viii LIFE; OUTLINES OF GENERAL BIOLOGY 



a* far as may Ix*. now as a I^xly-Mind and again as a Mind-Body. 

 \rt It Will be Mt-n that we liave given to the advances of bio- 

 chrnu*lr>- and the physiology of honnones no less space and 

 prominciue than to the psyciu>logical side of animal Ix'haviour, 

 prrfcfrnlul mating, etc.. yet for such latter discussions, and their 

 humanly related orus. the times are surely ripe. 



S<imr main instances of more or U^s personal contributions, 

 lu which we tlesire cunsiileration from fellow-workers as well as 

 grnrral rcad«rs, may K* indicated in the successive chapters. 



In I hap I (( hararteristics of Organisms) we have given familiar 

 fact* a fre?»h gr«>uping in our re-statement of the criteria of living 

 l»cing*. as compared with nt)n-living systems; and to that we have 

 added what is ai»t to \k lost sight of in conventional defmitions — 

 %«»nu' glimt*s<?> of S4rnes of the Drama of Life in Involution. 



In II {Lcnlugy) une of Darwin's central ideas— the Interrelation 

 of Organisms in the Web oi Lift"— is made the subject of detailed 

 analysis and fresh illustration; and some concepts, as of Parasitism, 

 arc radically reviscil. 



In III (Illustrations of Physir)l<»gy) there is a re-attempted 

 rlab*>ratt*>n of certain biological ideas; such as susix-nded animation 

 in Its many gra<luated forms, the variety of methods in the quest 

 for fo«Ml. and tiie nl.ition Ix-tween the physiological problem of 

 pigments and the tcoloj^jeal problem of coloration; while the con- 

 cluding M-ction (What is Life') gives a first broad outline of our 

 nco viiahsi |>o>ition. 



In IV ikcpr«Mluction and Se.\) will be found a statement of our 

 physiol.»gical Theon,- of Stx, and Sex-dimorphism, first advanced 

 in tSHn. and now sup|>orted by much additional evidence. As 

 indicatrtl in our prrvi.ius smaller lxK)ks- Sex, liiologv, and Evolu- 

 tton. K\m"sc conrrptions have wider IxMrings. and apjilications, than 

 arc yrt generally r«coj,'niM<l. 



In V (Hio Psyrhoh.j^iral) there is an attempt to arrange in an 

 rvnlutionar>- gradation all tin-many nvMlesof Animal Behaviour, and 

 an (rirmic) attempt to int<nnediate Utween the extreme Behavior- 

 istA.>n throne haiiil and thr extreme .XnthrojxHnorphistson the other. 



In VI (M'.rph.»l.ii:ual) there is a fresh outline-statement of our 

 (lonic-maintainrd but as yet seldom ctinsidered) Concept of the 

 rrn-< yrlr. which M-rms to' Us a vital idea in Cytology, as also in 

 Evolution Here also an attempt is made to re-analyse certain 

 familiar ideas in morphology, siuh. for instance, as those of 

 ' KiKlimrntary" and "\estigial ' Organs. 



In VII (Drvelf.pmrnt of Organisms) we have given prominence 

 to A rehabilitation of a very old idea- that of "the Curve of Life". 

 rhi« tra)rctor>- with its various phaMS- is illustrated, less or 

 mote vividly, by all tvpical life-histories, of plants and animals 

 alike, ami we havr shown how a lengthening-out or a shortening- 

 d-mn of varuMH arcs of the curve aifls in accounting for many of 

 the diHrfrncrii in and lietween related s|>ecies. and even types. 



In VIII f( treat Ste|v^ m Organic Evolution) we have faced the 

 Dfohlrm of the ma)<»r a.lvances in structure and function, so often 

 left obvure in the cvolutionar>' succession of races of organisms* 



