THE TKIUMPII OF LIFE 



gan the technical mastery of the earth; the dis- 

 covery of tools. A strange dead piece of stuff 

 is animated to a "help organ." The ax 

 stretches out the hand, the coat of mail covers 

 the soft skin, the telescope extends the eye, the 

 telephone the mouth and ear; the soldier crab 

 that takes possession of a dead snail shell and 

 draws it as an armour over his weakly protected 

 back, has in principle stepped into the realm of 

 tools. On his shell is a high orange red form, a 

 sea-anemone. It is alive, and since it sits on his 

 shield, it lives "with him," only they are not 

 grown together. Wherever this busy little 

 creature runs he drags it along with him on his 

 snail-shell. Each derives an advantage from 

 the other, life from life, as in the case of the 

 coral and the siphonophore. A portion of the 

 nourishment of the crab falls to the part of 

 the sea-anemone, while the terrible weapon of the 

 latter, its poisonous stinging organ, like the 

 stinging nettle of plants, serve him as a protec- 

 tion. Both recognize this. The sea-anemone 

 leaves the crab only when the snail shell is 

 broken and climbs upon the new one, without 

 stinging him. He lifts the sea-anemone care- 

 fully upon him when it is lost, and yet they are 

 not grown together. How could they be; two 

 animals of entirely different species, as far 

 apart as the heavens? Their association must 

 necessarily take the form of a higher, finer 

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