154 VITALISM AND SCHOLASTICISM 



able in the one case should be inappropriate 

 in the other. 



Since the evidence for the thesis which we 

 are maintaining is cumulative we shall find it 

 convenient to pause every now and then and 

 consider, even at the risk of repetition, the 

 bearing of the facts which we have been 

 dealing with upon the main problem. 



So far in this chapter we have been dealing 

 with very lowly forms of life and that because, 

 ex hypothesi, they are nearer the beginning 

 of things living. Even amongst them we are 

 confronted with happenings which it seems im- 

 possible to explain on causo-mechanical lines. 

 How much more so when we ascend the scale 

 of the animal kingdom ! Let us briefly con- 

 sider a few cases often quoted in connection 

 with the discussion as to Keason and Instinct, 

 a matter not to be dealt with in this book. 

 Consider the Bee the instance is almost musty 

 from quotation but can hardly be too deeply 

 pondered. Reaumur* tells us that hardly are 

 the wings of the young bee dry before it sets out 

 on its quest for wax, returning laden to the 

 hive. There it proceeds to construct its cells, 

 the form of which is exactly what it should be 

 to give a maximum of strength and capacity 



* His. des Insectes, t. v. mem. xi, teste Gerard, Science 

 and Scientists, C.T.S., 1899, p. 108. The other quotations 

 respecting insects are from the same work. 



