XXII 
A LIMB FOR A LIFE 
MONG the many effective ways in which 
animals parry the thrusts of Death, is 
there one more daring than what is called autotomy 
—the surrender of a part which often saves the 
whole? Seemingly daring, one must say, however, 
for all the typical cases of self-mutilation are 
‘nowadays reflex, occurring quite apart from any 
deliberate intention to sacrifice intactness for 
existence. A starfish, seized by one of its arms, 
surrenders this to the captor and escapes with the 
other four, regrowing the missing part at its infinite 
leisure. But since the starfish has not a single 
nerve-ganglion in its body, no one can credit it 
with having reflectively recognized that it is better 
that one member should perish than that the whole 
life should be lost. That the surrender of an arm 
is effective is certain; that it now happens reflexly 
is also certain; but to conclude that this interest- 
ing kind of response to a frequently-recurring risk 
was historically established without any glimpse of 
awareness on the creature’s part is premature. 
We have to remember, for instance, that brainless 
and ganglionless as the starfish is, it shows, e.g., in 
its combat with a sea-urchin, a capacity for per- 
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