CHAPTER I 



THE DRAMA OF LIFE 



(Vital Motives) 



'Sbc performs a plag; we ftnow notwbetber sbe sees It 

 berselt, an& get sbe acts tor us, tbe loofters^on. . . .' 



"Iber mccbanlsm bas few springs— but tbeg never wear 

 out, are alwags active anb manifolD. . . .' 



*a:be spectacle of flature ts alwags new, for sbe ie alwags 

 renewing tbe spectators. Xtfe is ber most ejquisite inven= 

 tion ; ana &eatb is ber ejpert contrivance to get plentg of 

 life.' 



— Goethe's Aphorisms, translated by Huxley. 



Succession of Players — Progress of the Drama — Primallmpulse 

 One Great Problem — Abundance of Individuals — Number of 

 Species — Variety of Form — Variety of Bread- Winning — The 

 Struggle for Existence — Thrust and Parry — Many Inventions — 

 Intricate Situations — In Illustration : Cuckoo Spit — The Case 

 of Horned Lizards — Love-Scenes — Family Life — Comphcations 

 — Betrospect. 



TO many observers of living creatures it has seemed 

 as though they were being allowed to see just a httle 

 of a complex and long-drawn-out drama. All the world 

 is the stage, on which, without any fall of curtain, scene has 

 succeeded scene since hfe began. The stage is crowded, 

 in spite of its spaciousness, and everywhere we see repeti- 

 tions of the same episodes and situations on different scales. 

 Here there is a scene among birds, and there the insects 



I B 



