, ow 
9 
III ON ANIMAL LIFE 113 
entire organism. In fact the realisation of 
the idea of an individual gradually becomes 
more and more difficult, and the continuity of 
existence, even among the highest animals, 
gradually forces itself upon us. I believe 
that as we become more rational, as we real- 
ise more fully the conditions of existence, 
this consideration is likely to have important 
moral results. 
It is generally considered that death is the 
common lot of all living beings. But is this 
necessarily so? Infusoria and other unicellu- 
lar animals multiply by division. That is to 
say, if we watch one for a certain time, we 
shall observe, as already mentioned, that a 
constriction takes place, which grows gradu- 
ally deeper and deeper, until at last the two 
halves become quite detached, and each 
swims away independently. The process is 
repeated over and over again, and in this 
manner the species is propagated. Here ob- 
viously there is no birth and no death. Such 
creatures may be killed, but they have no 
natural term of life. They are, in fact, theo- 
. | 
