonce not less than fifty so engaged; hooting, screaming, and drumming\nwith sticks on old logs, which is done in the latter case with equal\nfacility by the four extremities.\u201d\n\nWe have little acquaintance with the social life of the anthropoids,\nbut, so far as we know, these creatures present only the merest\nbeginnings of the social instinct. Man has moved much beyond them in\nthat direction. Even the lowest races and the most primitive of living\npeoples such as, for instance, the Bushmen or the aborigines of\nAustralia, display a well-developed social instinct.[127]\n\nThe universal presence of the social instinct among human beings would\nseem to afford the basis of a happy life. In the numerous attempts made\nto find a purely rational principle that may serve as the basis for\nmorality without the intervention of supernatural sanction, abundant use\nhas been made of man\u2019s craving to live in association with his fellows.\nThose who have tried to deduce moral law from the essential constitution\nof man have relied largely upon the innate sympathy between man and his\nfellows. Such a line of argument is so common and has been employed so\nfrequently that I need not spend much space in developing it. I shall\nlimit myself to a few examples.\n\nTowards the end of last century B\u00fcchner,[128] a German physician,\npublished a materialistic code of morality that made a considerable\nsensation. He wrote as follows on the question now before us: \u201cWhat we\nterm the moral sense arose from the social instincts and habits which,\nunder pain of extinction, are developed in every society of men and\nanimals. Morality depends on sociability, and varies with the peculiar\nconditions of each particular association. As man is essentially a\nsocial animal, and to be regarded, apart from society, merely as a wild\nbeast, it is plain that the needs of the community must impose on him\ncertain restrictions and directions that in time will pass into a\nsettled code of morals.\u201d\n\nHalf a century later practically the same idea was repeated.\nHaeckel,[129] the well-known German naturalist, expressed it as follows\nin a volume that appeared a few years ago:\u2014\n\n\u201cModern science shows that the feeling of duty does not rest on an\nillusory \u2018categorical imperative,\u2019 but on the solid ground of social\ninstinct, as we find it in the case of all the social animals. It\nregards as the highest aim of all morality the re-establishment of a\nsound harmony between egoism and altruism, between self-love and the\nlove of one\u2019s neighbour.... If a man desire to have the advantage of\nliving in an organised community he has to consult not only his own\nfortune but also that of the society and of the \u2018neighbours\u2019 who form\nthe society. He must realise that its prosperity is his own prosperity,\nand that it cannot suffer without his own injury. This fundamental law\nof society is so simple and so inevitable that one cannot understand how\nit can be contradicted in theory or in practice; and yet that is done\nto-day and has been done for thousands of years.\u201d\n\nThe sexual and family instincts may be satisfied in many different ways,\nand this is also the case with the social instincts. Onanism and\nperverted passion may satisfy the sexual instinct; celibacy, artificial\nabortion and infanticide exist alongside the love of the wife and the\nparental cares. So also the social instinct of a criminal may be\nsatisfied by his association with other criminals. It is well known that\nthe most hardened criminals have their own codes, and they join\nfaithfulness to their own companions to an atrocious attitude towards\nthe rest of the world.\n\nIt is not enough then merely to give scope to the social instincts that\nwe all possess. We have to determine how far, and towards which of our\nfellow creatures, we are to exercise such instincts, and it is here that\nthe difficulty arises which as yet has not been resolved by religion or\nrationalism. Must our social instincts reach to our relatives near or\ndistant, or to our fellow townsmen, or compatriots, or to all white men,\nor to all men, white and black, or to the good only, or to the good and\nbad alike? Perhaps we should limit the operation of the instinct to\nthose of our own religion, or who share our views of life? The\ninstinctive feeling is quite silent on these points, and it is precisely\non them that the difficulties arise. It is well known that at different\nepochs and in different circumstances very different answers have been\ngiven to such questions. When religion was predominant, a common faith\nwas a bond transcending patriotism. Later on, patriotism itself became\nthe dominant bond. In recent days, a conception of international\nsolidarity began to appear. Thus, for instance, there was recently a\ncombination of different nations against China, and nationality was\nforgotten. Some of the European nations banded themselves together and\neven assumed an Asiatic race in the union, with the object of punishing\na common enemy. What was the bond that united nations so different? It\nwas not religion, for the bond included Catholics and Protestants,\northodox Christians and Buddhists. Most probably the bond of union was a\ncommunity of interest, the result of similar civilisation and military\nand political organisation.\n\nIt has been suggested occasionally that the social instinct, or human\nsympathy, for the terms are practically identical, may stretch further\nand further and become so widespread that all the members of the human\nstock will unite and act only for the common good. But the problem is\ncomplex. Sympathy, when pushed too far, may become harmful. Nations have\ntaken part in a campaign, impelled by some feeling of sympathy, and have\nbrought harm on themselves. Sympathy extended to criminals and wicked\npersons is equally harmful. The social instinct itself must be regulated\nfor the good of the community which it holds together.\n\nOught we to extend our sympathy to all humanity, or to limit it to some\nparticular section? Theorists have spoken of the solidarity of all\nhumanity, believing it possible to extend our sympathy to the races\nfurthest removed from us. In countries in which different races are\nbrought in contact, very practical difficulties are encountered by the\ntheorists. In America and in some other countries, for instance, laws\nhave been passed against the Chinese, excluding the latter from the\nconsideration granted to other races. The negro question also is very\ndifficult in those countries in which the black race dwells amongst\nwhites. In Europe it has been the custom to condemn the action of\ncivilised races in taking their land from natives of primitive type.\nSutherland, the author of a striking work on the origin and development\nof morality, justifies such arbitrary conduct. To the question, \u201cWas it\nright for the whites to take possession of the Australian forests of the\nblacks?\u201d he replied in the affirmative. \u201cNo doubt,\u201d he said, \u201cthere is a\nmoral instinct against it, but the action undoubtedly was right.\u201d[130]\nIn a summary of his conclusions he lays down that moral conduct is a\ncompromise between the individual and social instincts that so often are\nopposed. But he has no more to say than his predecessors as to the\nrational basis of the compromise.\n\nThe social instinct has been acquired by mankind too recently, and it is\nstill too feeble, to be a trustworthy guide in all conduct. To obviate\nthis difficulty, at many different times, divine sanction has been\nevoked to control the relations among men. The categorical law has been\nformulated with the same object. Thus by one means or another, some kind\nof social order has been kept up. The efficacy of these additional\nguides is seen clearly on those rare occasions when some special\ncombination of circumstances has set people free from them. Thus at\nMoscow, in 1812, before the arrival of the French army restored\nauthority, and lately, after the eruption in Martinique, the ordinary\nauthority lapsed, the anti-social instincts of the people were loose,\nand a clear idea was given of the inherent weakness of the human social\ninstinct.\n\nI have shown that in man the instinct for choosing food and the sexual\nand social instincts are still so weak that it is impossible to trust to\nthem in the absence of other guidance. It is as equally necessary to\ndetermine what kind of food is most suitable for men in different\nconditions of life, and what means are best fitted to satisfy rationally\nhis sexual and family instincts. So also it is urgent to determine\nexactly the direction and object of the social instinct. For the love of\nour fellow creatures we should seek the best ways of making them happy.\n\nBut what is happiness? Is it the feeling of well-being experienced by\nthe individual himself, or is it the judgment of others on his\nsensations? It is notoriously difficult to pronounce on the happiness of\nanother. From the outside, when a man seems to enjoy health, to have a\nfamily and comfortable means of subsistence, we are inclined to call him\nhappy; but the individual himself may have a very different opinion\nabout himself. It is often impossible to rely on the judgment of others.\nOn the other hand, the opinion of an individual himself on his own\ncondition may be equally fallacious. Very often the feeling of\nwell-being is a symptom of general paralysis, as may be inferred from\nthe following quotation: \u201cThe patient is well pleased with himself, and\ndelighted with his constitution and circumstances. He boasts without\nceasing of his robust health, his muscular strength, the clearness of\nhis complexion and of his general \u2018fitness.\u2019 His clothing is magnificent\nand his residence palatial. In a more advanced stage of the disease, the\nexaggeration becomes extreme. He believes that he is able to blow down\nthe walls with his breath, or that he could carry a ton, or drink a\nhogshead of wine, or that nothing could tire him out. Then megalomania\nbegins, and the patients believe themselves in possession of titles, of\npower, and wealth. They are members of parliament, noblemen, princes,\ngenerals, kings, emperors, and popes, or God Himself.\u201d[131]\n\nAs general paralysis is a result of syphilis, in order to make a large\nnumber of persons believe themselves thoroughly happy, it would be\nnecessary only to spread this disease. Without lingering on this\nparadox, I may at least point out that the problem of happiness, which\nis associated intimately with social life, is extremely difficult.\n\nThe social instinct is equally powerless to solve the problem of justice\nin its relation to the general interest of humanity. It is plain enough\nthat, in the existing condition of human knowledge, we all inflict and\nundergo injustices of different degrees. This misfortune is a\nconsequence of the disharmony of human nature.\n\nFrom what I have already said, it must be clear that before we can find\na rational guide to direct us in the operation of our social instinct,\nwe should have to determine exactly the nature of true happiness for the\nindividual and of true justice. Then only should we be in a position to\nset about making human life as happy as is possible.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n           DISHARMONIES IN THE INSTINCT OF SELF-PRESERVATION\n\n\n  The instinct of self-preservation in animals\u2014Man\u2019s instinctive love of\n  life\u2014Indifference to life during childhood\u2014Buddhist legend on\n  instinctive self-preservation and the fear of death\u2014Fear of death\n  treated in literature\u2014Confessions of Tolstoi regarding the fear of\n  death\u2014Other opinions on the subject\u2014The fear of death an instinctive\n  phenomenon\u2014Development in man of a love of life\u2014Treatment of the\n  aged\u2014Murder of old people\u2014Suicide of old men\u2014Absence of harmony\n  between the love of life and the conditions of human existence\u2014The\n  part played by the fear of death in religions and systems of\n  philosophy\n\n\nIt is not to be wondered at that man\u2019s social instinct exhibits so many\nimperfections and disharmonies, seeing that it is still in an unsettled\ncondition, and is a recent acquisition. On the other hand, we should\nexpect to find that love of life and the instinct of self-preservation\nhad reached a high degree of harmony, since these have been in process\nof development throughout the whole animal series that culminated in\nman. Even in the lowest forms of life many contrivances exist for\npurposes of protection. Creatures, the bodies of which are merely\nmicroscopic drops of protoplasm, the living material, may be protected\nby shells from external influences which threaten their destruction.\nPlants protect themselves, sometimes by means of thorns which prevent\nthem from being eaten, sometimes by secretions either merely irritant in\ncharacter or actually poisonous. Among animals the means employed for\nself-preservation are even more numerous. Shields and shells, the\nsecretion of fluids exhaling unpleasant odours, or facilitating escape\nby clouding the water, as in the case of the ink of the cuttlefish,\noffensive weapons, strong teeth, and many other characters, serve no\nother purpose than to protect the individual life. The exposition of\nthis subject would involve writing a complete treatise on the\ncomparative anatomy of plants and animals.\n\nAmong lower animals the preservation of life is accomplished without\nmental connivance, conscious or unconscious. Soon, however, protective\ninstincts begin to appear. Simple cases of these are flight at the\napproach of danger, protection by a covering of slimy froth secreted by\nthe creatures themselves, or built up from this excreta, or from foreign\nmatter. Such facts show that the love of life and the instinct of\nself-preservation are almost universal in the living world.\n\nAll these devices for the avoidance of danger and escape from death\ncould have been developed in animals before these had any distinct idea\nas to what death was. We know that some animals can distinguish between\nliving and dead prey. Some carnivora recognise the smell of dead bodies.\nThose which are accustomed to feed on living creatures refuse all\nothers, detecting the difference by the absence of movement. As in such\ncases the idea of death is imperfect, it is easy to deceive the\ncreatures by offering carcases artificially set in motion, or living\nprey rendered motionless by some means or other. In order to escape from\nenemies so readily imposed upon, many insects when alarmed become\nmotionless and feign death; and that may be regarded as yet another\ninstance in the category of natural means for the protection of\nindividual life.\n\nMoreover, the higher animals, such as mammals, exhibit a profound\nignorance of death, many of them remaining completely undisturbed in the\npresence of dead companions, or even devouring the latter at the risk of\ncontracting a fatal disease. Rats, for instance, eat the bodies of rats\nwhich have died of plague, and while appeasing their hunger themselves\ncontract the disease which they transmit to other animals, particularly\nto human beings. Unlike those animals, however, which are indifferent to\nthe death of their kind, there are others that instinctively shrink at\nseeing the dead bodies of their own species. Horses on passing a dead\nhorse show signs of discomfort, and attempt to run away. Bullocks when\nwitnessing the slaughter of others also exhibit evidences of distress\nand fear. In spite of these examples, however, it is quite certain that\nanimals, even those highest in the scale of life, are unconscious of the\ninevitability of death, and of the ultimate fate of all living things.\nThis knowledge is a human acquisition.\n\nIn man, the instinct of self-preservation is well developed. Hardly\nappreciable during infancy, it manifests itself in a marked degree in\nyoung children. At the sight of a human corpse, children become\npanic-stricken, as though confronted by a wild beast or snake.\n\nIn young adults this instinct of self-preservation, which is closely\nconnected with an instinctive fear of death, is not fully developed. It\noften takes some special circumstance to awaken it, such as a dangerous\nillness, an accident, or the perils of war. Young people who while in\ngood health believe their lives to be in danger, often take it to heart\nso as to make themselves really ill. Relating his impressions during the\nsiege of Sebastopol, Tolstoi, who at that time was only twenty-six years\nof age, writes as follows: \u201cNotwithstanding the distractions offered by\nvarious and urgent duties, the instinct of self-preservation, and the\nlonging to quit this horrible place of death was present in the hearts\nof all. This desire was equally strong in all; in those mortally\nwounded, and in the volunteer rushing with all his might into the centre\nof the fray to open a path for the horse of the general, in the general\nhimself as he directed and controlled his men. The officer of marines,\nin the middle of a battalion in action, crushed so that he could hardly\nbreathe, felt it equally with the wounded man carried on a stretcher by\nfour soldiers until, further progress being impossible, he had been set\ndown just under the Nicolai battery, or the artilleryman who had served\nhis gun for sixteen years.\u201d In the normal course of life, however, the\nyoung do not show an instinctive clinging to life in any marked degree.\nThey often risk their lives for trifling reasons, and commit all sorts\nof indiscretions hurtful to life or health without a thought of the\nconsequences. They may be inspired by the highest motives, but they are\nequally ready to fritter strength away in the gratification of the\nlowest appetites. Youth is the age of disinterested sacrifice, but also\nof indulgence in all kinds of excesses, alcoholic, sexual and others.\nYouths seem to think that they will always attach the same value to\nlife, and that between death at thirty years of age and death at sixty,\nthere is a difference only of time. As their love of life is\nindifferently developed, young people are often extremely exacting, the\npleasure they enjoy being but moderate, whilst the suffering provoked in\nthem by the slightest annoyance is intense. They consequently become\nepicureans in the lowest sense of the word, or else abandon themselves\nto exaggerated pessimism.\n\n\u201cEdite, bibite, post mortem nulla voluptas\u201d was the motto of German\nstudents, greedy for pleasure, and unknowing that a love of life\ndevelops with age in every human being. On the other hand, in order to\nkeep the balance between joy and sorrow, youth, true to its instincts,\nundervalues the former and exaggerates the latter, thus arriving at a\npessimistic view of life, and declaring that existence is a misfortune\nin itself. It is significant that Schopenhauer published his theory of\npessimism at the age of thirty-one. His successor, R. Hartmann, when\ntwenty-six years old, proclaimed that human existence is an evil which\none should get rid of at all costs. Optimistic theories, on the other\nhand, have been set forth either by persons advanced in years or by\npersons whom special circumstances have caused to appreciate the joy of\nliving. As a counterbalance to the pessimism of German philosophers,\nDuhring formulated a theory of optimism in his book \u201cDer Wert des\nLebens,\u201d but was himself blind at the time. Sir John Lubbock published\nsome years ago a book entitled \u201cThe Pleasures of Life,\u201d which opens with\nthe following sentence: \u201cLife is a great gift.\u201d His attitude towards\nlife is entirely opposed to that of the pessimists, but then he\nformulated it at the age of fifty-three.\n\nIt has long been recognised that the old attach a higher value to life\nthan do the young. J. J. Rousseau, for instance, says: \u201cLife becomes\ndearer to us as its joys pass away. The old cling to it more closely\nthan the young.\u201d[132]\n\nThis reflection is absolutely correct, and is proved by a number of\nfacts. I once knew very intimately a scientific man who had passed a\nvery unhappy youth. Being hypersensitive to pain, he tried to assuage it\nby every means in his power. Some trifling annoyance sufficing to throw\nhim into a state of utter prostration, he was in the habit of resorting\nto the aid of narcotics. In order to escape from mental anguish he\ninoculated himself with poisons. By the time he had arrived at an\nadvanced age his hypersensitiveness gave place to feelings much less\nacute. He ceased to resent the ills of life so bitterly as he did in his\nyouth; while he came to appreciate better the positive side of life, and\neven in moments of unhappiness he did not contemplate putting an end to\nhis existence.\n\nIn youth he was pessimistic, and insisted upon the preponderance of evil\nover good. As he became older, his attitude towards existence became\nentirely modified.\n\nI do not say, however, that it is necessary to be old in order to\nrealise the misfortune of death. \u201cHe who pretends to face death without\nfear is a liar,\u201d said J. J. Rousseau. \u201cThat all men fear to die is the\ngreat law dominating the thinking world, and without which all living\nthings would soon cease to exist. This fear is a natural impulse, and is\nnot merely an accident but an important factor in the whole order of\nthings.\u201d[133]\n\nOne often hears people express their indifference to death, but an\nexamination into their real feelings on the subject soon shows the true\nstate of affairs. I once happened to be present when a lady, already\nwell advanced in years, expressed a wish for death, and said that she\nhad no fear of it whatever. On acquiring a fuller knowledge of her case,\nI recognised that she was seriously ill, and that she regarded death as\nthe only possible termination to her sufferings. As soon as she found\nthat recovery was possible, she manifested intense delight at the\nprospect of a prolonged life freed from incessant pain.\n\nInstinctive love of life, and fear of death, which is only a\nmanifestation of the former, are of an importance in the study of human\nnature impossible to over-estimate; it is therefore necessary to\nconsider a few instances throwing light upon the subject. Even the\nancients were interested in the problem. The subject is perhaps as well\ndealt with in a Buddhist legend as anywhere.[134] \u201cThe young Prince\n\u00c7akya-Mouni, the founder of the Buddhist faith, being desirous of\ndiscovering the true meaning of life, expressed a wish to leave the\nworld and devote himself to a religious life. In order to turn him from\nhis purpose, his father built him a magnificent palace, wherein he could\nindulge in every sort of pleasure, and in which he would be protected\nfrom all sorrow. Under this system he never saw old people, nor those\nwho were diseased, nor the dead. In spite of being thus strictly\nguarded, the young prince often contrived to escape into the outer world\nin order to drive about. During his first drive, he met a broken-down,\ndecrepid old man, with varicose veins, decayed teeth, a wrinkled skin,\nand grey hair, bent double with age like the roof of a house, leaning\nupon a stick; all traces of youth had departed from him, only\ninarticulate words came from his throat, his procumbent body resting on\nthe stick, and his limbs and every part of them trembling.\u201d Having\nlearnt from his coachman that this was an old man, and that \u201cin all\nliving creatures age creeps upon youth,\u201d that every one came to it and\nthat \u201cthere was no way out of it,\u201d the prince was so deeply impressed\nthat he said to his coachman, \u201cWhat a misfortune to be a weak foolish\nperson, whose intelligence, blinded by the pride of youth, sees nothing\nof old age. Turn round my chariot. I would return. What are games and\npleasures to me whose body is the future dwelling-place of old age?\u201d\nAnother time \u00c7akya-Mouni met on the road a man consumed by fever, his\nbody weakened, his breathing difficult. Informed by his coachman that\nthe man was suffering from disease, the young prince exclaimed; \u201cHealth,\nthen, is a mere dream, and the fear of disease takes a terrible form.\nWhat wise man, having seen such a phase of human existence, could\ncontinue to be gay and happy?\u201d Shortly after \u00c7akya-Mouni went out for\nthe third time, and \u201csaw a dead man placed on a bier covered by a pall,\nsurrounded by his relations, all weeping, lamenting, wailing, their hair\ndisordered, placing dust upon their heads, and beating their breasts.\u201d\nThe violent emotion produced by the sight of the dead man caused the\nprince to say to himself: \u201cWoe to youth threatened with old age! Woe to\nhealth, the prey of every kind of disease! Woe to the life of man which\nlasts but a little while! Woe to the attractions of pleasure which\nseduce the hearts of the wise.\u201d These reflections of \u00c7akya-Mouni are the\nbasis upon which Buddhism is founded, and that religious philosophy is\nimpregnated with pessimistic doctrines relating to human life.\n\nModern pessimists hold views resembling Buddhism. Schopenhauer from\nearly youth was engrossed by the great problems of human life. His\nmother, in a letter to him[135] reproached him with \u201cgrumbling at the\ninevitable,\u201d which shows that at twenty-seven years of age he had\nrevolted against the idea of death. The problem of mortality was one of\nthose in which he was most deeply interested, and his fear of disease\nand death was such that he left Berlin at the first outbreak of cholera\nin 1831 (influenced by the death of Hegel, who succumbed to the\ndisease), and went to live at Frankfort, a town unvisited by the\nepidemic. He affirms[136] that \u201cthe greatest, and generally speaking the\nworst, misfortune that can befall any one is to die, and there is no\nfear equal to the fear of death.\u201d It was the impossibility of escape\nthat suggested to him the idea of a pessimistic philosophy.\n\nThe literatures as well as the philosophies of all periods have\ndealt with the problem of death. Edmond de Goncourt tells in his\n\u201cJournal\u201d how, in conversation with his friends, this question was\nalways recurring. The following is an account of one of these\nconversations:[137] \u201cOur old established dinner of five took place\nto-day. Flaubert was missing, so there were only Tourgu\u00e9neff, Zola,\nDaudet, and me. The ethical ennui of some of us, the physical\nsufferings of the others, led the conversation to death, which we\ndiscussed until eleven o\u2019clock, sometimes passing to other subjects,\nbut always coming back to the gloomy topic. Daudet declared that in\nhis case it was an obsession, _a poisoning of his life_, and that he\nnever moved into a new house without looking round for the place\nwhere his coffin would come to lie. Zola told us that his mother had\ndied at M\u00e9dan, and that, as the staircase proved too narrow, the\ncoffin had had to be lowered from a window; he declared that he\nnever looked at that window without wondering who would be taken out\nthat way next, he or his wife. \u201cYes,\u201d he said, \u201cever since that day\ndeath has always been in the background of our thoughts, and very\noften during the night, looking at my sleepless wife, I feel that\nlike me she is thinking of it, and we lie quietly without saying\naloud what is in our minds\u2014for shame, yes, for very shame\u2014_Oh! it is\nterrible, that thought\u2014and the terror of it becomes visible!_ There\nhave been nights when I have leapt suddenly out of bed, and held\nmyself for a second or two in a state of abject terror.\u201d\n\nJean Finot[138] was told in confidence by E. de Goncourt that if he\ncould banish the thought of death from his mind life would be relieved\nof an almost intolerable burden. Jean Finot also relates that in the\ncourse of a memorable evening spent with Victor Hugo at the house of the\nlatter, nearly all of the distinguished persons who were present, when\nquestioned as to their ideas on the subject of death, frankly admitted\nthat the thought of it inspired them with fear and sadness. Amongst\nmodern authors Count L\u00e9on Tolstoi has dealt most with the problem of\ndeath. In many of his works whole pages of memorable reflections on the\nsubject are to be found, but the most harrowing and terrible picture he\never painted is contained in his \u201cConfessions.\u201d[139] The reader will\npardon my propensity for quoting passages relating to death. He will\nrecall the account of the Siege of Sebastopol already quoted by me, in\nwhich every one was described as fearing death when faced by danger; but\nthis fear, as the author was a young man of twenty-six, was not wholly\nabsorbing.\n\nShortly before he attained his fiftieth year, Tolstoi became bitterly\ntormented by the thought of death. He describes the beginning of this\nmental crisis in the following words: \u201cFirst there came moments of\nperplexity, of arrest of vital force, as though I had lost the power of\nliving and moving; I felt utterly lost, and fell into a state of\ncomplete dejection. This passed away, however, and I continued to live\non as before. Before long the moments of perplexity became more\nfrequent; the arrest of my living energies was always manifested by a\nrenewal of the same questions, \u2018Why? and What comes after?\u2019\u201d[140] For\nsome time Tolstoi did not pay much attention to his mental condition,\nbut by degrees he began to analyse it, and reached the following\nconclusion: \u201cThe fact is that life is a blind alley. I had lived, worked\nand marched onward, and had arrived at the edge of an abyss, and nothing\nremained to me but to fall into it. And yet I could neither stop nor\nretrace my footsteps, nor shut my eyes in order not to see suffering and\ninevitable death. It was a void, a complete annihilation.\u201d[141] \u201cIn this\ncondition I felt that I must cease to live, and, fearing death, I had to\nemploy various ruses to prevent myself from taking my life.\u201d[142] \u201cI\ncould attach no reasonable meaning to any action of my life. I was\nmerely astonished to think I had failed to realise the position from the\nbeginning. All that, I said to myself, must have been patent to all the\nworld long ago. If not to-day, then to-morrow, disease and death\u2014they\nare already here\u2014will attack elderly persons\u2014me\u2014and there will remain\nonly corruption and worms. My deeds, whatever they may be, will be\nforgotten sooner or later, and I shall be no more. Why then take pains\nabout anything? How a man can know all this and yet go on living amazes\nme. One can only go on living just so long as one is intoxicated with\nlife; once sober, however, one cannot fail to see what an idiotic fraud\nit all is. It is also true that there is nothing even amusing or\nintelligent about it; it is simply stupid and cruel and nothing more.\u201d\nSeeing no way out of this, Tolstoi turned his reflections on family\nlove: \u201cMy family ... I say to myself ... but then my family, my wife,\nand children are also merely human beings! They live under the same\nconditions as I myself. They have the choice between living a lie or\nfacing the horrible truth. Why then should they live at all? Why should\nI love, cherish, and protect them? In order that they may experience the\nsame despair, or that they may go through life like idiots? Loving them,\nI cannot conceal the truth from them; every step forward in knowledge\nleads to this truth; and the truth is death.\u201d[143] To conclude this\nseries of quotations, which must have given the reader some idea of the\nlove of life and the fear of death, I shall give one more example,\ntaken, not from the pen of a master but from daily life.[144] It refers\nto the death in the Christian community of a \u201cminister of God, who was\npious as a S. Francis of Assisi, candid as a young girl, of a rigid\nasceticism, and renowned for his charity.\u201d Logically speaking, the death\nof such a man should have been peaceful. Had he been a fictitious\ncharacter, his author would not have described his death except in the\nconventional fashion. This is what really occurred, according to the\nletters of an intimate friend of the dying man, who wrote as follows:\n\u201cOur poor friend is fighting death inch by inch in a way that is\npositively tragic. He who was so full of resignation, so serene, so\nperfectly at peace with his own soul, _is terrified by the approach of\ndeath_. It is a _horrible sight_, that moves one to tears. We are\npowerless not only to afford him physical relief but to console the\nterrible anguish which assails the clear intellect that clings so\ndesperately to life, and which death will claim while fully alive. \u2018I\ncould still,\u2019 he cried, \u2018give a course of lectures on theology or\npolitical economy, and I must die.... It is terrible to be fully\nconscious.... How much better it would be if I could not think!... And\nwhat is it that we ask of God? Eternal happiness! It is just as if one\nof your workpeople came and asked you for a thousand francs for a day\u2019s\nwork!\u2019 You would answer him, \u2018What nonsense you talk, you must be mad,\nmy friend!\u2019 _It is hard to die._ I confess to you, my friend, that this\nmakes one reconsider religion and philosophy.... The goodness of God is\nnot what we think ... _there is a mystery over us_.... Is death then\ntruly the King of Terrors for those who have led good lives?\u201d\n\nWhat is this love of life which makes death so terrible? It is a very\ninteresting question, and Tolstoi himself has published an essay on \u201cthe\nfear of death.\u201d[145]\n\nHe tries to prove that the feeling arises from a false conception of\nlife. \u201cThose who fear death,\u201d he says, \u201cfear it because it seems an\nempty darkness, but the darkness and emptiness present themselves merely\nbecause they have a false conception of life.\u201d[146] According to Tolstoi\nman should have no greater fear of death than of any of the other\nchanges to which it is subjected by life. \u201cNo one is afraid of falling\nasleep,\u201d he says, \u201cand yet the phenomena of sleep are like those of\ndeath\u2014there is the same loss of consciousness. Man does not fear sleep,\nalthough the arrest of consciousness is as complete as in death.\u201d[147]\n\nTolstoi thinks that the fear of death is a superstition, and that it\ndisappears when we see life as it is.[148]\n\nTokarsky,[149] another Russian writer, a few years ago published a\ntreatise on the fear of death, and tried to show how little reason there\nwas for it. The writer was a physician for the insane, and knew himself\nto be afflicted with an incurable and fatal disease. His observations on\nthe fear of death were probably based on his own feelings. Judging from\nthe evidence of a number of persons who had been in mortal danger,\nTokarsky declared that death had no terror, and that it was unnecessary\nto fear it.\n\nTokarsky\u2019s theory was supported in recent years by Finot[150] whose\narguments in its favour were similar to those of his predecessor. He\nheld that man himself created the fear of death, and that the prospect\nof an unknown future played a considerable part in it. \u201cBeyond that\nwhich we see,\u201d says Finot, \u201cthere is always something that we cannot\nsee, and it is the invisible that we fear.\u201d[151] The idea that death is\ngenerally attended by pain seems to Finot quite erroneous, and he comes\nto the conclusion that \u201cour ignorances and prejudices are responsible\nfor the creation of this superstition, so terrible to contemplate, so\nfar removed from the truth.\u201d[152] Instances which have occurred of\npeople threatened with death and suddenly restored to life, give proofs,\naccording to Finot, that death, far from being painful, is attended by\npleasant sensations. With regard to this, Heim, a Swiss savant, says\nthat tourists who have had serious falls while mountaineering, and have\nbeen so near to death that they experienced all the premonitory\nsymptoms, felt above all a sensation of ecstasy.\n\nIt cannot be denied that some forms of death are pleasant, but it is no\nless certain that in many other cases, and these too the majority\u2014the\nsensation of approaching death is, on the contrary, extremely painful.\nThis question, however, is not necessarily connected with the fear of\ndeath that may come to those who are not yet about to die. But it is\nprecisely the latter mode of fear that is so important a factor in human\nlife. Men who are dying of starvation do not feel painfully hungry at\nthe moment of death. The actual pain of hunger lasts only for a limited\nperiod, probably, in the case of man, only about twenty hours, after\nwhich it is succeeded by a condition of lassitude and general weakness,\nwhich however is different from painful hunger. The fear of death is\nsimilar, for in certain cases it does not last up to the end of life.\nThe pain of thirst, on the other hand, is much more persistent, lasting\nup to the end.\n\nFinot discussed the instinctiveness of the fear of death. \u201cThe\nquestion,\u201d he wrote, \u201cis important. For if the fear be instinctive, it\nis independent of our will and not to be controlled by reason. It would\nthen break out in every case at the approach of death. Now the evidence\nof many persons who have no more than escaped mortal danger is clearly\nagainst the view.\u201d[153] Hunger is certainly instinctive, and yet is not\nalways felt when the body is exhausted by want of food or menaced by\ndeath from starvation.\n\nCloser investigation leaves no doubt but that the fear of death is truly\nan instinct. In some of the higher animals it exhibits itself in the\nsame fashion as other instincts. The intimate friend, whom I have\nalready mentioned, was for years in constant expectation of death, and\nfaced its approach with perfect calmness. Believing that he had played\nhis part in life to the best of his power, not only did he think it\nquite natural that he should cease to live, but he regarded the\npossibility of a decrepid and painful old age with the greatest possible\nrepugnance. In his case, neither reason nor desire led to a fear of\ndeath. When, however, it was definitely diagnosed that he suffered from\na disease which might prove fatal, there was aroused in him a certain\nsensation which must have been the fear of death. Analysis of Tolstoi\u2019s\nstatements in his \u201cConfessions\u201d makes it clear that his sensations on\nreflecting that he too would cease to be, and that there would be left\nonly corruption and worms, were no other than the instinctive fear of\ndeath, a fear that his reason was powerless to control. To follow\nTolstoi in telling any one that the fear of death is a form of\nsuperstition which must be subdued by the intelligence, is no better\nthan to attempt to console a woman about to undergo ovariotomy by\ntelling her that as in future she will be unable to bear children she\nought to subdue her sexual instincts. She will find out that her desire\nis not under control of the will but is a pure instinct.\n\nThe fear of death has long been recognised as an instinct.\nSchopenhauer,[154] for instance, interpreted it in that way. According\nto him, \u201cfrom the point of view of intelligence there is no ground for\nfearing death. Reason, which is the outcome of knowledge, does not\npresent death to us as an evil. It is certainly not the rational,\nconscious part of ourselves which fears death; the _fuga mortis_ which\npervades all living beings is an emanation of the blind will.\u201d This\n\u201cblind will\u201d is no other than a pure instinct which is independent of\nour rational will.\n\nI need not pursue the subject, but I may recall that Lord Byron came to\nthe conclusion that the fear of death is an instinctive manifestation of\nthe soul. In \u201cCain\u201d he expressed this view sufficiently clearly:\u2014\n\n                                     I live,\n           But live to die; and living, see nothing\n           To make death hateful, save an _innate clinging_,\n           A loathsome, and yet all _invincible_\n           _Instinct of life_, which I abhor, as I\n           Despise myself, yet cannot overcome\u2014\n           And so I live.\n\nLater on in the same poem Byron makes Cain say of his father Adam:\u2014\n\n                                    Ere he plucked\n                The knowledge, he was ignorant of death.\n                Alas, I scarcely now know what it is;\n                And yet I fear it, fear I know not what.\n\nIt is then indubitable that among the instincts of man there is one\nwhich loves life and fears death. This instinct develops slowly and\nprogressively with age. In that respect it is astonishingly different\nfrom other instincts. When hunger or thirst or sexual desire is\ngratified a sensation of satisfaction is experienced, and this readily\npasses into satiety or even indifference. The mood lasts for a certain\ntime, and then the instinctive needs reawaken. The instinct of life,\nhowever, behaves very differently. In most human beings it develops\nslowly and becomes stronger and stronger as the years pass by. In\nchildhood and early youth we are very anxious to \u201cgrow up,\u201d but when we\nare adult we have no desire to grow old. We are greatly disturbed by the\nappearance of wrinkles and grey hair. Instead of being glad to have\nfinished a great part of our mortal career, we feel sad at being nearer\nthe inevitable end. Old age, as it usually presents itself, is marked by\nugly features, and often by repugnant or even horrible characters.\nLittle children are usually terrified by the appearance of very old\npersons, and it is a familiar nursery threat to send for an old man.\n\nThe murder of the aged is a custom widespread amongst the lower races.\nThe natives of Fiji bury their old men alive, on the pretext that they\nhave become utterly useless. The custom is in existence throughout\nMelanesia, and occurs in New Caledonia and in most of the adjacent\nPolynesian islands. Old age is universally despised in that part of the\nworld. The natives of Australia respect old people so long as they\nretain their activity, but once they become unable to take care of\nthemselves they are abandoned. Often they are killed and eaten, and this\ncustom is favoured by their religious beliefs.[155] The ancient\ninhabitants of Germany, according to the investigations of Grimm,\n\u201ckilled the old and the sick, and often buried them alive.\u201d\n\nThe modern civilised world has certainly made considerable progress. The\nold are no longer killed; they are tolerated, and accorded liberty to\ncommit suicide. In many countries work is often refused to the old on\nthe plea that they are not strong enough for it, and at the same time\nthey are refused admission to almshouses on the pretext that they are\nnot yet old enough. Dealing with the question of the average life and of\nthe normal life, Paul Bert[156] expressed himself with regard to the\naged as follows: \u201cThey deserve congratulations, care and consideration,\n_but the prolongation of their lives does not demand any special\nsolicitude from society_.\u201d\n\nHowever, in spite of the characters of old age which make it horrible\nand useless, and at best no more than to be tolerated, and in spite of\nthe physical and intellectual weakness that accompany it, the\ninstinctive love of life is preserved in the aged in its strongest form.\nTo make quite certain about this I have visited almshouses for the aged,\nand it was easy to see that all the inmates hoped that their days might\nbe prolonged. In a Home occupied by fairly well-educated persons, I\ndiscovered that one and all felt as if they were continually being\nthreatened by death, as if they were convicts awaiting the day of\nexecution. At the Salp\u00eatri\u00e8re, where there are a number of very old\nwomen, septuagenarians are regarded almost as young girls. The great\nambition of women of eighty is to live to one hundred, and the desire to\nlive is almost universal.\n\nThis seems a contradiction of another fact demonstrated by statistics,\nthat age increases the frequency of suicide. It is certain that more old\nmen commit suicide than young men, but on careful inquiry into the\nstatistics of the subject, it becomes evident that the chief incentive\nto suicide does not lie in the cessation of the will to live, but in the\ndifficulties experienced by old people of earning a living, and in the\nfrequent presence of disease in the aged. Deprived of the means of\nexistence, refused the shelter of charitable institutions, old men are\napt to fall back upon a rope or the fumes of charcoal. Statistics\nrelating to the suicide of the aged show that the greatest number of\nvictims belong to the poorer classes. The suicide of rich old men is\ngenerally prompted by the presence of incurable disease. There is,\nhowever, need for much wider inquiry into the subject. It would be\ninteresting, for instance, to obtain more detailed information regarding\nthe motives which urge the old to put an end to themselves. In recent\ntimes the suicide of Max von Pettenkofer aroused public attention. After\na distinguished scientific career, he resigned his post of Professor at\nthe University of Munich at the age of seventy-six. He went to live a\nlittle way outside the town on a property where he devoted himself to\ngardening and other country pursuits. Although a sufferer from diabetes,\nhis intellect remained unimpaired, but he became a prey to extreme\nmelancholy, owing to the death of some friends to whom he was greatly\nattached. Moreover, during the latter part of his life he suffered from\na septic affection of the neck. This disease, not fatal in itself, was\nthe indirect cause of Pettenkofer\u2019s death, which occurred by suicide at\nthe age of eighty-three. The _post-mortem_ examination[157] showed a\nfairly well preserved organic system, healthy, with the exception of\nchronic inflammation of the membranes of the brain and atheroma of the\ncerebral arteries. The circumstances relating to this particular case of\nsuicide are unusually well known, and yet there are many obscure points\nabout it which are of the highest importance. The chronic meningitis\nfrom which the aged scientist suffered conclusively precluded the theory\nthat the motives which led him to commit suicide were prompted by the\nphenomena of normal life. On the other hand, instances are not wanting\nof old men of good education and refined surroundings who cling\ntenaciously to life, even at a much more advanced age than the Munich\nprofessor.\n\nThe instinctive love of life resembles the sexual instinct in a great\nmany women. Just as the love of life goes on increasing when the best of\nlife is past, sexual pleasure is often unfelt by women until their\nbeauty is already faded.\n\nAnother character common to the love of life and the sexual instinct is\nthat they both persist throughout old age, although they can no longer\nbe satisfied.\n\nEdmond de Goncourt relates in his diary that at his r\u00e9unions of literary\ncelebrities (Zola, Daudet, and Tourg\u00e9neff), the conversation turned most\nfrequently upon the subjects of love, life and women. \u201cDeath or love,\nstrangely enough,\u201d says Edmond de Goncourt, \u201care always what we talk\nabout after dinner.\u201d[158] Old age was even then knocking at the doors of\nthe distinguished writers mentioned, and so it is quite natural that\ntheir interest should have been wholly absorbed by the two instincts\nwhich exhibit such enigmatic and paradoxical tenacity.\n\nWe saw in the preceding chapter how disharmonious is the sexual instinct\nwhich often only develops at, and nearly always persists until, a period\nof life when its normal and regular functional activity is no longer\npossible. We saw, too, the ill resulting from this disharmony in the\nreproductive apparatus. The ill, however, although serious, only amounts\nin that case to an inconvenience which can be endured.\n\nFar worse is the disharmony of the instinctive love of life which\nmanifests itself when death is felt to be near at hand. It is then\nincomprehensible and particularly terrible, and humanity, from time\nimmemorial, has sought the key to the tragic puzzle, and tried by all\nthe means in its power to unravel the mystery. The religions of all\ntimes have been concerned with the problem. \u201cReligion,\u201d says Guyau,[159]\n\u201cconsists for the most part of meditation upon death. If we had not to\ndie there would probably be still more superstitions among men, but\nthere would probably be no systematised superstitions nor religions.\u201d\nPhilosophy also has tried to solve the question of death. Some ancient\nphilosophers held the opinion that philosophy is only a meditation upon\ndeath. Socrates and Cicero[160] have well said that \u201cthe life of a\nphilosopher is a continual meditation upon death.\u201d In our own day\nSchopenhauer developed the same theory. \u201cDeath,\u201d he said,[161] \u201cis the\nreal inspiring genius of philosophy.... Without death it is doubtful if\nphilosophy would exist at all. It is therefore quite natural that a\nspecial essay on Death should preface the last, the most serious, and\nthe most important of my books.\u201d\n\nJudging from the facts set forth in the last three chapters, there can\nbe no doubt but that the human constitution, although in many ways\nperfect and sublime, exhibits numerous and serious disharmonies, which\nare the source of all our troubles. Not being so well adapted to the\nconditions of life as orchids are, for example, in the matter of their\nfertilisation by the mediation of insects, or the burrowing wasps for\nthe protection of their young, humanity resembles rather those insects\nthe instinct of which guides them towards the flame which burns their\nwings.\n\nEven at a time when humanity had attained no definite knowledge of\nitself, a vague suspicion prevailed as to the existence of disharmonies,\nand an effort was made to remedy the evil. The following chapters will\nshow what man has done with a view to remedying the natural disharmonies\nof his constitution.