CHAPTER II 



THE ORIGIN AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE HABITS OF 

 CONVOLUTA ROSCOFFENSIS AND CONVOLUTA 

 PARADOXA. 



THE fact which stands out most prominently from 

 open-air observations of C. roscoffensis and C. para- 

 doxa is that the behaviour of these animals is 

 complex and purposeful. By some means or other 

 they create for themselves an ordered life, in spite of 

 the welter of change in their environment. Through 

 the ever-varying conditions of the world in which 

 they live, they thread their consistent way as surely 

 as we, with conscious self-control and agility, pick our 

 ways safely through the crowded traffic of the street. 



We have now to endeavour to ascertain the 

 nervous components of the complex behaviour of 

 our plant-animals; to learn, by the method of ex- 

 perimental analysis, whether it is possible to refer the 

 ordered complexity of this behaviour to some few, 

 simple, nervous acts. 



It is a matter of common knowledge that many 

 organisms, both plants and animals, orientate them- 



