ON THE IDEA 



OF THE 



INDIVIDUAL IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



An Address delivered at the 56th Congress of German Naturalists and 

 Physicians at Freiburg, i.B., on the 21st September 1883, 



BY 

 PROF. DR. G. H. THEODOR EIMER OF TUBINGEN. 



From the stenographic report published in the daily proceedings of the 

 Congress. 



Man loves to isolate himself from Nature. 



He is reluctant to confess his kinship with beings which 

 he thinks beneath him. 



He alone will be lord, alone wise ; he the crown of 

 creation. 



But who gives him the right to assume this pre-eminence ? 



How small is his power ! 



Man the mighty is powerless against the infinitesimal 

 organisms which seek to enter his blood and destroy him. 



A wave kills him, while the ocean is teeming with life 

 that mocks his sovereignty. 



