THE SCHOOL OF THE SHORE 61 



A GREAT SCHOOL 



For a long time after the earth became a 

 home of life there were no animals on land at 

 all. As far as we can judge it was in the sea 

 that the first living creatures lived either in 

 the open sea or on the shore. Whether the 

 shore was the first haunt of life or the second 

 it is difficult to say, but it is likely that most 

 of the great races of animals sojourned for a 

 long time on the shore and, as it were, served 

 their apprenticeship there. Now on the shore 

 there are, as we have seen, many spurs to ad- 

 venture and many outside changes that pro- 

 voke changes in the structure and constitution 

 of the animals. The shore is a haunt where 

 animals are prompted to play all their cards, 

 to make experiments with all their possibili- 

 ties, just as we ourselves do when we are in a 

 tight place. The shore animals test all things 

 and hold fast that which is good. Or, to look 

 at it from another side, the shore has always 

 been a place of sifting, where those creatures 

 that were not fit to cope with the changeful, 

 difficult, crowded conditions have been re- 

 jected. It is in this sense that we may speak of 

 animals learning lessons on the seashore: not 



