428 PSYCHOLOGY. 



rider and a soldier than from a doll, while with the girl the opposite is 

 the case, is proof that an hereditary connection exists between the 

 perception of certain things (horse, doll, etc.), and the feeling of pleas- 

 ure, as well as between this latter and the impulse to play." * 



There is another sort of human play, into which higher 

 aesthetic feelings enter. I refer to that love of festivities, 

 ceremonies, ordeals, etc., which seems to be universal in our 

 species. The lowest savages have their dances, more or 

 less formally conducted. The various religions have their 

 solemn rites and exercises, and civic and military power 

 symbolize their grandeur by processions and celebrations 

 of divers sorts. We have our operas and parties and mas- 

 querades. An element common to all these ceremonial 

 games, as they may be called, is the excitement of con- 

 certed action as one of an organized crowd. The same 

 acts, performed with a crowd, seem to mean vastly more 

 than when performed alone. A walk with the people on 

 a holida}^ afternoon, an excursion to drink beer or coffee 

 at a popular 'resort,' or an ordinary ball-room, are ex- 

 amples of this. Not only are we amused at seeing so 

 many strangers, but there is a distinct stimulation at 

 feeling our share in their collective life. The percep- 

 tion of them is the stimulus ; and our reaction upon it is 

 our tendency to join them and do what they are doing, 

 and our unwillingness to be the first to leave off and go 

 home alone. This seems a primitive element in our nature, 

 as it is difficult to trace any association of ideas that could 

 lead up to it ; although, once granting it to exist, it is very 

 easy to see what its uses to a tribe might be in facilitating 

 prompt and vigorous collective action. The formation of 

 armies and the undertaking of military expeditions would 

 be among its fruits. In the ceremonial games it is but the 

 impulsive starting-point. What particular things the crowd 

 then shall do, depends for the most part on the initiative of 

 individuals, fixed by imitation and habit, and continued by 

 tradition. The co-operation of other aesthetic pleasures 

 with games, ceremonial or other, has a great deal to do 

 with the selection of such as shall become stereotyped and 



* Der Menschliche Willc, p. 305. 