\n\n\n\n\n                                PART II\nATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN\n                              CONSTITUTION\n                 (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS)\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII\n RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF\n                         THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION\n\n\n  Animism as the foundation of primitive religions\u2014The Jewish religion\n  in relation to the doctrine of immortality of the soul\u2014The religions\n  of China\u2014Ancestor-worship in Confucianism\u2014The conception of\n  immortality in Taoism\u2014The persistence of the soul in the Buddhist\n  religion\u2014The paradise of the Chinese Buddhists\u2014Ancestors worshipped as\n  gods\u2014Influence of religious faith on the fear of death\u2014Pessimism of\n  the doctrine of Buddha\u2014The meaning of Nirv\u00e2na\u2014Resignation as preached\n  by Buddha\u2014Objections to the immortality of the soul\u2014Irritability of\n  the tissues and cells of the body\u2014Religious hygiene\u2014Religious means of\n  controlling the reproductive functions and of preventing\n  diseases\u2014Failure of religions in their attempts to combat the ills\n  arising from the disharmonies of the human constitution\n\n\nHumanity did not await the discovery by science of the existence of\ndisharmonies before trying to find remedies for them. The will to live,\nto preserve health, to satisfy the instincts and to make them act in\nunison, have driven mankind, in the very earliest days of reflection, to\ninvent remedies for the imperfection of the human constitution.\n\nI have shown that, even in the case of animals, the instinct as to\nchoice of food does not save them from certain harmful substances. Man\nhimself has for long recognised that this instinct of his is no safe\nguide, and has tried to discover surer methods of distinguishing between\nsubstances that are useful as foods and substances that may cause\ndisease or death. The best wisdom of primitive man must have been given\nto the observation of the effects of substances which had been eaten,\nand to a consequent framing of dietary rules.\n\nThe reproductive functions, in the same way, must have attracted the\nnotice of man in very early times, as he must have found the harm that\ncame from a blind following of instinctive desire.\n\nAbove all other reasons, man must have been impelled by his instinctive\nlove of life and fear of death to find some way out of his dangerous\nsituation. To preserve his life, man must have sought wise choice of\nfood and control of sexuality.\n\nSince the dawn of intelligence, man has tried to judge the unknown from\nthe analogies given by what he knows best, that is to say, by his own\nself. Thus he came to attribute to everything around him qualities like\nhis own qualities, and motives like his own motives. He came to think\nnot only that all living beings were possessed of will and intelligence,\nbut that inanimate things conducted themselves like human beings.\n\nSuch a primitive idea is the basis of what Tylor has called \u201cAnimism,\u201d\nthe foundation of the philosophy and religion of savage and civilised\nman alike. When a man was seen to die, it was plain that he did not\nentirely disappear, but merely became transformed into a new condition.\nThe dead body was not alive as we are, but, none the less, it was alive\nin a fashion of its own. This was the answer to the desire for the\npreservation of life, to the fear of death, that is to say, of total\nextinction. It is practically identical with faith in immortality and a\nfuture life.\n\nThe animistic conception is almost world wide. It is plain that it\nafforded the most efficacious palliative for minds revolting against the\ninevitability of death, and that it harmonised with our intense will to\nlive. \u201cSuch child-like ignoring of death,\u201d wrote Tylor,[162] \u201csuch\nchild-like make-believe, that the dead can still do as heretofore, may\nwell have led the savage to bury with his kinsman the weapons, clothes,\nand ornaments that he used in life, to try to feed the corpse, to put a\ncigar in the mouth of the skull before its final burial, to lay\nplaythings in the infant\u2019s grave. But one thought beyond would carry\nthis dim blind fancy into the range of logical reasoning. Granted that\nthe man is dead, and his soul gone out of him, then the way to provide\nthat departed soul with food or clothes or weapons is to bury or burn\nthem with the body.\u201d\n\nIt is needless to recapitulate the various animistic customs which were\nin vogue among primitive peoples, and which have left marked traces\namongst nearly if not all civilised races. The details may be found in\nthe works of several authors, notably Tylor, Lubbock, and\nWaitz-Gerland.[163] I shall mention only a few, choosing those that seem\nmost plain. The Turanians of Eastern Asia bury with their dead all sorts\nof implements, such as axes and flints, and food, such as meat and\nbutter, believing that the departed will have need of these during the\nlong voyage in the land of the spirits. A Tasmanian, on being asked why\nspears were buried with the dead, replied, as if the answer were\nself-evident, \u201cOf course for the use in combat of him who has fallen\nasleep.\u201d The Greenlanders place bows and other weapons in the tombs of\ntheir men, and knives, needles, and other instruments for sewing are\nburied with their women, in the full belief that such objects will be\nuseful in the other world. In the Congo region, the curious custom\nexists of leaving a hole in the grave over the mouth of the dead body,\nand once a month passing into this hole meat and drink.\n\nMany races are not content to place merely inanimate objects in the\ngraves. The Caribbeans, believing that the human spirit after death is\ncarried to the kingdom of dead souls, sacrifice slaves on the tombs of\ntheir chiefs, in order that the latter may be attended in the next\nworld. With the same object they bury dogs and weapons. The negroes of\nthe Gold Coast, at the funeral of a great man, kill women and slaves\nthat he may be provided for in the next world. Moreover, they bury with\nhim his finest apparel, his gilded fetishes, and corals and pearls, so\nthat the dead man may continue to make use of them.\n\nTylor states that such animistic conceptions occur amongst all savages\nwithout exception. According to Herbert Spencer, if we take groups of\nthe human race, such as tribes, societies, and nations, we find abundant\nevidence that all, or nearly all, have a belief, vague or clear, in the\nresurrection of a double of the dead man. It has been suggested that the\norigin of this widespread belief is the image of the departed that comes\nto us in dreams. These images are taken as real visits of the dead.\n\nIn civilised races there are numerous relics of the old beliefs. The\nSpaniards set bread and wine on the graves of their relatives on the\nanniversaries of their deaths. The Bulgarians hold a feast of the dead\non Palm Sunday. They eat and drink well, and then leave the remains of\nthe banquet on the graves of their relatives that these may consume them\nin the night.\n\nSaint-Foix[164] relates that when Bertrand du Guesclin was buried at St.\nDenis, in 1389, several horses were sacrificed. The Bishop of Auxerre\nfirst blessed them, laying his hands on their heads, and then they were\nkilled. At Treves, in 1781, at the burial of General Frederic Casimir,\nhis horse, according to the custom of the Teutonic Order, was led in\nfront of the bier, and when the General had been laid in the tomb, the\nhorse was killed and buried with him.[165]\n\nAlthough the sacrifice of men and animals is no longer made by civilised\npeoples at burials, many funeral customs have an obviously animistic\norigin. In Russia, for instance, rice is placed alongside the corpse,\nand pine branches are strewed along the way to be traversed by the\nprocession. The wreaths of \u201cimmortelles,\u201d used so largely at funerals by\nthe modern French, have an extremely ancient origin. They were employed\nby the Romans, and probably their use implied a conception of a future\nlife in a region where plants and flowers grew.\n\nThe belief in life after death, so widespread in the world, has been the\nfoundation of all religions. I cannot follow this question here as\nclosely as it deserves. To investigate it elaborately would take more\nspace than this volume affords, and more knowledge than I possess.\nHowever, it is important to my argument to insist that, among races that\nhave inhabited very different parts of the earth, that have had very\ndifferent manners and have passed through different stages of\ncivilisation, the conviction has been strong that death is not the end\nof all, but only a door leading from one kind of existence to another.\nBecause of the high importance of the existence of this conviction,\nhowever, I must discuss some of the criticisms that have been made as to\nits universality.\n\nIt has been asserted repeatedly that the idea of a future life was not a\npart of the Jewish religion, as formulated in the Bible. Haeckel has\nrecently repeated a common opinion that belief in the immortality of the\nsoul was absent from the oldest and purest form of the Jewish religion.\n\u201cThere is not to be found,\u201d he said, \u201ceither in the Pentateuch or in\nthose more ancient parts of the Old Testament which were written before\nthe Babylonian captivity, any idea of the persistence of the human\nsoul.\u201d This is true only within limits. No doubt the books of Moses\ncontain no reference to a future life nor to heaven and hell in the\nsense of modern creeds, but it is no less true that the ancient Jews\nshared with other races the conception of a survival after death. \u201cLike\nalmost all primitive nations,\u201d wrote Renan,[166] \u201cthe Hebrews believed\nin a kind of double personality, in a shadow pale and thin which, after\ndeath, descended underground and passed a sad and colourless existence\nin the sombre halls of the dead. The dead dwelt there, without feeling,\nor knowledge, or memory, in a world without light, abandoned by God. At\nthe most the old Hebrews hoped to obtain for themselves a quiet\nresting-place, a pleasant couch for the time when they would be with the\ndead. It comforted them to picture themselves as lying amongst their\nancestors in quiet communion.\u201d\n\nAncestor-worship, which is associated closely with the idea of a future\nlife, appears repeatedly in the Pentateuch. Jacob, when he felt death\ncoming upon him, called his son Joseph and said unto him, \u201cBury me not,\nI pray thee, in Egypt; but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt\ncarry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place.\u201d According to\nChantepie de la Saussaye,[167] \u201cwe are coming to recognise more and more\nhow strongly the children of Israel, and in fact all other peoples, were\ntinged with animism and ancestor-worship.\u201d\n\nIt is very remarkable how the idea of a future life, which was vague in\nthe early days of Israel, grew more and more clear. Ezekiel (sixth\ncentury B.C.), when he had \u201cseen the visions of God,\u201d prophesied of\nthings to come, and declared that God would breathe life into the dry\nbones of the dead. The Book of Daniel (second century B.C.) expressed\nthe same idea in a stronger fashion: \u201cAnd many of them that sleep in the\ndust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to\nshame and everlasting contempt\u201d (Daniel xii. 2). \u201cIt is plain,\u201d said\nRenan,[168] after quoting these words, \u201cthat Israel had now reached the\nlast stage in the secular development of her ideas, and had reached the\nconception of the kingdom of God, as synonymous with the future world\nand the resurrection. As the conception of a soul distinct from the body\nwas foreign to her, she could not conceive of a future life apart from\nresurrection of the body.\u201d\n\nStill later, in the Talmud, the conception of a future life is clothed\nwith details. Paradise is depicted as a region filled with sweet odours,\nwhile hell is an unclean place, thick with mire and smoke. According to\nthe Talmud, in the life beyond the grave, \u201cthere is neither eating nor\ndrinking; the good sit there with crowns on their heads and see God in\nbliss.\u201d[169]\n\nAt the date of the Cabalistic philosophy, the Jews had embraced the\ndoctrine of transmigration of souls, and had come to believe that the\nspirit of Adam had entered David and would pass on to the Messiah. Some\nhuman souls passed into the bodies of animals, into the leaves of trees,\nor even into stones.\n\nIt is plain that the idea of a future life was a part of the Jewish\nreligion.\n\nIt has been said, also, that the idea of a future life was absent from\nthe religions of the Chinese. B\u00fcchner,[170] for instance, who came to be\nalmost the official representative of the materialism of the second half\nof last century, asserts that \u201cBuddhism, that famous religion, the most\nwidespread and one of the most ancient, which counts among its followers\nnearly a third of the inhabitants of the earth, ignores completely the\nimmortality of the soul.\u201d Haeckel, also, in the \u201cRiddle of the\nUniverse,\u201d a volume that sums up the materialism of the end of the last\ncentury, makes a similar statement. \u201cThe higher oriental religions\ninclude no belief whatever in the immortality of the soul; it is not\nfound in Buddhism, the religion that dominates 30 per cent. of the\nentire human race; it is not found in the ancient popular religion of\nthe Chinese, nor in the reformed religion of Confucius which succeeded\nit.\u201d[171]\n\nThis question demands a somewhat closer investigation. It has been\nthoroughly proved that the basis of the ancient religion of the Chinese\nwas no more than an extreme development of ancestor-worship. Every\nimportant event in family affairs was accomplished \u201cin the presence of\nthe ancestors.\u201d It was a bond with relatives beyond the grave. As in\nother cases of animism and ancestor-worship, meats were offered to the\ndead, and objects were buried with them to be of service to them.\nAccording to A. R\u00e9ville,[172] the Chinese as a whole \u201cfully recognised\nthe conception of personal survival after death; if there were no other\nreason for stating this, it would be enough to point out that offerings\nof real food would be incomprehensible, if made to persons supposed to\nbe non-existent or reduced to complete unconsciousness.\u201d As they offer\nto the dead, food and clothing and precious things, it is plain that the\nChinese think of life beyond the grave as not very different from this\nlife. \u201cThe dead maintain their interest in the affairs and persons and\nfood that was familiar to them.\u201d\n\nAs the idea of immortality became developed further, the Chinese\nmodified their customs. Instead of offering to the dead material\nobjects, as is still done by many peoples, they came to substitute\nemblems. \u201cHouses and clothing and food imitated in paper, and dolls of\npaper and straw to represent slaves, are burned, so that the spiritual\nforms of these objects may be offered to the spirit they wish to\nhonour.\u201d[173]\n\nOne of the chief motives of ancestor-worship is fear lest the dead, if\nneglected, may visit their wrath on the living by sending plagues and\npestilence upon them.[174]\n\nThe worship of the dead had laid hold of the Chinese so firmly that even\nConfucius, notwithstanding his intelligence and scepticism, paid it a\nlarge tribute. \u201cConfucius the philosopher,\u201d said R\u00e9ville, \u201cregarded it\nas a duty to offer to his ancestors the gifts of food that princes had\nsent to him desiring to honour him.\u201d[175]\n\nConfucius and his followers were reticent and ambiguous in their\nreferences to a future life, but that attitude did not prevent them from\n\u201cobserving the customs and ceremonies as carefully as if they had had a\nconfident faith in the immortality of the soul.\u201d[176] Although Lao-tseu\nhimself believed neither in heaven nor hell, and professed the most\nrationalistic views, his disciples none the less accepted the doctrine\nof immortality, and even came to believe in rewards and punishments\nafter death.\n\nThe followers of Lao-tseu, the Taoists, devoted themselves specially to\nthe problem of immortality. They made efforts to discover an elixir that\nwould be capable of prolonging earthly life to eternity. \u201cOne of the\nchief claims of Taoism,\u201d wrote R\u00e9ville, \u201cwas the possession of a\nspecific against death. It was true that they admitted this to be not\nonly very difficult to obtain, but still more difficult to employ.\nHowever, if certain rules were observed strictly they were at least\nconfident of great prolongation of life. It was only the very few\nTaoists who had reached perfection who could hope to pass into the\nbetter world without being subjected to the pains of death.\u201d[177] \u201cAnd\nso some of the masters of Taoism, such, for instance, as Chang-Tao-Ling,\nascended to heaven without dying, by climbing a lofty peak and vanishing\ninto the skies.\u201d[178]\n\nThe ordinary Taoists accepted fully the idea of immortality. They\n\u201ctaught the doctrine of purgatory for those who were not evil. To arrive\nat this, Lao-tseu simply expanded and applied to mankind generally an\nidea that was already familiar to him, the conception of the\ntransmigration of one soul through several successive bodies. By means\nof such expiatory transformations, a man who had not reached it directly\nthrough the holiness of his life, could attain the immortality of genii\nand the blessed.\u201d[179]\n\nIt was believed for long that the Taoists, following the teaching of\ntheir master, did not recognise a hell. But this opinion has had to be\nabandoned, because the \u201cTaoist clergy have provided, in the temples\ndedicated to the tutelary deities of their cities, paintings\nillustrating the torments prepared for the guilty by the ten courts of\njustice that sit in the depths of an ocean hidden in the interior of the\nearth.\u201d[180]\n\nClearly then, many Chinese, both Taoists and followers of Confucius,\nbelieve in the existence of a world beyond the grave. However, the\ndenial of immortality has been ascribed to Buddhists in particular.\n\nBuddha accepted the Brahmanist doctrine of transmigration of the soul.\nThis has been established clearly on the evidence of several documents\nof admitted authenticity. Orthodox Buddhism is somewhat vague on the\nimmortality of the soul. Buddha himself avoided making a decisive\nstatement on this matter. In such circumstances \u201cthose who were\nterrified at annihilation, and who could not give up the hope of eternal\nhappiness, interpreted the silence of Buddha according to their own\ndesire, and inferred that he did not forbid them to hope.\u201d[181]\n\nThere are many instances of the evasions of Buddhist teachers when they\nwere pressed with this disturbing question. Pas\u00e9nadi, the king, once met\nKh\u00e9m\u00e2, the nun, a disciple of Buddha, renowned for her wisdom. The king\nput to her the following question: \u201cDoes the Perfect One (Buddha) exist\nafter death?\u201d \u201cThe Sublime One, O great king, has not revealed to us the\nexistence of paradise beyond the grave.\u201d \u201cThen the Perfect One exists no\nlonger now that he is dead, O reverend lady?\u201d \u201cNeither, O king, has the\nSublime One revealed that He who is perfect does not exist now that He\nis dead.\u201d \u201cAm I to believe, then, O reverend lady, that the Perfect One\nstill lives, although He is dead, and at the same time does not live? Am\nI to believe, O wise lady, that the Perfect One being dead, neither\nexists nor does not exist?\u201d[182]\n\nTake again the mode in which Soumirmit\u00e1,[183] \u201cthe son of a god, and\nsurrounded and preceded by a crowd of gods,\u201d worshipped Bouddha\n(Tath\u00e2gata): \u201cThou art the physician, skilful to save, and who givest\nthe gift of life everlasting.\u201d\n\nThe Buddhists, as they were not given clear doctrines on this subject,\nvery naturally followed their inclinations by accepting the idea of life\nbeyond the grave. And certainly Buddhism does not teach annihilation of\nthe body after death, although this has been lightly taken for granted.\nOn the contrary, it is so persuaded of survival after death as being the\nrule, that it grants only to rare and elect souls the privilege of at\nlength laying down the burden of continuous life.[184]\n\nThe Chinese Buddhists retained the fundamental conceptions of the\nancient religion of their land and continued to worship their ancestors\nand to seek the readiest path to immortality. They soon came to\ntransform Nirv\u00e2na into paradise, and to inculcate in the Chinese race\nthe doctrine of future rewards and punishments. \u201cThe Buddhist\nmonasteries in China for the most part possessed a set of little rooms,\nin which there were depicted, in vivid colours, crowded scenes from the\neighteen hells of tribulation and lamentation. For there exist under the\nearth eight hells filled with the torments of fire, and ten with the\nequally terrible horrors of ice.\u201d[185]\n\nThe paradise of the Chinese Buddhists, or Ni-pan (Land of the Pure), is\na region abounding in \u201cgold and silver, and precious stones. Rivers of\ncrystal run on golden sands covered with splendid lotus-flowers and\ntraversed by delightful paths. Lovely music is always to be heard. Three\ntimes a day a shower of blossoms falls. There are to be seen there\ngorgeous birds, pheasants, and parrots, and many others; and these,\nevery quarter of an hour, in a choir of melodious voices, trill out the\nbeauties of religion and recall to their hearers the Buddha, Dharma, and\nSungha. These are some of the wonders prepared for those who are born\nagain after death. Into that land neither sin nor any evil enters.\u201d[186]\n\nI need no longer accumulate details to show the falseness of the view\nthat a third of humanity profess materialism to the exclusion of any\nbelief in survival after death. On the other hand, it is quite certain\nthat the vast majority of mankind is convinced that death puts no\ndefinite term to existence, and that this life is no more than a passing\nstage leading to a life to come. However, although many simple races\nbelieve that the future life is merely a continuation of this life, the\nmore subtle-minded races present the future life as filled with delights\nfor the good and with torments for the wicked.\n\nSuch an idea of the next world, which is very generally accepted, is\nprobably the basis of religions. From it have come the conceptions of\nsupreme beings and divinities Many facts go to show that the primitive\ngods were no other than the relatives and ancestors of the living, now\ndead, yet living in another world and ruling the affairs of this world.\nWicked ancestors became transformed into evil spirits, while good\nancestors became mild and benevolent deities.\n\nVery many peoples offer prayers to their ancestors and treat them as\ngods. The Kaffirs pray and sacrifice to their dead relatives, believing\nthat the spirits of the dead haunt their late dwelling-places, and,\naccording to their characters, help or torment their descendants. As\nthey are able to cause good or evil after death, these play the part of\ngods. But, as Lubbock points out (\u201cOrigin of Civilisation\u201d), it must be\nremembered that the god of a savage is only a being like unto himself,\nalthough probably rather more powerful, and I shall show that there are\nmany intermediate stages between true gods and mere dead parents whose\nmalice is to be feared, or whose kindness is to be supplicated.\n\nThe North American Indians[187] pray to the spirits of their\nforefathers for good weather or luck in hunting, and fancy when an\nIndian falls into the fire that the ancestral spirits pushed him in to\npunish neglect of the customary gifts, while the natives of Louisiana\nare said to have even gone so far as to build temples for dead men. In\nPolynesia \u201cat Tanna, the gods are spirits of departed ancestors, aged\nchiefs becoming deities after death, presiding over the growth of yams\nand fruit-trees, and receiving from the islanders prayer and offerings\nof first fruits.\u201d[188] In the Malay Islands \u201cthe souls of deceased\nancestors are looked to for prosperity in life and help in distress.\u201d\nIn Africa ancestor-worship is well developed. The Zulu warriors,\n\u201caided by the amatongo,\u2019 the spirits of their ancestors, conquer in\nthe battle. Even the little children and old women, of small account\nin life, become at death spirits having much power, the infants for\nkindness, the crones for malice. But it is especially the head of each\nfamily who receives the worship of his kin.\u201d[189] The Zulu adores his\nfather, when he is a chief, above all others, and is convinced that a\nfather remembering his love for his children, will not forget them\nwhen he is dead. \u201cThe Zulu follows up the doctrine of divine ancestors\ntill he reaches a first ancestor of man and creator of the world, the\nprimeval Unkulunkulu.\u201d[190]\n\nSo great is the number of instances that it is too difficult to choose\nfrom them. The fundamental idea is always identical, although details\nand accessories vary, as one passes from the hardly idealised relatives\nof negro tribes and goes progressively to the \u201cFather Almighty, Maker of\nheaven and earth\u201d of the Nicene Creed.\n\nThe conception of a future life in the form of immortality or some\nkindred state, associated with the conception of many gods or of one\nGod, has been developed to satisfy the craving for life and to combat\nthe fear of death, that is to say, to defeat the greatest contradiction\nin the constitution of man. I must now inquire how far the different\nreligions have been successful in this object.\n\nMany primitive races have absolute faith in the tenets of their\nreligion, and believe in the promise of life beyond the grave as in a\ncertain fact. Thus the aborigines of the Fiji islands are convinced that\nthey will be born again, in another world, in the exact condition in\nwhich they leave this life; and so they wish to die before being\nafflicted with any infirmity. As it is very difficult to reach old age\nwithout being the victim of some illness or infirmity, when a man feels\nthe approach of age, he tells his children that the time has come for\nhim to die. If he himself fails to give this notice, the children\nundertake the duty. A family council is called, the day is appointed,\nand the grave made ready. The old man is allowed to choose between being\nstrangled and being buried alive. The following instance will show the\nstrength of a belief in life to come. Hunt, an English traveller, quoted\nby Lubbock, received a visit from a young native of Fiji, whose purpose\nwas to give an invitation to the funeral of his mother which was to take\nplace next day. Mr. Hunt accepted the invitation and joined the\nprocession, but as he was surprised to see no dead body, inquired about\nit from the son. The son pointed out his mother, walking in the\nprocession and as gay and animated as any of the others. Mr. Hunt stated\nhis surprise, and asked why he had been deceived by being told that the\nmother was dead, when she was plainly as much alive and as well as any\none else. He received the reply that the death festival was about to be\ncelebrated; that presently they would bury her; that she was old, and\nthat his brother and he, thinking that she had lived long enough, and\nshould be put to death, had obtained her cheerful consent.\n\nThis case is far from being solitary, because many villages have been\ndescribed as containing no inhabitants of a greater age than forty\nyears, all those older having been buried. It is not difficult to\nunderstand that death should have no terrors for persons possessed of a\nfaith as strong as this. The American Indian, according to Lubbock, has\nvery little fear of death. He does not fear transference to a realm in\nwhich, as he has been told all his life, there is no sorrow and\nabundance of joy.\n\nI know a case of a young girl of the Catholic faith who believed so\nfirmly in the joys of Paradise that, when stricken with a mortal\nillness, she awaited death with a great impatience. Before she died, she\ncried out that \u201calready she could see the beautiful flowers and hear the\nsweet music of the birds that fill heaven.\u201d\n\nBut it is rare to find faith so strong in such a case. More often faith\nis not strong enough to subdue the fear of death, and in proof of this I\nmay recall the instance of the clergyman already given.[191] Stricken\nwith an incurable disease, he, in spite of his religion, underwent\nextreme agony, and could not reconcile himself to the idea of death. The\nfear of death showed itself so strongly in this case that I have chosen\nit as a characteristic instance of the feeling.\n\nIt is only with fanatics and simple or primitive persons that blind\nfaith can subdue this instinctive fear. For this reason, since the most\nancient times, religions have sought out something more than the promise\nof paradise to mitigate this chief disharmony of our nature. In this\nconnection the doctrines of Buddha are those most interesting. Here I\nshall not deal with that modified and transformed Buddhism, in which, as\nI have already shown, there was a return to the doctrine of future life,\nwith its hell of torments and heaven filled with delights.\n\nBuddha made no reference to the great blot on human life. His doctrine,\nin its original form, was extremely pessimistic. Take, for instance,\nsome of his sayings on this subject: \u201cMiserable in truth is this world,\nin which there is beginning, birth, growing old, death, disappearance\nand renewal. But we know not how to escape from this world, full of\nhorror though it be. Alas, because of old age, illness, death, and their\nlike, we know not who shall put an end to this world, which is so full\nof horror. To all who are, there comes old age, and illness, and death,\nand their like.\u201d[192]\n\nWhen the Buddha came upon the sorrows of the world, as I have already\ndescribed (p. 119), he reflected as follows: \u201cWoe upon youth, threatened\nby old age! Woe upon health, which so many maladies destroy! Woe upon\nthe life of man, which lasts but a little space! Woe on the temptations\nof the flesh, which lure the heart of the wise! Would that there were\nneither old age nor illness, nor death and the pains of death, which\ncome from the five elements of life (Skandhas)! Would that there were\nneither old age nor illness nor death, which are for ever bound up\ntogether! Nevertheless, when I return again I shall consider\ndeliverance.\u201d[193]\n\nHaving pondered for many days on these problems, Buddha thought that he\nhad discovered the only solution, and taught men resignation. When a man\nwas young he would ask of his father: \u201cLord, would that old age would\nnever come upon me, and that I should keep for ever the warm colour of\nmy youth; that I should be always filled with health, and that no\ndisease should come near me; that my life should be prolonged for ever,\nand that death should pass me by! Such an one later on must learn to\ngive up these longings.\u201d[194]\n\nIn his famous \u201cSermon at Benares,\u201d Buddha gave in brief the outlines of\nhis doctrines in the following words: \u201cHear, oh monks! the holy truth of\nthe springs of sorrow! Sorrow is born of lust of life, that drags us\nfrom incarnation to incarnation, and of pleasure and desire, which seek\ntheir fulfilment hither and thither; the lust of pleasure, the lust of\nlife, the lust of power. Hear, oh monks! the holy truth of the conquest\nof sorrow; it is the killing of this lust by the utter abandonment of\ndesire, the giving up of all desire, the forgetting of all desire, the\nfreeing of the body of all desire, until there is no place left for\ndesire.\u201d[195]\n\nIn such a spirit of resignation, Buddha became himself a monk, and lived\naccording to the strict rules of the pure life that he himself had laid\ndown (\u201cthe belief pure, the will pure, the language pure, the deeds\npure, the means of livelihood pure, the study pure, the attention pure,\nthe meditation pure\u201d). However, he did not find many kindred souls to\nfollow the same precepts. Buddhism soon moved away from these original\ntenets, and became a religious doctrine of the ordinary kind.\n\nWe are inclined to associate with Buddhism the doctrine of Nirv\u00e2na, as\nif the latter were the goal to which human life should be directed. Many\nphilosophers, and the pessimists chief among them, naturally with\nSchopenhauer at their head, have adopted Nirv\u00e2na as the goal of mankind,\nas they see the world. However, the word Nirv\u00e2na has had many\ninterpretations put upon it, the which is less surprising as Sanscrit\nscholars differ. I do not intend to join in the discussion, as I myself\nam not acquainted with Sanscrit, upon which the argument must be\nfounded. However, I cannot pass it by without comment on the pretext\nthat it has not yet been settled definitely by specialists, as it is the\ncase that many thinkers regard Nirv\u00e2na as the goal of human existence.\n\nFor long Nirv\u00e2na was represented as a sort of blank, in which there was\nno display of any mental operations. Max M\u00fcller,[196] the celebrated\nOxford professor, opposed this interpretation on the ground that,\naccording to him, in \u201call passages of Buddhistic origin in which Nirv\u00e2na\noccurs there is nothing to betoken annihilation. Most of these passages,\nif not all of them, would be quite unintelligible if we were to replace\nin them the word Nirv\u00e2na by the word annihilation.\u201d\n\nMany other specialists share this view, and cannot agree that the goal\nof human life was to be annihilation. Rhys Davids, for instance, thinks\nthat Nirv\u00e2na is to be interpreted as a tranquillity of the soul,\npossible of achievement in this life, and that the word is best\ntranslated by the term \u201csanctity.\u201d According to him, Nirv\u00e2na does not\nmean extinction or annihilation, but rather freedom from the great\npassions, such as envy and hate. Pfungst[197] agrees with Max M\u00fcller; he\nis convinced that the first adepts of Buddha could not have conceived of\nNirv\u00e2na as extinction. Dahlmann[198] on the other hand, tries to prove\nthat Nirv\u00e2na in its primitive signification implied the abolition of the\nwill to live, and really corresponded to annihilation.\n\nI must add, however, that Nirv\u00e2na did not occupy a place in Buddhism so\nimportant as has been ascribed to it by several commentators. In many of\nthe Buddhist authorities mention of Nirv\u00e2na is only accidental. In the\n\u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d for instance, the word occurs very seldom, and then\nonly in unimportant connections. However, the latter document contains a\ngood deal that serves to explain the conception of Nirv\u00e2na.\n\nWhen the young Buddha, still very exacting, asked his father to obtain\nfor him perpetual youth, health, life everlasting, and freedom from\ndeath, he added the following words: \u201cLord, if you cannot give me these\nfour gifts, at least bring it about that after this life I shall have no\nmore metempsychoses.\u201d[199]\n\nAs I have already stated, Buddhism had embraced the Brahmanistic\ndoctrine of transmigration of souls. According to the legend, before his\nbirth as a prince, the Buddha had passed hundreds of earlier existences.\nHis soul had been the soul not only of fifty-eight kings, but of\neighteen monkeys, four horses, four snakes, three lizards, two fish, and\nof other creatures.[200] Such continual transferences of the soul to so\nmany different animals was a source of perplexity and sorrow to\nbelievers. It was natural that a great thinker like Buddha should have\nconceived the desire of sparing himself and his faithful followers so\nmany transmigrations. He thought of these rebirths as a great evil, from\nwhich a pure life might set one free.\n\nIn the poetical language of the Hindoo Buddhists, metempsychosis was\ncompared to the ocean; the waves that change from moment to moment were\nthe continual rebirths; our temporary body was the foam of the crests of\nthe waves, while Nirv\u00e2na was the opposite shore. He who reaches Nirv\u00e2na\nwould never again plunge into the great sea of Sangs\u00e2ra. In a passage\nquoted by Rhys Davids, and ascribed to K\u00e2ma Sutta, it is stated\nexpressly that \u201cthe sea is an image of the Sangs\u00e2ra or transmigrations,\nwhile Nirv\u00e2na is an island upon it. Once the shores have been reached, a\nsoul will no longer be plunged in the waves of the ocean, and will be\nfreed from the successive births of metempsychosis.\u201d\n\nIn other words, to avoid being tormented after death by perpetual\nrebirths, some of which may be humiliating, it is necessary to live a\npure life and so to secure repose or Nirv\u00e2na. Nirv\u00e2na is by no means the\ncessation of all consciousness, but merely the end of transmigrations.\nFrom such a point of view, it is possible to interpret all, or at least\nnearly all, the passages in which Nirv\u00e2na is spoken of.\n\nWhen he was old and full of disease and afflicted with grievous pain,\nBuddha, being at the point of death, thought of his disciples and called\nthem to him and said: \u201cIt is not meet that I should enter Nirv\u00e2na\nwithout having spoken with those who have cared for me, without speaking\nto the community of disciples. By the force of my will I shall subdue\nthis disease and hold the life within me.\u201d Some time afterwards, the\nreverend Ananda went to Buddha and spoke to him, saying amongst other\nwords as follows: \u201cThe Sublime One will surely not enter into Nirv\u00e2na\nere he has made known unto the community of disciples his wishes\nregarding them.\u201d \u201cGrowing more and more feeble, the spirit of Buddha\npassed from ecstacy to ecstacy without ceasing, and knew every delight;\nthen he entered into Nirv\u00e2na. And the earth trembled, and thunder rolled\nacross the skies.\u201d[201]\n\nIt is clear that in this passage Nirv\u00e2na was associated with death. But\nit was with the death of a saint who had lived a pure life.\nMetempsychosis would not be inflicted on him, and he would enjoy repose.\nIt is probable that the term Nirv\u00e2na later on came to be applied to the\nstate of mind of a saint who, by living the pure life, would avoid\ntransmigration after death.\n\nAs the importance of Nirv\u00e2na lies in its contrast with metempsychosis,\nit is easy to see why the precise state of mind involved in it has not\nbeen described exactly. However, a survey of the Buddhistic writings\nmakes it plain that at least Nirv\u00e2na was not associated with\nannihilation. In this respect Max M\u00fcller\u2019s verdict must be taken as\ncorrect.\n\nBuddha\u2019s attempt to remedy the ills of human life, then, lay in a\ncomplete renunciation of all the joys and pleasures of life, and in\nperfect resignation. The mere fact that primitive Buddhism did not\npersist, but rapidly passed into an ordinary religion, is sufficient\nproof that Buddha did not achieve his purpose. It was the promise of a\nlife to come that attracted so many men and spread Buddhism over so\nlarge a part of the earth. However, this faith has been able to maintain\nitself only in certain strata of society to which the rationalistic\nconception of the mental processes has not penetrated. Since the\nawakening of the scientific spirit in Europe, it has been recognised\nthat the promise of a future life has no basis of fact to support it.\nThe modern study of the functions of the mind has shown beyond all\nquestion that these are dependent on the functions of the body, in\nparticular of those of the central nervous system. A slight lowering of\nthe rate of the circulation of the blood, a fleeting an\u00e6mia of the\nbrain, at once arrests consciousness, that is to say, the fundamental\nsensation of the individual mental life. An\u00e6sthetics, used in doses so\nsmall that they do not influence certain parts of the nervous system,\nas, for instance, those that control the heart and lungs, completely\nabolish consciousness. Persons who are put under chloroform for surgical\npurposes fall into a state of absolute unconsciousness. Sometimes, after\nundergoing painful sensations, especially sensations of oppression, the\npatients imagine themselves to be in rapid motion, and in a few moments\nhave the sensation of falling into an immense gulf, after which comes\nnothingness, the annihilation of sensations and of consciousness. In\nother cases, patients, without any sensation of catastrophe, lose all\nidea of reality, and every psychic and sensorial function is abolished.\nSuch states are very closely similar to death, which indeed is the\nresult, in certain rare instances, of the ordinary process of being\nchloroformed.\n\nNeither the narcosis produced by chloroform nor that produced by any\nother form of an\u00e6sthetic, affords any particle of ground for the view\nthat there is consciousness in any form apart from the body. The action\nof morphine sometimes brings about a strange current of happiness and an\napparent weightlessness of the body; but here again there is no\nsuspicion given as to the existence of any mental phenomena apart from\nthe body.\n\nConsciousness of personality is of supreme interest from the point of\nview of personal immortality, and this mental phenomenon develops only\nslowly and progressively in an infant. This fact, again, like the facts\nof narcosis, shows the dependence of consciousness on the action of the\nbodily organs. Just as our consciousness comes out of nothing in the\nfirst months, or years, of our life, so it will pass into nothing at the\nend of our life.\n\nMental disease confirms this conclusion, and it, too, gives no ground\nfor the belief in a survival of the mind after death.\n\nCertain internal sensibilities in the depths of our organism survive our\npersonal consciousness. When the heart has ceased to beat, and when the\nan\u00e6mic brain is certainly incapable of personal consciousness, some\nportions of the body may still retain vitality. The muscular fibres are\nstill able to contract when they are stimulated, and the white\ncorpuscles of the blood can still exhibit their specific movements. It\nis certain, moreover, that these white corpuscles possess a specific\nsensibility, and, by a sort of sense of taste, respond to the kind of\nenvironment that surrounds them. Our consciousness, however, is\nabsolutely out of touch with the sensations of these globules, which,\nhowever, none the less are part of our organism. It happens, therefore,\nthat in certain diseases, the white corpuscles, stimulated by the\npresence of particular substances, perform extensive movements of\nmigration within our bodies. Such migration is quite outside the sphere\nof consciousness. The corpuscles, directed by their sensibility, are in\nconstant pursuit of microbes that have entered the body, and yet these\nactions, too, are not made known to our consciousness. In the same\nfashion, the thousands of active spermatozoa in the male organs and the\nova in the female possess specific sensibility. These reproductive\nelements contain the germ of individual consciousness, but it is not\nuntil they have developed into the new generation that it is possible to\nimpute to them individual consciousness, and the organism that shelters\nthem has no idea of what it harbours. The sensibility of the white\ncorpuscles and of the many other cells composing our body, although\ncertainly a reality, has no part in the absolutely special sensation\nthat we call individual consciousness, and which is all we think of in\nwishing to escape death.\n\nThe idea of a future life is supported by not a single fact, while there\nis much evidence against it. The phenomenon of intercommunication across\na distance, sometimes called telepathy, may be actual, but affords no\nsupport to the conception of the existence of souls apart from bodies.\nIt may be that emanations are given off by certain organs, and that\nthese are capable of being appreciated by the organs of another body at\na distance; but, even if such were the case, we should have to deal\nsimply with other bodily functions. Moreover, the supposed phenomena\nthat fall within this category are so rare, so difficult to observe, and\nso obscure, that no certain argument for the continuance of existence\nafter death can be deduced from them.\n\nIt is easy to see why the advance of knowledge has diminished the number\nof believers in the persistence of consciousness after death, and that\ncomplete annihilation at death is the conception accepted by the vast\nmajority of enlightened persons.\n\nApart from their chief function of consoling men for the inevitability\nof death, religions have concerned themselves with some of the results\nof other disharmonies of the human constitution. From time immemorial\nthey have claimed the direction of diet, the control of the reproductive\nfunctions and the prevention or cure of all kinds of disease.\n\nThe dietary regulations given by the religions are familiar. Even at the\npresent day, the cookery of many races is regulated by their religion.\nThe Jewish diet, notably, is regulated by the Mosaic law, down to the\nmost minute detail. For instance, it was forbidden to eat the blood of\nanimals. Moses commanded: \u201cNotwithstanding, thou mayest kill and eat\nflesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, according to\nthe blessing of the Lord thy God, which he hath given thee; the unclean\nand the clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.\nOnly ye shall not eat the blood; ye shall pour it on the earth as\nwater.\u201d[202] Later on: \u201cOnly be sure that thou eat not the blood; for\nthe blood is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the\nflesh.\u201d[203] \u201cThou shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee, and\nwith thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in\nthe sight of the Lord.\u201d[204] The Books of Moses also contain receipts\nfor the cooking of certain meats. \u201cEat not of it raw, nor sodden at all\nwith water, but roast with fire, his head with his legs, and with the\npurtenance thereof.\u201d[205]\n\nIt has been suggested that these rules were founded on ideas of hygiene\nin consonance with the results of modern science. Some of them, it is\ntrue, such as the prohibition of uncooked or partially cooked meat, are\nconfirmed by our modern knowledge. But the greater number of the Mosaic\nrules, as, for instance, the prohibition of the consumption as food of\nblood or the flesh of pigs or hares and so forth, are in direct\nopposition to a modern knowledge of hygienic diet. Religious cookery has\nno more than a historical interest.\n\nThe religions have been greatly occupied with the functions of the\nreproductive organs. Most of the founders of the great faiths have paid\na keen attention to the disharmonies of this side of our constitution.\nThey became persuaded of the merit of abstention, which they practised\nthemselves and preached to others. Buddha, after devoting his youth to\nall the pleasures and not being satisfied, passed to absolute\nasceticism. He and his adepts formed an order of monkhood, on which an\nabsolute celibacy was imposed. If a member of the order had intercourse\nwith a woman, he was considered to be as guilty as a murderer or a\nthief. In the Buddhist rules framed even for laymen, \u201csexual intercourse\noutside marriage was forbidden, on the ground that it was\ndegrading.\u201d[206]\n\nThe views of the Christian religion on sexual matters are well known.\nThe leaders of Christianity abstained from sexual intercourse and\nrecommended their conduct to others. St. Paul more than once affirmed\nhis own continence. \u201cFor I would that all men were even as I myself; but\nevery man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, and\nanother after that. I say therefore, to the unmarried and widows, It is\ngood for them if they abide even as I; but if they cannot contain, let\nthem marry, for it is better to marry than to burn.\u201d[207]\n\nThe religions of savage races are equally concerned with the\nreproductive functions. There are many extremely strange facts known\nconcerning this matter, and among such I may mention that the Sandwich\nIslanders have a deity who presides at abortions. This god is made in\nthe form of an elongated wooden instrument, and is known as \u201cKapo.\u201d The\nupper part of the deity is shaped into a grotesque head, while the lower\nportion terminates in a point and serves to induce abortion by entering\nthe uterus and rupturing the f\u0153tal membranes.[208]\n\nMany other idols are used by savages as protections against disease.\nPloss-Bartels,[209] in his treatise on \u201cMedicine among Primitive Races,\u201d\nhas described a large collection of talismans of this kind. The ruling\nidea in the manufacture of these is that diseases are due to the\npresence of evil spirits, who are to be scared away as soon as possible.\nThe Goldi of Siberia construct straw or wooden figures of men and\nanimals to absorb the spirits of diseases. The Guilaks make wooden human\nfigures, on the breasts of which are fashioned images of toads. These\ntalismans are used as remedies for diseases of the chest and stomach.\n\nIn higher forms of religion there remain abundant traces of such\nnotions. Even Martin Luther declared that disease was supernatural in\norigin. \u201cBehold a matter on which there is no room for doubt,\u201d he\nstated, \u201cand that is that the plague, fevers, and other diseases are the\nwork of the devil.\u201d A number of religious ceremonies were specified as\nthe best remedies for diseases.\n\nThe plague has left many deep marks on human history, and it is natural\nthat a malady so terrible should have attracted serious attention. It\nwas usually attributed to divine wrath, which was to be appeased by\npurification and sacrifice. Human beings were slain on altars to appease\nthe wrath of God and to lessen the mortality from plague.