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 By ELIE METCHNIKOFF 
 
 Professor at the Pasteur Institute 
 
 The Nature of Man 
 
 Studies in Optimistic Philosophy. 
 
 Translated by P. Chalmers Mitchell. 
 
 Octavo. Illustrated. Net, $2.00 
 
 Immunity in Infective Diseases 
 
 Translated by Francis G. Binnie. 
 Octavo. Illustrated. Net, $5.25 
 
 The Prolongation of Human Life 
 
 Optimistic Essays. Translated by 
 P. Chalmers Mitchell. 
 
 Octavo. Net, 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK LONDON
 
 M. gl_IE METCHNIKOFF
 
 THE 
 
 NATURE OF MAN 
 
 STUDIES IN OPTIMISTIC 
 PHILOSOPHY 
 
 BY 
 
 ELIE METCHNIKOFF 
 
 PROFESSOR AT THE PASTEUR INSTITUTE 
 
 THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 P. CHALMERS MITCHELL 
 
 M.A., D..SC. OXUN. 
 
 SECRETARY OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
 OF LONDON 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
 Cbe Knickerbocker press 
 1907
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1903 
 
 BY 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 Published, October, 1903 
 
 Reprinted, November, 1904 ; January, 1906 
 
 September, 1906 ; September, 1907
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 WHEN Pasteur died a remarkable article appeared in one of 
 the Paris newspapers. The writer described the intimate 
 routine of the life at the Pasteur Institute, and compared it 
 with that of a mediaeval religious community. A little body 
 of men, forsaking the world and the things of the world, 
 had gathered together under the compulsion of a great idea. 
 They had given up the rivalries and personal interests of 
 ordinary men, and, sharing their goods and their work, they 
 lived in austere devotion to science, finding no sacrifice of 
 health or money, or of what men call pleasure, too great for 
 the common object. Rumours of war and peace, echoes of 
 the turmoil of politics and religion, passed unheeded over 
 their monastic seclusion ; but if there came news of a strange 
 disease in China or Peru, a scientific emissary was ready with 
 his microscope and his tubes to serve as a missionary of the 
 new knowledge and the new hope that Pasteur had brought 
 to suffering humanity. The adventurous exploits and the 
 patient vigils of this new Order have brought about a revo- 
 lution in our knowledge of disease, and there seems no limit 
 to the triumphs that will come from the parent Institute in 
 Paris and from its many daughters in other cities. 
 
 Elie Metchnikoff, now Professor at the Pasteur Institute 
 in Paris, is one of the most distinguished of the disciples 
 who left all else to follow Pasteur. He was born on the 
 third (16) May, 1845, in a village of the Government of 
 
 iii
 
 iv EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 Kharkoff (Little Russia). He was educated at the Gym- 
 nasium and the University of Kharkoff, passing through the 
 Faculty of Science. From 1864 to 1870 he worked at 
 Zoology at Giessen, Gottingen and Munich, successively 
 under three well-known zoologists, Leuckhart, Henle and 
 Von Siebold, and was then appointed Professor of Zoology 
 and Comparative Anatomy at Odessa. He made expedi- 
 tions to Madeira, Teneriffe and the Kalmuck Steppes in 
 connection with his zoological researches. In 1882, in con- 
 sequence of administrative difficulties, arising as part of the 
 troubles that followed the murder of the Tzar, Alexander 
 II., he resigned the Professorship and became Director of 
 the municipal Bacteriological Laboratory. In 1888 he went 
 to the Pasteur Institute, and has remained there since that 
 time. 
 
 The earlier part of Metchnikoff's career was devoted to 
 Zoology, and chiefly to investigation of the embryological 
 history of the lower invertebrates, and the sequence of his 
 discoveries should afford food for reflection to those Baconian 
 economists who are unwilling to shelter any tree of know- 
 ledge that does not give immediate promise of marketable 
 fruit. The labour of many years spent in minute tracing of 
 the development of insects, echinoderms, worms and jelly- 
 fish, would appear sufficiently unprofitable to those who 
 give a scanty support to Botany as the provider of drugs, 
 who tolerate Chemistry because it has supplied aniline dyes, 
 and who patronise the physical sciences from a lively sense 
 of the convenience of telephones and telegraphs. And yet 
 from these remote, inhuman interests, Metchnikoff, without 
 intellectual transition, passed directly to results affecting 
 vitally the human race, and became one of the high priests 
 of Bacteriology and a guardian of the Pandora's box of 
 modern times.
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION v 
 
 From observations made originally on water-fleas, he was 
 led to discover the functions of the white corpuscles of 
 human blood. He showed by what mechanism these made 
 perpetual war against the intruding microbes of disease, and 
 he laid the foundations of knowledge as to the agencies that 
 weaken and the modes of strengthening these guardians of 
 our health. In a series of investigations into the phenomena 
 of inflammation in men and lower animals, he carried his 
 observations into new fields, and explained the relations of 
 the white corpuscles to the juices that attract and repel them 
 (chemotaxis). It was he, for instance, who discovered that 
 these corpuscles, under certain circumstances, migrate into 
 the hairs and absorb and remove the pigment, so producing 
 the blanching of old age. Although popularly the most in- 
 teresting this was far from being the most important of the 
 changes of senile decay that he found to be due to the 
 activity of the wandering cells of the body. And, as will 
 be seen in the present volume, the actions and interactions 
 of the bacteria harboured in the body, the white corpuscles 
 that are a natural part of the body, and the various juices 
 or serums produced naturally or introduced by accident or 
 design, are concerned in life itself and the decay of life. 
 - Metchnikoff is an expert of experts in the science of life, 
 and has gained the right to a hearing by forty years of pa- 
 tient devotion and brilliant research. In the volume that 
 he has now given to the public, he has addressed himself to 
 the gravest and the most serious problems of humanity, to 
 life and sex and death and the fear of death. From the 
 earliest days when man could spare time from the satisfac- 
 tion of his immediate wants to reflect upon his nature and 
 destiny, these problems and the invention of fantastic solu- 
 tions or evasive anodynes have absorbed his attention. The 
 folklore and philosophy, the religion and poetry of all races
 
 vi EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 
 
 and of all stages of culture, from savage barbarism to de- 
 cadent refinement, revolve round these obsessions of the 
 mind, and, as Metchnikoff most plainly shows, no enduring 
 comfort has yet been found. Now for the first time in the 
 history of thought, the exact methods of science have been 
 brought to the statement of the problems. 
 
 In revising this translation of MetchnikofTs book for the 
 English-speaking public I have had to content myself with 
 seeing that the plain meaning of the French was transformed 
 to plain English, and that references to French editions were 
 changed, so far as was possible, to corresponding references 
 to English editions. Some of the phrases that recur were 
 difficult to express. "Human nature" for instance is not 
 an exact equivalent of la nature humaine, for the latter 
 phrase has a complete significance, and very definitely im- 
 plies not only the mental qualities of man, but his bodily 
 framework, with its inherited and acquired anatomical struc- 
 ture and physiological functions. The phrase "human con- 
 stitution," especially in the common medical sense, carries 
 more of the meaning, and I have used it occasionally. The 
 word "harmony" means harmony with the environment, 
 and disharmony is want of harmony or imperfect adaptation 
 to the existing environment. In the case of the human 
 organism, which has passed through profound changes at a 
 rate prodigious in the history of evolution, many parts of 
 the constitution are no longer in gear with the existing 
 environment, and it is in such disharmonies that Metch- 
 nikoff finds the source of the troubles that have perplexed 
 mankind. 
 
 In several parts of this volume, and particularly in the 
 chapter dealing with disharmonies in the reproductive func- 
 tions, there is much plain speaking on matters that modern 
 civilisation attempts to conceal. I have not had the im-
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION vii 
 
 pertinence to suppress or to alter a line or a word of these 
 pages. They are written in high seriousness on fundamental 
 facts of the constitution of man ; they relate to problems 
 and difficulties that every age in the history of man has had 
 to face, and that are dealt with in the plainest language in 
 the books of all the religions. For the first time proper 
 knowledge has been brought to the task, and it is to be re- 
 membered that this volume is an attempt to explain mys- 
 teries of the flesh and of the spirit of which all existing 
 explanations have failed to satisfy humanity. The volume 
 is avowedly no more than a preliminary statement, a rally- 
 ing-point for the work of future generations. But it awakens 
 a new hope for humanity now that the old are fallen dumb ; 
 as Metchnikoff himself says, "If it be true that man cannot 
 live without faith, this volume, when the age of faith seemed 
 gone by, has provided a new faith, that in the all-powerful- 
 ness of science. ' ' In every country, the new Order of priests 
 of science, in the vigils of the laboratory, is working for the 
 future of humanity. 
 
 P. CHALMERS MITCHELL.
 
 PREFACE 
 
 In offering this book to you, reader, I feel that I must justify 
 its publication. I admit freely that more could be said for 
 a finished study in which hypotheses were replaced by 
 exact fact. But to get together assured results in a field 
 so little explored is a great task, calling for time and much 
 labour. 
 
 I remembered the adage, "Ars longa, vita brevis" and 
 I decided to publish what is really a programme of work to 
 be carried out as fully as circumstances may permit. At 
 all events, I hope that such a programme may have its 
 value for younger investigators, who wish a point of orien- 
 tation for their labours. 
 
 My book is addressed to disciplined minds, and in especial 
 to biologists. As I wrote it, I had not the general public 
 in my mind, and so I did not hesitate to devote nearly the 
 whole of a chapter to "disharmonies in the apparatus of 
 reproduction." I see in that apparatus the clearest proof of 
 the essential disharmony in the organisation of man. 
 
 I have to thank those friends who were familiar with my 
 views and whose advice and assistance have helped me to 
 develop them. 
 
 In particular, I desire to thank my friends Dr. E. Roux, 
 who was at the pains to make my French more French; 
 and Dr. J. Goldschmidt and Dr. Mesnil, who have read and 
 revised the proof-sheets. 
 
 ELIE METCHNIKOFF. 
 
 PARIS, February 8, 1903. .
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION ........ iii 
 
 AUTHOR'S PREFACE . . ix 
 
 PART I 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION SUMMARY OF OPINIONS ON THE NATURE OF MAN I 
 
 Importance of the study of the nature of man The nature of 
 man as the foundation of morality Greek worship of human 
 nature Matriopathy of ancient philosophers Rationalism 
 of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries Degradation of 
 human nature by religious doctrines Influence of these con- 
 ceptions on actual life and on art Reaction of the Reforma- 
 tion against the degradation of human nature Mutilation of 
 the human body by primitive races 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES AMONGST BEINGS INFERIOR TO 
 MAN 
 
 The organised world before the appearance of man on the 
 earth Absence of a law of universal progress Fertilisation
 
 xii CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 of vanilla The part played by insects in the fertilisation of 
 orchids Mechanism by which insects carry the pollen of 
 orchids Habits of fossorial wasps Harmonies in nature 
 Useless organs Rudiments of the pollinia of orchids 
 Disharmonies in nature Unadapted insects Aberration of 
 instincts Perversion of sexual instinct Attraction of insects 
 by light Luminous insects Law of natural selection 
 Happiness and unhappiness in the organised world 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 40 
 
 Relationship of the human species with anthropoid apes 
 Analogies in the dentition, in the organisation of the limbs and 
 of the brain Resemblance of the vermiform appendage of 
 man and anthropoids Analogy between the placenta and 
 foetus of man and anthropoid apes Blood relationship of man 
 and monkeys shown by serums and precipitates Transmu- 
 tation of species Sudden transition from monkey to man 
 J. Inaudi, the calculator, as an example of the sudden appear- 
 ance of characters in the human species Rudimentary organs 
 in man Proportion of progressive and retrogressive organs 
 in the organisation of man 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM 
 
 OF MAN 6t 
 
 Perfection of the human form The covering of hair the 
 dentition in general, and the wisdom-teeth The vermiform 
 appendage Appendicitis and its gravity Uselessness of the 
 caecum and of the large intestine Instance of a woman 
 without a large intestine Ancestral history of this portion of 
 the digestive tract Injurious effect of the microbes of the 
 large intestine Frequency of cancer of the large intestine and 
 of the stomach Limited usefulness of the stomach The 
 instinct of choice of food Futility of this instinct in man
 
 CONTENTS xiii 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 Poet 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION AND ACTIVITIES OF THE 
 REPRODUCTIVE APPARATUS DISHARMONIES IN THE FAMILY 
 AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 78 
 
 !% 
 I 
 
 Remarks on the disharmonies in the human organs of sense 
 and perception Rudimentary parts of the reproductive 
 apparatus Origin and function of the hymen 
 
 II 
 
 Evolution and significance of the menstrual flow in women 
 Precocious marriage amongst primitive and uncivilised races 
 Disharmony between age of puberty and age of 
 nubility Age of marriage Examples of disharmony in the 
 development of the reproductive function 
 
 III 
 
 Disharmonies in the family instincts Artificial abortion De- 
 sertion and infanticide Disharmonies in the social instincts 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE INSTINCT OF SELF-PRESERVATION . . 113 
 
 The instinct of self-preservation in animals Man's instinctive 
 love of life Indifference to life during childhood Buddhist 
 legend on instinctive self-preservation and the fear of death 
 Fear of death treated in literature Confessions of Tolstoi 
 regarding the fear of death Other opinions on the subject 
 The fear of death an instinctive phenomenon Development 
 in man of a love of life Treatment of the aged Murder of 
 old people Suicide of old men Absence of harmony between 
 the love of life and the conditions of human existence The 
 part played by the fear of death in religions and systems of 
 philosophy
 
 xiv CONTENTS 
 
 PART II 
 
 ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE 
 
 DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION 
 
 (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS) 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 Pag* 
 
 RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE 
 
 DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION .... 137 
 
 Animism as the foundation of primitive religions The Jewish 
 religion in relation to the doctrine of immortality of the soul 
 The religions of China Ancestor worship in Confucianism 
 The conception of immortality in Taoism The persistence 
 of the soul in the Buddhist religion The paradise of the 
 Chinese Buddhists Ancestors worshipped as gods Influence 
 of religious faith on the fear of death Pessimism of the 
 doctrine of Buddha The meaning of Nirvana Resignation 
 as preached by Buddha Objections to immortality of 
 the soul Irritability of the tissues and cells of the body 
 Religious hygiene Religious means of controlling the repro- 
 ductive functions and of preventing diseases Failure of 
 religions in their attempts to combat the ills arising from the 
 disharmonies of the human constitution 
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ATTEMPTS IN SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY TO REMEDY THE ILLS 
 ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITU- 
 TION 166 
 
 Some philosophical systems are in intimate union with religions 
 Ideas of ancient philosophers on the immortality of the soul 
 The teaching of Plato The scepticism of Aristotle The 
 Stoics Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius Modern philoso- 
 phical systems Pessimism and its origin Lord Byron 
 Theories of Schopenhauer and Hartmann Mailaender's 
 philosophy of deliverance Criticisms of pessimism Max 
 Nordau Ideas of modern thinkers on death
 
 CONTENTS xv 
 
 PART III 
 
 WHAT SCIENCE IS ABLE TO DO TO ALLEVIATE THE DIS- 
 HARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO AGAINST DISEASE -. 203 
 Formation of the experimental method The intervention of 
 religion in disease Disease- as a basis of pessimistic systems 
 of philosophy Advance of medical science in the war against 
 disease The revolution in medicine and surgery due to the 
 discoveries of Pasteur The beneficial results of Serum 
 Therapy in the war against infectious diseases Failure of 
 science to cure tuberculosis and malignant tumours Protests 
 against the advance of science Opposition of Rousseau, 
 Tolstoi and Brunetiere Proclamation of the fallibility of 
 science Return to religion and mysticism 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE . . . 228 
 General account of old age Theory of senile degeneration 
 amongst unicellular organisms Conjugation amongst infusoria 
 Old age in birds and in anthropoid apes General 
 characters of senile degeneration Sclerosis of the organs 
 Phagocyte theory of senile degeneration Destruction of 
 higher elements by macrophags Mechanism of whitening of 
 the hair Serums acting on cells (cytotoxins) Sclerosis of the 
 arteries and its causation Harm done by the microbes of the 
 alimentary canal Intestinal putrefaction and the modes of 
 preventing it Attempts to prolong human life Longevity in' 
 biblical times 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH . . . 262 
 Theory of the immortality of lower organisms Immortality of 
 the sexual cells in higher organisms Immortality of the
 
 xvi CONTENTS 
 
 cellular soul Occurrence of natural death in the case of 
 certain animals Natural death in the Ephemeridae Loss of 
 the instinct of preservation in adult Ephemerids Instinct of 
 life in the aged Instinct of natural death in man Death of 
 old men in biblical times Changes in the instincts of man 
 and lower animals 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 285 
 
 Disharmonies in the human constitution as the chief source of 
 our sorrows Scientific data as to the origin and destiny of 
 man The goal of human existence Difficulties in the way of 
 scientific investigation of the problem, What is progress ? 
 Difficulty of including the whole human rate in a scheme of 
 progress and morality The instincts of life and of natural 
 death Application to real life of the doctrines set forth in 
 this book
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 Photograph of Elie Metchnikoff . . , , frontispiece 
 
 Fi?s. Page 
 
 1. Catasetum saccatum ... 24 
 
 2. Herminium monorchis , . , 26 
 
 3. Cerceris 28 
 
 4. Listera ovata ... 32 
 
 5. Pelopasus 34 
 
 6. Caecum and vermiform appendage of man . . . -44 
 
 7. Caecum and vermiform appendage of chimpanzee > . . 45 
 
 8. Foetus of gibbon , . . 46 
 
 9. Human foetus ...,.. . . 47 
 
 10. Foetus of gorilla 50 
 
 11. Human foetus 51 
 
 12. Paramecium about to divide 230 
 
 13. Conjugation of Paramecia 231 
 
 14. Section of a renal tubule invaded by Maorophags . , . 241 
 
 15. Brain cells devoured by Macrophags * . 241 
 
 16. Hair becoming grey 243 
 
 17. Chcetogaster about to divide 265 
 
 18. Ephemerids . 271 
 
 19. Swarms of Palingenia virgo ....... 273 
 
 20. Larva of an Ephemerid * . 276
 
 THE NATURE OF MAN
 
 PART I 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE NATURE 
 
 OF MAN
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 SUMMARY OF OPINIONS ON THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Importance of the study of the nature of man The nature 
 of man as the foundation of morality Greek worship of 
 human nature Matriopathy of ancient philosophers 
 Rationalism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries 
 Degradation of human nature by religious doctrines 
 Influence of these conceptions on actual life and on art 
 Reaction of the Reformation against the degradation of 
 human, nature Mutilation of the human body by 
 primitive races 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the real advance made by science, 
 expressions of discontentment with it are familiar. Science, 
 it is said, no doubt has ameliorated the material conditions 
 of human life, but is powerless to solve those moral and 
 philosophical questions that interest cultured people so 
 deeply. In this region science has done no more than to 
 destroy the foundations of religion. It has robbed man- 
 kind of the consolations of religion without being able to 
 replace them with anything more exact or more enduring. 
 
 It cannot be disputed that a general uneasiness disturbs 
 the world of to-day. Although his environment is most 
 favourable to the fulfilment of many of his capacities, man 
 finds himself without orientation when he has to determine 
 the course of his life, or to explain to himself his true rela- 
 tion to such categories of humanity as family, nation,
 
 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 race and human race. This uneasiness reveals itself as 
 discontentment, and it leads to pessimism or to mysticism. 
 Most of the philosophical systems of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury were steeped in melancholy, and led straight to a 
 denial of the possibility of happiness and even to an advo- 
 cacy of extinction. The frequency of suicide has increased 
 greatly among all the civilised peoples. There is no need 
 to tabulate proofs of a notorious fact.* 
 
 A remedy for this malady of the age has. been sought 
 in the attempt to restore religious and mystical faith. 
 On all sides have sprung up efforts to found new religions 
 or to amend the old. Many defenders of science have 
 gone the length of admitting its incapacity to solve the 
 problem of the existence of man ; they have held that that 
 problem was insoluble for the human mind. Such a depressing 
 conclusion has been formulated in spite of many attempts 
 to reach a rational conception of the universe and of man. 
 
 It is no new thing to ask if there be nothing but faith 
 to control human conduct and to lead mankind towards 
 universal happiness. Men of science and philosophers, 
 in many ages, have thought that human nature itself could 
 provide all the materials for a rational morality. 
 
 In the ancient world and, above all, among the Greeks, 
 human nature was held in high esteem. The Oriental 
 races, predecessors of the Greeks in civilisation, generally 
 represented their gods as fantastic or grotesque beings, 
 composites of men and animals. The Greeks made gods 
 
 * Since A. Wagner's classical work, " Ueber die Gesetzmassigkeit 
 der scheinbar wilkurlichen menschlichen Handlungen," suicide 
 has been discussed by many authors. The most recent contribution 
 to the subject is the important monograph by Westergaard, " Die 
 Lehre von der Mortalitaet u. Morbiditaet," Second Edition, Jena, 
 1901.
 
 INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 in their own image, giving them all the most beautiful 
 qualities of the human race. Such a conception was a 
 dominant factor in ancient Greek life and civilisation. 
 The adoration of Man embraced the human body, and led 
 to the despising of every; mode of tampering with the 
 natural body. Thus, for instance, shaving * of the face 
 was regarded as a humiliation, for a smooth chin gave an 
 unnatural, womanish, cast to the face of a man. 
 
 The adoration of human nature by the Greeks appeared 
 in Greek plastic art, and was the cause of its excellence. 
 The ideal of art was to copy, in the most faithful way, 
 the most perfect example of the human body, and Greek 
 artists made measurements of the body so accurately 
 that modern science has confirmed their chief results. f 
 As sculpture most completely realised the Greek ideal of 
 the human body, it became almost a national art among 
 the Greeks. 
 
 Greek philosophy had an equally high opinion of human 
 nature, of the human body, and of representations of the 
 human body. Just as Greek art aimed at the presentation 
 of the body of man, so Greek philosophy proclaimed the 
 nobility of all human qualities, and inculcated the doctrine 
 of a harmonious development of all sides of human 
 nature. | Such a doctrine was formulated by Plato, and 
 became a fundamental principle ol the Old Academy ; 
 the New Academy assumed it, and handed it on to the 
 Sceptics. According to Xenocrates (fourth century), who 
 
 * Shaving the beard began at the time of the Macedonian rule, 
 and philosophers refrained from the new custom, which seemed 
 to them unprincipled. (V. Hermann, '" Lehrbuch der griechischen 
 Privatalterrhumer," 1870, vol. I., pp. 175-177.) 
 
 f Quetelet, " Anthropometrie," 1872, p. 86. 
 
 J Zeller, "Die Philosophie der Griechen," Third Edition, vol. II 
 i, p. 74i, 1875.
 
 6 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 belonged to the Old Academy, happiness consisted not 
 only in the possession of human virtue, but in the accom- 
 plishment of all natural acts.* 
 
 The principle of a worship of human nature is in itself 
 rather vague, and it is not surprising that disputes and con- 
 tradictions arose in relation to its application. Thus Plato 
 excluded pleasure from his conception of the good, while 
 Aristotle, Plato's pupil, held a contrary opinion. For the 
 latter pleasure was the natural motive of human action, and 
 its attainment was associated as intimately with the perfect 
 life as beauty and health were associated with the perfect 
 human body.f 
 
 Under the name Matriopathy there arose, in the ancient 
 world, a doctrine the object of which was the study of 
 the goal of natural morality. This doctrine was held by 
 many philosophers, but these applied.it to the details of 
 actual life in very different fashions. Thus, for the Stoics, 
 the summum bonum and happiness, the most lofty aim, 
 could not be found except by conforming life to nature. 
 Conduct was to be brought into harmony with the rational 
 order of nature in such a fashion that every conscious and 
 rational being would perform no actions that could not be 
 deduced from the general law.J The same principle of 
 a life in harmony with nature led the Epicureans to the 
 conclusion that " pleasure is a natural good, that is to 
 say, a condition conformable with nature, and so bringing 
 with it intrinsic contentment." Setting out from the same 
 fundamental principle, the theories of the Stoics and Epi- 
 cureans led in opposite directions. 
 
 * Zeller, Lc. p. 880. 
 
 f Zeller, vol. II., 2, p. 447. 
 
 J Zeller, First Edition, vol. III., 7, p* 193 
 
 ZelJer, I.e. p. 401.
 
 INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 The Roman philosophers adopted the principle* 1 of a life 
 strictly natural. Seneca, for instance,* enunciated the 
 maxim : " Take nature as your guide, for so reason bids you 
 and advises you ; to live happily is to live naturally." 
 
 Without following through the centuries the develop- 
 ment of the idea in detail, I may content myself with saying 
 that resort has been made to it, wherever there was sought, 
 outside the sanction of religion, a rational principle to guide 
 human conduct. It recurs even among those convinced 
 Christians who rebelled against the asceticism and hatred 
 of human nature that became prevalent in the early cen- 
 turies of the Christian era. 
 
 The Greek conception of a life in harmony with nature 
 found its most complete development in the rationalism 
 of the Renaissance, and of the centuries that followed it. 
 Hutcheson,f a Scotch philosopher of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury, insisted that right was with the thinkers of the 
 naturalistic school, and that the realisation of their ideal 
 was to be considered as the highest virtue. He thus placed 
 himself directly against the Scotch clergy who asserted the 
 greatest contempt for human nature. Buckle J proclaimed 
 that it was a high honour for Hutcheson to have been the 
 first Scotchman to raise his voice publicly against the 
 . degrading views of his time. . 
 
 The French philosophers of the eighteenth century, who 
 sought to replace the religious foundations of conduct by 
 rational principles, again had recourse to human nature.- 
 Not long before the French Revolution there appeared a 
 treatise in three volumes, written by Baron d'Holbach, 
 and entitled, " Universal Morality, or the Duties of Man 
 
 * " De Vita Beata, " chap. viii. 
 
 f "Moral Philosophy," London, 1755. 
 
 J Buckle, " History of Civilisation in England,"
 
 8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 based on Nature."* Frankly a materialist and atheist, 
 that writer laid it down as an axiom that " to be universal, 
 the moral law must be founded on the essential nature of 
 man, that is to say, on the properties and qualities found 
 constantly in the human being, and that distinguish him. 
 from other animals." To be well assured, ** morality 
 presumes a science of human nature." f 
 
 The principle of ancient philosophy reappeared in the 
 works of rationalists of the nineteenth century. Wilhelrn 
 von Humboldt declared that " the ultimate ideal of man, 
 the ideal prescribed for him by the irrefutable and eternal 
 laws of reason, consisted in a development as harmonious 
 as possible of all his qualities in their entirety." The 
 modern historian, Lecky,J defines the aim of life as the 
 full development of all that exists in the proportions deter- 
 mined by nature. 
 
 Philosophers and historians are not alone in the adoption 
 of Greek rationalism. Many naturalists, and among these 
 some very distinguished authors, have spoken in the same 
 sense. It is easy to see the Greek principle in such phrases 
 as those of Darwin when he wrote : " The term general 
 good may be denned as the means by which the greatest 
 possible number of individuals can be reared in full vigour 
 and health, with all their faculties perfect, under the con- 
 ditions to which they are exposed." 
 
 Georges Seidlitz, || an advocate of the great English 
 naturalist, got still nearer to the conception of the ancients. 
 
 * Published at Amsterdam in 1776. f Vol. I., p. 32. 
 
 J " History of European Morals," Third Edition, London, 1877. 
 
 " The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex," 
 First Edition, vol. I., p. 98. 
 
 || " Die Darwin'sche Theorie." Second Edition, 1875, p. 272, 
 note 25.
 
 INTRODUCTION 9 
 
 According to him, the moral and rational life consisted in 
 " the accomplishment of all the functions of the body, in 
 due but full proportion." 
 
 Herbert Spencer,* in analysing the aim of existence, 
 came to the conclusion that morality should be adjusted 
 so as to make life as full and complete as possible. As a 
 criterion of physical perfection, the English philosopher 
 would accept only the complete devotion of all the organs 
 to the accomplishment of all their functions, while his 
 criterion of moral perfection was contribution to the general 
 good. These views are plainly, if not exactly, expressions 
 of the Greek ideal. 
 
 While, then, rational philosophers in all the ages have 
 sought the foundation of morality in human nature itself, and 
 have held human nature to be good, or even perfect, many reli- 
 gious doctrines have displayed a very different view. Human 
 nature was regarded as being composed of two hostile 
 elements, a body and a soul. The soul alone was to be 
 honoured, while the body was regarded as the vile source 
 of evils. Such a view led to the flagellations and torturings 
 of the body which form so strange and so wide-spread a 
 phenomenon. The Hindu fakirs who swing themselves on 
 hooks, the dervishes and Mussulman Assouans who beat 
 in their skulls with clubs, the Russian Skoptsy who emascu- 
 late themselves, and many other instances make it plain that 
 natural perfection is not taken as the basis for conduct. 
 
 Buddha f in the clearest way showed his belief that 
 human nature was base. Coming out from the apart- 
 ments of the women, there came to him a " vivid idea 
 of the impurity of the body, a feeling of repulsion from it, 
 
 * "The Data of Ethics," 1879. 
 
 f The " Lalita Vistara," translated from Sanscrit into French 
 by Foucaux ; " Annales du Musee Guimet/' vol, VI. p. 183. 1884.
 
 io THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 and of blame of it ; regarding his own body and seeing 
 its wretchedness, he began to despise it, and to formulate 
 conceptions of impurity and purity ; from the sole of the 
 feet to the crown of the head, to the limit of the brain, he saw 
 that the body was born in impurity, came from impurity, and 
 always let itself be drawn to impurity." These reflections 
 led him to the conclusion : " What wise man, having re- 
 garded his own body, will not see in it an enemy ? " 
 
 Towards the end of the old world, the Greek theory 
 of human nature yielded to a very different conception. 
 The opposition between the opinions of the Stoics on 
 morality, and their admiration of human nature, led Seneca, 
 one of the last Roman Stoics and a celebrated contemporary 
 of Jesus Christ, to break completely away from the ancient 
 doctrine. Convinced of the moral weakness and imper- 
 fection of man, and of the persisting power of evil, Seneca 
 declared that human nature contained a vicious and essen- 
 tially evil element. This element was seated in the body, 
 which he regarded as so essentially vile that it is to be 
 despised. Our body was no more than the dwelling of the 
 soul, its temporary home, a place in which it cannot be 
 at rest. The body was a burden which the soul would be 
 rid of, a prison-house from which it would escape. Accord- 
 ing to Seneca * the soul must wrestle with the body, for 
 the body brings to it nothing but suffering, while the soul is 
 essentially pure and spotless, and as much above the body 
 as divinity is above matter. 
 
 A dualism still more pronounced was characteristic of 
 the early Christian view of human nature, and led to the 
 depreciation of the body as compared with the soul. In 
 the fourth and fifth centuries of our era such a view was 
 so dominant that a struggle against the material side of 
 * Zeller, loc. cit. p. 633,
 
 INTRODUCTION n 
 
 our nature became a rule of life. The most absolute asceti- 
 cism spread throughout the Christian world.* A struggle 
 against hunger, thirst, and desire for sleep, rejection of all 
 pleasures that come from impressions of sight, of hearing, 
 or of the palate, and, above all, abstention from sexual 
 intercourse, became, in the opinion of believers, the true 
 aim of human life. The conviction that human nature 
 was essentially corrupt led to a declaration of war against 
 it ; all the pleasures were forbidden, even the most innocent 
 of them being thought vicious. What could be more in 
 contrast with the calm and joyous philosophy of the Greeks, 
 for whom there did not exist the idea of a struggle against 
 the supposed corruption and imperfection of man ? The 
 dualistic theory made such demands on its proselytes that 
 these, absorbed in the salvation of their souls, sank from 
 the physical point of view to the level of wild beasts. Hermits 
 resorted to the lairs of animals, abandoned their clothing 
 and went about naked with shaggy and disordered hair. 
 In Mesopotamia and a part of Syria there arose a sect 
 of eaters of grass ; these were people who had no dwellings 
 and who ate neither bread nor vegetables, but wandered 
 on the hills and fed on the herbage. Cleanliness of the 
 body was regarded as an indication of corruptness of the 
 soul, and among the most highly venerated of the saints 
 were those who took no care of the body. Athanasius 
 relates with approval that when St. Antony, the father of 
 monks, became old he never washed his feet.f 
 
 Such doctrines soon brought about a most serious per- 
 version of the innate instincts of the human race. The 
 senses of family and of society became so weakened that 
 fanatical Christians were more than indifferent to their 
 
 * Lecky, " History of European Morals," chap. iv. 
 t Lecky.
 
 12 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 kinsmen and countrymen. One saint was venerated because 
 he was hard and cruel only to his relatives. It is told 
 of the Abbot Siseuss that on a believer asking to be received 
 into the convent, he inquired if the suppliant had any one 
 akin to him. " I have only a son," said the Christian. 
 " Well, then," said the abbot, " take your son and cast 
 him into the river, for thus only may you become a monk." 
 The father set about to do the bidding of the abbot, and 
 it was only at the last moment that the order was recalled. 
 For admission into a Christian community it was necessary 
 to renounce one's country.* 
 
 Such ideas have struck a deep and enduring root. In 
 the opinion of the ministers of the Scotch Church of the 
 seventeenth century, according to Buckle, f there was 
 nothing so surprising as that the earth could contain itself 
 in the presence of that horrid spectacle, man, and that it 
 did not gape, as in former days, to swallow him in the 
 midst of his wickedness. For certainly, in the created 
 universe, there could be nothing so monstrous and so horrible 
 as man. 
 
 It was to be expected that when such conceptions 
 prevailed, celibacy and repudiation of the reproductive 
 instinct should have been made obligatory on the clergy. 
 The words, reported by St. Matthew (xix. n, 12), that 
 " there be eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs 
 for the kingdom of heaven's sake " were interpreted by 
 some as implying a voluntary renunciation of marriage, 
 while others insisted on the literal meaning and in 
 consequence mutilated themselves more or less completely. 
 The breasts of women were removed to eradicate the 
 maternal instincts. But it is only the sect of Skoptsy, by 
 
 * Lecky. 
 
 t Buckle, " History of Civilisation in England."
 
 INTRODUCTION 13 
 
 no means a small body in Russia, that applies the gospel 
 command in this stringent fashion. The wish announced by 
 St. Paul (Corinthians vii. 7), "I say therefore to the un- 
 married and widows, it is good 'for them if they abide even 
 as I ; but if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is 
 better to marry than to burn," soon became a command, 
 and since the fourth century the Catholic Church has advo- 
 cated celibacy of the clergy, although it was not enforced 
 until the eleventh century (under Gregory VII.). A low 
 view of human nature has survived in the Catholic Church 
 even to our own times. Pope Leo XIII., in his " Ency- 
 clical on Freemasons,", proclaimed it.* "Human nature," 
 he said, '' was contaminated by the Fall, and as it is there- 
 fore much more prone to vice than to virtue, in order to 
 attain virtue it is absolutely necessary to restrain the wild 
 impulses of the soul y and to control the appetites by reason." 
 Art has reflected the Christian conception of human 
 nature. Sculpture, which played so great a part in the 
 ancient world, and which was intimately associated with 
 Greek ideals, began to decline rapidly in the Christian era. 
 It lasted longer in the Roman Empire of the East, but in 
 Italy it was almost completely forgotten by the eighth 
 century. Painting survived, but not without undergoing 
 an extraordinary degeneration. All the Italian works of 
 art of the Carlovingian period, displayed the utmost indif- 
 ference to natural form, and a loss of the sense of harmony 
 and beauty. Later on, Italian art fell lower still. " No 
 one dreamed any longer of studying nature or of observing 
 the human body. An epoch in which the interference of 
 supernatural forces was generally accepted, and in which 
 
 * " De Secta Massonum," Parisiis, 1884, p. 9. The passage 
 was quoted by Brunetiere in the " Revue des Deux Mondes," 1895, 
 vol. CXXVIL, p. 116.
 
 i 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the conception of the universe was founded on a contrast 
 between the natural and the supernatural, could not admit 
 in its art the rule of natural law or a natural order of 
 events." * 
 
 The intimate connection between the depreciation of 
 human nature due to Christian doctrine and the inferiority 
 of the art of the middle ages cannot be denied. Taine f 
 writes of the period as follows : "If one considers the 
 stained-glass windows or the images in the cathedrals, or 
 the rude paintings, it appears as if the human race had 
 become degenerate and its blood had been impoverished ; 
 pale saints, distorted martyrs, virgins with flat chests, feet 
 too long and bony hands, hermits withered and unsub- 
 stantial, Christs that look like crushed and bleeding earth- 
 worms, processions of figures that are wan, and stiffened, 
 and sad, upon whom are stamped all the deformities of 
 misery and all the shrinking timidity of the oppressed." 
 
 The art of the middle ages fell lower and lower until the 
 Renaissance, with its return to the Greek ideal, brought 
 new vigour. The great masters of the Renaissance were in 
 addition scientific men who had studied mathematics and 
 who employed the technique of mensuration ; such were 
 Alberti, Leonardo da Vinci, Michel Angelo, and others. 
 The return to the Greek ideals and to nature brought with 
 it the taste for beauty. 
 
 When the ancient spirit was born again, its influence 
 reached science and even religion, and the Reformation 
 was a defence of human nature. The Lutheran doctrines 
 resumed the principle of a " development as complete as 
 
 * Schnaase, " Geschichte der bildenden Kiinste, vol. III., pp. 577, 
 584, and vol. IV., p. 718. 
 
 f " Philosophic de 1'Art," Fourth Edition, 1885, vol. LXXXVIII., 
 P. 352.
 
 INTRODUCTION 15 
 
 possible, of all the natural powers " of man, and saw in that 
 ideal a guide for humanity. Compulsory celibacy was 
 abolished, and free play was given to all the tendencies in 
 conformity with the laws of nature.* 
 
 Besides those whose religion led them to despise the 
 human body, there have been many savage races and 
 tribes who have practised mutilations of the body. It 
 would be a long list were I to set out all the modes in which 
 the human body has been disfigured. Treatises on Ethno- 
 graphy and the volumes of travellers contain a multitude 
 of details of this sort. The hair, the teeth and the lips have 
 been subjected to treatment with the object of making 
 them as unlike the natural condition as is possible. Many 
 of the lower races discolour their teeth, or remove some of 
 them, or file them to points. Others insert in the lips 
 pieces of wood, of stone, or of bone. A whole chapter 
 might be occupied with an account of the disfiguring 
 devices of tattooers. The skull, the breasts, and the feet, 
 have all been subjected to deforming treatment 
 
 Although there is not enough evidence to set down these 
 practices to the existence of definite and self-conscious 
 religious or philosophic doctrine, it is at least certain that 
 the people among whom they occur are far from revering 
 human nature in the fashion of the Greeks, but rather 
 attempt to distort it in accordance with their own taste. 
 Discontent with the natural conditions of existence is, as 
 we have seen, so widespread that there is good reason for 
 an inquiry as to the existence of some general principle 
 underlying this diversity of opinion regarding human 
 nature. I have already shown that this question of human 
 nature has for long interested mankind, and has shared 
 
 * Reinhard, " System der christlichen Moral," vol. IV., 1814, 
 p. 831, and vol. III., p. 14, 1813.
 
 1 6 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 largely in the formation of ideas of the good and the beau- 
 tiful. It is not too soon to submit the problem to rational 
 investigation, using those rigid methods of science which 
 have been learned in our epoch. I shall try to give an 
 exposition of human nature in its strength and in its weak- 
 ness. But before passing to man, I shall survey the lower 
 forms of life, hoping to fix some landmarks that will be 
 useful in the study of the larger problem.
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES AMONGST BEINGS 
 INFERIOR TO MAN 
 
 The organised world before the appearance of man on the 
 earth Absence of a law of universal progress Fertilisation 
 of vanilla The part played by insects in the fertilisation of 
 orchids Mechanism by which insects carry the pollen of 
 orchids Habits of fossorial wasps Harmonies in nature 
 Useless organs Rudiments of the pollinia of orchids 
 Disharmonies in nature Unadapted insects Aberration 
 of instincts Perversion of sexual instinct Attraction of 
 insects by light Luminous insects Law of natural selec- 
 tion Happiness and unhappiness in the organised world 
 
 LONG before man appeared on the earth animals and 
 plants were distributed over it. Some of these were endowed 
 with but vague senses, while others had well-developed 
 instincts, and some even a certain degree of intelligence 
 which they applied for their self-preservation and for the 
 propagation of their own kind. 
 
 Many species, well adapted for the resistance of external 
 influences, have survived from very early times to the 
 present day. In the Carboniferous period birds and mammals 
 did not yet exist, and the thick forests, with undergrowths 
 of gigantic ferns, were inhabited by large numbers of arti- 
 culated animals, amongst which were scorpions and insects. 
 The scorpions of that time resemble in every way those 
 that actually live at the present day in tropical countries ; 
 and amongst the insects of that early epoch were some very 
 
 B
 
 1 8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 like the cockroaches of to-day. Certain tree-like ferns of 
 the present time are also very similar to those of the coal 
 period. Amongst the animals the bodies of which are pro- 
 tected by a shell, such as foraminifera and mollusca, 
 certain species have survived even from an earlier time than 
 the coal period. 
 
 In contiast with this extraordinary survival, there are 
 instances of the complete disappearance of numbers of 
 spscies of animals and plants. In early times, during the 
 Tertiary epoch, the virgin forests of Europe were inhabited 
 by a large number of monkeys, of which fossil remains are 
 now found, especially in Greece. These formerly existed 
 even in Europe, and some anthropoid apes (Dryopithecus) 
 have left traces in the tertiary deposits of France.* These 
 animals, notwithstanding that their organisation was supe- 
 rior to that of scorpions and cockroaches, have not been 
 able to adapt themselves to the altered conditions of modern 
 Europe. A similar fate has come upon some of the higher 
 mammals, such as the mammoth and the mastodon. 
 
 These facts do not bear testimony to the prevalent idea 
 that there exists in nature a law of universal progress tending 
 to the production of organisms more and more perfect from 
 the point of view of complexity of structure. It is incon- 
 testable that forms higher in the scale of life have developed 
 only after the appearance of lower forms. But it does not 
 follow that development always takes a progressive march. 
 Man is one of the later species that have appeared upon 
 the earth, but there are others of still more recent date. 
 It is very probable that certain species of lice have appeared 
 subsequent to man, particularly the clothes-louse (Pediculus 
 vestimenti). Amongst the true parasites which live only 
 in the human body are some that have acquired their 
 * Gaudry, " Mammiferes tertiaires," p, 235, 1878.
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 19 
 
 specific characters after the appearance of man. Such are 
 certain tape-worms and microbes, such as a species of gono- 
 coccus. It is therefore amongst parasites and not to man 
 that we must' look for the latest products of creation. 
 
 In nature, then, there is no blind tendency towards pro- 
 gress. Organisms almost innumerable are born every day 
 with variable characters. Those amongst them which are 
 adapted to existing circumstances survive and produce off- 
 spring like themselves, but many do not reach maturity, and, 
 living only for a short time, die without leaving issue. 
 
 To give the reader a better idea of adaptations and 
 of their importance to living creatures, it will, perhaps, be 
 as well to devote some space to an account of examples of 
 them. Amongst organisms that attract our attention by 
 their pleasing aspect, there are not many that can rival 
 flowering plants. Every one admires the great beauty of 
 the blossom of orchids. There can be no doubt that these 
 flowers have not been developed to satisfy the aesthetic 
 tastes of man. for the simple reason that orchids existed for 
 a long time before man's appearance. 
 
 Among orchids there is one which, for more than half 
 a century, has been cultivated by man in many tropical 
 countries. This is the Vanilla, the fruit of which produces 
 one of the sweetest of spices. 
 
 In former days the pods of only the wild vanilla, which 
 is an undergrowth of the forests of Mexico and South 
 America, were gathered. But the employment of vanilla 
 to flavour chocolate has rendered its artificial culture 
 lucrative ; consequently the plant has been transported to 
 several warm countries where it could be acclimatised. It 
 has flourished and borne numerous blossoms, but it has 
 never produced fruit from which alone the aroma is obtained. 
 As the question of the sterility of the vanilla was of great
 
 20 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 practical interest to the cultivator, the matter was inves- 
 tigated, and it was found that the flower remained sterile 
 because the female and male parts could not come in contact. 
 The pistils and stamens of the flower are well developed, but 
 between these sexual organs is a membrane which prevents 
 fertilisation. After this discovery was made, the ,idea 
 occurred that the pollen of the vanilla flower might be 
 transferred artificially to the stigma of the pistil so as to 
 bring about " artificial " fertilisation. A young black 
 slave, Edmond Albius, a native of Reunion, discovered 
 in 1841 a practical method by which the male and 
 female elements of the vanilla could be put in contact ; 
 and from this discovery there came a great extension of 
 the cultivation of the orchid in many countries. At a 
 certain period a small bamboo point or the tooth of a comb 
 is introduced into the vanilla flower, and in this way, in 
 a short time, a quantity of flowers may be fertilised and 
 so made capable of bearing mature pods.* 
 
 In the original home of the vanilla the intervention of 
 man is unnecessary. In Guiana and 'Vlexico fertilisation 
 of the flower is the work of small bees (of the genus Meli- 
 pona). They frequent the vanilla flowers to extract nectar, 
 the material of their honey. Small humming-birds also 
 hover over the vanilla blossoms, and by introducing their 
 bills into the sexual organs of the flowers bring about con- 
 tact of the male and female elements. 
 
 Sterility of the vanilla in the countries to which it has 
 been introduced, before the employment of artificial fecun- 
 dation, is easily explained by the fact that in these countries 
 there are no insects nor humming-birds capable of trans- 
 porting the pollen. 
 
 But it is not only the vanilla that requires the co-opera- 
 * Delteil, " La Vanille," Paris, 1897.
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 21 
 
 tion of living beings to produce its fruits. It is the case 
 with many other orchids. In the flowers of these the pollen 
 is massed together and cannot be transported by the air. 
 It needs the aid of insects, as had already been pointed out 
 by Sprengell in the eighteenth century, and above all by 
 Darwin, whose splendid investigations are the basis of the 
 following passages.* 
 
 Insects, belonging to different groups, such as bees, 
 wasps, flies, certain beetles, and many butterflies and moths, 
 visit orchids to sip the nectar produced by the plants and 
 stored in definite parts of the flowers. In order that their 
 proboscis may reach the stores of sweet juice, the insects 
 inevitably touch first the upper -parts of the flowers, where 
 the anthers are present. The pollen grains are clustered 
 in masses, known as pollinia, and these adhere to the body 
 of the visiting insect by means of an adhesive fluid which 
 is secreted by an organ of the flower known as the rostellum. 
 In this way the pollinia adhere firmly, it may be to the 
 proboscis of butterflies, or to the head or any other part of 
 the body of insects. They can leave the flower and. fly 
 away without losing the adhering pollinia, and in this 
 manner they serve as the agents for sexual contact 
 and for fertilisation of the orchids. Meniere relates that 
 a person who kept bees near the garden of the Faculte de 
 Toulouse complained that they returned from the garden 
 with their heads covered with tiny yellow bodies which he 
 was unable to clean off from them. It was easy to recog- 
 nise in these bodies the pollinia of orchids very firmly 
 attached to the bees' heads.f 
 
 * Darwin, " The Fertilisation of Orchids," Second edition, 
 London, 1877. See also Miiller, " Die Befruchtung der Pflanzen 
 durch Insecten." pp. 74-85, Leipzig, 1873. 
 
 f Bulletin de la Socicte botanique de France, vol. I., p. 370, 1854.
 
 22 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 When an insect, bearing these pollinia, introduces itself 
 into another flower of the same species of orchid, it inevit- 
 ably comes in contact with the female apparatus, more 
 particularly with the viscous surface of the stigma. Some 
 of the grains of pollen contained in the pollen-mass adhere 
 to the stigma and are thus enabled to fertilise the ovule. 
 This carriage of pollen from one flower to another brings 
 about a crossing which is necessary for the production of 
 good seed. On the other hand, the seed which is the result 
 of self-fertilisation of a flower is inferior. 
 
 An examination of the structure and form of the flowers 
 of many orchids show that they are adapted in a truly 
 marvellous way to the visits of insects that convey pollen. 
 In each part of these flowers one can discern some useful 
 arrangement to secure cross-fertilisation. 
 
 For the proper transmission of pollen it is necessary that 
 the pollinia should adhere very firmly to the body of the 
 insects,. and that the viscous substance which holds them 
 together should have time to solidify. It is thus of great 
 advantage to the plant if the insects remain for a consider- 
 able time on the flower. In several orchids the nectar is 
 not easily accessible, and frequently the insect has to search 
 for a long time before finding what it desires, and some- 
 times it even has to pierce a membranous covering before 
 reaching the fluid. The operation takes a certain time, 
 and this is long enough to allow the mucus by which the 
 pollinia adhere to the insect to set firmly. 
 
 In the case of orchids the mucus of which sets instan- 
 taneously, there is no reason for the visit of the insect to 
 be prolonged. In such cases the nectar is easy to extract, 
 and the insect finds it without loss of time. 
 
 Darwin, after describing these facts, proceeds to say : * 
 * Loc. cit. p. 44.
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 23 
 
 " In these five species" (in which the viscid matter " is 
 so adhesive that it serves to attach the pollinia firmly to 
 the insects without getting hard"), "and in these alone, we 
 find copious nectar ready stored for rapid suction in open 
 nectaries. On the other hand, whenever the viscid matter 
 gets hard by exposure for a short time to the air, it would 
 manifestly be advantageous to the plant if insects were 
 delayed in obtaining the nectar ; and in all such species 
 the nectar is lodged within intercellular spaces, so that 
 it can be obtained only by the inner membrane being pene- 
 trated at several points, and this will require time. If 
 this double relation is accidental, it is a fortunate accident 
 for the plants ; but I cannot believe it to be so, and it 
 appears to me one of the most wonderful cases of adap- 
 tation which has ever been recorded." 
 
 Some orchids secrete instead of nectar a clear liquid like 
 water. This fluid is collected in a petal inserted at the 
 lower part of the flower and shaped into a deep cup-shaped 
 receptacle. It does not attract insects, but by wetting 
 their wings compels them to leave the flower by a different 
 exit which passes close to the reproductive organs (i.e., 
 the anther and the stigma). The soft linings of the cup 
 are greedily devoured by certain insects, particularly by 
 bees. Dr. Cruger, who observed this, has often seen bees 
 fall into the cup whereupon their wings became so wet as 
 to prevent their flying away, and they have been obliged 
 to get out by the channel that carries off the waste from 
 the reservoir. As the saturated bees creep along the narrow 
 passage after their involuntary immersion, they come 
 inevitably in contact with the stigma and the masses of 
 pollen. The latter adhere to the bodies of the bees and 
 can be conveyed to the sticky stigma of a neighbouring 
 flower.
 
 . Catasetum saccatum (from " La Lindenia," Gand, 1890).
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 25 
 
 In other orchids (Catasetum, Fig. i), the male elements 
 are discharged by a spring-like arrangement on the body 
 of insects. When certain parts of the flowers are touched, 
 the pollinia are thrown off like arrows, which, in the place 
 of the barbs, have viscid swellings. " The insect, disturbed 
 by so sharp a blow, or after having eaten its fill, flies sooner 
 or later away to a female plant and, whilst standing in the 
 same position as before, the pollen-bearing end of the arrow 
 is inserted into the stigmatic cavity, and a mass of pollen 
 is left on its viscid surface." * 
 
 After giving detailed descriptions of the cross-fertilisa- 
 tion of flowers by such peculiar means, Darwin makes the 
 following remark : " Who would have been bold enough 
 to have surmised that the propagation of a species depended 
 on so complex, so apparently artificial, and yet so admirable 
 an arrangement ? " t 
 
 One orchid (Herminium monorchis, Fig. 2), which bears 
 very small flowers, is remarkable for the way in which it 
 is fertilised by insects. Only very small insects are able 
 to penetrate the flowers. The space being very limited 
 these minute insects can enter the flower only in a particular 
 way, and at one of the corners. This causes the pollinia 
 to become attached always to the same place, which is on 
 the outer side of one of the two front legs. When the 
 insect, the carrier of the pollinia. enters a second flower, 
 it can scarcely fail to fertilise the stigma, which is on the 
 corresponding side. Darwin said that it would be difficult 
 to find a case in which there was so marvellously complete 
 an adaptation to a very peculiar mode of fertilisation as 
 the little flower of Herminium. 
 
 Iri addition to orchids, there are other flowers the 
 
 * Darwin, loc. cit. p. 179. 
 f Ibid. pp. 207-208.
 
 26 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 organisation of which is adapted in a remarkable way to 
 
 FlG. 2. Herminium monorchis 
 
 (after Sowerby, "English Botany," ix. 1869) 
 
 fertilisation by insects. But to find perfect harmony in 
 the nature of living beings it is not necessary to confine
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 27 
 
 our observations to flowers. The animal world furnishes us 
 with numerous examples. To avoid going into the details 
 of these, I shall content myself with a description of the 
 most remarkable instances. 
 
 Every one has seen, flying near the ground, small, slender, 
 and pretty wasps. From time to time these bury them- 
 selves in the earth or sand, and re-appear in a few minutes. 
 These are the fossorial wasps, the interesting habits of which 
 have been studied by Mr. J. H. Fabre, of Avignon. They 
 are not gregarious, but lead solitary lives and differ in their 
 habits from their congeners. Bees feed their larvae with 
 honey and pollen which they take to them during the whole 
 period of their development. Wasps are carnivorous, 
 predatory insects, and bring their spoils to their brood of 
 soft and feeble larvae which are unable to provide for 
 themselves. Bees and most wasps look after the welfare 
 of their young ones in the fashion of human parents in 
 nurseries. 
 
 Fossorial wasps act differently ; they never see their 
 young. They lay their eggs in burrows, sunk in the soil 
 and hermetically sealed. The larvae are hatched under- 
 ground and are never seen by the mother. Provision 
 sufficient for their development, however, is made in 
 advance. Before depositing eggs, the females sink the 
 burrows, and fill them with the spoils of the chase, which 
 consist sometimes of spiders and sometimes of crickets or 
 other insects. Each species of fossorial wasps preys on 
 a particular kind of insect or on its allies, for the purpose 
 of provisioning the burrows. These wasps are most fas- 
 tidious in the choice of their food, and behave like collectors 
 whose interest is only in a single or a few species of small 
 animals. Leon Dufour, the well-known entomologist, was 
 much struck by the ability displayed by certain wasps
 
 28 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 (Cerceris, Fig. 3) in seeking out and capturing the pretty 
 beetles of the genus Buprestis, which he had great diffi- 
 culty in finding himself. In making a study of these 
 beetles he collected the material from the burrows of 
 Cerceris, and so avoided the laborious task of obtaining 
 them in the natural state of free- 
 dom. The burrows were filled 
 with motionless, but perfectly 
 well preserved, Buprestes. Al- 
 though dead Coleoptera dried up 
 in a short time, those recovered 
 from the burrows remained in a 
 good state of preservation for 
 weeks. Leon Dufour came to the 
 
 FIG. 3. Cerccns (after Buffon). 
 
 conclusion that the Cerceris kill 
 
 their prey, but iniect into them some antiseptic liquid 
 which perfectly preserves their flesh and intestines. 
 
 J. H. Fabre pursued the study of the habits of fossorial 
 wasps further. He ascertained that the captured insects 
 were not dead, but only paralysed. The continuance of the 
 function of certain organs demonstrated that the Buprestes, 
 the weevils and other small creatures collected in the burrows 
 of fossorial wasps, were alive. They could even perform 
 some slight movements, but they were incapable of loco- 
 motion, and so could not escape. The mechanism of this 
 paralysis, as far as could be ascertained by Fabre, is one 
 of the most remarkable phenomena in nature. The fos- 
 sorial wasps, guided by their instinct, immediately after 
 having seized an insect or spider, bury their sting in the 
 nervous centre which controls the movements of the legs. 
 When animals with soft bodies, such as spiders and young 
 crickets, are attacked, the operation does not present any 
 difficulties. But Coleoptera in general, and the Buprestes
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 29 
 
 and weevils in particular, are furnished with a very hard 
 covering which cannot be perforated by the small and 
 slender sting of a foss'orial wasp. To gain their object the 
 wasps probe exactly between the first and second pair of 
 legs in the median line of the under surface of the thorax. 
 The skin is thinner at this spot, and they introduce their 
 sting into the ganglia from which arise the nerves of the 
 legs. In the case with the Buprestes these ganglia are 
 set close to one another, and a single prick suffices to affect 
 the nervous centres of three pairs of legs. Once the sting 
 has been inserted in this way the Buprestis becomes para- 
 lysed, but lives for many days. " The Cerceris which preys 
 on Coleoptera," writes Fabre,* " appears to have made its 
 choice according to the dictates of an exact physiology and 
 anatomy. It is impossible to see in its proceedings the 
 results of happy chance ; more than chance is required to 
 explain adaptations so precise." 
 
 After having filled the burrow with a sufficient quantity 
 of insects or spiders, fossorial wasps lay their eggs and care- 
 fully close up the entrance. In due course the larva is 
 hatched, and devours the food that it finds close at hand. 
 If the gathered insects were not paralysed, they could 
 easily escape from their prison ; if they weie dead, 
 putrefaction or desiccation (according to circumstances) 
 would render them unfit for the larvae. It is therefore 
 sheer necessity that is the factor in the development of 
 this marvellous instinct that induces the fossorial wasps 
 to attack the nervous centres of their prey. When one 
 insect has been devoured, the larva proceeds to another, 
 and so on, until it is fully grown, whereupon it envelops 
 itself in a case that protects it during the winter and 
 
 * Fabre, " Souvenirs entomologiques," vol. I., pp. 71-78, Paris, 
 1879.
 
 30 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 following spring. In summer it changes at first into a 
 chrysalis, and later into a perfect insect. It frees itself from 
 the cocoon, takes to flight, and enters upon life like that 
 of its mother, which it has never seen. 
 
 Of the harmonious phenomena in nature it is indeed 
 difficult to find other examples so perfect as those of the habits 
 of these fossorial wasps, or of the mechanism for the fer- 
 tilisation of orchids. These harmonies in nature are 
 constantly met with in the world of living beings, and it 
 is not astonishing that they have for a long time attracted 
 the attention of many observers and philosophers. As it 
 seemed impossible to attribute them to the organisms them- 
 selves, because of the low rank and lack of intelligence of 
 these, it has seemed only natural to set them down as a 
 manifestation of a superior force which organises and 
 directs all natural phenomena. This argument, however, 
 omits one side of the medal. 
 
 Any close investigation of organisation and life reveals 
 that, beside many most perfect harmonies, there are facts 
 which prove the existence of incomplete harmony or even 
 absolute disharmony. The examination of the flowers of 
 orchids would lead one to the belief that each part, even the 
 smallest and apparently most insignificant, has its role in 
 the mechanism for fertilisation and cross-fertilisation. In 
 reality it is not so. There are in certain orchids organs 
 which do not fulfil any function. 
 
 Even among the species of Catasetum, in which the pol- 
 linia are thrown with force on the bodies of insects, there are 
 some female flowers in which the male organs are rudi- 
 mentary and without utility. In these flowers, according to 
 Darwin,* " the two membranous sacks containing the 
 rudimentary pollen-masses never open, but they easily 
 * Loc. cit. p. 201.
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 31 
 
 separate from each other and from the anther. The tissue 
 of which they are formed is thick and pulpy. Like most 
 rudimentary parts, the pollen-masses vary much in size 
 and form ; they are only about one-tenth of the bulk of 
 those of the male." There are then, without doubt, some 
 structures that are of no service. 
 
