MAN. THE INSTINCT OF LIFE AND DEATH. 357 



most like the dead dies with most regret." Man 

 knows that he is not getting his- full measure. 



Further, all the really natural acts are solicited 

 by an instinct, the satisfaction of which is a need 

 and a joy. The need of death should therefore 

 appear at the end of life, just as the need of sleep 

 appears at the end of the day. It would appear, no 

 doubt, if the normal cycle of existence were fulfilled, 

 and if the harmonious evolution were not always 

 interrupted by accident. Death would then be 

 welcomed and longed for. It would lose its horror. 

 The instinct of death would replace at the wished 

 for moment the instinct of life. Man would pass 

 from the banquet of life with no other desire. He 

 would die without regret, " being old and full of 

 days," according to the expression used in the Bible 

 in the case of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. No 

 doubt there are some analogies to this in the insects 

 which only assume the perfect form for the purpose 

 of procreation and immediately perish in their full 

 perfection. In these animals the approach of death 

 is blended with the intoxication of hymen. Thus 

 we see some of them, the ephemerae, lose at that 

 moment the instinct of life and the instinct of 

 self-preservation. They allow themselves to be 

 approached, taken, and seized, and make no effort 

 at flight. 



But what is this full measure of life, which is 

 imparted to us ? Metchnikoff holds that the ages 

 attributed to several persons in the Bible are very 

 probable. Abraham lived 175 years, Ishmael 137, 

 Joseph no, Moses 120, Buffon believed in the 

 existence of a ratio betw^een the longevity of animals 

 and the duration of their growth. He fixed it at 



