CHAPTER VI 



THE CYCLE OF LIFE 

 (FROM BIRTH THROUGH LOVE TO DEATH) 



instant sbe commences an immense journey, ano 

 everg instant sbe bas reacbeo bee goal '. '1foer life is in ber 

 cbfloren' .... "Iber cbiloren are numberless'. . . . *1ber 

 crown is love '. . . . ^ver greatness sbe spreads ber 

 sbfelo'. . . . * 2>eatb is ber expert Device to get plenty of life'. 



Goethe's Aphorisms, translated by Huxley. 



The Curve of Life The Continuance of Life The Wonder of 

 Development Growth Young Animals Adolescence Court- 

 ship among Animals Parental Care and the Family Ageing 

 and Senescence Death Illustrations of Life-histories The 

 Story of Niners. 



THE living creature is always changing in its material 

 composition, yet it has a remarkable power of 

 retaining its integrity. This is one of its secrets. It burns, 

 but is not consumed. Besides this, however, it has the 

 power of passing from form to form, from phase to phase 

 the power of ' cyclical development ', as Huxley called it. 

 This is our main theme in this chapter. 



The Curve of Life. From a microscopic egg-cell, 

 hidden within the ovule, fertilized by a pollen-nucleus, 

 an embryo plant develops ; the seed is sown and a seedling 

 develops ; the seedling becomes a sapling ; this grows into 

 a tree which bears flowers and seeds year after year, it 

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