THE SUMMIT OF THE YEARS 



failure became possible, success also became possi- 

 ble. The animal with his instincts was doomed to a 

 ceaseless roimd of unprogressive life; man with his 

 reason had open to him the possibility of progres- 

 sive mastery over Nature. His race-mind developed 

 slowly, from period to period, going through an un- 

 folding and a discipUne analogous to that of a child 

 from infancy to manhood: many failures, many 

 sorrows, much struggle; but slowly — oh, so slowly! 

 — has he emerged into the light of reason in which 

 we find him now. The price the lower animals pay 

 for unerring instinct is the loss of progress; the price 

 man pays for his erring reason is the chance of 

 failure. 



Man's mastery over Nature has made him the 

 victim of scores of diseases not known to the ani- 

 mals below him. The artificial conditions with 

 which he has surrounded himseK, his material com- 

 forts, his extra-natural aids and shields, have opened 

 the way to the invasion of his kingdom by hosts of 

 bacterial enemies from whose mischievous activi- 

 ties the lower orders are exempt. He has closed his 

 door against wind and cold, and thereby opened it 

 to a ruthless and invisible horde. Nature endows 

 him with reason, and then challenges it at every 

 turn. She puts a weapon into his hand that she has 

 given to no other animal, and then confronts him 

 with foes such as no other animal knows. He pays 

 for his privileges. He has entered the lists as a free 

 136 



