CHAPTER I 



THE IDEA OF INDIVIDUALITY 



"Die Zeit 1st abgeflosseu, wo mir noch Zufalle begegnen durften; 

 und was konnte jetzt noch zu mir fallen, was nieht schon mein Eigen 

 ware!" NIETZSCHE. 



"La vie manifesto une recherche de 1'individualite et tend a 

 constituer des systemes naturellement isoles, naturellement clos." 



BERGSON. 



"ACCIDENTS cannot happen to me." So says 

 Nietzsche's Zarathustra, and in the saying proclaims 

 to the world the perfection of his individuality. It 

 might be thought that such a being was far outside 

 the purview of the Zoologist, that he himself belonged 

 to imagination and his individuality to the most 

 speculative philosophy, and that both he and it 

 should be left where they belong, where they could 

 not contaminate the "pure objective truth of science." 



That I think is an error: for the idea of 

 individuality is dealt witli of necessity both by 

 Science and by Philosophy, and in such a difficult 

 subject it would be mistaken to reject any sources of 

 help. Not only that, but animal individuality with 



H. 1 



