CHAPTER VI 



THE CYCLE OF LIFE 

 (From Birth through Love to Death) 



'jBveve fnetant ebe commences an immense journeB, an& 

 everg instant sbe bas reacbe& ber floal '. *lber Iff^ is in ber 

 cbiiaren', . . . "ibec cbllDren are numberless'. . . . 'ibec 

 crown is love '. . . . ';©ver greatness sbe spreaDs ber 

 sbielD'. . . . ' Deatb is ber expert Oevice to get plentBot lite'. 



— Ooethe's Aphorisms, translated by Huxley. 



The Curve of Life — The Continuance of Life — The Wonder of 

 Development — Growth — Young Animals — Adolescence — Court- 

 ship among Animals — Parental Care and the Family — Ageing 

 and Senescence — Death — Illustrations of Life-histories — The 

 Story of Niners. 



THE Kving creature is always changing in its material 

 composition, yet it has a remarkable power of 

 retaining its integrity. This is one of its secrets. It burns, 

 but is not consumed. Besides this, however, it has the 

 power of passing from form to form, from phase to phase — 

 the power of ' cychcal development ', as Huxley called it. 

 This is our main theme in this chapter. 



The Curve of Life. — ^From a microscopic egg-cell, 

 hidden within the ovule, fertihzed by a pollen-nucleus, 

 an embryo plant develops ; the seed is sown and a seedling 

 develops ; the seedhng becomes a sapHng ; this grows into 

 a tree which bears flowers and seeds year after year, it 



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