266 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 
THE BALLOONING SPIDERS 
In these parachutists, some of which have 
their faces set towards flying, we get a glimpse 
of what is certainly a quality of living crea- 
tures—the quality of endeavour and experi- 
ment, of insurgence and adventure. We can- 
not get the right word for it, because it is a 
characteristic of life itself, asserting itself at 
many levels. We find it among the simple 
primeval creatures of the Open Sea, which do 
not form “bodies” in the strict sense, but ex- 
pend all their endeavour in fashioning their 
single “cell,” so that it is often like a fairy 
palace, and is a little world of internal micro- 
scopic complexity. We find it in the simple 
sedentary creatures of the shallow water, 
whether seaweeds or sponges, zoophytes or 
corals, which add to the self-preservation law 
of the firstlings, as Dr. Church says, the sec- 
ond great law that no race will continue un- 
less the individual members do their bit in 
securing its continuance. We find it in the 
instinctive behaviour of ants and bees, in the 
instinctive and intelligent behaviour of birds 
and mammals, in the instinctive, intelligent, 
and rational behaviour of man. 
