First Parents. 19 



vitality of the race by a stronger impulse of life 

 than the individual alone possesses. 



So we are told there are times when one single- 

 celled creature finds itself irresistibly drawn to 

 another. 



Its lagging forces are powerfully wakened as it 

 feels the touch of this kindred life, and these two 

 flow together in indissoluble union, as two drops 

 of water might flow into one, and from this union 

 results a stronger and more vital race. 



Aroused to momentary intense activity by this 

 new contact, peace follows the joining of the two 

 lives, and as though to express the joy life holds 

 even to so lowly a creature, the new being 

 composed of two united into one resolves itself 

 into many offspring, thus handing on a more 

 vigorous inheritance to its descendants. 



There are many forms of these single-celled 

 creatures, but in all, the story of regeneration is 

 essentially the same. 



Some seem never to reproduce themselves with- 

 out the inspiration of contact with another of their 

 kind. 



Some give forth life for a few generations by 

 simply dividing, but ultimately require the renewal 

 that comes from union with another, or their vital 

 power ceases, and death ensues. 



It would seem that this expression of what we 

 may in anticipation call love, this attraction to 

 another and fusion with it, is necessary to the con- 

 tinued existence of even the humble protozoa. 



