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CHAPTER X 

 THE HIGHER SOCIAL LEVELS 



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E HAVE seen that all 

 animals and plants live as members of more or 

 less loosely integrated communities; that within 

 these communities aggregations of animals occur, 

 frequently of considerable numbers and at times 

 fairly well organized as social units ; and that such 

 collections, even though unorganized, may exert 

 profound influence upon the behavior and even 

 upon the structure of the animals which compose 

 them. There remains the question of the rela- 

 tion, if any, between such communities of animals 

 and those which are regarded as being definitely 

 social. 



Here we come upon a considerable diflSculty. 

 What is meant by the term "social animals".^ 

 Deegener, of the University of Berlin, answers 

 that societies are communities of similar or dis- 

 similar animals which have a real value for the 

 individuals composing them; in other words, 

 any grouping that shows survival values, he would 

 regard as being social. Alverdes, of the University 

 of Halle, would limit societies to those groupings 



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