ANIMAL LIFE 



CHAPTER IX 



THE WELFARE OF THE RACE 



THE life-history of an animal or of a plant is not 

 only the record of its maintenance, growth, and de- 

 velopment, but also furnishes the seed of the future. 

 The welfare of the race is an inward stimulus to which 

 all beings respond. The endowments of the individual, 

 which have at first sight such an appearance of being 

 purely personal acquisitions and advantages, are 

 in reality of racial value. In animal life the heritage 

 is one of bodily structure and instinctive habit. 

 Man, beyond these, ensues an estate of social and 

 ethical qualities ; the maintenance and extension of 

 this kingdom constitutes his most absorbing task and 

 awakens him to the highest influences. 



This true affiance is the supreme example of an 

 election between a being and its choice that runs 

 through animal and plant life. It is personified in 

 the higher animals by the love of mates, in which 

 they gather all their gifts to pour them into the lap 

 of the future. 



From the lowest to the highest this debt is paid 

 with unwavering response, and is the crowning act of 

 their life. The individual Protozoon literally loses 



