CHAPTER HI 



THE INSUKGENCE OF LIFE 



(The Ciboumvention op Space and the Conquest 

 OF Time) 



' Sbe 10 tbe onlB artiet ; worKf ngsup tbc most unitorm 

 material Into uttec opposltes ; arriving, wltbout a trace ot 

 ctEort, at perfection, at tbe mo6t ejact precision, tbougb 

 always velle& unDer a certain softness. . . .' 



'Sbe Is all tblngs. . . . »be Is rougb anO tenOer, lovely 

 an6 bateful, powerless anD omnipotent. . . .' 



*Sbe is cunning, but for goo& enOs; an& It Is best not to 

 notice ber trlcfts. . . .' 



*c:beonetblng sbe seems to aim at Is 5nOlvt&ualltB; yet 

 sbe cares notblng for In&lviauals. Sbe Is always bull&lng 

 up an& Destroying; but ber worftsbop Is Inaccessible.' 



— Goethe's Aphorisms, translated by Huxley. 



Productivity — Filling every niche — Difficult Conditions — Tenacity 

 of Lite — Plasticity — The Biology of the Seasons — Migration 

 as an Instance of Insurgence. 



IN many of its familiar expressions life seems to be an 

 extraordinarily delicate form of activity — easily 

 disturbed and spoilt and ended. A little quickening of the 

 rate of metabolism, and life's fitful fever is over. A slight 

 lack of harmony in the internal laboratory, and the happy 

 child becomes a cretin. A pin-prick below the thumb- 

 nail when he was planting seedlings and the robust 

 gardener dies of lockjaw. An unusually cold night and two 



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