 The existence of these rudimentary pollinia, incapable 
 of being transported or of fertilising the female element, is 
 easily explained by the supposition that formerly the 
 flowers of the Catasetum were true hermaphrodites, but that 
 in the course of time the male organs have become incom- 
 pletely atrophied in certain flowers, in which, on the other 
 hand, the female part has increased. The occurrence of 
 an actual degeneration is shown by the existence of rudi- 
 ments of the pollinia too insignificant to accomplish their 
 normal functions. 
 
 Rudimentary and useless organs are widely distributed, 
 and we find them in many places. Familiar instances are 
 the atrophied eyes of animals that live in the dark, and 
 the sometimes rudimentary sexual organs of many plants 
 and animals. 
 
 Not only are orchids and other flowers adapted to fer- 
 tilisation by means of insects, but many insects display 
 special adaptations to their habit of visiting flowers. Butter- 
 flies, bees, and many other insects, possess mouth organs 
 modified for the purpose of penetrating flowers to secure 
 nectar or pollen. Other insects, again, are not so fortunate 
 in this respect. Darwin * on one occasion " found an 
 extremely minute Hymenopterous insect vainly struggling 
 to escape, with its head cemented by the hardened viscid 
 matter to the crest of the rostellum and to the tips of the 
 pollinia (of an orchid, Listera ovata, Fig. 4). The insect 
 * Loo, cit. pp. 120-121.
 
 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 ^p 
 
 was not so large as one of the pollinia, and after causing the 
 explosion had not strength enough to re- 
 move them ; it was punished for attempt- 
 ing a work beyond its strength, and 
 perished miserably." 
 
 Many insects, well adapted for the pur- 
 pose, delight themselves by sucking the 
 nectar of flowers. Many others would wish 
 to do the same, but their want of adapta- 
 tion baffles them. A small "lady-bird" 
 loves the sweet juice of flowers ; it tries 
 often to suck the nectar of the dandelion, 
 but without success. Hermann Miiller * 
 has described the behaviour of this insect 
 in procuring the nectar of Erodium cicu- 
 torium. "The awkward way in which this 
 beetle, unadapted to feed on the plants, 
 endeavours to obtain the honey, is too 
 ludicrous not to be mentioned. After taking 
 up a position on the petal, it puts its 
 mouth in the direction of one of the honey- 
 cups which are situated on both sides of 
 the base of the petal. The petal soon 
 breaks off, upon which the insect fixes 
 itself on a neighbouring sepal or falls to 
 the ground with the petal. In the first 
 case it proceeds to creep over the flower 
 and ends by detaching all the petals ; in 
 the other case, on recovering from the 
 shock, it quickly ascends another stem of 
 the same plant and begins again. I have 
 seen the same lady-bird fall four times in 
 ' Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten," p. 167, 1873. 
 
 FIG. 4. Liitera avata 
 (after Barla, ' ' Flora of 
 Nice," 1868).
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 33 
 
 succession with petals which it had detached without gaining 
 wisdom." 
 
 The instincts of insects, well developed for certain func- 
 tions, often present aberrations more or less whimsical and 
 remarkable. The caterpillars of some butterflies, before 
 changing into chrysalids, envelop themselves in a well- 
 woven cocoon capable of protecting them from noxious 
 influences. Protected by this covering, the caterpillar 
 changes into a chrysalid. and later into a butterfly, which 
 perforates the end of the- cocoon in order to emerge. When 
 any external agency destroys the cocoon, normal meta- 
 morphosis becomes impossible, and the larva dies before 
 its maturity. Fabre * questioned whether the caterpillar 
 during the time of the weaving of the cocoon was capable 
 of repairing it if it was damaged. For this object he cut 
 with a pair of scissors the end of a cocoon in the course 
 of construction by the caterpillar of the beautiful peacock- 
 butterfly. In spite of the hole thus produced, the cater- 
 pillar continued its ordinary work without suspicion that 
 it would be of no avail. On this occasion " the caterpillar 
 of the peacock-butterfly, notwithstanding the certain fate 
 of the future butterfly, continued peaceably to spin, without 
 in the least modifying the regular progress of its labour ; 
 when the time had arrived for the putting in of the last 
 defensive stitches it placed them in the perilous breach, 
 but neglected to mend the destroyed part of the barricade. 
 It performed its vain task, ignoring what was indispensable 
 for success." 
 
 Even amongst fossorial wasps, the instincts of which are 
 
 so admirably developed, harmony is far from perfect. Fabre 
 
 endeavoured to ascertain what effect was produced on these 
 
 insects by taking away the egg laid in the burrow. He 
 
 * " Souvenirs entomologiques," Fourth series, Paris, 1847. 
 
 C
 
 34 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 chose for this experiment the fossorial wasp Pdopaus 
 (Fig. 5), which preys on spiders. He took away the egg which 
 had been deposited in a carefully-prepared burrow, and 
 watched the subsequent manoeuvres. " The Pelopaus con- 
 tinued to store up spiders for the 
 stolen egg ; it gathered provisions 
 that were not to be eaten ; it 
 redoubled its efforts to replenish 
 a larder that I was constantly 
 robbing with my forceps." The 
 insect neither discontinued its 
 fruitless task nor appeared to be 
 aware of its fruitlessness. Here, 
 then, is an example of a foiled 
 maternal instinct that gained no 
 useful end. 
 
 In connection with such a slaughter for the benefit of a 
 progeny that will never exist, I may mention observations 
 relating to a quite different- order of phenomena. There 
 are many creatures that kill and devour their progeny. Not 
 infrequently rabbits kill and devour all their progeny, or 
 leave them to die without food or care. Sometimes 
 the culprits are young rabbits without experience; but 
 this aberration of instinct is also met with in old rabbits, 
 which once and for all have contracted the habit of aban- 
 , doning or eating their young. Some females of other species 
 of mammals and of birds have often been surprised in the 
 act of deserting or of killing their offspring. 
 
 Perversion of sexual instinct is frequent enough amongst 
 animals. Huber * states that when male ants have a lack 
 of females they ravish the workers, the attacks being fatal, 
 
 * " Recherches sur les Moeurs des Fourmis indigenes," Paris, 
 1 8 10.
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 35 
 
 as the sexual organs are incompletely developed and 
 functionally incapable. Abnormal pairing has also been 
 observed in the stag-beetle of the genus Lucanus, in bees, 
 and, above all, in cockchafers.* Higher animals, such as 
 dogs, furnish analogous examples of sexual perversion. 
 
 Onanism is well known amongst mammals. It is fre- 
 quent among monkeys in menageries, and also in rutting 
 stags, the latter discharging the seminal fluid by friction 
 with trees. Stallions and mares have often been observed 
 in the act of satisfying their sexual appetites by abnormal 
 means. There are several other species (dogs, bears, cha- 
 mois, elephants, parrakeets, etc.,) which resort to onanism.t 
 
 These disharmonious instincts do not in the least cause 
 the death of the animals that manifest them. But there 
 exist in nature instinctive aberrations much more dangerous. 
 Who has not seen in the summer numerous insects gathered 
 round lamps and candles, attracted by the light ? Among 
 these are Coleoptera, Neuroptera (Phryganea), Ephemera, and, 
 most frequently of all, small nocturnal Lepidoptera. After 
 flying round and round the light several times, they singe 
 their wings and die in numbers. This instinct is so con- 
 stant and so developed amongst many of these insects, that 
 it has been used against them for their own destruction. 
 Thus amongst the means advocated for destroying a moth, 
 Botys sticticalis, the caterpillars of which devour cereals and 
 beetroot, J is the lighting of numerous fires in the fields. 
 The moths, attracted by the light, fall in the flames and 
 die in quantities. 
 
 When the usual swarms of may-flies emerge from the 
 water, fishers make straw fires on their boats, and the 
 
 * Fere, " L'Instinct sexuel," Second Edition, p. 76, Paris, 1902. 
 f Moll, " Untersuch. iib.d. Libido sexualis," vol. II. pp. 372, 373. 
 % Koeppen, "Insectes invisibles," vol. II. p. 237, 1883. (In Russian.)
 
 36 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 insects singe their wings. The innumerable bodies incap- 
 able of flight fall into the water, and provide a coveted 
 food for the fish.* This disharmonious and fatal instinct is 
 displayed chiefly by nocturnal insects that rest during the 
 day and do not leave their retreats till after sunset. In 
 the cornfields Coleoptera of the genera Anisoplia and Rhizo- 
 trogus, resembling each other in form and general appear- 
 ance, are to be found. When a fire is lighted in the darkness 
 of the night it is only the Rhizotrogus that approaches it 
 at the risk of its life. The Anisoplia remains quiet in the 
 midst of the corn. The latter kind of beetle pairs during 
 the day, while the Rhizotrogi satisfy their sexual desires 
 during the night. Moreover, it is the males only of this 
 species that fly about in the darkness and approach the 
 fire, whilst the females rest at heme in the plants. f It is 
 probable, therefore, that light induces a sort of sexual excite- 
 ment in these male beetles. The males, searching for the 
 female, believe her to be in the* midst of the flames, towards 
 which they fly without being conscious of the danger they 
 incur. 
 
 Such an interpretation of this disharmonious and suicidal 
 instinct is confirmed by the fact that the moths attracted 
 by fire are also almost exclusively males. Moreover, ento- 
 mologists have advised against the lighting of fires by agri- 
 culturists in the belief that they destroy the noxious Botys, 
 as they maintain that tne females are not attracted. These 
 latter therefore live on, and, being capable of laying eggs, 
 produce a generation of voracious caterpillars. 
 
 Of the Ephemera attracted by fire in such great quantities 
 males are by far the more numerous. It is therefore really 
 very probable that the mad excitement which leads to the 
 
 * Swammerdam, " Biblia Naturae," Leydae, 1737. 
 t Brehm, " Les Insectes," edit. fran9>, vol. I., p. 206.
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 37 
 
 destruction of so many male insects, represents a sort of 
 sexual aberration. In this connection it is to be remem- 
 bered that, amongst Coleoptera, species exist of which the 
 females, hidden in the grass, produce intense light which 
 attracts the males. In the common glow-worm, the female, 
 which is devoid of wings, alone shines with the familiar 
 greenish glitter. Even in species of which the two sexes 
 are luminous, the female shines more vividly. It is true 
 that there are some beetles with luminous larvae, a fact that 
 led Darwin * to remark that the production of light by 
 insects may serve to frighten enemies. This is possible, 
 and it is also possible that certain insects make use 
 of their luminosity to light their way in the darkness, f 
 But, notwithstanding this, the sexual character of the 
 luminous organ is so manifest in certain species that it is 
 impossible to doubt its function as a means of attracting 
 the male. 
 
 In conclusion I may say that it is not my purpose at 
 present to discuss the meaning of an instinct so tatal to 
 insect-life. I wish only to point out the frequency of the 
 natural occurrence of disharmony, so that the satisfaction 
 
 an instinct is fatal to so many of its possessors. 
 
 It is plain that an instinct, or any other form of dishar- 
 mony leading to destruction, cannot increase, or even endure 
 very long. The perversion of the maternal instinct tending 
 to abandonment of the young is destructive to the stock. 
 In consequence, ndividuals affected by it do not have the 
 opportunity of transmitting the perversion. If all rabbits, 
 or a majority of them, left their young to die through 
 neglect, it is evident that the species would soon die out. 
 
 * " Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex," vol. I., 
 chap. 10, p. 345. 
 
 f R. Dubois, " Les Elaterides lumineux," p. 209, Meulan, 1886.
 
 38 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 On the contrary, mothers, guided by their instinct to nourish 
 and foster their offspring, will produce a vigorous generation 
 capable of transmitting the healthy maternal instinct so 
 essential for the preservation of the species. For such a 
 reason harmonious characters are more abundant in nature 
 than injurious peculiarities. The latter, because they are 
 injurious to the individual and to the species, cannot per- 
 petuate themselves indefinitely. 
 
 In this way there comes about a constant selection of 
 characters. The useful qualities are handed down and 
 preserved, while noxious characters perish and so disappear. 
 Although disharmonies tend to the destruction of a species, 
 they may themselves disappear w.thout having destroyed 
 the race in which they occur. 
 
 This continuous process of natural selection, which offers 
 so good an explanation of the transmutation and origin of 
 species by means of preservation of useful and destruction 
 of harmful characters, was discovered by Darwin and 
 Wallace, and was established by the splendid researches 
 of the former of these. 
 
 Long before the appearance of man on the face of the 
 earth, there were some happy beings well adapted to their 
 environment, and some unhappy creatures that followed 
 disharmonious instincts so as to imperil or to destroy their 
 lives. Were such creatures capable of reflection and com- 
 munication, plainly the fortunate among them, such as 
 orchids and fossorial wasps, would be on the side of the 
 optimists ; they would declare this the best of all possible 
 worlds, and insist that, to secure happiness it is necessary 
 only to follow natural instincts. On the other hand, the 
 disharmonious creatures, those ill adapted to the conditions 
 of life, would be pessimistic philosophers. Consider the case 
 of the lady-bird, driven by hunger and with a preference
 
 HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES 39 
 
 for honey, which searches for it on flowers and meets 
 only with failure, or of insects driven by their instincts into 
 the flames, only to lose their wings and their lives; such 
 creatures, plainly, would express as their idea of the world 
 that it was fashioned abominably, and that existence was 
 a mistake. 
 
 As for man, the creature most interesting to us, in what 
 category does he fall ? Is he a being whose nature is in 
 harmony with the conditions in which he has to live, or is 
 he out of harmony with his environment ? A critical 
 examination is needed to answer these questions, and to 
 such an examination the pages to follow are devoted.
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 
 
 Relationship of the human species with anthropoid apes 
 Analogies in the dentition, in the organisation of the limbs 
 and of the brain Resemblance of the vermiform appendage 
 of man and anthropoids Analogy between the placenta 
 and foetus of man and anthropoid apes Blood relation- 
 ship of man and monkeys shown by serums and pre- 
 cipitates Transmutation of species Sudden transition 
 from monkey to man J. Inaudi, the calculator, as an 
 example of the sudden appearance of characters in the 
 human species Rudimentary organs in man Proportion 
 of progressive and retrogressive organs in the organisation 
 of man 
 
 To understand human nature it is necessary first to give 
 an account of the origin of man. This question has pre- 
 occupied mankind for ages, and for a long time it was 
 believed that a solution of the problem was to be found in 
 religious dogmas. Man was regarded as being of super- 
 natural origin, the result of a special creation. Scientific 
 criticism has now shown that there are no grounds for such 
 a conclusion. 
 
 Nearly half a century ago Darwin applied to man his 
 discovery of the principle of natural selection, and of the 
 part played by that in the origin and transmutation of 
 species. Soon after the publication of the " Origin of 
 Species," attention was given to the special case of man.
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 41 
 
 In 1863 Huxley * gave an admirable review of the pro- 
 blem in his work on " Man's Place in Nature." He brought 
 forward arguments of the highest scientific validity in 
 support of the thesis that man is descended from animals, 
 and that he is a mammal most nearly related to monkeys, 
 and among these to the anthropoid apes. In spite of this 
 masterly exposition, there are still persons of high intel- 
 ligence and superior education who declare that science has 
 not yet answered the question as to whence he came, and 
 that the theory of evolution will never provide an answer.f 
 Close examination of the structure of man has proved, in 
 the most definite fashion, the existence of a near kinship 
 with the higher monkeys, or anthropoids. When the chim- 
 panzee and the ourang-outang were discovered, comparison 
 became inevitable, and many naturalists, including the great 
 Linnaeus, saw that the human race must find its place in 
 classification near the anthropoids. 
 
 Now that all the details of the human organisation have 
 been studied, and the anatomical structures of man and 
 large monkeys without tails have been compared, bone 
 with bone and muscle with muscle, a truly astonishing 
 analogy between these organisms is made manifest, an analogy 
 apparent in every detail. It is known that in the natural 
 history of mammals the teeth play an important part as 
 a means of determining differences and relationships. The 
 dentition of man bears a very great resemblance to that 
 of anthropoids. Every one knows the milk teeth and the 
 permanent teeth of man. The anthropoid apes bear in this 
 respect an astonishing likeness to man. The number 
 (thirty-two in the adult), ihe form and general arrangement 
 
 * Republished, with other essays, as " Man's Place in Nature," 
 Macmillan, London, 1894. 
 
 j- Brunetiere, Revue des Deux Mondes, Jan. i, 1895, p. 99.
 
 42 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 of the crown, are identical in man and anthropoid apes. 
 The differences are to be found only in minor details, such 
 as the exact shape and relative dimensions and the number 
 of cusps. It can be said in a general way that in the anthro- 
 poid apes the teeth are more strongly developed than in 
 man. The canines are much longer and the- roots of the 
 pre-molars are more complex in the gorilla than in man. 
 
 But the fact must not be lost sight of, that all these differ- 
 ences are less pronounced than those which exist between 
 the dentition of anthropoid apes and that of all other 
 monkeys. Even in the cynocephalous monkeys, those that 
 most nearly approach the anthropoids, the teeth exhibit 
 marked differences. Thus, the forms of the upper molars 
 are quite different in the baboon and in the gorilla. The 
 canines are longer, and the pre-molars and molars are still 
 more complex in the baboon. 
 
 In the monkeys of the New World, the dentition differs 
 still more from that of man and anthropoids. Instead of 
 thirty-two teeth, they possess thirty-six in the adult con- 
 dition. The number of pre-molars is twelve instead of 
 eight. The general form and the crowns of the molars are 
 very different from those of anthropoid apes. 
 
 These considerations led Huxley to conclude that " it 
 is obvious that, greatly as the dentition of the highest ape 
 differs from that of man, it differs far more widely from that 
 of the lower and lowest apes." * 
 
 Another character which shows that anthropoids are 
 nearer man than other monkeys is furnished by the ana- 
 tomy of the sacrum. In monkeys as a whole the sacrum 
 is composed of three, or rarely four, vertebrae, while in 
 anthropoid apes it contains five, that is to say just as many 
 as in man. 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 116.
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 43 
 
 The whole skeleton, and particularly the skull of man, and 
 the higher monkeys, present certainly some marked differ- 
 ences ; but here again the differences are less than those 
 between the anthropoid apes and other monkeys. As 
 regards the osteology the proposition laid down by Huxley 
 is just. " So that, for the skull, no less than for the skeleton 
 in general, the proposition holds good, that the differences 
 between man and the gorilla are of smaller value than those 
 between the gorilla and some other apes." * 
 
 The believers in the doctrine that the human species is 
 essentially distinct from all the known monkeys have laid 
 great stress on the difference between the foot of man and 
 that of anthropoid apes. This difference cannot be denied. 
 Man assumes the direct posture habitually, while monkeys, 
 even the highest of them, walk on two legs only occasion - 
 ally. There has followed from this a. greater development 
 of the feet in monkeys. Yet this difference ought not to 
 be exaggerated. It has been sought to prove that monkeys 
 are " quadrumanous," and that their hind legs terminate 
 in " hind-hands." But it is clearly shown that in all essen- 
 tial respects the hinder limb of the gorilla terminates in as 
 true a foot as that of man.f " The hind limb of the gorilla, 
 therefore, ends in a true foot, with a very movable great 
 toe. It is a prehensile foot, indeed, but is in no sense a 
 hand ; it is a foot which differs from that of man not in 
 any fundamental character, but in mere proportions, in 
 the degree of mobility, and ia trie secondary arrangement 
 of its parts." | 
 
 In all these cases the argument is confirmed, "that be 
 the differences between the hand and foot of man and those 
 of the gorilla what they may, the differences between 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. in. t Loc. cit. p. 126. 
 
 J Loc. cit. p. 126.
 
 44 
 
 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 those of the gorilla and those of the lower apes are much 
 greater."* 
 
 The comparison of muscles and of other internal organs 
 leads to the same conclusion ; the differences between 
 monkeys are more varied and greater than those between 
 
 anthropoids and man. The 
 anatomy of the brain has 
 been much discussed with 
 regard to this. Several 
 distinguished zoologists, 
 amongst them Owen in 
 particular, have insisted 
 on the absence in all 
 monkeys of certain parts 
 of the brain peculiarly 
 characteristic of man. 
 Such are the posterior 
 lobe, the posterior cornu, 
 and the lesser hippocampus. Controversy on this topic has 
 been animated ; but, ultimately, the opinion of Owen did 
 not triumph, and now it is unanimously accepted that the 
 parts of the brain in question are " precisely those structures 
 which are the most marked cerebral characters common to 
 man with the apes. They are among the most dis- 
 tinctly simian peculiarities which the human organism 
 exhibits. " f 
 
 As regards the brain, the differences between man and 
 anthropoid apes are certainly less marked than those that 
 exist between the higher and lower monkeys. 
 
 The digestive tract affords another argument in favour 
 of the affinity of anthropoid apes to man. The human 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 127. 
 t L.OC. cit. p. 139. 
 
 '"Appendage 
 
 FIG. 6. Caecum and vermiform appendage 
 of man (after Ewald).
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 45 
 
 caecum is furnished with the very remarkable and strange 
 vermiform appendage which often is the cause of a grave 
 and prevalent illness known as appendicitis. Now, it is 
 quite remarkable that this organ is practically identical 
 with the vermiform appendage of anthropoid apes. A glance 
 at the accompany- 
 ing figures (6 and 
 7) will convince 
 the reader of this, g 
 Yet none of the 
 other monkeys 
 present any such 
 resemblance with 
 
 man. ""^^f" " Appendage 
 
 It IS not SUrpris- FIG. 7. Caecum and vermiform appendage of the 
 
 ms in the face of chimpanzee (from a preparation in the Paris 
 
 Museum of Natural History). 
 
 resemblances so 
 
 numerous, that forty years' science has proclaimed the exist- 
 ence of a close affinity between man and the anthropoid apes. 
 The view has become an established doctrine, now that 
 no single fact has been brought against it. Since the 
 theory was enunciated we have learned much regarding 
 the natural history of these apes. Generally, when a theory 
 is false, a new set of facts overthrows it. Attempts may be 
 made to trim the new facts to the existing theory, but such 
 attempts are doomed to failure, and the theory disappears. It 
 is of special interest, then, to confront the simian theory of 
 the origin of man with a series of facts gathered by science 
 since the theory was propounded. 
 
 When Huxley wrote, the embryological history of anthro- 
 poid apes was practically unknown. Darwin, Vogt, and 
 Haeckel, in their attempts to support the theory of the 
 animal origin of man, had not sufficient knowledge of the
 
 46 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 embryology of monkeys. It is only recently that important 
 work on this subject has been published. 
 
 It is known that the history of development is very often 
 an excellent guide in tracing the relationship of organisms. 
 
 FIG. 8. Foetus of gibbon (after Selenka). 
 
 It is therefore interesting to examine the established facts 
 concerning the embryology of anthropoid apes. The 
 material for these studies is very difficult to obtain, .and 
 it is not astonishing that even our present state of know- 
 ledge is still imperfect. 
 
 The placenta often gives information of great importance 
 in the classification of mammals. It is sufficient to glance 
 at the zonary placenta of dogs and seals to be convinced 
 of the relationship of these two species, which at first sight 
 seem so different. Now, the placentas of all the anthropoid 
 apes examined up to the present are of the same discoid 
 type as that of man. The arrangement of the umbilical
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 
 
 47 
 
 cord of man, which was formerly considered as quite pecu- 
 liar to him, is found in anthropoid apes, as has been 
 established by Deniker * and Selenka.f It is striking 
 that the anthropoids resemble man rather than the lower 
 
 FIG. 9. Human foetus of three months and a half. 
 
 monkeys in the relation of the foetus to the foetal mem- 
 branes. 
 
 With regard to the embryos themselves, the similarity 
 between those of monkeys and of man is very great. Selenka 
 insists on the fact that the youngest stages of human de- 
 velopment that have been obtained can hardly be distin- 
 guished from those of the lower monkeys either in position 
 or in shape. More advanced stages exhibit greater differen- 
 tiation, and the later embryos of man resemble those of 
 
 * "Archives de Zoologie experimentale," 1885. 
 
 t " Studien iiber Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere," 1898-1902.
 
 48 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 anthropoids much more closely than those of the lower 
 monkeys. The foetus of the gibbon, figured by Selenka 
 (Fig. 8), presents the most striking likeness to a corresponding 
 human foetus (Fig. 9). 
 
 Later on, the characters that distinguish man from even 
 the highest of the apes become more and more pronounced. 
 In the anthropoids the facial portion becomes more and more 
 prominent, and betrays a bestiality absent from the human 
 form. None the less the resemblance between the nearly 
 mature foetus of anthropoids and human embryos of about 
 the sixth month is evident enough. M. Deniker had the 
 good fortune to obtain the late foetus of a gorilla a very rare 
 piece of fortune and he has made an elaborate investiga- 
 tion of its structure. The general appearance (Fig. 10) is 
 quite enough to show the close relationship with a human 
 foetus of a corresponding age (Fig. n). It is plain, moreover, 
 that the young gorilla is more human-like than is the adult. 
 Detailed anatomical investigation only confirms this con- 
 clusion. 
 
 The skulls of the young stages of anthropoids are much 
 more human in their character than the adult skulls. Sebnka 
 states that such young skulls of different anthropoids not 
 only resemble one another more closely, but are more 
 human. As soon as the teeth begin to appear, the indi- 
 vidual characters are assumed so rapidly, and become so 
 marked, that, in the absence of the intermediate stages, 
 it would be difficult to establish the kinships. 
 
 The data derived from embryology do not point to any 
 one of the existing genera of monkeys as the ancestor of 
 man. They lead us to infer, rather, that man and the 
 anthropoid apes had a common origin, and palaeontological 
 evidence must be scanned to find this ancestor. The greatest 
 importance has been attached to a discovery in Java, made
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 49 
 
 in 1894 by Eugene Dubois. The remains, consisting of the 
 crown of a skull, two teeth and a femur, belonging to a 
 creature for which the name Pithecanthropus erectus * has 
 been invented, have been interpreted by several anatomists 
 as those of a form intermediate between man and the 
 anthropoid apes. However, as the facts about this creature 
 are meagre and have been interpreted differently, I shall 
 not make use of them in my argument. Even apart from 
 them, the simian origin of man may be taken as proved. 
 
 The series of facts that I have been employing as evidence 
 of the relationship between men and anthropoid apes has 
 been drawn from the observations of anatomists and embryo- 
 logists. Darwin, seeking to broaden the basis of the argu- 
 ment, called attention to the resemblances of the parasites 
 of men and apes, as evidence of a close similarity of physio- 
 logical processes in the creatures. In the last few years, 
 investigations in a very different field seem capable of 
 throwing a novel light on the question. 
 
 When the blood of one mammal is injected into the body 
 of another, the latter shows remarkable modifications. 
 When there is added to a serum, prepared from the blood 
 of a rabbit and consisting of a colourless transparent liquid, 
 a few drops of blood drawn from another rodent (for instance 
 a guinea-pig), nothing unusual happens. The blood of the 
 guinea-pig preserves its normal colour, and its corpuscles 
 remain practically unaltered. If, instead of adding guinea- 
 pig's blood to the serum of rabbit's blood, we add a serum 
 drawn from the blood of the guinea-pig, still no special 
 change occurs. 
 
 If, however, a serum be prepared from the blood of a 
 rabbit into which there had first been injected the blood 
 
 * A summary of this question is to be found in a new volume 
 by M. Alsberg, " Die Abstammung desJVIenschen," chap, iii., 1902. 
 
 D
 
 5 o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 of a guinea-pig, the serum shows new and striking qualities. 
 The addition to it of some drops of guinea-pig's blood 
 
 FIG. 10. Foetus of gorilla (after Deniker). 
 
 brings about, in a very short time, a changed appearance. 
 The red liquid, at first opaque, becomes transparent. The
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 51 
 
 mixture of the prepared serum of the rabbit with the blood 
 of the guinea-pig will assume the colour of claret mixed 
 
 FlG. ix. Human foetus of about five months. 
 
 with water. The change is due to solution of the red 
 corpuscles of the guinea-pig in the blood-serum of the rabbit.
 
 52 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 This serum has still another property not less worthy of 
 attention. If there is added to it not pure blood but only 
 blood serum of the guinea-pig, a disturbance in the mixture 
 occurs almost at once, and leads to the forming of a precipi- 
 tate more or less abundant. 
 
 The injection of the blood of the guinea-pig into a rabbit 
 has therefore changed the serum of the latter by intro- 
 ducing new properties : that of dissolving the red corpuscles 
 of the guinea-pig and of giving a precipitate with the blood 
 serum of the same animal. 
 
 Frequently the bipod serum of animals prepared by pre- 
 vious injections of the blood of otljer species of animals is 
 strictly specific. In such cases the serum only gives a 
 precipitate with the serum of the species which has furnished 
 the blood for the injections, and only dissolves the red 
 corpuscles of this same species. But there are some instances 
 in which a serum of a prepared animal dissolves, not only 
 the red corpuscles of the species which has furnished the 
 injected blood, but those of allied species. Thus the blood 
 serum of the rabbit, after some injections of blood of the 
 chicken, becomes capable of dissolving not only the red 
 corpuscles of the chicken but also those of the pigeon, 
 although in a less degree. 
 
 It has been suggested that assistance could be ren- 
 dered to forensic medicine by making use of this property 
 of serums, to discover the origin of a certain blood. As 
 is well known, it is often very important to decide whether 
 a stain was caused by the blood of man or of another animal. 
 Until quite recently it was not known how to distinguish 
 human blood from that of other mammals. Experiments 
 have been made to discover if the red corpuscles found in 
 the blood stain could be dissolved by the serum of animals 
 which had previously been injected with the blood of man.
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 53 
 
 In a certain case the human origin of the stain in question 
 was shown. But it was soon discovered that this method 
 was not infallible. It is now found that the method of 
 precipitates gives much more conclusive results. It is done 
 in this way : Human blood is injected several times into 
 any animal (rabbit, dog, sheep, horse). Some time after- 
 wards the animal is bled, and a clear and limpid serum, 
 quite devoid of corpuscles, is prepared. When there is 
 added to this serum one or several drops of human serum, 
 it forms immediately a precipitate which falls to the bottom. 
 In this, way it is discovered whether the prepared serum 
 is sufficiently active. It then becomes possible to recognise 
 even dried human blood. A little of such blood is dissolved 
 in normal salt solution, and placed in a tube containing 
 the serum of an animal prepared by means of the injections 
 of human blood. If a precipitate forms in the liquid in a 
 short time, the fact indicates that the stain is really human 
 blood. This method is being practised in forensic medicine. 
 
 This reaction is. of great interest to us because it is of 
 assistance in revealing the relationship between species. 
 The serum of an animal prepared with the blood of the 
 fowl gives a precipitate, not only with the serum of the 
 fowl itself, but also with that of the pigeon ; on the other 
 hand, it remains undisturbed when the serum of mammals 
 -is added. The reaction indicates then that there is a suffi- 
 ciently marked degree of relationship between the fowl and 
 the pigeon. Here is another example : the serum of an 
 animal prepared with the blood of an ox gives an abundant 
 precipitate when there is added to it a little blood serum 
 of the ox, but it does not produce this reaction with the 
 serum of any of the other mammals, not even with that 
 of the sheep, stag and deer.* The relationship between 
 
 * Uhlenhuth, "Deutsche Medecin. Wochenschrift," p. 82, 1901.
 
 54 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the Bovida and these other ruminants is then not so close 
 as that between the fowl and the pigeon. 
 
 How does the serum of animals which has been injected 
 with human blood behave ? The serum capable of giving a 
 precipitate with human serum does not produce the same 
 reaction except with the serum of some monkeys (the small 
 Papio}.* 
 
 Gruenbaum, of Liverpool,! nas been fortunate enough to 
 procure a considerable quantity of the blood of three large 
 anthropoid apes the gorilla, chimpanzee, and ourang- 
 outang. He has been able to prove that the serum of 
 animals injected with man's blood gives a precipitate not 
 only with this blood but also with that of the above-men- 
 tioned apes. It was impossible for him " to distinguish this 
 precipitate as regards quality and quantity from that 
 which is obtained with human blood." 
 
 To verify this result, Gruenbaum prepared the serum of 
 animals injected with the blood of the gorilla, chimpanzee, 
 and ourang-outang. These three kinds of serum gave pre- 
 cipitates with the blood of these three apes, and to the same 
 extent with the blood of man. It is therefore evident that 
 there exists between the human species and the anthro- 
 poid apes not only a superficial analogy of body and of the 
 principal organs, but a close blood-relationship. 
 
 Facts of this kind could not be foreseen when the theory 
 of the simian origin of man was put forward. In spite of 
 this they have arisen to confirm it in a truly astonishing 
 way. 
 
 It is therefore impossible to doubt that man is a member 
 of the group of primates having a close connection with the 
 
 * Wassermann and Schuetze, " Berliner klinische Wochenschrift/ 
 p. 7, 1901. 
 
 f The Lancet, Jan. 18, 1902.
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 55 
 
 higher monkeys of the present time. This result is of great 
 importance in all questions relating to human nature. 
 
 It would certainly be of considerable interest to know 
 more exactly what steps were followed in this simian descent 
 of man. On this question our knowledge is still very imper- 
 fect. In his researches on anthropoid apes, Selenka insists 
 on a more intimate relationship between the chimpanzee 
 and man. " The great resemblance of the premolars and 
 of the molars in the permanent dentition of the chimpanzee 
 with human teeth appears to indicate that the chimpanzee 
 and man have a common origin, and descend from extinct 
 forms like Dryopithecus. This conclusion, however, is con- 
 tradicted by the fact that the milk teeth of the chimpanzee 
 are much nearer those of the ourang-outang than those of 
 man." * 
 
 It is evident that to clear up this question it would be 
 necessary to have a greater knowledge of fossil anthropoids 
 such as Dryopithecus and its allies. In the present state 
 of knowledge only a very general hypothesis can be formu- 
 ated as to the exact mode of human descent. 
 
 We have already shown that the foetus of man and of 
 the anthropoid monkeys resemble each other much more 
 than the adult forms, and that the young of these apes also 
 bear a greater likeness to man than do the adults. The great 
 development of the skull as compared with the face is 
 characteristic of young monkeys and of man young or old. 
 The jaws continue to develop in the anthropoids, while in 
 man there occurs in this respect a certain arrest of develop- 
 ment. The hairs, so small in man, also show a similar 
 arrest. Generally they remain during the whole life in a 
 state of incomplete development. It is especially on the 
 back of man that this feeble development of hairs occurs. 
 * Selenka, loc. cit. p. 157.
 
 56 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 As this part of the body in monkeys, on the contrary, is 
 much more hairy than the under surface, it has been held 
 to constitute an essential difference between man and 
 monkeys. But embryological study enables us to settle 
 this apparent contradiction. The foetus of the gorilla exa- 
 mined by M. Deniker possessed an almost entirely smooth 
 back. " The foetus had true hairs only on the head, the 
 anterior surface, and around the lips and the genital organs, 
 and the eyelashes and eyebrows. The remainder of the 
 body was smooth or covered with down not exceeding a 
 millimetre in length." * 
 
 The skin of the under surface, smooth around the navel, 
 was covered with small hairs more thickly than on the back. 
 The abundance of hairs on the posterior aspect of the body 
 of monkeys is a later acquisition, which develops but tardily 
 during foetal life. 
 
 As regards the distribution of these hairs man resembles 
 much more the embryos of monkeys than adult monkeys. 
 This fact, instead of shaking the theory of relationship 
 between man and apes, gives us strong evidence as to the 
 mode of his descent. Putting the known facts together, 
 we may infer that man is a case of the arrested develop- 
 ment of some simian of ancient days, as it were, a simian 
 monster from the zoological point of view, although not 
 from the aesthetic. Man may be regarded as a prodigy 
 sprung from an ape, born with a larger brain and an intel- 
 ligence more highly developed than occurred in his parents. 
 Such a view is in accordance with known facts. 
 
 It must be admitted that certain kinds of organisms, 
 
 instead of evolving at a very slow pace, spring up suddenly, 
 
 and that in such a case nature proceeds with a considerable 
 
 stride. Darwin foresaw this possibility, but it has been 
 
 * Deniker, loc. cit. p. 17.
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 57 
 
 made plain to us by the remarkable researches of the 
 botanist Hugo de Vries.* 
 
 De Vries cultivated for fifteen years the Evening Prim- 
 rose, a plant of American origin ((Enotera lamarckiana). 
 He obtained, suddenly, a set of flowers quite distinct 
 from those of the original plant. -They presented such 
 great -differences that he could separate them as several 
 quite distinct species. During the first few years De Vries 
 obtained three species ((Enotera lata, (En. nanetta, and 
 sometimes (En. scintillans), but variation becoming more 
 and more prevalent, he ultimately distinguished a dozen 
 new species. These were grown from seed, and transmitted 
 their specific characters to their descendants. De Vries, 
 in this way, was a witness of the sudden appearance of 
 new species. 
 
 It is probable that man owes his origin to a similar pheno- 
 menon. Some anthropoid ape Having at a certain period 
 become varied in specific characters, produced offspring 
 endowed with new properties. The brain, of abnormal 
 size, placed in a spacious cranium, allowed a rapid develop- 
 ment of intellectual faculties much more advanced than 
 those of the parent and those of the original species. This 
 peculiarity would be transmitted to the descendants, and, 
 as it was of very considerable advantage in the struggle 
 for existence, the new race would hold its own, propagate 
 and prevail. The extraordinary development of intelli- 
 gence necessarily led to perfections in the choice of nour- 
 ishment, perfections which approached the art of preparing 
 more digestible food. The jaws, under these conditions, 
 had not such a difficult task as before, and, moreover, they 
 were no longer required for attack or defence. They 
 became less developed than in the true anthropoid apes. 
 * " Die Mutations theorie," vol. I., Leipzig, 1901.
 
 5 8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 These suggestions involve a conception of the rnind that 
 is in harmony with known facts. From time to time pro- 
 digies are born with some talent far greater than the 
 gifts possessed by the parents. 
 
 About twelve years ago a young native of Piedmont, 
 Jacques Inaudi by name, became famous in Paris on account 
 of his extraordinary power of calculation. He had an 
 astonishing memory for figures, and could perform mathe- 
 matical calculations with surprising rapidity.* Two 
 minutes were sufficient for him to multiply two numbers 
 composed of seven and six figures. Other arithmetical 
 calculations, such as the extraction of roots, gave him but 
 little trouble. 
 
 To attain this result, Inaudi made use of his extraordinary 
 memory for figures, founded on the persistence of auditory 
 images. When he heard the numbers pronounced, he 
 remembered them. Inaudi declared to the Commission 
 convened by the Academy of Sciences, that when he tried 
 to recall the numbers he heard them as if repeated aloud, 
 in the tone of his own voice, and that he could hear them 
 for the greater part of the day. " In an hour, or in two 
 hours' time, if I thought of the number that was uttered, I 
 should be able to repeat it as exactly as I have done before 
 the Commission." 
 
 Now this very extraordinary and rare auditory memory 
 was developed in an altogether abrupt way. Inaudi, the 
 son of poor peasants of Piedmont, passed the first years 
 of his life as a shepherd. At the age of six his wonderful 
 faculty of calculating figures appeared. He did not know 
 at this time how to read or to write. At eleven years of 
 age he astonished the members of the Anthropological 
 
 " Comptes Rendus de 1' Academic des Sciences," 1892, pp. 275, 
 1329; "Revue scientifique," 1880, p. 1124,
 
 SIMIAN ORIGIN OF MAN 59 
 
 Society of Paris by his phenomenal memory, and it was 
 only much later, at the age of twenty, that he learnt to 
 read and write. Neither of the parents of Inaudi had shown 
 in the slightest degree a calculating faculty like that of little 
 Jacques. It must then be admitted that it was developed as 
 suddenly as the new qualities in the Evening Primrose that 
 we have already mentioned. 
 
 The first men, also, were probably ingenious children, 
 born of anthropoid parents. This hypothesis very well 
 explains the fact that man is more like the foetus and the 
 young of anthropoid apes than the adult animals, and 
 exhibits only a trace of many organs 'which are much more 
 developed in simian species. 
 
 A^ very distinguished German anatomist, Wiedersheim,* 
 has given in a pamphlet a resumj of our actual knowledge 
 of the organs of man from the point of view of their descent. 
 He has found fifteen organs which show in the human 
 species a considerable advance on those of anthropoid apes. 
 The chief of these are the lower limb, well adapted for a 
 constant erect carriage of the body ; the strengthening of 
 the pelvis and of the sacrum, as well as the broadening of 
 the more slender pelvis of the female ; the curvature of the 
 lumbar part of the vertebral column ; the development of 
 the buttocks and of the calves ; the difference of certain 
 muscles of the face ; the nose ; certain strands from the 
 brain to the spinal cord ; the occipital lobe of the brain ; 
 the greater development of the cerebral cortex, and, lastly, 
 the considerable differentiation of the muscles of the larynx 
 which permit speech. 
 
 But besides these progressive organs, Wiedersheim has 
 counted seventeen decaying organs, still able to fulfil 
 their physiological function in a more or less incomplete 
 * " Der Bau des Menschen," Third Edition, 1002
 
 6o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 manner (amongst these are the decadent muscles of the 
 leg and foot ; the eleventh and twelfth pairs of ribs, 
 the toes, the caecum, etc.), and not less than one hundred 
 and seven rudimentary organs which serve no useful physio- 
 logical purpose (to this category belong the coccyx the 
 vestige of a tail the thirteenth pair of ribs in the adult, 
 the muscles of the ear, the vermiform appendage, etc.). 
 
 We have already shown in the preceding chapter the 
 great importance of rudimentary organs as aids to the 
 tracing of the genealogy of organisms. These organs, use- 
 less at present, are the vestiges of similar but more developed 
 organs, which fulfilled a useful function in our ancestors. 
 
 The extraordinary quantity of rudimentary organs in 
 man furnishes another proof of his animal origin, and puts 
 at the disposal of science information of great value for the 
 philosophic conception of human nature.
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION OF THE 
 DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF MAN 
 
 Perfection of the human form The covering of hair 
 The dentition in general and the wisdom teeth The 
 vermiform appendage Appendicitis and its gravity 
 Uselessness of the caecum and of the large intestine 
 Instance of a woman without a large intestine Ancestral 
 history of this portion of the digestive tract Injurious 
 effect of the microbes of the large intestine Frequency 
 of cancer of the large intestine and of the stomach 
 Limited usefulness of the stomach The instinct of choice 
 of food Futility of this instinct in man 
 
 ALTHOUGH he is a recent arrival on the earth, man has made 
 great progress as compared with his ancestors, the anthro- 
 poid apes. A comparison between even the lower races 
 of man, such as the Hottentots or the aborigines of Aus- 
 tralia and higher types such as the inhabitants of Europe 
 and of North Africa, shows that a very great advance has 
 been made. 
 
 Human art has been able to surpass nature in many 
 instances. No natural sound is so perfect as some of the 
 more beautiful pieces of modern music. Even in the pro- 
 duction of form, man has triumphed over nature. Breeders 
 of flowers or of birds seek to produce new varieties. With 
 this object they often frame a conception of what they desire 
 to produce, and, so to speak, set about to realise their pro- 
 gramme. They prepare ideal images to serve them as
 
 62 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 guides in the process of production. By the method of 
 artificial selection they often succeed in their wishes, and 
 add to their collections some remarkable form. In such 
 fashions aviculture and horticulture have produced birds 
 and flowers more beautiful than any found in nature. 
 
 In regard to the human body, attempts have been made 
 to surpass nature and to represent a body corresponding 
 to an artistic ideal. To arrive at something more beautiful 
 than man, the wings of birds or the characters of some 
 other creatures have been added to his presentment. Such 
 attempts have had no other result than to show that the 
 human form, as created by nature, cannot be surpassed. 
 The ancient conception of the human body as the artistic 
 ideal has been fully justified. The views of those religious 
 fanatics who have thrown contempt on the body by repre- 
 senting it in degraded forms, must be rejected. 
 
 It is impossible, however, to apply this result to our con- 
 ception of the nature of man in general. The beautiful 
 form of the human body appears only in youth and in 
 maturity. In old age, the bodies of men and women are 
 generally ugly, and in extreme old age it is almost impossible 
 to see the traces of former beauty. 
 
 Nor can conceptions of perfection drawn from the human 
 face and body be extended to the whole of man's organisa- 
 tion. A glance at some of the organic systems will make 
 this plain. 
 
 The human skin is covered with little hairs, the history 
 of which is interesting. In one stage of embryonic life nearly 
 the whole of the bod} 7 is clad with hairs. This covering 
 is known as the lanugo, and consists of strands of hair, dis- 
 posed very regularly all over the body, save on the nose and 
 the hands and feet. There is no doubt but that this is 
 function] ess, and is no more than an inheritance from the
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 63 
 
 old ape-like condition. Later on, it falls out and is replaced 
 by the ordinary downy covering of the body. In adult life, 
 and particularly in old age, the hairs of the second coat 
 tend to grow very long and so to form a covering that is 
 neither beautiful nor in the least degree useful. We may 
 take this as a first example of a disharmonious condition in 
 the human body. Hairs, incapable of protecting the body 
 from cold, survive merely as an ancestral relic and may 
 become even harmful. 
 
 The human skin is constantly exposed to the microbes in 
 dust ; and the follicles of the hairs, in which these microbes 
 lodge, form receptacles very favourable to their multipli- 
 cation. In the hollows of the follicles, certain microbes, 
 as for instance some of the Staphylococci., multiply rapidly 
 and give rise to acne and to pimples. The process may 
 even go the length of producing a chronic skin-disease very 
 unpleasant and even dangerous if it be associated with 
 suppuration. 
 
 In the human race, intelligence, that is to say, the activity 
 of the brain, supplants many other functions, and man is 
 able to protect himself against the inclemencies of weather 
 much better than his furry ancestors were capable of doing. 
 He is able to do this through his invention of clothing which 
 may be varied with the nature of the weather. But the 
 obstinate laws of inheritance burden him with a covering of 
 hair, not only useless but frequently harmful. And this is 
 only one example among many. 
 
 Although, in an extreme case, man is able to survive 
 the total loss of the teeth, it cannot yet be said that teeth 
 are useless or harmful. None the less, a study of the human 
 dentition reveals that this set of organs is out of harmony 
 with the fundamental needs of our race. The monkeys of 
 the old world .(Catarrhines), although they belong obviously
 
 64 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 to the brute creation, already exhibit a tendency to 
 reduction in the number of teeth. While American monkeys 
 (Platyrrhines) may possess thirty-six teeth, the old world 
 forms do not possess more than thirty-two in all, at least 
 as a normal occurrence. Selenka * has shown that among 
 gorillas and ourangs individuals with a fourth pair of molars, 
 bringing up the number of teeth to thirty-six, are not rare, 
 He found these additional molars in 20 per cent, of one 
 hundred and ninety-four adult skulls of ourangs. On the 
 other hand, in the cases of the chimpanzee and the gibbon,, 
 the third pair of molars differ from the others in smaller 
 size and occasional absence. This reduction is to be asso- 
 ciated with the smaller jaws and less powerful mastication 
 of these anthropoids. 
 
 Cases of supplementary molars are very rare in man, and 
 occur more frequently in the lower races, such as negroes, 
 Australians, and natives of New Caledonia. f On the other 
 hand, absence of the third pair of molars, that is to say, 
 of the wisdom teeth, is quite frequent, especially in the 
 white races. Nearly 10 per cent, of Europeans throughout 
 their lives have no more than twenty-eight teeth, the wisdom 
 teeth being absent. This absence is more common in the 
 upper jaw, where it occurs in from 18 to 19 per cent, of 
 men. The loss of the wisdom teeth j is on the whole to be 
 regarded as an advantage. Certainly from the " physio- 
 logical point of view the part played by the wisdom teeth 
 is subordinate. Their power of masticating is feeble ; the 
 loss does not appreciably interfere with mastication. The 
 complete absence of all four has no influence on mastica- 
 
 * Selenka, " Studien iiber Entwicklungsgesch. d. Thiere," p. 89. 
 t " Dictionnaire encyclopedique des Sciences Medicales," article 
 "Dent," by Magitot, p. 194, 1882. 
 
 J Schmid, " Vierteljahrschrift fur Zahnheilkunde," p. 141, 1896.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 65 
 
 tion." * These teeth are cut very late, often not appearing 
 until the thirtieth year and sometimes being delayed to 
 extreme old age. 
 
 Even if they were only useless, the wisdom teeth would 
 furnish an instance of disharmony in the human body. But 
 these teeth often are a source of trouble which, although 
 it is not often serious, may lead to grave diseases and even 
 to death. No other teeth are so subject to accident. This 
 is due partly to the slowness with which they develop and 
 to the difficulty they encounter in cutting the mucous 
 membrane. Dental caries, moreover, is specially frequent 
 in them.f The membrane surrounding them is specially 
 subject to small lesions by which the infection spreads to 
 adjacent parts. Inflammatory conditions frequently arise 
 from these teeth, and tumours, caries of the jaw-bone and 
 even diffused suppuration, leading to death, may be sequelae 
 of wounds of the wisdom teeth. Galippe J has described 
 a case in which one of these teeth, failing to cut the gum 
 in the normal position, made its way through the cheek. 
 This produced an inflammatory suppuration of the cheek 
 with numerous fistulas and an inflammation of the masseter 
 muscle which made it impossible for the mouth to open. 
 Notwithstanding the extraction of the wisdom tooth that 
 had been the cause of all these troubles, the patient died 
 of meningitis, which had started from the tooth. Other 
 cases have been described in which a difficult eruption of 
 the tooth led to formation of an abscess in the bone, from 
 which there arose a fatal abscess of the brain. 
 
 Wisdom teeth may be the starting-point even of cancerous 
 
 * Schmid, loc. cit. p. 147. 
 
 f Redier, in " Revue mensuelle de Stomatologie," p. 164, 1895. 
 % " Comptes Rendus de la Societe de Stomatologie de Paris," 
 vol. I., p. 98, 1890.
 
 66 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 tumours. Magitot * writes that very many neoplasms of 
 the jaw may be traced to a source of origin in the socket of 
 the wisdom tooth. 
 
 There is no useful function of these teeth to set against 
 their disadvantages. It was our remote ancestors, masti- 
 cating hard food, that had the advantages of these additional 
 teeth. In man they are rudimentary organs, and provide 
 another proof of our simian origin. 
 
 The caecal or vermiform appendage is another rudimentary- 
 organ in the human body, and is interesting from many 
 points of view. I have already referred to its importance 
 as definite evidence of our origin from lower animals, and 
 shown how striking is the resemblance of the human organ 
 to that of the anthropoid apes. It consists of a thick wall,, 
 containing glands, a muscular layer and lymphoid clumps. 
 That it performs no function useful to man is made clear 
 by the existence of undisturbed health in persons from whom 
 it has been removed. Thanks to the advances of modern 
 surgery, this organ has been removed very often, and some- 
 times even in cases where it did not appear to have been 
 diseased. In a great majority of the cases, the removal 
 of the organ succeeded well, and the patients experienced 
 no harm, but appeared to carry on all the processes of 
 digestion with equal completeness. 
 
 On the other hand, the caecal appendage in man is fre- 
 quently obliterated, there being no trace of the normal 
 aperture, so that there is no connection between it and the 
 general digestive cavity. According to Ribbert,f nearly 
 one person in four possesses the appendage in an obliterated 
 condition, the condition being particularly frequent in the 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 204. 
 
 t Virchow's " Archiv fur Pathologische Anatomic," 1893, vol 
 CXXXII., p. 76.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 67 
 
 aged. In young persons and infants the aperture of the 
 appendage is usually open. In cases where there is no com- 
 munication with the cavity of the digestive tract, the pro- 
 cesses of digestion appear to be normal. It is logical to 
 conclude that in the human being the function of the caecum 
 is either absent or very slight. 
 
 Even in the anthropoid apes the appendage of the caecum 
 appears to be a rudimentary structure, with a function at 
 most accessory to that of the lymphoid clumps. In lower 
 old-world monkeys the vermiform appendage does not usually 
 exist, cases such as that of Cercopithecus sabaeus, in which 
 it is present as a little boss, being rare. It is necessary to 
 seek the purpose of this structure still lower in the scale 
 of life. In some herbivorous creatures the caecum is large, 
 and ends in a portion richly provided with lymphoid tissue, 
 and similar to the vermiform appendage. The rabbit and 
 certain marsupials are good examples. Undoubtedly, in 
 their cases, the portion of the digestive canal which corre- 
 sponds to the vermiform appendage of man is active in the 
 digestion of vegetable matter. The organ is a very old 
 part of the constitution of mammals, and it is because it 
 has been preserved long after its function has disappeared 
 that we find it occurring in the body of man. 
 
 Rudimentary organs for the most part display a con- 
 genital lack of the power of resistance, and, as Darwin 
 suggested, for this reason they are frequently the seats of 
 disease. When Darwin wrote his work on the " Descent of 
 Man," more than a quarter of a century ago, many fatal 
 cases of inflammation of the appendage had not been recorded. 
 Darwin quoted only two cases as known to him. Since 
 then, appendicitis (the name given by American surgeons 
 to the first acute or to the chronic inflammation of the 
 appendage) has become a well-known disease in Europe and
 
 68 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 America, and occupies considerable space in treatises on the 
 pathology of the digestive tract. 
 
 To give an idea of the prevalence of appendicitis, 1 may 
 mention that in a single Paris hospital (Hopital Trousseau) 
 four hundred and forty-three cases of the disease have been 
 treated in the five years 1895-1899.* In many of these 
 cases the subjects were infants, as these as a rule are much 
 more subject to appendicitis than are the aged. According 
 to Treves,f the well-known English surgeon, 36 per cent, 
 of the observed cases were under twenty years of age. Among 
 old men, on the other hand, appendicitis is a rare exception. 
 The varying incidence of the disease at different ages no 
 doubt depends on the fact that in old age the appendage 
 is often obliterated. The more easy communication with 
 the other portion of the gut may be, the more chance 
 there is for inflammation to occur. As it has a muscular 
 layer, the appendage is able to void its foecal contents ; and 
 a Scotch surgeon, Parker Syms, J has seen an appendage that 
 he had removed, in the act of writhing about like an earth- 
 worm. Such movements, undoubtedly, would aid the dis- 
 charge of the contents of the cavity. 
 
 The movements of the appendage, however, are usually 
 feeble, and thus stagnation of the contents is common. 
 Foreign matter is often found in the cavity, such as the 
 pips of fruit, seeds, hairs, thorns, and in rare cases pins or 
 even tin-tacks. Such bodies are capable of wounding the 
 inner wall of the appendage, and so giving an opportunity 
 to the microbes that abound in the digestive tube, with the 
 result that microbial infection and inflammation of the 
 
 * Lannelongue, in the "Bulletin medical," p. 621, 1902. 
 t Treves, "The Surgical Treatment of Ferity phlitis," London 
 1895. 
 J Edinburgh Medical Journal, August 1893.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 69 
 
 organ is produced. Often, too, intestinal worms pass into 
 the appendage and become the carriers of pathogenic 
 organisms. 
 
 Appendicitis is usually a grave disease, and is fatal in 
 from 8 to 10 per cent, of cases. It would be difficult to 
 find anywhere else in the human body so flagrant a case 
 of natural disharmony. The organ in question may be 
 obliterated or removed without disturbance of function, 
 and, moreover, in its normal condition is a frequent cause 
 of serious illness ! 
 
 The vermiform appendage is not the only part of the 
 digestive canal that is out of harmony with the mainten- 
 ance of life and health. The caecum itself, of which the 
 appendage is only a portion, is degenerating in the human 
 body, as I stated in the last chapter. The human caecum, 
 in fact, is very little developed in comparison with 
 the caecum of most herbivorous animals, in which it is a 
 true organ of digestion. In the human embryo the caecum 
 and the appendage are relatively better developed than they 
 are in the adult. 
 
 Disharmony is exhibited in the human body not only 
 by rudimentary organs such as the wisdom teeth and the 
 appendage, or by degenerating organs such as the caecum. 
 Some very large parts of our alimentary canal must be 
 regarded as useless inheritances, bequeathed to us by our 
 animal ancestors. It is no longer rash to say that not only 
 the rudimentary appendage and the caecum but the whole 
 of the large intestine are superfluous, and that their 
 removal would be attended with happy results. So far as 
 digestion goes, the latter portion of the alimentary tract is 
 of little importance. Even from the point of view of absorp- 
 tion of the products of digestion its importance is strictly 
 secondary. And so it is not astonishing to find that the
 
 70 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 removal or disappearance of nearly the whole of the large 
 intestine can be supported well by man. 
 
 As one result of the astonishing progress of surgery, it 
 has been found possible to excise certain parts of the gut, 
 and particularly of the large intestine. Thus, in one- case, 
 Korte * removed, along with part of the small intestine, 
 a considerable part of the large intestine, leaving in place 
 only the terminal portion. The patient, who underwent 
 eight successive abdominal operations, recovered. In the 
 case | of another patient, operated on by Wiesinger, two 
 coils of the large intestine (the transverse and descending 
 colons) which were ulcerated, were isolated from the re- 
 mainder of the gut, while the upper portion of the large 
 intestine (the caecum and the ascending colon) was sutured 
 to the rectum. In spite of these serious interferences with 
 natural structure, the patients recovered, and appeared to 
 derive great advantage from the loss of the large intestine. 
 
 I have quoted only two out of many similar cases. How- 
 ever, apart from surgical evidence, there exists proof of the 
 uselessness of the large intestine in man. The best argu- 
 ment in favour of the proposition may be drawn from the 
 case of a woman who for thirty-seven years discharged 
 the waste matter from the alimentary canal through an 
 intestinal fistula. The latter had opened spontaneously, as 
 the result of an abscess seated on the right side of the abdo- 
 men. Her complaint, however, had not prevented her from 
 marrying, from bearing three children, nor from pursuing 
 an arduous calling. The person in question, who was a 
 workwoman in Varsovie, was examined by a surgeon, M. 
 Ciechomski4 thirty-five years after the establishment of 
 
 * " Archiv fur klinische Chirurgie," vol. XLVIII., p. 715, 1894. 
 
 f " Munchener medicinische Wochenschrift," 1898. 
 
 J "Archiv fur klinische Chirurgie," vol. XLVIII., p. 136, 1894.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 71 
 
 the fistula. The surgeon proposed to operate, hoping to 
 restore her to the normal condition, and the woman con- 
 sented. However, when the abdominal cavity was opened, 
 it appeared that the large intestine had atrophied along the 
 whole length, from the caecum to the rectum ; the inner 
 orifice of the fistula had passed into the digestive tract 
 above the caecum, opening into the small intestine. In the 
 circumstances it was impossible to close the fistula, and the 
 surgeon had to close up the abdominal wall, leaving the 
 patient in her former condition. The woman recovered 
 rapidly, and continued her usual mode of life. She came 
 under observation again two years later, but since then had 
 been lost sight of. The fact that a human being was capable 
 of carrying on an apparently normal life for thirty years 
 !n the absence of a large intestine is good proof that the 
 organ in question is not necessary to man, although it has 
 not yet become rudimentary. In this case again, to find 
 the useful stage of the structure, we have to go to our 
 remote ancestors. 
 
 The large intestine is much better developed in most 
 herbivorous mammals than it is in carnivorous forms. 
 Although it is useless in the digestion of animal food, it has 
 an undisputed importance in the digestion of vegetable 
 matter. It has a very large calibre in herbivorous creatures, 
 and the voluminous cavity contains quantities of microbes 
 which are able to digest cellulose. As cellulose is a material 
 that resists the ordinary processes of digestion, it is easy 
 to see the advantage derived from the harbouring of the 
 microbes. It is more than probable that in the horse, the 
 rabbit, and in some other mammals, that live exclusively 
 on grain and herbage, the large intestine is necessary for 
 normal life. 
 
 On the other hand, the large intestine discharges a
 
 72 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 function similar to that of the urinary bladder. The urine, 
 which is being secreted continuously by the kidneys, accu- 
 mulates in the large reservoir provided by the bladder. 
 Similarly the waste matter from the processes of digestion 
 accumulate in the large intestine and remain there for a 
 longer or shorter period*. 
 
