526 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLVII. No. 1222 



tion, no further argument is necessary to 

 show the esthetical value of zoology. 



In inviting your attention to the other 

 aspect of the topic assigned to me, the rec- 

 reational value of zoology, it should first be 

 noted that this does not involve entrance 

 upon a new field. The play instinct, which 

 is exhibited by many animals in varying 

 degree, and which with his more complex 

 nervous system, reaches its highest and 

 most varied manifestations in man, is essen- 

 tially an esthetic instinct. 



This is most evident in the play of chil- 

 dren. They impersonate various charac- 

 ters, and little girls, "playing lady" repro- 

 duce practically all the activities of their 

 mothers — they keep house, they have and 

 direct imaginary servants, they order by 

 telephone articles needed in the household, 

 they make calls, go to parties, become ill 

 and call physicians or nurse members of 

 the families who are sick, they go visiting, 

 write, send and receive letters, imagine 

 themselves afflicted by the various trials 

 that beset married life, exchanging sym- 

 pathy with one another over these troubles, 

 and if they be not yet subject to these 

 trials, they have lovers and enjoy the con- 

 sequeat notes, flowers, bonbons, invitations 

 to the theater, and other attentions that at- 

 tend such a blissful state of existence. 

 Boys in like manner impersonate their 

 fathers, or conceive of themselves as animals 

 the habits of which they imitate, and even 

 pose as inanimate objects and endeavor to 

 reproduce the qualities they ascribe to such 

 objects. Have none of you a memory of 

 having played animal and a recollection 

 of the disappointment you felt as an ele- 

 phant when your more sagacious compan- 

 ions, who were monkeys, climbed the tree 

 after apples and insisted on your remaining 

 on the ground? 



Thus the child puts himself in the place 

 of the object which he sees in his imagina- 



tion, and derives pleasure from the activi- 

 ties that that involves. That he secures 

 from it a sensation of beauty may be ques- 

 tioned in many cases, but it should be re- 

 membered that children reproduce more or 

 less perfectly such activities as seem to 

 theon attractive, such as flying and swim- 

 ming, or personal qualities which they ad- 

 mire, that they aim to arrive at consistency 

 in their play, and that a sense of rhythm is 

 frequently strongly evident. Many games 

 are accompanied by singing, and a careful 

 study of the whole matter has led to a gen- 

 eral recognition among estheticians of the 

 esthetical nature of play as it is carried on 

 by children. 



In adults this is less clear. But the es- 

 sence of play in adults is in the la3dng aside 

 of one's ordinary character and activities 

 and the assumption of a different character 

 with the different activities this involves. 

 To a greater degree than in the case of 

 children do adults seek to realize the fullest 

 consistency in the playing of the part and 

 to a greater degree do these activities in- 

 volve that which is really beautiful. It is 

 interesting to note also the tendency of 

 adults at play to break into song. 



Play activities must, if they be in the 

 fullest sense of the word play, have noth- 

 ing in common with our ordinary voca- 

 tions. Hunting is recreation to the business 

 man but business to the professional 

 hunter and guide. A hunter would enjoy 

 less of the pleasure of the hunt if he did 

 not wear the regulation hunting clothes and 

 carry the paraphernalia which is appropri- 

 ate to such an expedition. The charm in 

 hunting lies in the constant stimulation of 

 the imagination. The hunter is alert to the 

 possibility that any moment the game may 

 come into view and demand instant action 

 if it be secured. Any grass-clump, any 

 thicket, any piece of woodland, any depres- 

 sion, or any turn in his course may disclose 



