From the Unconscious to the Conscious 



the lowest animals, is obviously unconscious. The 

 experiments of De Vries show that it is anarchic and 

 without order. There is an exuberance of life in all 

 directions. 



But the secondary factors, especially adaptation and 

 selection appearing at the same time as the forms them- 

 selves, come into play. They do not cause evolution, 

 but evolution takes place conformably to their influence. 

 They bring about the persistence or the extinction of 

 the forms which have appeared. They aid the evolu- 

 tionary process by regularising it. 



To this primitive phase, a second succeeds: as soon 

 as a rudiment of consciousness appears, it also has a 

 part to play. The acquired consciousness reverts to 

 unconsciousness; which it fertilises and enlightens. 

 Thenceforward the creative impulse is not anarchic, 

 little by little it becomes regular and concentrated; it 

 obeys in some measure environing necessities in order 

 to facilitate adaptation. 



It is, however, not yet conscious in any way: even 

 the appearance of the main species, the transition from 

 the fish to the batrachian, from the reptile to the bird, 

 from the anthropopithecus to the man, were not transi- 

 tions deliberately planned. The fish could not have 

 understood that the batrachian is a relatively higher 

 form; the reptile did not consciously desire to acquire 

 wings and become a bird; the anthropopithecus did 

 not understand that the species Man would involve a 

 higher total of psychic realisations. 



But these transitions came to pass as if by the obscure 

 influence of a need; as if the function, potentially 

 anterior to the organ, had conditioned the organ which 

 was to appear; as if, in a word, evolution had obeyed 

 a marvellous instinct. 



If there are still gropings and errors in this evolu- 

 tionary phase, that is because instinct is not infallible. 



277 u 