\n\nSuch religious customs have disappeared almost completely with the\nadvancing culture of man, but traces of them survive and become apparent\non occasions. Quite recently, when the King of England, Edward VII., was\nafflicted with an abdominal suppuration, he was given the assistance of\nthe most highly skilled modern surgery, but at the same time special\nservices were held in the churches to aid the cure of the royal invalid.\n\nEvery one has now come to regard such events as mere relics of old\ncustoms without intrinsic importance. Hygiene in the kitchen and the\nprevention of disease are no longer under the control of religion, but\nare regulated on scientific knowledge obtained by the experimental\nmethod. I need pay no further attention to these matters. However,\nreligion is still occupied with the problem of death. The solutions\nwhich as yet it has offered cannot be regarded as satisfactory. A future\nlife has no single argument to support it, and the non-existence of life\nafter death is in consonance with the whole range of human knowledge. On\nthe other hand, resignation as preached by Buddha will fail to satisfy\nhumanity, which has a longing for life, and is overcome by the thought\nof the inevitability of death.\n\nIt was to be expected that in such a state of affairs philosophers would\nhave sought an issue from the dilemma. Certainly many philosophical\ntheories have been propounded to explain life and death. As the subject\nis of extreme importance I shall reserve a chapter for it.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n ATTEMPTS IN SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY TO REMEDY THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE\n                 DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION\n\n\n  Some philosophical systems are in intimate union with religions\u2014Ideas\n  of ancient philosophers on the immortality of the soul\u2014The teaching of\n  Plato\u2014The scepticism of Aristotle\u2014The Stoics\u2014Cicero, Seneca, Marcus\n  Aurelius\u2014Modern philosophical systems\u2014Pessimism and its origin\u2014Lord\n  Byron\u2014Theories of Schopenhauer and Hartmann\u2014Mailaender\u2019s philosophy of\n  deliverance\u2014Criticisms of pessimism\u2014Max Nordau\u2014Ideas of modern\n  thinkers on death\n\n\nSystems of philosophy are closely attached to religious doctrine.\nBuddhism, for instance, originated in a philosophic theory which\nacquired a religious character in the hands of the followers of Buddha.\nSimilarly, many systems of philosophy are merely religious dogmas which\nit has been attempted to support by rational argument apart from\nsupernatural revelation.\n\nThe idea of life beyond the grave has long since furnished one of the\nprincipal bases of various philosophic doctrines, the ultimate object of\nwhich was to solve the problem of death. Ancient philosophy is full of\nsuch. Plato describes the tragic death of his master Socrates, and in\nconnection with it expresses very clearly his ideas upon death. He puts\nthese words in the mouth of Socrates in the \u201cPhaedo\u201d: \u201cFar from being\ndepressed by the death of a friend, I felt, on the contrary, that he was\nto be envied; as I witnessed his attitude, and listened to his words,\nand noticed the courage with which he faced death, I became convinced\nthat he did not quit this life without some divine support that drew him\ntowards another world in which he would find the most perfect happiness\nman could wish.\u201d\n\nPlato attributes to Socrates a very definite view as to future\nretribution: \u201cIn truth,\u201d said Socrates, \u201cif I did not expect to find in\nanother life gods at once good and wise, and men better than those of\nthis life, it would be foolish of me not to be disturbed by the approach\nof death. But I know that I look to finding myself among just men. I do\nnot fear to die, because I am confident that something still remains\nafter this life, and that, according to the old belief, the good will be\ntreated better than the bad.\u201d\n\nAs such views were not derived from a body of revealed truth, it was\nnecessary to support them by reasoning. Plato therefore went on to try\nto convince us of the immortality of the soul by speculative hypotheses.\nHe recalled the Pythagorean doctrine of metempsychosis, and suggested\nthat the souls who had abandoned themselves to injustice, tyranny, and\nplunder would pass into the bodies of wolves and hawks and falcons, for\nsouls of that nature could not go elsewhere; while the souls of those\nwho had practised the social and civic virtues known as temperance or\njustice, would inhabit the bodies of peaceful and gentle creatures such\nas bees and ants, or would even enter other human bodies and again\nbecome good men.\n\nPlato referred also to the law of contrasts in support of his theory.\n\u201cAs the most strong often springs from the feeblest, or the most swift\nfrom the slow, so life gives rise to death, and from death life\nsprings.\u201d \u201cFrom that which is dead,\u201d said Socrates, \u201cis born all that\nlives and has life. And so our souls after death pass to the infernal\nregions.\u201d \u201cAs we must grant that the dead are born from the living as\nmuch as the living from the dead, it is plain that the souls of dead men\nexist somewhere, whence they may return to life.\u201d\n\nBy such arguments Plato tried to prove the immortality of the soul, the\nfundamental basis of his philosophy, and put them in the mouth of his\nmaster Socrates on his deathbed. In the dialogue he tried to refute all\nkinds of objections. But, in spite of the assurance with which he\nformulated his doctrine, there may be seen underlying the argument a\nnote of doubt, and it is just this that distinguishes philosophy from\nreligion.\n\nIt is evident that the whole of Plato\u2019s system was the result of an\neffort to solve the problem of death. Again and again he said that the\ntrue philosopher lived only to be ready to die; that being so, he\ndeclared it to be childish for men at the last to shrink from what they\nhad so long been making ready for. It was himself that Plato wished to\nconvince of a future life. \u201cI do not seek,\u201d he said, \u201cto persuade all\nthose who are here of the truth of what I say, although to do so would\ngreatly please me; what I aim at is to convince myself. Behold me, dear\nfriend, in pursuit of an argument that, as you see, interests me deeply;\nif what I say turns out to be true, it is good to have believed it, and\nif there be nothing after death, at least I have gained this, that while\nI am still with you, I am not borne down with grief.\u201d\n\nThe doubt which was only latent in Plato was much more active in some\nother ancient philosophers. Aristotle[210] at one time admitted that\npart of the soul was immortal, but that the other part was mortal. The\ntwo parts came together at the beginning of a life and separated at its\nend. Later on, however, Aristotle abandoned this theory of the\nimmortality of the personal consciousness, and argued strongly against\nthe Platonic theory of the immortality of the soul, although, however,\nhe still believed in the indestructibility of the \u201crational spirit,\u201d an\nimmortal principle.\n\nThe Stoics still further developed such a conception. They held that\nbesides the individual soul there was a universal soul, a presiding\ninfluence in which all others had their being.\n\nCicero, again, discussing old age and death, tried to establish belief\nin a future life. \u201cI am convinced,\u201d said Cicero to Scipio and Laelius,\n\u201cthat your illustrious fathers, who were so dear to me, are still full\nof life, and of the only life worthy of the name; for the body is, as it\nwere, our prison-house, within which we must accomplish the tasks laid\non us by necessity. When I think of the activity of the human spirit,\nits vast memory, its prevision, its store of art and knowledge, and\nexperience, I am convinced in the depths of my being that an existence\nwith such qualities cannot be mortal. The soul is continually active,\nand its activity comes not to it from without; the soul is a\nself-supporting activity, and cannot come to an end. Moreover, as the\nsoul is a simple substance, unalloyed by any mixture of materials, it\ncan neither be divided nor made to perish.\u201d By such arguments Cicero\nsought to prove the immortality of the soul. \u201cI will tell you,\u201d he said,\n\u201cwhy old age, so far from being grievous to me, is full of delight.\u201d But\nin the end, he himself saw the weakness of his proof, and the note of\nscepticism appeared in him more strongly than in his predecessors, so\nthat he came to say as follows: \u201cIf I am deceived as to the immortality\nof the soul, I am deceived gladly, and I would not have the belief torn\nfrom me while I live. If, when I am dead, all feeling is arrested within\nme, as some pretended philosophers hold, at least I have not to fear\nthat after my death they will come and mock me for my error.\u201d\n\nScepticism becoming more and more definite, belief in the immortality of\nthe soul persisted only in the purely religious form. Philosophical\nsystems freed themselves of it, and replaced it by a vague form of\npantheism.\n\nSeneca tried to support the thesis of immortality, but one gets the\nimpression strongly that there was no vigour in his belief. He is\ncontent with poetry rather than with reason. \u201cThe events of this mortal\nlife,\u201d he wrote in one of his celebrated \u201cLetters,\u201d \u201care the mere\nprelude of a better and more lasting existence. As our mother\u2019s womb,\nbearing us for nine months, shapes us not to live there for ever, but\nfor our place in this world in which it places us, with the strength to\nbreathe this air and to withstand surrounding things: so, also, the time\nthat passes from our infancy to our old age is a preparation for a\nsecond birth. Another beginning and another world await us. Until then,\nwe could not endure, save from afar, the splendour of the heavens. Learn\nthen, O man, to face without a shudder the decisive hour, the last hour\nof the body, but not of the soul. What you see around you consider but\nas the furniture of an inn; soon you are going further on. The day that\nyou dread as your last day is your birthday into immortality.\u201d\n\nIn the midst of these glowing visions, however, Seneca is assailed by\ndark and gloomy thoughts. \u201cYes,\u201d he cried, \u201call that is must perish;\ndeath comes to every living thing. Every day, every hour, reveals to man\nthe coming of death; there is always some new lesson to remind him of\nthe fragility he had forgotten, and from a dream of eternity to turn his\nthoughts to the grave.\u201d\n\nThese heights and depths of spirit led Seneca towards a new theory in\nwhich he gave a final expression of his views on the great problem of\nhuman existence. \u201cAll beings pass through definite stages; they must be\nborn, grow and die. The stars that we see revolving above us, the earth\non which we are carelessly scattered and which seems to us so solid; all\nis threatened and all will come to an end. Old age comes on everything;\nalthough the period is very different, the same end comes to everything.\nEverything that now is will cease to be; but for all that the world will\nnot perish; it will dissolve. Dissolution is destruction for us. As a\nmatter of fact we think of things only as they concern ourselves; our\ndegenerate soul, incapable of detaching itself from the body, sees\nnothing beyond that; none the less we should endure the idea of the\ndeath of ourselves and of those near to us with a greater fortitude were\nwe to realise that nature is a constant routine of birth and death, that\nall composite bodies must dissolve, that the dissolved substances\nreform, and that the creative power of God displays itself in this cycle\nof change throughout the universe.\u201d From such a final conception of the\nuniverse he draws the consolation: \u201cA great soul should know how to obey\nGod and submit willingly to the order of the universe. If it be not for\na better life that we are to quit this life, if not to find a home in\nthe skies more tranquil and more brilliant, our souls, free from\nsuffering, will return to the spirit that gave them birth and will\nmingle in the great all.\u201d\n\nIn other words, abandoning the image of life after death that played so\nconsoling a part in primitive beliefs, philosophy became content to\nadvocate resignation to the inevitable laws of nature, and to console\nitself with the promise of a vague return to some universal, eternal\nprinciple.\n\nThe conceptions of the Stoics, especially in the form presented by\nSeneca, found an ardent and brilliant exponent in Marcus Aurelius, whose\n\u201cThoughts\u201d are known to all the world. He had much to say of the problem\nof death and of the attitude of the philosopher towards it. \u201cDeath,\u201d\nsaid Marcus Aurelius, \u201clike birth, is one of nature\u2019s mysteries. In the\ntwo are present the same elements: in the one case in the phase of\ncombination, in the other in that of dissolution.\u201d In death \u201cthere is\nnothing repugnant to the essence of an intelligent being, nor to the\ngeneral plan of our nature.\u201d But his ideas on death were vague. \u201cDeath\nmay perhaps be a dispersal or resolution into atoms, or an annihilation\nin the sense of extinction or deplacement.\u201d \u201cAlexander of Macedon and\nhis mule-driver were reduced at death to the same condition, that is to\nsay they returned alike to the originating principle of the universe, or\none and the other were scattered as atoms.\u201d\n\nAlthough he was definitely a deist, Marcus Aurelius was undecided as to\nthe immortality of the soul. \u201cIf souls have not disappeared,\u201d he said,\n\u201chow can the air contain the eternal generations of them?\u201d \u201cRemember\nwell,\u201d he said in another place, \u201cthat that feeble and composite\ncreature, your soul, will one day resolve into its atoms; the faint\nspark of life will be extinguished, or be assigned to some other\ndwelling-place.\u201d Clearly enough, there was no consoling hope of a future\nlife to be derived from these halting dubieties. It was needful to\nreplace by some other anodyne the belief that for so long had brought\ncomfort to poor humanity.\n\nMarcus Aurelius tried to counteract the fear of death by the following\nreflection: \u201cTo fear death is to fear either being deprived of all\nfeeling or being subjected to some other kind of feeling. But, if we are\ndeprived of all feeling, we shall have no evil to fear; if we are to\nfind new kinds of sensations, our existence will be different, but still\nexistence.\u201d However, he probably realised the weakness of such a\nconsolation, for he tried to link the problem of death with the general\nprinciples of human conduct.\n\nAs I mentioned in the first chapter of this volume, Marcus Aurelius,\nlike many of the philosophers of antiquity, held the view that man ought\nto live according to the dictates of human nature. The theory recurs\nagain and again in his \u201cThoughts.\u201d \u201cThe fig tree lives according to its\nkind, the dog like the dog, bees like bees, and man like man.\u201d He\nexpresses this view still more emphatically in the following words: \u201cMan\nmust live in conformity with the laws of his nature.\u201d \u201cNo one will\nprevent you from living according to the laws of nature, and nothing can\nhappen to you that is not in accordance with nature\u2019s universal law.\u201d\n\u201cNeither hand nor foot can do that which is contrary to the laws of\nnature, because the foot can only fulfil the functions of the foot, and\nthe hand those of the hand. Similarly with man, to behave as a man is\nnot to defy nature\u2019s laws, because it is only fulfilling the functions\nof man. And that which is not against nature cannot be evil.\u201d\n\nBeing full of this theory, Marcus Aurelius applied it to death, which,\nbeing a natural phenomenon, was to be accepted without protest. \u201cFor,\nafter all, nature forges the links and nature breaks them. Is she about\nto sever them? Very well, let us then say farewell as if we were taking\nleave of our friends, but let there be no tearing of the heart strings,\nand let us go willingly, and so avoid being dragged away. This, too, is\nin accordance with the laws of nature.\u201d \u201cPhilosophy,\u201d according to\nMarcus Aurelius, \u201cis to await death peacefully, and to regard it as\nmerely the dissolution of the elements which compose the human frame.\nSuch is the law of nature, and whatever is in conformity with nature is\nnot evil.\u201d\n\nDeath, being a phenomenon in conformity with nature, must be submitted\nto. \u201cDo not abuse death,\u201d advises Marcus Aurelius, \u201cbut accept it with\nresignation, as being in accordance with the will of nature. Do we not\npass on from infancy to youth, grow up, and become tall and attain\nmanhood? Do not our teeth come, our beards grow, and our hair turn\nwhite? If we marry, do we not beget children? Are not all such events in\ntheir due season, and the work of nature? Death comes through the same\nagency. It therefore behoves a wise man to approach death with neither\nanger, repugnance, nor contempt, but to await it like any other\noperation of nature.\u201d _Resignation_, then, is what this form of\nphilosophy amounts to. Not only must death be accepted as inevitable\nwhen it comes after a long life, but even if it surprise us at an\nunexpected time. \u201cHe who dies after reaching the uttermost limits of\nhuman life,\u201d says Marcus Aurelius, \u201chas reached no further than he who\ncomes to a premature end. It is the same in the end, whether there are a\nhundred years to look back upon, or whether there are only three.\u201d\n\nIn his book on Marcus Aurelius, Renan[211] compares his philosophy of\nresignation with the Nirv\u00e2na of the Buddhists. \u201cLike Jesus, \u00c7akya-Mouni,\nSocrates, Francis of Assisi, and three or four other wise men, Marcus\nAurelius was victor over death. He could laugh at it, because it had no\nlonger any meaning for him.\u201d But, just as the theories of Buddha became\ntransformed into a religion which promised the immortality of the soul,\nand as Nirv\u00e2na gave way to the Paradise of the Easterns with its\ndelights, so the sceptical resignation of ancient philosophy was\nvanquished by Christianity with its promises of a future life and\nimmortality.\n\nThus, in the course of the centuries, philosophy has been drowned in the\nfloods of sentiment and of religious notions, and it has been a labour\nof Sisyphus to restore reason to humanity. There is the less need to\nfollow the stages of this resurrection, as, in the end, they come to\nlittle. For long, philosophical systems set themselves the task of\nsupporting the dogmas of religion by arguments independent of divine\nrevelation. The gods were replaced by philosophy or by matter, and an\neffort was made to solve the eternal and disquieting problem of death by\nproving the immortality of the soul.\n\nThe philosophers of the early renaissance of human thought accepted the\nchief religious dogmas as established truth. Plotin regarded the\nimmortality of the soul as a self-evident truth that required no proof.\nHe argued against a resurrection of the body, but accepted the\ntransmigration of souls.\n\nAlthough Spinoza had given up the conception of the immortality of the\nsoul in the ordinary sense, he accepted the Aristotelian idea that \u201cthe\nhuman spirit could not be destroyed absolutely with the body, but left\nsome eternal remnant.\u201d Death, in his view, was a kind of eternal life, a\nmerging with the absolute, a return to the immortal and universal\nsubstance.\n\nPhilosophers have exhausted themselves in the study of the foundations\nof human knowledge with the sole object of demonstrating the truth of\nreligious dogmas. In spite of his scepticism, Kant tried to prove the\ngenuineness of human knowledge, and to found on that a conviction of the\nfuture life and of the existence of God. Fichte set himself the same\ntask, but he was forced to recognise that \u201cimmortality cannot be deduced\nfrom natural phenomena,\u201d and that it \u201cis supernatural.\u201d \u201cAlthough we\ncannot understand the possibility of eternal life, it still may be\npossible, for it transcends human knowledge.\u201d Hegel reached a\npantheistic conclusion and believed in the human soul being re-absorbed\nby the absolute.\n\nThese idealistic systems, when they reached their final point, provoked\na reaction consisting in the rejection of all formulas based on\nspeculation. They were succeeded by a dogmatic materialism, which in its\nturn gave place to a sceptical positivism, or rather to a form of\nagnosticism. Granted the impossibility of belief in the immortality of\nthe soul or in eternal life in any shape, the philosophy regarding death\nwas reduced to the stoical idea that our end is in harmony with the laws\nof nature, and that it must therefore be accepted without protest.\nResignation, therefore, in the fullest sense of the word, became the\nwatchword of human wisdom.\n\nIt was only to be expected that certain courageous and independent\nthinkers should not agree with this conclusion, and attempt to discover\nsome other solution of the great problem absorbing mankind. Thence arose\npessimism, the philosophic theory which became so prevalent during the\nlast century, and which claims so many adherents in the present day.\nPessimism, like belief in the immortality of the soul and the advocacy\nof resignation to the evils which beset humanity, is the product of the\nEast, and India was probably its nursery. A pessimistic view of life is\na salient feature of Brahminism, but Buddhism develops even more fully\nthe doctrine that everything of this world is evil. That \u201clife is made\nup of suffering\u201d is the inexhaustible theme which, whether in the shape\nof philosophical argument, or in the more attractive form of poetry, the\nBuddhist Scriptures din ceaselessly in our ears.[212]\n\nIn Europe, the lyrical poets introduced the pessimistic conception of\nthe world, attracted by its emotional appeal. At the beginning of the\nnineteenth century, Byron struck this sad note, and expressed the view\nin the clearest fashion, that if we weighed our hours of joy against our\ndays of pain, we should perceive clearly that whatever our life had been\nit were better not have been. In the following lines his conception of\nlife is apparent:\u2014\n\n       \u201cOur life is a false nature,\u2014\u2019tis not in\n       The harmony of things, this hard decree,\n       This uneradicable taint of sin,\n       This boundless Upas, this all-blasting tree,\n\n       Whose root is earth, whose leaves and branches be\n       The skies, which rain their plagues on men like dew\u2014\n       Disease, death, bondage\u2014all the woes we see\u2014\n       And, worse, the woes we see not\u2014which throbs through\n       The immedicable soul, with heart-aches ever new.\u201d\n                                                   \u201cEUTHANASIA.\u201d\n\nIn chap. vi. I showed that Byron was haunted by a fear of death which\nultimately led him to a recognition of the instinctive character of the\nfeeling. He, however, like the other pessimistic poets (Leopardi), did\nnot regard the world as being merely part of a universal system, and it\nwas left to philosophy to come to this conclusion.\n\nDuring the first half of the nineteenth century, Schopenhauer\nendeavoured to give a presentation of a pessimistic theory, borrowed\nfrom Hindoo religions and from the views of contemporary poets, in the\nform of a rational philosophy. He developed a conception of life\naccording to which \u201cexistence is to be regarded as something one is\nbetter without, as a kind of mistake which should be remedied when\nrecognised.\u201d[213] According to Schopenhauer existence is wrong, and\nresults from the gratification of unrestrained desire. \u201cIf an attempt be\nmade to realise the amount of misery, pain, and evil of all kinds, that\nthe sun shines upon in its daily course, it will be seen how much better\nit would be were the earth to exhibit as few phenomena of life as the\nmoon, and if the surface of the earth were in a similarly crystallised\ncondition. Human life might equally be interpreted as a useless\ndisturbance of the exquisite tranquillity of nothingness,\u201d the meaning\nof the disturbance being wrapped in impenetrable mystery.[214]\n\nThis melancholy state of life was the result of the cosmic process,\nwhich has created so much evil, and which finally evolved the human\nspecies, capable of feeling and appreciating to the full the pain of the\nworld. The lower animals he regards as happier than man, their senses\nbeing less fully developed, and being unconscious of the worst aspects\nof their existence. In man, pleasure is purely a negation, whereas the\nsensation of pain is passive, contemplation, a human monopoly, rendering\nsuffering still more unbearable. \u201cMan\u2019s capacity for pain increases far\nmore with the passage of time than does his capacity for enjoyment, and\nis especially increased by his foreknowledge of death. Animals only fear\ndeath from instinct, without having any real knowledge of it, and\nwithout having the prospect of it always before their eyes, as is the\ncase with human beings.\u201d[215] Schopenhauer was convinced that happiness\nshould not be regarded as the aim of life. \u201cThe greatest mistake we can\nmake,\u201d he said in his principal work,[216] \u201cis to imagine that we are\nplaced here to be happy.\u201d \u201cSo long as we continue in this erroneous view\nwhich optimistic doctrines serve to foster, the world will continue to\nseem a mass of contradictions to us.\u201d \u201cIt would be nearer the truth to\nregard pain as the aim of life rather than pleasure.\u201d \u201cThe destiny of\nall human existence seems to be suffering. Life is wrapped about with\nevil, and cannot be protected from it. Life, at its very beginning, is\nsignalised by tears, its course is fundamentally tragic, and still more\ntragic is its end. It is impossible to ignore that all this is meant to\nbe.\u201d \u201cDeath is the real goal of life. Its attainment brings a solution\nof all that has gone before.\u201d\n\nThe prospect and expectation of death, being products of reason, are\nexperienced by men and not by animals. \u201cOnly in the case of humanity is\nthe will capable of renouncing and withdrawing from life.\u201d\n\nWhat is the answer to all these contradictions and the explanation of a\ncosmic process which on the one hand leads but to death, and on the\nother hand develops the intelligence so as to enable it to fear and\ndread the inevitable end? Is the solution to be found in belief in the\nimmortality of the soul, supported as it is not only by nearly every\nform of religion, but by numerous systems of philosophy? Schopenhauer\ndevotes many pages to the discussion of this question. He neither\nsupports the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, nor the\nimmortality of the conscious soul. \u201cJust as the individual has no memory\nof prenatal existence, so after death he will remember nothing of his\npresent life.\u201d[217] \u201cThose who regard birth as the actual beginning of\nman\u2019s life must necessarily face death as final, the two being parallel.\nNo man can therefore regard himself as immortal without forfeiting his\nbelief in his own birth. Birth and death have the same origin and the\nsame significance. They represent but one line, extending in opposite\ndirections. If birth implies an origin from nothingness, then death must\nbe complete annihilation.\u201d[218]\n\nThere is no such thing as individual immortality. But, according to\nSchopenhauer, to desire such immortality would merely be to advocate\n\u201cthe eternal perpetuation of a great mistake. Each individual existence\nis a definite mistake, a blunder, something that would better not have\nbeen, and the object of existence should be to end it.\u201d[219]\n\nBut if man, as an individual, is mortal, \u201cdeath only takes away what was\ngiven by birth, that is to say, the principle by which death itself\nbecame possible.\u201d[220] \u201cConsciousness ceases at death, but the cause\nwhich produced that consciousness persists; life comes to an end, but\nnot the principle which became manifest by life.\u201d[221]\n\nWhat then is this immortal principle? It is the idea of the species or\ngenus. Men or dogs, as individuals, perish in due course, but the human\nspecies or the canine species, the man \u201cidea\u201d or the dog \u201cidea,\u201d\nendures. Here Schopenhauer reverted to the conception of Spinoza, who,\nindeed, denied the immortality of the soul, but none the less believed\nin the immortality of the principle of life. This everlasting principle,\naccording to Schopenhauer, is the will in its widest and most\nmetaphysical sense, while, on the other hand, the mortal soul is the\nreason, a product of the functions of the brain.\n\nThe eternal principle of life cannot be defined, because \u201cwe cannot pass\noutside the limits of our consciousness. And thus the problem of what it\nis in itself cannot be resolved.\u201d[222]\n\nSchopenhauer himself recognises that this solution of the problem is not\nsatisfactory from the point of view of those who desire reassurance of\ntheir immortality. \u201cBut,\u201d he continues, \u201cit is better than nothing, for\nthose who dread death from the point of view of absolute annihilation\nshould not despise the certainty of the persistence of the most vital\nprinciple of life.\u201d[223] He further remarks that it must be remembered\nthat nature is interested only in the preservation of the species, being\nindifferent to the individual. We ourselves being only a part of nature\nought to further its plans. \u201cIf we wish to attain to a wider knowledge\nof nature, we must place ourselves more in sympathy with it, and regard\nlife and death indifferently.\u201d[224] Schopenhauer himself feels that his\ntheories and arguments are unsatisfactory. When he had reached the full\ndevelopment of his doctrine, he admitted that it was negative in\ncharacter, and that it ended in negation. It spoke only of what it had\nto deny and of what ought to be abandoned. It was obliged to regard as\nnothingness all that could be acquired in the future. As a consolation,\nhe added that he meant relative nothingness, and not absolute\nnothingness.\n\nAs an ultimate aim, there remained nothing but abrogation of the will to\nlive, and thus misery and wretchedness, which are the inseparable\naccompaniments of human life, led to resignation.\n\nAs our life is no more than a succession of misfortunes, and as,\naccording to Schopenhauer, death is the plain conclusion of philosophy,\nthe end of the individual life must be pleasant. As a general rule, he\nsaid, the death of a well-regulated life is calm and peaceful. But the\nprivilege of dying willingly, with joy and delight, is reserved for him\nwho has learned resignation, and has abolished and abandoned his will to\nlive. For such an one would be willing to die in reality, not merely in\nappearance, and would neither desire nor claim a personal immortality.\nHe would give up readily the existence that we know. Whatever may\nreplace that existence is nothing from the point of view of\nindividuality. The Buddhistic faith called the position attained by him\nwho had given up the will to live, \u201cNirv\u00e2na, or nothingness.\u201d[225]\n\nThe natural deduction from this pessimistic doctrine of Schopenhauer\nwould be to abolish the will to live by abolishing our individual life\nby suicide. But such is not the advice of the philosopher. He is far,\nhowever, from agreeing with those who regard suicide as criminal.[226]\nHe merely does not admit that it solves the question. \u201cHe who commits\nsuicide destroys the individual only, and not the species.\u201d \u201cSuicide is\nthe voluntary destruction of a solitary phenomenon, without in the\nsmallest degree affecting the system as a whole.\u201d[227]\n\nThe will to live manifesting itself, according to Schopenhauer, by the\ncreation of new individuals, the philosopher would naturally, in\naccordance with his views of life, abstain from bringing others into the\nworld. Schopenhauer lived and died a bachelor, and, so far as I am\naware, had no children. On the other hand, convinced that the solution\nof life\u2019s problem did not lie in suicide, he clung tenaciously to life.\nHaving relinquished a belief in the immortality of the soul, he fell\nback upon a belief in the persistence of some ultimate principle, apart\nfrom conscious life, and held that in resignation and desire for\nannihilation (Nirv\u00e2na, according to his interpretation of the Buddhist\ndoctrines) lay the true consolation for all the evils of human\nexistence.\n\nFor a long time Schopenhauer\u2019s views found no echo in the opinions of\nother thinkers. Later, however, they became more and more widely\ndiffused, and philosophic pessimism became quite fashionable. Those who\ndid not adopt the metaphysical principles of Schopenhauer\u2019s philosophy\nagreed with his views on life and on the impossibility of happiness.\n\nExactly half a century after the publication of Schopenhauer\u2019s principal\nwork,[228] another German philosopher, E. Hartmann,[229] went a step\nfurther in the same direction. Without agreeing wholly with his\nmetaphysics, he shared Schopenhauer\u2019s views on the impossibility of\nregarding happiness as the true aim of existence. In order to\ndemonstrate this theory, he examined the three phases of illusion\nthrough which mankind passes. He held that, in the first phase, people\nimagined happiness to be attainable during the present life. However,\nall that have been regarded as the sources of joy\u2014youth, health, desire,\nconjugal love, family love, glory, etc.\u2014end in disillusion. Love itself\nis especially submitted to Hartmann\u2019s implacable criticism. According to\nhim, there can be no question but that \u201clove causes far more suffering\nthan pleasure to those concerned.\u201d[230] \u201cIt cannot be doubted,\u201d he says,\n\u201cthat reason would prompt a total abstention from love,\u201d and, as a means\nto this end, he recommends \u201cthe extinction of sexual desire by\ncastration, if that could be relied upon to destroy desire.\u201d[231] That,\naccording to Hartmann, \u201cis the only possible means of securing the\nhappiness of the individual.\u201d It is at the sacrifice of his personal\nhappiness that man permits himself to love, and so abets the evolution\nof the cosmic process.\n\n\u201cWhen they have become convinced of the impossibility of obtaining\nhappiness in this world, people persuade themselves that it may be\nobtained after death in a transcendental life in another world. This,\nhowever, is only a second phase of illusion, and is based upon faith in\nlife after death and eternity. It is certain, however, that the\nindividuality of the organic body as well as that of the mind is only a\ndelusion which ceases with death.\u201d[232] Hartmann says in conclusion that\n\u201cit is therefore plain that the hope of the immortality of the\nindividual soul is also a mere illusion. And thus the chief support of\nthe Christian promises is cut away; for men are devoted to their dear\nselves, and take little interest in a future happiness in which they\nthemselves are to have no share.\u201d[233]\n\nBeing disillusioned regarding the possibility of obtaining happiness in\nthis world, or in a future state, humanity falls back upon a third\nillusion. Firmly convinced that the aim of life is true happiness, man\nconcluded that it was only attainable in some future state of the cosmic\nprocess. This hypothesis is based upon belief in a system of progressive\ndevelopment. \u201cThis,\u201d declares Hartmann, \u201cis yet another mistake.\nHumanity may progress as much as it likes,\u201d he says, \u201cbut it will never\nsucceed in suppressing or even diminishing the greatest evils which\nbeset it: disease, old age, dependence on the wishes or the power of\nothers, misery and discontent. Notwithstanding the new remedies which\nare discovered, the number of diseases, especially those of a chronic\nnature which are so trying, continues to increase at a rate that\nmedicine cannot keep pace with. Joyous youth will always constitute a\nsmall portion of humanity, while the greater part will consist of\nmelancholy old age.\u201d[234]\n\nAgainst this idea that the happiness of the race will be the eventual\nresult of progress, Hartmann employs the following arguments: \u201cThe\nhappiest people are those who are the rudest and most primitive, and,\namong civilised races, the uneducated classes. It is well known that the\nprogress of education increases discontent. The progress of science\ncontributes little or nothing to the absolute happiness of the world.\nPractically speaking, this progress is of advantage to politics, social\nlife, morality, and the arts; but factories, steam-boats, railways, and\ntelegraphs, have so far done no positive good to humanity.\u201d[235]\nHartmann frequently recurs to the conclusion that the primitive are\nhappier than the civilised, and that \u201cthe lower classes, inferior and\nrude, are happier than the rich who are well educated and great; that\nidiots are happier than the intelligent, and that, as a general rule,\nthe less sensitive a man\u2019s nervous system may be, the happier he is, as\nhis capacity for feeling pain is not so much in excess of his capacity\nfor enjoyment, and his illusion is therefore greater. With the\nprogressive development of humanity, however, not only is there an\nincrease in the extent of human needs, but in the sensitiveness of the\nnervous system, and in the cultivation of the mind. In consequence, the\nbalance of pain over pleasure increases, and the illusion is destroyed,\nthat is to say, knowledge comes of the misery of life, of the vanity of\nmost of the pleasures. Misery itself increases as much as knowledge of\nmisery, as experience has shown; and the apparent increase of happiness\nin the world, due to the progress of universe, is merely superficial.\n\nHaving reached this extremely pessimistic conclusion, that it is\nimpossible for humanity to attain happiness, Hartmann proceeds to\ninquire into the real destiny of man. He would be no true philosopher if\nhe did not hold that the world was created according to a general plan,\nand that it follows a regular course tending towards a definite end. \u201cWe\nhave seen,\u201d he says, \u201chow that in the present world all has been\narranged in the wisest, and for the most part the best way, and that it\nshould therefore be regarded as the best possible of worlds.\nNotwithstanding this, however, it is supremely miserable, and worse than\nif it did not exist at all.\u201d\n\nBeing convinced of the illusory nature of its hopes, humanity \u201cmust\ndefinitely renounce all pretensions to positive happiness, and aspire\nonly to a freedom from pain, to annihilation or Nirv\u00e2na. This, however,\nmust not be merely the attitude of solitary individuals, but humanity at\nlarge must cry out for annihilation. This is the only possible outcome\nof the third and last phase of illusion.\u201d\n\nBy what means is this end to be attained? Hartmann is no advocate of\nsuicide as the best remedy of the evils of human existence. Upon this\npoint he agrees with Schopenhauer, and thinks that such a course would\nhave no effect upon the general progress of the cosmic process. A\nrenunciation of pleasure\u2014asceticism\u2014would present no better solution of\nthe problem. Even abstinence from reproduction would not serve the\npurpose. \u201cWhat good would it do,\u201d says Hartmann, \u201cif humanity were to\ncease to be by means of sexual abstinence? This unfortunate universe\nwould continue to exist, and the Unconscious would immediately take\nadvantage of the opportunity to create a new man or some other similar\ntype.\u201d[236] Thus it is not the disappearance of mankind that should\nconstitute our aim, but \u201cthe complete abandonment of the individual to\nthe cosmic process, in order that the latter may accomplish its end and\nbring about the universal deliverance of the world.\u201d[237] This being so,\nthe instinctive love of life reasserts itself, and it becomes necessary\nto admit, at least as provisional truth, \u201cthe validity of the will to\nlive; for it is only by complete resignation to life and its troubles,\nand not by cowardly renunciation and abandonment, that one may\ncontribute one\u2019s share in the development of the cosmic process.\u201d[238]\n\nHartmann\u2019s proposed solution of the problem of human existence belongs\nundoubtedly to the category of systems advocating resignation. He is\nunable to tell us what is the cosmic process to which he bids man lend\nall his forces. He advises humanity to continue to live and to multiply\nin the full certainty that happiness cannot be attained. Hartmann\nobviously demands a true renunciation and an absolute submission. His\nsolution has the appearance of being more exact, and of furnishing a\nguide to human conduct more clear than that vague aspiration to Nirv\u00e2na\nproposed by Schopenhauer. But on closer investigation it becomes at once\nplain that the greater precision is illusory.\n\nIt is easy to see, under such circumstances, that a school of criticism\nor negation of the pessimistic doctrines should have gained many\nadherents. Very few, on the other hand, have embraced pessimistic\ndoctrines because of any power being inherent in them to resolve the\ndifficulties of life. A German pessimistic philosopher, Mailaender,[239]\nshared fully Schopenhauer\u2019s opinions as to the misery of human life, but\nopposed the latter\u2019s doctrine of resignation and Nirv\u00e2na as the solution\nof the general problem of life. Mailaender accepted the three stages of\nhuman illusion as expounded by Hartmann, but attacked vigorously the\nview of facilitating the cosmic process by acquiescence in the will to\nlive. \u201cIndeed,\u201d he cried, \u201cyour advice is that we should sacrifice\nourselves to the cosmos, we are to choose a career, to learn a trade,\nacquire money, property, fame, power, and so forth; we are to marry and\nto beget offspring; by such advice you are merely undoing with your own\nhands the sole merit of your work, the analysis of illusion. You\nsuddenly advise the very man who has got behind all these illusions to\nsuccumb to them again, as if an illusion, although it has been\nrecognised, could still deceive and exercise its power.\u201d[240]\n\nMailaender takes an entirely different view of the problem. Like his\npredecessors, he is convinced of the futility of happiness, but he has\nachieved an original view of the cosmic process. He holds that an\nunaccountable and divine Being existed before the creation of the world.\nBefore disappearing \u201cthis divinity gave birth to the universe.\u201d By this\nmeans, complete annihilation was made possible. \u201cThe world,\u201d says\nMailaender, \u201cis but the means for bringing about a condition of\nnon-existence, and is the only possible means by which that end could be\nattained. God knew that only by creating a real world could we pass from\nexistence into non-existence.\u201d Maileander regards as certain \u201cthat the\nuniverse tends towards universal non-existence.\u201d[241] This tendency is\ncharacterised by the weakening of the total amount of energy, so that\n\u201cevery individual at the close of the weakening process to which his\nenergy is submitted, is led in the course of his development to the\npoint at which his desire for annihilation may be fulfilled.\u201d[242] Life\non our planet, he says, ought to be regarded as a halting-place on the\nroad to death. In order to appreciate fully the happiness brought by\ndeath, it is necessary first to taste of life, and that is why the\ninstinct of self-preservation is so well developed in animals. Man\npasses first through a phase of development in which he is like any\nother animal. \u201cAs with them, the will to live is stronger than the will\nto die. Life is clung to with extreme pertinacity, and death is\nproportionately execrated.\u201d \u201cAt first, not only the fear of death\nincreases, but equally the love of life.\u201d Terror of death becomes\nacuter. Animals, knowing nothing of death, only fear it instinctively\nthrough their perception of approaching danger. Man, on the contrary,\nknows of the existence of death and what it means. He looks back on his\npast life and wonders what the future may hold in store, and realises,\ninfinitely more than animals realise it, the dangers that threaten him.\nDuring this phase, man does all in his power to keep death at bay, and\nto make his life as happy as possible. This, however, is not the last\nstage of his development. The thinking man soon comes to the conclusion\nthat a craving for life is not the true aim of the universe; it is only\nthe means for attaining to a knowledge of the definite aim of existence,\nwhich is the cessation of life. Philosophy soon shows that perfect\nhappiness is not possible, and that only death is really desirable. In\nsumming up the cosmic process, the conclusion arrived at is \u201cthat\nthroughout the universe the desire of death exists in a form more or\nless masked, but that in the organic world this assumes the form of a\nwill to live.\u201d[243] In the end, however, the desire of death becomes\nmore and more plain, until the philosopher can see \u201cin the whole\nuniverse nothing but a longing for absolute extinction, and fancies that\nhe can hear the cry rolling from star to star, \u2018Deliverance,\ndeliverance, death to our life!\u2019 and the echoing cry of consolation,\n\u2018Extinction and deliverance await you all!\u2019\u201d[244]\n\nIn order to explain in a clearer way the progress of this evolution,\nMailaender describes the state of mind of a man who develops the will to\ndie, and commits suicide. \u201cAt first he glances anxiously and from afar\nat death, and shrinks from it with horror. Later, he draws nearer and\nwalks round it in wide circles. Day by day, however, these circles\nbecome smaller, until finally he embraces Death with weary arms and\nlooks it straight in the face. Then Peace comes; gentle Peace!\u201d[245]\n\nIt is absurd to expect anything to follow death but absolute\nannihilation, and the ordinary man faces this prospect with terror. \u201cBut\nit is essential,\u201d says Mailaender, \u201cthat man should dominate the\nuniverse by knowledge, and wise men look forward to total annihilation\nwith joy.\u201d[246] \u201cIn relinquishing Schopenhauer\u2019s will to live,\u201d\nconcluded Mailaender, \u201cI have finally arrived at the will to die. I have\nraised myself upon the shoulders of Schopenhauer, until I have attained\na point of view such as others have never accomplished. At present I am\nalone, but behind me all humanity is pressing on to freedom; and before\nme is the clear translucent vista of the future.\u201d[247]\n\nI have quoted these views, not because of the solidity of Mailaender\u2019s\narguments, but merely because this pessimistic philosopher proved\nhimself to be more consistent than his predecessors. While Schopenhauer\nand Hartmann, both so firmly convinced of the non-existence of happiness\nand the vast preponderance of suffering in all imaginable conditions of\nlife, lived out their lives, Mailaender, true to his principles,\ncommitted suicide when barely thirty-five years of age.\n\nThis is probably not a solitary instance. Under the influence of\npessimism, a certain number of young persons, especially those whose\nmental equilibrium is not very firmly established, follow in the tragic\nfootsteps of Mailaender. Some commit suicide, while others abstain from\ntaking part in the perpetuation of the race. Others, but these are not\nmany, curtail their existence by dissipation, thinking life not worth\nthe care of it.\n\nA modern writer of great talent, Maeterlinck, echoes the pessimism of\nthe present generation. \u201cIt is plain,\u201d he says,[248] \u201cthat from one\npoint of view humanity will always seem wretched, and as though being\ndragged towards a fatal precipice, since it will ever be doomed to\ndisease, to the inconstancy of matter, to old age and to death.\u201d \u201cYes,\nhuman life as a whole is sad, and it is easier, I may almost say\npleasanter, to discuss and expose its dark side, than to enumerate its\nconsolations and make the best of them. The miseries of life are many,\nobvious, and never failing; whereas the consolations, or rather the\nreasons which cause us to fulfil with alacrity the duty of living, are\nrare, hard to seek, and precarious.\u201d\n\nAlthough pessimism has been greatly developed and widely spread during\nthe nineteenth century, dissentient voices in opposition to this\nnegative attitude towards the things of this world have not been\nwanting. Take the views of the German poet, Robert Hammerling,[249] who\nreproaches the pessimistic philosophers with ignoring the attitude of\nmind of the majority of mankind who ask but one thing,\u2014life\u2014life at any\nprice and under any conditions. Against this sentiment all dogmatic\narguments are useless, for, according to Hammerling, the question of\npleasure and pain is a matter of feeling and not of reason. Now, with\nregard to the general feeling of humanity, there can be no doubt\u2014it is\nfrankly optimistic.\n\nMax Nordau, the well-known writer, supports a similar theory. According\nto him, all living nature betrays its optimistic foundation. \u201cThe truth\nis,\u201d he says, \u201cthat optimism, limitless and irradicable optimism,\nconstitutes the fundamental attitude of man, and is the instinctive\nfeeling which governs him under all circumstances. All other forms of\nlife confirm this truth....\u201d \u201cAll nature,\u201d according to Max Nordau, \u201cby\nthe bells of flowers and the throats of her birds, rings and proclaims\nthe truth of optimism.