 In studying the natural history of the large intestine, it 
 it striking that this portion of the gut is well developed only 
 among mammals. These animals, for the most part, lead 
 an extremely active terrestrial life. Most of them have to 
 move about very quickly, the predacious forms in pursuit 
 of their prey, the herbivorous forms to escape from their 
 enemies. In such a mode of life, the need to stop in order 
 to empty the intestines would be a serious disadvantage, 
 and the possibility of retaining the dejecta in a large reser- 
 voir would be very useful.* 
 
 Such are the causes that have determined the growth of 
 the large intestine among mammals. Birds, which live, 
 so to speak, in the air, and which do not need to arrest their 
 locomotion in order to void their excreta, have no large 
 intestine. Reptiles and amphibia, although they live a 
 terrestrial life, do not require a voluminous large intestine, 
 and such is not found among them. These animals do not 
 have a fixed temperature ; they are what we know as " cold- 
 blooded," and in consequence are small eaters. Most of 
 them are sluggish, and do not lead an active existence like 
 that of mammals. 
 
 In the legacy acquired by man from his animal ancestors, 
 there occur not only rudimentary organs that are useless or 
 harmful, but fully developed organs equally useless. The 
 
 * This topic is discussed at length in my lecture, published in 
 the Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philo- 
 sophical Society, 1901, vol. XLV., note 5.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 73 
 
 large intestine must be regarded as one of the organs possessed 
 by man and yet harmful to his health and his life. The 
 large intestine is the reservoir of the waste of the digestive 
 processes, and this waste stagnates long enough to putrefy. 
 The products of putrefaction are harmful. When faecal 
 matter is allowed to remain in the intestine, as in cases of 
 constipation, a common complaint, certain products are 
 absorbed by the organism and produce poisoning, often of 
 a serious nature. Every one knows that a high temperature 
 may be the result of constipation in women after child- 
 birth, or in patients recovering from an operation. This 
 is due to an absorption of substances produced by the 
 microbes of the large intestine. Similar products may be 
 the cause of an attack of acne or of other skin diseases. 
 In fine, the presence of a large intestine in the human 
 body is the cause of a series of misfortunes. The organ 
 is the seat of many grave diseases, among which dysentery 
 is notable. In some tropical climates dysentery is a 
 serious scourge. According to Rhey,* it is " the greatest 
 danger to which a European is subjected in Tonkin. 
 It is responsible for more than 30 per cent, of the 
 deaths caused by disease." European troops pay it a 
 large annual toll in the colonies of the French and 
 English. 
 
 Malignant tumours seem to display a predilection for this 
 region of the -digestive tract. Thus, among 1148 cases of 
 cancer of the alimentary tract recorded in the Prussian 
 hospitals in 1895 and 1896, 1022, or 89 per cent., affected 
 the large intestine, including the rectum and caecum. | The 
 small intestine is the only part of the digestive tract 
 that is indispensable, and it is attacked to a much smaller 
 
 * "Archives de Medicine navale," 1887. 
 
 t Ewald, "KlinikdesVerdauungskrankheiten," vol. III., p. 267,1902.
 
 74 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 extent, providing only n per cent, of the cases of intestinal 
 cancer. The probable explanation of these facts is that 
 the contents of the gut remain in the small intestine a 
 shorter time than in the large. 
 
 Stagnation is a familiar cause -of disease, and is the pro- 
 bable cause of the frequency of cancer of the stomach. Of 
 IO >537 cases of cancer of all parts of the digestive tract 
 recorded in the Prussian hospitals in the same period, 4288, 
 or more than 40 per cent., affected the stomach. The latter 
 organ is one that the human body would do well to be rid of. 
 It is not so useless as the large intestine, since it is the chief 
 seat of digestion of albuminous substances, but the small 
 intestine could take its place. Moreover, cases are known 
 in which surgeons have removed cancerous stomachs. 
 The results of such operations were favourable, to the ex- 
 tent that the patients survived and were able to absorb 
 sufficient nourishment. They had to eat rather more 
 frequently, and performed the processes of digestion 
 by means of the secretions of the small intestine and 
 pancreas. 
 
 It is not surprising to find so many instances of useless 
 or harmful organs in the alimentary tract. Our ancestors 
 were creatures that fed on crude and rough materials, 
 such as wild plants and unprepared flesh. Man has learned 
 to cultivate plants that are digested easily, and to prepare 
 his meats in such a fashion as to be readily digested. The 
 organs that were adapted to the mode of life of the animal 
 predecessors of man have become to a large extent super- 
 fluous. Many creatures that have found the opportunity 
 of obtaining their nutriment in a highly digestible condition 
 have lost, more or less completely, the digestive organs. 
 Many parasites are instances of this, as for example the 
 tape-worms, which live in the human digestive tract, bathed
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 75 
 
 by a nutritive fluid which they absorb directly ; they have 
 lost the digestive tract completely. 
 
 In the case of man such an evolution has not occurred, 
 and there remains in the body a harmful organ like the 
 large intestine. In consequence, it is impossible for him 
 to take his nutriment in the most perfect form. If he were 
 only to eat substances that could be almost completely 
 absorbed, the large intestine would be unable to empty 
 itself, and serious complications would be produced. A 
 satisfactory system of diet has to make allowance for this, 
 and in consequence of the structure of the alimentary canal, 
 has to include in the food bulky and indigestible materials 
 such as vegetables. 
 
 At this point I may refer to a topic of considerable general 
 interest. Animals, in the choice of food for themselves or 
 for their young, are guided by a blind and innate instinct. 
 As I have shown in my second chapter, creatures like the 
 fossorial wasps select only particular species of spiders or 
 insects. Instinct directs them to the kind of food best 
 suited to the wants of their progeny. Bees are attracted 
 by the sweet juices of flowers ; the silkworm instinctively 
 devours the leaves of the mulberry and rejects most 
 other plants. In higher animals, instinct plays the chief 
 part in the choice of food. The difficulty of getting rats 
 to eat poisoned food is well known ; an instinct warns 
 them of the danger of the material offered to them. 
 In the same way dogs refrain from food that has been 
 poisoned. 
 
 Every one has seen the minute attention bestowed by a 
 monkey on food before beginning to eat it. It turns over 
 what is offered, smells it carefully, cleans it, and before 
 beginning to eat, subjects it to an examination that seems 
 to us ridiculous. Monkeys often throw away food without
 
 76 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 even biting it. None the less, in spite of an instinct so 
 highly developed, monkeys poison themselves with all sorts 
 of dangerous substances, even when these exhale a strange 
 odour. I have seen monkeys die poisoned by the phos- 
 phorus of matches, or even by iodoform which they had 
 contrived to steal. 
 
 In the case of man, aberrations of instinct in the choice 
 of food are common. As soon as babies begin to walk, they 
 lay hold of everything and try to eat it. Bits of paper, 
 lumps of sealing-wax, the mucous matter from the nose, 
 all appear to them to be things to eat. Constant guard 
 has to be kept to prevent them from doing themselves an 
 injury. Fruits and berries they cannot resist. Cases of 
 poisoning very naturally are extremely frequent, and as 
 every one must know of instances, I shall mention only a 
 single case. " Messrs. Beadle and Sons, oil manufacturers 
 at Boston, had thrown out, from the door of their estab- 
 lishment, a quantity of castor beans that were decayed and 
 useless. Some children playing in the street mistook the 
 seeds for pistachio nuts, and shared them with their friends. 
 All the children seem to have eaten of them, with the result 
 that more than seventy showed serious symptoms of 
 poisoning." * 
 
 The consumption of ergotised rye and of maize con- 
 taminated with certain leguminous plants (Lathyms) fre- 
 quently produces epidemics of poisoning without instinct 
 intervening to protect the victims. 
 
 While the large intestine, acting as an asylum of harmful 
 microbes, is a source of intoxication from within, the aberrant 
 instinct of man leads him to poison himself from without 
 with alcohol and ether, opium and morphia. The'wide- 
 
 '* Stillmarck, in " Arbeiten des pharmacologischen Institutes zu 
 Dorpat," vol. III., p. no, 1889.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF DIGESTION 77 
 
 spread results of alcoholism show plainly the prevalent 
 existence in man of a want of harmony between the instinct 
 for choosing food and the instinct of preservation. 
 
 The digestive apparatus, then, affords abundant proof 
 of the imperfection and disharmony of our nature. More- 
 over, there are many other proofs, as I shall show in 
 the chapters to follow.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION AND ACTIVITIES 
 OF THE REPRODUCTIVE APPARATUS. DISHARMO- 
 NIES IN THE FAMILY AND SOCIAL INSTINCTS 
 
 I 
 
 Remarks on the disharmonies in the human organs of sense 
 and perception. Rudimentary parts of the reproductive 
 apparatus. Origin and function of the hymen 
 
 THE digestive organs are not alone amongst the parts of 
 the human body in exhibiting a greater or lesser dishar- 
 mony. More than fifty years ago, a great German physio- 
 logist, Johannes Miiller, showed that although the human 
 eye was regarded as a very perfect organ, its power of 
 correction for aberration of light was poor. Helmholz, 
 another famous German man of science, stated that the 
 optical study of the eye brought complete disillusion. 
 " Nature," he said, " seems to have packed this organ with 
 mistakes, as if with the avowed purpose of destroying any 
 possible foundation for the theory that organs are adapted 
 to their environment." Not only the eye, but the other 
 organs by means of which we are conscious of the outside 
 world, present natural disharmony. Therein lies the cause 
 of our want of certainty about the sources of our percep- 
 tions. Memory, the faculty that registers our mental 
 processes, becomes active much later than other faculties 
 lodged in the brain. If the new-born human child were
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 79 
 
 relatively as well developed as the young guinea-pig, it is 
 probable that we should know far more as to the history 
 of our consciousnees of the external world. But without 
 lingering over the disharmonies in our senses and faculties, 
 I shall pass at once to a consideration of the apparatus for 
 maintaining the species. 
 
 I have shown that the alimentary tract, the chief organ 
 involved in the maintenance of the individual life, affords 
 no proof of the theory that human nature is perfect. Is it 
 the case that the organs of reproduction give a better 
 result ? When I wished to describe the most perfect 
 examples of harmony to be found amongst plants, I chose 
 the mechanism by which fertilisation is accomplished in 
 flowers. The persistence of the species is secured, in the 
 case of flowers, by a marvellous series of structures and 
 functions. 
 
 Is the maintenance of the human species similarly pro- 
 vided for ? A detailed investigation of the male and 
 female human reproductive organs shows that these contain 
 parts of diverse origin. The apparatus contains portions 
 of extremely ancient origin, and portions that have been 
 acquired recently. The internal organs display traces of 
 a remote hermaphroditism. In the male, there occur traces 
 of the female apparatus, rudiments of the uterus and fallo- 
 pian tubes. In the female, on the other hand, rudiments 
 of the male structure persist. These traces date very far 
 back in the history of the race, for they occur also in most 
 other vertebrates. The facts seem to indicate that, at a 
 very remote period, the ancestral vertebrates were herma- 
 phrodite, and that they became divided into males and 
 females only gradually, still retaining in each sex traces of 
 the other sex. Such traces occur frequently, even in adult 
 man, in the form of rudimentary organs (known as the
 
 80 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 organs of Weber, of Rosenmiiller, and so forth). The 
 rudiments not only are functionless but sometimes, as fre- 
 quently happens with atrophied structures, form the start- 
 ing-point of monstrous growths, or of tumours that interfere 
 with health. Thus the hypertrophy of a part of the male 
 prostate gland (the organ of Weber) brings about the forma- 
 tion of a uterus masculinus, and so produces a sort of 
 abnormal hermaphroditism. The rudimentary organs in 
 the male reproductive apparatus frequently are the starting- 
 points of hydatid cysts. In the female, cysts such as those 
 of the parovaria are produced by the proliferation of rudi- 
 mentary structures. These, although usually benign, not 
 infrequently become malignant. Lawson Tait,* a cele- 
 brated English surgeon, has published a case of this kind. 
 He removed from a young woman a parovarian cyst that 
 was apparently benign, but in six weeks symptoms of cancer 
 arose, and the patient died of cancer in three months. 
 
 A comparison of the rudimentary organs in the human 
 reproductive apparatus with those in the similar structures 
 of lower animals, shows that many relics have degenerated 
 further in man than in other animals. Thus the duct of 
 the embryonic kidney (known as the Wolffian body) is of 
 rare occurrence in adult man, although it is retained through- 
 out life in the case of some herbivorous animals, in which it 
 is known as Gaertner's duct. There are, however, many 
 rudimentary organs in the human reproductive apparatus, 
 organs that are always useless and not infrequently more 
 or less harmful to health and life. 
 
 Alongside organs which have been useless from time 
 immemorial, the reproductive system of man possesses 
 structures of recent acquisition. These deserve special 
 
 * The case is quoted in Pozzi's " Traite de Gynecologic," p. 714, 
 1890.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 81 
 
 attention, as it might have been supposed that in them 
 would have been found special instances of adaptation T.O 
 the reproductive function. 
 
 I have already referred (chap, iii.) to the discussions 
 that have taken place over the simian origin of man. All 
 attempts to demonstrate the presence in the human brain 
 of parts that were absent in the simian brain have failed. 
 It is a curious fact that man displays a more marked differ- 
 ence from monkeys in the structure of the reproductive 
 system than in the structure of the brain. There is no os 
 penis in man. This bone, which facilitates intromission, 
 occurs in many vertebrates, not only among rodents and 
 carnivora, which are widely separated from man, but in 
 many monkeys, and most notably in anthropoid apes.* For 
 some reason impossible to establish, man has lost this bone. 
 It may be that certain ossifications of most rare occurrence f 
 may represent an atavistic inheritance from our remote 
 ancestors. 
 
 In the male sex the difference between man and the 
 anthropoid ape is the loss of an organ ; in the female sex 
 it is the acquisition of an organ. The hymen, the physical 
 indication of virginity, is peculiar to the human race. That 
 organ would serve the purpose of those disputants who make 
 every effort to discover the existence of a structure peculiarly 
 human, far better than the posterior lobe of the brain, or 
 the hippocampus minor. Bischoff J has determined its 
 absence in the anthropoid apes, and his result has been 
 
 * Crisp, " Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London," p. 48, 
 1865. 
 
 f Lenhossek, in Virchow's "Archiv. fur pathologische Anatomic," 
 vol. XL., p. i. 
 
 J " Abhandlungen der mathem.-physikal. Classe d. K. Bayerisch. 
 Akad. d. Wissensch. Munchen," vol. XIII., Part II., p. 268, 1880. 
 
 F
 
 82 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 confirmed by other observers. Deniker * failed to find 
 it either in the foetal gorilla or in the young gorilla. In 
 the case of the foetus of the gibbon, he found a slight ele- 
 vation round the entrance to the vagina " which might be 
 homologised with the hymen," f but which, however, was 
 not the membrane in question. Deniker J himself decided 
 that the " membrane was absent in anthropoid apes at all 
 ages." Weidersheim, in his summary of the organisa- 
 tion of the human body, also sets down the fact that " in 
 monkeys a hymen is not present." 
 
 The fact that this structure appears late in the develop- 
 ment of the female foetus bears out the supposition that it 
 has been acquired recently by the race. According to 
 several observers, who agree in this matter, the membrane 
 does not develop until at least the nineteenth week of 
 foetal life. 
 
 Although organs very ancient in origin, and now become 
 degenerate rudiments, may be useless, it is to be expected 
 that an organ of recent appearance and still in a progressive 
 condition, would have an important function. Of what 
 utility is this membrane to a woman ? Wiedersheim |[ 
 remarks that its function has not been made out. 
 
 The hymen sometimes plays a large part in family and 
 social relations, and, regarded as the evidence for virginity, 
 has had moral significance bestowed on it. A minute 
 examination of this structure is frequently a part of the 
 judicial procedure in cases of supposed rape and so forth. 
 The destruction of the hymen has led to the death of many 
 hundreds of men and women. 
 
 From our point of view, however, it is the possible physio- 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 245. f Loc. cit. p. 250. 
 
 % Loc. cit. p. 253. Loc. cit. p. 163, 
 
 li Loc. cit. p. 208.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 83 
 
 logical function of this structure that is interesting. It 
 seems impossible to conclude otherwise than that in existing 
 races it has practically no functional value. Its atrophy 
 as the result of sexual congress not only is no bar to sexual 
 relations, but removes an unpleasant impediment. In 
 many races the structure is removed as soon as possible. 
 In some parts of China it is destroyed as part of the toilet 
 of young children, and indeed many Chinese physicians are 
 ignorant of its existence. A similar state of affairs occurs 
 in some parts of India. In Brazil, among the tribe of 
 Machacuras, virgins, in the European sense, do not exist, 
 for the mothers destroy the hymen in female children soon 
 after birth. In Kamchatka the aborigines regard it as 
 disgraceful to be married with the hymen intact, and the 
 mothers operate on their daughters.* Among other races, 
 again, the disagreeable duty of defloration is assigned to 
 special persons. Among the natives of the Philippines 
 there formerly existed well-paid public officials the duty of 
 whom was to destroy the virginity of the girls and so to 
 make marriage pleasanter for the husbands. A similar 
 custom occurs among the inhabitants of New Caledonia, 
 and Moncelon states that there virginity is held in little 
 esteem. " I have proof of the curious circumstance," he 
 wrote, " that when a husband shrinks from destroying the 
 virginity of his wife, he employs some one from a regular 
 profession to take his place." 
 
 Such examples, selected from amongst many, may be 
 taken as proof that even such a peculiar and recently 
 acquired organ has not a physiological use. 
 
 On the other hand, especially among Christians and 
 Mahomedans, the existence of the hymen in an intact 
 
 * Ploss-Bartels in " Das Weib," Seventh Edition, 1902. Vol. 
 II., pp. 228-229 is the source conformation on this matter.
 
 84 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 condition is regarded as very important. The ancient Jews 
 began to set a high value on virginity. According to the 
 old Mosaic law, if, at the time of her marriage, a young girl 
 were found to be no longer a virgin, " Then they shall bring 
 out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the 
 men of her city shah 1 stone her with stones that she die ; 
 because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to play the whore 
 in her father's house" (Deut. xxii. 21). The religions that 
 have sprung from Judaism have retained this old view 
 of virginity, although in an attenuated form. Among some 
 Christian peoples, material .proofs of virginity at the time of 
 marriage are demanded, and among some Mahomedans such 
 proofs are exhibited to friends and relations on the day 
 after marriage. However, the actual defloration is not 
 always left to the husband, but among Arabs and Copts and 
 amongst the natives of Egypt, the operation is performed 
 by a specially selected matron.* 
 
 It is plain, then, that this membrane is of no direct service 
 in the sexual process. It may even give rise to more or 
 less serious misfortune. Thus, when it is unusually rigid, 
 the adjacent peritoneum may be torn and the results may 
 be disastrous. Occasionally the rupture of an abnormally 
 vascular membrane may give rise to bleeding of a prolonged 
 and even fatal character. f Moreover the membrane is a 
 frequent seat of ulcers, specific or otherwise .J 
 
 I have already mentioned that among some races a 
 rigorous toilet involves the destruction of the hymen. It 
 is plain that the existence of the membrane interferes 
 with strict hygiene of the vagina, especially at the periods. 
 
 * Ploss-Bartels, loc. cit. vol. I., p. 489. 
 f Pozzi, "Traite de Gynecologic," p. 1067, 1890. 
 % " Real-encyclopadie d. Gesammten Heilkunde," Second Edition, 
 vol. X., p. 34, 1885.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 85 
 
 Probably some blood is retained by the membrane and 
 furnishes a soil for microbes that may be dangerous to health. 
 It is quite possible that certain forms of anaemia, as for 
 instance the chloranaemia of virgins, may be produced by 
 microbal growth. This would easily explain why marriage 
 is the readiest cure for such anaemia, as marriage involves 
 destruction of the membrane, and so makes possible the 
 complete discharge of fluid from the vagina.* 
 
 What then can be the meaning of this organ, useless as 
 it is for the sexual functions, sometimes dangerous to health, 
 an organ that is no ancestral heritage and that must be 
 destroyed by the act of sexual union ? Formerly, when it 
 was accepted that characters acquired in individual life 
 could be transmitted to offspring, the question was asked 
 as to why this membrane had not disappeared. The 
 instance was one of those which helped to overthrow the 
 dogma of the inheritance of acquired characters. 
 
 Although it is useless to existing man, this organ may yet 
 come to be explained by science. As yet we have to fall 
 back on suppositions. The hypothesis which seems most 
 probable is that in the earlier period of the existence of the 
 human race, sexual relations were begun at a very early 
 age, before the male organs were mature. Under such 
 circumstances the hymen would not only not have been 
 a barrier, but would have made congress more satisfactory. 
 Gradually the hymen would have become dilated without 
 being torn, until it was capable of admitting the adult organ. 
 This hypothesis implies that in early times the membrane 
 was not brutally torn, but that it was gradually dilated and 
 that violent rupture is a modern necessity. In support of 
 
 * It would be interesting to find out whether or no Hindoo or 
 Chinese virgins suffer from chlovancemia ; at present we have no 
 information on this matter.
 
 86 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the hypothesis it may be mentioned that amongst certain 
 living races sexual union begins at a very early age. In 
 Ceylon, marriage takes place when the boys are from seven 
 to ten years old and when the girls are from four to six 
 years, according to Roer, or about eight years according to 
 Beierlein. After the actual wedding ceremony the bride 
 returns to the house of her parents, and it is only a few 
 years later, when she is adult, that she goes to her husband. 
 Roer states that he has seen cases where a father and son 
 were attending school together. 
 
 Among the Vedas, a low caste of tropical India, boys 
 marry at the age of from fifteen to sixteen years, certainly 
 before the sexual organs have attained their full dimensions. 
 The missionary Etern was struck with the agitation of the 
 natives of Keradif (in Abyssinia) when they were ordered 
 within fourteen days to marry all their boys more than 
 fourteen years old to girls more than nine.* In Mada- 
 gascar, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, it was 
 the custom for boys to marry at an age of from ten to 
 twelve years. The natives of German New Guinea many 
 their boys at the age of fourteen to fifteen. Even in 
 England a law still exists permitting marriage to boys 
 fourteen years old. The law is now a dead letter, but is 
 evidence of the ancient practice. 
 
 It is known that even at the present time the hymen is 
 not always ruptured in sexual congress. Budin has recorded 
 its existence in seventeen per cent, of primiparous women. 
 Among seventy-five cases of women in their first confinements 
 he found the hymen intact in thirteen cases. Since pro- 
 vision for children has fallen on fathers these have taken 
 to deferring marriage to a later age than when children 
 were left to the mother. That is the probable reason why 
 * Ploss-Bartels, loc. cit. p. 622.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 87 
 
 there are now fewer married boys. Thus, formerly, the 
 proportion of women who at the first childbirth still pos- 
 sessed unruptured hymens, was much greater, and it is not 
 difficult to suppose that in still earlier times such a condition 
 was normal. It is plain that there is here an instance of 
 a very recently acquired disharmony. 
 
 The homology between certain portions of the male and 
 female reproductive apparatus is well known. The male 
 riomologue of the female hymen is a little fold that hinders 
 the mingling of urine with the seminal fluid during emis- 
 sion, and that is known to anatomists as the caput gallina- 
 ginis or colliculus seminalis. It is very much smaller than 
 the hymen, so that we cannot regard the latter as a rudi- 
 mentary homologue of a. useful organ. However, the pre- 
 puce of the male is a clear instance of the presence in the 
 male organs of useless parts. It is removed by circumcision 
 among very many races, such as the Hebrews and Arabs, 
 and other Mahomedans, and amongst Persians, negroes, 
 Hindus, Tartars, and its absence seems to bring about no 
 inconvenience. 
 
 II 
 
 Evolution and significance of the menstrual flow in women.-r- 
 Precocious marriage among primitive and uncivilised 
 races. Disharmony between age of puberty and age of 
 nubility. Age of marriage. Examples of disharmony 
 in the development of the reproductive function. 
 
 Notwithstanding their imperfections, the human organs of 
 reproduction are able to fulfil their functions. A close 
 scrutiny, however, shows that there are many sides on 
 which they are disharmonious or badly adapted. 
 
 The occurrence of bleeding is usually a sign of disease.
 
 88 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Bleeding from the nose or of the lungs or intestines or 
 kidneys is an indication of disease more or less serious. 
 Discharge of blood from 'the female reproductive organs 
 may also be an indication of disease, as for instance when 
 due to tumours of the uterus. The only exception to the 
 rule is the periodic flow in the case of women, by which they 
 lose hundreds of grammes of blood (100 to 600 gr.). There 
 is something paradoxical in such a physiological occurrence, 
 and it deserves minute consideration. 
 
 These periodic losses, unlike the possession of a hymen, 
 are not a peculiarity of the human female. " Heat " in 
 lower animals is analogous, although in that case the chief 
 indications are swellings of the mucous membrane with a 
 slight discharge of fluid, hardly tinged with blood. The state 
 indicates the awakening of the sexual instinct and readiness 
 for coition.* Among monkeys there has been observed a 
 flow much more closely resembling that of woman. In the 
 case of macaques and cercopitheci, it has been observed 
 even that the flow is monthly. Heape,f while in British 
 India, took advantage of a valuable opportunity for making 
 observations on this subject. 
 
 Among two hundred and thirty females of Macacus rhesus 
 of which the greater number were adult or nearly so, seven- 
 teen displayed signs of menstruation, consisting of a swelling 
 of the genitalia accompanied by the discharge of a pale* and 
 viscid fluid. Usually the flow assumed a pale rose tint, due 
 to the presence in it of blood corpuscles, but cases where 
 it was highly coloured were rare. 
 
 Although they are distinctly analogous to the menstrual 
 
 * Saint Cyr, " Traite d'obstetrique veterinaire," p. 52, Second 
 Edition, 1888. 
 
 t Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 
 1897, pp. 135-166-
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 89 
 
 flows of women, these occurrences in monkeys are distin- 
 guished by the predominance of the swelling of the genitalia, 
 the viscid character of the discharge, and the relative 
 absence of blood They present a condition intermediate 
 between the " heat " of lower animals and the human 
 phenomena. 
 
 In anthropoid apes a similar menstruation has been 
 observed. Bolau, Ehlers, and Hermes, record it in the case 
 of the chimpanzee. " At this period," wrote Hartmann,* 
 " swelling and reddening of the genitalia occurred. The 
 labiae majores, which are usually inconspicuous, enlarged 
 greatly, and a similar increase took place in the labiae minores 
 and the clitoris." 
 
 In the case of women swelling of the genitalia is very 
 slightly marked, and the chief occurrence is the flow of 
 blood. It is plain, then, that something new has been 
 acquired in the menstruation of women. 
 
 The condition of the flow at the present time is probably 
 the result of modifications acquired recently in the history 
 of the race. Among primitive peoples sexual union occurred 
 at a very early age, and pregnancy occurred before menstrua- 
 tion. The latter did not appear during pregnancy nor in 
 the time of suckling, and probably the latter was hardly 
 over before a new pregnancy had occurred. In that way 
 there was no opportunity for the onset of menstruation. 
 
 The human capacity for procreation throughout the year 
 made the race extremely prolific. Probably this prolificness 
 is the reason why man has spread over the surface of the 
 earth, and has multiplied so enormously, in spite of the 
 barriers to his progress and the high rate of mortality to 
 which he is subjected. 
 
 * " Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft fur Anthropologie," 
 p. 88, 1876,
 
 90 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Instances are known from recent observation of preg- 
 nancies occurring before the onset of menstruation. Accord- 
 ing to Rhode, among the Guatos, Indians inhabiting the 
 mouth of the Rio Sao Lourenzo in Paraguay, married women 
 not more than five to eight years of age are to be met with, 
 and these must have married before menstruation. Among 
 the Vedas of tropical India, girls marry before they are nine 
 years of age, and have relations with their husbands before 
 sexual maturity. In Chiras in Persia, girls marry before 
 puberty, and while their chests are still flat. In Syria, 
 according to Robson, girls marry at the age of ten, and so 
 before puberty. Du Chaillu related that the Achira of 
 West Africa did not defer marriage until after the appear- 
 ance of puberty. Abbadie, while on his voyage in Nubia, 
 found that men bought young girls and had sexual relations 
 with them before the time of menstruation. Among the 
 Atjeh of Sumatra, girls marry at an age certainly before 
 that of puberty, as they have hardly lost their first set of 
 teeth. Although the husbands are a few years older, they 
 are still unfitted for sexual union. The couples sleep together, 
 and attempt sexual union before they are fitted for it. 
 Among the islanders of Viti, again, marriage takes place 
 before puberty. 
 
 The ancient Hindoos married at a very early age. Bot- 
 lingk quotes from the Sanscrit poems in which hell was 
 awarded to the fathers of girls who had not been married 
 when puberty came on. In other verses it was written 
 that not only the father but also the mother and the elder 
 brother were to be carried down into hell if the daughter 
 began to menstruate before she had been married ; the girl 
 herself was to descend to the lowest degree of udra, and 
 was never to be taken as a wife. 
 
 There is no doubt as to the possible fertility of marriages
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 91 
 
 contracted at these early ages. Polak * gives examples 
 taken from Persia. It is not necessary for impregnation that 
 it should have been preceded by a menstrual flow. Facts 
 making this clear have occurred not only in warm climates 
 but in our own latitude. Rakhmanoff,f in Russia, attended 
 in childbirth a woman not more than fourteen years of age, 
 of poor constitution, and badly nourished, and with features 
 still infantine. Menstruation had not yet taken place ; the 
 confinement was normal. 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose that in former times these 
 early marriages of girls under the age of puberty were more 
 common, if indeed they were not customary. In such cir- 
 cumstances menstruation would have been a rare pheno- 
 menon. 
 
 It must be remembered that the examples of menstruation 
 observed in the case of monkeys were taken from creatures 
 living in abnormal conditions, isolated in zoological gardens 
 and passing their lives in captivity. It is highly probable that 
 the periods as they exist to-day, with copious sanguineous 
 discharge, are a recent acquisition of the human race. 
 
 As he emerged from the primitive condition man had 
 to restrain his prolificness. The history of savages and of 
 civilisations shows that progress and culture have been 
 accompanied by a rise in the age for marriage. In this way 
 the menstrual periods could develop without check, and 
 attain the present condition. In these circumstances it is 
 not wonderful that menstruation should appear so abnormal 
 and even pathological. A copious discharge of blood, pre- 
 ceded and accompanied by pain and by nervous and mental 
 distress as so frequently happens, has no apparent kinship 
 with the processes of normal life. 
 
 * Ploss-Bartels, loc. cit. p. 625. 
 
 f Vratch, in Russian, p. 1456, IQOI.
 
 92 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 It is now easy to see why among so many races there are 
 special rules made for women during this period. Most of 
 the races of the earth, says Ploss, regard menstruating 
 women as impure. The occurrence is so widespread that 
 it is unnecessary to adduce particular cases, but a few with 
 some point of special interest may be noticed. Thus, among 
 the Hindoos a high-caste woman is regarded as a pariah in 
 the first day of the period, and as one of the murderers of 
 Buddha on the second day. Among many races a woman 
 in this condition is forbidden to come near men, or to touch 
 a number of objects, as she is regarded as capable of setting 
 up many diseases and of doing serious damage. The Germans 
 of the eighteenth century believed that the hair of a men- 
 struating woman buried in manure would engender snakes. 
 
 It is not surprising that the origin of menstruation has 
 been attributed frequently to evil spirits. The Iranians held 
 that it appeared first in Dchahi, the goddess of immorality.* 
 Such opinions implied vaguely that there was something 
 abnormal in the process. The history of the evolution of 
 menstruation explains well the origin of such a notion. 
 
 Another bizarre and apparently abnormal feature of the 
 reproductive processes receives explanation in the history 
 of its evolution. The feature in question is the painfulness 
 of childbirth. It is truly astonishing and singular to find 
 a phenomenon essentially normal from the point of view 
 of physiology accompanied by pain of so marked a cha- 
 racter. No doubt other animals suffer during labour, but 
 among the mammalia woman undergoes the severest pain. 
 
 Observations made on several Europeans who have been 
 
 brought to bed at an abnormally early age have shown 
 
 that, contrary to all expectation, parturition was easy and 
 
 the sequelae normal. f Moreover, Dr. Dionij has stated his 
 
 * Ploss-Bartels, loc. cit. p. 443. | Rakhmanoff.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 93 
 
 opinion that of two cases of a first childbirth at the ages 
 respectively of fifteen, and of forty years, he would prefer 
 the earlier age. The daughters of the colonists in the 
 Antilles were accustomed to marry at very early ages. In 
 1667 Du Tertre related that a young woman of that region 
 had informed him that the birth of her first child took place 
 when she was twelve years and a half of age, and that the 
 process lasted no more than a quarter of an hour and 
 had been painless. The missionary Beierlein practised for 
 long in Madras, where marriages were very early, and found 
 that parturition was much more easy than in Europe. * 
 
 On the other hand, certain facts show that too young 
 mothers are subject to a very heavy rate of mortality during 
 childbirth, and soon after it. The most salient fact in this 
 connection is furnished by Hassenstein, who has stated that 
 the mortality, of labour cases in Abyssinia is 30 per cent., 
 and who has attributed this death-rate to the circumstance 
 that marriage takes place before the body of the woman is 
 sufficiently developed. f In British India the disadvan- 
 tages of precocious marriage have been repeatedly urged ; 
 and in a petition relating to this subject, Dr. Mansell referred 
 to the case of a woman of twelve years of age in whom 
 parturition was interfered with by the undeveloped con- 
 dition of the pelvis, so that the head of the child had to be 
 destroyed. 
 
 Matthews Duncan, the well-known English obstetrician, 
 paid much attention to the mortality of labour cases, with 
 the object of deciding the best age for marriage. He came 
 to the conclusion that women from twenty to twenty-four 
 years of age were best fitted for labour, that is to say, showed 
 the lowest rate of mortality during labour or as a result of 
 labour. He also showed that such women were most fertile, 
 
 * Ploss-Bartels, loc. cit. p. 626. f Ibid. p. 626.
 
 94 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 and that the development of the pelvic bones was completed 
 at that period of life. Women who were of a lower or 
 higher age showed a greater mortality rate in connection 
 with childbirth. 
 
 The facts of which I have just given a summary lead 
 directly to a most striking instance of disharmony exhibited 
 in the order of the development of the human reproductive 
 apparatus. Puberty declares itself in a woman by the 
 beginning of menstruation at a time when girls still possess- 
 infantile characters and when the bones of the pelvic basin 
 are not yet fully developed. Obviously there is a dishar- 
 mony between puberty and the general maturity of the body,, 
 that is to say, the nubile condition. 
 
 This disharmony becomes still more evident upon a closer 
 examination of the phases of development of the different 
 reproductive functions. In the human race, reproduction, 
 is brought about by the union of the sexes suggested by 
 sympat 1 ->r mutual love. The sexual union makes it 
 possible for the male elements or spermatozoa to reach the 
 eggs and fertilise them by passing into them. It might 
 have been expected that the different steps in the process- 
 would have been attuned so as to act in harmony. As a 
 matter of fact there is no such relation. The different 
 factors of the sexual function develop independently and 
 unharmoniously . 
 
 Love and the sexual sense in the human race appear 
 before the other factors in the process. Ramdohr,* in the 
 eighteenth century, stated that little boys frequently exhibit 
 amorousness towards women. They are capable of being 
 strongly affected by jealousy and by desire of exclusive 
 possession of the coveted woman. This fact is well known > 
 and has been related of famous personages. Thus Dante, 
 * " Venus Urania," Leipzig, 1798.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 95 
 
 at the age of nine, fell in love with Beatrice ; Canova was in 
 love when he was little more than six years of age, and Lord 
 Byron was in love with Mary Duff at the age of seven.* 
 
 Sexual excitability appears at an age when there is no 
 question but that the sexual elements are undeveloped. In 
 infants still in the cradle, observers have noticed movements 
 and attitudes showing the presence of sexual excitability. 
 Curschmann and Furbringer,f both competent clinicians, 
 have noticed these feelings in children under the age of 
 five. Later on in life, the development of the sensibility 
 is more common, and is practically universal among boys 
 before the time at which the spermatozoa are ripe. 
 
 This disharmony is the cause of onanism, which is common 
 everywhere among boys. Before ordinary sexual congress 
 is possible for them, boys experience the characteristic 
 pleasure of the sexual sensations, and by a kind of natural 
 instinct learn self-gratification. Onanism is sometimes 
 defined as a " gratification of the sexual desire by unnatural 
 means." J But it is man's constitution itself that permits 
 the development of the sensation precociously, before the 
 development of sexual maturity. Letourneau is right when 
 he says that such sexual aberrations are abnormal, but not 
 unnatural, as they occur among animals. 
 
 In the case of young boys the habit is so common that, 
 according to Christian, " very few are able to say that 
 they have avoided it completely." The same writer asks 
 the question : " If it be remembered that onanism among 
 certain peoples, at certain times, has been recognised as an 
 
 * Moll, " Untersuch. iiber die Libido Sexualis," vol. I., p. 44. 
 
 t " Real-encyclopaedie der gesamnrt. Heilkunde," vol. XIV., p. 593. 
 Second Edition, 1888. 
 
 J Fiirbringer, loc. cit, 
 
 " Dictionnaire encyclopedique des Sciences medicates," vol. XV., 
 p. 378, 1881.
 
 96 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 ordinary event, it is difficult to avoid asking if there be 
 not a latent vice, hidden in the depths of human nature, and 
 ready to be provoked into activity by very small causes ? " 
 The answer is sufficiently plain. The cause of onanism, 
 this " vice " or " crime," as Tissot and other authors have 
 called it, undoubtedly is the result of a natural disharmony 
 in the human constitution, of a premature development of 
 sexual sensation. Among the most civilised races and the 
 lowest savages the mode of satisfying the premature demand 
 is equally common. 
 
 . It is to be noticed that onanism is more common and 
 earlier developed in the male sex. The development of 
 sexual irritability in the female occurs very irregularly. In 
 some races onanism is so much a custom among little girls 
 that no attempt is made to conceal the practice. This occurs, 
 for instance, among certain Hottentot tribes, and is referred 
 to openly in talk and legends.* Similar instances occur 
 elsewhere, but in most races the practice is thought wrong, 
 and is concealed as much as possible. 
 
 Among girls,f onanism is less frequent than in the case 
 of boys, a circumstance in relation with the fact that sexual 
 sensation usually appears much later in the female sex. It 
 is almost a general rule that girls who have arrived at sexual 
 maturity have not acquired sexual irritability, while to 
 many it comes only gradually after marriage. Sometimes 
 it does not occur until after the first child has been born. 
 On the other hand, love begins very early in young girls, 
 although it long retains a platonic character and is not 
 associated with sexual sensation until much later. 
 
 * Fritsch, " Die Eingeborenen Sud-Afrikas." Breslau, 1873. 
 
 f Information that I have obtained from the Zoological Gardens 
 at Anvers would seem to show the existence of similar differences 
 between the sexes in the case of monkeys.
 
 DISHARMONIES; OF REPRODUCTION 97 
 
 The maturity of the spermatozoa in the male comes long 
 after the development of sexual irritability and of love. 
 None the less, it comes before the organism of the male 
 is actually ready. It happens, in consequence, especially 
 among the highly civilised peoples, that marriage and 
 regular unions are impossible at the right time. The youth 
 has his education to finish, his profession to choose, and he 
 must be ready to support children before he is able to 
 marry. As civilisation advances, the age of marriage 
 becomes later and later. In the case of Europeans, sexual 
 maturity occurs in the male at the age of twelve to fourteen 
 years, while the average age at the first marriage is shown 
 in the following table : 
 
 Table of Age at First Marriage.* 
 
 Nationality. Age in years of males. Age in years of females. 
 
 English . . 25.94 .. 24.69 
 
 French . . . 28.41 .. 25.32 
 
 Norwegians . . . 28.51 .. 26.98 
 
 Dutch .... 29.15 .. 27.78 
 
 Belgians .. . ' . ' 29.94 28.19 
 
 These figures show clearly what a gap there is between the 
 coming of sexual maturity and the age at which marriage 
 can be undertaken. 
 
 The decay of the reproductive functions shows a series 
 of disharmonies similar to those that occur during develop- 
 ment. Spermatozoa continue to be formed throughout the 
 greater part of the life of a man, and may still be found 
 even in very old men. Pawloff, for instance, discovered 
 that they were present in abundance in the case of a man 
 at the age of ninety-four, and this observation is not unique. f 
 
 * Wappaeus, " Allgemeine Bevolkerungsstatistik," vol. II., p. 285, 
 1861. 
 
 f " Sur les Alterations pdthologo-anatomiques des Testicules 
 pendant la Vieillesse," St. Petersbourg, 1894 (in Russian). A 
 
 G
 
 9 8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 But the presence of ripe spermatozoa is not the only con- 
 dition necessary for functional virility. In the case of old 
 men it happens frequently that there is incapacity to make 
 normal use of the spermatozoa that are produced. This 
 brings about a series of discomforts in the sexual functions 
 of advanced life which, however, do not prevent the reten- 
 tion of the specific sensation and desire until a very extreme 
 old age. Doctors, in hospitals devoted to old men, have 
 noticed to what an extent their patients are engrossed by 
 sexuality. Even some of the ancient authors have noticed 
 how the amorous sentiments of old men turn into a per- 
 verted attraction to youths. 
 
 Sexual irritability and amorousness not only appear 
 before sexual maturity and general fitness of the organism 
 for marriage, but they remain after the disappearance of 
 these. It is remarkable to notice how profound is the differ- 
 ence between the disharmonies of the reproductive functions 
 in man and the perfect condition of adaptation of the same 
 functions in the higher plants. In the case of the higher 
 plants, as I described in my second chapter, the arrange- 
 ments are complicated on account of the necessary media- 
 tion of insect life. Notwithstanding this, the perfection of 
 the adaptation is remarkable. At the exact time when the 
 reproductive products are ripe, the petals open and the 
 nectar is secreted, while, in addition, at this time many 
 flowers discharge odours agreeable to insects. Attracted by 
 the scents and colours, the insects visit the flowers in quest 
 of pollen or nectar, and, becoming dusted with pollen, carry 
 it to the stigmas of the next flowers they visit. As soon as 
 
 few years ago, in course of the examination of the body of a man 
 who had died at the age of 103 at Lyons, the seminal vesicles were 
 found to be full of ripe and active spermatozoa. " Annales d'Hygiene 
 publique," p. 370, 1900.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 99 
 
 fertilisation has taken place the petals fade, the scents are 
 no longer produced, and the insects cease to visit the flowers 
 to which they are no longer necessary. 
 
 It is not surprising that the disharmonies in the human 
 reproductive apparatus are a frequent source of trouble. 
 Little children, in whom sexual irritability has awakened 
 prematurely, learn to satisfy it by means called " unnatural." 
 In many cases damage rapidly follows. " In the child," 
 wrote Dr. Christian, " there is no secretion of spermatozoa, 
 and it is in the child that the results of onanism are most 
 disastrous to the organism, and disastrous almost in inverse 
 proportion to the age.* It is in early infancy that this aber- 
 ration merits the evil reputation that it has acquired ; it 
 compromises health, intelligence, and even life. Quite 
 young children wither, becoming pale, stupid, and fragile, 
 when they have acquired this disastrous habit. The evil 
 is almost entirely a consequence of the unripeness of the 
 organism for sexuality." Happily these evil occurrences 
 are rare. 
 
 A publication by Tissot, a Swiss doctor, on the subject of 
 onanism, made a sensation in the eighteenth century. The 
 book was full of exaggeration, and it was very inexact, but 
 it contained interesting confessions from persons who had 
 contracted the habit. A woman wrote to Tissot in the 
 following terms : " But for the restraint of religion, I should 
 have put an end to my life, which is ruined by my own fault." 
 Not infrequently the vice leads to melancholia. 
 
 Other unfortunate results come from the ripening of the 
 sexual products before the organism is ready for marriage, 
 and before the character has been formed. As men cannot 
 contract marriage before they are ready for it, irregular and 
 frequently harmful sexual aberration may occur. 
 * Loc. cit. p. 377.
 
 ioo THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 The survival of this specific irritability until too late a 
 period of life is another source of disaster. Old men who 
 can neither excite passion nor satisfy it, often become 
 victims of their own amorousness and unassuaged passions. 
 It has been shown that passion may survive after the com- 
 plete atrophy of the functions of the organs. Similarly it 
 is the case that women from whom the ovaries have been 
 removed, may continue to retain sexual irritability com- 
 pletely. 
 
 Disharmony of sexuality may also occur between persons 
 of different sexes. The fact that sexuality is usually more 
 precocious in the male sex often produces a disharmony in 
 the case of married persons. At the time when a woman 
 is still in full possession of this specific irritability, the appetite 
 in the man may be on the wane. From this disharmony 
 there often follows conjugal infidelity or passion between 
 persons of the same sex. 
 
 Schopenhauer devoted attention to this subject and wrote 
 as follows : " That nature herself may produce a condition 
 totally opposed to the natural function offers a paradoxical 
 problem of very deep interest." * It is clear, however, when 
 we consider the disharmonies in the development and acti- 
 vities of the functions in question, that the apparently 
 paradoxical and strange aberrations of sexuality are natural 
 enough. 
 
 The existing disharmony gives rise to many evils from 
 earliest youth to advanced age, and, consequently, it is 
 not surprising to find that religions have denounced sexu- 
 ality more or less severely. Dr. Christian expresses his 
 astonishment " that in nearly all religions it has been 
 considered a homage to the Deity to abstain from sexual 
 
 * "Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," vol. II., Supplement 
 to chap. xliv.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 101 
 
 intercourse." * It is simply because the disharmonie.s 
 of sexuality lead to sexual aberrations that religions have 
 found cause for denouncing human nature as vile.f 
 
 III 
 
 Disharmonies in the family instincts. Artificial abortion. 
 Desertion and infanticide. Disharmonies in the social 
 instincts 
 
 As the functions of reproduction are seated deep in the 
 organic world and none the less present cases of striking 
 disharmony in mankind, it is not surprising to find similar 
 want of adaptation in the family instincts of man, as these 
 instincts have been acquired more recently and are less 
 widespread in the living world. 
 
 It has been shown that the animal world provides many 
 examples of onanism and of aberrations of sexual congress. 
 On the other hand, there are no cases in the animal world 
 in which pregnancy is destroyed by aberrant instincts. 
 
 To the human race belongs the distinction of having 
 invented modes of sexual congress which are necessarily 
 barren. No doubt the loss of the os penis has made such 
 occurrences more easy, as the presence of that bone would 
 render interruption of coition more difficult. But there are 
 many ways in which the spermatozoa may be prevented 
 from accomplishing their function, and these are so common 
 and so familiar that it is unnecessary to enumerate them. 
 In civilised countries procreation is limited chiefly by such 
 means. In its early days, the human race must have been 
 distinguished by its unusual procreative capacity, but with 
 the growth of civilisation many devices have been employed 
 to limit that. 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 364. t See chap. i.
 
 102 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Savages and races of low civilisation have recourse to 
 artificial abortion rather than to means for preventing 
 fertilisation, and abortion is almost universal among them. 
 
 The great treatise of Ploss, " Das Weib," to which I 
 have made repeated reference, contains a whole chapter * on 
 this subject. Deliberate abortion with the object of limit- 
 ing the number of children is customary all over the globe. 
 In most primitive races and among peoples of low civilisa- 
 tion it is practised openly without the smallest restraint. 
 Many of these peoples have adopted the custom of limiting 
 the family to two children by procuring abortion in sub- 
 sequent pregnancies. The aborigines of Kaisar and of the 
 islands of Watubela observe the rule strictly. Among the 
 natives of the islands of Aaru it is rare to find more than 
 three children in a family, because any others are destroyed 
 by artificial abortion. 
 
 A similar custom is widespread in India, being quite as 
 common among the Hindoos who are ruled by England as 
 among independent races. In the peninsula of Kutch, 
 women frequently procure abortion, and one woman boasted 
 to Macmurdo that she had made use of the practice five 
 times. Abortion is equally common in Africa and America. 
 
 Even in Europe there are nations amongst which abor- 
 tion is permitted within certain limits. The Turks do not 
 regard a foetus as being really alive until after the fifth 
 month,' and have no scruple in causing its abortion. Even 
 at later stages, when the operation becomes criminal, it is 
 frequently practised. In 1872, at Constantinople, more than 
 three thousand cases of abortion were brought before the 
 Courts in a period of ten months. Under such circum- 
 stances it is not surprising that illegitimate children are 
 rare in the East. 
 
 * Vol. I. chap. xxxv.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 103 
 
 Artificial abortion is not a modern invention, but was 
 common in ancient times. The old Greeks practised it 
 openly, without any legal restraint. Plato regarded it as 
 within the province of the midwife, and Aristotle permitted 
 it to married people when a pregnancy that was not desired 
 took place. 
 
 Steller, writing of the natives of Kamchatka of the 
 eighteenth century, stated that among them marriage was 
 contracted rather for sensual gratification than for the 
 procreation of children, because they interfered with preg- 
 nancies by various kinds of medicaments and by violent 
 operative interferences. 
 
 The arts by which abortion has been produced are numer- 
 ous and varied. In addition to the administration of drugs, 
 chiefly of vegetable origin, implements have been employed. 
 The natives of Greenland use the ribs of seals or of the 
 * walrus, and the Hawaians of the Sandwich Islands employ 
 for the purpose a wooden implement fashioned as a deity. 
 
 On the other hand, certain races have strongly opposed 
 the practice of abortion. In the ancient world such races were 
 the Medes, the Bactrians, the Persians, and Jews. Among 
 the ancient Incas, abortion was a crime punished with death. 
 Later on, the Christian nations followed this view. However, 
 the reprobation of abortion occurs only in a comparatively 
 small number of the nations of the earth, and even amongst 
 these the practice is common in secret. 
 
 Animals which are unable to procure abortion very often 
 destroy their young, as I Described in the second chapter 
 of this volume. In the human race, infanticide is too 
 common. The Greeks and Romans did not regard the 
 newly born infants as possessing any right to live. The 
 old Germans held themselves free to expose their infants. 
 The Arabs, before the faith of Islam had spread to them,
 
 io 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 were in the habit of burying many female children alive. 
 In India a similar custom is common, and in China it is 
 notorious. According to figures collected by Eitel,* the 
 Chinese of the province of Canton very often kill female 
 children immediately after birth. " It may be said," he 
 wrote, "that the murder of female infants is the general 
 rule among the Hak-lo, and especially among the Hak-ka 
 of the agricultural classes. The Hak-ka themselves estimate 
 the number of female children exposed as about two-thirds 
 of those born." In a little village in which the author 
 lived for several years, an investigation, made with the help 
 of some Christians, showed that without exception women 
 who had given birth to two children had killed at least one 
 of them. 
 
 In Tahiti two-thirds of new-born children are killed, 
 those of the female sex making up the greater part of the 
 numbers. The first three infants and all twins are killed, 
 r and as a rule not more than two or at most three are actually 
 reared. f Among the Melanesians the custom of infanticide 
 is very common. " It must also be assumed," said Ratzel,J 
 "that in Ugi (Solomon Islands) all the infants are killed, to 
 be replaced by the Bauros." 
 
 It is not surprising that such a widespread occurrence of 
 artificial abortion and of infanticide among primitive races 
 is bringing about a rapid diminuti6n in the numbers of 
 these, and may lead even to their extinction. This is taking 
 place in the case of the natives of New South Wales, of 
 New Guinea, and of the islands of Aaru. Nothing could 
 show more plainly the feebleness of the human family instinct. 
 
 * " L'Anthropologie," vol. IV., p. 129, 1893. 
 f Waitz-Gerland, " Anthropologie der Naturvolker," vol. VI., 
 p. 139, 1872. 
 
 I " Volkerkunde," vol. I. p. 274, 1885.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 105 
 
 In more highly civilised nations, the rude proceedings of 
 savages have been replaced by clever devices to prevent 
 conception, and infanticide has become rare. Artificial 
 abortion is excited by modern methods suggested by the 
 progress of science. The embryonic membranes are pierced 
 not by the ribs, of seals or hair-pins, but by sterilised sounds, 
 and the operation is performed with strict asepsis. In avert- 
 ing the natural results of passion the woman is subjected to 
 the smallest possible risk. 
 
 It is indubitable that more than one race has perished 
 because -of its lack of the instinct of family. However, it 
 need not be feared that the human race itself will disappear 
 because of. the failure of procreation. But it is plain that 
 the readiness with which devices to prevent the production of 
 children have been adopted shows the weakness of the family 
 instinct in man, and opens up a problem to which the atten- 
 tion of moralists and legislators may well be directed. 
 
 The family instinct is deeply seated, as it arose among 
 animals more ancient than man ; none the less it exhibits 
 disturbances and aberrations in the human race capable of 
 bringing about the extinction of peoples or nations. It is, 
 however, strong enough to secure that man will persist in 
 the future. 
 
 Man certainly is a social animal, but the instinct impelling 
 him towards union with his fellows is of recent origin. Such 
 animal societies as are to be found among insects are not 
 comparable with human associations. Among mammals, the 
 nearest allies of man, the social instincts are developed only 
 to a slight extent, and even the anthropoid apes show very 
 little progress in this direction. Many of these creatures 
 have shown in captivity the aptitude to become friendly 
 with man or with other animals, and thus have displayed 
 the beginnings of the capacity to form societies. But, in
 
 io6 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the wild condition, anthropoids live only in families, and 
 these contain few individuals. As regards the social capa- 
 cities of the chimpanzee Dr. Savage wrote : * " They cannot 
 be called gregarious, seldom more than five, or ten at most, 
 being found together. It has been said on good authority 
 that they occasionally assemble in large numbers in gambols. 
 My informant asserts that he saw once not less than fifty 
 so engaged ; hooting, screaming, and drumming with sticks 
 on old logs, which is done in the latter case with equal 
 facility by the four extremities." 
 
 We have little acquaintance with the social life of the 
 anthropoids, but, so far as we know, these creatures present 
 only the merest beginnings of the social instinct. Man has 
 moved much beyond them in that direction. Even the 
 lowest races and the most primitive of living peoples such 
 as, for instance, the Bushmen or the aborigines of Australia, 
 display a well-developed social instinct. f 
 
 The universal presence of the social instinct among human 
 beings would seem to afford the basis of a happy life. In 
 the numerous attempts made to find a purely rational 
 principle that may serve as the basis for morality without 
 the intervention of supernatural sanction, abundant use has 
 been made of man's craving to live in association with his 
 fellows. Those who have tried to deduce moral law from 
 the essential constitution of man have relied largely upon 
 the innate sympathy between man and his fellows. Such 
 a line of argument is so common and has been employed so 
 frequently that I need not spend much space in developing 
 it. I shall limit myself to a few examples. 
 
 Towards the end of last century Biichner,J a German 
 
 * Huxley, " Man's Place in Nature," p. 60. 
 
 f Sutherland, " Origin and Development of the Moral Instinct." 
 
 + Buchner, " Force and Matter."
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 107 
 
 physician, published a materialistic code of morality that 
 made a considerable sensation. He wrote as follows on the 
 question now before us : " What we term the moral sense 
 arose from the social instincts and habits which, under pain of 
 extinction, are developed in every society of men and animals. 
 Morality depends on sociability, and varies with the 
 peculiar conditions of each particular association. As man 
 is essentially a social animal, and to be regarded, apart from 
 society, merely as a wild beast, it is plain that the needs of 
 the community must impose on him certain restrictions and 
 directions that in time will pass into a settled code of morals." 
 
 Half a century later practically the same idea was 
 repeated. Haeckel,* the well-known German naturalist, 
 expressed it as follows in a volume that appeared a few 
 years ago : 
 
 " Modern science shows that the feeling of duty does not 
 rest on an illusory ' categorical imperative,' but on the solid 
 ground of social instinct, as we find it in the case of all the 
 social animals. It regards as the highest aim of all morality 
 the re-establishment of a sound harmony between egoism 
 and altruism, between self-love and the love of one's neigh- 
 bour. ... If a man desire to have the advantage of living 
 in an organised community he has to consult not only his 
 own fortune but also that of the society and of the ' neigh- 
 bours ' who form the society. He must realise that its 
 prosperity is his own prosperity, and that it cannot suffer 
 without his own injury. This fundamental law of society 
 is so simple and so inevitable that one cannot understand 
 how it can be contradicted in theory or in practice ; and 
 yet that is done to-day and has been done for thousands 
 of years." 
 
 * Haeckel, " The Riddle of the Universe," pp. 357-358, Second 
 Edition, 1901.
 
 io8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 The sexual and family instincts may be satisfied in many 
 different ways, and this is also the case with the social 
 instincts. Onanism and perverted passion may satisfy the 
 sexual instinct ; celibacy, artificial abortion and infanticide 
 exist alongside the love of the wife and the parental cares. 
 So also the social instinct of a criminal may be satisfied by 
 his association with other criminals. It is well known that 
 the most hardened criminals have their own codes, and 
 they join faithfulness to their own companions to an 
 atrocious attitude towards the rest of the world. 
 
 It is not enough then merely to give scope to the social 
 instincts that we all possess. We have to determine how 
 far, and towards which of our fellow creatures, we are to 
 exercise such instincts, and it is here that the difficulty arises 
 which as yet has not been resolved by religion or rationalism. 
 Must our social instincts reach to our relatives near or 
 distant, or to our fellow townsmen, or compatriots, or to all 
 white men, or to all men, white and black, or to the good 
 only, or to the good and bad alike ? Perhaps we should 
 limit the operation of the instinct to those of our own 
 religion, or who share our views of life ? The instinctive 
 feeling is quite silent on these points, and it is precisely on 
 them that the difficulties arise. It is well known that at 
 different epochs and in different circumstances very different 
 answers have been given to such questions. When religion 
 was predominant, a common faith was a bond transcending 
 patriotism. Later on, patriotism itself became the dominant 
 bond. In recent days, a conception of international solidarity 
 began to appear. Thus, for instance, there was recently a 
 combination of different nations against China, and nation- 
 ality was forgotten. Some of the European nations banded 
 themselves together and even assumed an Asiatic race in 
 the union, with the object of punishing a common enemy.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION 109 
 
 What was the bond that united nations so different ? It 
 was not religion, for the bond included Catholics and Pro- 
 testants, orthodox Christians and Buddhists. Most pro- 
 bably the bond of union .was a community of interest, the 
 result of similar civilisation and military and political 
 organisation. 
 
 It has been suggested occasionally that the social instinct, 
 or human sympathy, for the terms are practically identical, 
 may stretch further and further and become so widespread 
 that all the members of the human stock will unite and 
 act only for the common good. But the problem is complex. 
 Sympathy, when pushed too far, may become harmful. 
 Nations have taken part in a campaign, impelled by some 
 feeling of sympathy, and have brought harm on themselves. 
 Sympathy extended to criminals and wicked persons is 
 equally harmful. The social instinct itself must be regu- 
 lated for the good of the community which it holds 
 together. 
 
 Ought we to extend our sympathy to all humanity, or to 
 limit it to some particular section ? Theorists have spoken 
 of the solidarity of all humanity, believing it possible to 
 extend our sympathy to the races furthest removed from 
 us. In countries in which different races are brought in 
 contact, very practical difficulties are encountered by the 
 theorists. In America and in some other countries, for 
 instance, laws have been passed against the Chinese, exclud- 
 ing the latter from the consideration granted to other races. 
 The negro question also is very difficult in those countries 
 in which the black race dwells amongst whites. In Europe 
 it has been the custom to condemn the action of civilised 
 races in taking their land from natives of primitive type. 
 Sutherland, the author of a striking work on the origin and 
 development of morality, justifies such arbitrary conduct.
 
 no THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 To the question, " Was it right for the wnites to take posses- 
 sion of the Australian forests of the blacks ? " he replied 
 in the affirmative. " No doubt," he said, " there is a moral 
 instinct against it, but the action undoubtedly was right." * 
 In a summary of his conclusions he lays down that moral 
 conduct is a compromise between the individual and social 
 instincts that so often are opposed. But he has no more 
 to say than his predecessors as to the rational basis of the 
 compromise. 
 
