in ON ANIMAL LIFE II3 



entire organism. In fact the realisation of 

 the idea of an individual gradually becomes 

 more and more difficult, and the continuity of 

 existence, even among the highest animals, 

 gradually forces itself upon us. I believe 

 that as we become more rational, as we real- 

 ise more fully the conditions of existence, 

 this consideration is likely to have important 

 moral results. 



It is generally considered that death is the 

 common lot of all living beings. But is this 

 necessarily so ? Infusoria and other unicellu- 

 lar animals multiply by division. That is to 

 say, if we watch one for a certain time, we 

 shall observe, as already mentioned, that a 

 constriction takes place, which grows gradu- 

 ally deeper and deeper, until at last the two 

 halves become quite detached, and each 

 swims away independently. The process is 

 repeated over and over again, and in this 

 manner the species is propagated. Here ob- 

 viously there is no birth and no death. Such 

 creatures may be killed, but they have no 

 natural term of life. They are, in fact, theo- 