\u201d \u201cNo animals feel the pain of the world; and our\nown ancestor, the contemporary of the cave bear, was certainly free from\nall anxiety relating to the destiny of the human race.\u201d\n\nThese arguments do not take into account that, to be true, pessimism\nneed not necessarily be felt and agreed with by all living creatures.\nBirds and other animals, happy in their lives, that is to say optimists,\nknow nothing of the inevitability of death. Our cave ancestors knew\nnothing of it either. If the greater portion of modern humanity is\noptimistic, that might be accounted for by its being still under the\ninfluence of one of the three phases of illusion alluded to by Hartmann.\nIt is only when the highest stage of development is reached that man,\nbeing convinced of the futility of his hopes, arrives at a pessimistic\nconception of the universe.\n\nMax Nordau disclaims discipleship of Doctor Pangloss, who held that the\nworld is the best of all possible worlds. But his arguments reveal a\npronounced optimism. He regards pain as an indispensable factor of the\nmaintenance of life. \u201cWithout pain,\u201d he says, \u201cour lives would not\nendure an hour, for we should be unable to recognise dangerous symptoms\nand guard against them.\u201d Insensibility to pain is often so grave a\nsymptom that sick people rejoice when they are again able to feel the\nprick of a needle.\n\nThis is true enough, but none the less the feeling of pain is very\nerratic in both animals and human beings. Quite insignificant causes and\nunimportant illnesses, such as certain forms of neuralgia, give rise to\nunbearable agony. A physiological phenomenon such as childbirth is often\nattended by extremely violent pain which is absolutely useless as a\ndanger-signal. On the other hand, some of the most dangerous diseases,\nsuch as cancer or kidney disease, may exist for a long time without\ncausing any sensation of pain, with the result that the sufferer knows\nnothing of the presence of the disease until it is too late. Were pain\nto play the part assigned to it by Nordau, it would appear in all cases\nof danger, and yet would never become almost unbearably acute.\n\nBut when men have passed through the three stages of illusion it is not\nphysical pain which presses most heavily on them. Max Nordau himself\nadmits that it is \u201cappalling to think of the cessation of our\nconsciousness, and the annihilation of our ego.\u201d None the less, he\nbelieves \u201cthat we are so happily constituted as to be able to accept the\nreally inevitable with a light heart, and that there is no ill feeling\nabout the matter.\u201d This admission is not in accordance with the\nwell-established facts discussed in chap. vi. With very rare exceptions\nman does not willingly accept the prospect of death, especially if he be\nstill under the influence of illusion in any of its three stages. As a\nrule those who desire to live feel not only a repugnance to the\ncontemplation of death, but death seems to them something abnormal and\nirrational. It is no answer to assert that all who feel this are\npsychopaths, or that it is absurd to think that the happiness of mankind\ncounts for something in the cosmic process. On the contrary, it is quite\nnatural that man should seek after happiness, and that he should try to\nanalyse the phenomena taking place within him and around him from the\npoint of view of that ideal. For this reason it is quite unjust to say\nthat pessimism cannot be treated seriously. It is pessimism which has\nbeen the first to draw up a true indictment of human nature, and if pain\nis to be regarded as useful in its quality of danger-signal we should\nequally recognise that the pessimistic view of the universe is a step\nonwards in the evolution of humanity. Without pessimism we might easily\nsink into a kind of contented fatalism, and end in quietism, in the\nmanner of many religions.\n\nIt is only natural, however, that the thinking world should not accept\npessimism as the last word of human wisdom, and that more or less noted\nphilosophers should devote themselves to finding a possible solution of\nthe problem of life and death. These systems of philosophy, one and all,\nhave abandoned readily all belief in future life and personal\nimmortality. But they have adopted pantheistic conceptions, and have\naccepted the existence of some general principle into which the\nindividual consciousness will eventually be absorbed. There is division\nof opinion as to the properties of this principle. For some it is the\nIdea, for others Will, for others Force, or Eternal Energy.[250] The\nnomenclature is the less important as the views as to the nature of the\ngeneral principle are absolutely vague. Accordingly this part of the\nphilosophic doctrines appears in a lyrical form and has passed over into\nthe domain of poetry.\n\nGerman poets have helped to spread pantheistic conceptions very widely.\nI need hardly mention Goethe, whose ideas were purely those of Spinoza,\nbut Schiller\u2019s well-known lines are precise:\u2014\n\n   \u201cVor dem Tode erschrickst Du? Du w\u00fcnschest, unsterblich zu leben?\n   Leb\u2019 im Ganzen! Wenn du lange dahin bist, es bleibt!\u201d\n\n   \u201cDo you shrink from approaching Death? and crave immortality?\n   Live on in the All! Long after you vanish the All will remain!\u201d\n\nR\u00fcckert, in lines almost equally well known, expresses the same idea:\u2014\n\n\n           \u201cVernichtung weht dich an, so lang Du Einzles bist.\n           O, f\u00fchl\u2019 im Ganzen dich, das unvernichtbar ist.\u201d\n\n  \u201cAnnihilation fills you with terror, because you are self-centred. You\n  must feel your unity with the All, which is indestructible.\u201d\n\n\nA volume might be filled with the attempts of thinkers of different\ncountries to present these poetical ideas in a form less vague and more\nphilosophical. I shall select only a few of the more modern instances.\n\nRenan\u2019s[251] ideas may be taken as typical of the compromise between\npoetry and philosophy. Speaking of immortality, he said \u201cthat we shall\neach live again by the traces we leave on the bosom of the\nInfinite.\u201d[252]\n\nThe views elaborated by Guyau[253] are equally poetic. Like so many\nothers he is unable to accept without protest the prospect of the\ninevitability of death. Brought face to face with this end, he declares\nthat he feels \u201cnot sorrow but indignation, as against an injustice of\nnature.\u201d \u201cIt is with justice,\u201d he cries, \u201cthat we look on nature as a\nmurderess if she kills what is morally best in ourselves and in\nothers.\u201d[254]\n\nIt is chiefly in the name of love that Guyau protests against death:\n\u201cThe death of others, the annihilation of those we love, is\ninsupportable to men, who are essentially thinking and loving\ncreatures.\u201d[255]\n\nThis problem, so vast and so difficult to solve, is presented by him as\nfollows: \u201cAs regards the question of individual immortality, human\nthought is dragged in opposite directions by two great forces\u2014science,\nin the name of evolution, prepared to sacrifice the individual\ncompletely; love, in the name of an evolution, morally and socially\nhigher, which would preserve the individual at all hazards. There is no\nmore disturbing dilemma proposed to the philosopher.\u201d[256]\n\nGuyau hopes that in the course of evolution there will come about a\nmerging of individual consciousness in the consciousness of the whole.\n\u201cOne may ask,\u201d he says, \u201cif it may not be that these conscious entities\nmingling and interpenetrating, may come to live on from one to the\nother, and so to acquire a new duration?\u201d On such a hypothesis he can\nforesee \u201can epoch not, indeed, certain to come, but far from\ninconceivable, in which individual consciousnesses will have achieved a\ncorporate integrity and a complex intercommunion, without themselves\nbeing lost by the union.\u201d[257]\n\nOn this hypothesis, \u201cthe problem is to be at the same time loving enough\nand loved enough to live and endure in another.[258]... Those who vanish\nand those who remain must love one another so greatly that the shadows\ncast by them on the universal consciousness are identical.\u201d \u201cWe should\nthen feel ourselves passing and ascending from this life to an\nimmortality of love,\u201d and \u201cthe point of contact between life and\nimmortality would be discovered.\u201d[259]\n\nA solution recently offered by Finot[260] is much less poetical.\nAccording to him, it is only \u201cwhen death is conceived of as annihilation\nthat it is repugnant. On the other hand, if we regard it merely as a\nchange of life, we shall cease to fear it, and even come to love\nit.\u201d[261]\n\nBut what is this \u201cchange of life\u201d that is to prove so consoling? It is\nthe \u201cimmortality of the body,\u201d that is to say, the life of the creatures\ndeveloped at the expense of the human body. \u201cFlies begin the work of the\nlabourers on the dead,\u201d giving birth to worm-like larv\u00e6 that writhe in\nthe decomposing flesh. The same vermin that horrified Tolstoi when he\nthought of his own death (see chap. vi. p. 123) became Finot\u2019s symbol of\nconsolation. He describes the whole succession of the fauna of corpses,\nand concludes by saying, \u201cand so goes on the routine of life, from birth\nto the tomb, of noisy, clamorous life, ceaselessly renewed. Ever loving,\ngiving birth, living and dying. The peace of the tomb is as filled with\nlife as the dust into which we think our bodies will fall.\u201d[262]\n\nI have given the above quotation as an instance showing to what lengths\nmen have gone in their search for a solution of the problem of death and\nin their desire for a gleam of hope that the end may not be final. I\nneed not say that this idea of the fauna of the corpse has no place in\nthe philosophy of death. Thinkers, no doubt, would prefer the most vague\nambiguities to certainties of such a nature. Most contemporary\nphilosophers regard the problem in a very different fashion.\n\nIn my opinion, Meyer-Benfey, a scholar at G\u00f6ttingen, has summed up the\npresent condition of the problem very clearly and exactly, in essays on\nModern Religion.[263] He realises that it is impossible to accept the\nimmortality of the soul. Personality must utterly and inevitably perish.\nBut, just as no single atom of our bodies can be annihilated, so \u201cno\nparts of our souls can be lost.\u201d Our actions during life leave traces so\nmuch the deeper as the life has been fuller. It is this reuniting \u201cof\nthe actions of individuals with the life of the whole of humanity, that\nconstitutes the true immortality or Nirv\u00e2na.\u201d He says, too, \u201cIn\naccustoming our minds to this thought, and in educating ourselves with a\nview to the accomplishment of this end, lies the only possible means of\novercoming the fear of death and the terror of annihilation.\u201d\n\nMeyer-Benfey is of the pessimistic opinion that happiness cannot\npossibly be regarded as the supreme end of humanity, for he thinks, if\nthat were so, the whole course of evolution would have been a mistake.\nIt would have been much better had evolution been arrested before the\ncreation of the human race, since animals, being unaware of the\ninevitability of death, are undoubtedly happier than man. As, however,\nwe have passed through the animal stage and reached the human stage, and\nachieved some measure of civilisation, and this not by our own desire,\nor as the result of mere chance, but guided by the inner workings of our\nnature, it is plain that the ultimate goal towards which we are\nadvancing, must be some other than mere happiness. There can be no\nquestion but that the goal is the triumph of pure and perfect culture.\n\nThis idea, that the goal of humanity is progress in all its\nmanifestations, is no recent theory, and many definitions of this\nprogress have been advanced, but so far none have been generally\naccepted as satisfactory. The term \u201cculture,\u201d though vague, will have to\ncontinue in use until some better word conveying a more precise meaning\nis found to replace it.\n\nOn reviewing all the systems of philosophy which have attempted so\nstrenuously to solve the problem of individual death, it becomes plain\nthat all, or nearly all, of them deny the existence of a future life and\nthe immortality of the soul. The greater part of them, however, admit\nsome general principle incomprehensible but eternal, which will\neventually incorporate within itself all individual souls. Feeling that\nthese vague ideas are incapable of conveying consolation to poor\nhumanity in its fear of annihilation through death, philosophers have\npersistently taught the advantages of resignation. Even Guyau, realising\nthat his philosophy regarding the immortality of love fails to reassure\nthose who look to philosophy for some word of consolation, ends by\nadmitting that \u201cas there is no help to be expected from the inexorable,\nnor mercy from that which is in conformity with the universe and even\nwith our own judgment, resignation is best.\u201d[264] As it is the general\nopinion that to be philosophical is to take things as they are, without\nundue protest, the watchword of all systems of philosophy is to bow to\nthe inevitable, that is to say, to be resigned to the prospect of\nannihilation.\n\n\n\n\n                                PART III\n WHAT SCIENCE IS ABLE TO DO TO ALLEVIATE THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN\n                              CONSTITUTION\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n                  WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO AGAINST DISEASE\n\n\n  Formation of the experimental method\u2014The intervention of\n  religion in disease\u2014Disease as a basis of pessimistic systems of\n  philosophy\u2014Advance of medical science in the war against\n  disease\u2014The revolution in medicine and surgery due to the\n  discoveries of Pasteur\u2014The beneficial results of Serum Therapy\n  in the war against infectious diseases\u2014Failure of science to\n  cure tuberculosis and malignant tumours\u2014Protests against the\n  advance of science\u2014Opposition of Rousseau, Tolstoi, and\n  Bruneti\u00e8re\u2014Proclamation of the fallibility of science\u2014Return to\n  religion and mysticism\n\n\nScience, the youngest daughter of knowledge, has begun to investigate\nthe great problems affecting humanity. The chief religions and many\nsystems of philosophy had been long established before the spirit of\nscepticism dared to inquire whether or no these products of the human\nmind were really in harmony with fact. Scepticism gained ground little\nby little, and open war was declared between religious dogma and\nauthority on the one side, and scientific reason on the other.\n\nThe great religions and the philosophy of Aristotle had ruled a majority\nof mankind for some twenty centuries before doubt was cast on the real\nvalue of these doctrines.\n\nFrancis Bacon, Lord Verulam, asked why it was that all the systems of\nhis time were so vague and so powerless to explain the phenomena of the\nworld. The cause could not lie in nature herself, for without doubt she\nfollowed laws that were immutable and that could be subjected to exact\nobservation; nor could it lie in any want of intelligence in those men\nwho devoted themselves to solve the problems. The true cause of the\nfailure lay in the falsity or insufficiency of the methods employed.\nBacon, trying to provide a remedy for this condition of affairs, advised\nthat makers of generalisations should proceed very slowly, passing only\nby the smallest stages from particular facts to conclusions only more\ngeneral in the slightest degree, and so on, until the ultimate formula\nmight be reached. By such a path it was possible to attain principles\nneither vague nor ambiguous, but clear and exact and that would not be\ndenied by nature herself.\n\nThe first steps taken by science according to this method, which indeed\nhad been suggested long ago, but which was first clearly laid down by\nBacon, were slow and halting. Religious and philosophical doctrines\nstill weighed heavily on inquiring minds, so that the new method was not\nfollowed with any great courage. None the less progress was achieved,\nuntil at length the great problems of humanity opened out. More than two\nthousand years before the birth of exact science, Buddha had given voice\nto the chief grievances of the human race. \u201cBehold, O monks, the holy\ntruth as to suffering,\u201d he had proclaimed in the Sermon at Benares,\n\u201cbirth is suffering, old age is suffering, disease is suffering, and\ndeath is suffering.\u201d Science, in its slow progress, passing from\nparticular to general, reached first one of these four sorrows, the\nsuffering due to disease.\n\nIn the Buddhist legend that I quoted in chap. vi., the sight of a sick\nman \u201cwhose senses were weakened, who drew his breath with difficulty,\nwhose limbs were shrivelled, whose bowels were wrung with pain, and his\nbody pitifully soiled with excrement,\u201d suggested to Buddha the\nreflection that \u201chealth is no more than the idle vision of a dream while\nfear and disease are horrible realities. What wise man, having seen the\nthing that life is, can still think of joy or of pleasure? Woe upon\nhealth which is assailed by so many maladies.\u201d When Buddha, who was a\nyoung prince, asked of his father the gift \u201cthat he might always remain\nfull of health, and that he should be smitten by no disease,\u201d his\nfather, who was the king, replied: \u201cYou ask me what is impossible; in\nthat my son, I can do nothing.\u201d\n\nFrom that day, every religion has busied itself with the cure and\nprevention of disease. They believed that the causes of these were the\ninfluence of evil spirits or the visitations of God; and as remedies\nthey prescribed sacrifice and prayer and anything that might avert the\nanger of God. Even at the present day, similar medicine is used by\nprimitive races. In Sumatra for instance, when it is impossible to\narrest the flow of blood from a wound, the disaster is ascribed to an\nevil spirit (Polasi\u00e8q) who is sucking the wound and making it incurable.\nIn Nias, when bleeding from the nose occurs in children, it is supposed\nto be due to the father having killed a cock during the pregnancy of the\nmother. The indispensable remedy is to make sacrifice to the outraged\ndeity.\n\nNo doubt there co-exist with such practices of primitive races, certain\nuseful rules, based on correct observation or on experience. It is a\ncommon practice to try all manner of remedies on the sick; although most\ndo harm, now and again something useful may be discovered. Such vulgar\nmedicine has undoubted merit, but it cannot be compared with the results\nof scientific medicine, which are drawn from rigorous experiment.\n\nMedical science has been slow in developing, but it has now reached a\ncondition of which humanity may be proud. It is outside my purpose to\ngive a long exposition of this subject; but it is necessary to my\nargument to set out a few facts from which the reader may judge of the\npresent condition of medical science.\n\nWithout doubt the fear of disease has played a large part in the\npessimistic conceptions of the universe. Not only the words of Buddha\nthat I have quoted, but many of the systems of pessimistic philosophy\nattest this. I have already stated in chap. vi. that Schopenhauer in\n1831 was driven from Berlin to Frankfurt by fear of cholera.\n\nIn his statement of the case against this universe, and as a chief\nargument for his proposition that \u201cthis is the worst of possible worlds\u201d\nSchopenhauer adduced the spreading of epidemics. \u201cAn alteration of the\natmosphere so slight that it cannot be detected by chemistry brings\nabout cholera, or yellow fever, or the black death, diseases which\nnumber their victims by millions; an alteration slightly greater might\ndestroy all life.\u201d[265]\n\nHartmann, who has been one of the chief advocates of Schopenhauer\u2019s\npessimism, also had gloomy views on diseases and medicine. He was\nconvinced that howsoever great the progress of humanity might come to\nbe, there never would be an end or even a diminution of diseases. \u201cIt is\nno matter,\u201d he said, \u201chow many remedies may be discovered for diseases;\nnew diseases, and particularly chronic affections which, although not\nserious are extremely painful, will continue to appear more rapidly than\nthe discoveries of medicine.\u201d[266]\n\nHumanity will be fortunate if the pessimistic philosophers prove as\nwrong about their other grievances as they have proved about disease and\nmedicine. To understand the vast progress made by medicine, it is\nnecessary only to compare the complaint of Schopenhauer with the actual\nstate of affairs. When he spoke of epidemics being due to slight changes\nof the atmosphere, Schopenhauer obviously was repeating the medical\nopinion current in his times. Experimental science has proved that he\nwas quite wrong. It has been shown conclusively that two of the great\naffections of which he spoke, cholera and plague, are due not to\nchemical changes in the air, but to definite microbes, the natural\nhistory of which is known as well as that of any other plant. Cholera is\nproduced by the vibrio, discovered by Koch, a minute organism that lives\nin water and that enters the human alimentary canal with food or drink.\nWe do not yet know a definite cure for cholera, but we do know how to\nprevent infection. The most simple mode of guarding against infection is\nto swallow only material that has been boiled, and to prevent\ncontamination of water or of vessels with f\u00e6cal matter containing the\nKoch\u2019s vibrio. Moreover, in individual cases use may be made of\nanti-cholera serums. In 1831, if these discoveries had been made,\nphilosophy would have taken a different course. Instead of trembling at\nthe epidemic, and flying to Frankfurt, Schopenhauer would have remained\nquietly at Berlin, and Hegel would not have ceased to develop his\nidealism in the university of that town.\n\nSchopenhauer enforced his argument by reference to the black death\n\u201ccapable of destroying millions of victims.\u201d It is certain that the\nblack death was no other than human plague, which made enormous ravages,\nin the fourteenth century, for instance, destroying nearly a third of\nthe population of Europe. In those days, no one doubted but that it was\na visitation of the Divine wrath, and people gathered in churches to\nmake common supplication. Sacrifices were offered and flagellations took\nplace in the hope of averting the terrible malady. Travellers who have\nbeen in the capital of Austria must have seen in one of the chief\nstreets (Graben) a large and unlovely monument, erected in the\nseventeenth century to commemorate the interposition of Providence in\nstaying one of the great epidemics of plague. Now that science has made\nknown the true cause of plague, our ideas as to the causes of the\nappearance and disappearance of epidemics are very different. Plague is\nnot the manifestation of the anger of God, but is a scourge due to\ninvasion by a minute organism, discovered simultaneously by Kitasato and\nYersin in 1894. The natural history of the microbe has been studied, and\nwe know that it may live not only in human bodies but in the bodies of\nsmall rodents, such as rats and mice, which live in association with\nman. These animals are the source of human infection, and it is\nnecessary to destroy them as completely as possible. There is no doubt\nbut that the arrest of the plague in the seventeenth century was due to\nthe fact that rats and mice had themselves been exterminated by the\nplague.\n\nPlague, which formerly was the most terrible of epidemic diseases, has\nnow become a misfortune against which it is simple to guard ourselves.\nTo secure that end, however, we have not to pray or to scourge\nourselves, but to take measures to destroy rats and mice. Moreover\nserums may be employed; and the use of these is not only prophylactic,\nbut if the disease be not too advanced, is actually curative. The danger\nof which Schopenhauer spoke may be regarded as definitely averted, and\nthis is due to the advance of medical knowledge. In such countries as\nBritish India in which plague still causes great losses, we have to\nblame the ignorance of the population. Instead of following the course\nprescribed by science, these people still prefer the rules laid down by\nthe Brahmanistic religion. Their idea of cleanliness and purity is a\nreligious idea, and not that of medicine and bacteriology. It is not\nsurprising that plague still exists in India, but none the less no case\nis a better instance of the progress of knowledge.\n\nHartmann\u2019s idea as to a progressive increase in the number of diseases\nrests on no exact grounds, and is in opposition to much that we know. As\na matter of fact, as knowledge of hygiene advances and becomes spread\namong the peoples, diseases become less frequent and less fatal.\n\nA great stimulus was given to medicine and surgery when there was\napplied to these the knowledge gained by Pasteur in his study of\nfermentation. Pasteur showed that fermentations were chemical\nalterations in organic matter, excited by the presence of minute\norganisms very common in the neighbourhood of man.\n\nThis discovery was applied in the first place to surgery. Lord Lister,\nthen a surgeon in Scotland, showed that the festering of wounds was due\nto the entrance of minute organisms. Following this clue, he succeeded,\nby the use of dressings, in preventing the contamination of wounds and\nat once saw a vast reduction in deaths following surgical operations.\nSince the discovery of an\u00e6sthetics, such as ether, chloroform, and\ncocaine, and the use of germ-free dressings, surgery has been developed\nin a marvellous fashion. The varied and delicate feats of abdominal\noperation are known to all, and recently surgery of the heart has become\npossible.\n\nA comparison of the mortality of the wounded in the different wars of\nthe nineteenth century affords an excellent means of gauging the\nprogress of surgical treatment of gunshot wounds. The mortality of the\nwounded among the English troops in the Crimean war reached 15.21 per\ncent.; in the French troops in Italy in 1859\u20131860, it was 17.36 per\ncent.; in the German army in 1870\u20131871, the years in which antiseptic\nsurgery came into use, it fell to 11.07 per cent.; while in the\nSpanish-American war in 1898, in the most brilliant period of modern\nsurgery, the percentage mortality of wounded had fallen to 6.64.[267] In\nthe recent Transvaal war, the mortality was half what it had been in the\nFranco-German war.[268]\n\nNew medical knowledge, founded on the discovery of the nature of\nferments and of the virus of infection, has reformed the practice of\nmidwifery to such an extent that puerperal fever, formerly one of the\ngreat scourges of humanity, is now extremely rare.\n\nBlindness acquired at birth, which formerly rendered many lives\nextremely miserable, is now practically completely prevented, by means\nof the precautions taken to hinder the child from being contaminated by\nthe mother in the process of birth. The most successful method is that\nwhich was suggested by Cred\u00e9,[269] a German physician, and consists in\nplacing in the pupils of the infant a minute drop of nitrate of silver,\nwhich is an antiseptic, and prevents the occurrence of ocular\nblennorrhagia.\n\nAppendicitis, a disease so common that I referred to it in chap. iv. as\none of the most salient examples of disharmony in the human\nconstitution, has been resolutely attacked by medical science. In some\ncases, surgical interference makes a definite end of the disease; in\nother cases medical treatment has been enough to subdue the symptoms\nwithout recourse to operation.\n\nFor a considerable period, those of a sceptical disposition asserted\nthat the advance of bacteriological knowledge was of service only in\nsurgical cases. But Pasteur showed that this was an erroneous view.\nWorking with Chamberland and Roux, Pasteur demonstrated that many\ninfectious diseases could be prevented by the use of attenuated virus;\nhe succeeded in saving the lives of many animals and of men, bitten by\nrabid dogs and affected by hydrophobia, a disease formerly almost\ninvariably fatal and among the most horrible to which man is liable.\n\nIn the latter direction, medical science is developing at an\nextraordinary rate, and is achieving results of a remarkable nature.\nAmong recent discoveries, I may mention that of the curative properties\nof the blood serum of animals which have been subjected to the action\neither of microbes or of the soluble products of microbes. Von Behring,\nworking with the Kitasato, a Japanese investigator, has shown that a\nserum of this nature, prepared with the poison produced by the microbe\nof diphtheria (the poison was discovered by Roux in collaboration with\nYersin), is capable not only of protecting those in good health from\ndiphtheria, but of curing those who have been attacked by the disease.\nThe serum fails to act only when it is employed in advanced cases of\ndiphtheria.\n\nAnti-diphtheritic serum, introduced into medical practice about eight\nyears ago, has been tried in every way and has been proved to possess\nboth preventive and curative properties. If patients still die from\ndiphtheria, it is only because the treatment has been applied too late\nor insufficiently.\n\nThe use of the anti-diphtheritic serum has reduced the mortality in\ncases of diphtheria from 50 or even 60 per cent. to 12 or 14 per cent.\nThe number of infant lives that have been saved by this method must be\nenormous.\n\nThe beneficent discovery of the curative value of serums has been\napplied to other diseases and is giving very encouraging results. I\ncannot go into details here, but it is enough to say that in the last\nquarter of a century medicine has entered a new epoch, and has taken its\nplace among other exact sciences based on the experimental method.\nAlthough it is not surprising that in so short a space of time science\nhas not yet conquered all the ills affecting humanity, this failure has\nprovoked the most severe criticism.\n\n\u201cIndeed,\u201d one of the critics has said, \u201cyou vaunt the progress of\nmedical science at a time when you have to confess that it has failed to\ncure tuberculosis, one of the gravest of the infectious diseases, which\nalone causes the death of a sixth part of the human race.\u201d It is true\nthat the infectious nature of this scourge was announced by Villemin\nmore than forty years ago. Twenty years have passed since Koch, the\nGerman bacteriologist, discovered the microbe that produces not only the\nordinary form of pulmonary consumption but all other varieties of\ntuberculosis. And we are still ignorant of any remedy for the disease.\nIn all the bacteriological institutes and laboratories search is being\nmade for some vaccine or serum or medicament which will arrest a disease\nthat in many cases nature herself cures. But the results amount\npractically to nothing.\n\nThis is certainly a good example of the failure of science. None the\nless a closer examination shows that even with the knowledge already\ngained we could deal with tuberculosis in a manner more efficacious than\nis the existing practice. When the infectious nature of the disease had\nbeen made known, before waiting for the discovery by Koch of the actual\nbacillus, we should have employed all the known modes of destroying\ninfectious matter. In spite of all that has been said and written on the\nsubject, people still spit on the floors of omnibuses and cars and on\nstreet pavements. Tuberculosis is propagated not because of the failure\nof science, but because of the ignorance and stupidity of the\npopulation. To diminish the spread of tuberculosis, of typhoid fever, of\ndysentery, and of many other diseases, it is necessary only to follow\nthe rules of scientific hygiene, without waiting for specific remedies.\n\nAlthough the science of to-day is sufficiently armed against the\ndiseases commonly known as infectious, the case is very different with\nsome other affections, among which the chief place is taken by malignant\ntumours, or cancers, in the most general sense of the word.\n\nThere are few maladies more terrible, for they practically never\ndisappear spontaneously, and surgery can remove them successfully only\nif they have been recognised at an early stage. Every year a number of\npersons, old and young, die victims of malignant tumours, and it is even\npossible that cancer is more prevalent now than in former times. It has\nbeen suggested that the increase of cancer is due to the greater\nlongevity among modern races, and as malignant tumours are most common\nin old persons, it may well be that the prolongation of life has given\nthis disease a larger field. However, even allowing for this, it is\nprobable that there is a real increase of cancer.\n\nUnquestionably the malignant tumours are the diseases most disappointing\nto medicine and surgery, and these sciences are as much at a loss with\nregard to them as in the case of infectious diseases before the\ndiscovery of pathogenic organisms. Science is perhaps even in worse case\nwith regard to cancer than it formerly was with regard to infectious\ndiseases, for, before the discovery of microbes, something was known of\nthe virus which produces infection. Thus the virus of smallpox was\nknown, and was used, by the method of inoculation, to prevent more\nserious attacks of the disease. Nearly a century before the discoveries\nof Pasteur, Jenner had been able to be of the greatest service to\nmankind by his discovery that the virus of cow-pox could be used as a\npreventive of infection by smallpox.\n\nIn the case of malignant tumours, we do not even know their real nature;\nwe are ignorant as to whether or no they are infectious, and whether\nthey are caused by a microbe coming from without or are due to internal\nchanges of the tissues. Our ignorance, however, affords no ground for\ndespair. It is probable that the malignant tumours will soon come to be\nranged with infectious diseases due to invasions by specific microbes.\nExperiments on the cancers in rats and mice have shown that these can be\ninoculated in the same manner as in the case of the recognised\ninfectious diseases. Hanau has shown that this occurs in the case of\nepithelioma of old rats; Morau[270] has succeeded in transferring the\ncancers of white mice, and his results have been confirmed by\nJensen[271] and Borr[272], in the Institut Pasteur. These\ninvestigations mark the beginning of a new stage in the knowledge of\ntumours. I am unable to see, therefore that the malignant tumours\nprovide a satisfactory argument in favour of a pessimistic conception of\nthe universe.\n\nDr. Boas, of Berlin,[273] in a recent publication, has laid stress on\nthe fact that most patients affected with cancer do not seek medical aid\nuntil the disease is far advanced. For instance, in 80 per cent. of the\ncases of cancer of the rectum that he had attended, the patients\npresented themselves too late for operation. Boas advised that the\nattention of the public should be drawn, by means of widespread\npublication, to the earliest symptoms of cancerous disease. He thought\nthat such a course might save many lives by making possible operation in\nearly stages.\n\nThe prevention and treatment of disease, which for long was in the hands\nof religious authorities, is now passing into the care of those who\nemploy the methods of scientific medicine. It is now only in the case of\ncertain nervous maladies, which can be treated by suggestion, that\nreligion has any important part to play. I have not thought it necessary\nto expound at length the work of science in the struggle against\ndisease, because the evidence on this point is extremely clear and\nprecise. Every one must accept it, and even the passionate enemies of\nscience have to bow before the fact.\n\nHowever, the problem has been changed. Science they now admit, is\ncapable, no doubt, of assuaging humanity in its sufferings from this or\nthe other disease. But there is another question. Disease is only an\nepisode in human life, and the great problems remain unsolved by\nscience. It is not enough to cure a man of diphtheria or intermittent\nfever; it is necessary to explain what the destiny of man is, and why he\nmust grow old and die at a time when his desire to live is strongest.\nHere, plainly, all science must fail, and here must begin the beneficent\nwork of religion and philosophy. But as science is constantly casting\ndoubt on the dogmas of religion, and criticising adversely the systems\nof philosophy, it is plain, that so far from being of service, science\nis actually harmful to mankind.\n\nThe campaign against science was opened long ago. In the eighteenth\ncentury Rousseau[274] opened it with brilliancy and zest worthy of his\nreputation. He defended his theme with vigour and eloquence and the\nfollowing quotations may serve as an example, \u201cKnow O people,\u201d he wrote,\n\u201cthat nature has desired to preserve you from science as a mother tries\nto snatch a dangerous weapon from the hands of her child; that the\nsecrets which she has hidden from you are evils from which she would\npreserve you, and that one of her greatest gifts is the difficulty with\nwhich knowledge is acquired. Human beings are perverse, but they would\nhave been worse had they had the misfortune to be born learned men.[275]\nOur sciences are futile in so far as they fail to attain their objects,\nbut they are worse than futile in the results that they bring about.\nBorn of idleness, they cherish their mother\u2014Tell me, illustrious\nphilosophers, you from whom we know why matter attracts matter, the\nrelations of the orbits traced by revolving planets, the mathematical\nproperties of curves, what stars may be inhabited, what insects exhibit\ncurious modes of reproduction; tell me, I say, you from whom we have\ngained such marvellous information, if you had never learned of these\nthings, should we have been less numerous, less well governed, less\nflourishing, or worse disposed?\u201d[276]\n\nSuch words were capable of impressing men because of their eloquence and\nsincerity, but they could not arrest the continued and triumphant\nadvance of science, which indeed, precisely at the end of the eighteenth\ncentury, began its modern and lasting progress. For it was then that\nLaplace described the system of the heavens and that Lavoisier laid the\nfoundation of modern chemistry and of our knowledge of the\nindestructibility of matter.\n\nIn the nineteenth century, science has made a revolution in life by its\napplication of steam and by its other triumphs. None the less it has not\nsatisfied many distinguished persons. And to-day we find a writer of\ngenius, in the manner of Rousseau, raising his voice against the science\nof the nineteenth century.\n\nTolstoi, in an essay of which the title is, \u201cOn the Aim of Science and\nArt,\u201d has attempted to show the incompetence of science with regard to\nthe great problems that occupy humanity. The task set himself by the\nRussian writer was much harder than that of Rousseau, for with the\npassing of a century science has become much more powerful.\n\nTolstoi is convinced that theoretical investigations into the origin of\nlife, the intimate structure of living matter and so forth, are of no\nimportance to human beings, and serve no other purpose than to flatter\nthe pretensions of the learned. \u201cAll that we call culture,\u201d he affirmed,\n\u201cour sciences, our arts, improvements in the amenity of life, are no\nother than attempts to deceive the moral cravings of mankind; all that\nwe call hygiene and medicine are no other than attempts to deceive the\nphysical and natural cravings of mankind.\u201d[277]\n\nThe whole progress of science \u201cup to the present time, has not only not\nimproved the lot of the majority of mankind, that is to say of the\nlabourers, but has made it worse.\u201d[278]\n\nTolstoi thinks that the epithet \u201ctrue science\u201d could be given only to\n\u201cknowledge of the right aim and true happiness of each individual and of\nmankind as a whole. Such a science would serve as a guiding thread in\ndetermining the proper sphere of all knowledge\u201d; \u201cwithout knowledge of\nthe proper aim of life and of the real good of humanity, all other\nknowledge and every art become merely amusements idle or even\nharmful.\u201d[279]\n\nThe chief grievance of the great Russian writer against knowledge,\nculture, and progress can be resolved into the powerlessness of these to\nexplain the most difficult problems of humanity, that is to say the real\naim of human life, and what really constitutes true happiness.\n\nIn this connection, Tolstoi gives expression to a view which is shared\nby many thinkers. Some years later, Bruneti\u00e8re,[280] a well-known French\nwriter and public man, under the influence of a recent journey to Rome\nand visit to the Pope, made public a similar opinion, and proclaimed\naloud the fallibility of science.\n\nBruneti\u00e8re made his criticism as follows: \u201cFor the last two or three\ncenturies, science has promised to change the face of the earth, to\ndispel every mystery; she has not done so. She is powerless to resolve\nthe sole problems that are essential, that concern the origin of man,\nthe rules for his conduct, and his future destiny. We know now that\nnatural science can teach us none of these matters. Thus, in the battle\nbetween science and religion, science has been defeated, because she has\nhad to admit her powerlessness precisely where religion is most strong.\nFor religion gives the solutions that science has failed to supply.\nReligion teaches us what we can learn neither from anatomy nor from\nphysiology, that is to say, what we are, whither we are going, and how\nwe ought to act. Religion and science supplement each other; and, as\nscience can do nothing for morality, it becomes the duty of religion to\ntake her place.\u201d\n\nIt has been replied to Bruneti\u00e8re, that his recriminations are\nunfounded, first, because science has never undertaken to solve the\ngreat problems of the aim of life and the proper basis of morality;\nnext, because it is probable that these problems will never be solved by\nthe human understanding. Charles Richet, a well-known French\nphysiologist, made a vain effort to find any written evidence that\nscience had promised to solve the great problems which have absorbed the\nattention of Tolstoi and Bruneti\u00e8re as well as of quite a large section\nof humanity. \u201cIn what standard works has science made the astonishing\npromises that M. Bruneti\u00e8re recalls with so much bitterness?\u201d asked\nRichet.[281] \u201cI have now before me,\u201d he proceeded, \u201cthe Manuel du\nbaccalaur\u00e9at \u00e8s sciences (Guide to a Degree in Science). It is a summary\nof contemporary scientific ideas. I have looked through it in vain for\npromises\u2014it contains no promises.\u201d[282]\n\nThe promises referred to must be looked for in scientific treatises that\ndeal in generalisations. It is not to be disputed that, since the\nrenaissance in Europe of the rational and sceptical spirit, that is to\nsay, in the last two or three centuries, the view has been proclaimed\nthat all human life may be regulated by natural laws without the\ninterposition of dogmas, either metaphysical or religious. Attempts of\nthis kind have been numerous. B\u00fcchner, in his treatise on \u201cForce and\nMatter,\u201d in which he tried to give a general conception of the universe\nbased on the scientific knowledge of the nineteenth century, made very\nplain statements on this point. \u201cWe must seek the foundation of\nmorality,\u201d said the German populariser, \u201celsewhere than in the timeworn\nand fantastic belief in the supernatural. Science must replace religion;\nbelief in the real existence of a natural and immutable order in things\nmust displace belief in spirits and ghosts; natural moral law must take\nthe place of artificial or dogmatic morality.\u201d[283] B\u00fcchner even tried\nto indicate what natural morality is. According to him it is \u201cthe law of\nmutual consideration of the equal rights of each person, both from the\ngeneral and the individual point of view, so as to assure the greatest\nhappiness of the greatest number. Everything that damages or destroys\nthe common good is \u2018evil;\u2019 everything that favours it is \u2018good.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe other question, as to whither we are going, finds an answer in the\nmaterialistic and scientific breviary of B\u00fcchner. He disputes the idea\nof immortality, which has been supported by nearly all the religions,\nand comes to the conclusion that there is nothing appalling to a man,\n\u201cimbued with the principles of philosophy, in the conception of the\nannihilation of the individual life.\u201d \u201cAnnihilation is perfect rest; it\nis freedom from all pain and escape from the sensations that torture the\nbody and the mind\u2014as was explained so clearly in the great religion of\nBuddha; it is not to be feared, but rather to be coveted when life has\nreached its normal term and when old age has come with its inevitable\nassemblage of infirmities.\u201d\n\nI do not wish to suggest that the views I have just quoted are peculiar\nto B\u00fcchner. That writer has served to a large extent as the mouthpiece\nof ideas current among the materialistic and positivist men of science\nof his time. In Haeckel\u2019s book, \u201cThe Riddle of the Universe,\u201d which\nappeared nearly half a century after the first edition of \u201cForce and\nMatter,\u201d the same ideas are to be found. He also has found answers to\nthe questions that absorb mankind. In his opinion also, as I have shown\nin chap. v. the problem of natural morality resolves itself into the\nsocial instincts of man, and has nothing to do with religious dogma. As\nfor the destiny of man, he concludes as follows: \u201cThe best end we can\ndesire after a courageous life, spent in doing good according to our\nlight, is the eternal peace of the grave.\u201d[284]\n\nThere is a very close resemblance between the views of the two great\npopularisers of the nineteenth century. Just as B\u00fcchner, to show the\nstupidity of the idea of eternal life, repeated the legend of the\n\u201cWandering Jew,\u201d so Haeckel, with the same object, related the legend of\nthe unhappy \u201cAhasuerus\u201d who sought death vainly, finding his eternal\nlife intolerable. \u201cHowever gloriously we may depict this eternal life in\nparadise, in the end it would be a fearful burden to the best of men.\u201d\n\nWhile there is no doubt but that such ideas are shared by many men who\nrely on scientific arguments, there are others to whom the problem\npresents itself differently. The German physiologist, Du Bois Reymond,\nafter reflecting on the general problems of knowledge and the universe,\nproclaimed an \u201cIgnorabimus\u201d as a warning that a whole series of problems\nof the highest importance to humanity were outside the range of human\nknowledge and incapable of solution. These problems were precisely the\nseven \u201criddles of the universe\u201d that Haeckel claimed to have solved in\nhis book.\n\nMany learned men think that the great problems, those, according to\nTolstoi, that constitute the only true science, can never be solved.\n\u201cEvery day there comes a new conquest,\u201d said Richet,[285] \u201cbut we are no\nnearer solution of the ultimate enigma, the destiny of human life, an\nenigma probably never to be solved.\u201d Philosophers have taken the same\nview. \u201cIt cannot be from science,\u201d said Guyau, \u201cthat personality is to\nrequire the proofs of its own durability.\u201d[286]\n\nThe answers given by science as it exists to-day, have failed to console\nthe spirits that have applied to her. When Richet, in the discussion on\nthe \u201cbankruptcy of science\u201d recalled the discovery of treatment of\ndiphtheria by specific serums as an instance of the value of scientific\nresearch, Bruneti\u00e8re replied, \u201cSerum therapy cannot prevent us from\ndying, nor tell us why we must die.\u201d The problem of death always recurs.\nWhat is the use of saving the life of a child smitten by diphtheria only\nthat it may grow up, and by learning the inevitability of death become\nfilled with terror?\n\nIf science be really powerless before the gravest problems that torture\nmankind, if she has to excuse herself by admitting her incompetence, if\nshe can do no better than to extol the silent annihilation of the grave,\nit is not surprising that many minds and these not the least capable,\nturn from her. The desire to find some consolation in the miseries of a\npurposeless existence throws them into the arms of religion or\nmetaphysics. Here lies the explanation of the actual return in these\ndays to faith. People plunge into mysticism hoping to find there\nsomething more comforting than the annihilation offered by science.\n\nIn all ranks of modern society there are signs of this craving for the\nsupernatural. It is therefore extremely interesting to follow the\nintimate steps of such an abandonment of science and return to faith.\nThe \u201cConfessions\u201d of Tolstoi gave one of the best examples of the\nmetamorphosis.\n\nHaving reached the conclusion that life is meaningless because it cannot\nbe harmonised with the fear of death and the prospect of absolute\nannihilation, Tolstoi (see chap. vi.) asked if it were not possible to\nsolve the great problem of human existence by means of the facts of\nscience. \u201cI searched in all the sciences,\u201d he said, \u201cand not only found\nnothing myself, but became convinced that all who sought would find\nnothing. Not only would they find nothing, but they would see clearly\nprecisely what had driven me to despair, the fact that the absurdity of\nlife is the sole indisputable bit of knowledge open to man.