 The social instinct has been acquired by mankind too 
 recently, and it is still too feeble, to be a trustworthy guide 
 in all conduct. To obviate this difficulty, at many different 
 times, divine sanction has been evoked to control the rela- 
 tions among men. The categorical law has been formulated 
 with the same object. Thus by one means or another, some 
 kind of social order has been kept up. The efficacy of these 
 additional guides is seen clearly on those rare occasions when 
 some special combination of circumstances has set people free 
 from them. Thus at Moscow, in 1812, before the arrival 
 of the French army restored authority, and lately, after 
 the eruption in Martinique, the ordinary authority lapsed, 
 the anti-social instincts of the people were loose, and a clear 
 idea was given of the inherent weakness of the human social 
 instinct. 
 
 I have shown that in man the instinct for choosing food 
 and the sexual and social instincts are still so weak that it is 
 impossible to trust to them in the absence of other guidance. 
 It is as equally necessary to determine what kind of food 
 is most suitable for men in different conditions of life, and 
 what means are best fitted to satisfy rationally his sexual 
 and family instincts. So also it is urgent to determine 
 exactly the direction and object of the social instinct. For 
 * Loc. cit. p. 796.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF REPRODUCTION in 
 
 the love of our fellow creatures we should seek the best 
 ways of making them happy. 
 
 But what is happiness ? Is it the feeling of well-being 
 experienced by the individual himself, or is it the judgment 
 of others on his sensations ? It is notoriously difficult to 
 pronounce on the happiness of another. From the outside, 
 when a man seems to enjoy health, to have a family and 
 comfortable means of subsistence, we are inclined to call him 
 happy ; but the individual himself may have a very dif- 
 ferent opinion about himself. It is often impossible to rely 
 on the judgment of others. On the other hand, the opinion 
 of an individual himself on his own condition may be equally 
 fallacious. Very often the feeling of well-being is a symptom 
 of general paralysis, as may be inferred from the follow- 
 ing quotation : " The patient is well pleased with himself, 
 and delighted with his constitution and circumstances. He 
 boasts without ceasing of his robust health, his muscular 
 strength, the clearness of his complexion and of his general 
 ' fitness.' His clothing is magnificent and his residence 
 palatial. In a more advanced stage of the disease, the 
 exaggeration becomes extreme. He believes that he is able 
 to blow down the walls with his breath, or that he could 
 carry a ton, or drink a hogshead of wine, or that nothing 
 could tire him out. Then megalomania begins, and the 
 patients believe themselves in possession of titles, of power, 
 and wealth. They are members of parliament, noblemen, 
 princes, generals, kings, emperors, and popes, or God 
 Himself." * 
 
 As general paralysis is a result of syphilis, in order to 
 make a large number of persons believe themselves thoroughly 
 
 * Ballet and Blocq, " Paralysie generate progressive," in " Traite 
 de Medicine," published under the direction of Charcot, Bouchard, 
 and Brissaud, vol. VI., p. 1032, 1894.
 
 ii2 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 happy, it would be necessary only to spread this disease. 
 Without lingering on this paradox, I may at least point 
 out that the problem of happiness, which is associated 
 intimately with social life, is extremely difficult. 
 
 The social instinct is equally powerless to solve the 
 problem of justice in its relation to the general interest of 
 humanity. It is plain enough that, in the existing con- 
 dition of human knowledge, we all inflict and undergo 
 injustices of different degrees. This misfortune is a conse- 
 quence of the disharmony of human nature. 
 
 From what I have already said, it must be clear that 
 before we can find a rational guide to direct us in the opera- 
 tion of our social instinct, we should have to determine 
 exactly the nature of true happiness for the individual and 
 of true justice. Then only should we be in a position to 
 set about making human life as happy as is possible.
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 DISHARMONIES IN THE INSTINCT OF SELF- 
 PRESERVATION 
 
 The instinct of seH-preservation in animals Man's in 
 stinctive love of life Indifference to life during childhood 
 Bhuddist legend on instinctive self-preservation and 
 the fear of death Fear of death treated in literature 
 Confessions of Tolstoi regarding the fear of death Other 
 opinions on the subject The fear of death an instinctive 
 phenomenon Development in man of a love of life Treat- 
 ment of the aged Murder of old people Suicide of old ' 
 men Absence of harmony between the love of life and the 
 conditions of human existence The part played by the fear 
 of death in religions and systems of philosophy 
 
 IT is not to be wondered at that man's social instinct exhibits 
 so many imperfections and disharmonies, seeing that it is 
 still in an unsettled condition, and is a recent acquisition. 
 On the other hand, we should expect to find that love of 
 life and the instinct of self-preservation had reached a high 
 degree of harmony, since these have been in process of 
 development throughout the whole animal series that 
 culminated in man. Even in the lowest forms of life many 
 contrivances exist for purposes of protection. Creatures, 
 the bodies of which are merely microscopic drops of proto- 
 plasm, the living material, may be protected by shells from 
 external influences which threaten their destruction. Plants 
 protect themselves, sometimes by means of thorns which 
 prevent them from being eaten, sometimes by secretions
 
 u 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 either merely irritant in character or actually poisonous. 
 Among animals the means employed for self-preservation 
 are even more numerous. Shields and shells, the secretion 
 of fluids exhaling unpleasant odours, or facilitating escape by 
 clouding the water, as in the case of the ink of the cuttlefish, 
 offensive weapons, strong teeth, and many other characters, 
 serve no other purpose than to protect the individual life. The 
 exposition of this subject would involve writing a complete 
 treatise on the comparative anatomy of plants and animals. 
 
 Among lower animals the preservation of life is accom- 
 plished without mental connivance, conscious or uncon- 
 scious. Soon, however, protective instincts begin to appear. 
 Simple cases of these are flight at the approach of danger, 
 protection by a covering of slimy froth secreted by the 
 creatures themselves, or built up from this excreta, or 
 from foreign matter. Such facts show that the love of life 
 and the instinct of self-preservation are almost universal 
 in the living world. 
 
 All these devices for the avoidance of danger and escape 
 from death could have been developed in animals before 
 these had any distinct idea as to what death was. We 
 know that some animals can distinguish between living and 
 dead prey. Some carnivora recognise the smell of dead 
 bodies. Those which are accustomed to feed on living 
 creatures refuse all others, detecting the difference by the 
 absence of movement. As in such cases the idea of death 
 is imperfect, it is easy to deceive the creatures by offering 
 carcases artificially set in motion, or living prey rendered 
 motionless by some means or other. In order to escape 
 from enemies so readily imposed upon, many insects when 
 alarmed become motionless and feign death ; and that may 
 be regarded as yet another instance in the category of 
 natural means for the protection of individual life.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 115 
 
 Moreover, the higher animals, such as mammals, exhibit 
 a profound ignorance of death, many of them remaining 
 completely undisturbed in the presence of dead companions, 
 or even devouring the latter at the risk of contracting a 
 fatal disease. Rats, for instance, eat the bodies of rats 
 which have died of plague, and while appeasing their hunger 
 themselves contract the disease which they transmit to 
 other animals, particularly to human beings. Unlike those 
 animals, however, which are indifferent to the death of 
 their kind, there are others that instinctively shrink at see- 
 ing the dead bodies of their own species. Horses on passing 
 a dead horse show signs of discomfort, and attempt to 
 run away. Bullocks when witnessing the slaughter of 
 others also exhibit evidences of distress and fear. In spite 
 of these examples, however, it is quite certain that animals, 
 even those highest in the scale of life, are unconscious of 
 the inevitability of death, and of the ultimate fate of all 
 living things. This knowledge is a humai> acquisition. 
 
 In man, the instinct of self-preservation is well developed. 
 Hardly appreciable during infancy, it manifests itself in a 
 marked degree in young children. At the sight of a human 
 corpse, children become panic-stricken, as though confronted 
 by a wild beast or snake. 
 
 In young adults this instinct of self-preservation, which 
 is closely connected with an instinctive fear of death, is 
 not fully developed. It often takes some special cir- 
 cumstance to awaken "it, such as a dangerous illness, an 
 accident, or the perils of war. Young people who while in 
 good health believe their lives to be in danger, often take it 
 to heart so as to make themselves really ill. Relating his 
 impressions during the siege of Sebastopool, Tolstoi, who 
 at that time was only twenty-six years of age, writes as 
 follows : " Notwithstanding the distractions offered by
 
 n6 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 various and urgent duties, the instinct of self-preservation, 
 and the longing to quit this horrible place of death was 
 present in the hearts of all. This desire was equally strong 
 in all ; in those mortally wounded, and in the volunteer 
 rushing with all his might into the centre of the fray to 
 open a path for the horse of the general, in the general 
 himself as he directed and controlled his men. The officer 
 of marines, in the middle of a battalion in action, crushed 
 so that he could hardly breathe, felt it equally with 
 the wounded man carried on a stretcher by four soldiers 
 until, further progress being impossible, he had been set 
 down just under the Nicolai battery, or the artilleryman 
 who had served his gun for sixteen years." In the normal 
 course of life, however, the young do not show an instinc- 
 tive clinging to life in any marked degree. They often risk 
 their lives for trifling reasons, and commit all sorts of indis- 
 cretions hurtful to life or health without a thought of the 
 consequences. They may be inspired by the highest 
 motives, but they are equally ready to fritter strength away 
 in the gratification of the lowest appetites. Youth is the 
 age of disinterested sacrifice, but also of indulgence in all 
 kinds of excesses, alcoholic, sexual and others. Youths seem 
 to think that they will always attach the same value to 
 life, and that between death at thirty years of age and 
 death at sixty, there is a difference only of time. As their 
 love of life is indifferently developed, young people are often 
 extremely exacting, the pleasure they enjoy being but 
 moderate, whilst the suffering provoked in them by the 
 slightest annoyance is intense. They consequently become 
 epicureans in the lowest sense of the word, or else abandon 
 themselves to exaggerated pessimism. 
 
 " Edite, bibite, post mortem nulla voluptas " was the 
 motto of German students, greedy for pleasure, and unknow-
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 117 
 
 ing that a love of life develops with age in every human 
 being. On the other hand, in order to keep the balance 
 between joy and sorrow, youth, true to its instincts, under- 
 values the former and exaggerates the latter, thus arriving 
 at a pessimistic view of life, and declaring that existence 
 is a misfortune in itself. It is significant that Schopenhauer 
 published his theory of pessimism at the age of thirty-one. 
 His successor, R. Hartmann, when twenty-six years old, pro- 
 claimed that human existence is an evil which one should 
 get rid of at all costs. Optimistic theories, on the other 
 hand, have been set forth either by persons advanced in 
 years or by persons whom special circumstances have caused 
 to appreciate the joy of living. As a counterbalance to the 
 pessimism of German philosophers, Duhring formulated a 
 theory of optimism in his book " Der Werk des Lebens," but 
 was himself blind at the time. Sir John Lubbock published 
 some years ago a book entitled " The Pleasures of Life," 
 which opens with the following sentence : " Life is a great 
 gift." His attitude towards life is entirely opposed to that 
 of the pessimists, but then he formulated it at the age of 
 fifty-three. 
 
 It has long been recognised that the old attach a higher 
 value to life than do the young. J . J . Rousseau, for instance, 
 says : " Life becomes dearer to us as its joys pass away. 
 The old cling to it more closely than the young." * 
 
 This reflection is absolutely correct, and is proved by a 
 number of facts. I once knew very intimately a scientific 
 man who had passed a very unhappy youth. Being hyper- 
 sensitive to pain, he tried to assuage it by every means in 
 his power. Some trifling annoyance sufficing to throw him 
 into a state of utter prostration, he was in the habit of 
 
 * Emile, "CEuvres completes de J. J. Rousseau," vol. II., p. 432, 
 1876,
 
 n8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 resorting to the aid of narcotics. In order to escape from 
 mental anguish he inoculated himself with poisons. By 
 the time he had arrived at an advanced age his hyper- 
 sensitiveness gave place to feelings much less acute. He 
 ceased to resent the ills of life so bitterly as he did in his 
 youth ; while he came to appreciate better the positive side 
 of life, and even in moments of unhappiness he did not 
 contemplate putting an end to his existence. 
 
 In youth he was pessimistic, and insisted upon the pre- 
 ponderance of evil over good. As he became older, his 
 attitude towards existence became entirely modified. 
 
 I do not say, however, that it is necessary to be old in 
 order to realise the misfortune of death. " He who pre- 
 tends to face death without fear is a liar," said J . J . Rousseau. 
 " That all men fear to die is the great law dominating the 
 thinking world, and without which all living things would 
 soon cease to exist. This fear is a natural impulse, and is 
 not merely an accident but an important factor in the whole 
 order of things." * 
 
 One often hears people express their indifference to death, 
 but an examination into their real feelings on the subject 
 soon shows the true state of affairs. I once happened to be 
 present when a lady, already well advanced in years, ex- 
 pressed a wish for death, and said that she had no fear of 
 it whatever. On acquiring a fuller knowledge of her case, 
 I recognised that she was seriously ill, and that she regarded 
 death as the only possible termination to her sufferings. 
 As soon as she found that recovery was possible, she mani- 
 fested intense delight at the prospect of a prolonged life 
 freed from incessant pain. 
 
 Instinctive love of life, and fear of death, which is only 
 a manifestation of the former, are of an importance in the 
 * Loc. cit p. 76.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 119 
 
 study of human nature impossible to over-estimate ; it is 
 therefore necessary to consider a few instances throwing 
 light upon the subject. Even the ancients were interested 
 in the problem. The subject is perhaps as well dealt 
 with in a Buddhist legend as anywhere.* " The young 
 Prince Qakya-Mouni, the founder of the Bhuddhist faith, 
 being desirous of discovering the true meaning of life, 
 expressed a wish to leave the world and devote himself to 
 a religious life. In order to turn him from his purpose, his 
 father built him a magnificent palace, wherein he could 
 indulge in every sort of pleasure, and in which he would be 
 protected from all sorrow. Under this system he never saw 
 old people, nor those who were diseased, nor the dead. ' In 
 spite of being thus strictly guarded, the young prince often 
 contrived to escape into the outer world in order to drive 
 about. During his first drive, he met a broken-down, 
 decrepid old man, with varicose veins, decayed teeth, a 
 wrinkled skin, and grey hair, bent double with age like 
 the roof of a house, leaning upon a stick ; all traces of youth 
 had departed from him, only inarticulate words came from 
 his throat, his procumbent body resting on the stick, 
 and his limbs and every part of them trembling." Having 
 learnt from his coachman that this was an old man, and 
 that " in all living creatures age creeps upon youth," that 
 every one came to it and that " there was no way out of 
 it," the prince was so deeply impressed that he said to his 
 coachman, " What a misfortune to be a weak foolish person, 
 whose intelligence, blinded by the pride of youth, sees nothing 
 of old age. Turn round my chariot. I would return. What 
 are games and pleasures to me whose body is the future 
 dwelling-place of old age ? " Another time 9akya-Mouni 
 met on the road a man consumed by fever, his body weakened, 
 * The " Lalita Vistara," pp. 166-170.
 
 120 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 his breathing difficult. Informed by his coachman that the 
 man was suffering from disease, the young prince exclaimed : 
 " Health, then, is a mere dream, and the fear of disease 
 takes a terrible form. What wise man, having seen such 
 a phase of human existence, could continue to be gay and 
 happy ? " Shortly after akya-Mouni went out for the 
 third time, and " saw a dead man placed on a bier covered 
 by a pall, surrounded by his relations, all weeping, lament- 
 ing, wailing, their hair disordered, placing dust upon 
 their heads, and beating their breasts." The violent emo- 
 tion produced by the sight of the dead man caused the 
 prince to say to himself : " Woe to youth threatened with 
 old age ! Woe to health, the prey of every kind of disease ! 
 Woe to the life of man which lasts but 'a little while ! W T oe 
 to the attractions of pleasure which seduce the hearts of 
 the wise." These reflections of akya-Mouni are the basis 
 upon which Bhuddism is founded, and that religious philo- 
 sophy is impregnated with pessimistic doctrines relating to 
 human life. 
 
 Modern pessimists hold views resembling Bhuddhism. 
 Schopenhauer from early youth was engrossed by the great 
 problems of human life. His mother, in a letter to him* 
 reproached him with " grumbling at the inevitable," which 
 shows that at twenty-seven years of age he had revolted 
 against the idea of death. The problem of mortality was 
 one of those in which he was most deeply interested, and 
 his fear of disease and death was such that he left Berlin at 
 the first outbreak of cholera in 1831 (influenced by the death 
 'of Hegel, who succumbed to the disease), and went to live at 
 Frankfort, a town unvisited by the epidemic. He affirms t 
 
 * Edouard Rod, "Les idees morales du temps present," p. 48, 
 Paris, 1892. 
 
 t " Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," vol. II., p. 529.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 121 
 
 that " the greatest, and generally speaking the worst, misfor- 
 tune that can befall any one is to die, and there is no fear 
 equal to the fear of death." It was the impossibility of escape 
 that suggested to him the idea of a pessimistic philosophy. 
 
 The literatures as well as the philosophies of all periods 
 have dealt with the problem of death. Edmond de Gon- 
 court tells in his " Journal " how, in conversation with his 
 friends, this question was always recurring. The following 
 is an account of one of these conversations : * " Our old 
 established dinner of five took place to-day. Flaubert was 
 missing, so there were only Tourgueneff , Zola, Daudet, and 
 me. The ethical ennui of some of us, the physical sufferings 
 of the others, led the conversation to death, which we dis- 
 cussed until eleven o'clock, sometimes passing to other 
 subjects, but always coining back to the gloomy topic. 
 Daudet declared that in his case it was an obsession, a 
 poisoning of his life, and that he never moved into a new 
 house without looking round for the place where his coffin 
 would come to lie. Zola told us that his mother had died 
 at Medan, and that, as the staircase proved too narrow, 
 the coffin had had to be lowered from a window ; he declared 
 that he never looked at that window without wondering who 
 would be taken out that way next, he or his wife. " Yes," 
 he said, " ever since that day death has always been in the 
 background of our thoughts, and very often during the 
 night, looking at my sleepless wife, I feel that like me she is 
 thinking of it, and we lie quietly without saying aloud 
 what is in our minds for shame, yes, for very shame 
 Oh I it is terrible, that thought and the terror of it becomes 
 visible ! There have been nights when I have leapt suddenly 
 out of bed, and held myself for a second or two in a state 
 of abject terror." 
 
 * " Journal de Goncourt," vol. VI., p. 186, 1878-1884, 1892.
 
 122 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Jean Finot * was told in confidence by E. de Goncourt 
 that if he could banish the thought of death from his mind 
 life would be relieved of an almost intolerable burden. Jean 
 Finot also relates that in the course of a memorable evening 
 spent with Victor Hugo at the house of the latter, nearly 
 all of the distinguished persons who were present, when 
 questioned as to their ideas on the subject of death, frankly 
 admitted that the thought of it inspired them with fear and 
 sadness. Amongst modern authors Count Leon Tolstoi 
 has dealt most with the problem of death. In many of his 
 works whole pages of memorable reflections on the subject are 
 to be found, but the most harrowing and terrible picture he 
 ever painted is contained in his " Confessions." f The reader 
 will pardon my propensity for quoting passages relating to 
 death. He will recall the account of the Siege of Sebastopol 
 already quoted by me, in which every one was described as 
 fearing death when faced by danger ; but this fear, as the 
 author was a young man of twenty-six, was not wholly 
 absorbing. 
 
 Shortly before he attained his fiftieth year, Tolstoi became 
 bitterly tormented by the thought of death. He describes 
 the beginning of this mental crisis in the following words : 
 " First there came moments of perplexity, of arrest of vital 
 force, as though I had lost the power of living and moving ; 
 I felt utterly lost, and fell into a state of complete dejection. 
 This passed away, however, and I continued to live on as 
 before. Before long the moments of perplexity became 
 more frequent ; the arrest of my living energies was always 
 manifested by a renewal of the same questions, ' Why ? and 
 What comes after ? ' " J For some time Tolstoi did not pay 
 
 * " La Philosophic de la Longevite," p. 209, Paris, 1900. 
 t " Les Confessions," Paris, 1891. 
 % Loc. cit. p. 41.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 123 
 
 much attention to his mental condition, but by degrees he 
 began to analyse it, and reached the following conclusion : 
 "" The fact is that life is a blind alley. I had lived, worked 
 and marched onward, and had arrived at the edge of an 
 .abyss, and nothing remained to me but to fall into it. And 
 yet I could neither stop nor retrace my footsteps, nor shut 
 my eyes in order not to see suffering and inevitable death. 
 It was a void, a complete annihilation." * " In this con- 
 dition I felt that I must cease to live, and, fearing death, 
 I had to employ various ruses to prevent myself from 
 taking my life." f "I could attach no reasonable meaning 
 to any action of my life. I was merely astonished to think 
 I had failed to realise the position from the beginning. All 
 that, I said to myself, must have been patent to all the 
 world long ago. If not to-day, then to-morrow, disease 
 and death they are already here will attack elderly 
 persons me and there will remain only corruption and 
 worms. My deeds, whatever they may be, will be forgotten 
 sooner or later, and I shall be no more. Why then take 
 pains about anything ? How a man can know all this and 
 yet go on living amazes me. One can only go on living just 
 so long as one is intoxicated with life ; once sober, however, 
 one cannot fail to see what an idiotic fraud it all is. It is 
 also true that there is nothing even amusing or intelligent 
 about it ; it is simply stupid and cruel and. nothing more." 
 Seeing no way out of this, Tolstoi turned his reflections on 
 family love : " My family ... I say to myself . . . but 
 then my family, my wife, and children are also merely human 
 beings ! They live under the same conditions as I myself. 
 They have the choice between living a lie or facing the 
 Jiorrible truth. Why then should they live at all ? Why 
 should I love, cherish, and protect them ? In order that 
 * Loc. cit. p. 49. t Loc. cit. p. 51.
 
 i2 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 they may experience the same despair, or that they may 
 go through life like idiots ? Loving them, I cannot conceal 
 the truth from them ; every step forward in knowledge 
 leads to this truth ; and the truth is death." * To con- 
 clude this series of quotations, which must have given the 
 reader some idea of the love of life and the fear of death, 
 I shall give one more example, taken, not from the pen of 
 a master but from daily life.f It refers to the death in the 
 Christian community of a " minister of God, who was pious 
 as a S. Francis of Assisi, candid as a young girl, of a rigid 
 asceticism, and renowned for his charity." Logically speak- 
 ing, the death of such a man should have been peaceful. 
 Had he been a fictitious character, his author would not have 
 described his death except in the conventional fashion. 
 This is what really occurred, according to the letters of an 
 intimate friend of the dying man, who wrote as follows : 
 " Our poor friend is fighting death inch by inch in a way 
 that is positively tragic. He who was so full of resignation, 
 so serene, so perfectly at peace with his own soul, is terrified 
 by the approach of death. It is a horrible sight, that moves 
 one to tears. We are powerless not only to afford him 
 physical relief but to console the terrible anguish which 
 assails the clear intellect that clings so desperately to life, 
 and which death will claim while fully alive. ' I could still,' 
 he cried, ' give a course of lectures on theology or political 
 economy, and I must die ... It is terrible to be fully con- 
 scious . . . How much better it would be if I could not 
 think ! . . . And what is it that we ask of God ? Eternal 
 happiness ! It is just as if one of your workpeople came 
 and asked you for a thousand francs for a day's work ! 
 You would answer him, ' What nonsense you talk, you 
 
 * Loc. dt. p. 60. 
 
 f Union pour V action morale, No. 6, p. 258, Jan. 15, 1902.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 125 
 
 must be mad, my friend ! ' It is hard to die. I confess 
 . to you, my friend, that this makes one reconsider religion 
 and philosophy. . . . The goodness of God is not what we 
 think . . . there is a mystery over us. ... Is death then 
 truly the King of Terrors for those who have led good 
 lives ? " 
 
 What is this love of life which makes death so terrible ? 
 It is a very interesting question, and Tolstoi himself has 
 published an essay on " the fear of death." * 
 
 He tries to prove that the feeling arises from a false con- 
 ception of life. " Those who fear death," he says, " fear 
 it because it seems an empty darkness, but the darkness 
 and emptiness present themselves merely because they have 
 a false conception of life." f According to Tolstoi man 
 should have no greater fear of death than of any of the 
 other changes to which it is subjected by life. " No one 
 is afraid of falling asleep," he says, " and yet the pheno- 
 mena of sleep are like those of death there is the same 
 loss of consciousness. Man does not fear sleep, although the 
 arrest of consciousness is as complete as in death." J 
 
 Tolstoi thinks that the fear of death is a superstition, 
 and that it disappears when we see life as it is. 
 
 Tokarsky,|| another Russian writer, a few years ago pub- 
 lished a treatise on the fear of death, and tried to show 
 how little reason there was for it. The writer was a phy- 
 sician for the insane, and knew himself to be afflicted with 
 an incurable and fatal disease. His observations on the 
 fear of death were probably based on his own feelings. 
 
 * Complete Works of Tolstoi (in Russian), vol. XII., p. 512, 
 1897. 
 
 t Loc. cit. p. 517. % Loc. cit. p. 526. Loc. cit. p. 536. 
 
 || " Questions de Philosophic et de Psychologic," 1897, No. 40, 
 p. 931. (In Russian.)
 
 126 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Judging from the evidence of a number of persons wno had 
 been in mortal danger, Tokarsky declared that death had 
 no terror, and that it was unnecessary to fear it. 
 
 Tokarsky's theory was supported in recent years by 
 Finot * whose arguments in its favour were similar to those 
 of his predecessor. He held that man himself created the 
 fear of death, and that the prospect of an unknown future 
 played a considerable part in it. " Beyond that which we 
 see," says Finot, " there is always something that we cannot 
 see, and it is the invisible that we fear." f The idea that 
 death is generally attended by pain seems to Finot quite 
 erroneous, and he comes to the conclusion that " our ignor- 
 ances and prejudices are responsible for the creation of this 
 superstition, so terrible to contemplate, so far removed 
 from the truth." J Instances which have occurred of people 
 threatened with death and suddenly restored to life, give 
 proofs, according to Finot, that death, far from being painful, 
 is attended by pleasant sensations. With regard to this,. 
 Heim, a Swiss savant, says that tourists who have had 
 serious falls while mountaineering, and have been so near to- 
 death that they experienced all the premonitory symptoms,, 
 felt above all a sensation of ecstasy. 
 
 It cannot be denied that some forms of death are pleasant,, 
 but it is no less certain that in many other cases, and these 
 too the majority the sensation of approaching death is,. 
 on the contrary, extremely painful. This question, how- 
 ever, is not necessarily connected with the fear of death 
 that may come to those who are not yet about to die. But 
 it is precisely the latter mode of fear that is so important 
 a factor in human life. Men who are dying of starvation 
 do not feel painfully hungry at the moment of death. The 
 
 * " La Philosophic de la Longevite," Paris, 1900. 
 t Loc. cit. p. 211. % Loc. cit. p. 213,
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 127 
 
 actual pain of hunger lasts only for a limited period, 
 probably, in the case of man, only about twenty hours, 
 after which it is succeeded by a condition of lassitude and 
 general weakness, which however is different from painful 
 hunger. The fear of death is similar, for in certain cases it 
 does not last up to the end of life. The pain of thirst, on 
 the other hand, is much more persistent, lasting up to 
 the end. 
 
 Finot discussed the instinctiveness of the fear of death. 
 " The question," he wrote, " is important. For if the fear 
 be instinctive, it is independent of our will and not to be 
 controlled by reason. It would then break out in every 
 case at the approach of death. Now the evidence of many 
 persons who have no more than escaped mortal danger is 
 clearly against the view." * Hunger is certainly instinctive, 
 and yet is not always felt when the body is exhausted by 
 want of food or menaced by death from starvation. 
 
 Closer investigation leaves no doubt but that the fear of 
 death is truly an instinct. In some of the higher animals 
 it exhibits itself in the same fashion as other instincts. The 
 intimate friend, whom I have already mentioned, was for 
 years in constant expectation of death, and faced its approach 
 with perfect calmness. Believing that he had played his part 
 in life to the best of his power, not only did he think it quite 
 natural that he should cease to live, but he regarded the 
 possibility of a decrepid and painful old age with the greatest 
 possible repugnance. In his case, neither reason nor desire 
 led to a fear of death. When, however, it was definitely 
 diagnosed that he suffered from a disease which might prove 
 fatal, there was aroused in him a certain sensation which 
 must have been the fear of death. Analysis of Tolstoi's 
 statements in his " Confessions " makes it clear that his 
 * Loc. cit. p. 211.
 
 128 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 sensations on reflecting that he too would cease to be, and 
 that there would be left only corruption and worms, were 
 no other than the instinctive fear of death, a fear that his 
 reason was powerless to control. To follow Tolstoi in 
 telling any one that the fear of death is a form of superstition 
 which must be subdued by the intelligence, is no better than 
 to attempt to console a woman about to undergo ovariotomy 
 by telling her that as in future she will be unable to bear 
 children she ought to subdue her sexual instincts. She will 
 find out that her desire is not under control of the will but 
 is a pure instinct. 
 
 The fear of death has long been recognised as an instinct. 
 Schopenhauer,* for instance, interpreted it in that way. 
 According to him, " from the point of view of intelligence 
 there is no ground for fearing death. Reason, which is the 
 outcome of knowledge, does not present death to us as an evil. 
 It is certainly not the rational, conscious part of ourselves 
 which fears death ; the fuga mortis which pervades all living 
 beings is an emanation of the blind will." This " blind 
 will " is no other than a pure instinct which is independent 
 of our rational will. 
 
 I need not pursue the subject, but I may recall that Lord 
 Byron came to the conclusion that the fear of death is an 
 instinctive manifestation of the soul. In " Cain " he 
 expressed this view sufficiently clearly : 
 
 I live, 
 
 But live to die ; and living, see nothing 
 To make death hateful, save an innate clinging, 
 A loathsome, and yet all invincible 
 Instinct of life, which I abhor, as I 
 Despise myself, yet cannot overcome 
 And so I live. 
 
 * "Die Weltals Wille und Vorstellung," vol. II., p. 533.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 129 
 
 Later on in the same poem Byron makes Cain say of his 
 father Adam : 
 
 Ere he plucked 
 
 The knowledge, he was ignorant of death. 
 Alas, I scarcely now know what it is ; 
 And yet I fear it, fear I know not what. 
 
 It is then indubitable that among the instincts of man 
 there is one which loves life and fears death. This instinct 
 develops slowly and progressively with age. In that respect 
 it is astonishingly different from other instincts. When 
 hunger or thirst or sexual desire is gratified a sensation of 
 satisfaction is experienced, and this readily passes into satiety 
 or even indifference. The mood lasts for a .certain time, 
 and then the instinctive needs reawaken. The instinct of 
 life, however, behaves very differently. In most human 
 beings it develops slowly and becomes stronger and stronger 
 as the years pass by. In childhood and early youth we are 
 very anxious to " grow up," but when we are adult we have 
 no desire to grow old. We are greatly disturbed by the 
 appearance of wrinkles and grey hair. Instead of being 
 glad to have finished a great part of our mortal career, we 
 feel sad at being nearer the inevitable end. Old age, as 
 it usually presents itself, is marked by ugly features, and 
 often by repugnant or even horrible characters. Little 
 children are usually terrified by the appearance of very old 
 persons, and it is a familiar nursery threat to send for an 
 old man. 
 
 The murder of the aged is a custom widespread amongst 
 the lower races. The natives of Fiji bury their old men 
 alive, on the pretext that they have become utterly useless. 
 The custom is in existence throughout Melanesia, and occurs 
 in New Caledonia and in most of the adjacent Polynesian 
 islands. Old age is universally despised in that part of the
 
 1 3 o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 world. The natives of Australia respect old people so long" 
 as they retain their activity, but once they become unable 
 to take care of themselves they are abandoned. Often 
 they are killed and eaten, and this custom is favoured by 
 their religious beliefs.* The ancient inhabitants of Germany r 
 according to the investigations of Grimm, " killed the old 
 and the sick, and often buried them alive." 
 
 The modern civilised world has certainly made considerable 
 progress. The old are no longer killed ; they are tolerated, 
 and accorded liberty to commit suicide. In many countries 
 work is often refused to the old on the plea that they are 
 not strong enough for it, and at the same time they are 
 refused admission to almshous'es on the pretext that they 
 are not yet old enough. Dealing with the question of the 
 average life and of the normal life, Paul Bert t expressed 
 himself with regard to the aged as follows : " They deserve 
 congratulations, care and consideration, but the Prolongation 
 of their lives does not demand any special solicitude from 
 society.'" 
 
 However, in spite of the characters of old age which make 
 it horrible and useless, and at best no more than to be toler- 
 ated, and in spite of the physical and intellectual weakness that 
 accompany it, the instinctive love of life is preserved in the 
 aged in its strongest form. To make quite certain about this 
 I have visited almshouses for the aged, and it was easy to 
 see that all the inmates hoped that their days might be pro- 
 longed. In a Home occupied by fairly well-educated 
 persons, I discovered that one and all felt as if they were 
 
 * Waitz-Gerland, " Anthropologie der Naturvolker," vol. VI. 
 
 t These words are quoted by Ebstein in his " Die Kunst das 
 menschliche Leben zu verlangern," p. 51, 1891. I have been 
 unable to find Paul Bert's own words, as the reference given by 
 Ebstein is bibliographically incorrect.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 131 
 
 continually being threatened by death, as if they were 
 convicts awaiting the day of execution. At the Salpe- 
 triSre, where there are a number of very old women, 
 septuagenarians are regarded almost as young girls. The 
 great ambition of women of eighty is to live to one hundred, 
 and the desire to live is almost universal. 
 
 This seems a contradiction of another fact demonstrated 
 by statistics, that age increases the frequency of suicide. 
 It is certain that more old men commit suicide than young 
 men, but on careful inquiry into the statistics of the sub- 
 ject, it becomes evident that the chief incentive to suicide 
 does not lie in the cessation of the will to live, but in the 
 difficulties experienced by old people of earning a living, 
 and in the frequent presence of disease in the aged. 
 Deprived of the means of existence, refused the shelter of 
 charitable institutions, old men are apt to fall back upon 
 a rope or the fumes of charcoal. Statistics relating to the 
 suicide of the aged show that the greatest number of victims 
 belong to the poorer classes. The suicide of rich old men 
 is generally prompted by the presence of incurable disease. 
 There is, however, need for much wider inquiry into the 
 subject. . It would be interesting, for instance, to obtain 
 more detailed information regarding the motives which 
 urge the old to put an end to themselves. In recent times 
 the suicide of Max von Pettenkofer aroused public attention. 
 After a distinguished scientific career, he resigned his post 
 of Professor at the University of Munich at the age of seventy- 
 six. He went to live a little way outside the town on a pro- 
 perty where he devoted himself to gardening and other 
 country pursuits. Although a sufferer from diabetes, his 
 intellect remained unimpaired, but he became a prey to 
 extreme melancholy, owing to the death of some friends to 
 whom he was greatly attached. Moreover, during the
 
 1 32 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 latter part of his life he suffered from a septic affection of 
 the neck. This disease, not fatal in itself, was the indirect 
 cause of Pettenkofer's death, which occurred by suicide at 
 the age of eighty-three. The post-mortem examination * 
 showed a fairly well preserved organic system, healthy, 
 with the exception of chronic inflammation of the mem- 
 branes of the brain and atheroma of the cerebral arteries. 
 The circumstances relating to this particular case of suicide 
 are unusually well known, and yet there are many obscure 
 points about it which are of the highest importance. The 
 chronic meringitis from which the aged scientist suffered 
 conclusively precluded the theory that the motives which 
 led him to commit suicide were prompted by the phenomena 
 of normal life. On the other hand, instances are not wanting 
 of old men of good education and refined surroundings who 
 cling tenaciously to life, even at a much more advanced 
 age than the Munich professor. 
 
 The instinctive love of life resembles the sexual instinct 
 in a great many women. Just as the love of life goes on 
 increasing when the best, of life is past, sexual pleasure 
 is often unfelt by women until their beauty is already 
 faded. 
 
 Another character common to the love of life and the 
 sexual instinct is that they both persist throughout old 
 age, although they can no longer be satisfied. 
 
 Edmond de Goncourt relates in his diary that at his 
 reunions of literary celebrities (Zola, Daudet, and Tour- 
 geneff), the conversation turned most frequentlv upon 
 the subjects of love, life and women. " Death or love, 
 strangely enough," says Edmond de Goncourt, " are always 
 what we talk about after dinner." f Old age was even then 
 
 * " Munchener Medicinische Wochenschrift," p. 325, 1901. 
 t Loc. cit. p. 1 86.
 
 DISHARMONIES OF SELF-PRESERVATION 133 
 
 knocking at the doors of the distinguished writers men- 
 tioned, and so it is quite natural that their interest should 
 have been wholly absorbed by the two instincts which 
 exhibit such enigmatic and paradoxical tenacity. 
 
 We saw in the preceding chapter how disharmonious is 
 the sexual instinct which often only develops at, and nearly 
 always persists until, a period of life when its normal and 
 regular functional activity is no longer possible. We saw, 
 too, the ill resulting from this disharmony in the repro- 
 ductive apparatus. The ill, however, although serious, only 
 amounts in that case to an inconvenience which can be 
 endured. , . 
 
 Far worse is the disharmony of the instinctive love of 
 life which manifests itself when death is felt to be near at 
 hand. It is then incomprehensible and particularly terrible, 
 and humanity, from time immemorial, has sought the key 
 to the tragic puzzle, and tried by all the means in its power 
 to unravel the mystery. The religions of all times have 
 been concerned with the problem. " Religion," says 
 Guyau,* " consists for the most part of meditation upon 
 death. If we had not to die there would probably 
 be still more superstitions among men, but there would 
 probably be no systematised superstitions nor religions." 
 Philosophy also has tried to solve the question of death. 
 Some ancient philosophers held the opinion that philosophy 
 is only a meditation upon death. Socrates and Cicero f 
 have well said that " the life of a philosopher is a continual 
 meditation upon death." In our own day Schopenhauer 
 developed the same theory. "Death," he said, "is the 
 real inspiring genius of philosophy. . . . Without death it 
 
 * " L'Irreligion de 1'Avenir," Sixth Edition, p. 449, Paris, 1895, 
 
 t " Tusculanes," vol. I., chap. 30. 
 
 J " Die Welt als Wille und Verstellung," vol. II., p. 527.
 
 i 3 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 is doubtful if philosophy would exist at all. It is therefore 
 quite natural that a special essay on Death should preface 
 the last, the most serious, and the most important of my 
 books." 
 
 Judging from the facts set forth in the last three chapters, 
 there can be no doubt but that the human constitu- 
 tion, although in many ways perfect and sublime, ex- 
 hibits numerous and serious disharmonies, which are the 
 source of all our troubles. Not being so well adapted to 
 the conditions of life as orchids are, for example, in the 
 matter of their fertilisation by the mediation of insects, 
 or the burrowing wasps for the protection of their young, 
 humanity resembles rather those insects the instinct of 
 which guides them towards the flame which burns their 
 wings. 
 
 Even at a time when humanity had attained no definite 
 knowledge of itself, a vague suspicion prevailed as to the 
 existence of disharmonies, and an effort was made to remedy 
 the evil. The following chapters will show what man has 
 done with a view to remedying the natural disharmonies 
 of his constitution.
 
 PART II 
 
 ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS 
 ARISING FROM THE DISHAR- 
 MONIES OF THE HUMAN 
 CONSTITUTION 
 
 (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS)
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING 
 FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN CON- 
 STITUTION 
 
 Animism as the foundation of primitive religions The 
 Jewish religion in relation to the doctrine of immortality 
 of the soul The religions of China Ancestor worship in 
 Confucianism The conception of immortality in Taoism 
 The persistence of the soul in the Buddhist religion The 
 paradise of the Chinese Buddhists Ancestors worshipped 
 as gods Influence of religious faith on the fear of death 
 Pessimism of the doctrine of Buddha The meaning of 
 Nirvana Resignation as preached by Buddha Objections 
 to the immortality of the soul- -Irritability of the tissues and 
 cells of the body Religious hygiene Religious means of 
 controlling the reproductive functions and of preventing 
 diseases Failure of religions in their attempts to combat the 
 ills arising from the disharmonies of the human constitution 
 
 HUMANITY did not await the discovery by science of the 
 existence of disharmonies before trying to find remedies for 
 them. The will to live, to preserve health, to satisfy the 
 instincts and to make them act in unison, have driven 
 mankind, in the very earliest days of reflection, to invent 
 remedies for the imperfection of the human constitution. 
 
 I have shown that, even in the case of animals, the instinct 
 as to choice of food does not save them from certain harmful 
 substances. Man himself has for long recognised that this 
 instinct of his is no safe guide, and has tried to discover 
 surer methods of distinguishing between substances that are
 
 138 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 useful as foods and substances that may cause disease or 
 death. The best wisdom of primitive man must have been 
 given to the observation of the effects of substances which 
 had been eaten, and to a consequent framing of dietary 
 rules. 
 
 The reproductive functions, in the same way, must have 
 attracted the notice of man in very early times, as he must 
 have found the harm that came from a blind following 
 of instinctive Desire. 
 
 Above ah 1 other reasons, man must have been impelled 
 by his instinctive love of life and fear of death to find some 
 way out of his dangerous situation. To preserve his life, 
 man must have sought wise choice of food and control of 
 sexuality. 
 
 Since the dawn of intelligence, man has tried to judge the 
 unknown from the analogies given by what he knows best, 
 that is to say, by his own self. Thus he came to attribute 
 to everything around him qualities like his own qualities, 
 and motives like his own motives. He came to think not 
 only that all living beings were possessed of will and intel- 
 ligence, but that inanimate things conducted themselves like 
 human beings. 
 
 Such a primitive idea is the basis of what Tylor has called 
 *' Animism," the foundation of the philosophy and religion 
 of savage and civilised man alike. When a man was seen 
 to die, it was plain that he did not entirely disappear, but 
 merely became transformed into a new condition. The dead 
 body was not alive as we are, but, none the less, it was 
 alive in a fashion of its own. This was the answer to the 
 desire for the preservation of life, to the fear of death, that 
 is to say, of total extinction. It is practically identical with 
 faith in immortality and a future life. 
 
 The animistic conception is almost world wide. It is
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 139 
 
 plain that it afforded the most efficacious palliative for 
 minds revolting against the inevitability of death, and that 
 it harmonised with our intense will to live. " Such child- 
 like ignoring of death," wrote Tylor,* " such child-like make- 
 believe, that the dead can still do as heretofore, may well 
 have led the savage to bury with his kinsman the weapons, 
 clothes, and ornaments that he used in life, to try to feed 
 the corpse, to put a cigar in the mouth of the skull before 
 its final burial, to lay playthings in the infant's grave. 
 But one thought beyond would carry this dim blind fancy 
 into the range of logical reasoning. Granted that the man 
 is dead, and his soul gone out of him, then the way to pro- 
 vide that departed soul with food or clothes or weapons is 
 to bury or burn them with the body." 
 
 It is needless to recapitulate the various animistic customs 
 which were in vogue among primitive peoples, and which 
 have left marked traces amongst nearly if not all civilised 
 races. The details may be found in the works of 
 several authors, notably Tylor, Lubbock, and Waitz- 
 Gerland.f I shall mention only a few, choosing those that 
 seem most plain. The Turanians of Eastern Asia bury 
 with their dead all sorts of implements, such as axes and 
 flints, and food, such as meat and butter, believing that the 
 departed will have need of these during the long voyage 
 in the land of the spirits. A Tasmanian, on being asked 
 why spears were buried with the dead, replied, as if the 
 answer were self-evident, " Of course for the use in combat 
 of him who has fallen asleep." The Greenlanders place 
 bows and other weapons in the tombs of their men, and 
 
 * Tylor. " Primitive Culture," vol. I., p. 485. Third Edition, 
 1891. 
 
 t Waitz-Gerland. " Anthropologie der Naturvolker," 6 vols., 
 1866-1872.
 
 1 40 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 knives, needles, and other instruments for sewing are buried 
 with their women, in the full belief that such objects will 
 be useful in the other world. In the Congo region, the 
 curious custom exists of leaving a hole in the grave over 
 the mouth of the dead body, and once a month passing 
 into this hole meat and drink. 
 
 Many races are not content to place merely inanimate 
 objects in the graves. The . Caribbeans, believing that 
 the human spirit after death is carried to the kingdom of 
 dead souls, sacrifice slaves on the tombs of their chiefs, 
 in order that the latter may be attended in the next world. 
 With the same object they bury dogs and weapons. The 
 negroes of the Gold Coast, at the funeral of a great man, 
 kill women and slaves that he may be provided for in the 
 next world. Moreover, they bury with him his finest 
 apparel, his gilded fetishes, and corals and pearls, so that 
 the dead man may continue to make use of them. 
 
 Tylor states that such animistic conceptions occur amongst 
 all savages without exception. According to Herbert 
 Spencer, if we take groups of the human race, such as tribes, 
 societies, and nations, we find abundant evidence that all, 
 or nearly all, have a belief, vague or clear, in the resurrection 
 of a double of the dead man. It has been suggested that 
 the origin of this widespread belief is the image of the 
 departed that conies to us in dreams. These images are 
 taken as real visits of the dead. 
 
 In civilised races there are numerous relics of the old 
 beliefs. The Spaniards set bread and wine on the graves 
 of their relatives on the anniversaries of their deaths. 
 The Bulgarians hold a feast of the dead on Palm Sunday. 
 They eat and drink well, and then leave the remains of 
 the banquet on the graves of their relatives that these may 
 consume them in the night.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 141 
 
 Saint-Foix * relates that when Bertrand Duguesclin was 
 buried at St. Denis, in 1389, several horses were sacrificed. 
 The Bishop of Auxerre first blessed them, laying his hands 
 on their heads, and then they were killed. At Treves, in 
 1781, at the burial of General Frederic Casimir, his horse, 
 according to the custom of the Teutonic Order, was led in 
 front of the bier, and when the General had beeri laid in 
 the tomb, the horse was killed and buried with him.f 
 
 Although the sacrifice of men and animals is no longer 
 made by civilised peoples at burials, many funeral customs 
 have an obviously animistic origin. In Russia, for instance, 
 rice is placed alongside the corpse, and pine branches are 
 strewed along the way to be traversed by the procession. 
 The wreaths of " immortelles," used so largely at funerals 
 by the modern French, have an extremely ancient origin. 
 They were employed by the Romans, and probably their 
 use implied a conception of a future life in a region where 
 plants and flowers grew. 
 
 The belief in life after death, so widespread in the world, 
 has been the foundation of all religions. I cannot follow 
 this question here as closely as it deserves. To investigate 
 it elaborately would take more space than this volume 
 affords, and more knowledge than I possess. However, 
 it is important to my argument to insist that, among races 
 that have inhabited very different parts of the earth, that 
 have had very different manners and have passed through 
 different stages of civilisation, the conviction has been strong 
 that death is not the end of all, but only a door leading from 
 one kind of existence to another. Because of the high impor- 
 tance of the existence of this conviction, however, I must 
 
 * " Essais Historiques sur Paris," in CEuvres Completes, vol. 
 IV., p. 150. Maastricht, 1778. 
 
 t Quoted by Tylor in " Primitive Culture," chap. XI.
 
 i 4 2 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 discuss some of the criticisms that have been made as to its 
 universality. 
 
 It has been asserted repeatedly that the idea of a future 
 life was not a part of the Jewish religion, as formulated 
 in the Bible. Haeckel has recently repeated a common 
 opinion that belief in the immortality of the soul was absent 
 from the oldest and purest form of the Jewish religion. 
 " There is not to be found," he said, " either in the Penta- 
 teuch or in those more ancient parts of the Old Testament 
 which were written before the Babylonian captivity, any 
 idea of the persistence of the human soul." This is true 
 only within limits. No doubt the books of Moses contain 
 no reference to a future life nor to heaven and hell in the 
 sense of modern creeds, but it is no less true that the ancient 
 Jews shared with other races the conception of a survival 
 after death. " Like almost all primitive nations," wrote 
 Renan,* " the Hebrews believed in a kind of double per- 
 sonality, in a shadow pale and thin which, after death, 
 descended underground and passed a sad and colourless 
 existence in the sombre halls of the dead. The dead 
 dwelt there, without feeling, or knowledge, or memory, 
 in a world without light, abandoned by God. At the most 
 the old Hebrews hoped to obtain for themselves a quiet 
 resting-place, a pleasant couch for the time when they would 
 be with the dead. It comforted them to picture themselves 
 as lying amongst their ancestors in quiet communion." 
 
 Ancestor worship, which is associated closely with the 
 idea of a future life, appears repeatedly in the Pentateuch. 
 Jacob, when he felt death coming upon him, called his son 
 Joseph and said unto him, " Bury me not, I pray thee, in 
 Egypt ; but I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry 
 me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place." 
 
 * " Histoire du Peuple d'Israel," vol. I., pp. 128-129. 1887.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 143 
 
 According to Chantepie de la Saussaye,* " we are coming 
 to recognise more and more how strongly the children of 
 Israel, and in fact all other peoples, were tinged with 
 animism and ancestor worship." 
 
 It is very remarkable how the idea of a future life, which 
 was vague in the early days of Israel, grew more and more 
 clear. Ezekiel (sixth century B.C.), when he had " seen the 
 visions of God," prophesied of things to come, and declared 
 that God would breathe life into the dry bones of the dead. 
 The Book of Daniel (second century B.C.) expressed the same 
 idea in a stronger fashion : " And many of them that 
 sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to ever- 
 lasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt 
 (Daniel xii. 2). " It is plain," said Renan,f after quoting 
 these words, " that Israel had now reached the last stage in 
 the secular development of her ideas, and had reached the 
 conception of the kingdom of God, as synonymous with the 
 future world and the resurrection. As the conception of 
 a soul distinct from the body was foreign to her, she could 
 not conceive of a future life apart from resurrection of 
 the body." 
 
 Still later, in the Talmud, the conception of a future life 
 is clothed with details. Paradise is depicted as a region 
 filled with sweet odours, while hell is an unclean place, 
 thick with mire and smoke. According to the Talmud, in 
 the life beyond the grave, " there is neither eating nor drink- 
 ing ; the good sit there with crowns on their heads and see 
 God in bliss." J 
 
 At the date of the Cabalistic philosophy, the Jews had 
 
 * Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte," vol. I., p. 253. Freiburg, 
 Leipzig. Second Edition, 1897. 
 
 f " Histoire du Peuple d'Israel," vol. IV., p. 327. 1893. 
 
 Talmud. " Traite Berakhote," sheet 17.
 
 i 4 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 embraced the doctrine of transmigration of souls, and had 
 come to believe that the spirit of Adam had entered David 
 and would pass on to the Messiah. Some human souls 
 passed into the bodies of animals, into the leaves of trees, 
 or even into stones. 
 
 It is plain that the idea of a future life was a part of 
 the Jewish religion. * 
 
 It has been said, also, that the idea of a future life was 
 absent from the religions of the Chinese. Biichner,* fcr 
 instance, who came to be almost the official representative ol 
 the materialism of the second half of last century, asserts that 
 " Buddhism, that famous religion, the most widespread and 
 one of the most ancient, which counts among its followers 
 nearly a third of the inhabitants of the earth, ignores com 
 pletely the immortality of the soul." Haeckel, also, in 
 the " Riddle of the Universe," a volume that sums up the 
 materialism of the end of the last century, makes a similar 
 statement. " The higher oriental religions include no belief 
 whatever in the immortality of the soul ; it is not found 
 in Buddhism, the religion that dominates 30 per cent. 
 of the entire human race ; it is not found in the ancient 
 popular religion of the Chinese, nor in the reformed religion 
 of Confucius which succeeded it." f 
 
 This question demands a somewhat closer investigation. 
 It has been thoroughly proved that the basis of the ancient 
 religion of the Chinese was no more than an extreme develop- 
 ment of ancestor worship. Every important event in family 
 affairs was accomplished " in the presence of the ancestors." 
 It was a bond with relatives beyond the grave. As in 
 other cases of animism and ancestor-worship, meats were 
 offered to the dead, and objects were buried with them 
 
 * " Force et Matiere." Sixth French edition, p. 439. 1884. 
 t Loc. tit., p. 198.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 145 
 
 to be of service to them. According to A. Reville,* the 
 Chinese as a whole " fully recognised the conception of 
 personal survival after death ; if there were no other reason 
 for stating this, it would be enough to point out that offerings 
 of real food would be incomprehensible, if made to persons 
 supposed to be non-existent or reduced to complete uncon- 
 sciousness." As they offer to the dead, food and clothing 
 and precious things, it is plain that the Chinese think of 
 life beyond the grave as not very different from this life. 
 " The dead maintain their interest in the affairs and persons 
 and food that was familiar to them." 
 
 As the idea of immortality became developed further, 
 the Chinese modified their customs. Instead of offering to 
 the dead material objects, as is still done by many peoples, 
 they came to substitute emblems. " Houses and clothing 
 and food imitated in paper, and dolls of paper and straw 
 to represent slaves, are burned, so that the spiritual forms 
 of these objects may be offered to the spirit they wish to 
 honour." f 
 
 One of the chief motives of ancestor-worship is fear lest 
 the dead, if neglected, may visit their wrath on the living 
 by sending plagues and pestilence upon them 4 
 
 The worship of the dead had laid hold of the Chinese so 
 firmly that even Confucius, notwithstanding his intelli- 
 gence and scepticism, paid it a large tribute. " Confucius 
 the philosopher," said Reville, " regarded it as a duty to 
 offer to his ancestors the gifts of food that princes had sent 
 to him desiring to honour him." 
 
 * " Histoire des Religions," vol. III., "La religion chinoise," 
 Paris, 1889 ; see also " Chantepie de la Saussaye," loc. cit. vol. I., 
 p. 58. 
 
 t Reville, loc. cit. p. 191. J Ibid. p. 195. 
 
 Loc. cit. p. 185. 
 
 K
 
 146 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Confucius and his followers were reticent and ambiguous 
 in their references to a future life, but that attitude did 
 not prevent them from " observing the customs and cere- 
 monies as carefully as if they had had a confident faith in 
 the immortality of the soul." * Although Lao-tseu himself 
 believed neither in heaven nor hell, and professed the most 
 rationalistic views, his disciples none the less accepted the 
 doctrine of immortality, and even came to believe in rewards 
 and punishments after death. 
 
 The followers of Lao-tseu, the Taoists, devoted them- 
 selves specially to the problem of immortality. They made 
 efforts to discover an elixir that would be capable of pro- 
 longing earthly life to eternity. " One of the chief claims 
 of Taoism," wrote Reville, " was the possession of a specific 
 against death. It was true that they admitted this to be 
 not only very difficult to obtain, but still more difficult to 
 employ. However, if certain rules were observed strictly 
 they were at least confident of great prolongation of life. 
 It was only the very few Taoists who had reached per- 
 fection who could hope to pass into the better world without 
 being subjected to the pains of death." -j- And so some of 
 the masters of Taoism, such, for instance, as Chang-Tao- 
 Ling, ascended to heaven without dying, by climbing a 
 lofty peak and vanishing into the skies." | 
 
 The ordinary Taoists accepted fully the idea of immortality. 
 They " taught the doctrine of purgatory for those who 
 were not evil. To arrive at this, Lao-tseu simply expanded 
 and applied to mankind generally an idea that was already 
 familiar to him, the conception of the transmigration of 
 one soul through several successive bodies. By means of 
 
 * "Histoire des Religions," vol. III., "La religion chinoise," 
 Paris 1889, p. 187. 
 
 t Loc. cit. p. 450. + Ibid. p. 444.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES ' 147 
 
 such expiatory transformations, a man who had not reached 
 it directly through the holiness of his life, could attain the 
 immortality of genii and the blessed." * 
 
 It was believed for long that the Taoists, following the 
 teaching of their master, did not recognise a hell. But 
 this opinion has had to be abandoned, because the " Taoist 
 clergy have provided, in the temples dedicated to the tutelary 
 deities of their cities, paintings illustrating the torments pre- 
 pared for the guilty by the ten courts of justice that sit in 
 the depths of an ocean hidden in the interior of the earth." f 
 
 Clearly then, many Chinese, both Taoists and followers 
 of Confucius, believe in the existence of a world beyond the 
 grave. However, the denial of immortality has been 
 ascribed to Buddhists in particular. 
 
 Buddha accepted the Brahmanist doctrine of transmi- 
 gration of the soul. This has been established clearly on 
 the evidence of several documents of admitted authenticity. 
 Orthodox Buddhism is somewhat vague on the immortality 
 of the soul. Buddha himself avoided making a decisive 
 statement on this matter. In such circumstances " those 
 who were terrified at annihilation, and who could not give 
 up the hope of eternal, happiness, interpreted the silence of 
 Buddha according to their own desire, and inferred that he 
 did not forbid them to hope." J 
 
 There are many instances of the evasions of Buddhist 
 teachers when they were pressed with this disturbing ques- 
 tion. Pasenadi, the king, once met Khema, the nun, a 
 disciple of Buddha, renowned for her wisdom. The king 
 put to her the following question : " Does the Perfect One 
 (Buddha) exist after death ? " " The Sublime One, O 
 
 * "Histoire des Religions," vol. III., "La religion chinoise," 
 Paris, 1889, p. 469. t Ibid. p. 470. 
 
 \ Oldenburg, "Le Bouddha," French translation,p. 281, Paris, 1894.
 
 i 4 8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 great king, has not revealed to us the existence of paradise 
 beyond the grave." " Then the Perfect One exists no longer 
 now that he is dead, O reverend lady ? " " Neither, O 
 king, has the Sublime One revealed that He who is perfect 
 does not exist now that He is dead." " Am I to believe, then, 
 O reverend lady, that the Perfect One still lives, although 
 He is dead, and at the same time does not live ? Am I to 
 believe, O wise lady, that the Perfect One being dead, 
 neither exists nor does not exist ? " * 
 
 Take again the mode in which Soumirmita,f " the son of 
 a god, and surrounded and preceded by a crowd of gods," 
 worshipped Bouddha (Tathagata) : " Thou art the phy- 
 sician, skilful to save, and who givest the gift of life ever- 
 lasting." 
 
 The Buddhists, as they were not given clear doctrines on 
 this subject, very naturally followed their inclinations by 
 accepting the idea of life beyond the grave. And certainly 
 Buddhism does not teach annihilation of the body after 
 death, although this has been lightly taken for granted. 
 On the contrary, it is so persuaded of survival after death 
 as being the rule, that it grants only to rare and elect souls 
 the privilege of at length laying down the burden of con- 
 tinuous life .J 
 
 The Chinese Buddhists retained the fundamental concep- 
 tions of the ancient religion of their 'land and continued to 
 worship their ancestors and to seek the readiest path to 
 immortality. They soon came to transform Nirvana into 
 paradise, and to inculcate in the Chinese race the doctrine 
 of future rewards and punishments. " The Buddhist monas- 
 teries in China for the most part possessed a set of little 
 
 * Oldenburg, loc. cit. p. 282. 
 
 f " Lalita Vistara," loc. cit. p. 3^3. 
 
