274 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF HUMAN PROBLEMS 



There is much to indicate that religion itself has one 

 of its firmest and deepest roots in the instinct of sex, 

 and if this be true, it follows that even the most 

 elevated devotional music is founded in some meas- 

 ure on this instinct. 



VI 



The drama with its complex double appeal to the 

 eye and the ear offers ways of making profound 

 impressions on the human nervous system, and on 

 account of this varied expression is perhaps capable 

 of reaching effectively more kinds of nervous organi- 

 zations than any of the more elementary arts. It 

 were, indeed, an insensitive and ill-formed being who 

 should find nothing of response within himself to a 

 well-presented Hamlet or Camille. And it is just 

 this wealth of appeal in which nearly every kind and 

 shade of human trait can be exposed to the mind's 

 eye and ear which gives the drama its great biological 

 significance, its power to mould' slowly or quickly, 

 the reactions on which the conduct and opinions of 

 individuals depend. We may say that the abuse of 

 the drama is one of the most serious defects in civiliza- 

 tion, while, on the other hand, its embodiment of 

 the highest ideals is one of the greatest levers for 

 progress. Good taste and discrimination in drama 

 must come in part from exposure to the influence of 

 the best plays rendered by the best actors, but the 

 effectiveness of this mode of appeal must depend in 