\u201d \u201cFor a long\ntime, observing the grave and solemn tones of the exact sciences, which\nindeed, hardly touched the problem of life, it seemed to me that they\nmust be concealing something that I did not understand.\u201d\n\nAll the while, the question that Tolstoi put to himself seemed simple\nenough: \u201cWhy am I to keep alive? Why am I to do anything?\u201d or, in\nanother way: \u201cHas life any object that is not destroyed by the\ninevitable death that awaits me? To the one question, put in many ways,\nI sought an answer in human knowledge.\u201d \u201cFrom my earliest youth the\nspeculative sciences interested me deeply. Later on, the mathematical\nand physical sciences attracted me, and until my question rose up\nclearly before me, day by day growing larger, and imperatively demanding\nan answer, until then I was satisfied with the semblance of an answer\ngiven by science.\u201d \u201cI said to myself; everything is evolving,\ndifferentiating, moving towards complexity and amelioration, and the\nprogress is under the guidance of law. You, you yourself are part of\nthis whole.\u201d \u201cAlthough I am deeply ashamed to confess it, there was a\ntime when I thought myself content with these things. My muscles grew\nand became stronger. My memory added to its stores. My ability for\nthinking and understanding increased. I grew and developed, and feeling\nthe growth within me, it seemed natural to believe that the solution of\nmy own life was given by the law of the whole universe. But the time\ncame when I stopped growing. I felt that I was no longer developing and\neven that I was slipping back. My muscles weakened; my teeth dropped\nout; and I felt that this law not only explained nothing, not only had\nnever explained anything, but had not been a law at all; that in fact I\nhad taken for a law what I found in myself at a particular stage of my\nlife.\u201d\n\n\u201cAs I found no explanation in science,\u201d Tolstoi went on, in his poignant\nnarrative, \u201cI began to look for the answer in life, hoping to find it in\nthe men around me.\u201d \u201cMy intellect was at work, but also something else,\nsomething that I can call only the consciousness of life, like some\nstrong force that compelled my intellect to turn in another direction\nand to rescue me from my desperate condition.\u201d\n\nThe new direction was the feeling of faith. \u201cHowever I might put to\nmyself the question: how must I live? the answer was\u2014by the law of God.\nWhither tends my present life? To eternal pain or to blessedness\neverlasting. How is my life not destroyed by death? By eternal union\nwith God, by heaven. And thus I was led inevitably to see that quite\nindependently of human knowledge, which formerly seemed to me the only\nguide, mankind had another guide, a guide that is irrational; faith\nwhich makes life possible. Faith seemed to be as irrational as ever, but\nI could not but recognise that faith alone gave mankind an answer to the\nproblem of life, and in consequence made life possible. Reason had led\nme to the conviction that life was absurd, and so, there being no longer\na reason to live, I had wished to kill myself. Looking at mankind as a\nwhole, I saw that men kept alive by assuring themselves that they saw a\nmeaning in life. I myself came back to that point of view. I had reached\na time when there seemed to me to be no meaning in life. But as to other\nmen, so to me, life and the possibility of living were offered by\nfaith.\u201d\n\nDriven in the direction of faith, Tolstoi reached the following\nconclusion: \u201cThe object of a man\u2019s life is the salvation of his soul;\nfor that, we must live in God, and to live in God it is necessary to\ngive up the pleasures of life, to work, to submit, to suffer and to be\ncharitable.\u201d And this conclusion led to the other that \u201ca faith has\nvalue in so far as it gives a meaning to life which is not destroyed by\ndeath.\u201d\n\nIt is plain then that all this evolution, the beginning of which was the\nfear of death, ended in belief in something beyond death. And it is also\nplain why Tolstoi should have been as bitter against science as I have\nshown him to be. Tolstoi does not afford the only example of a case\nwhere the failure of science to solve the problem of death has led to\nthe abandonment of science in favour of religion. Bruneti\u00e8re, if it is\npossible to judge from his published writings, traversed similar paths\nin his journey to the Catholic religion.\n\nHowever, even an intellect so positive and so sceptical as that of Zola\nhas been unable to resist the lures of faith. There is a very\ninteresting note on this subject in the _Journal_ of de Goncourt, dated\nFebruary 20, 1883. \u201cTo-night, after dinner, at the foot of the bedstead\nof carved wood, where coffee was served, Zola began to talk of death, on\nwhich his thoughts have been fixed more than ever since the death of his\nmother. After a short silence, he said that death had made an in-road on\nthe nihilism of his religious convictions, as he could not face the\npossibility of an eternal separation.\u201d\n\nIn strata of society less impregnated with rational and scientific\nthought, it is plain that the return to religion must be more common. I\nrecall the case of a woman of the people, a workwoman, who declared that\nshe formerly had had no belief, but that, since the birth of her son,\nshe had begun to believe in the good God, as she was convinced that it\nwas only by such a belief that she could guard the life of her child\nfrom the evils of the world.\n\nAs things are, it is not wonderful that many people decline to educate\ntheir children in an exclusively scientific spirit, which is destructive\nto faith, as they cannot substitute for faith something equally\nconsoling. Perhaps ideas of this kind lie behind the story of the apple\nof the Garden of Eden and the invention of the words of Jahveh: \u201cBut of\nthe tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:\nfor in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die\u201d (Genesis\nii. 17). The legend of Prometheus, who stole fire from heaven, and was\nchained to a rock, is in the same category.\n\nSolomon gave voice to the same idea, in the clearest way, in his words:\n\u201cI communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I am come to great estate,\nand have gotten more wisdom than all they that have been before me in\nJerusalem; yea, my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.\n\n\u201cAnd I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly: I\nperceived that this also is vexation of spirit.\n\n\u201cFor in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge,\nincreaseth sorrow\u201d (Ecclesiastes, i. 16).\n\nMuch later, Shakespeare offered to us in _Hamlet_, the type of a man\nvery highly cultivated, in whom reason and reflection had arrested\naction. As he could not solve by reason the problems that haunted him,\nhe asked if it were worth while to remain alive. Then followed the\nfamous lines:\n\n            \u201cThus conscience does make cowards of us all,\n            And thus the native hue of resolution\n            Is sicklied o\u2019er with the pale cast of thought.\u201d\n\nAs so many men of genius have taken the same point of view, it becomes\nnecessary to inquire carefully as to whether or no too much knowledge be\nharmful to human happiness. If science do no more than to destroy faith\nand to teach us that the whole living world is moving towards a\nknowledge of inevitable old age and death, it becomes necessary to ask\nif the perilous march of science should not be stayed. Is it that the\nattraction of mankind to knowledge is as dangerous to the race, as the\nattraction of moths to the light is fatal to these wretched insects? The\nquestion demands an exact answer. But before giving the verdict, the\nfacts of the case must be examined. I shall proceed to this in the\nchapters to follow.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X\n            INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE\n\n\n  General account of old age\u2014Theory of senile degeneration amongst\n  unicellular organisms\u2014Conjugation amongst infusoria\u2014Old age in\n  birds and anthropoid apes\u2014General characters of senile\n  degeneration\u2014Sclerosis of the organs\u2014Phagocyte theory of senile\n  degeneration\u2014Destruction of higher elements by macrophags\u2014Mechanism of\n  whitening of the hair\u2014Serums acting on cells (cytotoxins)\u2014Sclerosis of\n  the arteries and its causation\u2014Harm done by the microbes of the\n  alimentary canal\u2014Intestinal putrefaction and the modes of preventing\n  it\u2014Attempts to prolong human life\u2014Longevity in biblical times\n\n\nWhile I cannot share the views of those who turn from science to seek\ntruth and consolation in religion, it would be wrong to ignore or to be\nindifferent to the existence of that attitude. There are men who are\ntormented by the contradiction between the desire of life and the\ninevitability of death, and when these demand some solution of the\nproblem, it is unreasonable merely to say that they are too exacting and\nshould learn contentment.\n\nIf a man complains to his physician of uncontrollable hunger and thirst,\nhe is not told that it is wrong to be so greedy, and that that fault\ncould be mastered by strength of mind. The doctor carefully examines the\npatient and does what he can for the distressing symptoms, which,\nindeed, in this case are generally due to diabetes. Those who hunger and\nthirst after eternal life, ought to be similarly treated by men of\nscience whose duty it is to ameliorate their sufferings as much as\npossible.\n\nScience has undoubtedly gone far in the successful treatment of disease,\nboth as regards prevention and cure, but it is powerless before those\nother evils from which Buddha implored his father to grant him\nexemption\u2014old age and death. Science has attained to heights of\nknowledge undreamed of by Buddha\u2019s father, King Couddh\u00f4dana, and yet it\nknows no more than he did with regard to the problem of old age and\ndeath. Like the king, science can but reply to its questioners: \u201cYou ask\nthe impossible. I cannot help you!\u201d\n\nNot only is no remedy for old age known to science, but little or\nnothing is known with regard to that period in the lives of men and\nanimals. It was no easy task to compress an account of the present\nposition of medicine within a few pages, the subject matter being\noverwhelming in quantity. With regard to old age it is quite the\ncontrary, our knowledge being so limited that the subject may be dealt\nwith in a few lines. With the advance of years, man and the higher\nanimals undergo important modifications. They become weaker, the body\nshrinks, the hair whitens, and the teeth decay; in fact, all the\nphenomena connected with senile decay manifest themselves.\n\nAt this period of life which overtakes various species of animals at\ndifferent ages, the body becomes an easy prey to pernicious influences\nand diseases. The direct cause of death cannot always be determined, and\nis attributed to the general breaking up of the system which we call\nnatural death. The first question which presents itself to the\nscientific mind is whether this degeneration or senile decay is proper\nonly to man and the higher animals, or is common to all forms of life.\nWe have all seen very old trees, the appearance of which proclaims their\nage. The trunk is decayed, the bark gnarled, the branches shrivelled,\nand the leaves scanty. Some kinds of trees live for hundreds\u2014possibly\nthousands\u2014of years, while others age with comparative rapidity. Senile\ndecay is not unknown in the vegetable kingdom, and its presence is\nsuspected even among creatures of very simple organisation belonging to\nthe group of infusoria. These creatures may be reared with ease in\nvessels containing macerations of chopped hay or leaves. They multiply\nby means of division (Fig. 12), an operation which takes place at very\nshort intervals, some of them dividing nearly every hour. Owing to this\nrapid multiplication the vessels soon become full of a mass of\ninfusoria. M. Maupas,[287] a very distinguished zoologist, observed that\nthe infusoria became smaller and smaller after a number of generations,\nexhausting themselves, as it were, and perishing unless two individuals\nsucceed in uniting. This process of \u201cconjugation\u201d (Fig. 13), involves an\nexchange of portions of the bodies of the two creatures and brings about\na complete rejuvenescence of the two individuals. After conjugation, a\nprocess essentially similar to the details of sexual fertilisation, the\ninfusoria resume the normal appearance and again become capable of\nreproduction by simple division for many generations.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 12. Paramecium about to divide in two.\n]\n\nThe periodical debility, which precedes conjugation is, according to\nMaupas, an instance of senile degeneration among infusoria. He has\nrecognised its existence in the case of many species of the higher\ninfusoria (_Ciliata_), but while this phenomenon has been observed in\nthe case of many other simple organisms, it cannot be set down as\nuniversal among microscopic beings. Among bacteria, a group that\nincludes the greater number of pathogenic organisms, conjugation has\nbeen very rarely observed. Even the largest kinds, such as, for\ninstance, the _anthrax_ bacillus, may be propagated for a long series of\ngenerations without the occurrence of conjugation.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 13. Conjugation of two Paramecia (after B\u00fctschli).\n]\n\nEven in the case of the infusoria which by means of the process of\nconjugation can reproduce indefinitely, the preconjugal debility cannot\nbe identified with the senile degeneration of human beings, the higher\nanimals and trees. In all these debility is the antecedent, not of\nconjugation and rejuvenescence, but of the end of life.\n\nAnother important difference is that in the case of infusoria the\npreconjugal debility does not occur in every individual, as is the case\nwith the animals and plants which display real old age. In the infusoria\nan indefinite number of generations occur between the individuals that\ndisplay debility and those that are ready for conjugation.\n\nIf, in spite of these differences, we were to insist on the existence of\nan essential resemblance between senile degeneration in man and\npreconjugal debility in infusoria, it would be enough to reflect on the\nresult of applying to the case of man what is an infallible remedy in\nthe case of the infusoria. For conjugation brings about a real\nrejuvenescence of the infusoria and a similar event in the case of man\nwould only increase the debility. Moreover, according to recent\ninvestigations of Calkins,[288] infusoria, weakened by degeneration, may\nbecome young again not only by conjugating with their kind, but by the\naddition of bouillon or extract of brain to the medium in which they\nlive.\n\nReal old age is a phase of existence in which the natural forces abate\nnever to be renewed. In animals, the life cycle of which is very\ndefinite, the signs of senile degeneration are not visible. Insects, in\nthe adult condition, very often live only a short time, and die without\ndisplaying the slightest mark of age. In the case of lower vertebrates,\nold age is little known, and has few signs. On the other hand, mammals\nand birds display senile atrophy in a marked fashion.\n\nSome species of birds live to a great age, longevity being more common\nthan among mammals. Cases in which birds such as geese, swans, ravens,\nand some birds of prey, have been known to reach the age of fifty\nyears,[289] are not uncommon, whereas such an event is very rare in the\ncase of a mammal. Even small birds, such as canaries, may live as long\nas twenty years. Parrots are especially long-lived birds. Cockatoos have\nbeen known to reach the age of eighty years and more. I myself have had\nopportunities of observing a South American parakeet (_Chrysotis\namazonica_) which lived more than eighty-two years, longer than is usual\neven with parrakeets. Several years before it died the bird showed\nunmistakable signs of old age. It became less lively, its plumage,\nalthough it did not whiten, lost much of its brightness, and the joints\nof the claws showed evidence of the presence of disease. In short, the\nparrakeet was obviously worn out and debilitated.\n\nMammals show the signs of age even more plainly than do birds. A dog\nreveals old age by its slow movements, its white hairs, and worn teeth.\nThe appearance of such an animal is never agreeable, while it is often\ndirty and ill-tempered. Brehm describes the old age of a dog as follows:\n\u201cAt twelve years of age a dog has grown old, and his gait and whole\norganisation show signs of age. The coat is no longer glossy; the\nforehead and muzzle are grey, the teeth are blunted or have fallen out.\nThe animal is lazy and apathetic. Many such dogs are dumb and blind.\nDogs may live for twenty, six and twenty, or even thirty years, but such\ncases are most unusual.\u201d\n\nAs the dog is a domesticated animal, it might be argued that its old\nage, with its manifest signs of decrepitude, is the result of the\nartificial conditions of its life. To decide on this point it is\nnecessary to examine an instance of old age in a wild animal. This\npresents certain difficulties since wild animals when old and feeble\nbecome an easy prey to carnivorous enemies. It will best serve our\npresent purpose to consider such information as has been collected\nregarding the period of old age in anthropoid apes.\n\nThe natives of Borneo have observed \u201cold orangs, which have not only\nlost their teeth, but being too feeble to climb, live on the fallen\nfruits and herbs.\u201d[290] Gorillas, according to Savage, turn grey in\ntheir old age, from which has arisen the erroneous view that there are\ntwo species of the gorilla.\n\nIn their wild state, monkeys, like ourselves, are subject in their old\nage to various distressing ailments. Senile degeneration, then, which is\nuniversally looked upon as one of the greatest evils of life, is by no\nmeans restricted to the human race. Old age, as portrayed in the\nBuddhist legend, referred to in chap. vi., is perhaps somewhat\nexaggerated, but this period of life is undoubtedly characterised by\nchanges of such a nature as considerably to affect the happiness of the\nold. Buddha, being a pessimist, took too dark a view of this, but let us\nhear what optimists have to say on the subject. Max Nordau, a doctor, a\nwriter of books and a journalist, says: \u201cPhysically speaking, an old man\npresents an unpleasant picture of decrepitude to the casual observer.\nMorally speaking, he is a blind and pitiless egotist, having lost all\ninterest in anything outside himself. Intellectually he becomes\nfeeble-minded and narrow in his views, being governed by antiquated\nnotions and prejudices, and incapable of grasping new ideas.\u201d[291]\n\nIt may be objected that I am here supporting my argument by quoting from\na writer who, in his capacity of clever journalist, rather forces the\nnote. Let me therefore refer to what a learned physiologist said when\naddressing a serious audience assembled for the purpose of obtaining\ntruth and information from his lips. After dealing in broad outline with\nthe physical degeneracy caused by old age, Longet[292] draws the\nfollowing mental picture: \u201cThe old feel that their task in life is\naccomplished, and believe themselves to be universally grudged the space\nthey occupy in the world. This renders them suspicious of all around\nthem, and jealous of the young. Their craving for solitude and the\nuncertainty of their tempers are due to the same cause. All old people\nare not like this, of course. The hearts of some remain youthful and\nbeat strongly within their feeble frames, but, as a general rule, they\nare morose and a nuisance to themselves and others, excepting when they\nare surrounded by their children or grandchildren, who like to listen to\nthem about the past, and who make excuses for the present. Thus the\nyears speed onward, every round of the clock bringing the end nearer,\nand every hour adding a new wrinkle to their faces, some fresh weakness\nand some new regret. Their bodies ... become decrepit; their backbones,\ntoo weak to hold them upright, curve over and bend them downwards\ntowards the earth.\u201d\n\nThere can be no doubt but that the period of old age is sad, and a\nthorough knowledge of it is necessary before it can be understood.\nDisease can only be successfully dealt with when the cause of its\npresence is known, and so it is with old age.\n\nIs it possible, one might ask, at the present stage of the world\u2019s\nknowledge, to define, with even approximate accuracy, the characteristic\nfeatures of senile decay? The task is difficult, for although the\nsubject is very important, few facts have been collected.\n\nIt is common knowledge that the flesh of old animals, used as food, is\ntough. An old fowl cannot be compared with a tender and juicy chicken.\nOrgans such as the liver and kidneys are much harder in the case of old\nanimals. The horny flesh of old animals is often compared with\nboot-leather. Although the comparison does not pretend to be scientific,\nit is far from being incorrect. Boot-leather is made from the hides of\nanimals; that is to say, of a very resistant material that is called\n\u201cconnective tissue,\u201d and which consists of a dense mass of fibres,\nmingled with the living elements or \u201cconnective tissue\u201d cells. This\ntissue is very durable and so is employed for boots and shoes.\n\nThe infiltration of any organ with connective tissue makes it tough and\nunpalatable. This hardening is called a _sclerosis_ (of the liver,\nkidneys, &c.). In old age many organs exhibit this tendency to hardening\nor sclerotic degeneration. The fact has been known for long, but its\nsignificance has been perceived more recently. Demange,[293] in his\nmonograph on the organic changes associated with old age, states as\nfollows: \u201cBesides atrophy and degeneration of the parenchymatous\nelements,[294] there is to be observed a profound change in the\nframework of connective tissue, which serves to support the organs. In\nsome cases the skeletal framework of an organ becomes more conspicuous,\nsimply on account of the degeneration of the cells; this is the\ncondition usually present in the liver of aged persons. More often,\nhowever, the connective tissue receives some kind of stimulation, which,\nalthough it does not amount to inflammation, brings about an active\ngrowth and resulting sclerosis. According to the particular case, the\nhardening occurs in the form of isolated patches or strands, or affects\nthe whole periphery or even the depths of the organ, and smothers the\nhigher elements in its meshes, so producing a further degeneration. The\ncellular elements disappear gradually, connective tissue taking their\nplace, and the change may be so profound, that as in the case of the\nprostate gland, the altered organ may actually transcend the normal\nsize, partial or general atrophy, however, being more often the result.\u201d\n\nSclerosis in old people sometimes takes the form of a hardening of the\nliver (cirrhosis of the liver) or of the kidneys (renal cirrhosis), but\nit is the arteries which are most commonly affected by it, producing a\nsymptom of degeneration which is called arterial sclerosis.\n\nCazalis long ago originated the oft-repeated aphorism: \u201cA man is as old\nas his arteries,\u201d these vessels, by means of which the blood is\ndistributed throughout the whole system, being of immense importance in\nthe economy of the organism. When the connective tissue is so freely\ndeveloped as to cause a hardening of the arteries, these are hampered in\nthe exercise of their function and become very brittle. According to\nDemange, all the special modifications undergone by the body during the\nperiod of old age may be attributed to this atrophy of the arteries, but\nthis theory is proved to be an exaggeration by the fact that post\nmortems on the aged frequently reveal the presence of little or no\narterial sclerosis.\n\nIt might fairly be supposed that the hardening seen in many organs of\nthe body during the period of old age is universal, and lends greater\nstrength to the frame. The bones, which are separated from one another\nin youth, become welded together in old age owing to the calcareous\ndeposits in the joints, and the ossification of the joints between the\nvertebra frequently causes the backbone to assume the appearance of a\ncontinuous bone, the greater part of the cartilage having become\nossified. In spite of this, and as though for the purpose of proving how\nphysically full of contradictions is the period of old age, the human\nframe actually becomes lighter and the quantity of component mineral\nsubstances becomes less. This brings about a liability to fracture of\nthe bones in old people. The fracture of the neck of the femur is a\nconstant cause of death in the aged, as occurred for instance in the\ncase of Virchow, one of the most distinguished medical scientists of the\nnineteenth century.\n\nIs science, it may be asked, in a position to state precisely what are\nthe principal modifications which occur in the tissues of old people? At\nthe International Congress of Medicine held at Berlin in 1890, a\nwell-known German anatomist, Merkel,[295] attempted to reply to this\nquestion. Speaking of the tissues of old people, he tried to show that\ncertain of these, such as the skin and the mucous membrane (the\nepithelial tissues), preserve their youthful characters to the end,\nwhereas others, such as the connective tissues, display profound\nchanges. This essay was the first attempt to form a picture of the\ndetails of senile degeneration, but it did not reach any simple, general\nconclusion.\n\nLater on, I myself[296] tried to complete the work, and for the purpose\nmade use of the published results of all the investigators who had\nstudied senile degeneration. I gave a summary of my conclusions in the\nfollowing words: \u201cIn senile atrophy the same condition is always\npresent: _the atrophy of the higher and specific cells of a tissue and\ntheir replacement by hypertrophied connective tissue_.\u201d In the brain,\nthe nerve cells disappear; that is to say, the cells which subserve the\nhigher functions such as intellectuality, sensation, control of\nmovement, and these are replaced by elements of a lower kind, in\nespecial by neurogl\u0153a, a kind of connective tissue of the brain. In the\nliver, the hepatic cells, of great importance to the nutrition of the\norganism, yield to connective tissue. In the kidneys, that tissue\ninvades and blocks the tubes by which the necessary process of\neliminating soluble waste matter is accomplished. In the ovaries, the\nova, the specific elements which serve to propagate the race, are\nsimilarly eliminated and replaced by granular cells, a variety of\nconnective tissue. In other words, a conflict takes place in old age\nbetween the higher elements and the simpler or primitive elements of the\norganism, and the conflict ends in the victory of the latter. This\nvictory is signalised by a weakening of the intellect, by digestive\ntroubles, and by lack of sufficient oxygen in the blood. The word\nconflict is not used metaphorically in this case. It is a veritable\nbattle that rages in the innermost recesses of our beings. Distributed\nthroughout every part of our bodies are certain cells which fulfil\nspecial functions of their own. They are capable of independent\nmovement, and also of devouring all sorts of solid matter, a capacity\nwhich has gained them their name of phagocytes or voracious cells. The\nfunction these phagocytes fulfil is a very important one, for it is they\nthat congregate in vast numbers around microbes or other harmful\nintruders, in order to devour them. Effusions of blood and other\nelements, on penetrating to parts of the body where their presence is\ndisadvantageous, are absorbed by these phagocytes. In cases of apoplexy,\nwhere blood is shed into a part of the brain, setting up paralysis, the\nphagocytes cluster round the clot and devour the blood corpuscles it has\nencased. This absorption is a lengthy process, but by degrees, as the\npressure of the effusion of blood is removed from the brain, and\nparalysis disappears, the health of the organism may become completely\nrestored, recovery in such a case being due to the work of the\nphagocytes. After childbirth, when the uterus presents the appearance of\na great open wound clotted with blood, it is again the phagocytes that\nclean it and re-establish the normal condition. It is plain, therefore,\nthat the part played by these cells is beneficent.\n\nThe phagocytes may be divided into small active phagocytes, generally\nknown as the microphags, and larger phagocytes called macrophags, which\nare sometimes active and sometimes still. The former, which are produced\nin the marrow of the bones, circulate freely in the blood, and occur as\nsome of the white blood corpuscles, or leucocytes. They are\ndistinguishable by their oval shape which facilitates their easy passage\nthrough the smaller blood-vessels, and allows of their accumulating in\ngreat numbers in the exudations that form around microbes. These\nexudations may be formed extremely rapidly, and so may arrest infection\nin the case of many diseases.\n\nThe absorption of extravasations of blood and the healing of wounds are\nthe work of the macrophags. In a general way, the microphags may be said\nto rid us of microbes, and the macrophags to heal mechanical injuries,\nsuch as h\u00e6morrhages, wounds, and so forth. Macrophags possess a single\nunlobulated nucleus, and occur as white corpuscles in the blood, lymph,\nand exudations, or as the fixed cells in connective tissues, the spleen,\nand the lymphatic glands, &c.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 14. Section of a Renal Tubule, invaded by Macrophags, from the\n    body of an old man of 90 years. _m_ = macrophag. (From a preparation\n    made by Dr. Weinberg.)\n]\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 15. Cell from the brain of a woman 100 years old being devoured\n    by macrophags. (From a preparation made by Dr. Philippe.)\n]\n\nThe phagocytes are endowed with a sensitiveness of their own, and by\nmeans of a sense of smell or taste are able to recognise the nature of\ntheir surroundings. According to the impression made upon this sense,\nthey approach the object which arouses it, exhibit indifference to it,\nor withdraw from its vicinity. When, however, an infectious microbe\nfinds its way into the body, the microphags are attracted by its\nexcretions and swarm into the exudations surrounding it. The macrophags\nplay a very important part in bringing about senile decay. The atrophy\nof the kidneys in old persons is attributable to their agency (Fig. 14).\nThey accumulate in large quantities in these organs, clustering round\nabout the renal tubes which they ultimately cause to disappear. Having\nappropriated the place of the renal tubes, the macrophags proceed to\nform connective tissue, which thus takes the place of the normal renal\ntissue. A similar process occurs in the other organs that degenerate in\nold age. In the brains of old persons and animals, for instance, it is\nknown that a number of nervous cells are surrounded and devoured by\nmacrophags (Fig. 15). Judging from the investigations mentioned above, I\nthink I am justified in asserting that senile decay is mainly due to the\ndestruction of the higher elements of the organism by macrophags. This\nconclusion has been confirmed by means of direct observation, which was\nthe more necessary as it is contrary to the opinions of some biologists.\nMarinesco,[297] an authority upon everything connected with the nervous\nsystem, has disputed my theory, asserting that the destruction of the\nspecific elements in the nervous centres of old persons is not brought\nabout through the agency of macrophags. In support of his theory, M.\nMarinesco was good enough to send me a series of preparations from the\nspinal marrow of persons of very advanced years from which evidence of\ndestruction by means of phagocytes or phagocytosis, was completely\nabsent. I freely admit the absence of phagocytosis in M. Marinesco\u2019s\npreparations, but these were derived from the cells of spinal marrow,\nwhich is much less subject to the ravages of senile decay than is the\nbrain. Even in the lower portions of the encephalon, senility and its\nparallel, phagocytosis, are uncommon, whereas in the brains of old\npersons, which are more generally affected by senile decay, the higher\nelements are clearly shown to undergo destruction by macrophags (Fig.\n15). The same phenomenon may be observed in the case of parrots and dogs\nof advanced age, and in other animals.\n\nSo universal a symptom of old age is the invasion of the tissues by\nmacrophags, that it must be regarded as of immense importance. In order,\nhowever, to determine more precisely the nature of the function\nfulfilled by these phagocytes, it was necessary to select a specially\nfavourable subject of investigation. My choice fell upon an examination\ninto the causes of the hair turning white,[298] that being as a rule the\nfirst visible sign of approaching old age.\n\nHair, before it has lost its colour, is full of pigment scattered\nthroughout the two layers of which each hair is composed. At a given\nmoment, the cells of the central cylinder of a hair become active, and\nproceed to devour all the pigment within their reach. Once they are\nfilled with coloured particles, these cells, which are a variety of\nmacrophag (generally called pigmentophags or more properly speaking\nchromophags), become migratory, and, quitting the hair, either find\ntheir way under the skin or leave the body (Fig. 16). The\ncolouring-matter of the hair is removed in this way by chromophags,\nleaving the hair colourless.\n\nThe process by which hair becomes white is of importance, because it\nshows that the activity of macrophags is a dominant factor in bringing\nabout senile decay. The brittleness of old people\u2019s bones is probably\ndue to a similar cause, _i.e._, to the absorption and destruction of the\nframework brought about by macrophags invading the layers of bone. There\nis still much that remains unknown in this subject, which is well worthy\nof special research.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 16. Hair about to become grey. Chromophags transporting the\n    pigment granules.\n]\n\nThe activity acquired by macrophags during old age is closely connected\nwith the phenomena that are characteristic of certain chronic\ncomplaints. Sclerosis in old persons belongs to the same category as\norganic sclerosis, which may be set up by various morbid influences. The\nanalogy between senile decay of the kidneys and chronic nephritis,\ncommonly called interstitial nephritis, is incontestable. The\ndestruction of nervous cells through the agency of macrophags, which we\nhave already mentioned as occurring in old age, is equally a symptom of\nseveral diseases of the nervous centres, such as general paralysis of\nthe insane. Arterial sclerosis in old persons is actually an\ninflammatory disease, similar to the inflammation of the arteries set up\nby other maladies.\n\nThe similarity between senility and disease has long been recognised,\nand partly accounts for the repugnance we all experience at the approach\nof old age. In childhood and early youth people regard themselves as\nolder than they really are, and long to be \u201cgrown-up,\u201d but having once\narrived at man\u2019s estate, they do not wish to grow old. An instinctive\nfeeling tells us that there is something abnormal in old age. It cannot\nbe regarded as a part of healthy physiological function. No doubt,\nbecause old age is the inevitable lot of mankind, it may be termed\nnormal, in the same fashion as we call the pains of childbirth normal,\nsince few women escape them. In both cases, however, we have to deal\nwith pathological rather than physiological conditions. Just as every\neffort is made to relieve the sufferings of a woman in labour, so it is\nnatural to try to suppress the evils accompanying old age, but whereas\nin childbirth an an\u00e6sthetic affords relief, old age is a chronic malady,\na remedy for which is much harder to find. We have seen that in old age\na struggle takes place between the higher elements and the phagocytes,\nthe end being usually a weakening in vitality of the former, while the\nactivity of the latter is enormously increased. It would appear, arguing\nfrom this, that one means of fighting against old age, pathologically\nspeaking, would be to strengthen the higher elements of the organism,\nand to weaken the aggressive capacities of the phagocytes. Let me at\nonce warn the reader that this is not presented as a definite, but as a\npossible solution of the problem, and is offered for consideration like\nmany other hypotheses on scientific questions. The properties of\ncellular elements are easily changed when subjected to various\ninfluences, and it is therefore not irrational to seek some means of\nstrengthening the blood corpuscles, nerve cells, liver cells, muscular\nfibres of the heart, and so forth. The task has become easier since the\ndiscovery of serums that have specific actions on the tissues.\n\nIn the third chapter I stated that serums were known which give\nprecipitates only with the blood of man and of his near relatives the\nanthropoid apes. Serum of this kind has a definite specific action.\nSerums may be prepared that dissolve only the red corpuscles of\nparticular species of animals, and that are without action on the other\norganic elements. It has been found possible, even, to prepare a serum\nthat arrests instantaneously the movements of human spermatozoa, and\nthat is neutral to the similar cells of other animals.\n\nThese serums are all prepared in the same way. The cellular elements in\nquestion, spermatozoa or red corpuscles, cells of the liver or of the\nkidney, taken from one animal, are injected into an animal of another\nspecies. After several injections have been made, the serum of the\nanimal operated on becomes active with respect to the cells introduced\ninto its body. These serums were discovered by J. Bordet of the Pasteur\nInstitute, but the results have been confirmed by investigators in other\ncountries. The serums are specifically _cytotoxic_, that is to say, they\npoison particular kinds of cells.\n\nNow it has been shown that such serums, employed in small doses, do not\nkill or dissolve the specific tissue elements, but actually strengthen\nthem.[299] Here the case is analogous with the action of poisons, such\nas digitalis, which kill in strong doses, but which in weak doses\nimprove or strengthen the action of certain tissues. In accordance with\nthis indication, experiment has shown that small doses of a serum which\nis capable of dissolving the red corpuscles of human blood, actually\nincrease the number of those in the body of a patient treated by\ninjections. In the same way, in the case of a serum large doses of which\ndestroy the red corpuscles of a rabbit, small doses increase the number\nof these elements in the blood.\n\nHere there seems to be a rational method by which we may strive to\nstrengthen the higher elements of the human body, and so prevent them\nfrom growing old. The task, at first sight indeed, seems an easy one,\nonly necessitating the injection of a horse (or other animal) with\nfinely minced atoms of human organs, such as brain, heart, liver,\nkidney, &c., when serums could be drawn off in the course of a few\nweeks, capable of acting upon those organs. In reality the process would\nbe a very difficult one to carry out, as human organs are rarely\nobtainable in a condition suitable for injecting into animals. Post\nmortems can only be legally made twenty-four hours after death, and\nthere are many other obstacles in the way of removing organs from dead\nbodies. Even if all these difficulties were overcome, another difficulty\nthat would present itself would be the experimenting with various doses\nof cytotoxic serums of various strength. It is not therefore to be\nwondered at that the attempt to reinforce the higher elements of the\nhuman organism will require much time. If it be necessary to strengthen\nthe higher elements (nervous, hepatic, renal, and cardiac cells), it is\nplain that they undergo a progressively weakening process. It would be\nof the highest importance to ascertain the cause of this, for the\nknowledge would be a guide to future action.\n\nThe similarity between senile decay and the diseases entailing atrophy\nin the more important human organs suggests a similitude in cause.\nScleroses of the brain, kidneys, and liver frequently originate in\nintoxication by poisons such as alcohol, lead, mercury, and so forth, or\nthe disease may be induced by some virus, the virus of syphilis being a\ncommon cause.\n\nThe immense importance of venereal disease as a malevolent factor in the\nphenomena of old age, is especially manifested in arterial sclerosis.\nAccording to the careful investigations of a Swedish doctor,\nEdgren,[300] published in his \u201cMonograph on Arterial Sclerosis,\u201d one\ncase in every five of this disease is caused by syphilis, and he shows\nthat chronic alcoholism is an even more frequent cause (25 per cent.).\nThese two factors when united are responsible for nearly half (45 per\ncent.) the cases of arterial sclerosis that occur. Syphilitic virus and\nalcohol act as poisons which bring about first degeneration and\nbrittleness of the arterial walls, and eventually a weakening of the\nhigher elements of the organism. The phagocytes, being cells of an\ninferior order, are less sensitive to these poisons, which accounts for\ntheir victory over the poisoned elements.\n\nRheumatism, gout, and infectious diseases only play a secondary part in\nsetting up arterial sclerosis. Edgren asserts, as the result of very\ncareful calculation, that in nearly every fifth case he found it was\nimpossible to account for the origin of arterial sclerosis. In the\nmajority of cases the sufferers were elderly persons who, according to\nEdgren, \u201cwere afflicted with physiological sclerosis.\u201d[301]\n\nI take it that this sclerosis of unknown origin was by no means\nphysiological but was pathological like that set up by syphilis or\nalcoholism. The question then arises whence comes the poison in such\ncases? In syphilis there is a virus of a definite nature to deal with,\nwhich causes infection or poisoning, and brings about arterial\nsclerosis, general paralysis, and other serious ailments. Alcoholism is\na poison arising from fermentation, excited by microscopical fungi\nrelated to true microbes. Instances of arterial sclerosis which are due\nneither to syphilis nor to alcohol poisoning nor to any other known\ncause, can only be accounted for as probably arising from poisoning set\nup by the mass of microbes congregated in the human intestines. Among\nthese microbes there may be some that are harmless, and possibly even\nbeneficial, but there are undoubtedly a great number the presence of\nwhich is extremely prejudicial to health and life. It is impossible to\nenter into the details of such an important question, and a brief\nmention must suffice.\n\nThe human intestine contains an enormous quantity of bacteria, which,\naccording to the recent investigations of Strassburger,[302] increase at\nthe rate of 128,000,000,000,000 each day. These microbes, of which there\nare few in the digestive portion of the alimentary canal, are very\nnumerous in the large intestines, _i.e._, in the lower part containing\nthe waste material. The remains of undigested foods and the mucous\nsecretions form a medium very favourable to the growth of microbes. This\nbacterial flora constitutes a third part of the human excreta. It is\nvery varied, and contains an immense number of different species, among\nwhich are bacilli, cocci, and many kinds of other bacteria, about which\nlittle is known. The distribution of this bacterial flora shows that it\ncontributes nothing to the well-being of man, being scanty in the\ndigestive portions of the body, and abundant in other parts of the gut.\nThis fact alone suffices to refute the theory of those who attribute\ngreat functional importance to the intestinal flora. This theory\noriginated principally from the fact that certain animals perish when\nbrought up under special conditions protecting them from the presence of\nmicrobes. Schottelius[303] was the first to try the experiment of\nrearing chickens in a cage specially constructed for this purpose. The\nchickens hatched out, and lived for a few weeks: then, there being no\nmicrobes within them and only sterilised food being given, instead of\nincreasing in weight, they became thin and showed signs of starvation.\nSchottelius supplied them with food from which bacteria were no longer\nexcluded, upon which the chickens rallied, and soon became completely\nrestored to health. Madame Metchnikoff[304] tried a similar experiment\nwith tadpoles, which, when kept in vessels and fed upon bread containing\nthe usual microbes, developed normally, but which, when reared under\nconditions entirely free from the presence of microbes, lived on for\nsome months, but in a degenerate condition, their development being\narrested.\n\nOn the other hand, Nuttall and Thierfelder[305] succeeded in keeping\nalive for several days new-born guinea-pigs, the alimentary canals of\nwhich were free from microbes, and which were fed only on absolutely\nsterilised milk and vegetable matter. Notwithstanding this complete\nabsence of microbes the guinea-pigs developed well.\n\nAs the two sets of experiments were conducted under conditions arranged\nso carefully that the chance of error was excluded, it is important to\ntry to reconcile the apparently contradictory results. There is one\npoint common to these three experiments, _i.e._, that they were all\nexecuted upon newly born creatures. Now it is well known that at birth\nthe digestive juices are often very imperfectly secreted. In the case of\nthe guinea-pigs, these juices sufficed in quantity for the digestion of\nthe diet provided, whereas in the cases of the chickens and the\ntadpoles, the digestive juices were incapable of fulfilling their\nfunction satisfactorily, and the introduction of microbes endowed with\nconsiderable digestive capacity into the intestines compensated for the\nfunctional inefficiency of the gastric juices. In addition to the\nguinea-pigs experimented upon by Nuttall and Thierfelder, there may be\nmentioned a whole series of lower creatures such as the larv\u00e6 of mites\nand other insects which are able to digest such indigestible material as\nwax and wool in spite of the total absence of microbes within their\nintestinal tubes. These experiments are corroborated by the established\nphysiological fact that the gastric and pancreatic juices of mammals\neasily digest the most varied kinds of foods, even if treated so\nantiseptically as to ensure the total exclusion of microbes from the\nintestines.\n\nI need not go further into this subject as the facts which I have cited\nsuffice for my present purpose. The complete atrophy of the large\nintestines in the case of the woman referred to in chap. iv. proves not\nonly that this portion of the alimentary canal is not indispensable to\nhealthy life, but that life may be maintained in the absence of the\nflora of the large intestines. And this really is the centre of the\nproblem. The useless bacterial flora may give rise to serious or fatal\nmaladies. Wounds of the abdomen are really serious only when they\npenetrate the large intestines and so allow the entrance of bacteria\nfrom that region to the peritoneal cavity. In such an event, the\nmicrobes rapidly multiply in the organism and produce a grave and\nfrequently mortal illness. So long as the microbes remain within the\nintestines very few of them get into the circulation, and with these few\nthe organism is able to cope. While most of the microbes are confined\nwithin the walls of the alimentary canal, the soluble excretions\nproduced by them pass through into the lymph and blood. Quite a number\nof different facts establish this. Thus, for instance, it has been known\nfor long that the urine of human beings and of animals contains a series\nof substances such as derivatives of phenol, indol, creosol, skatol, and\nso forth. In certain diseases the amount of these substances greatly\nincreases. The stagnation of the contents of the intestines increases\nthe amount of phenol and indol. Such facts and many others make it\nprobable that these substances are the products of the bacterial flora\nof the intestines. They are absorbed by the intestinal wall, pass into\nthe general circulation, and may give rise to various symptoms of a more\nor less serious nature.\n\nBaumann, who has done much work on the subject, has brought together a\nseries of arguments supporting the bacterial origin of the presence in\nthe urine of the substances in question. Ewald, working from another\npoint of view has obtained strong confirmation of Baumann\u2019s suggestions.\nHe had the opportunity of making observations on a female patient, in\nwhom, on account of a strangulated hernia, an intestinal fistula was\nestablished. Throughout the time during which the large intestines were\ninactive, the urine contained neither phenol nor indol. But as soon as\nthe fistula was closed and communication with the large intestine had\nbeen re-established, phenol and indol reappeared in the excreta. Ewald\nformed the opinion, therefore, that these substances were products of\nthe large intestine.\n\nI need not weary the reader with more of the facts serving to show that\nthe bacterial flora of the large intestines is the source of many\npoisons harmful to the body. It is among such substances that we must\nlook for the slow poisons which, in the absence of syphilis or\nalcoholism, produce the arterial sclerosis of old age.