 J Reville, loc. cit. p. 475.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 149 
 
 rooms, in which there were depicted, in vivid colours, 
 crowded scenes from the eighteen hells of tribulation 
 and lamentation. For there exist under the earth 
 eight hells filled with the torments of fire, and ten with 
 the equally terrible horrors of ice." * 
 
 The paradise of the Chinese Buddhists, or Ni-pan (Land of 
 the Pure), is a region abounding in " gold and silver, and 
 precious stones. Rivers of crystal run on golden sands 
 covered with splendid lotus-flowers and traversed by 
 delightful paths. Lovely music is always to be heard. 
 Three times a day a shower of blossoms falls. There are 
 to be seen there gorgeous birds, pheasants, and parrots, 
 and many others ; and these, every quarter of an hour, in 
 a choir of melodious voices, trill out the beauties of religion 
 and recall to their hearers the Buddha, Dharma, and Sungha. 
 These are some of the wonders prepared for those who are 
 born again after death. Into that land neither sin nor 
 any evil enters.". f 
 
 I need no longer accumulate details to show the falseness 
 of the view that a third of humanity profess materialism 
 to the exclusion of any belief in survival after death. On 
 the other hand, it is quite certain that the vast majority 
 of mankind is convinced that death puts ho definite term 
 to existence, and that this life is no more than a passing 
 stage leading to a life to come. However, although many 
 simple races believe that the future life is merely a continua- 
 tion of this life, the more subtle-minded races present the 
 future life as filled with delights for the good and with 
 torments for the wicked. 
 
 Such an idea of the next world, which is very generally 
 accepted, is probably the basis of religions. From it have 
 come the conceptions of supreme beings and divinities 
 * Reville, loc. cit. p. 556. f Ibid. p. 525.
 
 1 5 o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Many facts go to show that the primitive gods were no other 
 than the relatives and ancestors of the living, now dead, 
 yet living in another world and ruling the affairs of this 
 world. Wicked ancestors became transformed into evil 
 spirits, while good ancestors became mild and benevolent 
 deities. 
 
 Very many peoples offer prayers to their ancestors and 
 treat them as gods. The Kaffirs pray and sacrifice to their 
 dead relatives, believing that the spirits of the dead haunt 
 their late dwelling-places, and, according to their characters, 
 help or torment their descendants. As they are able to 
 cause good or evil after death, these play the part of gods. 
 But, as Lubbock points out (" Origin of Civilisation "), 
 it must be remembered that the god of a savage is only 
 a being like unto himself, although probably rather more 
 powerful, and I shall show that there are many intermediate 
 stages between true gods and mere dead parents whose malice 
 is to be feared, or whose kindness is to be supplicated. 
 
 The North American Indians * pray to the spirits of 
 their forefathers for good weather or luck in hunting, and 
 fancy when an Indian falls into the fire that the ancestral 
 spirits pushed him in to punish neglect of the customary 
 gifts, while the natives of Louisiana are said to have even 
 gone so far as to build temples for dead men. In Polynesia 
 " at Tanna, the gods are spirits of departed ancestors, aged 
 chiefs becoming deities after death, presiding over the growth 
 of yams and fruit-trees, and receiving from the islanders 
 prayer and offerings of first fruits." f In the Malay Islands 
 " the souls of deceased ancestors are looked to for pros- 
 perity in life and help in distress." In Africa ancestor- 
 worship is well developed. The Zulu warriors, " aided by 
 
 * Tylor, "Primitive Culture," vol. II., pp. 113-114, Third 
 Edition, 1891. f Ibid. vol. II., p. 114.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 151 
 
 the amatongo,' the spirits of their ancestors, conquer in 
 the battle. Even the little children and old women, of 
 small account in life, become at death spirits having much 
 power, the infants for kindness, the crones for malice. But 
 it is especially the head of each family who receives the 
 worship of his kin." * The Zulu adores his father, when 
 he is a chief, above all others, and is convinced that a father 
 remembering his love for his children, will not forget them 
 when he is dead. " The Zulu follows up the doctrine of 
 divine ancestors till he reaches a first ancestor of man and 
 creator of the world, the primeval Unkulunkulu." f 
 
 So great is the number of instances that it is too difficult 
 to choose from them. The fundamental idea is always 
 identical, although details and accessories vary, as one passes 
 from the hardly idealised relatives of negro tribes and goes 
 progressively to the " Father Almighty, Maker of heaven 
 and earth " of the Nicene Creed. 
 
 The conception of a future life in the form of immortality 
 or some kindred state, associated with the conception of 
 many gods or of one God, has been developed to satisfy the 
 craving for life and to combat the fear of death, that is to 
 say, to defeat the greatest contradiction in the constitution 
 of man. I must now inquire how far the different religions 
 have been successful in this object. 
 
 Many primitive races have absolute faith in the tenets 
 of their religion, and believe in the promise of life beyond 
 the grave as in a certain fact. Thus the aborigines of the 
 Fiji islands are convinced that they will be born again, in 
 another world, in the exact condition in which they leave 
 this life ; and so they wish to die before being afflicted 
 with any infirmity. As it is very difficult to reach old age 
 without being the victim of some illness or infirmity, when 
 * Ibid. p. 115. t Ibid. p. 116.
 
 152 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 a man feels the approach of age, he tells his children that 
 the time has come for him to die. If he himself fails to 
 give this notice, the children undertake the duty. A family 
 council is called, the day is appointed, and the grave made 
 ready. The old man is allowed to choose between being 
 strangled and being buried alive. The following instance 
 will show the strength of a belief in life to come. Hunt, 
 an English traveller, quoted by Lubbock, received a visit 
 from a young native of Fiji, whose purpose was to give an 
 invitation to the funeral of his mother which was to take 
 place next day. Mr. Hunt accepted the invitation and 
 joined the procession, but as he was surprised to see no dead 
 body, inquired about it from the son. The son pointed out 
 his mother, walking in the procession and as gay and ani- 
 mated as any of the others. Mr. Hunt stated his surprise, 
 and asked why he had been deceived by being told that the 
 mother was dead, when she was plainly as much alive and 
 as well as any one else. He received the reply that the 
 death festival was about to be celebrated ; that presently 
 they would bury her ; that she was old, and that his brother 
 and he, thinking that she had lived long enough, and should 
 be put to death, had obtained her cheerful consent. 
 
 This case is far from being solitary, because many villages 
 have been described as containing no inhabitants of a greater 
 age than forty years, all those older having been buried. It 
 is not difficult to understand that death should have no 
 terrors for persons possessed of a faith as strong as this. 
 The American Indian, according to Lubbock, has very little 
 fear of death. He does not fear transference to a realm 
 in which, as he has been told all his life, there is no sorrow 
 and abundance of joy. 
 
 I know a case of a young girl of the Catholic faith who 
 believed so firmly in ihe joys of Paradise that, when stricken
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 153 
 
 with a mortal illness, she awaited death with a great impa- 
 tience. Before she died, she cried out that "already she 
 could see the beautiful flowers and hear the sweet music of 
 the birds that fill heaven." 
 
 But it is rare to find faith so strong in such a case. More 
 often faith is not strong enough to subdue the fear of death, 
 and in proof of this I may recall the instance of the clergy- 
 man already given.* Stricken with an incurable disease, 
 he, in spite of his religion, underwent extreme agony, 
 and could not reconcile himself to the idea of death. The 
 fear of death showed itself so strongly in this case that I 
 have chosen it as a characteristic instance of the feeling. 
 
 It is only with fanatics and simple or primitive persons 
 that blind faith can subdue this instinctive fear. For this 
 reason, since the most ancient times, religions have sought 
 out something more than the promise of paradise to mitigate 
 this chief disharmony of our nature. In this connection 
 the doctrines of Buddha are those most interesting. Here 
 I shall not deal with that modified and transformed Bud- 
 dhism, in which, as I have already shown, there was a return 
 to the doctrine of future life, with its hell of torments and 
 heaven filled with delights, 
 
 Buddha made no reference to the great blot on human 
 life. His doctrine, in its original form, was extremely 
 pessimistic. Take, for instance, some of his sayings on this 
 subject : " Miserable in truth is this world, in which there 
 is beginning, birth, growing old, death, disappearance and 
 renewal. But we know not how to escape from this world, 
 full of horror though it be. Alas, because of old age, illness, 
 death, and their like, we know not who shall put an end 
 to this world, which is so full of horror. To all who are, 
 there comes old age, and illness, and death, and their like." f 
 * See p. 124. f The " Lalita Vistara," p. 289.
 
 I 54 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 When the Buddha came upon the sorrows of the world, 
 as I have already described (p. 119), he reflected as follows : 
 " Woe upon youth, threatened by old age ! Woe upon 
 health, which so many maladies destroy ! Woe upon the 
 life of man, which lasts but a little space ! Woe on the 
 temptations of the flesh, which lure the heart of the wise ! 
 W T ould that there were neither old age nor illness, nor 
 death and the pains of death, which come from the five 
 elements of life (Skandhas) ! Would that there were neither 
 old age nor illness nor death, which are for ever bound up 
 together ! Nevertheless, when I return again I shall con- 
 sider deliverance." * 
 
 Having pondered for many days on these problems, 
 Buddha thought that he had discovered the only solution, 
 and taught men resignation. When a man was young he 
 would ask of his father : " Lord, would that old age would 
 never come upon me, and that I should keep for ever the 
 warm colour of my youth ; that I should be always filled 
 with health, and that no disease should come near me ; that 
 my life should be prolonged for ever, and that death should 
 pass me by ! Such an one later on must learn to give up 
 these longings." t 
 
 In his famous " Sermon at Benares," Buddha gave in 
 brief the outlines of his doctrines in the following words : 
 " Hear, oh monks ! the holy truth of the springs of sorrow ! 
 Sorrow is born of lust of life, that drags us from incarnation 
 to incarnation, and of pleasure and desire, which seek their 
 fulfilment hither and thither ; the lust of pleasure, the lust 
 of life, the lust of power. Hear, oh monks ! the holy truth 
 of the conquest of sorrow ; it is the killing of this lust by 
 the utter abandonment of desire, the giving up of all desire, 
 
 * The " Lalita Vistara," p. 176. 
 f Ibid. p. 170.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 155 
 
 the forgetting of all desire, the freeing of the body of all 
 desire, until there is no place left for desire." * 
 
 In such a spirit of resignation, Buddha became himself 
 a monk, and lived according to the strict rules of the pure 
 life that he himself had laid down (" the belief pure, the will 
 pure, the language pure, the deeds pure, the means of live- 
 lihood pure, the study pure, the attention pure, the medi- 
 tation pure "). However, he did not find many kindred 
 souls to follow the same precepts. Buddhism soon moved 
 away from these original tenets, and became a religious 
 doctrine of the ordinary kind. 
 
 We are inclined to associate with Buddhism the doctrine 
 of Nirvana, as if the latter were the goal to which human 
 life should be directed. Many philosophers, and the pes- 
 simists chief among them, naturally with Schopenhauer 
 .at their head, have adopted Nirvana as the goal of mankind, 
 as they see the world. However, the word Nirvana has 
 had many interpretations put upon it, the which is less 
 surprising as Sanscrit scholars differ. I do not intend to 
 join in the discussion, as I myself am not acquainted with 
 Sanscrit, upon which the argument must be founded. How- 
 ever, I cannot pass it by without comment on the pretext 
 that it has not yet been settled definitely by specialists, 
 as it is the case that many thinkers regard Nirvana as the 
 goal of human existence. 
 
 For long Nirvana was represented as a sort of blank, in 
 which there was no display of any mental operations. Max 
 MuHer,f the celebrated Oxford professor, opposed this 
 interpretation on the ground that, according to him, in 
 *' all passages of Buddhistic origin in which Nirvana occurs 
 there is nothing to betoken annihilation. Most of these 
 passages, if not all of them, would be quite unintelligible 
 * Oldenburg, p. 214. f " Buddhagosas Parables."
 
 156 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 if we were to replace in them the word Nirvana by the word 
 annihilation." 
 
 Many other specialists share this view, and cannot agree 
 that the goal of human life was to be annihilation,. Rhys 
 Davids, for instance, thinks that Nirvana is to be interpreted 
 as a tranquillity of the soul, possible of achievement in this 
 life, and that the word is best translated by the term " sanc- 
 tity." According to him, Nirvana does not mean extinc- 
 tion or annihilation, but rather freedom from the great 
 passions, such as envy and hate. Pfungst * agrees with 
 Max Miiller ; he is convinced that the first adepts of Buddha 
 could not have conceived of Nirvana as extinction. Dahl- 
 mann f on the other hand, tries to prove that Nirvana 
 in its primitive signification implied the abolition of the 
 will to live, and really corresponded to annihilation. 
 
 I must add, however, that Nirvana did not occupy a 
 place in Buddhism so important as has been ascribed to 
 it by several commentators. In many of the Buddhist 
 authorities mention of Nirvana is only accidental. In the 
 " Lalita Vistara," for instance, the word occurs very seldom, 
 and then only in unimportant connections. However, the 
 latter document contains a good deal that serves to explain 
 the conception of Nirvana. 
 
 When the young Buddha, still very exacting, asked his 
 father to obtain for him perpetual youth, health, life ever- 
 lasting, and freedom from death, he added the following 
 words : " Lord, if you cannot give me these four gifts, at 
 least bring it about that after this life I shall have no more 
 metempsychoses." J 
 
 As I have already stated, Buddhism had embraced the 
 
 * " Das Freie Wort," pp. 603-607, Jan. 5, 1902, 
 f " Nirvdna," Berlin, 1896. 
 J "Lalita Vistara," p. 176.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 157 
 
 Brahmanistic doctrine of transmigration of souls. Accord- 
 ing to the legend, before his birth as a prince, the Buddha 
 had passed hundreds of earlier existences. His soul had 
 been the soul not only of fifty-eight kings, but of eighteen 
 monkeys, four horses, four snakes, three lizards, two fish, 
 and of other creatures.* Such continual transferences of the 
 soul to so many different animals was a source of perplexity 
 and sorrow to believers. It was natural that a great thinker 
 like Buddha should have conceived the desire of sparing 
 himself and his faithful followers so many transmigrations. 
 He thought of these rebirths as a great evil, from which a 
 pure life might set one free. 
 
 In the poetical language of the Hindoo Buddhists, metem- 
 psychosis was compared to the ocean ; the waves that change 
 from moment to moment were the continual rebirths ; our 
 temporary body was the foam of the crests of the waves, 
 while Nirvana was the opposite shore. He who reaches 
 Nirvana would never again plunge into the great sea of 
 Sangsara. In a passage quoted by Rhys Davids, and 
 ascribed to Kama Sutta, it is stated expressly that " the 
 sea is an image of the Sangsara or transmigrations, while 
 Nirvana is an island upon it. Once the shores have been 
 reached, a soul will no longer be plunged in the waves of 
 the ocean, and will be freed from the successive births of 
 metempsychosis ." 
 
 In other words, to avoid being tormented after death by 
 perpetual rebirths, some of which may be humiliating, it 
 is necessary to live a pure life and so to secure repose or 
 Nirvana. Nirvana is by no means the cessation of all con- 
 sciousness, but merely the end of transmigrations. From 
 such a point of view, it is possible to interpret all, or at least 
 nearly all, the passages in which Nirvana is spoken of. 
 
 * Spence Hardy, "A Manual of Buddhism," p. 100, London, 1853.
 
 158 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 When he was old and full of disease and afflicted with 
 grievous pain, Buddha, being at the point of death, thought 
 of his disciples and called them to him and said : " It is not 
 meet that I should enter Nirvana without having spoken 
 with those who have cared for me, without speaking to the 
 community of disciples. By the force of my will I shal 
 subdue this disease and hold the life within me." Some 
 time afterwards, the reverend Ananda went to Buddha 
 and spoke to him, saying amongst other words as follows : 
 " The Sublime One will surely not enter into Nirvana ere 
 he has made known unto the community of disciples his 
 wishes regarding them." " Growing more and more feeble, 
 the spirit of Buddha passed from ecstacy to ecstacy without 
 ceasing, and knew every delight ; then he entered into 
 Nirvana. And the earth trembled, and thunder rolled 
 across the skies." * 
 
 It is clear that in this passage Nirvana was associated 
 with death. But it was with the death of a saint who had 
 lived a pure life. Metempsychosis would not be inflicted 
 on him, and he would enjoy repose. It is probable that 
 the term Nirvana later on came to be applied to the state 
 of mind of a saint who, by living the pure life, would avoid 
 transmigration after death. 
 
 As the importance of Nirvana lies in its contrast with 
 metempsychosis, it is easy to see why the precise state of 
 mind involved in it has not been described exactly. How- 
 ever, a survey of the Buddhistic writings makes it plain 
 that at least Nirvana was not associated with annihilation. 
 In this respect Max Miiller's verdict must be taken as correct. 
 
 Buddha's attempt to remedy the ills of human life, then, 
 lay in a complete renunciation of all the joys and pleasures 
 of life, and in perfect resignation. The mere fact that 
 * Oldenburg, loc. cit. pp. 200-206.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 159 
 
 primitive Buddhism did not persist, but rapidly passed into 
 an ordinary religion, is sufficient proof that Buddha did not 
 achieve his purpose. It was the promise of a life to come 
 that attracted so many men and spread Buddhism over 
 so large a part of the earth. However, this faith has been 
 able to maintain itself only in certain strata of society to 
 which the rationalistic conception of the mental processes 
 has not penetrated. Since the awakening of the scientific 
 spirit in Europe, it has been recognised that the promise 
 of a future life has no basis of fact to support it. The modern 
 study of the functions of the mind has shown beyond all 
 question that these are dependent on the functions of the 
 body, in particular of those of the central nervous system. A 
 slight lowering of the rate of the circulation of the blood, a 
 fleeting anaemia of the brain, at once arrests consciousness, 
 that is to say, the fundamental sensation of the individual 
 mental life. Anaesthetics, used in doses so small that they 
 do not influence certain parts of the nervous system, as, for 
 instance, those that control the heart and lungs, completely 
 abolish consciousness. Persons who are put under chloro- 
 form for surgical purposes fall into a state of absolute uncon- 
 sciousness. Sometimes, after undergoing painful sensations, 
 especially sensations of oppression, the patients imagine 
 themselves to be in rapid motion, and in a few moments 
 have the sensation of falling into an immense gulf, after 
 which comes nothingness, the annihilation of sensations and 
 of consciousness. In other cases, patients, without any 
 sensation of catastrophe, lose all idea of reality, and every 
 psychic and sensorial function is abolished. Such states 
 are very closely similar to death, which indeed is the result, 
 in certain rare instances, of the ordinary process of being 
 chloroformed. 
 
 Neither the narcosis produced by chloroform nor that
 
 160 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 produced by any other form of anaesthetic, affords any 
 particle of ground for the view that there is consciousness 
 in any form apart from the body. The action of morphine 
 sometimes brings about a strange current of happiness and 
 an apparent weightlessness of the body ; but here again 
 there is no suspicion given as to the existence of any mental 
 phenomena apart from the body. 
 
 Consciousness of personality is of supreme interest 
 from the point of view of personal immortality, and this 
 mental phenomenon develops only slowly and progressively 
 in an infant. This fact, again, like the facts of narcosis, 
 shows the dependence of consciousness on the action of the 
 bodily organs. Just as our consciousness comes out of 
 nothing in the first months, or years, of our life, so it will 
 pass into nothing at the end of our life. 
 
 Mental disease confirms this conclusion, and it, too, gives 
 no ground for the belief in a survival of the mind after 
 death. 
 
 Certain internal sensibilities in the depths of our organism 
 survive our personal consciousness. When the heart has 
 ceased to beat, and when the anaemic brain is certainly 
 incapable of personal consciousness, some portions of the 
 body may still retain vitality. The muscular fibres are still 
 able to contract when they are stimulated, and the white 
 corpuscles of the blood can still exhibit their specific move- 
 ments. It is certain, moreover, that these white corpuscles 
 possess a specific sensibility, and, by a sort of sense of taste, 
 respond to the kind of environment that surrounds them. 
 Our consciousness, however, is absolutely out of touch with 
 the sensations of these globules, which, however, none the 
 less are part of our organism. It happens, therefore, that 
 in certain diseases, the white corpuscles, stimulated by 
 the presence of particular substances, perform extensive
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 161 
 
 movements of migration within our bodies. Such migration 
 is quite outside the sphere of consciousness. The corpuscles, 
 directed by their sensibility, are in constant pursuit ot 
 microbes that have entered the body, and yet these actions, 
 too, are not made known to our consciousness. In the same 
 fashion, the thousands of active spermatozoa in the male 
 organs and the ova in the female possess specific sensi- 
 bility. These reproductive elements contain the germ of 
 individual consciousness, but it is not until they have 
 developed into the new generation that it is possible to 
 impute to them individual consciousness, and the organism 
 that shelters them has no idea of what it harbours. The 
 sensibility of the white corpuscles and of the many other 
 cells composing our body, although certainly a reality, has 
 no part in the absolutely special sensation that we call indi- 
 vidual consciousness, and which is all we think of in wishing 
 to escape death. 
 
 The idea of a future life is supported by not a single fact, 
 while there is much evidence against it. The phenomenon 
 of intercommunication across a distance, sometimes called 
 telepathy, may be actual, but affords no support to the 
 conception of the existence of souls apart from bodies. It 
 may be that emanations are given off by certain organs, 
 and that these are capable of being appreciated by the organs 
 of another body at a distance ; but, even if such were the 
 case, we should have to deal simply with other bodily 
 functions. Moreover, the supposed phenomena that fall 
 within this category are so rare, so difficult to observe, and 
 so obscure, that no certain argument for the continuance 
 of existence after death can be deduced from them. 
 
 It is easy to see why the advance of knowledge has 
 diminished the number of believers in the persistence of 
 consciousness after death, and that complete annihuation
 
 162 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 at death is the conception accepted by the vast majority 
 of enlightened persons. 
 
 Apart from their chief function of consoling men for the 
 inevitability of death, religions have concerned themselves 
 with some of the results of other disharmonies of the human 
 constitution. From time immemorial they have claimed 
 the direction of diet, the control of the reproductive functions, 
 and the prevention or cure of all kinds of disease. 
 
 The dietary regulations given by the religions are familiar. 
 Even at the present day, the cookery of many races is 
 regulated by their religion. The Jewish diet, notably, is 
 regulated by the Mosaic law, down to the most minute 
 detail. For instance, it was forbidden to eat the blood 
 of animals. Moses commanded : " Notwithstanding, thou 
 mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, whatsoever thy 
 soul lusteth after, according to the blessing of the Lord 
 thy God, which he hath given thee ; the unclean and the 
 clean may eat thereof, as of the roebuck, and as of the 
 hart. Only ye shall not eat the blood ; ye shall pour it 
 on the earth as water." * Later on : " Only be sure 
 that thou eat not the blood ; for the blood is the life ; 
 and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh." | " Thou 
 shalt not eat it, that it may go well with thee, and 
 with thy children after thee, when thou shalt do that which 
 is right in the sight of the Lord." J The Books of Moses 
 also contain receipts for the cooking of certain meats. 
 " Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast 
 with fire, his head with his legs, and with the purtenance 
 thereof." 
 
 It has been suggested that these rules were founded on 
 ideas of hygiene in consonance with the results of modern 
 
 * Deuteronomy xii. 15, 16, f Ibid. 23 
 
 J Ibid. 25, Exodus xii. 9,
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 163 
 
 science. Some of them, it is true, such as the prohibition 
 of uncooked or partially cooked meat, are confirmed by our 
 modern knowledge. But the greater number of the Mosaic 
 rules, as, for instance, the prohibition of the consumption 
 as food of blood or the flesh of pigs or hares and so forth, 
 are in direct opposition to a modern knowledge of hygienic 
 diet. Religious cookery has no more than a historical 
 interest. 
 
 The religions have been greatly occupied with .the func- 
 tions of the reproductive organs. Most of the founders of 
 "he great faiths have paid a keen attention to the dishar- 
 monies of this side of our constitution. They became per- 
 suaded of the merit of abstention, which they practised 
 themselves and preached to others. Buddha, after devoting 
 his youth to all the pleasures and not being satisfied, passed 
 to absolute asceticism. He and his adepts formed an order 
 of monkhood, on which an absolute celibacy was imposed. 
 If a member of the order had intercourse with a woman, he 
 was considered to be as guilty as a murderer or a thief. In 
 the Buddhist rules framed even for laymen, " sexual inter- 
 course outside marriage was forbidden, on the ground that 
 it was degrading." * 
 
 The views of the Christian religion on sexual matters are 
 well known. The leaders of Christianity abstained from 
 sexual intercourse and recommended their conduct to others. 
 St. Paul more than once affirmed his own continence. 
 " For I would that all men were even as I myself ; but 
 every man hath his proper gift of God, one after this manner, 
 and another after that. I say therefore, to the unmarried 
 and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I ; but 
 if they cannot contain, let them marry, for it is better to 
 marry than to burn." f 
 
 * Rhys Davids. f Corinthians vii. 7-9.
 
 1 64 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 The religions of savage races are equally concerned with 
 the reproductive functions. There are many extremely 
 strange facts known concerning this matter, and among 
 such I may mention that the Sandwich Islanders have a 
 deity who presides at abortions. This god is made in the 
 form of an elongated wooden instrument, and is known as 
 " Kapo." The upper part of the deity is shaped into a 
 grotesque head, while the lower portion terminates in a 
 point and serves to induce abortion by entering the uterus 
 and rupturing the foetal membranes.* 
 
 Many other idols are used by savages as protections 
 against disease. Ploss-Bartels,f in his treatise on "Medicine 
 among Primitive Races," has described a large collection of 
 talismans of this kind. The ruling idea in the manufacture 
 of these is that diseases are due to the presence of evil spirits, 
 who are to be scared away as soon as possible. The Goldi 
 of Siberia construct straw or wooden figures of men and 
 animals to absorb the spirits of diseases. The Guilaks 
 make wooden human figures, on the breasts of which are 
 fashioned images of toads. These talismans are used as 
 remedies for diseases of the chest and stomach. 
 
 in higher forms of religion there remain abundant traces 
 of such notions. Even Martin Luther declared that disease 
 was supernatural in origin. " Behold a matter on which 
 there is no room for doubt," he stated, " and that is that 
 the plague, fevers, and other diseases are the work of the 
 devil." A number of religious ceremonies were specified 
 as the best remedies for diseases. 
 
 The plague has left many deep marks on human history, 
 and it is natural that a malady so terrible should have 
 attracted serious attention. It was usually attributed to 
 
 * Ploss-Bartels, " Das Weib," vol. I., p. 859. 
 
 f " Die Medecin der Naturvolker," p. 225, Leipzig, 1893.
 
 RELIGIOUS REMEDIES 165 
 
 divine wrath, which was to be appeased by purification and 
 sacrifice. Human beings were slain on altars to appease 
 the wrath of God and to lessen the mortality from plague. 
 
 Such religious customs have disappeared almost com- 
 pletely with the advancing culture of man, but traces of 
 them survive and become apparent on occasions. Quite 
 recently, when the King of England, Edward VII., was 
 afflicted with an abdominal suppuration, he was given the 
 assistance of the most highly skilled modern surgery, but 
 at the same time special services were held in the churches 
 to aid the cure of the royal invalid. 
 
 Every one has now come to regard such events as mere 
 relics of c^ld customs without intrinsic importance. Hygiene 
 in the kitchen and the prevention of disease are no longer 
 under the control of religion, but are regulated on scientific 
 knowledge obtained by the experimental method. I need 
 pay no further attention to these matters. However, reli- 
 gion is still occupied with the problem of death. The 
 solutions which as yet it has offered cannot be regarded as 
 satisfactory. A future life has no single argument to support 
 it, and the non-existence of life after death is in consonance 
 with the whole range of human knowledge. On the other 
 hand, resignation as preached by Buddha will fail to satisfy 
 humanity, which has a longing for life, and is overcome by 
 the thought of the inevitability of death. 
 
 It was to be expected that in such a state of affairs philo- 
 sophers would have sought an issue from the dilemma. 
 Certainly many philosophical theories have been propounded 
 to explain life and death. As. the subject is of extreme 
 importance I shall reserve a chapter for it.
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ATTEMPTS IN SYSTEMS OF PHILOSOPHY TO REMEDY 
 THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF 
 THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION 
 
 Some philosophical systems are in intimate union with 
 religions Ideas of ancient philosophers on the immortality 
 of the soul The teaching of Plato The scepticism of 
 Aristotle The Stoics Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius 
 Modern philosophical systems Pessimism and its origin 
 Lord Byron Theories of Schopenhauer and Hartmann 
 Mailaender's philosophy of deliverance Criticisms of 
 pessimism Max Nordau Ideas of modern thinkers on 
 death 
 
 SYSTEMS of philosophy are closely attached to religious 
 doctrine. Buddhism, for instance, originated in a philo- 
 sophic theory which acquired a religious character in the 
 hands of the followers of Buddha. Similarly, many systems 
 of philosophy are merely religious dogmas which it has 
 been attempted to support by rational argument apart 
 from supernatural revelation. 
 
 The idea of life beyond the grave has long since furnished 
 one of the principal bases of various philosophic doctrines, 
 the ultimate object of which was to solve the problem of 
 death. Ancient philosophy is full of such. Plato describes 
 the tragic death of his master Socrates, and in connection 
 with it expresses very clearly his ideas upon death. He puts 
 these words in the mouth of Socrates in the " Phaedo " : " Fa 
 from being depressed by the death of a friend, I felt, on the
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 167 
 
 contrary, that he was to be envied ; as I witnessed his 
 attitude, and listened to his words, and noticed the courage 
 with which he faced death, I became convinced that he did 
 not quit this life without some divine support that drew 
 him towards another world in which he would find the most 
 perfect happiness man could wish." 
 
 Plato attributes to Socrates a very definite view as to 
 future retribution : " In truth," said Socrates, " if I did not 
 expect to find in another life gods at once good and wise, 
 and men better than those of this life, it would be foolish of 
 me not to be disturbed by the approach of death. But I 
 know that I look to finding myself among just men. I do 
 not fear to die, because I am confident that something still 
 remains after this life, and that, according to the old belief, 
 the good will be treated better than the bad." 
 
 As such views were not derived from a body of revealed 
 truth, it was necessary to support them by reasoning. 
 Plato therefore went on to try to convince us of the immor- 
 tality of the soul by speculative hypotheses. He recalled 
 the Pythagorean doctrine of metempsychosis, and sug- 
 gested that the souls who had abandoned themselves to 
 injustice, tyranny, and plunder would pass into the bodies of 
 wolves and hawks and falcons, for souls of that nature 
 could not go elsewhere ; while the souls of those who had 
 practised the social and civic virtues known as temperance 
 or justice, would inhabit the bodies of peaceful and gentle 
 creatures such as bees and ants, or would even enter other 
 human bodies and again become good men. 
 
 Plato referred also to the law of contrasts in support 
 of his theory. "As the most strong often springs from 
 the feeblest, or the most swift from the slow, so life gives 
 rise to death, and from death life springs." " From that 
 which is dead," said Socrates, " is born all that lives and
 
 1 68 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 has life. And so our souls after death pass to the infernal 
 regions." " As we must grant that the dead are born from the 
 living as much as the living from the dead, it is plain that 
 the souls of dead men exist somewhere, whence thev may 
 return to life." 
 
 By such arguments Plato tried to prove the immortality 
 of the soul, the fundamental basis of his philosophy, and 
 put them in the mouth of his master Socrates on his death- 
 bed. In the dialogue he tried to refute all kinds of objec- 
 tions. But, in spite of the assurance with which he for- 
 mulated his doctrine, there may be seen underlying the 
 argument a note of doubt, and it is just this that distin- 
 guishes philosophy from religion. 
 
 It is evident that the whole of Plato's system was the 
 result of an effort to solve the problem of death. Again 
 and again he said that the true philosopher lived only to 
 be ready to die ; that being so, he declared it to be childish 
 for men at the last to shrink from what they had so long 
 been making ready for. It was himself that Plato wished 
 to convince of a future life. " I do not seek," he said, " to 
 persuade all those who are here of the truth of what I say, 
 although to do so would greatly please me ; what I aim at 
 is to convince myself. Behold me, dear friend, in pursuit 
 of an argument that, as you see, interests me deeply ; if 
 what I say turns out to be true, it is good to have believed 
 it, and if there be nothing after death, at least I have gained 
 this, that while I am still with you, I am not borne down 
 with grief." 
 
 The doubt which was only latent in Plato was much 
 more active in some other ancient philosophers. Aristotle * 
 at one time admitted that part of the soul was immortal, 
 
 * Zeller, " Die Philosophic der Griechen," vol. II., Part 2, pp. 462, 
 465. Tubingen, 1862.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 169 
 
 but that the other part was mortal. The two parts came 
 together at the beginning of a life and separated at its 
 end. Later on, however, Aristotle abandoned this theory 
 of the immortality of the personal consciousness, and argued 
 strongly against the Platonic theory of the immortality of 
 the soul, although, however, he still believed in the inde- 
 structibility of the " rational spirit," an immortal principle. 
 
 The Stoics still further developed such a conception. 
 They held that besides the individual soul there was x a 
 universal soul, a presiding influence in which all others had 
 their being. 
 
 Cicero, again, discussing old age and death, tried to esta- 
 blish belief in a future life. " I am convinced," said Cicero 
 to Scipio and Laelius, " that your illustrious fathers, who 
 were so dear to me, are still full of life, and of the only life 
 worthy of the name ; for the body is, as it were, our prison- 
 house, within which we must accomplish the tasks laid on us 
 by necessity. When I think of the activity of the human 
 spirit, its vast memory, its prevision, its store of art and 
 knowledge, and experience, I am convinced in the depths 
 of my being that an existence with such qualities cannot 
 be mortal. The soul is continually active, and its activity 
 comes not to it from without ; the soul is a self-supporting 
 activity, and cannot come to an end. Moreover, as the 
 soul is a simple substance, unalloyed by any mixture of 
 materials, it can neither be divided nor made to perish." 
 By such arguments Cicero sought to prove the immor- 
 tality of the soul. " I will tell you," he said, " why old age, 
 so far from being grievous to me, is full of delight-." But 
 in the end, he himself saw the weakness of his proof, and 
 the note of scepticism appeared in him more strongly than 
 in his predecessors, so that he came to say as follows : 
 " If I am deceived as to the immortality of the soul, I am
 
 1 7 o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 deceived gladly, and I would not have the belief torn from 
 me while I live. If, when I am dead, all feeling is arrested 
 within me, as some pretended philosophers hold, at least 
 I have not to fear that after my death they will come and 
 mock me for my error." 
 
 Scepticism becoming more and more definite, belief in 
 the immortality of the soul persisted only in the purely 
 religious form. Philosophical systems freed themselves of 
 it, and replaced it by a vague form of pantheism. 
 
 Seneca tried to support the thesis of immortality, but 
 one gets the impression strongly that there was no vigour 
 in his belief. He is content with poetry rather than with 
 reason. " The events of this mortal life," he wrote in one 
 of his celebrated " Letters," " are the mere prelude of a 
 better and more lasting existence. As our mother's womb, 
 bearing us for nine months, shapes us not to live there for 
 ever, but for our place in this world in which it places us, 
 with the strength to breathe this air and to withstand sur- 
 rounding things : so, also, the time that passes from our 
 infancy to our old age is a preparation for a second birth. 
 Another beginning and another world await us. Until 
 then, we could not endure, save from afar, the splendour 
 of the heavens. Learn then, O man, to face without a 
 shudder the decisive hour, the last hour of the body, but not 
 of the soul. What you see around you consider but as 
 the furniture of an inn ; soon you are going further on. 
 The day that you dread as your last day is your birthday 
 into immortality." 
 
 In the midst of these glowing visions, however, Seneca 
 is assailed by dark and gloomy thoughts. " Yes," he cried, 
 " all that is must perish ; death comes to every living thing. 
 Every day, every hour, reveals to man the coming of death ; 
 there is always some new lesson to remind him of the fragility
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 171 
 
 he had forgotten, and from a dream of eternity to turn 
 his thoughts to the grave." 
 
 These heights and depths of spirit led Seneca towards a 
 new theory in which" he gave a final expression of his views 
 on the great problem of human existence. " All beings 
 pass through definite stages ; they must be born, grow and 
 die. The stars that we see revolving above us, the earth 
 on which we are carelessly scattered and which seems to us 
 so solid ; all is threatened and alb will come to an end. 
 Old age comes on everything ; although the period is very 
 different, the same end comes to everything. Everything 
 that now is will cease to be ; but for all that the world will 
 not perish ; it will dissolve. Dissolution is destruction for 
 us. As a matter of fact we think of things only as they 
 concern ourselves ; our degenerate soul, incapable of detach- 
 ing itself from the body, sees nothing beyond that ; none 
 the less we should endure the idea of the death of ourselves 
 and of those near to us with a greater fortitude were we to 
 realise that nature is a constant routine of birth and death, 
 that all composite bodies must dissolve, that the dissolved 
 substances re-form, and that the creative power of God 
 displays itself in this cycle of change throughout the uni- 
 verse." From such a final conception of the universe he 
 draws the consolation : "A great soul should know how 
 to obey God and submit willingly to the order of the uni- 
 verse. If it be not for a better life that we are to quit this 
 life, if not to find a home in the skies more tranquil and 
 more brilliant, our souls, free from suffering, will return to the 
 spirit that gave them birth and will mingle in the great all." 
 
 In other words, abandoning the image of life after death 
 that played so consoling a part in primitive beliefs, philo- 
 sophy became content to advocate resignation to the 
 inevitable laws of nature, and to console itself with the
 
 172 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 promise of a vague return to some universal, eternal 
 principle. 
 
 The conceptions of the Stoics, especially in the form 
 presented by Seneca, found an ardent and brilliant exponent 
 in Marcus Aurelius, whose " Thoughts " are known to all 
 the world. He had much to say of the problem of death 
 and of the attitude of the philosopher towards it. " Death," 
 said Marcus Aurelius, " like birth, is one of nature's mys- 
 teries. In the two are present the same elements : in the 
 one case in the phase of combination, in the other in that of 
 dissolution." In death " there is nothing repugnant to the 
 essence of an intelligent being, nor to the general plan of 
 our nature." But his ideas on death were vague. " Death 
 may perhaps be a dispersal or resolution into atoms, or 
 an annihilation in the sense of extinction or deplacement." 
 " Alexander of Macedon and his mule-driver were reduced 
 at death to the same condition, that is to say they returned 
 alike to the originating principle of the jmiverse, or one and 
 and the other were scattered as atoms." 
 
 Although he was definitely a deist, Marcus Aurelius was 
 undecided as to the immortality of the soul. " If souls have 
 not disappeared," he said, " how can the air contain the 
 eternal generations of them ? " " Remember well," he 
 said in another place, " that that feeble and composite 
 creature, your soul, will one day resolve into its atoms ; 
 the faint spark of life will be extinguished, or be assigned 
 to some other dwelling-place." Clearly enough, there was 
 no consoling hope of a future life to be derived from these 
 halting dubieties. It was needful to replace by some other 
 anodyne the belief that for so long had brought comfort 
 to poor humanity. 
 
 Marcus Aurelius tried to counteract the fear of death 
 by the following reflection : "To fear death is to fear either
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 173 
 
 being deprived of all feeling or being subjected to some other 
 kind of feeling. But, if we are deprived of all feeling, we 
 shall have no evil to fear if we are to find new kinds of 
 sensations, our existence will be different, but still existence." 
 However, he probably realised the weakness of such a 
 consolation, for he tried to link the problem of death with 
 the general principles of human conduct. 
 
 As I mentioned in the first chapter of this volume, Marcus 
 Aurelius, like many of the philosophers of antiquity, held 
 the view that man ought to live according to the dictates 
 of human nature. The theory recurs again and again 
 in his " Thoughts." " The fig tree lives according to its 
 kind, the dog like the dog, bees like bees, and man like 
 man." He expresses this view still more emphatically in 
 the following words : " Man must live in conformity with 
 the laws of his nature." " No one will prevent you from living 
 according to the laws of nature, and nothing can happen 
 to you that is not in accordance with nature's universal 
 law." " Neither hand nor foot can do that which is contrary 
 to the laws of nature, because the foot can only fulfil the 
 functions of the foot, and the hand those of the hand. 
 Similarly with man, to behave as a man is not to defy 
 nature's laws, because it is only fulfilling the functions of 
 man. And that which is not against nature cannot be 
 evil." 
 
 Being full of this theory, Marcus Aurelius applied it to death, 
 which, being a natural phenomenon, was to be accepted 
 without protest. " For, after all, nature forges the links 
 and nature breaks them. Is she about to sever them ? 
 Very well, let us then say farewell as if we were taking 
 leave of our friends, but let there be .no tearing of the heart 
 strings, and let us go willingly, and so avoid being dragged 
 away. This, too, is in accordance with the laws of nature."
 
 174 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 "Philosophy /'according to Marcus Aurelius, "isto await death 
 peacefully, and to regard it as merely the dissolution of 
 the elements which compose the human frame. Such is 
 the law of nature, and whatever is in conformity with 
 nature is not evil." 
 
 Death, being a phenomenon in conformity with nature, 
 must be submitted to. " Do not abuse death," advises 
 Marcus Aurelius, " but accept it with resignation, as being 
 in accordance with the will of nature. Dowe not pass on 
 from infancy to youth, grow up, and become tall and attain 
 manhood ? Do not our teeth come, our beards grow, and 
 our hair turn white ? If we marry, do we not beget chil 
 dren ? Are not all such events in their due season, and the 
 work of nature ? Death pomes through the same agency. 
 It therefore behoves a wise man to approach death with 
 neither anger, repugnance, nor contempt, but to await it like 
 any other operation of nature." Resignation, then, is what 
 this form of philosophy amounts to. Not only must death 
 be accepted as inevitable when it comes after a long life, 
 but even if it surprise us at an unexpected time. " He who 
 dies after reaching the uttermost limits of human life," 
 says Marcus Aurelius, " has reached no further than he who 
 comes to a premature end. It is the same in the end, 
 whether there are a hundred years to look back upon, or 
 whether there are only three." 
 
 In his book on Marcus Aurelius, Renan * compares his 
 philosophy of resignation with the Nirvana of the Bud- 
 dhists. " Like Jesus, akya-Mouni, Socrates, Francis of 
 Assisi, and three or four other wise men, Marcus Aurelius 
 was victor over death. He could laugh at it, because it 
 had no longer any meaning for him." But, just as the 
 
 * " Origines du Christianisme," vol. VII., Sixth Edition, p. 483. 
 Paris, 1819.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 175 
 
 theories of Buddha became transformed into a religion 
 which promised the immortality of the soul, and as Nir- 
 vana gave way to the Paradise of the Easterns with its 
 delights, so the sceptical resignation of ancient philosophy 
 was vanquished by Christianity with its promises of a future 
 life and immortality. 
 
 Thus, in the course of the centuries, philosophy has been 
 drowned in the floods of sentiment and of religious notions, 
 and it has been a labour of Sisyphus to restore reason to 
 humanity. There is the less need to follow the stages of 
 this resurrection, as, in the end, they come to little. For 
 -ong, philosophical systems set themselves the task of sup- 
 porting the dogmas of religion by arguments independent 
 of divine revelation. The gods were replaced by philo- 
 sophy or by matter, and an effort was made to solve the 
 eternal and disquieting problem of death by proving the 
 immortality of the soul. 
 
 The philosophers of the early renaissance of human 
 thought accepted the chief religious dogmas as established 
 truth. Plotin regarded the immortality of the soul as a 
 self-evident truth that required no proof He argued 
 against a resurrection of the body, but accepted the trans- 
 migration of souls. 
 
 Although Spinoza had given up the conception of the 
 immortality of the soul in the ordinary sense, he accepted 
 the Aristotelian idea that " the human spirit could not be 
 destroyed absolutely with the body, but left some eternal 
 remnant." Death, in his view, was a kind of eternal Jife, 
 a merging with the absolute, a return to the immortal and 
 universal substance. 
 
 Philosophers have exhausted themselves in the study of 
 Ihe foundations of human knowledge with the sole object 
 of demonstrating the truth of religious dogmas. In spite
 
 176 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 of his scepticism, Kant tried to prove the genuineness of 
 human knowledge, and to found on that a conviction of 
 the future life and of the existence of God. Fichte set 
 himself the same task, but he was forced to recognise that 
 '' immortality cannot be deduced from natural phenomena," 
 and that it " is supernatural." " Although we cannot 
 understand the possibility of eternal life, it sti.l may 
 be possible, for it transcends human knowledge." Hege 
 reached a pantheistic conclusion and believed in the human 
 soul being re-absorbed by the absolute. 
 
 These idealistic systems, when they reached their final 
 point, provoked a reaction consisting in the rejection of 
 all formulas based on speculation. They were succeeded 
 by a dogmatic materialism, which in its turn gave place 
 to a sceptical positivism, or rather to a form of agnosticism. 
 Granted the impossibility of belief in the immortality of the 
 soul or in eternal life in any shape, the philosophy regard- 
 ing death was reduced to the stoical idea that our end is 
 in harmony with the laws of nature, and that it must there- 
 fore be accepted without protest. Resignation, therefore, 
 in the fullest sense of the word, became the watchword of 
 human wisdom. 
 
 It was only to be expected that certain courageous and 
 independent thinkers should not agree with this conclu- 
 sion, and attempt to discover some other solution of the 
 great problem absorbing mankind. Thence arose pessimism, 
 the philosophic theory which became so prevalent during 
 the last century, and which claims so many adherents in 
 the present day. Pessimism, like belief in the immortality 
 of the soul and the advocacy of resignation to the evils which 
 beset humanity, is the product of the East, and India was 
 probably its nursery. A pessimistic view of life is a salient 
 feature of Brahminism, but Buddhism develops even more
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 177 
 
 fully the doctrine that everything of this world is evil. 
 That " life is made up of suffering is the inexhaustible theme 
 wh'.ch, whether in the shape of philosophical argument, or 
 in the more attractive form of poetry, the Buddhist Scrip- 
 tures din ceaselessly in our ears.* 
 
 In Europe, the lyrical poets introduced the pessimistic 
 conception of the world, attracted by its emotional appeal. 
 At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Byron struck 
 this sad note, and expressed the view in the clearest fashion, 
 that if we weighed our hours of joy against our days of 
 pain, we should perceive clearly that whatever our life had 
 been it were better not have been. In the following 
 lines his conception of life is apparent : 
 
 " Our life is a false nature, 'tis not in 
 The harmony of things, this hard decree, 
 This uneradicable taint of sin, 
 This boundless Upas, this all-blasting tree, 
 
 Whose root is earth, whose leaves and branches be 
 The skies, which rain their plagues on men like dew 
 Disease, death, bondage all the woes we see- 
 And, worse, the woes we see not which throbs through 
 The immedicable soul, with heart-aches ever new." 
 
 "EUTHANASIA." 
 
 In chap. vi. I showed that Byron was haunted by a 
 fear of death which ultimately led him to a recognition of 
 the instinctive character of the fee ing. He, however, like 
 the other pessimistic poets (Leopardi), did not regard the 
 world as being merely part of a universal system, and it was 
 left to philosophy to come to this conclusion. 
 
 During the first half of the nineteenth century, Schopen- 
 hauer endeavoured to give a presentation of a pessimistic 
 theory, borrowed from Hindoo religions and from the views 
 ol contemporary poets, in the form of a rational prniosopnv- 
 * Oldenberg, loc. cit. p. 215. 
 
 M
 
 iy8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 He developed a conception of life according to which " exist- 
 ence is to be regarded as something one is better without, 
 as a kind of mistake which should be remedied when recog- 
 nised." * According to Schopenhauer existence is wrong, 
 and results from the gratification of unrestrained desire. 
 " If an attempt be made to realise the amount of misery, 
 pain, and evil of all kinds, that the sun shines upon in its 
 daily course, it will be seen how much better it would be 
 were the earth to exhibit as few phenomena of life as the 
 moon, and if the surface of the earth were in a similarly 
 crystallised condition. Human life might .equally be inter- 
 preted as a useless disturbance of the exquisite tranquillity 
 of nothingness," the meaning of the disturbance being 
 wrapped in impenetrable mystery.f 
 
 This melancholy state of life was the result of the cosmic 
 process, which has created so much evil, and which finally 
 evolved the human species, capable of feeling and appre- 
 ciating to the full the pain of the world. The lower animals 
 he regards as happier than man, their senses being less fully 
 developed, and being unconscious of the worst aspects of 
 their existence. In man, pleasure is purely a negation, 
 whereas the sensation of pain is passive, contemplation, 
 a human monopoly, rendering suffering still more unbear- 
 able. " Man's capacity for pain increases far more with the 
 passage of time than does his capacity for enjoyment, and 
 is especially increased by his foreknowledge of death. 
 Animals only fear death from instinct, without having any 
 real knowledge of it, and without having the prospect of it' 
 always before their eyes, as is the case with human beings." J 
 Schopenhauer was convinced that happiness should not be 
 regarded as the aim of life. "The greatest mistake we 
 
 * " Parerga und Paralipomena," Edition Reclam., vol. II., p. 267. 
 f Ibid. p. 253. J Ibid. p. 251.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 179 
 
 can make," he said in his principal work,* "is to imagine 
 that we are placed here to be happy." " So long as we con- 
 tinue in this erroneous view which optimistic doctrines 
 serve to foster, the world will continue to seem a mass of 
 contradictions to us." " It would be nearer the truth to 
 regard pain as the aim of life rather than pleasure." " The 
 destiny of all human existence seems to be suffering. Life 
 is wrapped about with evil, and cannot be protected from 
 it. Life, at its very beginning, is signalised by tears, its 
 course is fundamentally tragic, and still more tragic is its 
 end. It is impossible to ignore that all this is meant to be." 
 " Death is the real goal of life. Its attainment brings a solu- 
 tion of all that has gone before." 
 
 The prospect and expectation of death, being products of 
 reason, are experienced by men and not by animals. " Only 
 in the case of humanity is the will capable of renouncing 
 and withdrawing from life." 
 
 What is the answer to all these contradictions and the 
 explanation of a cosmic process which on the one hand 
 leads but to death, and on the other hand develops the 
 intelligence so as to enable it to fear and dread the inevitable 
 end ? Is the solution to be found in belief in the immor- 
 tality of the soul, supported as it is not only by nearly every 
 form of religion, but by numerous systems of .philosophy ? 
 Schopenhauer devotes many pages to the discussion of this 
 question. He neither 'supports the doctrine of the resur- 
 rection of the body, nor the immortality of the conscious 
 soul. " Just as the individual has no memory of pre-natal 
 existence, so after death he will remember nothing of his 
 present life." f " Those who regard birth as the actual 
 beginning of man's life must necessarily face death as final, 
 
 * " Die Welt als Wille und Vorstelhmg," vol. II., p. 726, Leipzig, 
 f Loc. cit. vol. II., p. 730.
 
 i8o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the two being parallel. No man can therefore regard him- 
 self as immortal without forfeiting his belief in his own birth. 
 Birth and death have the same origin and the same signi- 
 ficance. They represent but one line, extending in opposite 
 directions. If birth implies an origin from nothingness, 
 then death must be complete annihilation." * 
 
 There is no such thing as individual immortality. But, 
 according to Schopenhauer, to desire such immortality 
 would merely be to advocate " the eternal perpetuation of 
 a great mistake. Each individual existence is a definite 
 mistake, a blunder, something that would better not have 
 been,, and the object of existence should be to end it." f 
 
 But if man, as an individual, is mortal, " death only takes 
 away what was given by birth, that is to say, the principle 
 by which death itself became possible." J " Consciousness 
 ceases at death, but the cause which produced that con- 
 sciousness persists ; life comes to an end, but not the 
 principle which became manifest by life." ' 
 
 What then is this immortal principle ? It is the idea of 
 the species or genus. Men or dogs, as individuals, perish in 
 due course, but the human species or the canine species, 
 the man " idea " or the dog " idea," endures. Here Scho- 
 penhauer reverted to the conception of Spinoza, who, indeed, 
 denied the immortality of the soul, but none the less believed 
 in the immortality of the principle of life. This ever- 
 lasting principle, according to Schopenhauer, is the will 
 in its widest and most metaphysical sense, while, on the 
 other hand, the mortal soul is the reason, a product of the 
 functions of the brain. 
 
 The eternal principle of life cannot be defined, because 
 "we cannot pass outside the limits of our consciousness. 
 
 * " Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," vol. II., p. 555, Leipzig, 
 f Loc. cit. p. 561. % Loc. cit. p. 564. Loc. cit. p. 566.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 181 
 
 And thus the problem of what it is in itself cannot be 
 resolved." * 
 
 Schopenhauer himself recognises that this solution of 
 the problem is not satisfactory from the point of view of 
 those who desire reassurance of their immortality. " But," 
 he continues, "it is better than nothing, for those who 
 dread death from the point of view of absolute annihilation 
 should not despise the certainty of the persistence of the 
 most vital principle of life." f He further remarks that 
 it must be remembered that nature is interested only in 
 the preservation of the species, being indifferent to the 
 individual. We ourselves being only a part of nature ought 
 to further its plans. "If we wish to attain to a wider 
 knowledge of nature, we must place ourselves more in sym- 
 pathy with it, and regard life and death indifferently." J 
 Schopenhauer himself feels that his theories and arguments 
 are unsatisfactory. When he had reached the full develop- 
 ment of his doctrine, he admitted that it was negative in 
 character, and that it ended in negation. It spoke only 
 of what it had to deny and of what ought to be abandoned. 
 It was obliged to regard as nothingness all that could be 
 acquired in the future. As a consolation, he added that he 
 meant relative nothingness, and not absolute nothingness. 
 
 As an ultimate aim, there remained nothing but abroga- 
 tion of the will to live, and thus misery and wretchedness, 
 which are the inseparable accompaniments of human life, 
 led to resignation. 
 
 As our life is no more than a succession of misfortunes, 
 and as, according to Schopenhauer, death is the plain con- 
 clusion of philosophy, the end of the individual life must be 
 pleasant.. As a general rule, he said, the death of a well- 
 regulated life is calm and peaceful. But the privilege of 
 * Loc. cit. p. 566. f Loc. cit. p. 537. % Loc. cit. p. 540.
 
 1 82 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 dying willingly, with joy and delight, is reserved for him 
 who has learned resignation, and has abolished and aban- 
 doned his will to live. For such an one would be willing 
 to die in reality, not merely in appearance, and would neither 
 desire nor claim a personal immortality. He would give 
 up readily the existence that we know. Whatever may 
 replace that existence is nothing from the point of view of 
 individuality. The Buddhistic faith called the position 
 attained by him who had given up the will to live, Nirvana, 
 or nothingness." * 
 
 The natural deduction from this pessimistic doctrine of 
 Schopenhauer would be to abolish the will to live by 
 abolishing our individual life by suicide. But such is not 
 the advice of the philosopher. He is far, however, from 
 agreeing with those who regard suicide as criminal.! He 
 merely does not admit that it solves the question. " He 
 who commits suicide destroys the individual only, and not 
 the species." " Suicide is the voluntary destruction of a 
 solitary phenomenon, without in the smallest degree affect- 
 ing the system as a whole." J 
 
 The will to live manifesting itself, according to Schopen- 
 hauer, by the creation of new individuals, the philosopher 
 would naturally, in accordance with his views of life, abstain 
 from bringing others into iho world. Schopenhauer lived 
 and died a bachelor, and, so far as I am aware, had no chil- 
 dern. On the other hand, convinced that the solution of life's 
 problem did not lie in suicide, he clung tenaciously to life. 
 Having relinquished a belief in the immortality of the soul, 
 he fell back upon a belief in the persistence of some ultimate 
 principle, apart from conscious life, and held that in resig- 
 nation and desire for annihilation (Nirvana, according to 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 581. f " Parerga," vol. II., p. 258. 
 
 f " Die Welt, als Wille," vol. I., p. 472.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 183 
 
 his interpretation of the Buddhist doctrines) lay the true 
 consolation for all the evils of human existence. 
 
 For a long time Schopenhauer's views found no echo in 
 the opinions of other thinkers. Later, however, they became 
 more and more widely diffused, and philosophic pessimism 
 became quite fashionable. Those who did not adopt the 
 metaphysical principles of Schopenhauer's philosophy 
 agreed with his views on life and on the impossibility of 
 happiness. 
 
 Exactly half a century after the publication of Schopen- 
 hauer's principal work,* another German philosopher, 
 E. Hartmann,! went a step further in the same direc- 
 tion. Without agreeing wholly with his metaphysics, he 
 shared Schopenhauer's views on the impossibility of regard- 
 ing happiness as the true aim of existence. In order to 
 demonstrate this theory, he examined the three phases of 
 illusion through which mankind passes. He held that, in 
 the first phase, people imagined happiness to be attainable 
 during the present life. However, all that have been regarded 
 as the sources of joy youth, health, desire, conjugal love, 
 family love, glory, etc. end in disillusion. Love itself is 
 especially submitted to Hartmann's implacable criticism. 
 According to him, there can be no question but that " love 
 causes far more suffering than pleasure to those concerned." J 
 " It cannot be doubted," he says, " that reason would prompt 
 a total abstention from love," and, as a means to this end, 
 he recommends " the extinction of sexual desire by castration, 
 if that could be relied upon to destroy desire." That, 
 according to Hartmann, " is the only possible means of 
 securing the happiness of the individual." It is at the 
 
 * " Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung." 
 
 f " Philosophie des Unbewussten," Berlin, 1869, 
 
 t Loc. cit. p. 560. Loc. cit. p. 565.
 
 184 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 sacrifice of his personal happiness that man permits himself 
 to love, and so abets the evolution of the cosmic process 
 
 When they have become convinced of the impossibility 
 of obtaining happiness in this world, people persuade them- 
 selves that it may be obtained after death in a transcendental 
 life in another world. This, however, is only a second 
 phase of illusion, and is based upon faith in life after death 
 and eternity. It is certain, however, that the individuality 
 of the organic body as well as that of the mind is only a 
 delusion which ceases with death." * Hartmann says in 
 conclusion that "it is therefore plain that the hope of the 
 immortality of the individual soul is also a mere illusion. 
 And thus the chief support of the Christian promises is 
 cut away ; for men are devoted to their dear selves, and take 
 little interest in a future happiness in which they themselves 
 are to have no share." | 
 
 Being disillusioned regarding the possibility of obtaining 
 happiness in this world, or in a future state, humanity falls 
 back upon a third illusion. Firmly convinced that the aim 
 of life is true happiness, man concluded that it was only 
 attainable in some future state of the cosmic process. This 
 hypothesis is based upon belief in a sytsem of progressive 
 development. " This," declares Hartmann, " is yet another 
 mistake. Humanity may progress as much as it likes," 
 he says, " but it will never succeed in suppressing or even 
 diminishing the greatest evils which beset it : disease, old 
 age, dependence on the wishes or the power of others, 
 misery and discontent. Notwithstanding the new remedies 
 which are discovered, the number of diseases, especially 
 those of a chronic nature which are so trying, continues to 
 increase at a rate that medicine cannot keep pace with. 
 Joyous youth will always constitute a small portion of 
 * Loc. cit. p. 603. f Loc. cit. p. 606.
 
 , PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 185 
 
 humanity, while the greater part will consist of melancholy 
 old age." * 
 
 Against this idea that the happiness of the race will be the 
 eventual result of progress, Hartmann employs the follow- 
 ing arguments : " The happiest people are those who are 
 the rudest and most primitive, and, among civilised races, 
 the uneducated classes. It is well known that the pro- 
 gress of education increases discontent. The progress of 
 science contributes little or nothing to the absolute happi- 
 ness of the world. Practically speaking, this progress is of 
 advantage to politics, social life, morality, and the arts; 
 but factories, steam-boats, railways, and telegraphs, have 
 so far done no positive good to humanity." f Hartmann 
 frequently recurs to the conclusion that the primitive are 
 happier than the civilised, and that " the lower classes, 
 inferior and rude, are happier than the rich who are well 
 educated and great ; that idiots are happier than the intel- 
 ligent, and that, as a general rule, the less sensitive a man's 
 nervous system may be, the happier he is, as his capacity 
 for feeling pain is not so much in excess of his capacity for 
 enjoyment, and his i lusion is therefore greater. With the 
 progressive development of humanity, however, not only 
 is there an increase in the extent of human needs, but in the 
 sensitiveness of the nervous system, and in the cultivation 
 of the mind. In consequence, the balance of pain over 
 pleasure increases, and the illusion is destroyed, that is to 
 say, knowledge comes of the misery of life, of the vanity of 
 most of the pleasures. Misery itself increases as much as 
 knowledge of misery, as experience has shown ; and the 
 apparent increase of happiness in the world, due to the 
 progress of universe, is merely superficial. 
 
