Mat 31, 1918] 



SCIENCE 



527 



the quarry. A hunting excursion is really 

 a constant succession of play-reactions. 

 The killing is not pleasure, but the getting 

 of the game gives satisfaction because it is 

 the culmination and realization of a pursuit 

 which has been in the fullest sense of the 

 word, esthetic. 



Not only must play activities be different 

 from ordinary activities but the object 

 sought must be non-utilitarian. A man 

 who goes hunting or fishing with the sole 

 idea of killing and bringing home all the 

 booty he can, and, it may be, whose game 

 is driven up to him, does not derive the 

 recreation he might from his quest. 



It is unneeessarj- to say that recreation 

 must afford pleasure to him who seeks it. 

 This element introduces the possibility of 

 infinite variety in play, and again empha- 

 sizes its resemblance to other esthetic ac- 

 tivities, which we have seen are individual- 

 istic in character. Two persons will find 

 equal enjojinent in very different tj^jes of 

 recreation, what is play to one might be the 

 hardest of work to another, and the ways 

 in which different individuals will pursue 

 the same type of recreation are almost as 

 man}' in number as are the individuals 

 themselves. 



The aim of play is primarily rest. We 

 endeavor to select recreation of such a char- 

 acter as to demand the use of muscles ordi- 

 narily not called into activity, thus reliev- 

 ing those that are exhausted with the daily 

 toil. "We seek enjoyment in directions that 

 carry us outside our ordinary field of 

 thought and in that way afford the oppor- 

 tunity to tired nerve cells to recuperate 

 their energies. We demand in our play 

 freedom from worry and responsibility. A 

 quality in play much emphasized by some 

 students of the subject is that its activities 

 are assumed voluntarily and may at any 

 moment be suspended. How much it adds 

 to the enjoyment of a trip if we feel that it 



makes no difference when we get home! 

 Play should involve both muscular and ner- 

 vous activity and should be capable of fully 

 absorbing the attention of the player. 



Finally it may be pointed out that recre- 

 ation should be taken away from the fa- 

 miliar surroundings, is most profitable 

 when taken in the open air, and most satis- 

 fying to a person of taste and culture, if 

 sought amid scenes which stimulate our 

 sense of beauty. 



The ultimate aim of recreation is, as was 

 that of esthetics, the development of a more 

 effective individual to the ends that he may 

 become a more worthy citizen. As each de- 

 velops sympathy, the power of judgment, 

 and of concentrated attention, thej- both do 

 contribute definite!}^ to this end. And both 

 assist in this development in another man- 

 ner which has not been mentioned. Ner- 

 vous balance, the ability of an individual to 

 maintain a clear mental vision, an active 

 imagination, the possession of strong emo- 

 tions always held in check by reason, are 

 necessary if a man is going to be consist- 

 ently a safe and progressive citizen. Both 

 esthetics and nature study not only tend to 

 develop this balance and these qualities, 

 but both also offer relief from strain when 

 one's burdens become heavy and the weight 

 of responsibility presses hard. One per- 

 son finds relief in the beauty of art, 

 another in the beauty of literature, but 

 jnany and perhaps the majority seek it in 

 the beauty of nature in one form or 

 another or in the relaxation and recupera- 

 tion which are afforded bj' recreation. 



That the study of animals, particularly 

 in their natural environment, affords op- 

 portunities for recreation is so evident as 

 to make proof unuecessarj'. But emphasis 

 is given to the statement if attention is 

 called to the fact that all the essential con- 

 ditions of play are present, that it takes 

 one away from ordinary scenes and activi- 