\n\nIn the fourth chapter I gave reasons to support my view that the large\nintestine in mammals had been developed because, by storing the products\nof digestion, it allowed them to run long distances without stopping,\nand so was an advantage in the struggle for existence. Moreover, the\nmicrobes which abound in the contents of the gut make it possible to use\ncertain substances such as cellulose, that are difficult to digest. But\nthese two advantages do not count in the case of the human race. Man\ndoes not secure his prey or escape from his enemies by the rapidity of\nhis locomotion. The great development of his intellectual powers has\ngiven him advantages of another kind. Moreover, by the use of cooking\nand the cultivation of plants of high nutritive value, he is able to\ndispense with the digestion of cellulose.\n\nThere is another side to the picture. Ignorant of death and of old age,\nmammals have acquired the advantages of a large intestine at the expense\nof longevity. I have already stated that birds live longer than mammals.\nBirds are practically devoid of a large intestine, and maintain a\nbacterial flora very much poorer than that found in mammals. There is\none exception to this rule, an exception of great importance. Ostriches\nand their allies, the largest known birds, are characterised by absence\nof the power of flight and by rapidity of terrestrial locomotion by\nwhich they escape their enemies. These are the only birds in which the\nlarge intestine is well-developed. The duration of life is much less in\ntheir case than in that of smaller birds, such as parrots, ravens, and\nswans. According to M. Rivi\u00e8re, who has been engaged in ostrich farming\nin Algeria, these large birds do not live more than thirty-five years.\nThe mode of life, and the shorter duration of life, the huge development\nof the large intestines and the rich bacterial flora found therein make\nthe ostriches much more like mammals than birds.\n\nIt is to be noticed that many birds in which the duration of life is\nlong do not possess a c\u00e6cum, the portion of the alimentary canal that\ncontains most bacteria. Examination of the intestinal contents of\nparrots shows that there exist in these birds very few microbes. A\ncomparative study shows plainly that the existence of an abundant\nintestinal flora, useless for digestion, helps to shorten life by\nproducing bacterial poisons which weaken the higher elements and\nstrengthen the phagocytes.\n\nThe human race has inherited from its ancestors an enormous large\nintestine and conditions favourable to the life of bacteria. It has to\nendure the disadvantages of this heritage. On the other hand, the brain\nof man is very highly developed, and with the increase of intellectual\npower has come a consciousness of old age and death. Our strong will to\nlive is opposed to the infirmities of age and the shortness of life.\nHere lies the greatest disharmony of the constitution of man.\n\nIf we desired to make the phenomena of old age physiological rather than\npathological, it would be necessary to reduce the evils arising from the\npresence of a large intestine. It is impossible, I may at once say, to\nwait for the operation of forces independent of the human will and that\nmight lead to the suppression of an organ which has become useless. Man,\nguided by exact science, must strive to accelerate or anticipate such a\nresult. In spite of the progress of surgery, I do not expect to find in\nour time that the large intestine will be removed by operation. Perhaps\nin the distant future such a proceeding will become normal. For the\npresent it is more reasonable to attack the harmful microbes of the\nlarge intestine. In the varied flora of that region there exist microbes\ntermed an\u00e6robic, because they are able to live in the absence of free\noxygen, obtaining what they require by the decomposition of organic\nmatter. Such decomposition is attended by fermentations and\nputrefactions, and the production of poisons, such as the alkaloids\n(ptomaines), fatty acids, and even true toxins.\n\nIn the human intestines under normal conditions, putrefaction occurs\nonly very slightly, or does not occur at all. But in intestinal diseases\nof children and of adults, the microbes of putrefaction multiply\nabundantly and produce copious secretions which inflame the intestinal\nwalls. To avoid these diseases of putrefaction in the case of infants,\nit has been suggested to use as food only sterilised milk or other foods\nquite free from microbes. This regimen has proved extremely successful.\n\nIn the investigation of the factors that hinder putrefaction, it has\nbeen noticed that milk putrefies with considerable difficulty, whereas\nmeat, preserved under the same conditions, decomposes very readily.\nInvestigators have attributed the stability of milk to the presence of\ncasein or of milk-sugar. However, investigations recently made by\nBienstock[306] and confirmed by Tissier and Martel[307] have proved\nthe existence of certain microbes that hinder the putrefaction of milk.\nThese are in particular the microbes that sour milk, _i.e._, cause the\nformation of lactic acid, and which are antagonistic to the microbes of\nputrefaction. The latter multiply only in an alkaline medium. The lactic\nacid microbes produce large quantities of acid and so hinder the\nmultiplication of the organisms of putrefaction. Putrefaction takes\nplace rapidly, in spite of the presence of the lactic acid microbes, if\nthere be added soda to macerations of meat or milk. Such facts explain\nhow it is that lactic acid frequently stops some cases of diarrh\u0153a, and\nwhy treatment with lactic acid is so useful in maladies associated with\nputrefaction of the intestinal contents. It makes intelligible,\nmoreover, the medicinal value of fermented milk.\n\nRovighi,[308] an Italian physician, drank daily a litre and a half of\nkephir, a preparation made by subjecting milk to lactic acid and\nalcoholic fermentations. He found that in a few days the products of\nintestinal putrefaction in his urine either disappeared or were greatly\nreduced.\n\nIt is plain, then, that the slow intoxications that weaken the\nresistance of the higher elements of the body and that strengthen the\nphagocytes may be arrested by the use of kephir, or still better of\nsoured milk. The latter differs from kephir in that it contains no\nalcohol, and alcohol in course of time diminishes the vitality of some\nimportant cells in the body. The presence of a number of the lactic acid\nbacteria is inimical to the growth of the bacteria of putrefaction, and\nso is of great service to the organism.\n\nBut it is not enough merely to introduce useful microbes into the body.\nWe must also prevent the entrance of \u201cwild\u201d microbes, many of which are\nharmful. Soil, especially when it has been manured, contains large\nnumbers of microbes, some of which are harmful. Bienstock found that the\nsoil of the strawberry-beds in his garden contained the bacilli of\ntetanus. For three weeks he swallowed some of this soil, but found that\nthe bacteria were destroyed in his intestines, which he attributed to\nthe action of the normal bacterial inhabitants of the alimentary canal.\nIt is probable that if this arresting action were weakened the body\nwould be infected by tetanus from spores of the tetanus microbe\nswallowed with earth or strawberries or green vegetables. Moreover,\nbesides the organisms of tetanus, there are many other dangerous\nan\u00e6robic bacteria in manured garden soil.\n\nObviously we should eat no raw food, but confine our diet rigidly to\nfood that has been thoroughly cooked or sterilised. The exclusion of\n\u201cwild\u201d microbes and the introduction of beneficial microbes, such as\nthose of lactic acid fermentation, must be of great service to health. I\nknow of individuals who have derived great benefit from such a regimen.\n\nScience, even in its present imperfect condition, has many weapons by\nwhich to prevent or at least diminish the slow and chronic poisoning of\nthe organism that leads eventually to the degeneration of the higher\nelements. When these elements are being destroyed by syphilis or\nalcoholism the struggle must be directed against these evils. It is long\nsince we have known how to do this; that success has not been greater is\ndue to the carelessness of the people who are concerned.\n\nTo strengthen the resistance of the higher elements and to transform the\n\u201cwild\u201d population of the intestine into a cultured population, these are\nthe means by which the pathological symptoms may be removed from old\nage, and by which, in all probability, the duration of the life of man\nmay be considerably increased.\n\nIf it be found impossible to eliminate all the harmful microbes from the\nflora of the intestines, those that are refractory may be rendered\nharmless by appropriate serums. We know already a serum that is specific\nagainst the microbe of botulism, an organism capable of exciting serious\ndisturbance if it gain entrance to the alimentary canal.\n\nOur inmost convictions assure us that life is too short, and since the\nremotest ages attempts have been made to prolong it. I need hardly\nmention the quest of the Middle Ages for an elixir of life, but many\nthoughtful men have occupied themselves with the problem.\n\nDescartes, who was deeply interested in the subject, believed himself to\nhave found a mode of lengthening human life. Bacon published a tract on\nlife and death, and in it gave advice as to how old age might be\nreached; blood-letting and the use of saltpetre were parts of his\nspecific.\n\nOne of the oldest methods in the world consisted in bringing old men in\ncontact with the bodies of young girls. David, King of Israel, employed\nthis method, which at a much later period came into fashion.\n\nEighteenth-century quacks proclaimed a number of specifics, among which\nwas the \u201choly water\u201d of Saint Germain, an infusion of senna, merely\npurgative in its effects. It is certain that some of the medicines used\nfor the purpose, by emptying the large intestine, decreased the\nbacterial flora, and so checked the formation of the poisons that are\nharmful to the higher elements.\n\nHufeland,[309] a well-known German professor, published towards the end\nof the eighteenth century, a work called \u201cLa Macrobiotique\u201d; or, \u201cthe\nArt of Prolonging Human Life.\u201d This treatise had a great vogue in its\nday, and contained many interesting and just observations. Besides\nadvocating cleanliness and moderation, Hufeland advised that \u201cwe should\nuse vegetable rather than animal food, as animal food was more liable to\nputrefaction, whilst vegetable substances contained an acid principle\nthat retarded our mortal enemy, putrefaction.\u201d[310] Here the physician\nof a day long past anticipated one of the discoveries of modern science.\n\nIn our time scientific men have not ceased to concern themselves with\nthe prolongation of human life. Professor Pfl\u00fcger, of Bonn, one of the\nmost distinguished of living physiologists, has published an essay[311]\nin which he gave the results of his inquiries into this subject. He\nfirst stated that investigations into the habits of those who had\nattained a great age did not give information sufficiently exact.\nPfl\u00fcger laid stress on the means of avoiding infectious maladies, and\nsummed up as follows: \u201cFinally, I can do no better than to associate\nmyself with the advice given in all the treatises on the prolonging of\nlife: avoid the things that are harmful and be moderate in all things.\u201d\n\nA year later, a well-known German physician, Dr. Ebstein[312] published\na very careful treatise on the same subject. He had been struck by the\nfact that among those who have reached a great age, there have been\nseveral who had led an exuberant life, full of excesses, notably in the\nconsumption of alcohol. None the less, Ebstein advised either a complete\navoidance of alcoholic liquor, or at the most an extreme temperance in\nthe use of it. He prescribed in addition the simplification of the\nconduct of life and the avoiding of anything that is unwholesome.\n\nStudy of such works, which are written in a scientific spirit, convinces\nme that a science of the prolongation of life could be built up. An\nexact investigation of the phenomena of old age would contribute to this\nobject. At any rate, we cannot set aside as chimerical plans to make old\nage a natural process, and one easy to bear. I believe, moreover, that\nattempts to prolong life deserve to be encouraged, the more so as\ninstances of longevity are already numerous.\n\nQuite a number of cases of centenarians who have preserved intellect and\nvigour until death have been recorded. It is unnecessary to relate the\nhistories of these persons, of whom some attained such ages as 120, 140,\nand even 185 years (Saint Mungo of Glasgow). My friend, Professor Ray\nLankester,[313] thinks that such unusually old persons are monstrosities\ncomparable with those who have attained a gigantic stature. But\ncentenarians are more numerous than giants, and while the latter exhibit\nmarked signs of pathological weakness the former surprise us by their\nhealth and vigour.\n\nThe longevity of the Israelites recorded in the Old Testament is well\nknown. No doubt there is much exaggeration in these na\u00efve records. Was\nit an error of exaggeration to impute an age of 969 years to Methusaleh,\nor of 595 to Noah, or were these ages reckoned on a different basis?\nHenseler[314] suggested that in these cases each season was counted as a\nyear, so that the age of Methusaleh was really only 242 years, a length\nof life not so vastly greater than ages recorded in modern times.\n\nThere is evidence to show that in somewhat later Biblical times ages\nwere reckoned in our years. Thus in the Book of Numbers (i. 3, 20, 22)\nreference is made to those \u201cFrom twenty years old and upward, all that\nare able to go forth to war in Israel.\u201d The limit of age given shows\nclearly that the years counted were our years. This interpretation is\nsupported by many other passages in the Pentateuch, notably where annual\nharvest feasts are spoken of. We may therefore accept as probable the\nassignment of such ages as 100 or 120 years to several Biblical\npersonages, such as Aaron, Moses, and Joshua. And the words put in the\nmouth of Jahveh may be accepted as important evidence: \u201cAnd the Lord\nsaid, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is\nflesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.\u201d[315]\n\nThe longevity of that remote period must have surpassed the age of the\npresent time. From the circumstance that the greatest number of deaths\noccurs at the age of seventy years, Ebstein[316] has inferred that\nseventy years is the normal duration of life. Although there is no doubt\nbut that the duration of human life has become longer in the nineteenth\ncentury, we must believe that it was still longer in Biblical times, a\nfact that is not particularly surprising.\n\nI have called attention to the important influence of syphilis in\ninducing premature and pathological old age, as that disease is a chief\ncause of arterial sclerosis and degeneration of the higher elements of\nthe body. Syphilis has an influence still more serious because its\neffects are inherited. Now although the Bible refers to diseases of the\ngenital organs and lays stress on circumcision, there is no direct\nevidence in it as to the existence of syphilis. Ebstein, in a treatise\non the medicine of the Bible,[317] is confident that there is no\nreference to syphilis in that Book. Moreover, in the ancient world\ngenerally, syphilis was either unknown or existed only in an attenuated\nform. Haeser,[318] the author of the best modern treatise on the history\nof medicine, thinks that if syphilis did exist in the ancient world, it\noccurred in a localised form and did not become a general disease of the\nsystem as is the case among the moderns.\n\nHumanity would make a great stride towards longevity could it put an end\nto syphilis, which is the cause of one fifth of the cases of arterial\nsclerosis. The suppression of alcoholism, the second great factor in the\nproduction of senile degeneration of the arteries, will produce a still\nmore marked extension of the term of life. Scientific study of old age\nand of the means of modifying its pathological character will make life\nlonger and happier. Although modern knowledge is still imperfect, there\nis no reason to be pessimistic on the subject of old age.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n             INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH\n\n\n  Theory of the immortality of lower organisms\u2014Immortality of the sexual\n  cells in higher organisms\u2014Immortality of the cellular soul\u2014Occurrence\n  of natural death in the case of certain animals\u2014Natural death in the\n  Ephemerid\u00e6\u2014Loss of the instinct of preservation in adult\n  ephemerids\u2014Instinct of life in the aged\u2014Instinct of natural death in\n  man\u2014Death of old men in Biblical times\u2014Changes in the instincts of man\n  and lower animals\n\n\nFrom what I have said in the last chapter, it is plain that, perhaps\nbefore very long, it will be possible to modify old age. Instead of\nretaining its existing melancholy and repulsive character, it may become\na healthy and endurable process; it may also be that the duration of\nlife will be prolonged. However, it may be asked, what shall we gain by\nattaining the age of 100 or 120 years instead of 70 or 80, if there\nstill remain for us the appalling fate of the inevitable annihilation of\ndeath. Marcus Aurelius said that he who makes a long journey and he who\nmakes it short, alike meet death at the end; and that once they are\nover, three years or a century are much alike. Such assertions, however,\ndo not take into account the difference in the values we set on a thing\nat different ages. A man of the age of twenty-five years and one fifty\nyears old reason differently, and are affected differently by the same\nsurroundings. The outlook on life changes in the same individual as he\ngets on in years. Young people judge of their impressions by comparison\nwith their ideals, and as the latter are very high, they are\ndissatisfied with things as they really are. They are exacting, and\ndiscontented with what they can get out of the real world; grown up\npeople and those of advanced years are more easily satisfied because\nthey have a clearer knowledge of the true value of things. As I have\nalready had occasion to point out in a previous chapter, the young are\nmore inclined to pessimism than the old. We see, then, that appreciation\nof life changes with age. It is the same with regard to death. It has\noften been said that life is only a preparation for death. Cicero said,\n\u201cFrom our youth upwards we must accustom ourselves to face our last\nmoments without fear. If not, there is an end to peace, since it is\nquite certain that we must die.\u201d Philosophy has been called the art of\npreparing for death.\n\nBefore considering in what direction science may direct our steps\ntowards solving the problem of death, which in the words of St. Paul is\nthe \u201clast enemy to be destroyed,\u201d let us see how much is known about it.\n\nWe are so accustomed to look upon death as something natural and\ninevitable, that it has long since come to be regarded as inherent in\norganisms. However, when biologists investigated the matter more\ncarefully, they failed to discover any proof of the accepted doctrine.\nObservation of members of the lowest grade of animal life, such as\ninfusorians and other protozoa, has shown that these reproduce by simple\ndivision, and in a very short time multiply to an astonishing extent.\nGeneration succeeds generation, with the utmost rapidity and without the\nintervention of death; no single corpse appears in the swarming masses\nof animalcul\u00e6. From such facts, which are extremely easy to confirm,\nseveral biologists, and in specially B\u00fctschli and Weismann,[319] have\ndeduced an immortality of the unicellular organisms. When an infusorian\nhas divided, each daughter organism rapidly completes itself and sets\nabout again dividing in the fashion of its parent. The process may be\nmore complicated, as in the cases where a single organism breaks up into\nseveral portions each of which contains an essential part of the parent\norganism. Many unicellular organisms reproduce in such a fashion, and as\neach animal divides simultaneously into a number of individuals of the\nnew generation, the individuality is destroyed. It is possible to admit\nwith G\u00f6tte[320] that such a process is natural death, although there is\nno actual destruction and no corpse.\n\nIn any event it cannot be disputed that lower organisms are not subject\nto the natural death that comes inevitably to man and the higher\nanimals. It has been suggested that the debility of infusorians after a\nrapid series of divisions, and before conjugation, is to be interpreted\nas natural death. But the rejuvenescence that follows conjugation is\nincompatible with such an interpretation. Moreover, when conjugation\ndoes not occur, and the debility leads to death, the deaths must be\nregarded as accidental.\n\nThe theory of the immortality of unicellular organisms is now generally\naccepted. However, there are animals, higher in the scale of life, to\nwhich natural death does not come. Among these occur certain forms of\nconsiderable complexity, composed of many organs and very many cells,\nsuch as many polyps, and some worms, especially annelid worms. Some\nannelids (Fig. 17) reproduce by transverse divisions very actively.\n\u201cThroughout the summer,\u201d said E. Perrier,[321] \u201cthe Na\u00efdimorpha are\ndevoid of genital organs, and apparently (according to unpublished\nobservations of Maupas), they may be kept alive for several years, and\nperhaps indefinitely, in this sexless condition.\u201d This certainly may be\nregarded as a case of immortality due to the indefinite power of\nregeneration possessed by a complex animal.\n\nThe facts that I have cited show that death is not necessarily inherent\nin living organisms. Naegeli,[322] a well-known German botanist, has\nasserted even that natural death does not exist in nature. He points out\nthat trees, more than a thousand years old, perish not by natural death,\nthat is to say, by the gradual decay of their vitality, but by some\ncatastrophe.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 17.\u2014_Ch\u00e6togaster_ about to divide into four (from a drawing by M.\n    Mesnil).\n]\n\nThe age of the famous dragontree of the Villa Oratava at Teneriffe,\nadmired by Von Humboldt, was estimated at several thousand years. Its\ntrunk was hollow, but the huge monster continued to flourish until it\nwas overthrown by a storm. It was only by a catastrophe that the\nlong-lived giant perished. The Baobab is reputed to live for five or six\nthousand years.\n\nIn a recently published essay, Jacques Loeb,[323] a distinguished\nbiologist in Chicago, has made a study of natural death, and has come to\nthe conclusion that there is no good evidence for its existence. He has\nobserved that ripe, but unfertilised eggs of sea hedgehogs (Echini) die\na few hours after they have been discharged. Loeb thinks that this may\nbe a case of natural death, but I cannot agree with this opinion, as an\negg that has not been fertilised by a spermatozoon may be compared with\nan organism deprived of its nutrition and so dying of starvation. In\nboth cases death is purely accidental and could have been avoided.\n\nIf natural death does exist, it must have appeared on the face of the\nearth long after the appearance of life. Weismann has suggested that\ndeath arose as an adaptation for the advantage of the species, that is\nto say, in relation to the surrounding conditions of existence, and not\nas an absolute necessity inherent in the nature of the living substance.\nHe thought that as worn organisms are no longer suited for reproduction\nor for the struggle for life, natural death was due to natural\nselection, it being necessary to maintain the species in a vigorous\nstate by weeding out the debased individuals. But the introduction of\ndeath for that purpose was superfluous, since the debility caused by old\nage in itself would eliminate the aged in the course of the struggle for\nexistence. Violent death must have appeared almost as soon as living\nthings came into being. The infusorians and other low organisms, despite\ntheir potential immortality, must have been subjected perpetually to\nviolent death, falling victims to larger and stronger organisms. It is\nimpossible to regard natural death, if indeed it actually exists, as the\nproduct of natural selection for the benefit of the species. In the\npress of the world natural death rarely could come into operation,\nbecause maladies or the voracity of enemies so frequently cause violent\ndeath.\n\nNo doubt a certain number of deaths are recorded in statistics as being\ndue to old age, without visible malady. Sometimes decrepit old men feel\nno pain and seem to fall quietly into their eternal sleep; but autopsy\nreveals serious lesions of the internal organs. There is reason to\nbelieve that even such deaths are in reality violent and are usually\ncaused by infectious microbes. The general effect on the mind produced\nby examination of the collected facts is not an acceptance of the view\nthat natural death is essentially inherent in living organisms, but the\nproduction of a wish to discover if there be any real proof of its\nexistence.\n\nFor some time natural death has been ascribed only to the parts of the\nbody that are of use in the individual life. Those cells, the function\nof which is to secure reproduction of the species, are, like unicellular\norganisms, potentially immortal. The egg-cell of the female is\ntransformed into a f\u0153tus, and so is the starting-point of the new\ngeneration, while the sexual cells of the new generation give rise to\nthe third generation, and so on, in an endless chain of life. The\ngreater number, by far, of the eggs and spermatozoa perish; but their\ndeath is not natural but violent, being due to harmful external\nagencies. An infinitesimal minority of the sexual cells survive\nindefinitely in the successions of generations.\n\nScientific proof exists, therefore, that our bodies contain immortal\nelements, eggs or spermatozoa. As these cells not only are truly alive\nbut exhibit properties that are within the category of psychical\nphenomena, it would be possible to build up a serious thesis on the\nimmortality of the soul.\n\nObservations on protozoa, and especially on the infusorian group of\nprotozoa, show that these simple beings, each of which is composed of no\nmore than a single cell, possess a high degree of sensibility. They\nselect their food, distinguish living from dead animalcul\u00e6,[324] seek\nout their mates for conjugation, avoid danger, and hunt their prey; in\nfact, they are in possession of a set of qualities that must be included\nin psychical phenomena. Although such phenomena are very much lower in\nthe case of the infusorians than in the case of higher animals, it is\npossible to speak of the soul of protozoa. Moreover, as the body is\nimmortal by reason of its indefinite power of reproduction by division,\nthe soul also of these creatures is immortal. However, the soul is so\nprimitive that it is impossible to speak in definite terms about it.\n\nAs the sexual cells of the human body are immortal, like the protozoa,\nthe problem arises if these too be endowed with an immortal soul. Our\nexisting knowledge makes it impossible to doubt that ova and spermatozoa\nhave sensibility in a degree as high as that of the protozoa. The ova\nshed secretions that arouse the sensibility of the spermatozoa, and the\nlatter, directed by this specific \u201codour\u201d (the occurrence being known\ntechnically as chemotaxis), make their way to the ovum and penetrate it.\nSome substances, arousing the spermatozoa into activity and movement,\nattract them, others repel them. The phenomena of chemotaxis were shown\nfor the first time in the case of cryptogams by Pfeffer, the\ndistinguished botanist, and since then the male cells of many plants and\ndifferent kinds of animals have been proved to possess sensibility.\n\nWhen ova and spermatozoa succeed in conjugating, they produce an\nindividual of the next generation, to which they transmit what Haeckel\nhas called the \u201ccellular soul.\u201d[325] This soul, then, is really\nimmortal, inasmuch as the bodies of the reproductive cells are immortal.\n\nAlthough it is true that our bodies contain elements endowed with\nimmortal souls, it by no means follows that our conscious souls are\nimmortal. In an earlier chapter, I have already pointed out that the\npsychical phenomena of many of the cells of our body and the cellular\nsouls of these are outside our consciousness. We have no consciousness\nof the perpetual battle waged by the phagocytes against the microbes\nthat endeavour to obtain a foothold in our tissues. None the less the\nphagocytes are elements endowed with mobility and sensibility and\npossessing a cellular soul like that of the protozoa.\n\nA woman has no consciousness of the numerous spermatozoa, with their\ncellular souls, that enter her body, nor of those that fertilise her\negg-cells; she is even without consciousness of the much more highly\ndeveloped soul of the f\u0153tus. A child before birth possesses psychical\nqualities much more numerous and more perfect than those of the\nreproductive cells. It is capable of responding to certain sensations\nand of performing movements. A child, in the later months of its\nprenatal existence, possesses the senses of touch and taste and, within\nlimits, the sense of sight.[326] This soul is outside the consciousness\nof the mother. The mother cannot even tell by her consciousness if she\nbears under her girdle one or two embryonic souls. And so the\nimmortality of the cellular soul has no relation to the problem of\ndeath.\n\nIt is a common opinion that only the reproductive cells of man and\nanimals are immortal, and that the other elements of the body are\nmortal, the latter, if they escape violence, dying a natural death. A\ncontrast has been drawn between the mortal cells in which is resident\nthe life of the body and the immortal cells on which the species\ndepends. However, when non-reproductive cells possess the power of\nregeneration, it is impossible to deny their immortality. When a polyp\nor a worm reproduces by division, a large number of cells go to form the\nnew individual, and these cells are immortal in the fashion of the\ninfusoria.\n\nImmortal animals occur only among the lower invertebrates. The power of\nregeneration fades away in the higher ranks of the scale of life. Whilst\nworms may be divided in several pieces, each piece being capable of\nregeneration so as to form a new worm, when molluscs are cut they\ndisplay only a limited capacity for regeneration. If the antenn\u00e6 of a\nsnail be amputated they will be renewed, but if the whole creature be\ncut in pieces death follows. Some of the lower vertebrates, such as\nnewts and salamanders, can renew the tail and the limbs, but they cannot\nreproduce by division. Birds and mammals, the higher vertebrates, have\nvery little power of regeneration, and tail and limbs are never reformed\nin their cases.\n\nIt seems to be the case that the advance in the general organisation of\nanimals has involved a loss in the reproductive capacity of the cells\nand tissues. Even in the highest animals, some organs, such as the\nliver, still possess regenerative capacity; but, on the other hand, many\ncells have lost the power of regeneration completely. The nervous cells,\nin particular, which are the highest and most perfectly organised\nelements of the body, cannot reproduce themselves. After their initial\nappearance in the course of embryonic development, they pass their lives\nwithout regenerating or reproducing. In acquiring the highest qualities,\nthat is to say, their psychical activity, they have lost completely the\npower of reproduction, the distinctive feature of immortal cells. If\ncells doomed to natural death really exist, it is in the nervous tissues\nthat we must look for them.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 18.\u2014Ephemerids.\n]\n\nThe existence of natural death in the animal world cannot be denied, but\nit is very rare. The best example is that of the curious insects known\nuniversally as ephemerids (Fig. 18). Swarms of these delicate and\ngraceful insects are to be seen in the summer months round lights. The\nperfect insects emerge from water, in which the six-legged larv\u00e6 feed on\nthe organic d\u00e9bris contained in fresh water. The larv\u00e6 are not\npredaceous, and escape from their numerous and hungry foes by agility.\nThey are long-lived, some of them passing two or three years in the mud\nof streams, and in the end become winged insects after a rapid\nmetamorphosis. Near Paris, anglers have a popular name (_manne_, manna)\nfor one species (_Palingenia virgo_) which emerges in swarms after\nsundown from the waters of the Seine and Marne. The swarms fly in huge\nnumbers, like heavy snow-flakes, for a very short time, and then fall\ninto the water (Fig. 19). The flight of these insects lasts only an hour\nor two, and then, in an enfeebled condition, they fall down in vast\nnumbers. They are attracted by the lanterns lighted by fishermen, and\nare collected to be used as bait. The life in the winged condition is\ntruly ephemeral and lasts no more than a few hours. The structure of the\ninsect is adapted to this short life. The larv\u00e6 have powerful jaws, used\nin the mastication of food; the winged insects possess only vestiges of\njaws. They are unable to feed, and so are adapted only for the briefest\nexistence. Their hour of aerial life is devoted to love. As soon as they\nemerge the males and females unite, and the packets of eggs, which are\ndeposited at once, fall into the water, and in a few weeks the young\nlarv\u00e6 hatch out.\n\nThe mode of life and the organisation of the adult ephemerids show\nplainly that they are adapted to natural death. Death comes to them not\nbecause they are without food, or because the environment fails to\nprovide something necessary to life, but merely because they emerge from\nthe larval state in a non-viable condition, without the organs necessary\nto the maintenance of life.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 19.\u2014Swarms of _Palingenia virgo_.\n]\n\nOnce it is granted that natural death actually exists, it is necessary\nto study its mechanism as closely as the existing state of knowledge\npermits. To exclude the possibility of the death having to be\ninterpreted as violent, it would be necessary to know that some very\nrapid infectious disease does not attack these insects as soon as they\nemerge from the water. This possibility, although remote, must be\nexamined. Instances are known of large numbers of insects dying very\nrapidly as the result of attack by a species of mould which causes an\nepidemic. Every one has seen, especially in autumn, dead flies anchored\nto the window pane by a little tuft of white fluff. As so many\nindividuals die about the same time, we might be disposed to assign the\nfact to natural death. The actual cause, however, is an infectious and\nfatal disease caused by a parasitic mould.\n\nThe occurrence of some terrible epidemic may be excluded from\nconsideration in the case of ephemerids. I have made investigations\nwhich show that such an epidemic does not occur. The bodies of the dying\nephemerids contain no microbe which could be the cause of death. Their\ndeath must be regarded as natural, as the result of their organisation,\nas essentially a part of the nature of the insects. Among the cells of\ntheir body there are many active phagocytes. Is it possible to attribute\ndeath to ravages that these cells may cause among the higher cells and\ntissues? Microscopic examination, so far from supporting such a\npossibility, shows that the organs are quite normal in their intimate\nstructure. The brain and central nervous system, the muscles and other\norgans, show no signs of that invasion by phagocytes found in cases of\nsenile degeneration. In this example of natural death there is certainly\nno possibility of phagocytic intervention.\n\nSome biologists have suggested that the rapid death of ephemerids and of\nsome other insects is due to debility caused by the great effort of\ndepositing the male and female sexual cells. On this supposition, the\ncase would be analogous to the shock which is sometimes the consequence\nof a surgical operation. This hypothesis, however, may be excluded, for\namong the dead ephemerids there are many males that have not united with\nfemales. Among ephemerids males are much more numerous than females;\nmany males have no opportunity of undergoing the sexual shock and of\nemptying the reproductive organs, and these, none the less, die as\nrapidly as the others.\n\nAs yet we do not know if all the tissues of the ephemerids die\nsimultaneously in natural death. Most probably the cells of the nervous\ncentres perish first, and so bring death on the others. The\ninvestigation ought to be made.\n\nDeath comes to the ephemerids in the midst of love, at the moment when\ntheir sexual instincts are satisfied. It would be very interesting to\nknow the sensations of these creatures as they feel death come on them\nin the act of reproduction. Naturally it would be impossible to obtain a\nfull answer to the question, but many interesting facts regarding it may\nbe ascertained. All the ephemerids, not only those the life of which is\nso brief, but those that live for several days (_Chlo\u00eb_, for instance),\nare extremely easy to capture. It is unnecessary to take them unawares\nor to use a net as in the case of flies, wasps, and many other insects.\nEphemerids may be taken with the fingers in the simplest way, because\nthey offer no resistance and show no desire to escape, although they\nhave six legs and two or four wings. This is not an isolated case, for\nsome other insects (as, for example, winged ants and aphides) allow\nthemselves to be captured with the same carelessness.\n\nAlthough the adult ephemerids are careless, the wingless larv\u00e6 are\ntimid. When a tube is brought near them, among the water plants, with\nthe object of capturing them, they rapidly move off. It often requires\nmuch patience and quickness to capture these larv\u00e6 (Fig. 20). The\ninstinct of preservation of life displays itself by rapid flight.\n\n[Illustration:\n\n  FIG. 20.\u2014Larva of an ephemerid (_Chlo\u00ebrufulum_).\n]\n\nIt is remarkable that the adult insect has lost the instinct of\nself-preservation. If it be touched it may move a short distance off,\nbut it does not take to flight although its wings are very large, and\nits body, which of itself weighs little, is still lighter because the\ndigestive tube is filled with air and not with food. As a rule, an\nephemerid that has been touched does not even move off, but allows\nitself to be captured without any resistance. It would not be accurate\nto say that the larva\u2019s instinct of self-preservation has been replaced\nin the adult by an instinct for death; but it must be admitted that the\ninstinct of preservation has been totally lost. The lack of resistance\ncannot be explained by any defect in the organs of sense. Not only are\nthe eyes of the larval stage fully preserved in the adult, but the adult\nmales have enormous eyes to enable them to recognise the female in the\nturbulent flight which takes place at the close of the day. Ephemerids\nof all ages possess well developed tactile organs, and it is thus in\nspite of a highly organised sensory system that the adults offer no\nresistance to enemies.\n\nIt is no mere accident that the most striking examples of natural death\noccur among insects, for these creatures display an unusual stability in\ntheir cellular structure with a corresponding lack of the power of\nregeneration, in these particulars resembling man and the higher\nanimals. The cells of the nervous system are very complex, and are well\nadapted for the highest function, that is to say, the psychical\nfunction. These highly endowed cells, however, are devoid of the power\nof reproduction. Many experiments have been made in relation to this,\nand it has been proved clearly that in cold-blooded vertebrates the\nbrain and spinal cord with the nerve cells contained in them are capable\nof regeneration, whilst among mammals only extremely rare cases are\nknown in which there has been any regeneration of the nervous elements.\nIt is to be expected, then, that cases of natural death occur in the\nhigher animals and especially in man. However, no case is known so plain\nas that presented by the ephemerids. I have already stated that of\ndeaths apparently due to senile debility in man, a large proportion are\ncertainly due to various infectious diseases that affect the old, such\nas pneumonia and nephritis. Close examination of the tissues confirms\nthis conclusion, for the destruction of the higher elements by\nphagocytes produces what is really violent death and not a natural death\nlike that of the ephemerids.\n\nNatural death in man is probably a possibility rather than an actual\noccurrence. Old age is not a true physiological process but exhibits\nmany morbid characters. That being the case, it is not surprising that\nit seldom ends in natural death. It is probable, however, that natural\ndeath occasionally occurs in very old men.\n\nAttempts have been made to estimate the natural limits of human life.\nFlourens[327] based a calculation on the duration of the period of\ngrowth. If the latter be taken as one fifth the natural life, then human\nlife ought to last a century. As centenarians are rare, the vast\nmajority of deaths, which happen before that age has been reached, must\nbe regarded as violent or accidental. The rule of Flourens, however, is\narbitrary, and there is no evidence to show that it is exact. Probably\nin the human race, as in the case of ephemerids, the natural duration of\nlife varies and cannot be expressed by a definite figure. In most cases\nit ought to be more than a hundred years, and only in rare cases ought\nit to be much less than that term. Probably there is a variation in the\nduration of life just as there is a variation of the date of sexual\nmaturity for which rules may be laid down but not without anticipating\nnumerous exceptions.\n\nThe existing pathological character of old age vitiates all conclusions\nas to natural death, and it is still impossible to be exact in speaking\nof that subject. It is known that certain organs and tissues remain\nalive for some time after death. In the case of certain infectious\ndiseases, the heart may be removed from a human body more than thirty\nhours after death, and if placed under proper conditions will renew its\nlife, and beat for several hours. The white corpuscles, the spermatozoa\nand the cilia of a corpse, may retain their power of movement. Does this\nalso happen in the rare cases of natural death? That question must be\nanswered in the future. The most important question relating to natural\ndeath is the following: Is the appearance of natural death in man\naccompanied by the disappearance of one instinct, the instinct of self\npreservation, and by the appearance of another instinct, the instinct of\ndeath? Do the phenomena of the ephemerids give us any indication as to\nthis? An exact answer is not to be expected. As old age is generally\nwhat may be called an unnatural phenomenon, it is extremely rare for\npersons to approach the age of natural death with their faculties\nunclouded. I have had under observation a centenarian old woman, who\nstill remembered some incidents of her youth; in her the desire to live\nwas still strong, but her intellectual faculties were partially dim.\nMoreover, her brain, of which I have already spoken (p. 241), showed a\nmarked degeneration of the nerve cells due to the activity of\nmacrophages.\n\nI have obtained much information about a centenarian who was alive in\nRouen in 1900, but a single glance at her photograph was enough to show\nthat she no longer was in full possession of intelligence.[328] She was\ninfirm in many ways. So also, Chevreul, the celebrated chemist, who died\nat the age of one hundred and three years, showed not the faintest wish\nfor death; he clung to life, but his mental powers had grown weak.\n\nThe cases to which I have referred are typical, but there are exceptions\nworthy of close attention. Tokarski, in the essay on the fear of death,\nto which I referred in the sixth chapter, quoted the case of a female\ncentenarian who stated as follows: \u201cIf you come to live as long as I\nhave lived, you will understand not only that it is possible not to fear\ndeath, but to feel the same need for death as for sleep.\u201d A new feeling\nhad come into existence in the very old person, a feeling\nincomprehensible to those less old. Apparently this was a case in which\nthe instinct of natural death had appeared in a centenarian whose mental\nfaculties had been retained in a sufficiently perfect state.\n\nI wish very much that I had myself been a witness of this old woman\u2019s\nremarkable instinct in even one case of the many that I have observed.\nBut all that have been pointed out to me as subject to this new desire\nhave turned out to have been possessed of very different ideas. Some\nwere old invalids, weary of pain and ready to exchange the sorrows of\nlife for death, but who would have preferred to be healed and to live on\nin comfort. When the possibility of recovering health was suggested to\nthem, they showed signs of pleasure and of the renewal of hope.\n\nInvestigations that I have made in homes for the aged have led to\nnegative results on this subject. No case showed the slightest sign of\nthe approach of the instinct of death. However, I have learned from Dr.\nFauvel of one case to add to the instance noticed by Tokarski. It was\nthe case of an old lady whose health and circumstances were comfortable\nand who before her death showed a real desire for it and stated it in\nmuch the same language as that quoted by Tokarski. In Fauvel\u2019s case,\nhowever, the old lady had reached the age of only eighty-five years. It\nseems probable that this was a second genuine case of the appearance of\nthe instinct of death, and it is therefore interesting to notice that\nthat instinct, like the sexual instinct, is subject to variation in the\ndate of its appearance.\n\nIn my search for instances of the instinct of death, I made use of the\nlarge collection made by Lejoncourt,[329] but found that the information\ngiven by this author was very incomplete as to the mode of life and the\nlast moments of his cases.\n\nThe Bible testifies to the frequency of old age in ancient times and to\nthe complete preservation of the faculties in the aged. It also contains\nsome references that may be interpreted as instances of the instinct of\ndeath. I may take its account of the death of some of the patriarchs.\n\u201cAnd these are the days of the years of Abraham\u2019s life which he lived,\nan hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then Abraham gave up the ghost,\nand died in a good old age, an old man, and _full of years_.\u201d[330] \u201cAnd\nthe days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave up\nthe ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, being old and\n_full of days_: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.\u201d[331] \u201cAfter\nthis lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his\nsons\u2019 sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and _full of\ndays_.\u201d[332] It is probable that the phrase \u201cold and full of days,\u201d\nwhich sounds strange in our ears, simply refers to the instinct of\ndeath, developed in well preserved old men who had attained ages of from\n140 to 180 years.[333] The Biblical phrase is not merely a commonplace\nphrase applied to the death of celebrities for the references to deaths\nof other persons were put in different language. \u201cAnd these are the\nyears of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years: and\nhe gave up the ghost and died; and was gathered unto his people.\u201d[334]\n\u201cAnd Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age\nof Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.\u201d[335] \u201cAnd Aaron was an\nhundred and twenty and three years old when he died in Mount Hor.\u201d[336]\n\u201cAnd Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was\nnot dim, nor his natural force abated.\u201d[337] In only one of these later\ncases had the individual reached the age of one hundred and forty years,\nat which age, apparently, the instinct of natural death appeared.\n\nIt may seem altogether surprising and improbable to us that an instinct\nfor death should arise in man, since we are imbued with an instinct of\nan opposite nature. From the facts that I collected in my sixth chapter,\nit was to be inferred plainly that the desire of life and the fear of\ndeath are manifestations of an instinct deep-rooted in the constitution\nof man. That instinct is of the same order as the instincts of hunger\nand thirst, of the need of sleep, of movement and of sexual and maternal\nlove. The devotion and care bestowed on their young by female birds and\nmammals are known universally. And yet these instincts can be reversed.\nThere is no sacrifice of which the mothers are not capable if it serve\nto save the life or promote the well-being of their offspring. Such\ndevotion is a manifestation of the maternal instinct, which is one of\nthe strongest instincts known to us. And yet that love, so tender and so\nabsolute, lasts only for the time during which the wants of the young\nneed to be satisfied. As soon as the young begin to be independent, the\nmaternal love changes to indifference or to dislike. At the next\nbreeding-period, maternal love reappears again, so that there is a\nperiodic ebb and flow of the instinct.