 Having reached this extremely pessimistic conclusion, that 
 * Loc, cit. p. 615. t Loc. cit. p. 621.
 
 1 86 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 it is impossible for humanity to attain happiness, Hartmann 
 proceeds to inquire into the real destiny of man. He would 
 be no true philosopher if he did not hold that the world was 
 created according to a general plan, and that it follows a 
 regular course tending towards a definite end. "We have 
 seen," he says, " how that in the present world all has been 
 arranged in the wisest, and for the most part the best way, 
 and that it should therefore be regarded as the best possible 
 of worlds. Notwithstanding this, however, it is supremely 
 miserable, and worse than if it did not exist at all." 
 
 Being convinced of the illusory nature of its hopes, 
 humanity " must definitely renounce all pretensions to 
 positive happiness, and aspire only to a freedom from pain, 
 to annihilation or Nirvana. This, however, must not be 
 merely the attitude of solitary individuals, but humanity 
 at large must cry out for annihilation. This is the only 
 possible outcome of the third and last phase of illusion." 
 
 By what means is this end ty> be attained ? Hartmann 
 is no advocate of suicide as the best remedy of the evils 
 of human existence. Upon this point he agrees'with Scho- 
 penhauer, and thinks that such a course would have no 
 effect upon the general progress of the cosmic process. A 
 renunciation of pleasure asceticism would present no 
 better solution of the problem. Even abstinence from repro- 
 duction would not serve the purpose. " What good would 
 it do," says Hartmann, " if humanity were to cease to be 
 by means of sexual abstinence ? This unfortunate uni- 
 verse would continue to exist, and the Unconscious would 
 immediately take advantage of the opportunity to create 
 a new man or some other similar type." * Thus it is not 
 the disappearance of mankind that should constitute our 
 aim, but " the complete abandonment of the individual to 
 * Loc, cit. p. 636.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 187 
 
 the cosmic process, in order that the latter may accomplish 
 its end and bring about the universal deliverance of the 
 world." * This being so, the instinctive love of life reasserts 
 itself, and it becomes necessary to admit, at least as pro- 
 visional truth, " the validity of the will to live ; for it is 
 only by complete resignation to life and its troubles, and not 
 by cowardly renunciation and abandonment, that one may 
 contribute one's share in the development of the cosmic 
 process." f 
 
 Hartmann's proposed solution of the problem of human 
 existence belongs undoubtedly to the category of systems 
 advocating resignation. He is unable to tell us what is the 
 cosmic process to which he bids man lend all his forces. 
 He advises humanity to continue to live and to multiply 
 in the full certainty that happiness cannot be attained. 
 Hartmann obviously demands a true renunciation and an 
 absolute submission. His solution has the appearance of 
 being more exact, and of furnishing a guide to human con- 
 duct more clear than that vague aspiration to Nirvana pro- 
 posed by Schopenhauer. But on closer investigation it 
 becomes at once plain that the greater precision is illusory. 
 
 It is easy to see, under such circumstances, that a school 
 of criticism or negation of the pessimistic doctrines should 
 have gained many adherents. Very few, on the other 
 hand, have embraced pessimistic doctrines because of any 
 power being inherent in them to resolve the difficulties of 
 life. A German pessimistic philosopher, Mailaender,J shared 
 fully Schopenhauer's opinions as to the misery of human 
 life, but opposed the latter's doctrine of resignation and 
 Nirvana as the solution of the general problem of life. 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 638. f Loc. cit. p. 638. 
 
 % " Die Philosophic der Erlosung," 2 vols. Third Edition, 
 Frankfort, 1894.
 
 1 88 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Mailaender accepted the three stages of human illusion as 
 expounded by Hartmann, but attacked vigorously the view 
 of facilitating the cosmic process by acquiescence in the 
 will to live. " Indeed," he cried, " your advice is that we 
 should sacrifice ourselves to the cosmos , we are to choose 
 a career, to learn a trade, acquire money, property, fame, 
 power, and so forth ; we are to marry and to beget offspring ; 
 by such advice you are merely undoing with your own 
 hands the sole merit of your work, the analysis of illusion. 
 You suddenly advise the very man who has got behind all 
 these illusions to succumb to them again, as if an illusion, 
 although it has been recognised, could still deceive and exer- 
 cise its power." * 
 
 Mailaender takes an entirely different view of the problem. 
 Like his predecessors, he is convinced of the futility of hap- 
 piness, but he has achieved an original view of the cosmic 
 process. He holds that an unaccountable and divine Being 
 existed before the creation of the world. Before disappear- 
 ing " this divinity gave birth to the universe." By this 
 means, complete annihilation was made possible. " The 
 world," says Mailaender, " is but the means for bringing 
 about a condition of non-existence, and is the only possible 
 means by which that end could be attained. God knew 
 that only by creating a real world could we pass from 
 existence into non-existence." Maileander regards as cer- 
 tain " that the universe tends towards universal non-exist- 
 ence." t This tendency is characterised by the weakening 
 of the total amount of energy, so that " every individual at 
 the close of the weakening process to which his energy is 
 submitted, is led in the course of his development to the 
 point at which his desire for annihilation may be fulfilled." J 
 
 * Loc. cit. vol. II., p. 637. t Loc. cit. vol. I., p, 325. 
 
 I Loc. cit. p. 327.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 189 
 
 Life on our planet, he says, ought to be regarded as a halting- 
 place on the road to death. In order to appreciate fully the 
 happiness brought by death, it is necessary first to taste of 
 life, and that is why the instinct of self-preservation is so 
 well developed in animals. Man passes first through a * 
 phase of development in which he is like any other animal. 
 " As with them, the will to live is stronger than the will to 
 die. Life is clung to with extreme pertinacity, and death 
 is proportionately execrated." " At first, not only the fear 
 of death increases, but equally the love of life. Terror of 
 death becomes acuter. Animals, knowing nothing of death, 
 only fear it instinctively through their perception of approach- 
 ing danger. Man, on the contrary, knows of the existence of 
 death and what it means. He looks back on his past life 
 and wonders what the future may hold in store, and realises, 
 infinitely more than animals realise it, the dangers that 
 threaten him. During this phase, man does all in his power 
 to keep death at bay, and to make his life as happy as 
 possible. This, however, is not the last stage of his develop- 
 ment. The thinking man soon comes to the conclusion that 
 a craving for life is not the true aim of the universe ; it is 
 only the means for attaining to a knowledge of the definite 
 aim of existence, which is the cessation of life. Philosophy 
 soon shows that perfect happiness is not possible, and that 
 only death is really desirable. In summing up the cosmic 
 process, the conclusion arrived at is " that throughout the 
 universe the desire of death exists in a form more or less 
 masked, but that in the organic world this assumes the form 
 of a will to live." * In the end, however, the desire of 
 death becomes more and more plain, until the philosopher 
 can see " in the whole universe nothing but a longing lor 
 absolute extinction, and fancies that he can hear the cry 
 * Loc. cit. p. 3.34.
 
 190 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 rolling from star to star, ' Deliverance, deliverance, death 
 to our life ! ' and the echoing cry of consolation, ' Extinction 
 and deliverance await you all ! ' " * 
 
 In order to explain in a clearer way the progress of this 
 evolution, Mailaender describes the state of mind of a man 
 who develops the will to die, and commits suicide. " At first 
 he glances anxiously and from afar at death, and shrinks from 
 it with horror. Later, he draws nearer and walks round 
 it in wide circles. Day by day, however, these circles become 
 smaller, until finally he embraces Death with weary arms 
 and looks it straight in the face. Then Peace comes ; gentle 
 Peace ! " f 
 
 It is absurd to expect anything to follow death but abso- 
 lute annihilation, and the ordinary man faces this prospect 
 with terror. " But it is essential," says Mailaender, " that 
 man should dominate the universe by knowledge, and wise 
 men look forward to total annihilation with joy." J " In 
 relinquishing Schopenhauer's will to live," concluded Mail- 
 aender, " I have finally arrived at the will to die. I have 
 raised myself upon the shoulders of Schopenhauer, until I 
 have attained a point of view such as others have never 
 accomplished. At present I am alone, but behind me all 
 humanity is pressing on to freedom ; and before me is the 
 clear translucent vista of the future." 
 
 I have quoted these views, not because of the solidity 
 of Mailaender's arguments, but merely because this 
 pessimistic philosopher proved himself to be more con- 
 sistent than- his predecessors. While Schopenhauer and 
 Hartmann, both so firmly convinced of the non-existence 
 of happiness and the vast preponderance of suffering in 
 all imaginable conditions of life, lived out their lives, 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 335. f Loc. cit. p. 349. 
 
 % Loc. cit. p. 358. Loc. cit. vol. II., p. 242.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 191 
 
 Mailaender, true to his principles, committed suicide when 
 barely thirty-five years of age. 
 
 This is probably not a solitary instance. Under the 
 influence of pessimism, a certain number of young persons, 
 especially those whose mental equilibrium is not very firmly 
 established, follow in the tragic footsteps of Mailaender. 
 Some commit suicide, while others abstain from taking part 
 in the perpetuation of the race. Others, but these are not 
 many, curtail their existence by dissipation, thinking life 
 not worth the care of it. 
 
 A modern writer of great talent, Maeterlinck, echoes 
 the pessimism of the present generation. "It is plain," 
 he says,* " that from one point of view humanity will 
 always seem wretched, and as though being dragged towards 
 a fatal precipice, since it will ever be doomed to disease, 
 to the inconstancy of matter, to old age and to death." 
 " Yes, human life as a whole is sad, and it is easier, I 
 may almost say pleasanter, to discuss and expose its dark 
 side, than to enumerate its consolations and make the best 
 of them. The miseries of life are many, obvious, and 
 never failing ; whereas the consolations, or rather the 
 reasons which cause us to fulfil with alacrity the duty of 
 living, are rare, hard to seek, and precarious." 
 
 Although pessimism has been greatly developed and widely 
 spread during the nineteenth century, dissentient voices in 
 opposition to this negative attitude towards the things of 
 this world have not been wanting. Take the views of the 
 German poet, Robert Hammerling,f who reproaches the 
 pessimistic philosophers with ignoring the attitude of mind 
 of the majority of mankind who ask but one thing, life 
 
 * " Le Temple Enseveli," 1902. 
 
 f Quoted by Steiner, " Welt und Lebensanschauungen im XIX. 
 " Jahrhundert," 1901. Vol. II., pp. 170-173.
 
 1 92 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 life at any price and under any conditions. Against this 
 sentiment all dogmatic arguments are useless, for, according 
 to Hammerling, the question of pleasure and pain is a matter 
 of feeling and not of reason. Now, with regard to the general 
 feeling of humanity, there can be no doubt it is frankly 
 optimistic. 
 
 Max Nordau, the well-known writer, supports a similar 
 theory. According to him, all living nature betrays its 
 optimistic foundation. " The truth is," he says, " that opti- 
 mism, limitless and irradicable optimism, constitutes the 
 fundamental attitude of man, and is the instinctive feeling 
 which governs him under all circumstances. All other forms 
 of life confirm this truth. . . ." " All nature," according 
 to Max Nordau, " by the bells of flowers and the throats of 
 her birds, rings and proclaims the truth of optimism." " No 
 animals feel the pain of the world ; and our own ancestor, 
 the contemporary of the cave bear, was certainly free from 
 all anxiety relating to the destiny of the human race." 
 
 These arguments do not take into account that, to be 
 true, pessimism need not necessarily be felt and agreed with 
 by all living creatures. Birds and other animals, happy in 
 their lives, that is to say optimists, know nothing of the 
 inevitability of death. Our cave ancestors knew nothing 
 of it either. If the greater portion of modern humanity is 
 optimistic, that might be accounted for by its being still 
 under the influence of one of the three phases of illusion 
 alluded to by Hartmann. It is only when the highest stage 
 of development is reached that man, being convinced of the 
 futility of his hopes, arrives at a pessimistic conception of 
 the universe. 
 
 Max Nordau disclaims discipleship of Doctor Pangloss, 
 who held that the world is the best of all possible worlds. 
 But his arguments reveal a pronounced optimism. He
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 193 
 
 regards pain as an indispensable factor of the maintenance 
 of life. " Without pain," he says, " our lives would not 
 endure an hour, for we should be unable to recognise dan- 
 gerous symptoms and guard against them." Insensibility 
 to pain is often so grave a symptom that sick people rejoice 
 when they are again able to feel the prick of a needle. 
 
 This is true enough, but none the less the feeling of pain 
 is very erratic in both animals and human beings. Quite 
 insignificant causes and unimportant illnesses, such as certain 
 forms of neuralgia, give rise to. unbearable agony. A physio- 
 logical phenomenon such as childbirth is often attended 
 by extremely violent pain whicli is absolutely useless as 
 a danger-signal. On the other hand, some of the most 
 dangerous diseases, such as cancer or kidney disease, may 
 exist for a long time without causing any sensation of pain, 
 with the result that the sufferer knows nothing of the pre- 
 sence of the disease until it is too late. Were pain to play the 
 part assigned to it by Nordau, it would appear in all cases 
 of danger, and yet would never become almost unbearably 
 acute. 
 
 But when men have passed through the three stages of 
 illusion it is not physical pain which presses most heavily 
 on them. Max Nordau himself admits that it is " appalling 
 to think of the cessation of our consciousness, and the anni- 
 hilation of our ego." None the less, he believes " that we - 
 are so happily constituted as to be able to accept the really 
 inevitable with a light heart, and that there is no ill feeling 
 about the matter." This admission is not in accordance 
 with the well-established facts discussed in chap. vi. 
 With very rare exceptions man does not willingly accept 
 the prospect of death, especially if he be still under the 
 influence of illusion in any of its three stages. As a rule 
 those who desire to live feel not only a repugnance to the 
 
 N
 
 i 9 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 contemplation of death, but death seems to them something 
 abnormal and irrational. It is no answer to assert that all 
 who feel this are psychopaths, or that it is absurd to think 
 that the happiness of mankind counts for something in the 
 cosmic process. On the contrary, it is quite natural that 
 man should seek after happiness, and that he should try to 
 analyse the phenomena taking place within him and around 
 him from the point of view of that ideal. For this reason 
 it is quite unjust to say that pessimism cannot be treated 
 seriously. It is pessimism which has been the first to draw 
 up a true indictment of human nature, and if pain is to be 
 regarded as useful in its quality of danger-signal we should 
 equally recognise that the pessimistic view of the universe 
 is a step onwards in the evolution of humanity. Without 
 pessimism we might easily sink into a kind of contented 
 fatalism, and end in quietism, in the manner of many religions. 
 It is only natural, however, that the thinking world should 
 not accept pessimism as the last word of human wisdom, 
 and that more or less noted philosophers should devote 
 themselves to finding a possible solution of the problem of 
 life and death. These systems of philosophy, one and all, 
 have abandoned readily all belief in future life and personal 
 immortality. But they have adopted pantheistic concep- 
 tions, and have accepted the existence of some general prin- 
 ciple into which the individual consciousness will eventually 
 be absorbed. There is division of opinion as to the pro- 
 perties of this principle. For some it is the Idea, for others 
 Will, for others Force, or Eternal Energy.* The nomen- 
 clature is the less important as the views as to the nature 
 of the general principle are absolutely vague. Accordingly 
 this part of the philosophic doctrines appears in a lyrical 
 form and has passed over into the domain of poetry. 
 * Herbert Spencer.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 195 
 
 German poets have helped to spread pantheistic con- 
 ceptions very widely. f I need hardly mention Goethe, whose 
 ideas were purely those of Spinoza, but Schiller's well-known 
 lines are precise : 
 
 " Vor dem Tode erschrickst Du ? Du wiinschest unsterblich zu 
 
 leben ? 
 Leb im gazen ! Wenn du lange dahin bist, es bleibt ! " 
 
 " Do you shrink from approaching Death ? and crave immortality ? 
 Live on in the All ! Long after you vanish the All will remain ! " 
 
 Riickert, in lines almost equally well known, expresses 
 the same idea : 
 
 " Vernichtung weht dich an, so lang Du Einzler bist. 
 O, fum" im ganzen Dich, das unvernichtbar ist." 
 
 " Annihilation fills you with terror, because you are self-centred. You 
 must feel your unity with the All, which is indestructible." 
 
 A volume might be filled with the attempts of thinkers of 
 different countries to present these poetical ideas in a form 
 less vague and more philosophical. I shall select only a 
 few of the more modern instances. 
 
 Kenan's * ideas may be taken as typical of the compro- 
 mise between poetry and philosophy. Speaking of immor- 
 tality, he said " that we shall each live again by the traces 
 we leave on the bosom of the Infinite." t 
 
 The views elaborated by Guyau J are equally poetic. 
 Like so many others he is unable to accept without protest 
 the prospect of the inevitability of death. Brought face to 
 face with this end, he declares that he feels " not sorrow but 
 indignation, as against an injustice of nature." " It is with 
 justice," he cries, " that we look on nature as a murderess 
 
 * " Dialogues et Fragments philosophiques," Paris, 1876. 
 
 f Loc. cit. p. 139. 
 
 | " L'lrreligion de 1'Avenir." Sixth Edition, Paris, 1895.
 
 196 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 if she kills what is morally best in ourselves and in 
 others." * 
 
 It is chiefly in the name of love that Guyau protests 
 against death : " The death of others, the annihilation of 
 those we love, is insupportable to men, who are essentially 
 thinking and loving creatures." f 
 
 This problem, so vast and so difficult t'o solve, is presented 
 by him as follows : "As regards the question of individual 
 immortality, human thought is dragged in opposite direc- 
 tions by two great forces science, in the name of evolution, 
 prepared to sacrifice the individual completely ; love, in 
 the name of an evolution, morally and socially higher, which 
 would preserve the individual at all hazards. There is no 
 more disturbing dilemma proposed to the philosopher." J 
 
 Guyau hopes that in the course of evolution there will 
 come about a merging of individual consciousness in the 
 consciousness of the whole. " One may ask," he says, " if 
 it may not be that these conscious entities mingling and 
 interpenetrating, may come to live on from one to the other, 
 and so to acquire a new duration ? " On such a hypothesis 
 he can foresee " an epoch not, indeed, certain to come, but 
 far from inconceivable, in which individual consciousnesses 
 will have achieved a corporate integrity and a complex 
 intercommunion, without themselves being lost by the 
 union." 
 
 On this hypothesis, " the problem is to be at the same 
 time loving enough and loved enough to live and endure in 
 another. 1 1 . . . Those who vanish and those who remain 
 must love QBE another so greatly that the shadows cast by 
 them on the universal consciousness are identical." " We 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 462. t Loc. cit. p. 463. 
 
 % Loc: cit. p. 464. Loc. cit. p. 470, 
 
 |j Loc. cit. p. 471.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 197 
 
 should then feel ourselves passing and ascending from this 
 life to an immortality of love," and "the point of contact 
 between life and immortality would be discovered." * 
 
 A solution recently offered by Finot f is much less poetical. 
 According to him, it is only " when death is conceived of as 
 annihilation that it is repugnant. On the other hand, if 
 we regard it merely as a change of life, we shall cease to 
 fear it, and even come to love it." J 
 
 But what is this " change of life " that is to prove so 
 consoling ? It is the " immortality of the body," that is 
 to say, the life of the creatures developed at the expense of 
 the human body. " Flies begin the work of the labourers 
 on the dead," giving birth to worm-like larvae that writhe 
 in the decomposing flesh. The same vermin that horrified 
 Tolstoi when he thought of his own death (see chap. vi. 
 p. 123) became Finot' s symbol of consolation. He describes 
 the whole succession of the fauna of corpses, and concludes 
 by saying, " and so goes on the routine of life, from birth to 
 the tomb, of noisy, clamorous life, ceaselessly renewed. 
 Ever loving, giving birth, living and dying. The peace of 
 the tomb is as filled with life as the dust into which we 
 think our bodies will fall." 
 
 I have given the above quotation as an instance showing 
 to what lengths men have gone in their search for a solution 
 of the problem of death and in their desire for a gleam of 
 hope that the end may not be final. I need not say that 
 this idea of the fauna of the corpse has no place in [the 
 philosophy of death. Thinkers, no doubt, would prefer 
 the most vague ambiguities to certainties of such a nature. 
 Most contemporary philosophers regard the problem in a 
 very different fashion. 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 472. t " La Philosophie de la Longevite," Paris, 1900. 
 % Loc. cit. p. 307. Loc. cit. p. 105.
 
 198 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 In my opinion, Meyer-Benfey, a scholar at Gottingen, has 
 summed up the present condition of the problem very clearly 
 and exactly, in essays on Modern Religion.* He realises 
 that it is impossible to accept the immortality of the soul. 
 Personality must utterly and inevitably perish. But, just 
 as no single atom of our bodies can be annihilated, so " no 
 parts of our souls can be lost." Our actions during life leave 
 traces so much the deeper as the life has been fuller. It is 
 this reuniting " of the actions of individuals with the life of 
 the whole of humanity, that constitutes the true immor- 
 tality or Nirvana." He says, too, " In accustoming our 
 minds to this thought, and in educating ourselves with a 
 view to the accomplishment of this end, lies the only possible 
 means of overcoming the fear of death and the terror of 
 annihilation." 
 
 Meyer-Benfey is of the pessimistic opinion that happiness 
 cannot possibly be regarded as the supreme end of humanity, 
 for he thinks, if that were so, the whole course of evolution 
 would have been a mistake. It would have been much 
 better had evolution been arrested before the creation of the 
 human race, since animals, being unaware of the inevitability 
 of death, are undoubtedly happier than man. As, however, 
 we have passed through the animal stage and reached the 
 human stage, and achieved some measure of civilisation, 
 and this not by our own desire, or as the result of mere 
 chance, but guided by the inner workings of our nature, it 
 is plain that the ultimate goal towards which we are advanc- 
 ing, must be some other than mere happiness. There can 
 be no question but that the goal is the triumph of pure 
 and perfect culture. 
 
 This idea, that the goal of humanity is progress in all its 
 
 * " Die moderne Religion." Leipzig, 1902. See also Frankfurter 
 Zeitung, Feb. 19 and 20, 1902.
 
 PHILOSOPHICAL REMEDIES 199 
 
 manifestations, is no recent theory, and many definitions of 
 this progress have been advanced, but so far none have been 
 generally accepted as satisfactory. The term " culture,'' 
 though vague, will have to continue in use until some 
 better word conveying a more precise meaning is found to 
 replace it. 
 
 On reviewing all the systems of philosophy which have 
 attempted so strenuously to solve the problem of individual 
 death, it becomes plain that all, or nearly all, of them deny 
 the existence of a future life and the immortality of the 
 soul. The greater part of them, however, admit some 
 general principle incomprehensible but eternal, which will 
 eventually incorporate within itself all individual souls. 
 Feeling that these vague ideas are incapable of conveying 
 consolation to poor humanity in its fear of annihilation 
 through death, philosophers have persistently taught the 
 advantages of resignation. Even Guyau, realising that his 
 philosophy regarding the immortality of love fails to reas- 
 sure those who look to philosophy for some word of conso- 
 lation, ends by admitting that " as there is no help to be 
 expected from the inexorable, nor mercy from that which 
 is in conformity with the universe and even with our own 
 judgment, resignation is best." * As it is the general opinion 
 that to be philosophical is to take things as they are, without 
 undue protest, the watchword of all systems of philosophy 
 is to bow to. the inevitable, that is to say, to be resigned to 
 the prospect of annihilation. 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 476,
 
 PART III 
 
 WHAT SCIENCE IS ABLE TO DO TO 
 
 ALLEVIATE THE DISHARMONIES 
 
 OF THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO AGAINST DISEASE 
 
 Formation of the experimental method The intervention 
 of religion in disease Disease as a basis of pessimistic 
 systems of philosophy Advance of medical science in the 
 war against disease The revolution in medicine and surgery 
 due to the discoveries of Pasteur The beneficial results of 
 Serum Therapy in the war against infectious diseases 
 Failure of science to cure tuberculosis and malignant tumours 
 Protests against the advance of science Opposition of 
 Rousseau, Tolstoi, and Brunetiere Proclamation of the 
 fallibility of science Return to religion and mysticism 
 
 SCIENCE, the youngest daughter of knowledge, has begun 
 to investigate the great problems affecting humanity 
 The chief religions and many systems of philosophy had 
 been long established before the spirit of scepticism dared 
 to inquire whether or no these products of the human mind 
 were really in harmony with fact. Scepticism gained 
 ground little by little, and open war was declared between 
 religious dogma and authority on the one side, and scientific 
 reason on the other. 
 
 The great religions and the philosophy of Aristotle had 
 ruled a majority of mankind for some twenty centuries 
 before doubt was mst on the real value of these doctrines. 
 
 Francis Bacon, Lord Verulam, asked why it was that 
 all the systems of his time were so vague and so powerless 
 to explain the phenomena of the world. The cause could 
 not lie in nature herself, for without doubt she followed laws
 
 204 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 that were immutable and that could be subjected to exact 
 observation ; nor could it lie in any want of intelligence 
 in those men who devoted themselves to solve the problems. 
 The true cause of the failure lay in the falsity or insufficiency 
 of the methods employed. Bacon, trying to provide a 
 remedy for this condition of affairs, advised that makers 
 of generalisations should proceed very slowly, passing only 
 by the smallest stages from particular facts to conclusions 
 only rrfore general in the slightest degree, and so on, until 
 the ultimate formula might be reached. By such a path 
 it was possible to attain principles neither vague nor am- 
 biguous, but clear and exact and that would not be denied 
 by nature herself. 
 
 The first steps taken by science according to this method* 
 which indeed had been suggested long ago, but which was 
 first clearly laid down by Bacon, were slow and halting. 
 Religious and philosophical doctrines still weighed heavily 
 on inquiring minds, so that the new method was not followed 
 with any great courage. None the less progress was 
 achieved, until at length the great problems of humanity 
 opened out. More than two thousand years before the 
 birth of exact science, Buddha had given voice to the 
 chief grievances of the human race. " Behold, O monks, 
 the holy truth as to suffering," he had proclaimed in the. 
 Sermon at Benares, " birth is suffering, old age is suffering, 
 disease is suffering, and death is suffering." Science, 
 in its slow progress, passing from particular to general, 
 reached first one of these four sorrows, the suffering due to 
 disease. 
 
 In the Buddhist legend that I quoted in chap, vi., 
 the sight of a sick man "whose senses were weakened, 
 who drew his breath with difficulty, whose limbs were 
 shrivelled, whose bowels were wrung with pain, and his
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 205 
 
 body pitifully soiled with excrement," suggested to Buddha 
 the reflection that " health is no more than the idle vision 
 of a dream while fear and disease are horrible realities. 
 What wise man, having seen the thing that life is, can still 
 think of joy or of pleasure ? Woe upon health which is 
 assailed by so many maladies." When Buddha, who was 
 a young prince, asked of his father the gift " that he might 
 always remain full of health, and that he" should be smitten 
 by no disease," his father, who was the king, replied: "You 
 ask me what is impossible ; in that my son, I can do 
 nothing." 
 
 From that day, every religion has busied itself with the 
 cure and prevention of disease. They believed that the 
 causes of these were the' influence of evil spirits or the 
 visitations of God ; and as remedies they prescribed sacri- 
 fice and prayer and anything that might avert the anger 
 of God. Even at the present day, similar medicine is used 
 by primitive races. In Sumatra for instance, when it is 
 impossible to arrest the flow of blood from a wound, the 
 disaster is ascribed to an evil spirit (Polasieq) who is suck- 
 ing the wound and making it incurable. In Nias, when 
 bleeding from the nose occurs in children, it is supposed 
 to be due to the father having killed a cock during the preg- 
 nancy of the mother. The indispensable remedy is to make 
 sacrifice to the outraged deity. 
 
 No doubt there co-exist with such practices of primitive 
 races, certain useful rules, based on correct observation 
 or on experience. It is a common practice to try all manner 
 of remedies on the sick ; although most do harm, now and 
 again something useful may be discovered. Such vulgar 
 medicine has undoubted merit, but it cannot be compared 
 with the results of scientific medicine, which are drawn 
 from rigorous experiment.
 
 206 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Medical science has been slow in developing, but it has 
 now reached a condition of which humanity may be proud. 
 It is outside my purpose to give a long exposition of this 
 subject ; but it is necessary to my argument to set out a 
 few facts from which the reader may judge of the present 
 condition of medical science. 
 
 Without doubt the fear of disease has played a large part 
 in the pess mistic conceptions of the universe. Not only 
 the words of Buddha that I have quoted, but many of 
 the systems of pessimistic philosophy attest this I have 
 already stated in chap. vi. that Schopenhauer in 1831 was 
 driven from Berlin to Frankfurt by fear of cholera. 
 
 In his statement of the case against this universe, and 
 as a chief argument for his proposition that " this is the 
 worst of possible worlds " Schopenhauer adduced the 
 spreading of epidemics. " An alteration of the atmosphere 
 so slight that it cannot be detected by chemistry brings 
 about cholera, or yellow fever, or the black death, diseases 
 which number their victims by millions ; an alteration 
 slightly greater might destroy all life."* 
 
 Hartmann, who has been one of the chief advocates of 
 Schopenhauer's pessimism, also had gloomy views on 
 diseases and medicine. He was convinced that howsoever 
 great the progress of humanity might come to be, there 
 never would be an end or even a diminution of diseases. 
 " It is no matter," he said, " how many remedies may be 
 discovered for diseases ; new diseases, and particularly 
 chronic affections which, although not serious are extremely 
 painful, will continue to appear more rapidly than the 
 discoveries of medicine. "f 
 
 Humanity will be fortunate if the pessimistic philosophers 
 
 * " Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung," vol. II., p. 687. 
 f " Philosophic des Unbewussten," p. 615.
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 207 
 
 prove as wrong about their other grievances as they have 
 proved about disease and medicine. To understand the 
 vast progress made by medicine, it is necessary only to 
 compare the complaint of Schopenhauer with the actual 
 state of affairs. When he spoke of epidemics being due 
 to slight changes of the atmosphere, Schopenhauer obviously 
 was repeating the medical opinion current in. his times. 
 Experimental science has proved that he was quite wrong. 
 It has been shown conclusively that two of the great affec- 
 tions of which he spoke, cholera and plague, are due not 
 to chemical changes in the air, but to definite microbes, 
 the natural history of which is known as well as that of 
 any other plant. Cholera is produced by the vibrio, dis- 
 covered by Koch, a minute organism that lives in water 
 and that enters the human alimentary canal with food or 
 drink. We do not yet know a definite cure for cholera, 
 but we do know how to prevent infection. The most 
 simple mode of guarding against infection is to swallow 
 only material that has been boiled, and to prevent con- 
 tamination of water or of vessels with faecal matter con- 
 taining the Koch's vibrio. Moreover, in individual cases 
 use may be made of anti-cholera serums. In 1831, if these 
 discoveries had been made, philosophy would have taken 
 a different course. Instead of trembling at the epidemic, 
 and flying to Frankfurt, Schopenhauer would have remained 
 quietly at Berlin, and Hegel would not have ceased to 
 develop his idealism in the university of that town. 
 
 Schopenhauer enforced his argument by reference to 
 the black death " capable of destroying millions of victims." 
 It is certain that the black death was no other than human 
 plague, which made enormous ravages, in the fourteenth 
 century, for instance, destroying nearly a third of the popu- 
 lation of Europe. In those days, no one doubted but that
 
 208 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 it was a visitation of the Divine wrath, and people gathered 
 in churches to make common supplication. Sacrifices 
 were offered and flagellations took place in the tiope of 
 averting the terrible malady. Travellers who have been 
 in the capital of Austria must have seen in one of the chief 
 streets (Graben) a large and unlovely monument, erected 
 in the seventeenth century to commemorate the inter- 
 position of Providence in staying one of the great epidemics 
 of plague. Now that science has made known the true 
 cause of plague, our ideas as to the causes of the appearance 
 and disappearance of epidemics are very different. Plague 
 is not the manifestation of the anger of God, but is a scourge 
 due to invasion by a minute organisn, discovered simul- 
 taneously by Kitasato and Yersin in 1894. The natural 
 history of the microbe has been studied, and we know that 
 it may live not only in human bodies but in the bodies of 
 small rodents, such as rats and mice, which live in associa- 
 tion with man. These animals are the source of human 
 infection, and it is necessary to destroy them as completely 
 as possible. There is no doubt but that the arrest of the 
 plague in the seventeeth century was due to the fact that 
 rats and mice had themselves been exterminated by the 
 plague. 
 
 Plague, which formerly was the most terrible of epidemic 
 diseases, has now become a misfortune against which it is 
 simple to guard ourselves. To secure that end, however, 
 we have not to pray or to scourge ourselves, but to take 
 measures to destroy rats and mice. Moreover serums may 
 be employed ; and the use of these is not only prophylactic, 
 but if the disease be not too advanced, is actually curative. 
 The danger of which Schopenhauer spoke may be regarded 
 as definitely averted, and this is due to the advance of 
 medical knowledge. In such countries as British India in
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 209 
 
 which plague still causes great losses, we have to blame 
 the ignorance of the population. Instead of following 
 the course prescribed by science, these people still prefer 
 the rules laid down by the Brahmanistic religion. Their 
 idea of cleanliness and purity is a religious idea, and not 
 that of medicine and bacteriology. It is not surprising 
 that plague still exists in India, but none the less no case 
 is a better instance of the progress of knowledge. 
 
 Hartmann's idea as to a progressive increase in the 
 number of diseases rests on no exact grounds, and is in 
 opposition to much that we know. As a matter of fact, as 
 knowledge of hygiene advances and becomes spread among 
 the peoples, diseases become less frequent and less fatal. 
 
 A great stimulus was given to medicine and surgery when 
 there was applied to these the knowledge gained by Pasteur 
 in his study of fermentation. Pasteur showed that fermen- 
 tations were chemical alterations in organic matter, excited 
 by the presence of minute organisms very common in the 
 neighbourhood of man. 
 
 This discovery was applied in the first place to surgery. 
 Lord Lister, then a surgeon in Scotland, showed that the 
 festering of wounds was due to the entrance of minute 
 organisms. Following this clue, he succeeded, by the use 
 of dressings, in preventing the contamination of wounds 
 and at once saw a vast reduction in deaths following surgical 
 operations. Since the discovery of anaesthetics, such as 
 ether, chloroform, and cocaine, and the use of germ-free 
 dressings, surgery has been developed in a marvellous 
 fashion. The varied and delicate feats of abdominal 
 operation are known to all, and recently surgery of the 
 heart has become possible. 
 
 A comparison of the mortality of the wounded in the 
 different wars of the nineteenth century affords an excellent 
 
 o
 
 210 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 means of gauging the progress of surgical treatment of gun- 
 shot wounds. The mortality of the wounded among the 
 English troops in the Crimean war reached 15.21 per cent. ; 
 in the French troops in Italy in 1859-1860, it was 17.36 
 per cent. ; in the German army in 1870-1871, the years 
 in which antiseptic surgery came into use, it fell to 11.07 
 per cent. ; while in the Spanish- American war in 1898, 
 in the most brilliant period of modern surgery, the percent- 
 age mortality of wounded had fallen to 6.64.* In the recent 
 Transvaal war, the mortality was half what it had been 
 in the Franco-German war.f 
 
 New medical knowledge, founded on the discovery of 
 the nature of ferments and of the virus of infection, has 
 reformed the practice of midwifery to such an extent that 
 puerperal fever, formerly one of the great scourges of 
 humanity, is now extremely rare. 
 
 Blindness acquired at birth, which formerly rendered 
 many lives extremely miserable, is now practically com- 
 pletely prevented, by means of the precautions taken to 
 hinder the child from being 'contaminated by the mother 
 in the process of birth. The most successful method is that 
 which was suggested by Crede,+ a German physician, and 
 consists in placing in the pupils of the infant a minute drop 
 of nitrate of silver, which is an antiseptic, and prevents 
 the occurrence of ocular blennorrhagia. 
 
 * Borden, "The Use of the Rontgen Ray," p. 20. Washington. 
 1898. 
 
 f Bulletin du Service de Santl M Hit air e, No. 499, p. 73. 1901. 
 
 J The efficacy of Crede's treatment may be inferred from the 
 figures recorded at Stockholm, in which city the adoption of the 
 treatment caused the percentage of cases of this nature to fall from 
 0.56 in 1891 to 0.045 m l8 99- See Widmark, " Mittheilungen 
 a d. Auejenklinik d. Carol. Med. Chir. Instit. zu Stockholm," p. 126. 
 1902,
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 211 
 
 Appendicitis, a disease so common that I referred to it 
 in chap. iv. as one of the most salient examples of dis- 
 harmony in the human constitution, has been resolutely 
 attacked by medical science. In some cases, surgical in- 
 terference makes a definite end of the disease ; in other 
 cases medical treatment has been enough to subdue the 
 symptoms without recourse to operation. 
 
 For a considerable period, those of a sceptical disposition 
 asserted that the advance of bacteriological knowledge 
 was of service only in surgical cases. But Pasteur showed 
 that this was an erroneous view. Working with Chamber- 
 land and Roux, Pasteur demonstrated that many infectious 
 diseases could be prevented by the use of attenuated virus ; 
 he succeeded in saving the lives of many animals and of 
 men, bitten by rabid dogs and affected by hydrophobia, 
 a disease formerly almost invariably fatal and among the 
 most horrible to which man is liable. 
 
 In the latter direction, medical science is developing 
 at an extraordinary rate, and is achieving results of a re- 
 markable nature. Among recent discoveries, I may mention 
 that of the curative properties of the blood-serum of animals 
 which have been subjected to the action either of microbes 
 or of the soluble products of microbes. Von Behring, 
 working with the Kitasato, a Japanese investigator, has 
 shown that a serum of this nature, prepared with the poison 
 produced by the microbe of diphtheria (the poison was 
 discovered by Roux in collaboration with Yersin), is capable 
 not only of protecting those in good health from diphtheria, 
 but of curing those who have been attacked by the disease. 
 The serum fails to act only when it is employed in advanced 
 cases of diphtheria. 
 
 Anti-diphtheritic serum, introduced into medical practice 
 about eight years ago, has been tried in every way and has
 
 212 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 been proved to possess both preventive and curative proper- 
 ties. If patients still die from diphtheria, it is only because 
 the treatment has been applied too late or insufficiently. 
 
 The use of the anti-diphtheritic serum has reduced the 
 mortality in cases of diphtheria from 50 or even 60 per 
 cent, to 12 or 14 per cent. The number of infant lives 
 that have been saved by this method must be enormous. 
 
 The beneficent discovery of the curative value of serums 
 has been applied to other diseases and is giving very en- 
 couraging results. I cannot go into details here, but it is 
 enough to say that in the last quarter of a century medicine 
 has entered a new epoch, and has taken its place among 
 other exact sciences based on the experimental method. 
 Although it is not surprising that in so short a space of time 
 science has not yet conquered all the ills affecting humanity, 
 this failure has provoked the most severe criticism. 
 
 "Indeed," one of the critics has said, "you vaunt the 
 progress of medical science at a time when you have to 
 confess that it has failed to cure tuberculosis, one of the 
 gravest of the infectious diseases, which alone causes the 
 death of a sixth part of the human race." It is true that 
 the infectious nature of this scourge was announced by 
 Villemin more than forty years ago. Twenty years have 
 passed since Koch, the German bacteriologist, discovered the 
 microbe that produces not only the ordinary form of pul- 
 monary consumption but all other varieties of tuberculosis. 
 And we are still ignorant of any remedy for the disease. 
 In all the bacteriological institutes and laboratories search 
 is being made for some vaccine or serum or medicament 
 which will arrest a disease that in many cases nature herself 
 cures. But the results amount practically to nothing. 
 
 This is certainly a good example of the failure of science. 
 None the less a closer examination shows that even with
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 213 
 
 the knowledge already gained we could deal with tubercu- 
 losis in a manner more efficacious than is the existing prac- 
 tice. When the infectious nature of the disease had been 
 made known, before waiting for the discovery by Koch 
 of the actual bacillus, we should have employed all the 
 known modes of destroying infectious matter. In spite 
 of all that has been said and written on the subject, people 
 still spit on the floors of omnibuses and cars and on street 
 pavements. Tuberculosis is propagated not because of 
 the failure of science, but because of the ignorance and 
 stupidity of the population. To diminish the spread of 
 tuberculosis, of typhoid fever, of dysentery, and of many 
 other diseases, it is necessary only to follow the rules of 
 scientific hygiene, without waiting for specific remedies. 
 
 Although the science of to-day is sufficiently armed 
 against the diseases commonly known as infectious, the case 
 is very different with some other affections, among which 
 the chief place is taken by malignant tumours, or cancers, 
 in the most general sense of the word. 
 
 There are few maladies more terrible, for they practi- 
 cally never disappear spontaneously, and surgery can 
 remove them successfully only if they have been recognised 
 at an early stage. Every year a number of persons, old 
 and young, die. victims of malignant tumours, and it is even 
 possible that cancer is more prevalent now than in former 
 times. It has been suggested that the increase of cancer 
 is due to the greater longevity among modern races, and 
 as malignant tumours are most common in old persons, 
 it may well be that the prolongation of life has given this 
 disease a larger field. However, even allowing for this, 
 it is probable that there is a real increase of cancer. 
 
 Unquestionably the malignant tumours are the diseases 
 most disappointing to medicine and surgery, and these
 
 2i 4 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 sciences are as much at a loss with regard to them as in the 
 case of infectious diseases before the discovery of pathogenic 
 organisms. Science is perhaps even in worse case with 
 regard to cancer than it formerly was with regard to infec- 
 tious diseases, for, before the discovery of microbes, some- 
 thing was known of the virus which produces infection. 
 Thus the virus of smallpox was known, and was used, by 
 the method of inoculation, to prevent more serious attacks 
 of the disease. Nearly a century before the discoveries 
 of Pasteur, Jenner had been able to be of the greatest service 
 to mankind by his discovery that the virus of cow-pox 
 could be used as a preventive of infection by smallpox. 
 
 In the case of malignant tumours, we do not even know 
 their real nature ; we are ignorant as to whether or no they 
 are infectious, and whether they are caused by a microbe 
 coming from without or are due to internal changes of the 
 tissues. Our ignorance, however, affords no ground for 
 despair. It is probable that the malignant tumours will 
 soon come to be ranged with infectious diseases due to 
 invasions by specific microbes. Experiments on the cancers 
 in rats and mice have shown that these can be inoculated 
 in the same manner as in the case of the recognised infectious 
 diseases. Hanau has shown that this occurs in the case 
 of epithelioma of old rats ; Morau* has succeeded in trans- 
 ferring the cancers of white mice, and his results have been 
 confirmed by Jensenf and BorrelJ, in the Institut Pasteur. 
 These investigations mark the beginning of a new stage in 
 the knowledge of tumours. I am unable to see, therefore 
 that the malignant tumours provide a satisfactory argument 
 in favour of a pessimistic conception of the universe. 
 
 * " Archives de medecine experimentale," vol. VI., p. 677. 1894, 
 
 f " Hospitalstidende," May 7, 1902, p. 489. 
 
 J " Annales de 1'Institut Pasteur," February 1903.
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 215 
 
 Dr. Boas, of Berlin,* in a recent publication, has laid 
 stress on the fact that most patients affected with cancer 
 do not seek medical aid until the disease is far advanced. 
 For instance, in 80 per cent, of the cases of cancer of the 
 rectum that he had attended, the patients presented them- 
 selves too late for operation. Boas advised that the atten- 
 tion of the public should be drawn, by means of widespread 
 publication, to the earliest symptoms of cancerous disease. 
 He thought that such a course might save many lives by 
 making possible operation in early stages. 
 
 The prevention and treatment of disease, which for long 
 was in the hands of religious authorities, is now passing 
 in .o the care of those who employ the methods of scientific 
 medicine. It is now only in the case of certain nervous 
 maladies, which can be treated by suggestion, that religion 
 has any important part to play. I have not thought it 
 necessary to expound at length the work of science in the 
 struggle against disease, because the evidence on this point 
 is extremely clear and precise. Every one must accept it, 
 and even the passionate enemies of science have to bow 
 before the fact. 
 
 However, the problem has been changed. Science they 
 now admit, is capable, no doubt, of assuaging humanity 
 in its sufferings from this or the other disease. But there 
 is another question. Disease is only an episode in human 
 life, and the great problems remain unsolved by science. 
 It is not enough to cure a man of diphtheria or intermittent 
 fever ; it is necessary to explain what the destiny of man 
 is, and why he must grow old and die at a time when his 
 desire to live is strongest. Here, plainly, all science must 
 fail, and here must begin the beneficent work of religion 
 and philosophy. But as spience is constantly casting doubt 
 * " Deutsche medecin. Wochenschrift," October 30, 1902, p. 798*
 
 2i 6 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 on the dogmas of religion, and criticising adversely the 
 systems of philosophy, it is plain, that so far from being 
 of service, science is actually harmful to mankind. 
 
 The campaign against science was opened long ago. In 
 the eighteenth century Rousseau * opened it with brilliancy 
 and zest worthy of his reputation. He defended his theme 
 with vigour and eloquence and the following quotations 
 may serve as an example, " Know O people," he wrote, 
 " that nature has desired to preserve you from science as 
 a mother tries to snatch a dangerous weapon from the 
 hands of her child ; that the secrets which she has hidden 
 from you are evils from which she would preserve you, and 
 that one of her greatest gifts is the difficulty with which 
 knowledge is acquired. Human beings are perverse, but 
 they would have been worse had they had the misfortune 
 to be born learned men.f Our sciences are futile in so far 
 as they fail to attain their objects, but they are worse than 
 futile in the results that they bring about. Born of idle- 
 ness, they cherish their mother Tell, me, illustrious philo- 
 sophers, -you from whom we know why matter attracts 
 matter, the relations of the orbits traced by revolving 
 planets, the mathematical properties of curves, what stars 
 may be inhabited, what insects exhibit curious modes of 
 reproduction ; tell me, I say, you from whom we have gained 
 such marvellous information, if you had never learned of 
 these things, should we have been less numerous, less well 
 governed, less flourishing, or worse disposed ? " J 
 
 Such words were capable of impressing men because of 
 their eloquence and sincerity, but they could not arrest 
 the continued and triumphant advance of science, which 
 
 * " Si le retablissement des sciences et des arts a contribue a 
 epurer les moeurs." " CEuvres completes," vol. L, p. 463, 1875. 
 t Loc. cit. p. 469, % Loc. cit. p. 470.
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 217 
 
 indeed, precisely at the end of the eighteenth century, 
 began its modern and lasting progress. For it was then 
 that Laplace described the system of the heavens and that 
 Lavoisier laid the foundation of modern chemistry and of 
 our knowledge of the indestructibility of matter. 
 
 In the nineteenth century, science has made a revolution 
 in life by its application of steam and by its other triumphs. 
 None the less it has not satisfied many distinguished persons. 
 And to-day we find a writer of genius, in the manner of 
 Rousseau, raising his voice against the science of the nine- 
 teenth century. 
 
 Tolstoi, in an essay ot which the title is, " On the Aim of 
 Science and Art," has attempted to show the incompetence 
 of science with regard to the great problems that occupy 
 humanity. The task set himself by the Russian writer 
 was much harder than that of Rousseau, for with the passing 
 of a century science has become much more powerful. 
 
 Tolstoi is convinced that theoretical investigations into 
 the origin of life, the intimate structure of living matter 
 and so forth, are of no importance to human beings, and 
 serve no other purpose than to flatter the pretensions of 
 the learned. " All that we call culture," he affirmed, 
 " our sciences, our arts, improvements in the amenity of 
 life, are no other than attempts to deceive the moral 
 cravings of mankind ; all that we call hygiene and medicine 
 are no other than attempts to deceive the physical and 
 natural cravings of mankind."* 
 
 The whole progress of science "up to the present time, 
 has not only not improved the lot of the majority of man- 
 kind, that is to say of the labourers, but has made it worse. "f 
 Tolstoi thinks that the epithet " true science " could be 
 given only to " knowledge of the right aim and true 
 * Loc. cit. p. 437. f L c - "I- P- 397-
 
 2i8 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 happiness of each individual and of mankind as a whole. 
 Such a science would serve as a guiding thread in determining 
 the proper sphere of all knowledge " ; " without knowledge 
 of the proper aim of life and of the real good of humanity, 
 all other knowledge and every art become merely amuse- 
 ments idle or even harmful."* 
 
 The chief grievance of the great Russian writer against! 
 knowledge, culture, and progress can be resolved into the 
 powerlessness of these to explain the most difficult problems 
 of humanity, that is to say the real aim of human life, and 
 what really constitutes true happiness. 
 
 In this connection, Tolstoi gives expression to a view 
 which is shared by many thinkers. Some years later, 
 Brunetiere,f a well-known French writer and public man, 
 under the influence of a recent journey to Rome and visit 
 to the Pope, made public a similar opinion, and proclaimed 
 aloud the fallibility of science. 
 
 Brunetiere made his criticism as follows : " For the last 
 two or three centuries, science has promised to change the 
 face of the earth, to dispel every mystery ; she has not done 
 so. She is powerless to resolve the sole problems that are 
 essential, that concern the origin of man, the rules for his 
 conduct, and his future destiny. We know now that 
 natural science can teach us none of these matters. Thus, 
 in the battle between science and religion, science has been 
 defeated, because she has had to admit her powerlessness 
 precisely where religion is most strong. For religion gives 
 the solutions that science has failed to supply. Religion 
 teaches us what we can learn neither from anatomy nor from 
 physiology, that is to say, what we are, whither we are 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 411. 
 
 t Revue des Deux-Mondes 1895, No - T - P- 97- " La Science et la 
 Religion." Paris, 1885. Le Figaro, January 4, 1899.
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 219 
 
 going, and how we ought to act. Religion and science 
 supplement each other ; and, as science can do nothing 
 for morality, it becomes the duty of religion to take her 
 place." 
 
 It has been replied to Brunetiere, that his recriminations 
 are unfounded, first, because science has never undertaken 
 to solve the great problems of the aim of life and the proper 
 basis of morality ; next, because it is probable that these 
 problems will never be solved by the human understanding. 
 Charles Richet, a well-known French physiologist, made 
 a vain effort to find any written evidence that science had 
 promised to solve the great problems which have absorbed 
 the attention of Tolstoi and Brunetiere as well as of quite 
 a large section of humanity. "In what standard works 
 has science made the astonishing promises that M. Brune- 
 tiere recalls with so much bitterness ? " asked Richet.* 
 " I have now before me," he proceeded, " the Manuel du 
 baccalaureat es sciences (Guide to a Degree in Science). 
 It is a summary of contemporary scientific ideas. I have 
 looked through it in vain for promises it contains no 
 promises. "f 
 
 The promises referred to must be looked for in scientific 
 treatises that deal in generalisations. It is not to be dis- 
 puted that, since the renaissance in Europe of the rational 
 and sceptical spirit, that is to say, in the last two or three 
 centuries, the view has been proclaimed that all human life 
 may be regulated by natural laws without the interposition 
 of dogmas, either metaphysical or religious. Attempts 
 of this kind have been numerous. Biichner, in his treatise 
 on " Force and Matter," in which he tried to give a general 
 conception of the universe based on the scientific knowledge 
 of the nineteenth century, made very plain statements on 
 
 * Revue Scientifique, vol. I., p. 33. 1899. t Ibid. p. 34.
 
 220 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 this point. " We must seek the foundation of morality," 
 said the German populariser, " elsewhere than in the time- 
 worn and fantastic belief in the supernatural. Science 
 must replace religion ; belief in the real existence of a 
 natural and immutable order in things must displace belief 
 in spirits and ghosts ; natural moral law must take the 
 place of artificial or dogmatic morality."* Biichner even 
 tried to indicate what natural morality is. According to 
 him it is " the law of mutual consideration of the equal rights 
 of each person, both from the general and the individual 
 point of view, so as to assure the greatest happiness of the 
 greatest number. Everything that damages or destroys 
 the common good is ' evil ; ' ev erything that favours it is 
 'good.'" 
 
 The other question, as to whither we are going, finds an 
 answer in the materialistic and scientific breviary of Biichner. 
 He disputes the idea of immortality, which has been sup- 
 ported by nearly all the religions, and comes to the con- 
 clusion that "there is nothing appalling to a man, "imbued 
 with the principles of philosophy, in the conception of the 
 annihilation of the individual life." "Annihilation is perfect 
 rest ; it is freedom from all pain and escape from the sen- 
 sations that torture the body and the mind as was ex- 
 plained so clearly in the great religion of Buddha ; it is 
 not to be feared, but rather to be coveted when life has 
 reached its normal term and when old age has come with 
 its inevitable assemblage of infirmities." 
 
 I do not wish to suggest that the views I have just quoted 
 are peculiar to Biichner. That writer has served to a large 
 extent as the mouthpiece of ideas current among the 
 materialistic and positivist men of science of his time. 
 In Haeckel's book, "The Riddle of the Universe," which 
 * Loc. cit. p. 511.
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 221 
 
 appeared nearly half a century after the first edition of 
 " Force and Matter," the same ideas are to be found. He 
 also has found answers to the questions that absorb man- 
 kind. In his opinion also, as I have shown in chap. v. 
 the problem of natural morality resolves itself into the 
 social instincts of man, and has nothing to do with religious 
 dogma. As for the destiny of man, he concludes as 
 follows: "The best end we can desire after a courageous life, 
 spent in doing good according to our light, is the eternal 
 peace of the grave."* 
 
 There is a very close resemblance between the views of 
 the two great popularisers of the nineteenth century. Just 
 as Biichner, to show the stupidity of the idea of eternal life, 
 repeated the legend of the " Wandering Jew," so Haeckel, 
 with the same object, related the legend of the unhappy 
 -' Ahasuerus " who sought death vainly, finding his eternal 
 life intolerable. " However gloriously we may depict this 
 eternal life in paradise, in the end it would be a fearful 
 burden to the best of men." 
 
 While there is no doubt but that such ideas are shared 
 by many men who rely on scientific arguments, there are 
 others to whom the problem presents itself differently. 
 The German physiologist, Du Bois Reymond, after reflect- 
 ing on the general problems of knowledge and the universe, 
 proclaimed an " Ignorabimus " as a warning that a whole 
 series of problems of the highest importance to humanity 
 were outside the range of human knowledge and incapable 
 of solution. These problems were precisely the seven 
 "riddles of the universe" that Haeckel claimed to have 
 solved in his book. 
 
 Many learned men think that the great problems, those, 
 according to Tolstoi, that constitute the only true science, 
 * Loc. cit. p. 212.
 
 222 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 can never be solved. " Every day there comes a new 
 conquest," said Richet,* " but we are no nearer solution 
 of the ultimate enigma, the destiny of human life, an enigma 
 probably never to be solved." Philosophers have taken 
 the same view. " It cannot be from science," said Guyau, 
 " that personality is to require the proofs of its own dura- 
 bility.'^ 
 
 The answers given by science as it exists to-day, have 
 failed to console the spirits that have applied to her. When 
 Richet, in the discussion on the " bankruptcy of science " 
 recalled the discovery of treatment of diphtheria by specific 
 serums as an instance of the value of scientific research, 
 Brunetiere replied, "Serum therapy cannot prevent us 
 from dying, nor tell us why we must die." The problem of 
 death always recurs. What is the use of saving the life 
 of a child smitten by diphtheria only that it may grow up, 
 and by learning the inevitability of death become filled with 
 terror ? 
 
 If science be really powerless before the gravest problems 
 that torture mankind, if she has to excuse herself by admit- 
 ting her incompetence, if she can do no better than to extol 
 the silent annihilation of the grave, it is not surprising that 
 many minds and these not the least capable, turn from 
 her. The desire to find some consolation in the miseries 
 of a purposeless existence throws them into the arms of 
 religion or metaphysics. Here lies the explanation of the 
 actual return in these days to faith. People plunge into 
 mysticism hoping to find there something more comforting 
 than the annihilation offered by science. 
 
 In all ranks of modern society there are signs of this 
 craving for the supernatural. It is therefore extremely 
 interesting to follow the intimate steps of such an 
 * Loc. cit. p. 35. f " Irreligion," p. 460,
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 223 
 
 abandonment of science and return to faith. The 
 " Confessions " of Tolstoi gave one of the best examples of 
 the metamorphosis. 
 
 Having reached the conclusion that life is meaningless 
 because it cannot be harmonised with the fear of death and 
 the prospect of absolute annihilation, Tolstoi (see chap, 
 vi.) asked if it were not possible to solve the great problem 
 of human existence by means of the facts of science. " I 
 searched in all the sciences," he said. " and not only found 
 nothing myself, but became convinced that all who sought 
 would find nothing. Not only would they find nothing, 
 but they would see clearly precisely what had driven me 
 to despair, the fact that the absurdity of life is the sole 
 indisputable bit of knowledge open to man." " For a long 
 time, observing the grave and solemn tones of the exact 
 sciences, which indeed, hardly touched the problem of life, 
 it seemed to me that they must be concealing something 
 that I did not understand." 
 
 All the while, the question that Tolstoi put to himself 
 seemed simple enough : " Why am I to keep alive ? Why 
 am I to do anything ? " or, in another way : " Has life any 
 object that is not destroyed by the inevitable death that 
 awaits me ? To the one question, put in many ways, I 
 sought an answer in human knowledge." " From my 
 earliest youth the speculative sciences interested me deeply. 
 Later on, the mathematical and physical sciences attracted 
 me, and until my question rose up clearly before me, day 
 by day growing larger, and imperatively demanding an 
 answer, until then I was satisfied with the semblance of 
 an answer given by science." " I said to myself ; every- 
 thing is evolving, differentiating, moving towards com- 
 plexity and amelioration, and the progress is under the 
 guidance of law. You, you yourself are part of this whole."
 
 224 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 " Although I am deeply ashamed to confess it, there was 
 a time when I thought myself content with these things. 
 My muscles grew and became stronger. My memory added 
 to its stores. My ability for thinking and understanding 
 increased. I grew and developed, 'and feeling the growth 
 within me, it seemed natural to believe that the solution 
 of my own life was given by the law of the whole universe. 
 But the time came when I stopped growing. I felt that I 
 was no longer developing and even that I was slipping back. 
 My muscles weakened ; my teeth dropped out ; and I felt 
 that this law not only explained nothing, not only had never 
 explained anything, but had not been a law at all ; that in 
 fact I had taken for a law what I found in myself at a 
 particular stage of my life." 
 
 " As I found no explanation in science," Tolstoi went 
 on, in his poignant narrative, " I began to look for the 
 answer in life, hoping to find it in the men around me." 
 " My intellect was at work, but also something else, some- 
 thing that I can call only the consciousness of life, like some 
 strong force that compelled my intellect to turn in another 
 direction and to rescue me from my desperate condition." 
 
 The new direction was the feeling of faith. " However 
 I might put to myself the question : how must I live ? 
 the answer was by the law of God. Whither tends my 
 present life ? To eternal pain or to blessedness Everlasting. 
 How is my life not destroyed by death ? By eternal union 
 with God, by heaven. And thus I was led inevitably to 
 see that quite independently of human knowledge, which 
 formerly seemed to me the only guide, mankind had another 
 guide, a gtiide that is irrational ; faith which makes life 
 possible. Faith seemed to be as irrational as ever, but I could 
 not but recognise that faith alone gave mankind an answer 
 to the problem of life, and in consequence made life possible.
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 225 
 
 Reason had led me to the conviction that life was absurd, 
 and so, there being no longer a reason to live, I had wished 
 to kill myself. Looking at mankind as a whole, I saw that 
 men kept alive by assuring themselves that they saw a 
 meaning in life. I myself came back to that point of view. 
 I had reached a time when there seemed to me to be no 
 meaning in life. But as to other men, so to me, life and the 
 possibility of living were offered by faith." 
 
