250 THE PLAY OF ANIMALS. 



sary to get at the psychic or inner features of the phe- 

 nomenon. We established as a fundamental principle 

 of our inquiry the fact that play is, to state it briefly, 

 not exercise of, but practice preparatory to, instinctive 

 activity. When, as in the case of young animals, the 

 practice is obviously preparatory,* there is no occasion 

 to speculate on the probable psychic accompaniments in 

 order to establish its playful character. But here we 

 are confronted with acts that are performed at the time 

 for the actual exercise of the instinct, and consequently 

 in their external manifestation appear as serious means 

 to a real end. In such cases, therefore, only the psychic 

 significance which I before put aside as a secondary con- 

 sideration can decide as to the genuine playfulness of an 

 act. 



The bird performing his fantastic evolutions of 

 flight and dancing before the object of his affections 

 is not playing, so long as he only discharges the motor 

 functions prescribed by heredity. Sexual excitement 

 would produce the reactions necessary for courtship 

 without anything taking place in the creature's mind 

 other than takes place there when he involuntarily 

 flies away at tlie sight of an enemy. All the compli- 

 cated acts of courtship would then be nothing more 

 than physiological results of excitation, a direct exer- 

 cise of instinct for serious ends, not in any sense play. 

 Familiar facts show that this may often be the case. 

 It frequently happens that excitation unconnected with 

 sex — such, for instance, as that produced by the sight 

 of a foe — calls forth the manifestations usually asso- 

 ciated with courtship, and not only those that might 



* [The author's antithesis between Ansiihun^ (exercise), on the 

 one hand, and Einiibunj]: (practice) with Yorijbnna: (preparation), on 

 the other hand, can not be fully rendered by single English words.] 



