THE SURPLUS ENERGY THEORY OF PLAY. 21 



sations. Must it not be admitted that he does not 

 play for recreation nor for the relief of stored-up en- 

 ergy? It is the simple force of the demon instinct 

 that urges and even compels to activity not only if and 

 so long as the vessel overflows (to use a figure of speech), 

 but even when there is but a last drop left in it. The 

 theory of overflowing energy requires that first and 

 necessarily there shall be abounding vigour; from it the 

 impulse must originate. Superabundant life compels 

 itself to act, says Spencer. The instincts would in that 

 case be only the bed prepared for the self-originated 

 stream to flow in. I maintain, on the other hand, that 

 though this often appears true, it does not always prove 

 to be so.* 



It is not necessarily true that the impulse results 

 from the overreadiness and straining of the nervous sys- 

 tem for discharge. Notice the kitten that lies there la- 

 zily, perhaps even softly dozing, till a ball rolls toward it. 

 Here the impulse comes from an external excitement 

 that wakes the hunting instinct. If the kitten has a 

 particular need for motor discharge she will play of 



* Even in the case where the Spencerian theory appears to be 

 most satisfactory — namely, that of the playful acts of animals in 

 confinement, the monotonous walking up and down in the cage, 

 the gnawing and licking the woodwork — is primarily not an in- 

 stance of overflowing energy, but rather of thwarted instinct. 

 Thus Lloyd Morgan says : " The animal prevented from perform- 

 ing his instinctive activities is often apparently unquiet, uneasy, 

 and distressed. Hence I said that the animals in our zoological 

 gardens, even if born and reared in captivity, may exhibit a 

 craving for freedom and a yearning to perform their instinctive 

 activities. This craving may be regarded as a blind and vague 

 impulse, prompting the animal to perform those activities which 

 are for its own good and for the good of the race to which it be- 

 longs." Animal Life and Intelligence, 1891, p. 430. 