 Driven in the direction of faith, Tolstoi reached the 
 following conclusion : " The object of a man's life is the 
 salvation of his soul ; for that, we must live in God, and to 
 live in God it is necessary to give up the pleasures of life, 
 to work, to submit, to suffer and to be charitable." And 
 this conclusion led to the other that " a faith has value in 
 so far as it gives a meaning to life which is not destroyed 
 by death." 
 
 It is plain then that all this evolution, the beginning of 
 which was the fear of death, ended in belief in something 
 beyond death. And it is also plain why Tolstoi should 
 have been as bitter against science as I have shown him to 
 be. Tolstoi does not afford the only example of a case 
 where the failure of science to solve the problem of death 
 has led to the abandonment of science in favour of religion. 
 Brunetiere, if it is possible to judge from his published 
 writings, traversed similar paths in his journey to the 
 Catholic religion. 
 
 However, even an intellect so positive and so sceptical 
 as that of Zola has been unable to resist the lures of faith. 
 There is a very interesting note on this subject in the Journal 
 of de Goncourt, dated February 20, 1883. " To-night, 
 after dinner, at the foot of the bedstead of carved wood, 
 where coffee was served, Zola began to talk of death, on 
 wiiich his thoughts have been fixed more than ever since 
 
 p
 
 226 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the death of his mother. After a short silence, he said 
 that death had made an in-road on the nihilism of his 
 religious convictions, as he could not face the possibility 
 of an eternal separation." 
 
 In strata of society less impregnated with rational and 
 scientific thought, it is plain that the return to religion 
 must be more common. I recall the case of a woman of 
 the people, a work-woman, who declared that she formerly 
 had had no belief, but that, since the birth of her son, she 
 had begun to believe in the good God, as she was convinced 
 that it was only by such a belief that she could guard the 
 life of her child from the evils of the world. 
 
 As things are, it is not wonderful that many people 
 decline to educate their children in an exclusively scientific 
 spirit, which is destructive to faith, as they cannot substitute 
 for faith something equally consoling. Perhaps ideas of 
 this kind lie behind the story of the apple of the Garden 
 of Eden and the invention of the words of Jahveh : " But 
 of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt 
 not eat of it : for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou 
 shalt surely die " (Genesis ii. 17). The legend of Prome- 
 theus, who stole fire from heaven, and was chained to a 
 rock, is in the same category. 
 
 Solomon gave voice to the same idea, in the clearest way, 
 in his words : "I communed with mine own heart, saying, 
 Lo, I am come to great estate, and have gotten more wisdom 
 than all they that have been before me in Jerusalem ; yea, 
 my heart had great experience of wisdom and knowledge. 
 
 "And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and to know mad- 
 ness and folly : I perceived that this also is vexation of 
 spirit. 
 
 " For in much wisdom is much grief : and he that in- 
 sreaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow" (Ecclesiastes, i. 16).
 
 WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO 227 
 
 Much later, Shakespeare offered to us in Hamlet, the 
 type of a man very highly cultivated, in whom reason and 
 reflection had arrested action. As he could not solve by 
 reason the problems that haunted him, he asked if it were 
 worth while to remain alive. Then followed the famous 
 lines : 
 
 " Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, 
 And thus the native hue of resolution 
 Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought." 
 
 As so many men of genius have taken the same point 
 of view, it becomes necessary to inquire carefully as to 
 whether or no too much knowledge be harmful to human 
 happiness. If science do no more than to destroy faith and 
 to teach us that the whole living world is moving towards 
 a knowledge of inevitable old age and death, it becomes 
 necessary to ask if the perilous march of science should 
 not be stayed. Is it that the attraction of mankind to 
 knowledge is as dangerous to the race, as the attraction 
 of moths to the light is fatal to these wretched insects ? 
 The question demands an exact answer. But before giving 
 the verdict, the facts of the case must be examined. I 
 shall proceed to this in the chapters to follow.
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF 
 OLD AGE 
 
 General account of old age Theory of senile degeneration 
 amongst unicellular organisms Conjugation amongst 
 infusoria Old age in birds and anthropoid apes General 
 characters of senile degeneration Sclerosis of the organs 
 Phagocyte theory of senile degeneration Destruction of 
 higher elements by macrophags Mechanism of whitening 
 of the hair Serums acting on cells (cytotoxins) Sclerosis 
 of the arteries and its causation Harm done by the 
 microbes of the alimentary canal Intestinal putrefaction 
 and the modes of preventing it Attempts to prolong 
 human life Longevity in biblical times 
 
 WHILE I cannot share the views of those who turn from 
 science to seek truth and consolation in religion, it would 
 be wrong to ignore or to be indifferent to the existence of 
 that attitude. There are men who are tormented by the 
 Contradiction between the desire of life and the inevitability 
 of death, and when these demand some solution of the pro- 
 blem, it is unreasonable merely to say that they are too 
 exacting and should learn contentment. 
 
 If a man complains to his physician of uncontrollable 
 hunger and thirst, he is not told that it is wrong to be so 
 greedy, and that that fault could be mastered by strength 
 of mind. The doctor carefully examines the patient and 
 does what he can for the distressing symptoms, which, 
 indeed, in this case are generally due to diabetes. Those who
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 229 
 
 hunger and thirst after eternal life, ought to be similarly 
 treated by men of science whose duty it is to ameliorate 
 their sufferings as much as possible. 
 
 Science has undoubtedly gone far in the successful treat- 
 ment of disease, both as regards prevention and cure, but 
 it is powerless before those other evils from which Buddha 
 implored his father to grant him exemption old age and 
 death. Science has attained to heights of knowledge 
 undreamed of by Buddha's father, King Couddhodana, 
 and yet it knows no more than he did with regard to the 
 problem of old age and death. Like the king, science can 
 but reply to its questioners: "You ask the impossible. 
 I cannot help you ! " 
 
 Not only is no remedy for old age known to science, 
 but little or nothing is known with regard to that period 
 in the lives of men and animals. It was no easy task to 
 compress an account of the present position of medicine 
 within a few pages, the subject matter being overwhelming 
 in quantity. With regard to old age it is quite the contrary, 
 our knowledge being so limited that the subject may be 
 dealt with in a few lines. With the advance of years, man 
 and the higher animals undergo important modifications. 
 They become weaker, the body shrinks, the hair whitens, 
 and the teeth deacy, in fact, all the phenomena connected 
 with senile decay manifest themselves. 
 
 At this period of life which overtakes various species 
 of animals at different ages, the body becomes an easy 
 prey to pernicious influences and diseases. The direct cause 
 of death cannot always be determined, and is attributed 
 to the general breaking up of the system which we call 
 natural death. The first question which presents itself 
 to the scientific mind is whether this degeneration or senile 
 decay is proper only to man and the higher animals, or is
 
 230 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 common to all forms of life. We have all seen very old 
 trees, the appearance of which proclaims their age. The 
 trunk is decayed, the bark gnarled, the branches shrivelled, 
 and the leaves scanty. Some kinds of trees live for hun- 
 dreds possibly thousands of years, while others age with 
 comparative rapidity. Senile decay is not 
 unknown in the vegetable kingdom, and its 
 presence is suspected even among creatures 
 of very simple organisation belonging to 
 the group of infusoria. These creatures 
 may be reared with ease in vessels con- 
 taining macerations of chopped hay or 
 leaves. They multiply by means of divi- 
 sion (Fig. 12), an operation which takes 
 place at very short intervals, some of 
 them dividing nearly every hour. Owing 
 to this rapid multiplication the vessels 
 soon become full of a mass of infusoria. 
 M. Maupas,* a very distinguished zoolo- 
 gist, observed that the infusoria became 
 FIG. 12. Paramecium smaller and smaller after a number of 
 about to divide in two. generations, exhausting themselves, as it 
 were, and perishing unless two individuals succeed in 
 uniting. This process of "conjugation" (Fig. 13), involves 
 an exchange of portions of the bodies of the two creatures 
 and brings, about a complete rejuvenescence of the two 
 individuals. After conjugation, a process essentially similar 
 to the details of sexual fertilisation, the infusoria resume 
 the normal appearance and again become capable of repro- 
 duction by simple division for many generations. 
 The periodical debility, which precedes conjugation is, 
 
 * " Le Rajeunissement Kariogamique chez les Cilles," " Archives 
 de Zoologie Experimentale," 1899.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 231 
 
 according to Maupas, an instance of senile degeneration 
 among infusoria. He has recognised its existence in the 
 case of many species of the higher infusoria (Ciliata], but 
 while this phenomenon has been observed in the case of 
 many other simple organisms', it cannot be set down as 
 universal among microscopic beings. Among bacteria, a 
 group that includes the greater number of pathogenic organ- 
 isms, conjugation has been very 
 rarely observed. Even the largest 
 kinds, such as, for instance, the 
 anthrax bacillus, may be propa- 
 gated for a long series of genera- 
 tions without the occurrence of 
 conjugation. 
 
 Even in the case of the infusoria 
 which by means of the process of 
 conjugation can reproduce indefi- 
 nitely, the preconjugal debility 
 cannot be identified with the senile 
 degeneration of human beings, the FIG. 13. Conjugation of two Para- 
 higher animals and trees. In all mecia (after Butschli). 
 these debility is the antecedent, not of conjugation and 
 rejuvenescence, but of the end of life. 
 
 Another important difference is that in the case of infu- 
 soria the preconjugal debility does not occur in every 
 individual, as is the case with the animals and plants which 
 display real old age. In the infusoria an indefinite number 
 of generations occur between the individuals that display 
 debility and those that are ready for conjugation. 
 
 If, in spite of these differences, we were to insist on the 
 existence of an essential resemblance between senile degen- 
 eration in man and preconjugal debility in infusoria, it 
 would be enough, to reflect on the result of applying to the
 
 2 3 2 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 case of man what is an infallible remedy in the case of the 
 infusoria. For conjugation brings about a real rejuven- 
 escence of the infusoria and a similar event in the case 
 of man would only increase the debility. Moreover, 
 according to recent investigations of Calkins,* infusoria, 
 weakened by degeneration, may become young again not 
 only by conjugating with their kind, but by the addition 
 of bouillon or extract of brain to the medium in which 
 they live. 
 
 Real old age is a phase of existence in which the natural 
 forces abate never to be renewed. In animals, the life 
 cycle of which is very definite, the signs of senile degenera- 
 tion are not visible. Insects, in the adult condition, very 
 often live only a short time, and die without displaying the 
 slightest mark of age. In the case of lower vertebrates, 
 old age is little known, and has few signs. On the other 
 hand, mammals and birds display senile atrophy in a 
 marked fashion. 
 
 Some species of birds live to a great age, longevity being 
 more common than among mammals. Cases in which birds 
 such as geese, swans, ravens, and some birds of prey, have 
 been known to reach the age of fifty years, f are not uncommon, 
 whereas such an event is very rare in the case of a mammal. 
 Even small birds, such as canaries, may live as long 
 as twenty years. Parrots are especially long-lived birds. 
 Cockatoos have been known to reach the age of eighty 
 years and more. I myself have had opportunities of observ- 
 ing a South American parakeet (Chrysotis amazonica) which 
 lived more than eighty-'two years, longer than is usual even 
 
 * Biological Bulletin, vol. III., October 1902, p. 192 ; "Archiv. 
 fur Entwickelungsmechanik," vol. XV. p. 139. 
 
 t Gurney, " On the Comparative Ages to which Birds Live," The 
 Ibis, January 1899, p. 19.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 233 
 
 with parrakeets. Several years before it died the bird 
 showed unmistakable signs of old age. It became less 
 lively, its plumage, although it did not whiten, lost much 
 of its brightness, and the joints of the claws showed evidence 
 of the presence of disease. In short, the parrakeet was 
 obviously worn out and debilitated. 
 
 Mammals show the signs of age even more plainly than 
 do birds. A dog reveals old age by its slow movements, 
 its white hairs, and worn teeth. The appearance of such 
 an animal is never agreeable, while it is often dirty and ill- 
 tempered. Brehm describes the old age of a dog as follows : 
 " At twelve years of age a dog has grown old, and his gait 
 and whole organisation show signs of age. The coat is no 
 longer glossy ; the forehead and muzzle are grey, the teeth 
 are blunted or have fallen out. The animal is lazy and 
 apathetic. Many such dogs are dumb and blind. Dogs 
 may live for twenty, six and twenty, or even thirty years, 
 but such cases are most unusual." 
 
 As the dog is a domesticated animal, it might be argued 
 that its old age, with its manifest signs of decrepitude, is 
 the result of the artificial conditions of its life. To decide 
 on this point it is necessary to examine an instance of old 
 age in a wild animal. This presents certain difficulties since 
 wild animals when old and feeble become an easy prey to 
 carnivorous enemies. It will best serve our present purpose 
 to consider such information as has been collected regarding 
 the period of old age in anthropoid apes. 
 
 The natives of Borneo have observed " old orangs, which 
 have not only lost their teeth, but being too feeble to climb, 
 live on the fallen fruits and herbs." * Gorillas, according 
 to Savage, turn grey in their old age, from which has arisen 
 the erroneous view that there are two species of the gorilla. 
 * Huxley, " Man's Place in Nature."
 
 234 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 In their wild state, monkeys, like ourselves, are subject 
 in their old age to various distressing ailments. Senile 
 degeneration, then, which is universally looked upon as 
 one of the greatest evils of life, is by no means restricted 
 to the human race. Old age, as portrayed'in the Buddhist 
 legend, referred to in chap, vi., is perhaps somewhat 
 exaggerated, but this period of life is undoubtedly charac- 
 terised by changes of such a nature as considerably to 
 affect the happiness of the old. Buddha, being a pessimist, 
 took too dark a view of this, but let us hear what optimists 
 have to say on the subject. Max Nordau, a doctor, a 
 writer of books and a journalist, says : " Physically speak- 
 ing, an old man presents an unpleasant picture of decrepi- 
 tude to the casual observer. Morally speaking, he is a blind 
 and pitiless egotist, having lost all interest in anything 
 outside himself. Intellectually he becomes feeble-minded 
 and narrow in his views, being governed by antiquated 
 notions and prejudices, and incapable of grasping new 
 ideas." * 
 
 It may be objected that I am here supporting my argu- 
 ment by quoting from a writer who, in his capacity of 
 clever journalist, rather forces the note. Eet me therefore 
 refer to what a learned physiologist said when addressing 
 a serious audience assembled for the purpose of obtaining 
 truth and information from his lips. After dealing in broad 
 outline with the physical degeneracy caused by old age, 
 Longet t draws the following mental picture : " The old 
 feel that their task in life is accomplished, and believe them- 
 selves to be universally grudged the space they occupy in 
 the world. This renders them suspicious of all around 
 them, and jealous of the young. Their craving for solitude 
 
 * " Psychological Paradoxes." 
 
 t " Traite de Physiologic," Second Edition, vol. II. p. 935.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 235 
 
 and the uncertainty of their tempers are due to the same 
 cause. All old people are not like this, of course. The 
 hearts of some remain youthful and beat strongly within 
 their feeble frames, but, as a general rule, they are morose 
 and a nuisance to themselves and others, excepting when 
 they are surrounded by their children or grandchildren, 
 who like to listen to them about the past, and who make 
 excuses for the present. Thus the years speed onward, 
 every round of the clock bringing the end nearer, and every 
 hour adding a new wrinkle to their faces, some fresh weak- 
 ness and some new regret. Their bodies . . . become 
 decrepit ; their backbones, too weak to hold them upright, 
 curve over and bend them downwards towards the earth." 
 
 There can be no doubt but that the period of old age is 
 sad, and a thorough knowledge of it is necessary before it 
 can be understood. Disease can only be successfully dealt 
 with when the cause of its presence is known, and so it is 
 with old age. 
 
 Is it possible, one might ask, at the present stage of the 
 world's knowledge, to define, with even approximate accu- 
 racy, the characteristic features of senile decay ? The task 
 is difficult, for although the subject is very important, few 
 facts have been collected. 
 
 It is common knowledge that the flesh of old animals, 
 used as food, is tough. An old fowl cannot be compared 
 with a tender and juicy chicken. Organs such as the liver 
 and kidneys are much harder in the case of old animals. 
 The horny flesh of old animals is often Compared with 
 boot-leather. Although the comparison does not pretend 
 to be scientific, it is far from being incorrect. Boot-leather 
 is made from the hides of animals ; that is to say, of a very 
 resistant material that is called " connective tissue," and 
 which consists of a dense mass of fibres, mingled with the
 
 236 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 living elements or " connective tissue " cells. This tissue 
 is very durable and so is employed for boots and shoes. 
 
 The infiltration of any organ with connective tissue makes 
 it tough and unpalatable. This hardening is called a 
 sclerosis (of the liver, kidneys, &c.). In old age many 
 organs exhibit this tendency to hardening or sclerotic degen- 
 eration. The fact has been known for long, but its signi- 
 ficance has been perceived more recently. Demange,* in 
 his monograph on the organic changes associated with old 
 age, states as follows : " Besides atrophy and degeneration 
 of the parenchymatous elements,f there is to be observed 
 a profound change in the framework of connective tissue, 
 which serves to support the organs. In some cases the 
 skeletal framework of an organ becomes more conspicuous, 
 simply on account of the degeneration of the cells ; this is 
 the condition usually present in the liver of aged persons. 
 More often, however, the connective tissue receives some 
 kind of stimulation, which, although it does not amount to 
 inflammation, brings about an active growth and resulting 
 sclerosis. According to the particular case, the hardening 
 occurs in the form of isolated patches or strands, or affects 
 the whole periphery or even the depths of the organ, and 
 smothers the higher elements in its meshes, so producing 
 a further degeneration. The cellular elements disappear 
 gradually, connective tissue taking their place, and the 
 change may be so profound, that as in the case of the pros- 
 tate gland, the altered organ may actully transcend the 
 normal size, partial or general atrophy, however, being more 
 often the result." 
 
 * " Etude Clinique et anatomo-pathologique sur la Vieillesse." 
 Paris, 1886. 
 
 + The parenchymatous elements are the most important cells 
 of th? organs i.e., of the liver, muscles, brain, &c.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 237 
 
 Sclerosis in old people sometimes takes the form of a 
 hardening of the liver (cirrhosis of the liver) or of the kidneys 
 (renal cirrhosis), but it is the arteries which are most com- 
 monly affected by it, producing a symptom of degeneration 
 which is called arterial sclerosis. 
 
 Cazalis long ago originated the oft-repeated aphorism : 
 "A man is as old as his arteries," these vessels, by means 
 of which the blood is distributed throughout the whole 
 system, being of immense importance in the economy of 
 the organism. When the connective tissue is so freely 
 developed as to cause a hardening of the arteries, these are 
 hampered in the exercise of their function and become very 
 brittle. According to Demange, all the special modifica- 
 tions undergone by the body during the period of old age 
 may be attributed to this atrophy of the arteries, but this 
 theory is proved to be an exaggeration by the fact that 
 post mortems on the aged frequently reveal the presence of 
 little or no arterial sclerosis. 
 
 It might fairly be supposed that the hardening seen in 
 many organs of the body during the period of old age is 
 universal, and lends greater strength to the frame. The 
 bones, which are separated from one another in youth, 
 become welded together in old age owing to the calcareous 
 deposits in the joints, and the ossification of the joints 
 between the vertebra frequently causes the backbone to 
 assume the appearance of a continuous bone, the greater 
 part of the cartilage having become ossified. In spite of 
 this, and as though for the purpose of proving how physi- 
 cally full of contradictions is the period of old age, the 
 human frame actually becomes lighter and the quantity of 
 component mineral substances becomes less. This brings 
 about a liability to fracture of the bones in old people. 
 The fracture of the neck of the femur is a constant cause of
 
 238 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 death in the aged, as occurred for instance in the case of 
 Virchow, one of the most distinguished medical scientists 
 of the nineteenth century. 
 
 Is science, it may be asked, in a position to state precisely 
 what are the principal modifications which occur in the 
 tissues of old people ? At the International Congress of 
 Medicine held at Berlin in 1890, a well-known German 
 anatomist, Merkel,* attempted to reply to tin's question. 
 Speaking of the tissues of old people, he tried to show that 
 certain of these, such as the skin and the mucous mem- 
 brane (the epithelial tissues), preserve their youthful cha- 
 racters to the end, whereas others, such as the connective 
 tissues, display profound changes. This essay was the 
 first attempt to form a picture of the details of senile 
 degeneration, but it did not reach any simple, general con- 
 clusion. 
 
 Later on, I myself f tried to complete the work, and 
 for the purpose made use of the published results of all the 
 investigators who had studied senile degeneration. I gave 
 a summary of my conclusions in the following words : 
 " In senile atrophy the same condition is always present : 
 the atrophy of the higher and specific cells of a tissue and their 
 replacement by hypertrophied connective tissue" In the 
 brain, the nerve-cells disappear ; that is to say, the cells 
 which subserve the higher functions such as intellectuality, 
 sensation, control of movement, and these are replaced by 
 elements of a lower kind, in especial by neuroglcea, a kind 
 of connective tissue of the brain. In the liver, the hepatic 
 cells, of great importance to the nutrition of the organism, 
 yield to connective tissue. In the kidneys, that tissue 
 
 * " Bemerkungen iib d. Gewebe beim Altern," " Verhandl. d. X, 
 Internat, Medic. Congresses." Vol. II., p. 124. Berlin, 1891. 
 t " Annee Biologique " de Yves Delage, vol. III., p. 249. 1899.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 239 
 
 invades and blocks the tubes by which the necessary process 
 of eliminating soluble waste matter is accomplished. In the 
 ovaries, the ova, the specific elements which serve to pro- 
 pagate the race, are similarly eliminated and replaced by 
 granular cells, a variety of connective tissue. In other 
 words, a conflict takes place in old age between the higher 
 elements and the simpler or primitive elements of the 
 organism, and the conflict ends in the victory of the latter. 
 This victory is signalised by a weakening of the intellect, 
 by digestive troubles, and by lack of sufficient oxygen 
 in the blood. The word conflict is not used metaphorically 
 in this case. It is a veritable battle that rages in the 
 innermost recesses of our beings. Distributed throughout 
 every part of our bodies are certain cells which fulfil special 
 functions of their own. They are capable of independent 
 movement, and also of devouring all sorts of solid matter, 
 a capacity which has gained them their name of phago- 
 cytes or voracious cells. The function these phagocytes 
 fulfil is a very important one, for it is they that congregate 
 in vast numbers around microbes or other harmful intruders, 
 in order to devour them. Effusions of blood and other 
 elements, on penetrating to parts of the body where their 
 presence is disadvantageous, are absorbed by these phago- 
 cytes. In cases of apoplexy, where blood is shed into a part 
 of the brain, setting up paralysis, the phagocytes cluster 
 round the clot and devour the blood corpuscles it has 
 encased. This absorption is a lengthy process, but by degrees, 
 as the pressure of the effusion of blood is removed from 
 the brain, and paralysis disappears, the health of the 
 organism may become completely restored, recovery in such 
 a case being due to the work of the phagocytes. After 
 childbirth, when the uterus presents the appearance of a 
 great open wound clotted with blood, it is again the phago-
 
 2 4 o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 cytes that clean it and re-establish the normal condition. It 
 is plain, therefore, that the part played by these cells is 
 beneficent. 
 
 The phagocytes may be divided into small active phago- 
 cytes, generally known as the microphags, and larger 
 phagocytes called macrophags, which are sometimes active 
 and sometimes still. The former, which are produced in 
 the marrow of the bones, circulate freely in the blood, and 
 occur as some of the white blood corpuscles, or leucocytes. 
 They are distinguishable by their oval shape which facilitates 
 their easy passage through the smaller blood-vessels, and 
 allows of their accumulating in great numbers in the exu- 
 dations that form around microbes. These exudations may 
 be formed extremely rapidly, and so may arrest infection 
 in the case of many diseases. 
 
 The absorption of extravasations of blood and the heal- 
 ing of wounds are the work of the macrophags. In a 
 general way, the microphags may be said to rid us of 
 microbes, and the macrophags to heal mechanical injuries, 
 such as haemorrhages, wounds, and so forth. Macrophags 
 possess a single unlobulated nucleus, and occur as white 
 corpuscles in the blood, lymph, and exudations, or as the 
 fixed cells in connective tissues, the spleen, and the lymphatic 
 glands, &c. 
 
 The phagocytes are endowed with a sensitiveness of their 
 own, and by means of a sense of smell or taste are able to 
 recognise the nature of their surroundings. According to 
 the impression made upon this sense, they approach the 
 object which arouses it, exhibit indifference to it, or with- 
 draw from its vicinity. When, however, an infectious 
 microbe finds its way into the body, the microphags are 
 attracted by its excretions and swarm into the exudations 
 surrounding it. The macrophags play a very important
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 241 
 
 part in bringing about senile decay. The atrophy of the 
 kidneys in old persons is attributable to their agency (Fig. 14). 
 They accumulate in large quantities in these organs, cluster- 
 ing round about the renal tubes which they ultimately 
 cause to disappear. Having appropriated the place of the 
 renal tubes, the macrophags proceed to form connective 
 tissue, which thus takes the place of the normal renal 
 tissue. A similar process occurs in the other organs that 
 
 (:^ ; ' ^O, '7 
 
 ; fe>^-x "~A '^''' /"~\s s ^ ) 
 
 \ f \ ; /v->,&i. (GBb. \ f-: : 
 
 ^*My> / 
 
 ' X...^-'" 
 
 tsiM 
 
 W-<m: 
 
 FIG. 15. Cell from the brain 
 
 FlG. 14. Section of a Renal Tubule, of a woman 100 years old 
 
 invaded by Macrophags, from the being devoured by ma- 
 
 body of an old man ot 90 years. crophags. (From a pre- 
 
 m= macro phag. (From a pre- paration made by Dr. 
 
 paration made by Dr. Weinberg. ) Philippe. ) 
 
 degenerate in old age. In the brains of old persons and 
 animals, for instance, it is known that a number of nervous 
 cells are surrounded and devoured by macrophags (Fig. 15). 
 Judging from the investigations mentioned above, I think 
 I am justified in asserting that senile decay is mainly due 
 to the destruction of the higher elements of the organism 
 by macrophags. This conclusion has been confirmed by 
 means of direct observation, which was the more necessary 
 as it is contrary to the opinions of some biologists. Mari- 
 nesco,* an authority upon everything connected with the 
 nervous system, has disputed my theory, asserting that 
 * Comptes Rendus de I Academic des Sciences, April 23, 1900. 
 
 Q
 
 242 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the destruction of the specific elements in the nervous 
 centres of old persons is not brought about through the 
 agency of macrophags. In support of his theory, M. MarL 
 nesco was good enough to send me a series of preparations 
 from the spinal marrow of persons of very advanced years 
 from which evidence of destruction by means of phagocytes 
 or phagocytosis, was completely absent. I freely admit the 
 absence of phagocytosis in M. Marinesco's preparations, but 
 these were derived from the cells of spinal marrow, which 
 is much less subject to the ravages of senile decay than is 
 the brain. Even in the lower portions of the encephalon, 
 senility and its parallel, phagocytosis, are uncommon, 
 whereas in the brains of old persons, which are more generally 
 affected by senile decay, the higher elements are clearly 
 shown to undergo destruction by macrophags (Fig. 15). 
 The same phenomenon may be observed in the case of 
 parrots and dogs of advanced age, and in other animals. 
 
 So universal a symptom of old age is the invasion of the 
 tissues by macrophags, that it must be regarded as of im- 
 mense importance. In order, however, to determine more 
 precisely the nature of the function fulfilled by these phago- 
 cytes, it was necessary to select a specially favourable sub- 
 ject of investigation. My choice fell upon an examination 
 into the causes of the hair turning white,* that being as 
 a rule the first visible sign of approaching old age. 
 , Hair, before it has lost its colour, is full of pigment scat- 
 tered throughout the two layers of which each hair is 
 composed. At a given moment, the cells of the central 
 cylinder of a hair become active, and proceed to devour 
 all the pigment within their reach. Once they are filled 
 with coloured particles, these cells, which are a variety 
 of macrophag (generally called pigmentophags or more 
 * " Annales de 1'Institut Pasteur," p. 865. 1901.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 243 
 
 properly speaking chromophags), become migratory, and, 
 quitting the hair, either find their way under the skin or 
 leave the body (Fig^ 16).- Th colouring-matter of the hair 
 is removed in this way 
 by chromophags, leaving 
 the hair colourless. 
 
 The process by which 
 hair becomes white is of 
 importance, because it 
 shows that the activity 
 of macrophags is a domi- 
 nant factor in bringing 
 about senile decay. The 
 brittleness of old people's 
 bones is probably due to 
 a similar cause, i.e., to 
 the absorption and de- 
 struction of the frame- 
 work brought about by 
 macrophags invading the 
 layers of bone. There is 
 still much that remains 
 unknown in this subject, 
 which is well worthy of 
 special research. 
 
 The activity acquired 
 by macrophags during old age is closely connected with the 
 phenomena that are characteristic of certain chronic com- 
 plaints. Sclerosis in old persons belongs to the same cate- 
 gory as organic sclerosis, which may be set up by various 
 morbid influences. The analogy between senile decay of the 
 kidneys and chronic nephritis, commonly called interstitial 
 nephritis, is incontestable. The destruction of nervous cells 
 
 FIG. 16. Hair about to become grey. 
 Chromophags transporting the pigment 
 granules.
 
 244 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 through the agency of macrophags, which we have already 
 mentioned as occurring in old age, is equally a symptom 
 of several diseases of the nervous centres, such as general 
 paralysis of the insane. Arterial sclerosis in old persons is 
 actually an inflammatory disease, similar to the inflammation 
 of the arteries set up by other maladies. 
 
 The similarity between senility and disease has long been 
 recognised, and partly accounts for the repugnance we all 
 experience at the approach of old age. In childhood and 
 early youth people regard themselves as older than they 
 really are, and long to be " grown-up," but having once 
 arrived at man's estate, they do not wish to grow old. An 
 instinctive feeling tells us that there is something abnormal 
 in old age. It cannot be regarded as a part, of healthy 
 physiological function. No doubt, because old age is the 
 inevitable lot of mankind, it may be termed normal, in the 
 same fashion as we call the pains of childbirth normal, 
 since few women escape them. In both cases, however, 
 we have to deal with pathological rather than physiological 
 conditions. Just as every effort is made to relieve the 
 sufferings of a woman in labour, so it is natural to try to 
 suppress the evils accompanying old age, but whereas in 
 childbirth an anaesthetic affords relief, old age is a chronic 
 malady, a remedy for which is much harder to find. We 
 have seen that in old age a struggle takes place between the 
 higher elements and the phagocytes, the end being usually 
 a weakening in vitality of the former, while the activity of the 
 latter is enormously increased. It would appear, arguing 
 from this, that one means of fighting against old age, patho- 
 logically speaking, would be to strengthen the higher ele- 
 ments of the organism, and to weaken the aggressive 
 capacities of the phagocytes. Let me at once warn the 
 reader that this is not presented as a definite, but as a
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 245 
 
 possible solution of the problem, and is offered for con- 
 sideration like many other hypotheses on scientific questions. 
 The properties of cellular elements are easily changed when 
 subjected to various influences, and it is therefore not irra- 
 tional to seek some means of strengthening the blood cor- 
 puscles, nerve cells, liver cells, muscular fibres of the heart, 
 and so forth. The task has become easier since the discovery 
 of serums that have specific actions on the tissues. 
 
 In the third chapter I stated that serums were known 
 which give precipitates only with the blood of man and 
 of his near relatives the anthropoid apes. serum of 
 this kind has a definite specific action. Serums may be 
 prepared that dissolve only the red corpuscles of particular 
 species of animals, and that are without action on the other 
 organic elements. It has been found possible, even, to 
 prepare a serum that arrests instantaneously the move- 
 ments of human spermatozoa, and that is neutral to the 
 similar cells of other animals. 
 
 These serums are all prepared in the same way. The 
 cellular elements in question, spermatozoa or red corpuscles, 
 cells of the liver or of the kidney, taken from one animal, 
 are injected into an animal of another species. After 
 several injections have been made, the serum of the animal 
 operated on becomes active with respect to the cells intro- 
 duced into its body. These serums were discovered by 
 J. Bordet of the Pasteur Institute, but the results have 
 been confirmed by investigators in other countries. The 
 serums are specifically cytotoxic, that is to say, they poison 
 particular kinds of cells. 
 
 Now it has been shown that such serums, employed in 
 small doses, do not kill or dissolve the specific tissue ele- 
 ments, but actually strengthen them.* Here the case is 
 
 * See the " Annales de 1'Institut Pasteur," vol. .XIV., pp. 369,
 
 246 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 analogous with the action of poisons, such as digitalis, which 
 kill in strong doses, but which in weak doses improve or 
 strengthen the action of certain tissues. In accordance 
 with this indication, experiment has shown that small doses 
 of a serum which is capable of dissolving the red corpuscles 
 of human blood, actually increase the number of those in 
 the body of a patient treated by injections. In the same 
 way, in the case of a serum large doses of which destroy 
 the red corpuscles of a rabbit, small doses increase the 
 number of these elements in the blood. 
 
 Here there seems to be a rational method by which we 
 may strive to strengthen the higher elements of the human 
 body, and so prevent them from growing old. The task, 
 at first sight indeed, seems an easy one, only necessitating 
 the injection of a horse (or other animal) with finely minced 
 atoms of human organs, such as brain, heart, liver, kidney, 
 &c., when serums could be drawn off in the course of a 
 few weeks, capable of acting upon those organs. In reality 
 the process would be a very difficult one to carry out, as 
 human organs are rarely obtainable in a condition suitable 
 for injecting into animals. Post mortems can only be legally 
 made twenty-four hours after death, and there are many 
 other obstacles in the way of removing organs from dead 
 bodies. Even if all these difficulties were overcome, another 
 difficulty that would present itself would be the experi- 
 menting with various doses of cytotoxic serums of various 
 strength. It is not therefore to be wondered at that the 
 378, 390, 402. 1900. The results described therein have been 
 confirmed by Belonovsky (" Sur 1' Influence de 1' Injection de Di verses 
 Doses de Serum Hemolytique sur le nombre des Elements du Sang." 
 Saint Petersbourg, 1902), who has found that there is an increase 
 in the amount of haemoglobin and of red-blood corpuscles in the 
 blood of anaemic patients that have been treated with minute doses 
 of haemolitic serum.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 247 
 
 attempt to reinforce the higher elements of the human 
 organism will require much time. If it be necessary to 
 strengthen the higher elements (nervous, hepatic, renal, and 
 cardiac cells), it is plain that they undergo a progressively 
 weakening process. It would be of the highest importance 
 to ascertain the cause of this, for the knowledge would be 
 a guide to future action. 
 
 The similarity between senile decay and the diseases 
 entailing atrophy in the more important human organs 
 suggests a similitude in cause. Scleroses oi the brain, 
 kidneys, and liver frequently originate in intoxication by 
 poisons such as alcohol, lead, mercury, and so forth, or the 
 disease may be induced by some virus the virus of syphilis 
 being a common cause. 
 
 The immense importance of venereal disease as a male- 
 volent factor in the phenomena of old age, is especially 
 manifested in arterial sclerosis. According to the careful 
 investigations of a Swedish doctor, Edgren,* published in 
 his " Monograph on Arterial Sclerosis," one case in every 
 five of this disease is caused by syphilis, and he shows that 
 chronic alcoholism is an even more frequent cause (25 per 
 cent.). These two factors when united are responsible for 
 nearly half (45 per cent.) the cases of arterial sclerosis 
 that occur. Syphilitic virus and alcohol act as poisons 
 which bring about first degeneration and brittleness of the 
 arterial walls, and eventually a weakening of the higher 
 elements of the organism. The phagocytes, being cells of 
 an inferior order, are less sensitive to these poisons, which 
 accounts for their victory over the poisoned elements. 
 
 Rheumatism, gout, and infectious diseases only play a 
 secondary part in setting up arterial sclerosis. Edgren 
 asserts, as the result of very careful calculation, that in 
 * " Die Arteriosclerosis." Leipzig, 1898,
 
 248 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 nearly ever}' fifth case he found it was impossible to account 
 for the origin of arterial sclerosis. In the majority of cases 
 the sufferers were elderly persons who, according to Edgren, 
 *' were afflicted with physiological sclerosis." * 
 
 I take it that this sclerosis of unknown origin was by 
 no means physiological but was pathological like that 
 set up by syphilis or alcoholism. The question then arises 
 whence comes the poison in such cases ? In syphilis there 
 is a virus of a definite nature to deal with, which causes 
 infection or poisoning, and brings about arterial sclerosis, 
 general paralysis, and other serious ailments. Alcoholism 
 is a poison arising from fermentation, excited by micro- 
 scopical fungi related to true microbes. Instances of 
 arterial sclerosis which are due neither to syphilis nor to 
 alcohol poisoning nor to any other known cause, can only 
 be accounted for as probably arising from poisoning set up 
 by the mass of microbes congregated in the human intes- 
 tines. Among these microbes there may be some that are 
 harmless, and possibly even beneficial, but there are un- 
 doubtedly a great number the presence of which is extremely 
 prejudicial to health and life. It is impossible to enter into 
 the details of such an important question, and a brief 
 mention must suffice. 
 
 The human intestine contains an enormous quantity of 
 bacteria, which, according to the recent investigations of 
 Strassburger,f increase at the rate of 128,000,000,000,000 
 each day. These microbes, of which there are few in the 
 digestive portion of the alimentary canal, are very numer- 
 ous in the large intestines, i.e., in the lower part containing 
 the waste material. The remains of undigested foods and the 
 mucous secretions form a medium very favourable to the 
 
 * Loc. cit. p. 1 1 8. 
 
 f " Zeitschrift fur Klinische Medicin," vol. XL VI. p. 434. 1902.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 249 
 
 growth of microbes. This bacterial flora constitutes a third 
 part of the human excreta. It is very varied, and contains 
 an immense number of different species, among which are 
 bacilli, cocci, and many kinds of other bacteria, about which 
 little is known. The distribution of this bacterial flora 
 shows that it contributes nothing to the well-being of man, 
 being scanty in the digestive portions of the body, and 
 abundant in other parts of the gut. This fact alone suffices 
 to refute the theory of those who attribute great functional 
 importance to the intestinal flora. This theory originated 
 principally from the fact that certain animals perish when 
 brought up under special conditions protecting them from 
 the presence of microbes. Schottelius * was the first to 
 try the experiment of rearing chickens in a cage specially 
 constructed for this purpose. The chickens hatched out, 
 and lived for a few weeks: then, there being no microbes 
 within them and only sterilised food being given, instead of 
 increasing in weight, they became thin and showed signs 
 of starvation. Schottelius supplied them with food from 
 which bacteria were no longer excluded, upon which the 
 chickens rallied, and soon became completely restored to 
 health. Madame Metchnikoff f tried a similar experiment 
 with tadpoles, which, when kept in vessels and fed upon 
 bread containing the usual microbes, developed normally, 
 but which, when reared under conditions entirely free from 
 the presence of microbes, lived on for some months, but in 
 a degenerate condition, their development being arrested. 
 
 On the other hand, Nuttall and Thierfelder J succeeded 
 in keeping alive for several days new-born guinea-pigs, the 
 
 * "Archiv. fur Hygiene," vol. XXXIV., p. 210, 1898; ibid. vol. 
 LXIL, p. 48. 1902. 
 
 t " Annales de 1'Institut Pasteur," p. 6.30. 1901. 
 
 I " Zeitschrift fur Physiologische Chemie," p. 109. 1895.
 
 250 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 alimentary canals of which were free from microbes, and 
 which were fed only on absolutely sterilised milk and 
 vegetable matter. Notwithstanding this complete absence 
 of microbes the guinea-pigs developed well. 
 
 As the two sets of experiments were conducted under 
 conditions arranged so carefully that the chance of error was 
 excluded, it is important to try to reconcile the apparently 
 contradictory results. There is one point common to these 
 three experiments, i.e., that they were all executed upon 
 newly born creatures. Now it is well known that at birth 
 the digestive juices are often very imperfectly secreted. In 
 the case of the guinea-pigs, these juices sufficed in quantity 
 for the digestion of the diet provided, whereas in the cases 
 of the chickens and the tadpoles, the digestive juices were 
 incapable of fulfilling their function satisfactorily, and the 
 introduction of microbes endowed with considerable diges- 
 tive capacity into the intestines compensated for the 
 functional inefficiency of the gastric juices. In addition to 
 the guinea-pigs experimented upon by Nuttall and Thier- 
 felder, there may be .mentioned a whole series of lower 
 creatures such as the larvae of mites and other insects 
 which are able to digest such indigestible material as wax 
 and wool in spite of the total absence of microbes within 
 their intestinal tubes. These experiments are corroborated 
 by the established physiological fact that the gastric and 
 pancreatic juices of mammals easily digest the most varied 
 kinds of foods, even if treated so antiseptically as to ensure 
 the total exclusion of microbes from the intestines. 
 
 I need not go further into this subject as the facts which 
 I have cited suffice for my present purpose. The complete 
 atrophy of the large intestines in the case of the woman 
 referred to in chap. iv. proves not only that this portion 
 of the alimentary canal is not indispensable to healthy
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 251 
 
 life, but that life may be maintained in the absence of the 
 flora of the large intestines. And this really is the centre 
 of the problem. The useless bacterial flora may give rise 
 to serious or fatal maladies. Wounds of the abdomen are 
 really serious only when they penetrate the large intestines 
 and so allow the entrance of bacteria from that region to 
 the peritoneal cavity. In such an event, the microbes 
 rapidly multiply in the organism and produce a grave and 
 frequently mortal illness. So long as the microbes remain 
 within the intestines very few of them get into the circu- 
 lation, and with these few the organism is able to cope. 
 While most of the microbes are confined within the walls 
 of the alimentary canal, the soluble excretions produced 
 by them pass through into the lymph and blood. Quite 
 a number ot different facts establish this. Thus, for instance, 
 it has been known for long that the urine of human beings 
 and of animals contains a series of substances such as 
 derivatives of phenol, indol, creosoi, skatol, and so forth. 
 In certain diseases the amount of these substances greatly 
 increases. The stagnation of the contents of the intestines 
 increases the amount of phenol and indol. Such facts and 
 many others make it probable that these substances are 
 the products of the bacterial flora of the intestines. They are 
 absorbed by the intestinal wall, pass into the general circu- 
 lation, and may give rise to various symptoms of a more 
 or less serious nature. 
 
 Baumann, who has done much work on the subject, has 
 brought together a series of arguments supporting the 
 bacterial origin of the presence in the urine of the substances 
 in question. Ewald, working from another point of view 
 has obtained strong confirmation of Baumann's suggestions. 
 He had the opportunity of making observations on a female 
 patient, in whom, on account of a strangulated hernia, an
 
 252 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 intestinal fistula was established. Throughout the time 
 during which the large intestines were inactive, the urine 
 contained neither phenol nor indol. But as soon as the 
 fistula was closed and communication with the large intestine 
 had been re-established, phenol and indol reappeared in the 
 excreta. Ewald formed the opinion, therefore, that these 
 substances were products of the large intestine. 
 
 I need not weary the reader with more of the facts serving 
 to show that the bacterial flora of the large intestines is 
 the source of many poisons harmful to the body. It is 
 among such substances that we must look for the slow 
 poisons which, in the absence of syphilis or alcoholism, 
 produce the arterial sclerosis of old age. 
 
 In the fourth chapter I gave reasons to support my view 
 that the large intestine in mammals had been developed 
 because, by storing the products of digestion, it allowed 
 them to run long distances without stopping, and so was 
 an advantage in the struggle for existence. Moreover, the 
 microbes which abound in the contents of the gut make 
 it possible to use certain substances such as cellulose, 
 that are difficult to digest. But these two advantages do 
 not count in the case of the human race. Man does not 
 secure his prey or escape from his enemies by the rapidity 
 of his locomotion. The great development of his intel- 
 lectual powers has given him advantages of another kind. 
 Moreover, by the use of cooking and the cultivation of 
 plants of high nutritive value, he is able to dispense with 
 the digestion of cellulose. 
 
 There is another side to the picture. Ignorant of death 
 and of old age, mammals have acquired the advantages of 
 a large intestine at the expense of longevity. I have already 
 stated that birds live longer than mammals. Birds are 
 practically devoid of a large intestine, and maintain a
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 253 
 
 bacterial flora very much poorer than that found in mammals. 
 There is one exception to this rule, an exception of great 
 importance. Ostriches and their allies, the largest known 
 birds, are characterised by absence of the power of flight and 
 by rapidity of terrestrial locomotion by which they escape 
 their enemies. These are the only birds in which the large 
 intestine is well-developed. The duration of life is much 
 less in their case than in that of smaller birds, such as 
 parrots, ravens, and swans: According to M. Riviere, who 
 has been engaged in ostrich farming in Algeria, these large 
 birds do not live more than thirty-five years. The mode 
 of life, and the shorter duration of life, the huge development 
 of the large intestines and the rich bacterial flora found 
 therein make the ostriches much more like mammals 
 than birds. 
 
 It is to be noticed that many birds in which the duration 
 of life is long do not possess a caecum, the portion of the 
 alimentary canal that contains most bacteria. Examina- 
 tion of the intestinal contents of parrots shows that there 
 exist in these birds very few microbes. A comparative 
 study shows plainly that the existence of an abundant 
 intestinal flora, useless for digestion, helps to shorten life 
 by producing bacterial poisons which weaken the higher 
 elements and strengthen the phagocytes. 
 
 The human race has inherited from its. ancestors an enor- 
 mous large intestine and conditions favourable to the life 
 of bacteria. It has to endure the disadvantages of this 
 heritage. On the other hand, the brain of man is very 
 highly developed, and with the increase of intellectual 
 power has come a consciousness of old age and death. Our 
 strong will to live is opposed to the infirmities of age and 
 the shortness of life. Here lies the greatest disharmony of 
 the constitution of man.
 
 254 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 If we desired to make the phenomena of old age physio- 
 logical rather than pathological, it would be necessary to 
 reduce the evils arising from the presence of a large intestine. 
 It is impossible, I may at once say, to wait for the operation 
 of forces independent of the human will and that might lead 
 to the suppression of an organ which has become useless. 
 Man, guided by exact science, must strive to accelerate or 
 anticipate such a result. In spite of the progress of surgery, 
 I do not expect to find in our time that the large intestine 
 will be removed by operation. Perhaps in the distant 
 future such a proceeding will become normal. For the 
 present it is more reasonable to attack the harmful microbes 
 of the large intestine. In the varied flora of that region 
 there exists microbes termed anaerobic, because they are 
 able to live in the absence of free oxygen, obtaining what 
 they require by the decomposition of organic matter. Such 
 decomposition is attended by fermentations and putre- 
 factions, and the production of. poisons, such as the aiKa- 
 loids (ptomaines), fatty acids, and even true toxins. 
 
 In the human intestines under normal conditions, putre- 
 faction occurs only very slightly, or does not occur at all. 
 But in intestinal diseases of children and of adults, the 
 microbes of putrefaction multiply abundantly and produce 
 copious secretions which inflame the intestinal walls. To 
 avoid these diseases of putrefaction in the case of infants, 
 it has been suggested to use as food only sterilised milk or 
 other foods quite free from microbes. This regimen has 
 proved extremely successful. 
 
 In the investigation of the factors that hinder putrefac- 
 tion, it has been noticed that milk putrefies with considerable 
 difficulty, whereas meat, preserved under the same condi- 
 tions, decomposes very readily. Investigators have attri- 
 buted the stability of milk to the presence of casein or of
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 255 
 
 milk-sugar. However, investigations recently made by 
 Bienstock * and confirmed by Tissier and Martelly f have 
 proved the existence of certain microbes that hinder the 
 putrefaction of milk. These are in particular the microbes 
 that sour milk, i.e., cause the formation of lactic acid, and 
 which are antagonistic to the microbes of putrefaction. The 
 latter multiply only in an alkaline medium. The lactic acid 
 microbes produce large quantities of acid and so hinder the 
 multiplication of the organisms of putrefaction. Putrefaction 
 takes place rapidly, in spite of the presence of the lactic 
 acid microbes, if there be added soda to macerations of 
 meat or milk. Such facts explain how it is that lactic acid 
 frequently stops some cases of diarrhoea, and why treatment 
 with lactic acid is so useful in maladies associated with 
 putrefaction of the intestinal contents. It makes intelli- 
 gible, moreover, the medicinal value of fermented milk. 
 
 Rovighi,J an Italian physician, drank daily a litre and 
 a half of kephir, a preparation made by subjecting milk to 
 lactic acid and alcoholic fermentations. He found that in 
 a few days the products of intestinal putrefaction in his 
 urine either disappeared or were greatly reduced. 
 
 It is plain, then, that the slow intoxications that weaken 
 the resistance of the higher elements of the body and that 
 strengthen the phagocytes may be arrested by the use of 
 kephir, or still better of soured milk. The latter differs 
 from kephir in that it contains no alcohol, and alcohol in 
 course of time diminishes the vitality of some important 
 cells in the body, The presence of a number of the lactic 
 acid bacteria is inimical to the growth of the bacteria of 
 putrefaction, and so is of great service to the organism. 
 
 * " Archiv. fur Hygiene," vol. XXXIX., p. 390. 1902. 
 
 f " Annales de 1'Insdtut Pasteur," p. 865 1902. 
 
 J " Zeitschriit fur Physiologische Chemie/' vol. XVI., p. 43. 1892.
 
 256 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 But it is not enough merely to introduce useful microbes 
 into the body. We must also prevent the entrance of 
 " wild " microbes, many of which are harmful. Soil, espe- 
 cially when it has been manured, contains large numbers 
 of microbes, some of which are harmful. Bienstock found 
 that the soil of the strawberry-beds in his garden contained 
 the bacilli of tetanus. For three weeks he swallowed some 
 of this soil, but found that the bacteria were destroyed in 
 his intestines, which he attributed to the action of the normal 
 bacterial inhabitants of the alimentary canal. It is pro- 
 bable that if this arresting action were weakened the body 
 would be infected by tetanus from spores of the tetanus 
 microbe swallowed with earth or strawberries or green 
 vegetables. Moreover, besides the organisms of tetanus, 
 there are many other dangerous anaerobic bacteria in 
 manured garden soil. 
 
 Obviously we should eat no raw food, but confine our 
 diet rigidly to food that has been thoroughly cooked or 
 sterilised. The exclusion of " wild " microbes and the 
 introduction of beneficial microbes, such as those of lactic 
 acid fermentation, must be of great service to health. I 
 know of individuals who have derived great benefit from 
 such a regimen. 
 
 Science, even in its present imperfect condition, has many 
 weapons by which to prevent or at least diminish the slow 
 and chronic poisoning of the organism that leads eventually 
 to the 'degeneration of the higher elements. When these 
 elements are being destroyed by syphilis or alcoholism the 
 struggle must be directed against these evils. It is long 
 since we have known how to do this ; that success has not 
 been greater is due to the carelessness of the people who 
 are concerned. 
 
 To strengthen the resistance of the higher elements and
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 257 
 
 to transform the " wild " population of the intestine into 
 a cultured population, these are the means by which the 
 pathological symptoms may be removed from old age, and 
 by which, in all probability, the duration of the life of man 
 may be considerably increased. 
 
 If it be found impossible to eliminate all the harmful 
 microbes from the flora of the intestines, those that are 
 refractory may be rendered harmless by appropriate serums. 
 We know already a serum that is specific against the microbe 
 of botulism, an organism capable of exciting serious disturb- 
 ance if it gain entrance to the alimentary canal. 
 
 Our inmost convictions assure us that life is too short, 
 and since the remotest ages attempts have been made to 
 prolong it. I need hardly mention the quest of the Middle 
 \ges for an elixir of life, but many thoughtful men have 
 occupied themselves with the problem. 
 
 Descartes, who was deeply interested in the subject, 
 believed himself to have found a mode of lengthening 
 human life. Bacon published a tract on life and death, 
 and in it gave advice as to how old age might be reached ; 
 blood-letting and the use of saltpetre were parts of his 
 specific. 
 
 One of the oldest methods in the world consisted in 
 bringing old men in contact with the bodies of young girls. 
 David, King of Israel, employed this method, which at a 
 much later period came into fashion. 
 
 Eighteenth-century quacks proclaimed a number of 
 specifics, among which was the " holy water " of Saint 
 Germain, an infusion of senna, merely purgative in its 
 effects. It is certain that some of the medicines used for 
 the purpose, by emptying the large intestine, decreased the 
 bacterial flora, and so checked the formation of the poisons 
 that are harmful to the higher elements. 
 
 R
 
 258 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Huf eland,* a well-known German professor, published 
 towards the end of the eighteenth century, a work called " La 
 Macrobiotique " ; or, " the Art of Prolonging Human Life." 
 This treatise had a great vogue in its day, and contained 
 many interesting and just observations. Besides advoca- 
 ting cleanliness and moderation, Huf eland advised that " we 
 should use vegetable rather than animal food, as animal 
 food was more liable to putrefaction, whilst vegetable sub- 
 stances contained an acid principle that retarded our mortal 
 enemy, putrefaction." f Here the physician of a day long 
 past anticipated one of the discoveries of modern science. 
 
 In our time scientific men have not ceased to concern 
 themselves with the prolongation of human life. Professor 
 Pfliiger, of Bonn, one of the most distinguished of living 
 physiologists, has published an essay * in which he gave 
 the results of his inquiries into this subject. He first stated 
 that investigations into the habits of those who had attained 
 a great age did not give information sufficiently exact. 
 Pfliiger laid stress on the means of avoiding infectious 
 maladies, and summed up as follows : " Finally, I can do 
 no better than to associate myself with the advice given 
 in all the treatises on the prolonging of life : avoid the 
 things that are harmful and be moderate in all things." 
 
 A year later, a well-known German physician, Dr. Ebstein 
 published a very careful treatise on the same subject. He 
 had been struck by the fact that among those who have 
 reached a great age, there have been several who had led 
 
 * " L'Art de Prolonger la Vie Humaine." French translation 
 of German Second Edition. Lausanne, 1809. 
 
 t Loc. cit. p. 296. 
 
 J " Ueber die Kunst der Verlangerung des Menschlichen Lebens." 
 Bonn, 1890. 
 
 " Die Kunst das Menschliche Leben zu Verlangern." Wies- 
 baden, 1891.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 259 
 
 an exuberant life, full of excesses, notably in the consump- 
 tion of alcohol. None the less, Ebstein advised either a 
 complete avoidance of alcoholic liquor, or at the most an 
 extreme temperance in the use of it. He prescribed in 
 addition the simplification of the conduct of life and the 
 avoiding of anything that is unwholesome. 
 
 Study of sudi works, which are written in a scientific 
 spirit, convinces me that a science of the prolongation of 
 life could be built up. An exact investigation of the pheno- 
 mena of old age would contribute to this object. At any 
 rate, we cannot set aside as chimerical plans to make old age 
 a natural process, and one easy to bear. I believe, moreover, 
 that attempts to prolong life deserve to be encouraged, the 
 more so as instances of longevity are already numerous. 
 
 Quite a number of cases of centenarians who have pre- 
 served intellect and vigour until death have been recorded. 
 It is unnecessary to relate the histories of these persons, 
 of whom some attained such ages as 120, 140, and even 
 185 years (Saint Mungo of Glasgow). My friend, Professor 
 Ray Lankester,* thinks that such unusually old persons 
 are monstrosities comparable with those who have attained 
 a gigantic stature. But centenarians are more numerous 
 than giants, and while the latter exhibit marked signs of 
 pathological weakness the former surprise us by their health 
 and vigour. 
 
 The longevity of the Israelites recorded in the Old Testa- 
 ment is well known. No doubt there is much exaggeration 
 in these naive records. Was it an error of exaggeration to 
 impute an age of 969 years to Methusaleh, or of 595 to 
 Noah, or were these ages reckoned on a different basis ? 
 Henseler f suggested that in these cases each season wa3 
 
 * "The Advancement of Science," p. 237. London, 1890. 
 
 t Quoted by Pfliiger in " Ueber die Kunst der Verlang.," p. 14.
 
 260 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 counted as a year, so that the age of Methusaleh was really 
 only 242 years, a length of life not so vastly greater than 
 ages recorded in modern times. 
 
 There is evidence to show that in somewhat later Biblical 
 times ages were reckoned in our years. Thus in the Book 
 of Numbers (i. 3, 20, 22) reference is made to those " From 
 twenty years old and upward, all that are able to go forth 
 to war in Israel." The limit of age given shows clearly 
 that the years counted were our years. This interpretation 
 is supported by many other passages in the Pentateuch, 
 notably where annual harvest feasts are spoken of. We 
 may therefore accept as probable the assignment of such 
 ages as 100 or 120 years to several Biblical personages, such 
 as Aaron, Moses, and Joshua. And the words put in the 
 mouth of Jahveh may be accepted as important evidence : 
 " And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with 
 man, for that he also is flesh : yet his clays shall be an hun- 
 dred and twenty years." * 
 
 The longevity of that remote period must have surpassed 
 the age of the present time. From the circumstance that 
 the greatest number of deaths occurs at the age of seventy 
 years, Ebstein f has inferred that seventy years is the 
 normal duration of life. Although there is no doubt but 
 that the duration of human life has become longer in the 
 nineteenth century, we must believe that it was still longer 
 in Biblical times, a fact that is not particularly surprising. 
 
 I have called attention to the important influence of 
 syphilis in inducing premature and pathological old age, 
 as that disease is a chief cause of arterial sclerosis and 
 degeneration of the higher elements of the body. Syphilis 
 has an influence still more serious because its effects are 
 inherited. Now although the Bible refers to diseases of 
 * Genesis vi. 3. f Loc. cit. p. 12,
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF OLD AGE 261 
 
 the genital organs and lays stress on circumcision, there is 
 no direct evidence in it as to the existence of syphilis. 
 Ebstein, in a treatise on the medicine of the Bible,* is 
 confident that there is no reference to syphilis in that Book. 
 Moreover, in the ancient world generally, syphilis was either 
 unknown or existed only in an attenuated form. Haeser,f 
 the author of the best modern treatise on the history of 
 medicine, thinks that if syphilis did exist in the ancient 
 world, it occurred in a localised form and did not become 
 a general disease of the system as is the case among the 
 moderns.. 
 
 Humanity would make a great stride towards longevity 
 could it put an end to syphilis, which is the cause of one- 
 fifth of the cases of arterial sclerosis. The suppression of 
 alcoholism, the second great factor in the production of 
 senile degeneration of the arteries, will produce a still more 
 marked extension of the term of life. Scientific study of 
 old age and of the means of modifying its pathological 
 character will make life longer and happier. Although 
 modern knowledge is still imperfect, there is no reason to 
 be pessimistic on the subject of old age. 
 
 * " Die Medizin im alien Testament." Stuttgart, 1901. 
 f " Lehrbuch d. Geschichte der Medecin," vol. III., p. 223. Jena 
 1878.
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF 
 DEATH 
 
 Theory of the immortality of lower organisms Immortal- 
 ity of the sexual cells in higher organisms Immortality of 
 the cellular soul Occurrence of natural death in the case 
 of certain animals Natural death in the Ephemeridae Loss 
 of the instinct of preservation in adult ephemerids In- 
 stinct of life in the aged Instinct of natural death in man, 
 Death of old men in Biblical times Changes in the in- 
 stincts of man and lower animals 
 
 FROM what I have said in the last chapter, it is plain that, 
 perhaps before very long, it will be possible to modify old 
 age. Instead of retaining its existing melancholy and 
 repulsive character, it may become a healthy and endurable 
 process ; it may also be that the duration of life will be 
 prolonged. However, it may be asked, what shall we 
 gain by attaining the age of 100 or 120 years instead of 
 70 or 80, if there still remain for us the appalling fate of 
 the inevitable annihilation of death. Marcus Aurelius said 
 that he who makes a long journey and he who makes 
 it short, alike meet death at the end ; and that once 
 they are over, three years or a century are much alike. 
 Such assertions, however, do not take into account the 
 difference in the values we set on a thing at different ages. 
 A man of the age of twenty -five years and one fifty years old 
 reason differently, and are affected differently by the same 
 surroundings. The outlook on life changes in the same
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 263 
 
 individual as he gets on in years. Young people judge of 
 their impressions by comparison with their ideals, and as 
 the latter are very high, they are dissatisfied with things 
 as they really are. They are exacting, and discontented 
 with what they can get out of the real world ; grown up 
 people and those of advanced years are more easily satisfied 
 because ,they have a clearer knowledge of the true value 
 of things. As I have already had occasion to point out 
 in a previous chapter, the young are more inclined to 
 pessimism than the old. We see, then, that appreciation 
 of life changes with age. It is the same with regard to 
 death. It has often been said that life is only a prepara- 
 tion for death. Cicero said, " From our youth upwards 
 we must accustom ourselves to face our last moments 
 without fear. If not, there is an end to peace, since it is 
 quite certain that we must die." Philosophy has been 
 called the art of preparing for death. 
 