\n\nThe new-born babe takes an instinctive delight in the milk of his\nmother, which seems to him the only good food in the world. As soon as\nhe can show his feelings, his intense satisfaction as he is suckled is\nplain. But this instinct lasts only during the period of lactation. As\nsoon as the child begins to take different kinds of food, he ceases to\nbe pleased with his mother\u2019s milk, and may dislike it for the remainder\nof his life. Several adults to whom I have offered human milk would not\neven taste it, so disgusting did it seem to them. And yet the taste had\nnothing intrinsically disagreeable in it. Here again is an example of a\nstrong instinct that changes completely.\n\nChildren often eat to repletion of some kind of substance, and for long\nafterwards that substance disgusts them instead of being coveted by\nthem. It is said that apprentices to pastry-cooks and makers of\nsweetmeats are allowed at first to eat as much as they please. They soon\ncome to have a profound dislike for the sweet things that children like\nso much.\n\nA mother who adores her child, or a child who is extremely fond of\nsweetmeats cannot understand how any mother could dislike her offspring\nor any apprentice have a distaste for sweets. In the same way, human\nbeings full of the desire for life, believe more easily in eternal life\nthan in the possibility of an instinct of death. And yet the instinct of\ndeath seems to lie, in some potential form, deep in the constitution of\nman. If the cycle of human life followed its ideal course according to\nphysiological function, then the instinct of death would appear in its\ntime, after a normal life and an old age healthy and prolonged.\n\nIn reality, human life is subject from its very beginning to the\npernicious disharmonies in the constitution of man. This evil influence\nincreases with the passing of the years and leads to an old age ruined\nby abnormalities. It is not surprising that under such circumstances men\nwish neither to grow old nor to die. Old men, in spite of their\nattachment to life, do not attain the capacity to know all that is good\nin it, and die, in the fear of death, without having known the instinct\nof death. They may be compared with unhappy women who have married\nbefore their sexual instincts have awakened and who have died in\nchildbirth, without ever having known the real joy of loving. Formerly,\nthe number of women in such a case was large. In some parts of\nAbyssinia, girls married when they were still very young and before\ntheir physical development was mature. According to Hassenstein,[338]\nnearly one third of these young women died in childbirth. They quitted\nlife before they had known the true sexual instinct. The advancement of\ncivilisation and of medical knowledge has greatly reduced the number of\nsuch unhappy women. We must hope that the progress of knowledge will\nbring about a similar advance in relation to the instinct of death. With\nthat progress, the number of men who will live until the instinct has\nbeen attained will become greater and greater.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII\n                        SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS\n\n\n  Disharmonies in the human constitution as the chief source of our\n  sorrows\u2014Scientific data as to the origin and destiny of man\u2014The goal\n  of human existence\u2014Difficulties in the way of scientific investigation\n  of the problem\u2014What is progress?\u2014Difficulty of including the whole\n  human race in a scheme of progress and morality\u2014The instincts of life\n  and of natural death\u2014Application to real life of the doctrines set\n  forth in this book\n\n\nMan, who is a descendant of some anthropoid ape, has inherited a\nconstitution adapted to an environment very different from that which\nnow surrounds him. Man is possessed of a brain very much more highly\ndeveloped than that of his ancestors, and has entered on a new path in\nthe evolution of the higher organisms. The sudden change in his natural\nconditions has brought about a large series of organic disharmonies\nwhich become more and more acutely felt as he becomes more intelligent\nand more sensitive. And thus there has arisen a number of sorrows which\npoor humanity has tried to relieve by all the means in its power. The\ndisharmonies in the sexual functions have brought into existence\nattempted remedies of the strangest kind. The greatest disharmony of the\nconstitution is that of the morbid nature of old age and the\nimpossibility of reaching the instinct of natural death; this has\nproduced childish and erroneous conceptions of the immortality of the\nsoul and of the resurrection of the body, and many other strange\ndoctrines that have been imposed upon us as revealed truth.\n\nHuman intelligence, in the course of its progressive evolution, has\nrebelled against these na\u00efve palliatives. Finding the restoration of the\nmuch-desired harmony beyond its power, humanity became resigned to a\npassive fatalism, and believed even that the existence of man was a kind\nof bad joke, a _faux pas_ in the evolution of sentient organisms. Exact\nscience, developing slowly, but surely, has at last tried to master the\nsituation. Moving step by step, passing from the simple to the complex\nand from the particular to the general, science has established a set of\ntruths which all the world must accept.\n\nHumanity in its misery has put question after question to science, and\nhas lost patience at the slowness of the advance of knowledge. It has\ndeclared that the answers already found by science are futile and of\nlittle interest. From time to time it has preferred to turn back, and to\ndelude itself with the beautiful mirages offered by religions and\nsystems of philosophy.\n\nBut science, confident of its methods, has quietly continued to work.\nLittle by little, the answers to some of the questions that have been\nset have begun to appear. Whence do we come? science has been asked\nunceasingly. Is not man a being unlike other beings, made in the image\nof God, animated with the divine breath, and immortal? No, science\nanswers. Man is a kind of miscarriage of an ape, endowed with profound\nintelligence and capable of great progress. His brain is the seat of\nprocesses that are very complex, and much higher than those of other\nanimals, but these functions are incompatible with the existence of an\nimmortal soul.\n\nWhither are we going? That question above all other things has absorbed\nthe attention of man, and naturally so, for it is less important to know\nour origin than to know our destiny. Does death mean absolute\nextinction, or is it a gateway leading to a new and everlasting life?\nAnd if the latter alternative be untrue, how are we to face inevitable\ndeath?\n\nScience cannot admit the immortality of the conscious soul, for\nconsciousness is a function of special elements in the body that\ncertainly cannot live for ever. Immortality exists only for very low\norganisms that renew their lives by repeated divisions with complete\nregeneration, and that have no highly developed consciousness.\n\nDeath brings absolute extinction, and it seems unbearable because of the\ncondition in which it surprises us. It comes before man has finished his\nphysiological development, and when the instinct of life is still\nstrong.\n\nEver since man has begun to look a little beyond his daily and immediate\nwants, he has asked if there be a goal for his life, and what that goal\nmay be. As he has generally failed to find such a goal, he has gone the\nlength of believing life to be a mere accident, and of thinking it idle\nto seek a goal. He has formed depressing and pessimistic conclusions.\nHumanity may be compared to a boy that has not yet acquired the sexual\ninstinct, but has asked the meaning of the reproductive organs. As these\norgans play no part in the functions of his life, he might easily think\ntheir existence not only absolutely useless but absurd.\n\nMan, because of the fundamental disharmonies in his constitution, does\nnot develop normally. The earlier phases of his development are passed\nthrough with little trouble; but, after maturity, greater or lesser\nabnormality begins, and ends in old age and death that are premature and\npathological. Is not the goal of existence the accomplishment of a\ncomplete and physiological cycle, in which occurs a normal old age\nending in the loss of the instinct of life and the appearance of the\ninstinct of death.\n\nThe pessimistic school has often spoken of death as the true goal of\nhuman life. Schopenhauer,[339] for instance, said: \u201cDeath must really be\nregarded as the true goal of life; when it comes it at once adjusts all\nthat has been preparing in the course of life.\u201d Baudelaire[340] has\nexactly the same idea in his verse:\n\n         \u201cC\u2019est la mort qui console, h\u00e9las! et qui fait vivre;\n         _C\u2019est le but de la vie_, et c\u2019est le seul espoir\n         Qui, comme un \u00e9lixir, nous monte et nous enivre\n         Et nous donne le c\u0153ur de marcher jusqu\u2019au soir.\u201d\n\n\u201cAlas! it is death that comforts and gives us life; it is the goal of\nour days, it is our only hope that like a wine goes to our head and\nmakes us drunk, and puts heart into us to journey on till the night.\u201d\n\nThe normal end, coming after the appearance of the instinct of death,\nmay truly be regarded as the ultimate goal of human existence. But\nbefore attaining it, a normal life must be lived: a life filled all\nthrough with the feeling that comes from the accomplishment of function.\nKnowledge of the true goal of life clears up the problem and shows us\nthe right conduct of life. In my first chapter, I tried to lay before\nthe reader a summary of the views that have been held as to right\nconduct. Ever since the attempt has been made to discover a rational\nbasis of morality, human nature, regarded essentially as good, has been\ntaken as that basis. Religions and systems of philosophy, on the other\nhand, which have tried to find another foundation for morality, have\nregarded human nature as vicious at the roots. Science has been able to\ntell us that man, the descendant of animals, has good and evil qualities\nin his nature, and that his life is made unhappy by the evil qualities.\nBut the constitution of man is not immutable, and perhaps it may be\nchanged for the better.\n\nMorality should be based not on human nature in its existing vitiated\ncondition, but on human nature, ideal, as it may be in the future.\nBefore all things, it is necessary to try to amend the evolution of the\nhuman life, that is to say, to transform its disharmonies into harmonies\n(_Orthobiosis_). This task can be undertaken only by science, and to\nscience the opportunity of accomplishing it must be given. However, even\nin the most civilised countries, science is far from being in this ideal\ncondition. Obstacles lie in its way and retard its advance.\n\nTo make the human constitution better, it would be necessary to know it\nthoroughly. How can we try to transform to a normal and physiological\ncondition old age, at present utterly pathological, unless we first\nunderstand the most intimate details of its mechanism? Deeply rooted\nprejudices make it very difficult to examine the organs of the aged\ndead. The difficulties surrounding post-mortem investigations are almost\ninsurmountable. According to the regulations enforced in France,\nautopsies cannot be made until twenty-four hours after death. An autopsy\ncannot be made except when the corpse has not been claimed by any\nrelatives in the direct line, husband or wife, brothers, sisters,\nuncles, aunts, nephews, nieces. If kinsmen put in no claim, co-operative\nsocieties may take possession of the corpse and oppose the holding of an\nexamination. Even when an examination has been permitted, it must extend\nonly to \u201cthe ascertaining of exact facts, and this must be taken as\nexcluding the mutilation of the corpse by the removal of any organ or\nportion of the anatomy, however interesting scientifically such material\nmight be.\u201d (Circular of the Director of \u201cAssistance publique,\u201d January\n20, 1900.[341]) It is easy to see that such regulations make extremely\ndifficult the investigation of senile degeneration, and the search for\nmeans of preventing it, especially by the use of serums obtained after\ninjecting emulsions of human organs. These difficulties in reality arise\nfrom the prejudice in favour of the existence of a life beyond the grave\nand a resurrection of the body.\n\nAlmost similar difficulties stand in the way of obtaining the bodies of\nold animals. Their owners prefer to keep animals, after they are\nuseless, until they die, and to bury the bodies instead of devoting them\nto the scientific investigation that is so important to humanity.\n\nAs soon as we come to believe that the solution of the problems of human\nhappiness will come not from religions nor from systems of metaphysical\nphilosophy, but from exact science alone, the obstacles to progress will\nbe removed. That scientific methods will redress the disharmonies of the\nhuman constitution is the more probable inasmuch as the old age of human\nbeings was more physiological, and their death more natural, in earlier\ntimes than they are to-day.\n\nThe study of the human constitution not only denotes the real goal of\nour existence, but indicates to us what is meant by true culture and\nreal progress.\n\nIn earlier chapters, I have shown that philosophers have recognised the\nexistence in man of a tendency to culture and progress. But what do they\nmean by these two words? Attempts have been made to define them as\nclearly as possible, and Herbert Spencer, the greatest of living\nphilosophers, has devoted a special essay to the subject. He examined\nthose phenomena that he regarded as progressive, first in the inorganic\nworld, next, in the world of living things, and, finally, in humanity.\nHe regards as progressive only the changes that tend to increase human\nhappiness, and it is precisely on account of that tendency that he\nregards them as progressive. In order to define progressive phenomena\nSpencer thinks it necessary to make parallel studies of them in man and\nthe animal world. He finds that progress is marked always by a\ntransformation from the simple and uniform to the complex; and that it\nproduces constant differentiation, in the evolution of the planetary\nworld, in the embryonic development of the individual, and in the\nsocieties of men and animals. But differentiation is not a complete\naccount of progress, for in the latter must be included the change of\nthe indefinite into the definite. Spencer identifies progress with\nevolution, and his well-known definition of evolution is, that it is \u201can\nintegration of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion; during\nwhich the matter passes from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity to a\ndefinite, coherent heterogeneity; and during which the retained motion\nundergoes a parallel transformation.\u201d Such a formula embraces too much,\nso that he is rather vague, especially when he applies it to human\naffairs. Differentiation in itself is not the whole of progress. It is\nnecessary in each concrete case to inquire into its limits and\nmodifications.\n\nThe application of his theory of progress and evolution led Spencer, in\nhis investigation of the basis of morality, to define human progress as\nthe tendency towards a life as full and as long as possible. By fulness\nhe means complexity, if I interpret his argument correctly. Civilised\nlife as compared with savage life, is a realisation of progress.\nCivilised man, according to Spencer, uses food in a better regulated\nfashion, in accordance with the call and degree of his appetite; the\nfood is of better quality, it is freed from contamination, is much more\nvaried and is better prepared. The same differentiation distinguishes\nthe clothing, the homes and so forth of civilised man. According to\nSpencer, all such progress helps real happiness, that is to say the\nfulness and the prolongation of life.\n\nIt is easy to see, however, that such an interpretation of progress is\ninexact, like the conception of the goal of life associated with it. If\nthe complication of the mode of life, which is so marked in modern\ncivilisation, is really the best way of reaching happiness, there are no\nreasons to arrest the tendency in that direction. If, on the other hand,\nmy view be correct, that true progress consists in the elimination of\nthe disharmonies of human nature and in the cultivation of physiological\nold age followed by natural death, the conditions for realising progress\nwould be different and very clear. The great complexity of life in\nmodern civilisation is a sign of progress according to Spencer, but I do\nnot agree with him. Spencer speaks of the variety and preparation of\nfood. It is certain that this complexity militates against physiological\nold age, and that the simpler food of uncivilised races is better. I do\nnot wish to write an essay on domestic hygiene, and I shall be content\nwith saying that most of the delicate dishes provided in the homes,\nhotels, and restaurants of the rich, stimulate the organs of digestion\nand secretion in a harmful way. It would be true progress to abandon\nmodern cuisine and to go back to the simple dishes of our ancestors. One\nof the conditions that enabled the Jews of the earlier Biblical times to\nlive longer than civilised people, was, beyond all doubt, the greater\nsimplicity of their diet. True hygiene, which is in open disagreement\nwith the elaborated art of cookery, is also opposed to the\ndifferentiation of modern dress and dwellings. Progress thus would\nconsist in simplifying many sides of the lives of civilised people.\n\nThe luxury which has done so much harm to mankind, and which would be\nincluded in the formula, \u201cpassage from indefinite homogeneity to\ndefinite heterogeneity,\u201d is founded not on a general law of evolution of\nthe whole universe, but on a particular conception of life, quite\ndifferent from mine according to which the rectifying of the abnormal\nhuman cycle to a normal cycle is the true goal of life.\n\nPerhaps one of the oldest conceptions of life that has tended to luxury\nis to be found in the book of Ecclesiastes. Having reached the\nconclusion: \u201cFor in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth\nknowledge increaseth sorrow\u201d (i. 18), and having said: \u201cThen I beheld\nall the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done\nunder the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall\nnot find it, yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall\nhe not be able to find it.\u201d[342] Solomon laid down the rules of life as\nfollows: \u201cGo thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a\nmerry heart: for God now accepteth thy works.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.\u201d\n\n\u201cLive joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life\nof thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of\nthy vanity; for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour\nwhich thou takest under the sun.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhatsoever thy hand findest to do, do it with thy might; for there is\nno work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither\nthou goest.\u201d[343]\n\nThe wisdom of Solomon was to enjoy this life as much as possible, since\nman is unable to solve the problem of the goal of life. His precepts\nhave been taken as a guide, and have led to an organisation of life that\ncould only become more and more epicurean.\n\nAs soon as the goal of life has been seen clearly, luxury ceases to be\ntrue happiness as it hinders the making perfect of the normal cycle of\nhuman life. Young people, instead of abandoning themselves to all the\npleasures because they have nothing before them but a sad prospect of\nmorbid old age and death, ought to make ready for physiological old age\nand natural death. The apprenticeship certainly will be long. In our\ntime the years of study already last much longer than occurred even a\ncentury ago. As the body of knowledge grows greater, the time to acquire\nit will become prolonged, but this period of preparation will serve as\nthe prelude to ripe maturity and ideal old age.\n\nOld age is repulsive at present, because it is an old age devoid of its\ntrue meaning, full of egoism, narrowness of view, incapacity and\nmalignancy. The physiological old age of the future assuredly will be\nvery different. In the societies of animals, especially as they occur\namong insects, the members show a high degree of differentiation. Some\nindividuals are adapted to the reproductive functions, while others are\nsterile and are fitted for the care of the young and to supply the wants\nof the community. This differentiation, which is of social value, has\narisen independently in different groups. Thus, in the societies of bees\nand ants the workers are sterile females, while in the case of termites,\nindividuals of both sexes may be sterile. In the human race, evolution\nis following another path. There is no sign of the appearance of a\nsterile class; but, as the life of man is longer than that of insects,\nit is divided into two periods, a reproductive period and a sterile\nperiod. Old age, at present practically a useless burden on the\ncommunity, will become a period of work valuable to the community. As\nthe old man will no longer be subject to loss of memory or to\nintellectual weakness, he will be able to apply his great experience to\nthe most complicated and the most delicate parts of the social life.\n\nYoung men are usually very bad politicians, and in countries where they\ntake a large share in public affairs they do much harm because they are\nwithout the necessary practical knowledge. Their incapacity is clearly\nshown by the great changes in their political views as they advance in\nyears and gain experience. In the future, old men will have charge of\nall complex and difficult social functions. Thus, vast improvements will\nbe made in politics and in justice, which at present are defective\nbecause of their insufficient foundations.\n\nAs soon as every one has recognised the true goal of human life, and has\nassumed, as the ideal, the realisation of the normal cycle of life, a\nreal guide to life will have been found. We shall know at least whither\nwe are going, and as yet we are ignorant of that. We have wished to make\nlife better, but we have not known how or for whom to make the attempt.\nFormerly it was assumed that, in the future, love would spread and\nbecome generalised. Family love had spread to the tribe and then had\nbeen transformed to patriotism; it was held that no obstacle stood in\nthe way of its embracing all humanity. Such an idea was prevalent in the\neighteenth century, and became a common ground of all systems of\nphilosophy, morality and politics. But, since means of communication\nhave been improved so vastly and since the most distant voyages are\nwithin the power of almost every one, the vague notion of \u201chumanity\u201d has\nbeen replaced by exact knowledge of the native savages in many parts of\nthe earth. We have come to disbelieve in \u201chumanity\u201d in the old sense of\nthe word, so great is the difference between savage and civilised\npeoples. And many modern theories have rejected the inclusion of the\nlower races in the sentiment of humanity. In the fifth chapter, I quoted\nthe view of the moralist, Sutherland, on the advantages that have come\nabout from the English seizure of the forests that belonged to the\nnatives of Australia. Moreover, it is well known that a profound hatred\nexists between white men and black men in several parts of the earth,\nnotably in America and the Antilles. Such instances could be multiplied.\n\nHow then are we to emerge from this difficulty? At what point is the\nlove of the future to be stayed, if it cannot spread to all humanity?\n\nIn a recently published treatise on natural philosophy, Ostwald,[344] a\nvery distinguished German physical chemist, has discussed this question.\nHe calls good \u201cthe actions that made easier the existence of other men.\u201d\nBut to what other men are we to apply this rule? \u201cWhat is the size of\nthe circle of altruistic love,\u201d asked Ostwald. \u201cThe general feeling,\u201d he\nsaid, \u201cis that it should cover the family and the nation. The feeling\nthat it should cover all humanity appears to most of us as a theoretical\ndemand rather than something practical. And thus have not most of us the\ntendency to limit our altruistic actions much more in the case of men\nbeneath us than in the case of our social comrades (Stadesgenossen)?\u201d\nAccording to this formula, moral action would not stretch beyond our\ncompatriots, and humanity as a whole would be excluded from it.\n\nHere we have entered on a problem relating to the principles of normal\nlife. In former times, religion was the chief bond among men. Later on,\nreligion gave way to patriotism, which in default of anything better\nstill holds its place. Community of language unites the individuals of a\nnation, but the advance of civilisation has undermined the foundation of\nthat source of differentiation. Naturally, when a number of men spoke\nonly one and the same language, great solidarity was the result, as\nideas spread only by language. But such a monoglottism is not the end of\nhuman progress. As means of communication have improved, the nations\nhave been brought in contact with each other. The knowledge of foreign\nlanguages is an elementary necessity of modern life. And so the bonds of\nnationality certainly will become looser, in this respect following the\nbonds of family. The dislike that we have to people whose language we do\nnot understand, becomes changed into a feeling of unity with them as\nsoon as we can understand them. In that respect an active development is\nin progress, and we shall have to seek out some new principle on which\nto base international solidarity. A good deal has been made of the\npossession by different nations of the same culture, but the vagueness\nof the phrase has not been realised. Recognition of the true goal of\nlife and of science as the only means by which that goal may be attained\nwould form an ideal on which men might unite; they would group\nthemselves around that, as in former days men were held together by\nreligion.\n\nI think it extremely probable that the scientific study of old age and\nof death, two branches of science that may be called _gerontology_ and\n_thanatology_, will bring about great modifications in the course of the\nlast period of life. All that we know on these subjects confirms my\nview. But will it lead to the development of an instinct of death? That\ninstinct lies deep in the roots of the human constitution? Will the\nmeans be found to bring it to the surface? Has not the enormous period\nduring which it has remained latent led to its atrophy? The science of\nthe future alone can answer that question. But the persistence of organs\nand structures that are extremely ancient, as for instance, the survival\nof the mammary glands in males and of the vermiform appendage in\nanthropoid apes and man, gives us the hope that the instinct of natural\ndeath may emerge from its latent condition when old age has become a\nnormal process.\n\nThe mammary glands of males are functionless rudiments. They must be\ninterpreted as vestiges of organs that were more highly developed in\nremote ancestors among which both sexes gave milk to nourish the young.\nThis function exists in a latent condition in the males of living\nmammals. Extremely rare cases have existed in which males possessed\nlarge glands secreting enough milk to feed the young. These males, it is\ntrue, had the genital organs either very badly developed or in a\ncondition approaching hermaphroditism.[345] But in other authentic cases\n(perfectly developed) he-goats and rams have been known to provide milk\nin considerable quantities, whilst married men have suckled children\nwith milk secreted by unusually developed glands. It is stated that the\nsecretion of milk can be excited by stimulation of the nipples.[346]\nSuch examples of the reappearance of a latent property that has been\nlost for untold ages are extremely important.\n\nProbably actual cases of the instinct of natural death in man are as\nrare as instances of the secretion of milk by males. But favouring\ncircumstances and some education of the instinct of death would probably\nreawaken it and develop it fully. There is much work to be done before\nso great an object can be achieved. But it is the peculiar feature of\nscience to be eager for much labour, while religions and systems of\nmetaphysical philosophy are content with passive fatalism and silent\nresignation. The mere hope of being able to solve the great problems of\nhumanity in the more or less distant future brings much satisfaction.\nWhen Tolstoi, agonised by the impossibility of solving the great\nproblems, and haunted by the fear of death, asked if the love of our\nchildren is not able to sooth our souls, he found that such a hope was\nvain. \u201cWhat is the good,\u201d he said, \u201cof rearing children who will soon\nfind themselves in the same difficult position as their parents?\u201d \u201cWhy\nshould they live? why should I love them and protect them and foster\nthem? Is it that they may come to the same despair as I am in myself or\nelse grow imbecile? As I love them, I do not wish to hide the truth from\nthem, for each step in knowledge will lead them nearer to it. But the\ntruth is\u2014death.\u201d I can understand that many persons would abstain from\nhaving children if they had come to these pessimistic conclusions.\n\nThe point of view that I have exposed in this book will make life more\npossible. Our generation has no chance of attaining physiological old\nage and normal death; but it may take real consolation from the thought\nthat those who are now young may advance several steps in that\ndirection. It may reflect that each succeeding generation will get\ncloser and closer to the solution and that true happiness one day will\nbe reached by mankind.\n\nThe slow advance to happiness will demand many sacrifices. Already, men\nof science sacrifice their health and sometimes their life to reach the\nsolution of some important problem, as for instance, to clear up a\nmedical question, and so be ready to heal or to save the lives of their\nfellows.\n\nBefore it is possible to reach the goal, mankind must be persuaded that\nscience is all-powerful and that the deeply rooted existing\nsuperstitions are pernicious. It will be necessary to reform many\ncustoms and many institutions that now seem to rest on enduring\nfoundations. The abandonment of much that is habitual and a revolution\nin the mode of education will require long and painful effort.\n\nDefinition of the goal of human existence will bring great precision to\nthe principles of morality. True policy will have to be reared on new\nfoundations. The politics of to-day are in the condition in which\nmedicine still remained in days long past. In the old days any one was\nallowed to practise medicine, because there was no medical science and\nnothing was exact. Even at the present time, among less civilised\npeople, any old woman is allowed to be a midwife. In some cases the\nmother attends the labour of her daughter, or (as for instance in a\ncaste of natives in Malabar), it may be the mother-in-law who does the\nduty. Very often friends act as midwives. Among more civilised races,\ndifferentiation has taken place, and childbirths are attended by women\nof special training, who are midwives by diploma. In the case of nations\nstill more civilised, the trained midwives are directed by obstetric\nphysicians who have specialised in the conducting of labour. This high\ndegree of differentiation has arisen with, and has itself aided, the\nprogress of obstetric knowledge.\n\nPolitics, as they exist to-day, correspond to the early stages of\nobstetric practice. Every adult male is thought fit for exercising\nfunctions so difficult as those of an elector or a juryman. The only\nexcuse for this condition is that political science is in its infancy.\nWhen sociology is more advanced, there will come about a differentiation\nlike that in medicine. When that has taken place, old persons who have\nacquired great experience, and who because of their physiological\nconstitutions have preserved all their faculties, will give most\nvaluable services to the society of the future.\n\nIn the progress towards the real goal of life, men will lose much of\ntheir liberty, but will receive in exchange a new feeling of solidarity.\nAs knowledge becomes more and more extensive and exact, freedom to\nneglect it will be more and more limited. Formerly any one was at\nliberty to teach that whales were fish; but now that it has been proved\nthat whales are mammals, the mistake is not to be pardoned. Since\nmedicine has become more of an exact science, the liberty of doctors has\nbeen restrained. Practitioners have already been sentenced for\nneglecting antisepsis and asepsis. Other forms of freedom, such as the\nfreedom to neglect vaccination against smallpox, to spit on the floor,\nor to let dogs run loose without being muzzled, are worthy of savage\ndays and will cease as civilisation advances.\n\nOn the other hand, the knowledge that the goal of human life can be\nattained only by the development of a high degree of solidarity amongst\nmen will restrain actual egotism. The mere fact that the enjoyment of\nlife according to the precepts of Solomon is opposed to the goal of\nhuman life will lessen luxury and the evil that comes from luxury.\nConviction that science alone is able to redress the disharmonies of the\nhuman constitution will lead directly to the improvement of education\nand to the solidarity of mankind.\n\nIn progress towards the goal, nature will have to be consulted\ncontinuously. Already, in the case of the ephemerids, nature has\nproduced a complete cycle of normal life ending in natural death. In the\nproblem of his own fate, man must not be content with the gifts of\nnature; he must direct them by his own efforts. Just as he has been able\nto modify the nature of animals and plants, man must attempt to modify\nhis own constitution, so as to readjust its disharmonies.\n\nBreeders form a conception of the ideal result when they are about to\nattempt the production of some new variety which shall be pleasing\nesthetically and of service to man. Next, they study the existing\nindividual variations in animals and plants on which they wish to work,\nand from which they will select with the minutest care. The ideal result\nmust have some relation to the constitution of the organisms selected.\n\nTo modify the human constitution, it will be necessary first, to frame\nthe ideal, and thereafter to set to work with all the resources of\nscience.\n\nIf there can be formed an ideal able to unite men in a kind of religion\nof the future, this ideal must be founded on scientific principles. And\nif it be true, as has been asserted so often, that man can live by faith\nalone, the faith must be in the power of science.\n\n\n\n\n                                 INDEX\n\n\n Abortion, artificial, 102, 103, 104, 105\n   as a religious ceremony, 164\n\n Abstinence, Hartmann on sexual, 186\n\n Aged, fear of death by, 131\n   murder of, by low races, 129, 130\n   treatment of, by modern society, 130\n\n Albius, and artificial fertilisation, 20\n\n Alcohol, and length of life, 259\n   as producer of sclerosis, 247\n\n Altruism, limitations of, 296\n\n An\u00e6sthetics, influence of, compared with death, 159\n\n Ancestor-worship, in China, 144\n   by Confucius, 145, 146\n   by Kaffirs, 150\n   quotations from Tylor on, 150\n\n Animism, Tylor on, 138, 139, 140\n\n _Anisoplia_ and light, 36\n\n Annelids, vegetative reproduction of, 264\n\n Annihilation, B\u00fcchner on, 220\n   Mailaender on, 188\n\n Anthropoid apes, relationship to man, 55\n   social instincts of, 105\n\n Ants, sexual disharmonies in, 34\n\n Apes, compared with man, 42, 43\n\n Appendage, vermiform, of man and apes, 44\n\n Appendicitis, 66, 67\n   curable by modern science, 211\n   frequency of, 68\n\n Apoplexy, phagocytes in, 239\n\n Aristotle, on future life, 169\n   on pleasure, 6\n\n Art, as affected by Christianity, 13\n   of the Greeks, 5\n\n Arterial sclerosis, 247\n\n Arteries, in old age, 237\n\n Asceticism, 11\n\n Atrophy, in old age, 238\n\n Aurelius, Marcus, on death, 172,174, 262\n   on immortality, 172\n   Renan on, 174\n\n\n Bacon, on failure of philosophy, 203\n   on lengthening life, 257\n\n Bacteria of the intestines, 248, 249\n\n Baobab-tree, age of, 266\n\n Baudelaire, on death, 288\n\n Baumann, on microbes in intestines, 251\n\n Beetles, as food of wasp larv\u00e6, 28, 29\n\n Behring, von, on diphtheria, 211\n\n Benares, Buddha\u2019s sermon at, 154\n\n Bert, Paul, on treatment of the aged, 130\n\n Bible, old age in, 280\n\n Bienstock, on harmful microbes, 256\n   on intestinal putrefaction, 255\n\n Birds, absence of large intestine in, 252\n   age of, 232\n\n Bischoff, on reproductive organs of apes, 81\n\n Blindness, of infants, how prevented, 211\n\n Blood, experiments on serum of, 52, 53\n\n Blood corpuscles, specific sensibility of, 160\n\n Boas, on cancer, 215\n\n Bones, in old age, 237, 243\n\n Bordet, on cytotoxic serums, 245\n\n Botulism (\u201csausage-disease\u201d), microbe of, 257\n\n Brain, invasion of macrophags (figure), 241\n\n Bruneti\u00e8re, on failure of science, 218\n\n Buddha, contempt of women, 9\n   death of, 158\n   on disease, 154\n   on fear of death, 153\n   on immortality, 147\n\n Buddha, on Nirv\u00e2na, 158\n   on old age, 154\n   on renunciation, 154\n   sermon at Benares, 154\n   on sorrows of existence, 205\n\n Buddhism, and celibacy, 163\n   and fear of death, 119\n   and future life, 144\n   and immortality, 147, 148\n   and pessimism, 176, 177\n\n B\u00fcchner, on Buddhism, 144\n   on morality, 107\n   on science, 219\n\n Burial, of the old, alive, 152\n\n B\u00fctschli, on immortality of protozoa, 264\n\n Byron, on fear of death, 177\n   on instinctive nature of fear of death, 128\n   on pessimism, 177\n\n\n C\u00e6cum, absence of, in birds, 253\n   of chimpanzee (figure), 45\n   and disease, 69\n   of man (figure), 44\n   of man and apes, compared, 44\n   of monkeys, 67\n\n \u00c7akya-Mouni, discovers death and disease, 119, 120\n\n Calkins, on degeneration of infusoria, 232\n\n Cancer, in alimentary canal, 73, 74\n   modern science and, 213, 214\n\n Casimir, sacrifices at burial of, 141\n\n Castration, Hartmann on, 183\n\n _Catasetum_, disharmony in, 30\n\n _Catasetum saccatum_ (figure), 24\n\n Caterpillars and cocoons, 33\n\n Celibacy, 12, 13, 163\n\n Cellulose, digestion of, 252\n\n Centenarians, Lankester on, 259\n   Lejoncourt on, 280\n\n _Cerceris_, figure of, 28\n\n _Ch\u00e6togaster_, vegetative reproduction of (figure), 265\n\n Chemotaxis, of sexual cells, 268\n\n Childbirth, ages of women at, 93\n   pains of, 92\n\n Chinese, ancestor-worship among, 144\n   belief in immortality, 145\n   Buddhists, views on future life, 149\n   laws against, 109\n\n Christianity, and asceticism, 11\n   and continence, 163\n   influence of, on art, 13\n   and human nature, 7, 10\n\n Chromophags, in blanching of hairs, 243\n\n Cicero, on death, 169, 263\n   on future life, 169\n\n Civilisation, and progress, 292\n\n Cocoons, formation of, 33\n\n Confucius, on ancestor-worship, 145, 146\n\n Conjugation, and immortality, 264\n\n Connective tissue, in old age, 236, 238\n\n Consciousness, relation of to bodily functions, 160\n\n Cred\u00e9, on prevention of infantile blindness, 210\n\n Cruger, on bees and orchids, 23\n\n Cuisine, modern, evils of, 292\n\n Cytotoxic serums, 245\n\n\n Dahlmann, on meaning of Nirv\u00e2na, 156\n\n Darwin, on fertilisation of orchids, 21, 22\n   on luminous insects, 37\n   on natural morality, 8\n   on origin of man, 40\n\n Davids, Rhys, on meaning of Nirv\u00e2na, 156, 157\n\n Death, Aurelius on, 262\n   Baudelaire on, 288\n   Cicero on, 169, 263\n   Guyau on, 195\n   Hartmann on, 184\n   Mailaender on, 188, 189, 190\n   Nordau on, 193\n   Plato on, 166, 167\n   Renan on, 195\n   R\u00fcckert on, 195\n   Schiller on, 195\n   Schopenhauer on, 179, 180, 181, 288\n   Seneca on, 171\n   Socrates on, 166, 167\n   Tokarsky on, 125\n   Tolstoi on, 122, 123, 299\n   Weismann on, 266\n   Zola on, 226\n   Philosophers on, 133\n   as annihilation, 162\n   compared with an\u00e6sthetics, 159\n   fear of, 115, 116, 153\n   feigning of, 114\n   in ephemerids, 275\n   instinct of, 281, 298\n   of Jewish patriarchs, 280, 281\n   natural, 266, 272, 277, 278, 279, 280, 299\n   in old age, 267\n   scientific study of, 262\n\n Degeneration, senile, in infusoria, 231\n   in insects, 232\n   in vertebrates, 232\n\n De Goncourt, quotations from, 121, 225\n\n Deniker, a f\u0153tus of man and ape, 47\n\n Descartes, on lengthening life, 257\n\n Desire of life, not to be ignored, 228\n\n De Vries, on new species, 57\n\n Diet, as regulated by religious, 162\n\n Digestive system of man, 60\n\n Disease, religious measures against, 164\n\n Dogs, old age in, 233\n\n D\u2019Holbach, on natural morality, 7\n\n Dragon-tree, of Oratava, 265\n\n Dubois, on _Pithecanthropus_, 50\n\n Du Bois Reymond, on agnosticism, 221\n\n Dufour, on wasps, 27\n\n Duhring, a blind optimist, 117\n\n Duncan, Matthews, on childbirth, 94\n\n Duration of life, 277, 278\n\n\n Ebstein, on prolonging life, 258, 260\n\n Ecclesiastes, on life, 293\n\n Edgren, on arterial sclerosis, 247\n\n Elixirs of life, 257\n\n Emasculation, by Skoptsy, 9\n\n Ephemerids (figures), 271, 273\n   absence of instinct of preservation in, 275\n   larv\u00e6 (figure), 272\n   sexual instincts of, 36\n   swarming of, 271\n\n Epicureans, _summum bonum_ of, 6\n\n Ewald, on microbes in intestines, 251, 252\n\n Eye, of man, imperfections of, 78\n\n\n Fabre, on caterpillars, 33\n   on fossorial wasps, 27, 28, 34\n\n Faith, modern return to, 222\n   Tolstoi\u2019s return to, 224\n   Zola\u2019s attraction to, 225\n\n Family instincts, 108\n   love, 295\n\n Fauvel, on natural death, 280\n\n Fear, of death, Rousseau on, 118\n   Tokarsky on, 125\n   Tolstoi on, 122, 123\n   in the aged, 118, 131\n   in Buddhism, 119\n   by a Christian minister, 124\n   by French writers, 121, 122, 132\n   instinctive nature of, 127, 128, 153\n   occasional absence of, 152\n\n Feet, of man and apes, 43\n\n Fichte, on future life, 176\n\n Finot, on continuity of life, 197\n   on fear of death, 122, 126, 197\n\n Flies, cause of death of, 274\n\n Flora of the intestines, 248, 249, 251\n\n Flourens, on limits of life, 277\n\n F\u0153tus of gibbon, figure of, 46\n   of man, figure of, 47\n\n Food, of ancestral man, 74\n   instinct of choice of, 75, 76\n\n Fossorial wasps, 27, 34\n\n Future life, Cicero on, 169\n   Fichte on, 176\n   Kant on, 176\n   Plato on, 168\n   belief in, 141, 149, 151, 159\n   opposed by reason, 161, 165\n   _see_ Immortality\n\n\n General paralysis, symptoms of, 111\n\n Gerontology, science of old age, 297\n\n Glow-worms, 37\n\n Goal of human life, 300, 301\n\n Gods, of the Greeks, 4\n   of the Orientals, 4\n\n Goncourt, E. de, quotations on fear of death, 121, 132\n\n Gorillas, old age in, 233\n\n Greek art, 5\n   philosophy, 5\n\n Gruenbaum, on injection of serums, 54\n\n Guinea-pigs, reared without microbes, 249\n\n Guyau, on death, 195, 196;\n   on love, 196\n   on religion and death, 133\n   on failure of science, 222\n   on resignation, 199\n\n\n Haeckel, on the \u201ccellular soul,\u201d 269\n   on future life, 221\n   on morality, 107\n\n Hair, blanching of, 242 (figure), 243\n   and disease, 63\n   of embryo, 63\n\n Hammerling, on optimism, 191, 192\n\n \u201c_Hamlet_,\u201d quotation from, 227\n\n Hands, of man and apes, 43\n\n Happiness, Hartmann on, 186\n   Mailaender on, 189\n   Meyer-Benfey on, 198\n   meaning of, 111\n\n Hartmann, on death, 184\n   on immortality, 184\n   pessimism of, 183\n   on progress, 185\n   as a youthful pessimist, 117\n\n Hassenstein, on childbirths in the young, 283\n\n Heape, on menstruation, 88\n\n Hegel, death from cholera, 120\n\n Heim, on feelings at death, 126\n\n Hell of Chinese Buddhists, 149\n\n Helmholz, on the eye, 78\n\n Henseler, on ages of patriarchs, 259\n\n Hermaphroditism, 79, 80\n\n _Herminium monorchis_, figure of, 26\n\n Huber, on ants, 34\n\n Hufeland, on prolonging life, 258\n\n Humanity, vagueness of conception, 296\n\n Humboldt, on natural morality, 8\n\n Hunt, on burial of the aged living, 152\n\n Hutcheson, on naturalism, 7\n\n Huxley, on origin of man, 41\n\n Hymen, disharmonies of, 85\n   distinctive of human race, 81, 82\n   primitive function of, 85, 86\n   ritual destruction of, 83, 84\n\n\n Illusion, Hartmann on, 183\n   Mailaender on, 188\n\n Immortality, Aristotle on, 169\n   Buddha on, 147\n   Hartmann on, 184\n   Meyer-Benfey on, 198\n   Plato on, 168\n   Schopenhauer on, 179, 180, 181\n   Seneca on, 170\n   Spinoza on, 175\n   amongst animals, 270\n   of \u201ccellular soul,\u201d 269\n   of protozoa, 264\n   of reproductive cells, 267\n\n Inaudi, the calculator, 58\n\n Infanticide, 103, 104\n\n Infusoria, conjugation of, 231\n   immortality of, 263, 264\n   reproduction of, 230\n   senile degeneration of, 231\n\n Insects, compared with vertebrates, 276\n   fertilisation of plants by, 21\n   senile degeneration of, 231\n\n Instinct of death, 281, 282, 283, 298\n   of family, 108\n   of life, 129\n   sexual, 283\n   of society, 109\n\n Intestines, bacterial flora of, 248, 249\n   large, degeneration of, 70\n   large, diseases of, 73, 74\n   large, excision of, 70\n   large, function of, 70, 71, 72\n\n\n Jewish belief in future life, 142\n\n Justice, in relation to humanity, 112\n\n\n Kant, on future life, 176\n\n Kephir, use of, 255\n\n Kh\u00e9m\u00e2, legend on immortality, 147\n\n Kidney ducts, 80\n\n Koch, on microbe of tuberculosis, 212\n\n\n Lactic acid, arrests putrefaction, 255\n\n Lady-birds and nectar, 32\n\n Language, as a social band, 297\n\n Lankester, Ray, on centenarians, 259\n\n Lanugo, of human embryo, 62\n\n Larv\u00e6, of ephemerids, 276\n\n Lecky, on natural morality, 8\n\n Lejoncourt, on centenarians, 280\n\n Leucocytes and phagocytes, 240\n\n Liberty, future limitation of, 301\n\n Life, duration of, in Biblical times, 259, 260\n   modes of lengthening, 257, 258\n\n Light, attractive to insects, 35\n\n Linn\u00e6us, on origin of man, 41\n\n Lister, and antisepsis, 209\n\n _Listera ovata_, figure of, 32\n\n Loeb, on natural death, 266\n\n Longet, on old age, 234\n\n Longevity, in birds, 232\n   and large intestine, 252\n   in Old Testament, 259, 260\n\n Love, Guyau on, 196\n   spreading of, 295\n\n Lubbock, on ancestor-worship, 150\n   an optimist, 117\n\n Luminous insects, 37\n\n Luther, Martin, on supernatural origin of disease, 164\n\n Luxury, evils of, 293, 294, 301\n\n\n Macrophags, definition of, 240\n   functions of, 240\n   in senile decay, 241\n\n Maeterlinck, on pessimism, 191\n\n Mailaender, on pessimism, 187, 188\n\n Malignant tumours, science and, 214\n\n Mammary glands, rudimentary, 298\n\n Man, destiny of, 286\n   disharmonies, and harmonies in, 285\n   origin of, 40, 286\n   peculiar characters of, 59\n   rudimentary organs of, 59, 60\n   Marinesco, on function of phagocytes, 241\n\n Marriage, age at first, 97\n   Christian views on, 163\n   early, in primitive races, 86, 90\n\n Martelly, on intestinal putrefaction, 255\n\n Materialism, B\u00fcchner on, 220\n   Haeckel on, 220\n\n Matriopathy, 6\n\n May-flies and light, 35\n\n Medicine, advance of, 210\n\n Memory, late development of, 78\n\n M\u00e9ni\u00e8re, on bees and orchids, 21\n\n Menstruation, in monkeys, 88, 89\n   origin and significance, 87, 88\n   origin of, 89\n   regarded as impure, 92\n\n Merkel, on tissue-changes in old age, 238\n\n Metamorphoses, of ephemerides, 272\n\n Metchnikoff, on blanching of hair, 242\n   on senile atrophy, 238\n\n Metchnikoff, Madame, on tadpoles\n   reared without microbes, 249\n\n Meyer-Benfey, on happiness, 198\n   on immortality, 198\n\n Microbes, absence of, in ephemerids, 274\n   harmful, 256\n   of the intestines, 248\n   producing poisons in intestines, 251\n\n Microphags, definition of, 240\n   functions of, 240\n\n Milk, fermented or soured, beneficent action of, 255\n   human, 282\n   secretion of, by males, 298\n\n Monkeys, and choice of food, 75\n\n Morality, based on human nature, 9\n   true foundation of, 289\n\n Mosaic regulations on diet, 162, 163\n\n Moths and light, 35\n\n M\u00fcller, Johannes, on the eye, 78\n   Hermann, on lady-birds, 32\n   Max, on meaning of Nirv\u00e2na, 155, 158\n\n Mutilations of the body, 9, 15\n\n\n Naegeli, on natural death, 265\n\n Natural death, 302\n   cases of, 278, 279, 280\n   in ephemerids, 27\n\n Nature, Marcus Aurelius on life according to, 173\n   and morality, early opinions on, 3\n\n Negroes and whites, 109\n\n Nicene Creed, compared with ancestor-worship, 151\n\n Nirv\u00e2na, Aurelius and, 175\n   Hartmann on, 186\n   Schopenhauer on, 182\n   meaning of, 155, 156, 157\n\n Nordau, on old age, 234\n   on optimism, 192;\n   on pain, 193\n\n Nuttall and Thierfelder, on germ-free guinea-pigs, 249\n\n\n Obstetrics, in ancient times, 300\n\n Old age, Longet on, 234\n   Nordau on, 234\n   amelioration of, 254\n   in birds and mammals, 232, 233\n   characters of, 229, 230, 278, 294\n   morbidity of, 244\n   scientific study of, 228\n   serums in, 245, 246\n\n Onanism, 35, 95, 96, 99\n\n Optimism, Hammerling on, 191, 192\n   Nordau on, 192\n\n Optimists generally old men, 117\n\n Origin of man, due to sudden appearance of new characters, 57, 59\n\n Ourangs, old age in, 233\n\n Orchids, and fertilisation, 19, 20\n\n Orthobiosis, the taste of science, 289\n\n Ostwald, on love of humanity, 296\n\n Ova, immortality of, 267\n\n\n Pain, Nordau on, 193\n\n _Palingenia_, swarming of, 272\n\n Pantheism, of German poets, 195\n\n Paradise, according to the Talmud, 143\n   of Chinese Buddhists, 149\n\n _Paramecium_, conjugation of (figure), 231\n   division of (figure), 230\n\n Parasites, late evolution of, 18\n\n Parovaria, 80\n\n Parrots, paucity of bacterial flora in, 253\n\n Pasteur, as founder of modern scientific medicine, 209\n\n Pas\u00e9nadi, legend on immortality, 147\n\n Pathology, of old age, 278\n\n Patriotism, 295\n\n _Pelop\u00e6us_, figure of, 34\n\n Penis, os, in man and apes, 81\n\n Personality, consciousness of, 160\n\n Pessimism, Byron on, 177\n   Hartmann on, 183\n   Maeterlinck on, 191\n   Mailaender on, 187\n   Schopenhauer on, 177, 178, 179\n   and Buddhism, 176, 177\n   and disease, 206\n   and disharmony, 38\n   origin of, 176\n   value of, 194\n   and youth, 117\n\n Pettenkofer, suicide of, 131\n\n Pfeffer, on chemotaxis in cryptogams, 269\n\n Pfl\u00fcger, on prolonging life, 258\n\n Pfungst, on meaning of Nirv\u00e2na, 156\n\n Phagocytes, functions of, 239\n   inhibited by lactic acid, 255\n   and poisons, 247\n   sensibility of, 240\n\n Phagocytosis, in old age, 244\n   in senility, 242\n\n Philosophy, and death, 166\n   relation of, and religion, 166\n   tendency of, to become religious, 175\n\n Phenol, production of by microbes, 251\n\n _Pithecanthropus_, 50\n\n Placenta, of man and apes, 46\n\n Plague, cause of, 208\n\n Plato, and nobility of man, 4\n   on pleasure, 6\n   views on death, 166, 167, 168\n\n Pleasure, views of Plato and Aristotle on, 6\n\n Plotin, on immortality, 175\n\n Pollinia of orchids, 21\n\n Politicians, incapacity of young, 295\n\n Politics, compared with savage obstetrics, 300\n\n Post-mortem examinations, 246, 289\n\n Pregnancy, avoidance of, 101\n\n Progress, Hartmann on, 185\n   Spencer on, 291\n   not uniform, 18\n\n Protection, means for, amongst animals, 114\n\n Protozoa, absence of death, 263\n   sensibility of, 268\n\n Purgatory, in Taoism, 146\n\n Putrefaction, in large intestine, 73, 254\n\n\n Rabbits, and destruction of young, 34, 37\n\n Reformation, 14\n\n Regeneration, in brain, 277\n   in cells, 271\n   in vertebrates, 270\n\n Religion, and diet, 163\n   and disease, 205\n   and future life, 150\n   and science, 3\n   and sexuality, 163\n   Tolstoi\u2019s return to, 223\n\n Renal tubule, invasion of macrophags (figure), 241\n\n Renan, on death, 195\n   on Jewish belief in future life, 142, 143\n   on Marcus Aurelius, 174\n\n Renaissance, art of, 14\n\n Reproduction, not cause of death in ephemerids, 275\n\n Reproductive organs, 79\n\n Resignation, in Buddhism, 159\n   Guyau on, 199\n   Hartmann\u2019s system of, 187\n   Marcus Aurelius on, 174\n\n Resurrection, primitive belief in, 140\n\n R\u00e9ville, on Chinese belief in immortality, 145, 146\n\n _Rhizotrogus_ and light, 36\n\n Richet, on failure of science, 222\n\n Rousseau, on age and love of life, 117\n   on failure of science, 216\n   on fear of death, 118\n\n Rovighi, on utility of milk diet, 255\n\n R\u00fcckert, on death, 195\n\n Rudimentary organs, in man, 59, 60\n\n\n Sacrifice, at burials, 140, 141\n\n Saint-Foix, on sacrifice of horses, 141\n\n St. Matthew, on celibacy, 12\n\n Savage, on old age in apes, 233\n   on social instincts of apes, 105\n\n Schiller, on death, 195\n\n Schopenhauer, and cholera, 120\n   on death, 121, 179, 288\n   on immortality, 179\n   pessimism of, 117, 177, 178, 179, 207\n\n Schottelius, on rearing of germ-free chicks, 249\n\n Science, advance of, 286\n   Bacon on, 204\n   destroys faith, 226\n   failure of, 215, 216, 217, 218, 222, 223\n   and immortality, 287\n   and old age, 228\n   and pessimism, 207, 286\n\n Sclerosis of arteries, 248\n   in old age, 236, 237, 243, 244\n   due to poisons, 247\n\n Scotch clergy on man, 12\n\n Seidlitz, on natural morality, 8\n\n Selenka, on f\u0153tus of man and ape, 47\n\n Self-preservation, 113, 275\n\n Seneca, on death, 171\n   on human existence, 171\n   on immortality, 170\n   on nature as a guide, 7, 10\n\n Senile decay action of macrophags, 241\n   characters of, 235, 238, 239\n   importance of phagocytes in, 241\n\n Sensibility, specific, of white blood corpuscles, 160\n\n Serum, alteration of properties, 51\n   anti-diphtheritic, 211\n   properties of, as guide to affinity, 51\n\n Serums, use of, in old age, 245, 246\n\n Sexuality, early appearance of, 94, 95\n   in the aged, 98\n   disharmonies of, 100\n\n Sexual cells, immortality of, 268\n   soul of, 268\n\n Shakespeare, sorrow and knowledge, 227\n\n Shaving, regarded as degrading, 5\n\n Skeleton, of man and apes, 43\n\n Skin, of man, 62\n\n Skoptsy, and emasculation, 9\n\n Social instincts, 105, 109, 113\n\n Societies, of insects, 294\n\n Socrates, and death, 166, 167\n\n Solidarity, of men, 297\n\n Solomon, sorrow and knowledge, 226\n\n Soul of cells, Haeckel on, 269\n   of protozoa, 268\n   of sexual cells, 268\n\n Soured milk, benefits of, 255\n\n Spencer, H., on belief in resurrection, 140\n   on natural morality, 9\n   on progress, 291\n\n Spermatozoa, immortality of, 267\n   in old men, 97\n\n Spinoza, on immortality, 175\n\n Sterility, in human life, 295\n   in social insects, 294\n\n Stoics, _summum bonum_ of, 6\n   on future life, 169\n\n Strassburger, on microbes of the intestines, 248\n\n Suicide, increase of, 4\n   of the old, 131\n   Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and Mailaender on, 190\n\n Supernaturalism, modern craving for, 222\n\n Survival after death, widespread belief in, 149\n\n Sutherland, on morality of expropriation, 109, 296\n\n Syphilis, absence of reference to in Bible, 260\n   resistance to effects of, 256\n   and sclerosis, 247\n\n\n Tadpoles, reared without microbes, 249\n\n Taine, on Christian art, 14\n\n Tait, Lawson, on cysts, 80\n\n Talmud, on paradise, 143\n\n Taoism, and immortality, 146\n\n Teeth, disharmonies of, 63, 64\n   of man and apes, 41\n   wisdom, 64\n\n Telepathy, no argument for future life, 161\n\n Tetanus, microbes of, 256\n\n Thanatology, science of death, 297\n\n Thierfelder, and Nuttall, on germ-free guinea-pigs, 249\n\n Tissier, on intestinal putrefaction, 255\n\n Tokarsky, on fear of death, 125, 279\n\n Tolstoi, on fear of death, 115, 122, 299\n   on failure of science, 217, 223\n   return to religion, 223, 224\n\n Tombs, burial of weapons and implements, 139\n\n Transfusion of blood serum, 51\n\n Transmigration of souls, in Buddhism, 157\n   of souls, Jewish belief in, 144\n\n Trees, death of, 265\n\n Tuberculosis, modern science and, 212\n\n Tylor, on ancestor-worship, 150\n   on animism, 138\n\n\n Uhlenhuth, on injection of serums, 53\n\n\n Vanilla, cultivation of, 19\n   fertilisation of, 20\n\n Vaccination, 301\n\n Vermiform appendage and disease, 66, 68\n   of man and apes, 44\n\n Virginity, historical importance of, 83, 84\n\n\n Waitz-Gerland, on primitive customs, 139\n\n Weapons, burial with dead, 139\n\n Weismann, on origin of death, 266\n   on immortality of protozoa, 264\n\n Wiedersheim, on human characters, 59\n\n Will to live, Mailaender on, 189\n   Schopenhauer on, 182\n\n Wisdom teeth, degeneration of, 64, 65\n\n Women, views of Buddha on, 9\n\n Wounds, modern success in healing of, 210\n\n\n Xenocrates, 5\n\n\n Youth, absence of fear of death, 116, 117\n   and excesses, 116\n   ideals of, 263\n   and pessimism, 117\n\n\n Zola, on death, 225\n   on fear of death, 121\n\n Zulu, ancestor-worship, 151\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  Since A. Wagner\u2019s classical work, \u201cUeber die Gesetzm\u00e4ssigkeit der\n  scheinbar wilk\u00fcrlichen menschlichen Handlungen,\u201d suicide has been\n  discussed by many authors. The most recent contribution to the subject\n  is the important monograph by Westergaard, \u201cDie Lehre von der\n  Mortalit\u00e6t u. Morbidit\u00e6t,\u201d Second Edition, Jena, 1901.