RESPONSIVE LIFE OF ORGANISMS 489 



to two acts both of which are directed toward self preserva 

 tion and not toward defense; these are sucking and grasp- 

 ing. He has, however, a brain, that, when rightly devel- 

 oped, is capable of supplying all these deficiencies. And 

 he has a long period of infancy — far longer than that of any 

 other animal — during which to develop it . Relieved by 

 parental care from the necessity of immediately entering 

 upon the struggle for existence, he has time to learn, to feel 

 and to do, to discriminate and to act, to sift and to try an 

 endless variety of experiences and to learn both wisdom and 

 discretion. Infancy, although it be playtime, is in man and 

 animals alike, a time of preparation for the serious business 

 of life. Play is but practice for the game of life. 



Language. — Man is the only animal that talks. Birds 

 chatter and sing; insects chirp and hum; fiddler crabs 

 gesticulate, and dogs have many ways, familiar to ever)^ one, 

 of expressing their feelings; and the rudiments of language 

 are doubtless in the signs and calls which are a part of the 

 social habits of animals. "Actions speak louder than 

 words." By many sense impressions of an object or an act 

 man may gain a conception of its qualities, and then he is 

 able to conceive of the qualities severally, and apart from 

 the thing possessing or manifesting them. From seeing 

 swiftly moving objects, he may conceive of swiftness in the 

 abstract, and then he may use a word to symbolize that con- 

 ception. Whether a dog or any other animal may conceive 

 of swiftness apart from a swiftly moving object seems 

 highly improbable. 



The first words used may have been such calls to com- 

 panions as two persons unacquainted with each other's 

 language, might today agree upon. Or, they might well 

 have been vocal signals such as men use when acting in 

 companies to secure co-operation. "All together — hce-o!" 

 is such a combination of words and verbal rudiments as we 



