THE SURPLUS ENERGY THEORY OP 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. 



