286 THE FEELINGS AND EMOTIONS 
this somewhat abstract form, let us keep in view, if it be only 
in the background of our thought, the kind of concrete 
example which may be adduced in its illustration—the dog 
with his attractive bone, the kitten that has raced off at sight 
of him, the cock-sparrow with trailing wings hopping after 
his mate, the falcon stooping on her quarry, the rabbit diving 
into his burrow at sight of the fox, and so forth. If we 
have such cases in view, where the centre of the situation 
has acquired or is acquiring meaning, a meaning which in 
large degree attaches to the external nucleus of the situation 
with only the germs of subjective reference, we may, perhaps, 
summarize the position by saying that in each case some 
pleasure to be gained or some pain to be avoided is the psy- 
chological end of conation. 
But in each case the conation has also a biological end— 
the preservation and conservation of the race. “An animal,” 
said Darwin,* “may be led to pursue that course which is most 
beneficial to the species by suffering, such as pain, hunger, 
thirst, or fear; or by pleasure, as in eating and drinking, and 
in the propagation of the species ; or by both combined, as in 
the search for food.” The important point here to notice is 
that the two ends agree—the psychological end of the attain- 
ment of pleasure and the avoidance of pain, and the biological 
end of race preservation. Under the joint influence of plea- 
sure and pain, the needle of animal life sets towards the pole 
of beneficial action. 
This consonance of end was in old days ascribed to the 
beneficent foresight of the Creator. The modern view, that 
it is a product of evolution, does not necessarily ascribe it to 
any other ultimate cause. For many still piously hold that 
evolution is only a name which we give to the method of 
creation. And there is not a fact or generalization in science 
by which such a conclusion can be disproved, for the premises 
lie outside the field of scientific inquiry. But the consonance 
of end is, for science, a remarkable fact, and one worthy of 
attentive consideration. 
* “ Vife and Letters,” vol. i., p. 310. 