\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  Shaving the beard began at the time of the Macedonian rule, and\n  philosophers refrained from the new custom, which seemed to them\n  unprincipled. (V. Hermann, \u201cLehrbuch der griechischen\n  Privatalterth\u00fcmer,\u201d 1870, vol. I., pp. 175\u2013177.)\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  Quetelet, \u201cAnthropom\u00e8trie,\u201d 1872, p. 86.\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n  Zeller, \u201cDie Philosophie der Griechen,\u201d Third Edition, vol. II. 1, p.\n  741, 1875.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n  Zeller, _l.c._ p. 880.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n  Zeller, vol. II., 2, p. 447.\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n  Zeller, First Edition, vol. III., 7, p. 193.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n  Zeller, _l.c._ p. 401.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n  \u201cDe Vita Beata,\u201d chap. viii.\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n  \u201cMoral Philosophy,\u201d London, 1755.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n  Buckle, \u201cHistory of Civilisation in England.\u201d\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n  Published at Amsterdam in 1776.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n  Vol. I., p. 32.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n  \u201cHistory of European Morals,\u201d Third Edition, London, 1877.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n  \u201cThe Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex,\u201d First Edition,\n  vol. I., p. 98.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n  \u201cDie Darwin\u2019sche Theorie.\u201d Second Edition, 1875, p. 272, note 25.\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n  \u201cThe Data of Ethics,\u201d 1879.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n  The \u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d translated from Sanscrit into French by Foucaux;\n  \u201cAnnales du Mus\u00e9e Guimet,\u201d vol. VI. p. 183. 1884.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n  Zeller, _loc. cit._ p. 633.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n  Lecky, \u201cHistory of European Morals,\u201d chap. iv.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n  Lecky.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n  Lecky.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n  Buckle, \u201cHistory of Civilisation in England.\u201d\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n  \u201cDe Secta Massonum,\u201d Parisiis, 1884, p. 9. The passage was quoted by\n  Bruneti\u00e8re in the \u201cRevue des Deux Mondes,\u201d 1895, vol. CXXVII., p. 116.\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n  Schnaase, \u201cGeschichte der bildenden K\u00fcnste, vol. III., pp. 577, 584,\n  and vol. IV., p. 718.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n  \u201cPhilosophie de l\u2019Art,\u201d Fourth Edition, 1885, vol. LXXXVIII., p. 352.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n  Reinhard, \u201cSystem der christlichen Moral,\u201d vol. IV., 1814, p. 831, and\n  vol. III., p. 14, 1813.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n  Gaudry, \u201cMammif\u00e8res tertiaires,\u201d p. 235, 1878.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n  Delteil, \u201cLa Vanille,\u201d Paris, 1897.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n  Darwin, \u201cThe Fertilisation of Orchids,\u201d Second edition, London, 1877.\n  See also M\u00fcller, \u201cDie Befruchtung der Pflanzen durch Insecten,\u201d pp.\n  74\u201385, Leipzig, 1873.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n  _Bulletin de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 botanique de France_, vol. I., p. 370, 1854.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 44.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n  Darwin, _loc. cit._ p. 179.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n  _Ibid._ pp. 207\u2013208.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n  Fabre, \u201cSouvenirs entomologiques,\u201d vol. I., pp. 71\u201378, Paris, 1879.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 201.\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ pp. 120\u2013121.\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n  \u201cDie Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten,\u201d p. 167, 1873.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n  \u201cSouvenirs entomologiques,\u201d Fourth series, Paris, 1847.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n  \u201cRecherches sur les M\u0153urs des Fourmis indig\u00e8nes,\u201d Paris, 1810.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n  F\u00e9r\u00e9, \u201cL\u2019Instinct sexuel,\u201d Second Edition, p. 76, Paris, 1902.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n  Moll, \u201cUntersuch. \u00fcb. d. Libido sexualis,\u201d vol. II. pp. 372, 373.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n  K\u0153ppen, \u201cInsectes invisibles,\u201d vol. II. p. 237, 1883. (In Russian.)\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n  Swammerdam, \u201cBiblia Natur\u00e6,\u201d Leydae, 1737.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n  Brehm, \u201cLes Insectes,\u201d \u00e9dit. fran\u00e7., vol. I., p. 206.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n  \u201cDescent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex,\u201d vol. I., chap. 10,\n  p. 345.\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n  R. Dubois, \u201cLes Elat\u00e9rides lumineux,\u201d p. 209, Meulan, 1886.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n  Republished, with other essays, as \u201cMan\u2019s Place in Nature,\u201d Macmillan,\n  London, 1894.\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n  Bruneti\u00e8re, _Revue des Deux Mondes_, Jan. 1, 1895, p. 99.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 116.\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 111.\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 126.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 126.\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 127.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 139.\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n  \u201cArchives de Zoologie exp\u00e9rimentale,\u201d 1885.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n  \u201cStudien \u00fcber Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere,\u201d 1898\u20131902.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n  A summary of this question is to be found in a new volume by M.\n  Alsberg, \u201cDie Abstammung des Menschen,\u201d chap. iii., 1902.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n  Uhlenhuth, \u201cDeutsche Medicin. Wochenschrift,\u201d p. 82, 1901.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n  Wassermann and Schuetze, \u201cBerliner klinische Wochenschrift,\u201d p. 7,\n  1901.\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n  The _Lancet_, Jan, 18, 1902.\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n  Selenka, _loc. cit._ p. 157.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n  Deniker, _loc. cit._ p. 17.\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n  \u201cDie Mutationstheorie,\u201d vol. I., Leipzig, 1901.\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n  \u201cComptes Rendus de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences,\u201d 1892, pp. 275, 1329;\n  \u201cRevue scientifique,\u201d 1880, p. 1124.\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n  \u201cDer Bau des Menschen,\u201d Third Edition, 1902.\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n  Selenka, \u201cStudien \u00fcber Entwicklungsgesch. d. Thiere,\u201d p. 89.\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n  \u201cDictionnaire encyclop\u00e9dique des Sciences Medicales,\u201d article \u201cDent,\u201d\n  by Magitot, p. 194, 1882.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n  Schmid, \u201cVierteljahrschrift f\u00fcr Zahnheilkunde,\u201d p. 141, 1896.\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n  Schmid, _loc. cit._ p. 147.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n  Redier, in \u201cRevue mensuelle de Stomatologie,\u201d p. 164, 1895.\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n  \u201cComptes Rendus de la Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 de Stomatologie de Paris,\u201d vol. I., p.\n  98, 1890.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 204.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n  Virchow\u2019s \u201cArchiv f\u00fcr Pathologische Anatomie,\u201d 1893, vol. CXXXII., p.\n  76.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n  Lannelongue, in the \u201cBulletin m\u00e9dical,\u201d p. 621, 1902.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n  Treves, \u201cThe Surgical Treatment of Perityphlitis,\u201d London 1895.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n  _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, August 1893.\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n  \u201cArchiv f\u00fcr klinische Chirurgie,\u201d vol. XLVIII., p. 715, 1894.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n  \u201cM\u00fcnchener medicinische Wochenschrift,\u201d 1898.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n  \u201cArchiv f\u00fcr klinische Chirurgie,\u201d vol. XLVIII., p. 136, 1894.\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n  This topic is discussed at length in my lecture, published in the\n  _Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical\n  Society_, 1901, vol. XLV., note 5.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n  \u201cArchives de M\u00e9dicine navale,\u201d 1887.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n  Ewald, \u201cKlinik des Verdauungskrankheiten,\u201d vol. III., p. 267, 1902.\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n  Stillmarck, in \u201cArbeiten des pharmacologischen Institutes zu Dorpat,\u201d\n  vol. III., p. 110, 1889.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n  The case is quoted in Pozzi\u2019s \u201cTrait\u00e9 de Gyn\u00e9cologie,\u201d p. 714, 1890.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n  Crisp, \u201cProceedings of the Zoological Society of London,\u201d p. 48, 1865.\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n  Lenhossek, in Virchow\u2019s \u201cArchiv. f\u00fcr pathologische Anatomie,\u201d vol.\n  XL., p. 1.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n  \u201cAbhandlungen der mathem.-physikal. Classe d. K. Bayerisch. Akad. d.\n  Wissensch. M\u00fcnchen,\u201d vol. XIII., Part II., p. 268, 1880.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 245.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 250.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 253.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 163.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 208.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels in \u201cDas Weib,\u201d Seventh Edition, 1902. Vol. II., pp.\n  228\u2013229 is the source of information on this matter.\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ vol. I., p. 489.\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n  Pozzi, \u201cTrait\u00e9 de Gyn\u00e9cologie,\u201d p. 1067, 1890.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n  \u201cReal-encyclop\u00e4die d. Gesammten Heilkunde,\u201d Second Edition, vol. X.,\n  p. 34, 1885.\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n  It would be interesting to find out whether or no Hindoo or Chinese\n  virgins suffer from _chloran\u00e6mia_; at present we have no information\n  on this matter.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 622.\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n  Saint Cyr, \u201cTrait\u00e9 d\u2019obst\u00e9trique v\u00e9t\u00e9rinaire,\u201d p. 52, Second Edition,\n  1888.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n  _Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1897_, pp.\n  135\u2013166.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n  \u201cVerhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft f\u00fcr Anthropologie,\u201d p. 88,\n  1876.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 625.\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n  Vratch, in Russian, p. 1456, 1901.\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 443.\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n  Rakhmanoff.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 626.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 626.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n  \u201cVenus Urania,\u201d Leipzig, 1798.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n  Moll, \u201cUntersuch. \u00fcber die Libido Sexualis,\u201d vol. I., p. 44.\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n  \u201cReal-encyclop\u00e6die der gesammt. Heilkunde,\u201d vol. XIV., p. 593. Second\n  Edition, 1888.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n  F\u00fcrbringer, _loc. cit._\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n  \u201cDictionnaire encyclop\u00e9dique des Sciences m\u00e9dicales,\u201d vol. XV., p.\n  378, 1881.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n  Fritsch, \u201cDie Eingeborenen S\u00fcd-Afrikas.\u201d Breslau, 1873.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n  Information that I have obtained from the Zoological Gardens at Anvers\n  would seem to show the existence of similar differences between the\n  sexes in the case of monkeys.\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n  Wappaeus, \u201cAllgemeine Bev\u00f6lkerungsstatistik,\u201d vol. II., p. 285, 1861.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n  \u201cSur les Alt\u00e9rations pathologo-anatomiques des Testicules pendant la\n  Vieillesse,\u201d St. Pet\u00e9rsbourg, 1894 (in Russian). A few years ago, in\n  course of the examination of the body of a man who had died at the age\n  of 103 at Lyons, the seminal vesicles were found to be full of ripe\n  and active spermatozoa. \u201cAnnales d\u2019Hygi\u00e8ne publique,\u201d p. 370, 1900.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 377.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., Supplement to chap.\n  xliv.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 364.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n  _See_ chap. i.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n  Vol. I. chap. xxxv.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n  \u201cL\u2019Anthropologie,\u201d vol. IV., p. 129, 1893.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n  Waitz-Gerland, \u201cAnthropologie der Naturv\u00f6lker,\u201d vol. VI., p. 139,\n  1872.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n  \u201cV\u00f6lkerkunde,\u201d vol. I. p. 274, 1885.\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n  Huxley, \u201cMan\u2019s Place in Nature,\u201d p. 60.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n  Sutherland, \u201cOrigin and Development of the Moral Instinct.\u201d\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n  B\u00fcchner, \u201cForce and Matter.\u201d\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n  Haeckel, \u201cThe Riddle of the Universe,\u201d pp. 357\u2013358, Second Edition,\n  1901.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 796.\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n  Ballet and Blocq, \u201cParalysie g\u00e9n\u00e9rale progressive,\u201d in \u201cTrait\u00e9 de\n  M\u00e9decine,\u201d published under the direction of Charcot, Bouchard, and\n  Brissaud, vol. VI., p. 1032, 1894.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n  Emile, \u201c\u0152uvres compl\u00e8tes de J. J. Rousseau,\u201d vol. II., p. 432, 1876.\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 76.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n  The \u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d pp. 166\u2013170.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n  Edouard Rod, \u201cLes id\u00e9es morales du temps pr\u00e9sent,\u201d p. 48, Paris, 1892.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., p. 529.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n  \u201cJournal de Goncourt,\u201d vol. VI., p. 186, 1878\u20131884, 1892.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n  \u201cLa Philosophie de la Long\u00e9vit\u00e9,\u201d p. 209, Paris, 1900.\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n  \u201cLes Confessions,\u201d Paris, 1891.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 41.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 49.\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 51.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 60.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n  _Union pour l\u2019action morale_, No. 6, p. 258, Jan. 15, 1902.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n  Complete Works of Tolstoi (in Russian), vol. XII., p. 512, 1897.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 517.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 526.\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 536.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n  \u201cQuestions de Philosophie et de Psychologie,\u201d 1897, No. 40, p. 931.\n  (In Russian.)\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n  \u201cLa Philosophie de la Long\u00e9vit\u00e9,\u201d Paris, 1900.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 211.\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 213.\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 211.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., p. 533.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n  Waitz-Gerland, \u201cAnthropologie der Naturv\u00f6lker,\u201d vol. VI.\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n  These words are quoted by Ebstein in his \u201cDie Kunst das menschliche\n  Leben zu verl\u00e4ngern,\u201d p. 51, 1891. I have been unable to find Paul\n  Bert\u2019s own words, as the reference given by Ebstein is\n  bibliographically incorrect.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n  \u201cM\u00fcnchener Medicinische Wochenschrift,\u201d p. 325, 1901.\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 186.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n  \u201cL\u2019Irr\u00e9ligion de l\u2019Avenir,\u201d Sixth Edition, p. 449, Paris, 1895.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n  \u201cTusculanes,\u201d vol. I., chap. 30.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., p. 527.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n  Tylor, \u201cPrimitive Culture,\u201d vol. I., p. 485. Third Edition, 1891.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n  Waitz-Gerland, \u201cAnthropologie der Naturv\u00f6lker,\u201d 6 vols., 1866\u20131872.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n  \u201cEssais Historiques sur Paris,\u201d in \u0152uvres Compl\u00e8tes, vol. IV., p. 150.\n  Maastricht, 1778.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n  Quoted by Tylor in \u201cPrimitive Culture,\u201d chap. XI.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n  \u201cHistoire du Peuple d\u2019Isra\u00ebl,\u201d vol. I., pp. 128\u2013129. 1887.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n  \u201cLehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte,\u201d vol. I., p. 253. Freiburg,\n  Leipzig. Second Edition, 1897.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n  \u201cHistoire du Peuple d\u2019Isra\u00ebl,\u201d vol. IV., p. 327. 1893.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n  Talmud. \u201cTrait\u00e9 B\u00e9rakhote,\u201d sheet 17.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n  \u201cForce et Mati\u00e8re.\u201d Sixth French edition, p. 439. 1884.\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n  _Loc. cit._, p. 198.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n  \u201cHistoire des Religions,\u201d vol. III., \u201cLa religion chinoise,\u201d Paris,\n  1889; see also \u201cChantepie de la Saussaye,\u201d _loc. cit._ vol. I., p. 58.\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n  R\u00e9ville, _loc. cit._ p. 191.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 195.\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 185.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n  \u201cHistoire des Religions,\u201d vol. III., \u201cLa religion chinoise,\u201d Paris\n  1889, p. 187.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 450.\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 444.\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n  \u201cHistoire des Religions,\u201d vol. III., \u201cLa religion chinoise,\u201d Paris,\n  1889, p. 469.\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 470.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n  Oldenburg, \u201cLe Bouddha,\u201d French translation, p. 281, Paris, 1894.\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n  Oldenburg, _loc. cit._ p. 282.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n  \u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d _loc. cit._ p. 303.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n  R\u00e9ville, _loc. cit._ p. 475.\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n  R\u00e9ville, _loc. cit._ p. 556.\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 525.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n  Tylor, \u201cPrimitive Culture,\u201d vol. II., pp. 113\u2013114, Third Edition,\n  1891.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n  _Ibid._ vol. II., p. 114.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 115.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 116.\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n  See p. 124.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n  The \u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d p. 289.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n  The \u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d p. 176.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 170.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n  Oldenburg, p. 214.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n  \u201cBuddhagosas Parables.\u201d\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n  \u201cDas Freie Wort,\u201d pp. 603\u2013607, Jan. 5, 1902.\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n  \u201cNirv\u00e2na,\u201d Berlin, 1896.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n  \u201cLalita Vistara,\u201d p. 176.\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n  Spence Hardy, \u201cA Manual of Buddhism,\u201d p. 100, London, 1853.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n  Oldenburg, _loc. cit._ pp. 200\u2013206.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n  Deuteronomy xii. 15, 16.\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n  _Ibid._ 23.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n  _Ibid._ 25.\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n  Exodus xii. 9.\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n  Rhys Davids.\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n  Corinthians vii. 7\u20139.\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, \u201cDas Weib,\u201d vol. I., p. 859.\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n  \u201cDie Medecin der Naturv\u00f6lker,\u201d p. 225, Leipzig, 1893.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n  Zeller, \u201cDie Philosophie der Griechen,\u201d vol. II., Part 2, pp. 462,\n  465. T\u00fcbingen, 1862.\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n  \u201cOrigines du Christianisme,\u201d vol. VII., Sixth Edition, p. 483. Paris,\n  1819.\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n  Oldenburg, _loc. cit._ p. 215.\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n  \u201cParerga und Paralipomena,\u201d _Edition Reclam._, vol. II., p. 267.\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 253.\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 251.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., p. 726, Leipzig.\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ vol. II., p. 730.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., p. 555, Leipzig.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 561.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 564.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 566.\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 566.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 537.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 540.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 581.\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n  \u201cParerga,\u201d vol. II., p. 258.\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille,\u201d vol. I., p. 472.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung.\u201d\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n  \u201cPhilosophie des Unbewussten,\u201d Berlin, 1869.\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 560.\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 565.\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 603.\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 606.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 615.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 621.\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 636.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 638.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 638.\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n  \u201cDie Philosophie der Erl\u00f6sung,\u201d 2 vols. Third Edition, Frankfort,\n  1894.\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ vol. II., p. 637.\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ vol. I., p. 325.\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 327.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 334.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 335.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 349.\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 358.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ vol. II., p. 242.\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n  \u201cLe Temple Enseveli,\u201d 1902.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n  Quoted by Steiner, \u201cWelt und Lebensanschauungen im XIX. Jahrhundert,\u201d\n  1901. Vol. II., pp. 170\u2013173.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n  Herbert Spencer.\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n  \u201cDialogues et Fragments philosophiques,\u201d Paris, 1876.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 139.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n  \u201cL\u2019Irr\u00e9ligion de l\u2019Avenir.\u201d Sixth Edition, Paris, 1895.\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 462.\n\nFootnote 255:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 462.\n\nFootnote 256:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 464.\n\nFootnote 257:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 470.\n\nFootnote 258:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 471.\n\nFootnote 259:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 472.\n\nFootnote 260:\n\n  \u201cLa Philosophie de la Long\u00e9vit\u00e9,\u201d Paris, 1900.\n\nFootnote 261:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 307.\n\nFootnote 262:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 105.\n\nFootnote 263:\n\n  \u201cDie moderne Religion.\u201d Leipzig, 1902. See also _Frankfurter Zeitung_,\n  Feb. 19 and 20, 1902.\n\nFootnote 264:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 476.\n\nFootnote 265:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II., p. 687.\n\nFootnote 266:\n\n  \u201cPhilosophie des Unbewussten,\u201d p. 615.\n\nFootnote 267:\n\n  Borden, \u201cThe Use of the R\u00f6ntgen Ray,\u201d p. 20. Washington. 1898.\n\nFootnote 268:\n\n  _Bulletin du Service de Sant\u00e9 Militaire_, No. 499, p. 73. 1901.\n\nFootnote 269:\n\n  The efficacy of Cred\u00e9\u2019s treatment may be inferred from the figures\n  recorded at Stockholm, in which city the adoption of the treatment\n  caused the percentage of cases of this nature to fall from 0.56 in\n  1891 to 0.045 in 1899. See Widmark, \u201cMittheilungen a d. Augenklinik d.\n  Carol. Med. Chir. Instit. zu Stockholm,\u201d p. 126. 1902.\n\nFootnote 270:\n\n  \u201cArchives de m\u00e9decine exp\u00e9rimentale,\u201d vol. VI., p. 677. 1894.\n\nFootnote 271:\n\n  \u201cHospitalstidende,\u201d May 7, 1902, p. 489.\n\nFootnote 272:\n\n  \u201cAnnales de l\u2019Institut Pasteur,\u201d February 1903.\n\nFootnote 273:\n\n  \u201cDeutsche medecin. Wochenschrift,\u201d October 30, 1902, p. 798.\n\nFootnote 274:\n\n  \u201cSi le r\u00e9tablissement des sciences et des arts a contribu\u00e9 \u00e0 \u00e9purer\n  les m\u0153urs.\u201d\u2014\u201c\u0152uvres compl\u00e8tes,\u201d vol. I., p. 463, 1875.\n\nFootnote 275:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 469.\n\nFootnote 276:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 470.\n\nFootnote 277:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 437.\n\nFootnote 278:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 397.\n\nFootnote 279:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 411.\n\nFootnote 280:\n\n  _Revue des Deux-Mondes 1895_, No. 1. p. 97. \u201cLa Science et la\n  Religion.\u201d Paris, 1885. _Le Figaro_, January 4, 1899.\n\nFootnote 281:\n\n  _Revue Scientifique_, vol. I., p. 33. 1899.\n\nFootnote 282:\n\n  _Ibid._ p. 34.\n\nFootnote 283:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 511.\n\nFootnote 284:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 212.\n\nFootnote 285:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 35.\n\nFootnote 286:\n\n  \u201cIrreligion,\u201d p. 460.\n\nFootnote 287:\n\n  \u201cLe Rajeunissement Kariogamique chez les Cill\u00e9s,\u201d \u201cArchives de\n  Zoologie Exp\u00e9rimentale,\u201d 1899.\n\nFootnote 288:\n\n  _Biological Bulletin_, vol. III., October 1902, p. 192; \u201cArchiv. f\u00fcr\n  Entwickelungsmechanik,\u201d vol. XV. p. 139.\n\nFootnote 289:\n\n  Gurney, \u201cOn the Comparative Ages to which Birds Live,\u201d _The Ibis_,\n  January 1899, p. 19.\n\nFootnote 290:\n\n  Huxley, \u201cMan\u2019s Place in Nature.\u201d\n\nFootnote 291:\n\n  \u201cPsychological Paradoxes.\u201d\n\nFootnote 292:\n\n  \u201cTrait\u00e9 de Physiologie,\u201d Second Edition, vol. II. p. 935.\n\nFootnote 293:\n\n  \u201cEtude Clinique et anatomo-pathologique sur la Vieillesse.\u201d Paris,\n  1886.\n\nFootnote 294:\n\n  The parenchymatous elements are the most important cells of the\n  organs, _i.e._, of the liver, muscles, brain, &c.\n\nFootnote 295:\n\n  \u201cBemerkungen \u00fcb. d. Gewebe beim Altern,\u201d \u201cVerhandl. d. X Internat,\n  Medic. Congresses.\u201d Vol. II., p. 124. Berlin, 1891.\n\nFootnote 296:\n\n  \u201cAnn\u00e9e Biologique\u201d de Yves Delage, vol. III., p. 249. 1899.\n\nFootnote 297:\n\n  _Comptes Rendus de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie des Sciences_, April 23, 1900.\n\nFootnote 298:\n\n  \u201cAnnales de l\u2019Institut Pasteur,\u201d p. 865. 1901.\n\nFootnote 299:\n\n  _See_ the \u201cAnnales de l\u2019Institut Pasteur,\u201d vol. XIV., pp. 369, 378,\n  390, 402. 1900. The results described therein have been confirmed by\n  B\u00e9lonovsky (\u201cSur l\u2019Influence de l\u2019Injection de Diverses Doses de S\u00e9rum\n  H\u00e9molytique sur le nombre des El\u00e9ments du Sang.\u201d Saint Pet\u00e9rsbourg,\n  1902), who has found that there is an increase in the amount of\n  h\u00e6moglobin and of red-blood corpuscles in the blood of an\u00e6mic patients\n  that have been treated with minute doses of h\u00e6molitic serum.\n\nFootnote 300:\n\n  \u201cDie Arteriosclerosis.\u201d Leipzig, 1898.\n\nFootnote 301:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 118.\n\nFootnote 302:\n\n  \u201cZeitschrift f\u00fcr Klinische Medicin,\u201d vol. XLVI. p. 434. 1902.\n\nFootnote 303:\n\n  \u201cArchiv. f\u00fcr Hygiene,\u201d vol. XXXIV., p. 210, 1898; _ibid._ vol. LXII.,\n  p. 48. 1902.\n\nFootnote 304:\n\n  \u201cAnnales de l\u2019Institut Pasteur,\u201d p. 630. 1901.\n\nFootnote 305:\n\n  \u201cZeitschrift f\u00fcr Physiologische Chemie,\u201d p. 109. 1895.\n\nFootnote 306:\n\n  \u201cArchiv. f\u00fcr Hygiene,\u201d vol. XXXIX., p. 390. 1902.\n\nFootnote 307:\n\n  \u201cAnnales de l\u2019Institut Pasteur,\u201d p. 865. 1902.\n\nFootnote 308:\n\n  \u201cZeitschrift f\u00fcr Physiologische Chemie,\u201d vol. XVI., p. 43. 1892.\n\nFootnote 309:\n\n  \u201cL\u2019Art de Prolonger la Vie Humaine.\u201d French translation of German\n  Second Edition. Lausanne, 1809.\n\nFootnote 310:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 296.\n\nFootnote 311:\n\n  \u201cUeber die Kunst der Verl\u00e4ngerung des Menschlichen Lebens.\u201d Bonn,\n  1890.\n\nFootnote 312:\n\n  \u201cDie Kunst das Menschliche Leben zu Verl\u00e4ngern.\u201d Wiesbaden, 1891.\n\nFootnote 313:\n\n  \u201cThe Advancement of Science,\u201d p. 237. London, 1890.\n\nFootnote 314:\n\n  Quoted by Pfl\u00fcger in \u201cUeber die Kunst der Verl\u00e4ng.,\u201d p. 14.\n\nFootnote 315:\n\n  Genesis vi. 3.\n\nFootnote 316:\n\n  _Loc. cit._ p. 12.\n\nFootnote 317:\n\n  \u201cDie Medizin im alten Testament.\u201d Stuttgart, 1901.\n\nFootnote 318:\n\n  \u201cLehrbuch d. Geschichte der Medecin,\u201d vol. III., p. 223. Jena 1878.\n\nFootnote 319:\n\n  \u201cEssays on Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems.\u201d Authorised\n  Translation, Oxford, 2 vols., 1889\u201392.\n\nFootnote 320:\n\n  \u201cUeber den Ursprung des Todes.\u201d 1893.\n\nFootnote 321:\n\n  \u201cTrait\u00e9 de Zoologie,\u201d p. 1713.\n\nFootnote 322:\n\n  \u201cAbhandlungen der k. Bayerischen Akademie d. Wissenschaften.\u201d 1865.\n\nFootnote 323:\n\n  \u201cArchiv f\u00fcr die gesammte Physiologie.\u201d Vol. XCIII., p. 59, 1902.\n\nFootnote 324:\n\n  Salomonsen, in \u201cFestskrift ved indvielsen af Statens Serum Institut,\u201d\n  vol. XII. Copenhagen, 1902.\n\nFootnote 325:\n\n  \u201cGesammelte Popul\u00e4re Vortr\u00e4ge.\u201d Bonn, 1878.\n\nFootnote 326:\n\n  Preyer, \u201cDie Seele des Kindes,\u201d 1884, and \u201cSpecielle Physiologie des\n  Embryo,\u201d p. 547. 1885.\n\nFootnote 327:\n\n  \u201cDe la long\u00e9vit\u00e9 humaine,\u201d Second Edition. Paris 1885.\n\nFootnote 328:\n\n  _Journal de Rouen_, September 23, 1900. Article by Georges Dubose.\n\nFootnote 329:\n\n  \u201cGalerie des Centenaires anciens et modernes.\u201d Paris, 1842.\n\nFootnote 330:\n\n  Genesis XXV. 7, 8.\n\nFootnote 331:\n\n  Genesis XXXV. 28, 29.\n\nFootnote 332:\n\n  Job xlii. 16, 17.\n\nFootnote 333:\n\n  It may be that the great longevity of many of the patriarchs, ending\n  in the appearance of the instinct of death, is the cause of the small\n  extent to which the idea of a future life had been developed amongst\n  the ancient Hebrews. (See chap, vii.)\n\nFootnote 334:\n\n  Genesis xxv. 17.\n\nFootnote 335:\n\n  Genesis xlvii. 28.\n\nFootnote 336:\n\n  Numbers xxxiii. 39.\n\nFootnote 337:\n\n  Deuteronomy xxxiv. 7.\n\nFootnote 338:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, \u201cDas Weib,\u201d vol. I. p. 626.\n\nFootnote 339:\n\n  \u201cDie Welt als Wille u. Vorstellung,\u201d vol. II. p. 730.\n\nFootnote 340:\n\n  \u201cFleurs du Mal. La Mort des Pauvres,\u201d p. 340. 1883.\n\nFootnote 341:\n\n  The prohibitions in England are almost equally sweeping.\u2014_Editor._\n\nFootnote 342:\n\n  Ecclesiastes, viii. 17.\n\nFootnote 343:\n\n  Ecclesiastes ix. 7\u201310.\n\nFootnote 344:\n\n  \u201cVorlesungen \u00fcber Naturphilosophie.\u201d Leipzig, 1902.\n\nFootnote 345:\n\n  Wiedersheim, \u201cBau des Menschen,\u201d Third Edition, pp. 21, 22. Alsberg,\n  \u201cAbstam. d. Mensch.,\u201d p. 61.\n\nFootnote 346:\n\n  Ploss-Bartels, \u201cDas Weib,\u201d vol. II., p. 464.\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                Putnam\u2019s\n\n                             Science Series\n\n\n   1. =The Study of Man.= By A. C. HADDON.\n\n   2. =The Groundwork of Science.= By ST. GEORGE MIVART.\n\n   3. =Rivers of North America.= By ISRAEL C. RUSSELL.\n\n   4. =Earth Sculpture; or, The Origin of Land Forms.= By JAMES GEIKIE.\n\n   5. =Volcanoes; Their Structure and Significance.= Revised Ed. By T.\n        G. BONNEY.\n\n   6. =Bacteria.= By GEORGE NEWMAN.\n\n   7. =A Book of Whales.= By F. E. BEDDARD.\n\n   8. =Comparative Physiology of the Brain=, etc. By JACQUES LOEB.\n\n   9. =The Stars.= By SIMON NEWCOMB.\n\n  10. =The Basis of Social Relations.= By DANIEL G. BRINTON.\n\n  11. =Experiments on Animals.= By STEPHEN PAGET.\n\n  12. =Infection and Immunity.= By GEORGE M. STERNBERG.\n\n  13. =Fatigue.= By A. MOSSO.\n\n  14. =Earthquakes.= By CLARENCE E. DUTTON.\n\n  15. =The Nature of Man.= By \u00c9LIE METCHNIKOFF.\n\n  16. =Nervous and Mental Hygiene in Health and Disease.= By AUGUST\n        FOREL.\n\n  17. =The Prolongation of Life.= By \u00c9LIE METCHNIKOFF.\n\n  18. =The Solar System.= By CHARLES LANE POOR.\n\n  19. =Heredity.= By J. ARTHUR THOMPSON, M.A.\n\n  20. =Climate.= By ROBERT DECOURCY WARD.\n\n  21. =Age, Growth, and Death.= By CHARLES S. MINOT.\n\n  22. =The Interpretation of Nature.= By C. LLOYD MORGAN.\n\n  23. =Mosquito Life.= By EVELYN GROESBEECK MITCHELL.\n\n  24. =Thinking, Feeling, Doing.= By E. W. SCRIPTURE.\n\n  25. =The World\u2019s Gold.= By L. DE LAUNAY.\n\n  26. =The Interpretation of Radium.= Revised Ed. By F. SODDY.\n\n  27. =Criminal Man.= By CESARE LOMBROSO.\n\n  28. =Social Evil.= By E. R. A. SELIGMAN.\n\n  29. =Microbes and Toxins in Nature.= By E. BURNET.\n\n  30. =Problems of Life and Reproduction.= By M. HARTOG.\n\n  31. =Problem of the Sexes.= By J. FINOT.\n\n  32. =The Positive Evolution of Religion.= By F. HARRISON.\n\n  33. =The Science of Happiness.= By J. FINOT.\n\n  34. =Life and Death of the Globe.= By A. BERGET.\n\n  35. =Genetic Interpretation.= By JAMES MARK BALDWIN.\n\n\n\n\n                              PERSONALITY\n\n\nBy F. B. JEVONS, Litt.D.\n\nAuthor of\n\n\u201cThe Idea of God,\u201d \u201cComparative Religions,\u201d etc.\n\n_12\u00ba. $1.00 net_\n\nThis work deals with the problem of personality, especially as raised by\nWilliam James and M. Bergson. If a man imagines himself bound, in\ndeference to science or psychology, to deny the existence of\npersonality, he commits himself to saying \u201cI do not exist.\u201d If he\nshrinks from that absurdity, he must accept personality as a reality: a\nperson is both a subject who knows others and an object of others\u2019\nknowledge. The bond, however, which holds persons, human and divine,\ntogether, cannot be merely intellectual: it must be emotional as well as\nintellectual\u2014the bond of love.\n\n\n\n\n                         Genetic Interpretation\n\n\nThe Outcome of Genetic Logic\n\nBy James Mark Baldwin\n\nPh.D., D.Sc., LL.D.\n\nForeign Correspondent of the Institute of France\n\nAuthor of \u201cHistory of Psychology,\u201d etc.\n\nThe author here states the general results of the extended studies in\ngenetic and social science and anthropology made by him and others, and\ngives a critical account of the history of the interpretation of nature\nand man, both racial and philosophical.\n\nThe book offers an _Introduction to Philosophy_ from a new point of\nview. It contains, also, a valuable glossary of the terms employed in\nthese and similar discussions.\n\n\n\n\n                          History of Geography\n\n\nBy\n\nJ. Scott Keltie, LL.D.\n\nSecretary of the Royal Geographical Society\n\nand\n\nO. J. R. Howarth, M.A.\n\nAssistant Secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of\nScience\n\n__No. 11 in \u201cHistory of the Sciences\u201d__\n\n_16\u00ba. Illustrated. 75 cents net_\n\nThis is not a history of geographical exploration, though the leading\nepisodes in the advance of our knowledge of the face of the Earth are\nnecessarily referred to in tracing the evolution of geography as a\ndepartment of science. The author hopes that in the attempt to tell the\nstory of the evolution of geography up to the present day, it will be\nevident that it is as amenable to scientific methods as any other\ndepartment of human knowledge, and that it performs important functions\nwhich are untouched by any other line of research.\n\n\n\n\n                                  The\n                          Science of Happiness\n\n\nBy Jean Finot\n\nAuthor of \u201cProblem of the Sexes,\u201d etc.\n\nTranslated from the French by Mary J. Safford\n\n_8\u00ba. $1.75 net_\n\nThe author considers a subject, the solution of which offers more\nenticement to the well-wisher of the race than the gold of the Incas did\nto the treasure-seekers of Spain, who themselves doubtless looked upon\nthe coveted yellow metal, however mistakenly, as a key to the happiness\nwhich all are trying to find. \u201cAmid the noisy tumult of life, amid the\ndissonance that divides man from man,\u201d remarks M. Finot, \u201cthe Science of\nHappiness tries to discover the divine link which binds humanity to\nhappiness through the soul and through the union of souls.\u201d The author\nconsiders the nature of happiness and the means of its attainment, as\nwell as many allied questions.\n\n\n                          G. P. Putnam\u2019s Sons\n\n                          New York      London\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES\n\n\n Page           Changed from                      Changed to\n\n  100 Die Welt als Wille und           Die Welt als Wille und\n      Vorsteilung                      Vorstellung\n\n  111 Trait\u00e9 de M\u00e9dicine               Trait\u00e9 de M\u00e9decine\n\n  117 Der Werk des Lebens              Der Wert des Lebens\n\n  126 La Philosophie de la Longevit\u00e9   La Philosophie de la Long\u00e9vit\u00e9\n\n  133 L\u2019Irreligion de l\u2019Avenir         L\u2019Irr\u00e9ligion de l\u2019Avenir\n\n  195 Einzler bist. O, f\u00fchl\u2019 im ganzen Einzles bist. O, f\u00fchl\u2019 im Ganzen\n      Dich                             dich\n\n  195 w\u00fcnschest unsterblich zu leben?  w\u00fcnschest, unsterblich zu leben?\n      Leb im gazen                     Leb\u2019 im Ganzen\n\n  265 Abhandlungen der k. bayrischen   Abhandlungen der k. Bayerischen\n      Akademie d. Wissenschaften       Akademie d. Wissenschaften\n\n  285 doctrines set forth in hits book doctrines set forth in this book\n\n \u25cf Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained.\n \u25cf Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last\n     chapter.\n \u25cf Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.\n \u25cf Enclosed bold or blackletter font in =equals=.","title":"The nature of man : $b Studies in optimistic philosophy","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":93408}