8 



THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



should have primarily to do with intact creatures whose habits 

 are observed. But it must be borne in mind that this is only 

 a beginning; judiciously chosen opportunity must be taken to 

 show that the life of the animal as a whole is the sum of the 

 activities of its parts, although in a way that we do not under- 

 stand it always seems to be more than this, just as the action of 

 a society as a whole always seems more than the sum of the 

 actions of its component individuals. In the deepest sense we 

 may say that there is in both cases an esprit de corps that counts. 



Another important point is this, that just as we must try to 

 deepen our study of an animal's behaviour by inquiring into the 

 activities of its parts, so we must remember that there is a " higher 

 physiology " than that of the individual. The animal is probably 

 one of a pair ; it has a mate or mates, it may have a family, it may 

 be a member of a community, it is a unit in a species, it is one 

 of the components of a large Fauna. This study of the relations of 

 animals to their kin, the study of their family and social life, is of 

 great interest, and should bulk largely in a Nature-Study course. 



Relation of Animals to their Surroundings. The organism lives 

 in dependence on an appropriate environment. It cannot live 

 normally except in certain variable conditions of nutrition, 

 aeration, moisture, pressure, temperature, illumination, etc. 

 All these influences make up its environment, and function is 

 for the most part action and reaction between the organism and 

 its environment. We may express this diagrammatically. 



O, Organism surrounded by its en- 

 vironment. The arrows indicate 

 action and reaction. 



FIG. i. 



O, Organism surrounded by successive 

 spheres which indicate its environ- 

 ment. 



