150 THE EIDDLE OF THE UNIVEKSE. 



developed psychic activity, and that this is, signifi- 

 cantly, lower than the stage which is seen afterwards 

 (when the chrysalis sleep is over) in the perfect, 

 winged, sexually mature insect. 



Man's psychic activity, like that of most of the 

 higher animals, runs through a long series of stages 

 of development during the individual life. We may 

 single out the five following as the most important 

 of them : — 



I. — The soul of the new-born infant up to the birth 

 of self-consciousness and the learning of speech. 



II. — The soul of the boy or girl up to puberty (i.e., 

 until the awakening of the sexual instinct). 



III. — The soul of the youth or maiden up to the 

 time of sexual intercourse (the "idealist" period). 



IV. — The soul of the grown man and the mature 

 woman (the period of full maturity and of the 

 founding of families, lasting until about the sixtieth 

 year for the man, and the fiftieth for the woman — 

 until involution sets in). 



V. — The soul of the old man or woman (the period 

 of degeneration). 



Man's psychic life runs the same evolution — upward 

 progress, full maturity, and downward degeneration — 

 as every other vital activity in his organization. 