 Before considering in what direction science may direct 
 our steps towards solving the problem of death, which in 
 the words of St. Paul is the " last enemy to be destroyed," 
 let us see how much is known about it. 
 
 We are so accustomed to look upon death as something 
 natural and inevitable, that it has long since come to 
 be regarded as inherent in organisms. However, when 
 biologists investigated the matter more carefully, they 
 failed to discover any proof of the accepted doctrine. 
 Observation of members of the lowest grade of animal life, 
 such as infusorians and other protozoa, has shown that 
 these reproduce by simple division, and in a very short 
 time multiply to an astonishing extent. Generation 
 succeeds generation, with the utmost rapidity and without 
 the intervention of death ; no single corpse appears in 
 the swarming masses of animalculae. From such facts,
 
 264 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 which are extremely easy to confirm, several biologists, 
 and in specially Biitschli and Weismann,* have deduced 
 an immortality of the unicellular organisms. When an 
 infusorian has divided, each daughter organism rapidly 
 completes itself and sets about again dividing in the 
 fashion of its parent. The process may be more com- 
 plicated, as in the cases where a single organism breaks up 
 into several portions each of which contains an essential 
 part of the parent organism. Many unicellular organisms 
 reproduce in such a fashion, and as each animal divides 
 simultaneously into a number of individuals of the new 
 generation, the individuality is destroyed. It is possible 
 to admit with Gotte f that such a process is natural death, 
 although there is no actual destruction and no corpse. 
 
 In any event it cannot be disputed that lower organisms 
 are not subject to the natural death that comes inevitably 
 to man and the higher animals. It has been suggested 
 that the debility of infusorians after a rapid series of 
 divisions, and before conjugation, is to be interpreted as 
 natural death. But the rejuvenescence that follows con- 
 jugation is incompatible with such an interpretation. 
 Moreover, when conjugation does not occur, and the debility 
 leads to death, the deaths must be regarded as accidental. 
 
 The theory of the immortality of unicellular organisms 
 is now generally accepted. However, there are animals, 
 higher in the scale of life, to which natural death does not 
 come. Among these occur certain forms of considerable 
 complexity, composed of many organs and very many 
 cells, such as many polyps, and some worms, especially 
 annelid worms. Some annelids (Fig. 17) reproduce by 
 
 * " Essays on Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems." Au- 
 thorised Translation, Oxford, 2 vols., 1889-92. 
 t " Ueber den Ursprung des Todes." 1893.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 
 
 265 
 
 transverse divisions very actively. " Throughout the 
 summer," said E. Perrier,* " the Nai'dimorpha are devoid 
 of genital organs, and appar- 
 ently (according to unpublished 
 observations of Maupas), they 
 may be kept alive for several 
 years, and perhaps indefinitely, 
 in this sexless condition." This 
 certainly may be regarded as a 
 case of immortality due to the 
 indefinite power of regeneration 
 possessed by a complex animal. 
 
 The facts that I have cited 
 show that death is not necessarily 
 inherent in living organisms. 
 Naegeli,f a well-known German 
 botanist, has asserted even that 
 natural death does not exist in 
 nature. He points out that trees, 
 more than a thousand years old. 
 perish not by natural death, that 
 is to say, by the gradual decay 
 of their vitality, but by some 
 catastrophe. 
 
 The age of the famous dragon- 
 tree of the Villa Oratava at Tene- 
 riffe, admired by Von Humboldt, FlG l? _ 
 was estimated at several thou- into four (ftomadrawing by M.Misnn). 
 sand years. Its trunk was hollow, but the huge monster 
 continued to flourish until it was overthrown by a storm. 
 
 * " Traite de Zoologie," p. 1713. 
 
 t " Abhandlungen der k. bayrischen Akademie d.Wissenschaften,** 
 1865. 
 
 . Ckcetvg
 
 266 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 It was only by a catastrophe that the long-lived giant 
 perished. The Baobab is reputed to live for five or six 
 thousand years. 
 
 In a recently published essay, Jacques Loeb,* a dis- 
 tinguished biologist in Chicago, has made a study of 
 natural death, and has come to the conclusion that there 
 is no good evidence for its existence. He has observed 
 that ripe, but unfertilised eggs of sea hedgehogs (Echini) 
 die a few hours after they have been discharged. Loeb 
 thinks that this may be a case of natural death, but I 
 cannot agree with this opinion, as an egg that has not 
 been fertilised by a spermatozoon may be compared with 
 an organism deprived of its nutrition and so dying of 
 starvation. In both cases death is purely accidental and 
 could have been avoided. 
 
 If natural death does exist, it must have appeared on 
 the face of the earth long after the appearance of life. 
 Weismann has suggested that death arose as an adaptation 
 for the advantage of the species, that is to say, in relation 
 to the surrounding conditions of existence, and not as an 
 absolute necessity inherent in the nature of the living 
 substance. He thought that as worn organisms are no 
 longer suited for reproduction or for the struggle for life, 
 natural death was due to natural selection, it being necessary 
 to maintain the species in a vigorous state by weeding out 
 the debased individuals. But the introduction of death 
 for that purpose was superfluous, since the debility caused 
 by old age in itself would eliminate the aged in the course 
 of the struggle for existence. Violent death must have 
 appeared almost as soon as living things came into being. 
 The infusorians and other low organisms, despite their 
 
 * "Archiv fur die gesammte Physiologic." Vol. XCIIL, p. 59, 
 1902.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 267 
 
 potential immortality, must have been subjected perpetually 
 to violent death,, falling victims to larger and stronger 
 organisms. It is impossible to regard natural death, if 
 indeed it actually exist, as the product of natural selection 
 for the benefit of the species. In the press of the world 
 natural death rarely could come into operation, because 
 maladies or the voracity of enemies so frequently cause 
 violent death. 
 
 No doubt a certain number of deaths are recorded in 
 statistics as being due to old age, without visible malady. 
 Sometimes decrepit old men feel no pain and seem to fall 
 quietly into their eternal sleep ; but autopsy reveals serious 
 lesions of the internal organs. There is reason to believe 
 that even such deaths are in reality violent and are usually 
 caused by infectious microbes. The general effect on the 
 mind produced 'by examination of the collected facts is 
 not an acceptance of the view that natural death is 
 essentially inherent in living organisms, but the production 
 of a wish to discover if there be any real proof of its 
 existence. 
 
 For some time natural death has been ascribed only to 
 the parts of the body that are of use in the individual life. 
 Those cells, the function of which is to secure reproduction 
 of the species, are, like unicellular organisms, potentially 
 immortal. The egg-cell of the female is transformed into 
 a foetus, and so is the starting-point of the new generation, 
 while the sexual cells of the new generation give rise to the 
 third generation, and so on, in an endless chain of life. The 
 greater number, by far, of the eggs and spermatozoa perish ; 
 but their death is not natural but violent, being due to 
 harmful external agencies. An infinitesimal minority of the 
 sexual cells survive indefinitely in the successions of genera- 
 tions.
 
 268 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Scientific proof exists, therefore, that our bodies con- 
 tain immortal elements, eggs or spermatozoa. As these 
 cells not only are truly alive but exhibit properties that 
 are within the category of psychical phenomena, it would 
 be possible to build up a serious thesis on the immortality 
 of the soul. 
 
 Observations on protozoa, and especially on the in- 
 fusorian group of protozoa, show that these simple beings, 
 each of which is composed of no more than a single cell, pos- 
 sess a high degree of sensibility. They select their food, 
 distinguish living from dead animalculae,* seek out their 
 mates for conjugation, avoid danger, and hunt their prey ; 
 in fact, they are in possession of a set of qualities that must 
 be included in psychical phenomena. Although such 
 phenomena are very much lower in the case of the in- 
 fusorians than in the case of higher animils, it is possible 
 to speak of the soul of protozoa. Moreover, as the body 
 is immortal by reason of its indefinite power of reproduction 
 by division, the soul also of these creatures is immortal. 
 However, the soul is so primitive that it is impossible to 
 speak in definite terms about it. 
 
 As the sexual cells of the human body are immortal, 
 like the protozoa, the problem arises if these too be 
 endowed with an immortal soul. Our existing knowledge 
 makes it impossible to doubt that ova and spermatozoa 
 have sensibility in a degree as high as that of the protozoa. 
 The ova shed secretions that arouse the sensibility of the 
 spermatozoa, and the latter, directed by this specific 
 " odour " (the occurrence being known technically as 
 chemotaxis),make their way to the ovum and penetrate it. 
 Some substances, arousing the spermatozoa into activity 
 
 * Salomonsen, in " Festskrift ved indvielsen af Statens Serum 
 Institut," vol. XII. Copenhagen, 1902.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 269 
 
 and movement, attract them, others repel them. The 
 phenemona of chemotaxis were shown for the first time 
 in the case of cryptogams by Pfeffer, the distinguished 
 botanist, and since then the male cells of many plants and 
 different kinds of animals have been proved to possess 
 sensibility. 
 
 When ova and spermatozoa succeed in conjugating, they 
 produce an individual of the next generation, to which 
 they transmit what Haeckel has called the " cellular soul." * 
 This soul, then, is really immortal, inasmuch as the bodies 
 of the reproductive cells are immortal. 
 
 Although it is true that our bodies contain elements 
 endowed with immortal souls, it by no means follows 
 that our conscious souls are immortal. In an earlier 
 chapter, I have already pointed out that the psychical 
 phenomena of many of the cells of our body and the cellular 
 souls of these are outside our consciousness. We have no 
 consciousness of the perpetual battle waged by the phago- 
 cytes against the microbes that endeavour to obtain a 
 foothold in our tissues. None the less the phagocytes are 
 elements endowed with mobility and sensibility and possess- 
 ing a cellular soul like that of the protozoa. 
 
 A woman has no consciousness of the numerous sperma- 
 tozoa, with their cellular souls, that enter her body, nor 
 of those that fertilise her egg-cells ; she is even without 
 consciousness of the much more highly developed soul of 
 the foetus. A child before birth possesses psychical qualities 
 much more numerous and more perfect than those of the 
 reproductive cells. It is capable of responding to certain 
 sensations and of performing movements. A child, in the 
 later months of its prenatal existence, possesses the senses 
 of touch and taste and, within limits, the sense of 
 * " Gesammelte Populare Vortrage." Bonn, 1878.
 
 2 7 o THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 sight.* This soul is outside the consciousness of the mother. 
 The mother cannot even tell by her consciousness if she bears 
 under her girdle one or two embryonic souls. And so 
 the immortality of the cellular soul has no relation to the 
 problem of death. 
 
 It is a common opinion that only the reproductive cells 
 of man and animals are immortal, and that the other 
 elements of the body are mortal, the latter, if they escape 
 violence, dying a natural death. A contrast has been 
 drawn between the mortal cells in which is .resident the 
 life of the body and the immortal cells on which the species 
 depends. However, when non-reproductive cells possess 
 the power of regeneration, it is impossible to deny their 
 immortality. When a polyp OF a worm reproduces by 
 division, a large number of cells go to form the new individual, 
 and these cells are immortal in the fashion of the infusoria. 
 
 Immortal animals occur only among the lower inverte- 
 brates. The power of regeneration fades away in the higher 
 ranks of the scale of life. Whilst worms may be divided 
 in several pieces, each piece being capable of regeneration 
 so -as to form a new worm, when molluscs are cut they 
 display only a limited capacity for regeneration. If the 
 antennae of a snail be amputated they will be renewed, 
 but if the whole creature be cut in pieces death follows. 
 Some of the lower vertebrates, such as newts and sala- 
 manders, can renew the tail and the limbs, but they cannot 
 reproduce by division. Birds and mammals, the higher 
 vertebrates, have very little power of regeneration, and 
 tail and limbs are never reformed in their cases. 
 
 It seems to be the case that the advance in the general 
 organisation of animals has involved a loss in the repro- 
 
 * Preyer, " Die Seele des Kindes," 1884, and " Specielle Physio- 
 logic des Embryo," p. 547. 1885.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 271 
 
 ductive capacity of the cells and tissues. Even in the 
 highest animals, some organs, such as the liver, still 
 possess regenerative capacity ; but, on the other hand, 
 many cells have lost the power of regeneration completely. 
 The nervous cells, in particular, which are the highest and 
 most perfectly organised elements of the body, cannot 
 reproduce them- 
 selves. After their 
 initial appearance 
 in the course of 
 embryonic develop- 
 ment, they pass their 
 lives without re- 
 generating or repro- 
 ducing. In acquiring 
 the highest quali- 
 ties, that is to say, 
 their psychical acti- 
 vity, they have lost 
 completely the 
 power of reproduc- 
 tion, the distinctive FlG " ^.-Ephemerids. 
 
 feature of immortal cells. If cells doomed to natural 
 death really exist, it is in the nervous tissues that we must 
 look for them. 
 
 The existence of natural death in the animal world 
 cannot be denied, but it is very rare. The b^st example 
 is that of the curious insects known universally as 
 ephemerids (Fig. 18). Swarms of these delicate and 
 graceful insects are to be seen in the summer months round 
 lights. The perfect insects emerge from water, in which 
 the six-legged larvae feed on the organic debris contained 
 in fresh water. The larvae are not predaceous, and escape
 
 272 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 from their numerous and hungry foes by agility. They 
 are long-lived, some of them passing two or three years in 
 the mud of streams, and in the end become winged insects 
 after a rapid metamorphosis. Near Paris, anglers have 
 a popular name (manne, manna) for one species (Palingenia 
 virgo) which emerges in swarms after sundown from the 
 waters of the Seine and Marne. The swarms fly in huge 
 numbers, like heavy snow-flakes, for a very short time, 
 and then fall into the water (Fig. 19). The flight ol 
 these insects lasts only an hour or two, and then, in an 
 enfeebled condition, they fall down in vast numbers. They 
 are attracted by the lanterns lighted by fishermen, and 
 are collected to be used as bait. The life in the winged 
 condition is truly ephemeral and lasts no more than a 
 few hours. The structure of the insect is adapted to this 
 short life. The larvae have powerful jaws, used in the 
 mastication of food ; the winged insects possess only 
 vestiges of jaws. They are unable to feed, and so are 
 adapted only for the briefest existence. Their hour of 
 aerial life is devoted to love. As soon as they emerge 
 the males and females unite, and the packets of eggs, which 
 are deposited at once, fall into the water, and in a few 
 weeks the young larvae hatch out. 
 
 The mode of life and the organisation of the adult 
 ephemerids show plainly that they are adapted to natural 
 death. Death comes to them not because they are without 
 food, or beause the environment fails to provide something 
 necessary to life, but merely because they emerge from 
 the larval state in a non-viable condition, without the 
 organs necessary to the maintenance of life. 
 
 Once it is granted that natural death actually exists, 
 it is necessary to study its mechanism as closely as the 
 existing state of knowledge permits. To exclude the .
 
 FIG. 19. - Swarms of Palingenia virgo.
 
 274 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 possibility of the death having to be interpreted as violent, 
 it would be necessary to know that some very rapid 
 infectious disease does not attack these insects as soon as 
 they emerge from the water. This possibility, although 
 remote, must be examined. Instances are known of large 
 numbers of insects dying very rapidly as the result of attack 
 by a species of mould which causes an epidemic. Every one 
 has seen, especially in autumn, dead flies anchored to the 
 window pane by a little tuft of white fluff. As so many 
 individuals die about the same time, we might be disposed 
 to assign the fact to natural death. The actual cause, 
 however, is an infectious and fatal disease caused by a para- 
 sitic mould. 
 
 The occurrence of some terrible epidemic may be 
 excluded from consideration in the case of ephemerids. 
 I have made investigations which show that such an 
 epidemic does not occur. The bodies of the dying ephe- 
 merids contain no microbe which could be the cause of 
 death. Their death must be regarded as natural, as the 
 result of their organisation, as essentially a part of the 
 nature of the insects. Among the cells of their body there 
 are many active phagocytes. Is it possible to attribute 
 death to ravages that these cells may cause among the 
 higher cells and tissues ? Microscopic examination, so 
 far from supporting such a possibility, shows that the 
 organs are quite normal in their intimate structure. The 
 brain and central nervous system, the muscles and other 
 organs, show no signs of that invasion by phagocytes found 
 in cases of senile degeneration. In this example of natural 
 death there is certainly no possibility of phagocytic inter- 
 vention . 
 
 Some biologists have suggested that the rapid death 
 of ephemerids and of some other insects is due to debility
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 275 
 
 caused by the great effort of depositing the male and female 
 sexual cells. On this supposition, the case would be 
 analogous to the shock which is sometimes the consequence 
 of a surgical operation. This hypothesis, however, may 
 be excluded, for among the dead ephemerids there are 
 many males that have not united with females. Among 
 ephemerids males are much more numerous than females ; 
 many males have no opportunity of undergoing the sexual 
 shock and of emptying the reproductive organs, and these, 
 none the less, die as rapidly as the others. 
 
 As yet we do not know if all the tissues of the ephemerids 
 die simultaneously in natural death. Most probably the 
 cells of the nervous centres perish first, and so bring death 
 on the others. The investigation ought to be made. 
 
 Death comes to the ephemerids in the midst of love, at 
 the moment when their sexual instincts are satisfied. It 
 would be very interesting to know the sensations of these 
 creatures as they feel death come on them in the act of 
 reproduction. Naturally it would be impossible to obtain 
 a full answer to the question, but many interesting facts 
 regarding it' may be ascertained. All the ephemerids, not 
 only those the life of which is so brief, but those that live for 
 several days (Chloe, for instance), are extremely easy to cap- 
 ture. It is unnecessary to take them unawares or to use a 
 net as in the case of flies, wasps, and many other insects. 
 Ephemerids may be taken with the fingers in the simplest 
 way, because they offer no resistance and show no desire 
 to escape, although they have six legs and two or four wings. 
 This is not an isolated case, for some other insects (as, for 
 example, winged ants and aphides) allow themselves to be 
 captured with the same carelessness. 
 
 Although the adult ephemerids are careless, the wingless 
 larvae are timid. When a tube is brought near them, among
 
 276 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the water plants, with the object of capturing them, they 
 rapidly move off. It often requires much patience and 
 quickness to capture these larvae (Fig. 20). The instinct of 
 preservation of life displays itself by rapid flight. 
 
 It is remarkable that the adult insect has lost the instinct 
 of self-preservation. If it be touched it may move a short 
 distance off, but it does not take to flight 
 although its wings are very large, and its body, 
 which of itself weighs little, is still lighter 
 because the digestive tube is filled with air and 
 not with food. As a rule, an ephemerid that 
 has been touched does not even move off, but 
 an ephemerid ^ow 5 itself to be captured without any resist - 
 (Chioerufuium). ance. It would not be accurate to say that 
 the larva's instinct of self-preservation has been replaced 
 in the adult by an instinct for death ; but it must be 
 admitted that the instinct of preservation has been totally 
 lost. The lack of resistance cannot be explained by any 
 defect in the organs of sense. Not only are the eyes of the 
 larval stage fully preserved in the adult, but the adult males 
 have enormous eyes to enable them to recognise the female 
 in the turbulent flight which takes place at the close of the 
 day. Ephemerids of all ages possess well developed tactile 
 organs, and it is thus in spite of a highly organised sensory 
 system that the adults offer no resistance to enemies. 
 
 It is no mere accident that the most striking examples 
 of natural death occur among insects, for these creatures 
 display an unusual stability in their cellular structure with a 
 corresponding lack of the power of regeneration, in these 
 particulars resembling man and the higher animals. The 
 cells of the nervous system are very complex, and are well 
 adapted for the highest function, that is to say, the psychical 
 function. These highly endowed cells, however, are devoid
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 277 
 
 of the power of reproduction. Many experiments have been 
 made in relation to this, and it has been proved clearly that in 
 cold-blooded vertebrates the brain and spinal cord with the 
 nerve cells contained in them are capable of regeneration, 
 whilst among mammals only extremely rare cases are known 
 in which there has been any regeneration of the nervous 
 elements. It is to be expected, then, that cases of natural 
 death occur in the higher animals and especially in man. 
 However, no case is known so plain as that presented by 
 the ephemerids. I have already stated that of deaths 
 apparently due to senile debility in man, a large proportion 
 are certainly due to various infectious diseases that affect 
 the old, such as pneumonia and nephritis. Close examina- 
 tion of the tissues confirms this conclusion, for the destruction 
 of the higher elements by phagocytes produces what is really 
 violent death and not a natural death like that of the 
 ephemerids. 
 
 Natural death in man is probably a possibility rather than 
 an actual occurrence. Old age is not a true physiological 
 process but exhibits many morbid characters. That being 
 the case, it is not surprising that it seldom ends in natural 
 death. It is probable, however, that natural death occa- 
 sionally occurs in very old men. 
 
 Attempts have been made to estimate the natural limits 
 of human life. Flourens * based a calculation on the 
 duration of the period of growth. If the latter be taken 
 as one fifth the natural life, then human life ought to last a 
 century. As centenarians are rare, the vast majority of 
 deaths, which happen before that age has been reached, 
 must be regarded as violent or accidental. The rule of 
 Flourens, however, is arbitrary, and there is no evidence 
 to show that it is exact. Probably in the human race, as 
 * "De la longevite humaine," Second Edition. Paris, 1885.
 
 278 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 in the case of ephemerids, the natural duration of life varies 
 and cannot be expressed by a definite figure. In most cases 
 it ought to be more than a hundred years, and only in rare 
 cases ought it to be much less than that term. Probably 
 there is a variation in the duration of life just as there is a 
 variation of the date of sexual maturity for which rules 
 may be laid down but not without anticipating numerous 
 exceptions. 
 
 The existing pathological character of old age vitiates all 
 conclusions as to natural death, and it is still impossible to 
 be exact in speaking of that subject. It is known that 
 certain organs and tissues remain alive for some time after 
 death. In the case of certain infectious diseases, the heart 
 may be removed from a human body more than thirty hours 
 after death, and if placed under proper conditions will 
 renew its life, and beat for several hours. The white cor- 
 puscles, the spermatozoa and the cilia of a corpse, may retain 
 their power of movement. Does this also happen in the rare 
 cases of natural death ? That question must be answered 
 in the future. The most important question relating to 
 natural death is the following : Is the appearance of natural 
 death in man accompanied by the disappearance of one 
 instinct, the instinct of self preservation, and by the appear- 
 ance of another instinct, the instinct of death ? Do the 
 phenomena of the ephemerids give us any indication as to 
 this ? An exact answer is not to be expected. As old age 
 is generally what may be called an unnatural phenomenon, 
 it is extremely rare for persons to approach the age of 
 natural death with their faculties unclouded. I have had 
 under observation a centenarian old woman, who still re- 
 membered some incidents of her youth ; in her the desire 
 to live was still strong, but her intellectual faculties were 
 partially dim. Moreover, her brain, of which I have already
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 279 
 
 spoken (p. 241), showed a marked degeneration of the nerve 
 cells due to the activity of macrophags. 
 
 I have obtained much information about a centenarian 
 who was alive in Rouen in 1900, but a single glance at her 
 photograph was enough to show that she no longer was in full 
 possession of intelligence.* She was infirm in many ways. 
 So also, Chevreul, the celebrated chemist, who died at the 
 age of one hundred and three years, showed not the faintest 
 wish for death ; he clung to life, but his mental powers had 
 grown weak. 
 
 The cases to which I have referred are typical, but there 
 are exceptions worthy of close attention. Tokarski, in the 
 essay on the fear of death, to which I referred in the sixth 
 chapter, quoted the case of a female centenarian who stated 
 as follows : " If you come to live as long as I have lived, 
 you will understand not only that it is possible not to fear 
 death, but to feel the same need for death as for sleep." A 
 new feeling had come into existence in the very old person, 
 a feeling incomprehensible to those less old. Apparently 
 this was a case in which the instinct of natural death had 
 appeared in a centenarian whose mental faculties had been 
 retained in a sufficiently perfect state. 
 
 I wish very much that I had myself been a witness of this 
 old woman's remarkable instinct in even one case of the 
 many that I have observed. But all that have been pointed 
 out to me as subject to this new desire have turned out to 
 have been possessed of very different ideas. Some were old 
 invalids, weary of pain and ready to exchange the sorrows 
 of life for death, but who would have preferred to be healed 
 and to live on .in comfort. When the possibility of recover- 
 ing health was suggested to them, they showed signs of 
 pleasure and of the renewal of hope. 
 * 'Journalde Rouen, September 23,1900. Article by Georges Dubos<*
 
 280 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 Investigations that I have made in homes for the aged 
 have led to negative results on this subject. No case 
 showed the slightest sign of the approach of the instinct of 
 death. However, I have learned from Dr. Fauvel of one 
 case to add to the instance noticed by Tokarski. It was the 
 case of an old lady whose health and circumstances were 
 comfortable and who before her death showed a real desire 
 for it and stated it in much the same language as that quoted 
 by Tokarski. In Fauvel's case, however, the old lady had 
 reached the age of only eighty-five years. It seems probable 
 that this was a second genuine case of the appearance of 
 the instinct of death, and it is therefore interesting to notice 
 that that instinct, like the sexual instinct, is subject to 
 variation in the date of its appearance. 
 
 In my search for instances of the instinct of death, I made 
 use of the large collection made by Lejoncourt,* but found 
 that the information given by this author was very incomplete 
 as to the mode of life and the last moments of his cases. 
 
 The Bible testifies to the frequency of old age in ancient 
 times and to the complete preservation of the faculties in 
 the aged. It also contains some references that may be 
 interpreted as instances of the instinct of death. I may take 
 its account of the death of some of the patriarchs. " And 
 these are the days of the years of Abraham's life which he 
 lived, an hundred threescore and fifteen years. Then 
 Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, 
 an old man, and full of years."} " And the days of Isaac 
 were an hundred and fourscore years. And Isaac gave 
 up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, 
 being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob 
 buried him. " J " After this lived Job an hundred and forty 
 
 * " Galerie des Centenaires anciens et modernes. Paris, 1842, 
 f Genesis xxv. 7, 8. J Genesis xxxv. 28, 29.
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 281 
 
 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four 
 generations. So Job died, being old and full of days"* 
 It is probable that the phrase "old and full of days," which 
 sounds strange in our ears, simply refers to the instinct of 
 death, developed in well-preserved old men who had attained 
 ages of from 140 to 180 years, f The Biblical phrase is not 
 merely a commonplace phrase applied to the death of cele- 
 brities lor the references to deaths of other persons were put 
 in different language. " And these are the years of the life 
 of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years : and he 
 gave up the ghost and died ; and was gathered unto his 
 people."j " And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt 
 seventeen years : so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred 
 forty and seven years. " "And Aaron was an hundred 
 and twenty and three years old when he died in Mount 
 Hor." || " And Moses was an hundred and twenty years 
 old when he died ; his eye was not dim, nor his natural 
 force abated. "IT In only one of these later cases had the 
 individual reached the age of one hundred and forty 
 years, at which age, apparently, the instinct of natural 
 death appeared. 
 
 It may seem altogether surprising and improbable to us 
 that an instinct for death should arise in man, since we are 
 imbued with an instinct of an opposite nature. From the 
 facts that I collected in my sixth chapter, it was to be 
 inferred plainly that the desire of life and the fear of death 
 are manifestations of an instinct deep-rooted in the con- 
 
 * Job xlii. 16, 17. 
 
 f It may b^ that the great longevity of many of the patriarchs, 
 ending in the appearance of the instinct of death, is the cause of 
 the small extent to which the idea of a future life had been developed 
 amongst the ancient Hebrews. (See chap, vii.) 
 
 | Genesis xxv. 17. Genesis xlvii. 28. 
 
 || Numbers xxxiii. 39. 51 Deuteronomy xxxiv. 7.
 
 282 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 stitution of man. That instinct is of the same order as the 
 instincts of hunger and thirst, of the need of sleep, of move- 
 ment and of sexual and maternal love. The devotion and 
 care bestowed on their young by female birds and mammals 
 are known universally. And yet these instincts can be 
 reversed. There is no sacrifice of which the mothers are 
 not capable if it serve to save the life or promote the well- 
 being of their offspring. Such devotion is a manifestation 
 of the maternal instinct, which is one of the strongest 
 instincts known to us. And yet that love, so tender and so 
 absolute, lasts only for the time during which the wants 
 of the young need to be satisfied. As soon as the young 
 begin to be independent, the maternal love changes to 
 indifference or to dislike. At the next breeding-period, 
 maternal love reappears again, so that there is a periodic 
 ebb and flow of the instinct. 
 
 The new-born babe takes an instinctive delight in the 
 milk of his mother, which seems to him the only good food 
 in the world. As soon as he can show his feelings, his 
 intense satisfaction as he is suckled is plain. But this 
 instinct lasts only during the period of lactation. As soon 
 as the child begins to take different kinds of food, he ceases 
 to be pleased with his mother's milk, and may dislike it 
 for the remainder of his life. Several adults to whom I have 
 offered human milk would not even taste it, so disgusting 
 did it seem to them. And yet the taste had nothing in- 
 trinsically disagreeable in it. Here again is an example 
 of a strong instinct that changes completely. 
 
 Children often eat to repletion of some kind of substance, 
 and for long afterwards that substance disgusts them instead 
 of being coveted by them. It is said that apprentices to 
 pastry-cooks and makers of sweetmeats are allowed at 
 first to eat as much as they please. They soon come to have
 
 SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH 283 
 
 a profound dislike for the sweet things that children like 
 so much. 
 
 A mother who adores her child, or a child who is extremely 
 fond of sweetmeats cannot understand how any mother 
 could dislike her offspring or any apprentice have a distaste 
 for sweets. In the same way, human beings full of the 
 desire for life, believe more easily in eternal life -than in the 
 possibility of an instinct of death. And yet the instinct 
 of death seems to lie, in some potential form, deep in the con- 
 stitution of man. If the cycle of human life followed its 
 ideal course according to physiological function, then the 
 instinct of death would appear in its time, after a normal 
 life and an old age healthy and prolonged. 
 
 In reality, human life is subject from its very beginning 
 to the pernicious disharmonies in the constitution of man. 
 This evil influence increases with the passing of the years 
 and leads to an old age ruined by abnormalities. It is not 
 surprising that under such circumstances men wish neither 
 to grow old nor to die. Old men, in spite of their attach- 
 ment to life, do not attain the capacity to know all that is 
 good in it, and die, in the fear of death, without having 
 known the instinct of death. They may be compared with 
 unhappy women who have married before their sexual in- 
 stincts have awakened and who have died in childbirth, 
 without ever having known the real joy of loving. Formerly, 
 the number of women in such a case was large. In some 
 parts of Abyssinia, girls married when they were still very 
 young and before their physical development was mature. 
 According to Hassenstein,* nearly one third of these young 
 women died ,in childbirth. They quitted life before they 
 had known the true sexual instinct: The advancement 
 of civilisation and of medical knowledge has greatly reduced 
 * Ploss-Bartels, " Das Weib," vol. I. p. 626.
 
 284 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 the number of such unhappy women. We must hope that 
 the progress of knowledge will bring about a similar advance 
 in relation to the instinct of death. With that progress, 
 the number of men who will live until the instinct has 
 been attained will become greater and greater.
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 
 
 Disharmonies in the human constitution as the chief source 
 of our sorrows Scientific data as to the origin and destiny 
 of man The goal of human existence Difficulties^ in the 
 way of scientific investigation of the problem What is 
 progress ? Difficulty of including the whole human race 
 in a scheme of progress and morality The instincts of life 
 and of natural death Application to real life of the 
 doctrines set forth in hits book 
 
 MAN, who is a descendant of some anthropoid ape, has 
 inherited a constitution adapted to an environment very 
 different from that which now surrounds him. Man is 
 possessed of a brain very much more highly developed than 
 that of his ancestors, and has entered on a new path in the 
 evolution of the higher organisms. The sudden change 
 in his natural conditions has brought about a large series 
 of organic disharmonies which become more and more 
 acutely felt as he becomes more intelligent and more sensi- 
 tive. And thus there has arisen a number of sorrows which 
 poor humanity has tried to relieve by all the means in its 
 power. The disharmonies in the sexual functions have 
 brought into existence attempted remedies of the strangest 
 kind. The greatest disharmony of the constitution is that 
 of the morbid nature of old age and the impossibility of 
 reaching the instinct of natural death ; this has produced 
 childish and erroneous conceptions of the immortality of 
 the soul and of the resurrection of the body, and many other
 
 286 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 strange doctrines that have been imposed upon us as revealed 
 truth. 
 
 Human intelligence, in the course of its progressive evolu- 
 tion, has rebelled against these na'ive palliatives. Finding 
 the restoration of the much-desired harmony beyond its 
 power, humanity became resigned to a passive fatalism, 
 and believed even that the existence of man was a kind 
 of bad joke, a faux pas in the evolution of sentient organisms. 
 Exact science, developing slowly, but surely, has at last 
 tried to master the situation. Moving step by step, passing 
 from the simple to the complex and from the particular 
 to the general, science has established a set of truths which 
 all the world must accept. 
 
 Humanity in its misery has put question after question 
 to science, and has lost patience at the slowness of the 
 advance of knowledge. It has declared that the answers 
 already found by science are futile and of little interest. 
 From time to time it' has preferred to turn back, and to 
 delude itself with the beautiful mirages offered by religions 
 and systems of philosophy. 
 
 But science, confident of its methods, has quietly con- 
 tinued to work. Little by little, the answers to some of 
 the questions that have been set have begun to appear. 
 Whence do we come ? science has been asked unceasingly. 
 Is not man a being unlike other beings, made in the image 
 of God, animated with the divine breath, and immortal ? 
 No, science answers. Man is a kind of miscarriage of an 
 ape, endowed with profound intelligence and capable of 
 great progress. His brain is the seat of processes that are 
 very complex, and much higher than those of other animals, 
 but these functions are incompatible with the existence 
 of an immortal soul. 
 
 Whither are we going ? That question above all other
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 287 
 
 things has absorbed the attention of man, and naturally 
 so, for it is less important to know our origin than to know 
 our destiny. Does death mean absolute extinction, or is 
 it a gateway leading to a new and everlasting life ? And 
 if the latter alternative be untrue, how are we to face in- 
 evitable death ? 
 
 Science cannot admit the immortality of the conscious 
 soul, for consciousness is a function of special elements in 
 the body that certainly cannot live for ever. Immortality 
 exists only for very low organisms that renew their lives 
 by repeated divisions with complete regeneration, and 
 that have no highly developed consciousness. 
 
 Death brings absolute extinction, and it seems unbearable 
 because of the condition in which it surprises us. It comes 
 before man has finished his physiological development, 
 and when the instinct of life is still strong. 
 
 Ever since man has begun to look a little beyond his 
 daily and immediate wants, he has asked if there be a goal for 
 his life, and what that goal may be. As he has generally 
 failed to find such a goal, he has gone the length of believing 
 life to be a mere accident, and of thinking it idle to seek a 
 goal. He has formed depressing and pessimistic conclu- 
 sions. Humanity may be compared to a boy that has not 
 yet acquired the sexual instinct, but has asked the meaning 
 of the reproductive organs. As these organs play no part 
 in the functions of his life, he might easily think their 
 existence not only absolutely useless but absurd. 
 
 Man, because of the fundamental disharmonies in his 
 constitution, does not develop normally. The earlier 
 phases of his development are passed through with little 
 trouble ; but, after maturity, greater or lesser abnormality 
 begins, and ends in old age and death that are pre- 
 mature and pathological. Is not the goal of existence the
 
 288 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 accomplishment of a complete and physiological cycle, 
 in which occurs a normal old age ending in the loss of the 
 instinct of life and the appearance of the instinct of death. 
 
 The pessimistic school has often spoken of death as the 
 true goal of human life. Schopenhauer,* for instance, 
 said : " Death must really be regarded as the true goal of 
 life ; when it comes it at once adjusts all that has been pre- 
 paring in the course of life." Baudelairef has exactly the 
 same idea in his verse : 
 
 " C'est la mort qui console, helas ! et qui fait vivre ; 
 C'est le but de la vie, et c'est le seul espoir 
 Qui, comme un elixir, nous monte et nous enivre 
 Et nous donne le coeur de marcher jusqu'au soir." 
 
 Alas ! it is death that comforts and gives us life ; it is the 
 goal of our days, it is our only hope that like a wine goes 
 to our head and makes us drunk, and puts heart into us 
 to journey on till the night." 
 
 The normal end, coming after the appearance of the 
 instinct of death, may truly be regarded as the ultimate 
 goal of human existence. But before attaining it, a normal 
 life must be lived : a life filled all through with the feeling 
 that comes from the accomplishment of function. Know- 
 ledge of the true goal of life clears up the problem and 
 shows us the right conduct of life. In my first chapter, 
 I tried to lay before the reader a summary of the views that 
 have been held as to right conduct. Ever since the attempt 
 has been made to discover a rational basis of morality, 
 human nature, regarded essentially as good, has been taken 
 as that basis. Religions and systems of philosophy, on the 
 other hand, which have tried to find another foundation 
 for morality, have regarded human nature as vicious at 
 
 * " Die Welt als Wille u. Vorstellung," vol. II. p. 730. 
 
 f " Fleurs du Mai. La Mort des Pauvres," p. 340. 1883.
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 289 
 
 the roots. Science has been able to tell us that man, the 
 descendant of animals, has good and evil qualities in his 
 nature, and that his life is made unhappy by the evil quali- 
 ties. But the constitution of man is not immutable, and 
 perhaps it may be changed for the better. 
 
 Morality should be based not on human nature in its 
 existing vitiated condition, but on human nature, ideal, 
 as it may be in the future. Before all things, it is necessary 
 to try to amend the evolution of the human life, that is to 
 say, to transform its disharmonies into harmonies (Ortho- 
 biosis). This task can be undertaken only by science, and 
 to science the opportunity of accomplishing it must be 
 given. However, even in the most civilised countries, 
 science is far from being in this ideal condition. Obstacles 
 lie in its way and retard its advance. 
 
 To make the human constitution better, it would be 
 necessary to know it thoroughly. How can we try to trans- 
 form to a normal and physiological condition old age, at 
 present utterly pathological, unless we first understand the 
 most intimate details of its mechanism ? Deeply rooted 
 prejudices make it very difficult to examine the organs of 
 the aged dead. The difficulties surrounding post-mortem 
 investigations are almost insurmountable. According to 
 the regulations enforced in France, autopsies cannot be 
 made until twenty-four hours after death. An autopsy 
 cannot be made except when the corpse has not been 
 claimed by any relatives in the direct line, husband or wife, 
 brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces. If kins- 
 men put in no claim, co-operative societies may take pos- 
 session of the corpse and oppose the holding of an examina- 
 tion. Even when an examination has been permitted, it 
 must extend only to " the ascertaining of exact facts, and 
 this must be taken as excluding the mutilation of the corpse
 
 290 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 by the removal of any organ or portion of the anatomy, 
 however interesting scientifically such material might be." 
 (Circular of the Director of " Assistance publique," January 
 20, 1900.*) It is easy to see that such regulations make 
 extremely difficult the investigation of senile degeneration, 
 and the search for means of preventing it, especially by the 
 use of serums obtained after injecting emulsions of human 
 organs. These difficulties in reality arise from the pre- 
 judice in favour of the existence of a life beyond the grave 
 and a resurrection of the body. 
 
 Almost similar difficulties stand in the way of obtaining 
 the bodies of old animals. Their owners prefer to keep 
 animals, after they are useless, until they die, and to bury 
 the bodies instead of devoting them to the scientific investi- 
 gation that is so important to humanity. 
 
 As soon as we come to believe that the solution of the 
 problems of human happiness will come not from religions 
 nor from systems of metaphysical philosophy, but from 
 exact science alone, the obstacles to progress will be removed. 
 That scientific methods will redress the disharmonies of 
 the human constitution is the more probable inasmuch as 
 the old age of human beings was more physiological, and 
 their death more natural, in earlier times than they are 
 to-day. 
 
 The study of the human constitution not only denotes 
 the real goal of our existence, but indicates to us what is 
 meant by true culture and real progress. 
 
 In earlier chapters, I have shown that philosophers have 
 recognised the existence in man of a tendency to culture 
 and progress. But what do they mean by these two words ? 
 Attempts have been made to define them as clearly as 
 
 * The prohibitions in England are almost equally sweeping. 
 Editor.
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 291 
 
 possible, and Herbert Spencer, the greatest of living philo- 
 sophers, has devoted a special essay to the subject. He ex- 
 ' amined those phenomena that he regarded as progressive, 
 first in the inorganic world, next, in the world of living things, 
 and, finally, in humanity. He regards as progressive only 
 the changes that tend to increase human happiness, and it 
 is precisely on account of that tendency that he regards them 
 as progressive. In order to define progressive phenomena 
 Spencer thinks it necessary to make parallel studies of 
 them in man and the animal world. He fin,ds that progress 
 is marked always by a transformation from the simple and 
 uniform to the complex ; and that it produces constant 
 differentiation, in the evolution of the planetary world, 
 in the embryonic development of the individual, and hi the 
 societies of men and animals. But differentiation is not 
 a complete account of progress, for in the latter must be 
 included the change of the indefinite into the definite. 
 Spencer identifies progress with evolution, and his well- 
 known definition of evolution is, that it is " an integration 
 of matter and concomitant dissipation of motion ; during 
 which the matter passes from an indefinite, incoherent 
 homogeneity to a definite, coherent heterogeneity ; and 
 during which the retained motion undergoes a parallel 
 transformation." Such a formula embraces too much, so 
 that he is rather vague, especially when he applies it to 
 human affairs. Differentiation in itself is not the whole 
 of progress. It is necessary in each concrete case to inquire 
 into its limits and modifications. 
 
 The application of his theory of progress and evolution 
 led Spencer, in his investigation of the basis of morality, 
 to define human progress as the tendency towards a life 
 as full and as long as possible. By fulness he means com- 
 plexity, if I interpret his argument correctly. Civilised
 
 292 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 life as compared with savage life, is a realisation of progress. 
 Civilised man, according to Spencer, uses food in a better 
 regulated fashion, in accordance with the call and degree 
 of his appetite ; the food is of better quality, it is freed from 
 contamination, is much more varied and is better prepared. 
 The same differentiation distinguishes the clothing, the 
 homes and so forth of civilised man. According to Spencer, 
 all such progress helps real happiness, that is to say the 
 fulness and the prolongation of life. 
 
 It is easy to see, however, that such an interpretation 
 of progress is inexact, like the conception of the goal of life 
 associated with it. If the complication of the mode of life, 
 which is so marked in modern civilisation, is really the best 
 way of reaching happiness, there are no reasons to arrest 
 the tendency in that direction. If, on the other hand, my 
 view be correct, that true progress consists in the elimina- 
 tion of the disharmonies of human nature and in the culti- 
 vation of physiological old age followed by natural death, 
 the conditions for realising progress would be different and 
 very clear. The great complexity of life in modern civilisa- 
 tion is a sign of progress according to Spencer, but I do not 
 agree with him. Spencer speaks of the variety and pre- 
 paration of food. It is certain that this complexity militates 
 against physiological old age, and that the simpler food of 
 uncivilised races is better. I do not wish to write an essay 
 on domestic hygiene, and I shall be content with saying 
 that most of the delicate dishes provided in the homes, 
 hotels, and restaurants of the rich, stimulate the organs of 
 digestion and secretion in a harmful way. It would be true 
 progress to abandon modern cuisine and to go back to the 
 simple dishes of our ancestors. One of the conditions that 
 enabled the Jews of the earlier Biblical times to live longer 
 than civilised people, was, beyond all doubt, the greater
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 293 
 
 simplicity of their diet. True hygiene, which is in open 
 disagreement with the elaborated art of cookery, is also 
 opposed to the differentiation of modern dress and dwellings. 
 Progress thus would consist in simplifying many sides of 
 the lives of civilised people. 
 
 The luxury which has done so much harm to mankind, 
 and which would be included in the formula, " passage 
 from indefinite homogeneity to definite heterogeneity," 
 is founded not on a general law of evolution of the whole 
 universe, but on a particular conception of life, quite 
 different from mine according to which the rectifying of 
 the abnormal human cycle to a normal cycle is the true 
 goal of life. 
 
 Perhaps one of the oldest conceptions of life that has 
 tended to luxury is to be found in the book of Ecclesiastes. 
 Having reached the conclusion : " For in much wisdom 
 is much grief : and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth 
 sorrow " (i. 18), and having said : " Then I beheld all 
 'the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that 
 is done under the sun : because though a man labour to 
 seek it out, yet he shall not find it, yea farther ; though a 
 wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find 
 it."* Solomon laid down the rules of life as follows : " Go 
 thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with 
 a merry heart : for God now accepteth thy works." 
 
 " Let thy garments be always white ; and let thy head 
 lack no ointment." 
 
 "Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the 
 days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee 
 under the sun, all the days of thy vanity ; for that is thy 
 portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest 
 under the sun." 
 
 * Ecclesiastes, viii. 17.
 
 294 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 " Whatsoever thy hand findest to do, do it with thy 
 might ; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, 
 nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest."* 
 
 The wisdom of Solomon was to enjoy this life as much 
 as possible, since man is unable to solve the problem of the 
 goal of life. His precepts have been taken as a guide, and 
 have led to an organisation of life that could only become 
 more and more epicurean. 
 
 As soon as the goal of life has been seen clearly, luxury 
 ceases to be true happiness as it hinders the making perfect 
 of the normal cycle of human life. Young people, instead 
 of abandoning themselves to all the pleasures because they 
 have nothing before them but a sad prospect of morbid 
 old age and death, ought to make ready for physiological 
 old age and natural death. The apprenticeship certainly 
 will be long. In our time the years of study already last 
 much longer than occurred even a century ago. As the body 
 of knowledge grows greater, the time to acquire it will 
 become prolonged, but this period of preparation will serve 
 as the prelude to ripe maturity and ideal old age. 
 
 Old age is repulsive at present, because it is an old age 
 devoid of its true meaning, full of egoism, narrowness of 
 view, incapacity and malignancy. The physiological old 
 age of the future assuredly will be very different. In the 
 societies of animals, especially as they occur among insects, 
 the members show a high degree of differentiation. Some 
 individuals are adapted to the reproductive functions, while 
 others are sterile and are fitted for the care of the young 
 and to supply the wants of the community. This differentia- 
 tion, which is of social value, has arisen independently in 
 different groups. Thus, in the societies of bees and ants the 
 workers are sterile females, while in the case of termites, 
 
 * Ecclesiastes ix. 7-10.
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 295 
 
 individuals of both sexes may be sterile. In the human 
 race, evolution is following another path. There is no sign 
 of the appearance of a sterile class ; but, as the life of man 
 is longer than that of insects, it is divided into two periods, 
 a reproductive period and a sterile period. Old age, at 
 present practically a useless burden on the community, 
 will become a period of work valuable to the community. 
 As the old man will no longer be subject to loss of memory 
 or to intellectual weakness, he will be able to apply his 
 great experience to the most complicated and the most 
 delicate parts of the social life. 
 
 Young men are usually very bad politicians, and in 
 countries where they take a large share in public affairs 
 they do much harm because they are without the necessary 
 practical knowledge. Their incapacity is clearly shown 
 by the great changes in their political views as they advance 
 in years and gain experience. In the future, old men will 
 have charge of all complex and difficult social functions. 
 Thus, vast improvements will be made in politics and in 
 justice, which at present are defective because of their 
 insufficient foundations. 
 
 As soon as every one has recognised the true goal of human 
 life, and has assumed, as the ideal, the realisation of the normal 
 cycle of life, a real guide to life will have been found. We 
 shall know at least whither we are going, and as yet we are 
 ignorant of that. We have wished to make life better, 
 but we have not known how or for whom to make the 
 attempt. Formerly it was assumed that, in the future, love 
 would spread and become generalised. Family love had 
 spread to the tribe and then had been transformed to patriot- 
 ism ; it was held that no obstacle stood in the way of its 
 embracing all humanity. Such an idea was prevalent in 
 the eighteenth century, and became a common ground of
 
 296 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 all systems of philosophy, morality and politics. But, since 
 means of communication have been improved so vastly 
 and since the most distant voyages are within the power 
 of almost every one, the vague notion of " humanity " has 
 been replaced by exact knowledge of the native savages 
 in many parts of the earth. We have come to disbelieve 
 in " humanity " in the old sense of the word, so great is the 
 difference between savage and civilised peoples. And many 
 modern theories have rejected the inclusion of the lower 
 races in the sentiment of humanity. In the fifth chapter, 
 I quoted the view of the moralist, Sutherland, on the advan- 
 tages that have come about from the English seizure of the 
 forests that belonged to the natives of Australia. More- 
 over, it is well known that a profound hatred exists between 
 white men and black men in several parts of the earth, 
 notably in America and the Antilles. Such instances 
 could be multiplied. 
 
 How then are we to emerge from this difficulty ? At 
 what point is the love of the future to be stayed, if it cannot 
 spread to all humanity ? 
 
 In a recently published treatise on natural philosophy, 
 Ostwald,* a very distinguished German physical chemist, 
 has discussed this question. He calls good " the actions that 
 made easier the existence of other men." But to what other 
 men are we to apply this rule ? " What is the size of the 
 circle of altruistic love," asked Ostwald. "The general feeling," 
 he said, " is that it should cover the family and the nation. 
 The feeling that it should cover all humanity appears to 
 most of us as a theoretical demand rather than some- 
 thing practical. And thus have not most of us the tendency 
 to limit our altruistic actions much more in the case of men 
 beneath us than in the case of our social comrades (Stades- 
 * " Vorlesungen uber Naturphilosophie." Leipzig, 1902,
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 297 
 
 genossen) ? " According to this formula, moral action 
 would not stretch beyond our compatriots, and humanity 
 as a whole would be excluded from it. 
 
 Here we have entered on a problem relating to the 
 principles of normal life. In former times, religion was the 
 chief bond among men. Later on, religion gave way to - 
 patriotism, which in default of anything better still holds 
 its place. Community of language unites the individuals of 
 a nation, but the advance of civilisation has undermined 
 the foundation of that source of differentiation. Naturally, 
 when a number of men spoke only one and the same lan- 
 guage, great solidarity was the result, as ideas spread only 
 by language. But such a monoglottism is not the end of 
 human progress. As means of communication have im- 
 proved, the nations have been brought in contact with each 
 other. The knowledge of foreign languages is an elementary 
 necessity of modern life. And so the bonds of nationality 
 certainly will become looser, in this respect following the 
 bonds of family. The dislike that we have to people whose 
 language we do not understand, becomes changed into a 
 feeling of unity with them as soon as we can understand 
 them. In that respect an active development is in progress, 
 and we shall have to seek out some new principle on which 
 to base international solidarity. A good deal has been 
 made of the possession by different nations of the same 
 culture, but the vagueness of the phrase has not been 
 realised. Recognition of the true goal of life and of 
 science as the only means by which that goal may be 
 attained would form an ideal on which men might unite ; 
 they would group themselves around that, as in former 
 days men were held together by religion. 
 
 I think it extremely probable that the scientific study 
 of old age and of death, two branches of science that may
 
 298 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 be called gerontology and thanatology, will bring about great 
 modifications in the course of the last period of life. All 
 that we know on hese subjects confirms my view. But will 
 it lead to the development of an instinct of death ? That 
 instinct lies deep in the roots of the human constitution ? 
 Will the means be found to bring it to the surface ? Has 
 not the enormous period during which it has remained 
 latent led to its atrophy ? The science of the future 
 alone can answer that question. But the persistence of 
 organs and structures that are extremely ancient, as for 
 instance, the survival of the mammary glands in males and 
 of the vermiform appendage in anthropoid apes and man, 
 gives us the hope that the instinct of natural death may 
 emerge from its latent condition when old age has become a 
 normal process. 
 
 The mammary glands of males are functionless rudiments. 
 They must be interpreted as vestiges of organs that were 
 more highly developed in remote ancestors among which both 
 sexes gave milk to nourish the young. This function exists 
 in a latent condition in the males of living mammals. Ex- 
 tremely rare cases have existed in- which males possessed 
 large glands secreting enough mflk to feed the young. 
 These males, it is true, had the genital organs either very 
 badly developed or in a condition approaching hermaphro- 
 ditism.* But in other authentic cases (perfectly developed) 
 he-goats and rams have been known to provide milk in 
 considerable quantities, whilst married men have suckled 
 children with milk secreted by unusually developed glands. 
 It is stated that the secretion of milk can be excited by 
 stimulation of the nipples. t Such examples of the reappear- 
 
 * Wiedersheim, " Bau des Menschen," Third Edition, pp. 21,' 22, 
 Alsberg, " Abstain, d. Mensch.," p. 61. 
 
 t Ploss-Bartels, " Das Weib," vol. II., p. 464.
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 299 
 
 ance of a latent property that has been lost for untold ages 
 are extremely important. 
 
 Probably actual cases of the instinct of natural death 
 in man are as rare as instances of the secretion of milk by 
 males. But favouring circumstances and some education 
 of the instinct of death would probably reawaken it and 
 develop it fully. There is much work to be done before 
 so great an object can be achieved. But it is the peculiar 
 feature of science to be eager for much labour, while religions 
 and systems of metaphysical philosophy are content with 
 passive fatalism and silent resignation. The mere hope of 
 being able to solve the great problems of humanity in the 
 more or less distant future brings much satisfaction. When 
 Tolstoi, agonised by the impossibility of solving the great 
 problems, and haunted by the fear of death, asked if the 
 love of our children is not able to sooth our souls, he found 
 that such a hope was vain. " What is the good," he said, 
 " of rearing children who will soon find themselves in the 
 same difficult position as their parents ? " " Why should 
 they live ? why should I love them and protect them and 
 foster them ? Is it that they may come to the same despair 
 as I am in myself or else grow imbecile ? As I love them, 
 I do not wish to hide the truth from them, for each step in 
 knowledge will lead them nearer to it. But the truth is 
 death." I can understand that many persons would 
 abstain from having children if they had come to these 
 pessimistic conclusions. 
 
 The point of view that I have exposed in this book will 
 make life more possible. Our generation has no chance 
 of attaining physiological old age and normal death ; but 
 it may take real consolation from the thought that those 
 who are now young may advance several steps in that 
 direction. It may reflect that each succeeding generation
 
 3 oo THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 will get closer and closer to the solution and that true 
 happiness one day will be reached by mankind. 
 
 The slow advance to happiness will demand many sacri- 
 fices. Already, men of science sacrifice their health and 
 sometimes their life to reach the solution of some important 
 problem, as for instance, to clear up a medical question, 
 and so be ready to heal or to save the lives of their fellows. 
 
 Before it is possible to reach the goal, mankind must be 
 persuaded that science is all-powerful and that the deeply 
 rooted existing superstitions are pernicious. It will be 
 necessary to reform many customs and many institutions 
 that now seem to rest on enduring foundations. The 
 abandonment of much that is habitual and a revolution 
 in the mode of education will require long and painful effort. 
 
 Definition of the goal of human existence will bring great 
 precision to the principles of morality. True policy will 
 have to be reared on new foundations. The politics of to- 
 day are in the condition in which medicine still remained 
 in days long past. In the old days any one was allowed 
 to practise medicine, because there was no medical science 
 and nothing was exact. Even at the present time, among 
 less civilised people, any old woman is allowed to be a mid- 
 wife. - In some cases the mother attends the labour of her 
 daughter, or (as for instance in a caste of natives in Malabar), 
 it may be the mother-in-law who does the duty. Very often 
 friends act as midwives. Among more civilised races, 
 differentiation has taken place, and childbirths are attended 
 by women of special training, who are midwives by diploma. 
 In the case of nations still more civilised, the trained mid- 
 wives are directed by obstetric physicians who have special- 
 ised in the conducting of labour. This high degree of 
 differentiation has arisen with, and has itself aided, the 
 progress of obstetric knowledge.
 
 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 301 
 
 Politics, as they exist to-day, correspond to the early 
 stages of obstetric practice. Every adult male is thought 
 fit for exercising functions so difficult as those of an elector 
 or a juryman. The only excuse for this condition is that 
 political science is in its infancy. When sociology is more 
 advanced, there will come about a differentiation like that 
 in medicine. When that has taken place, old persons who 
 have acquired great experience, and who because of their 
 physiological constitutions have preserved all their faculties, 
 will give most valuable services to the society of the future. 
 
 In the progress towards the real goal of life, men will lose 
 much of their liberty, but will receive in exchange a new 
 feeling of solidarity. As knowledge becomes more and 
 more extensive and exact, freedom to neglect it will be 
 more and more limited. Formerly any one was at liberty 
 to teach that whales were fish ; but now that it has been 
 proved that whales are mammals, the mistake is not to be 
 pardoned. Since medicine has become more of an exact 
 science, the liberty of doctors has been restrained. Practi- 
 tioners have already been sentenced for neglecting antisepsis 
 and asepsis. Other forms of freedom, such as the freedom 
 to neglect vaccination against smallpox, to spit on the floor, 
 or to let dogs run loose without being muzzled, are worthy 
 of savage days and will cease as civilisation advances. 
 
 On the other hand, the knowledge that the goal of human 
 life can be attained only by the development of a h ! gh degree 
 of solidarity amongst men will restrain actual egotism. The 
 mere fact that the enjoyment of life according to the pre- 
 cepts of Solomon is opposed to the goal of human life will 
 lessen luxury and the evil that comes from luxury. Con- 
 viction that science alone is able to redress the disharmonies 
 of the human constitution will lead directly to the improve- 
 ment of education and to the solidarity of mankind.
 
 302 THE NATURE OF MAN 
 
 In progress towards the goal, nature will have to be con- 
 sulted continuously. Already, in the case of the epheme- 
 rids, nature has produced a complete cycle of normal life 
 ending in natural death. In the problem of his own fate, 
 man must not be content with the gifts of nature ; he must 
 direct them by his own efforts. Just as he has been able 
 to modify the nature of animals and plants, man must 
 attempt to modify his own constitution, so as to readjust 
 its disharmonies. 
 
 Breeders fdrm a conception of the ideal result when they 
 are about to attempt the production of some new variety 
 which shall be pleasing esthetically and of service to man. 
 Next, they study the existing individual variations in 
 animals and plants on which they wish to work, and from 
 which they will select with the minutest care. The ideal 
 result must have some relation to the constitution of the 
 organisms selected. 
 
 To modify the human constitution, it will be necessary 
 first, to frame the ideal, and thereafter to set to work with 
 all the resources of science. 
 
 If there can be formed an ideal able to unite men in a 
 kind of religion of the future, this ideal must be founded 
 on scientific principles. And if it be true, as has been 
 asserted so often, that man can live by faith alone, the faith 
 must be in the power of science.
 
 INDEX 
 
 ABORTION, artificial, 102. 103, 104, 105 
 
 as a religious ceremony, 164 
 Abstinence, Hartmann on sexual, 
 
 186 
 Aged, fear of death by, 131 
 
 murder of, by low races, 129, 
 130 
 
 treatment of, by modern society, 
 
 *3 
 
 Albius, and artificial fertilisation, 20 
 Alcohol, and length of life, 259 
 
 as producer of sclerosis, 247 
 Altruism, limitations of, 296 
 Anaesthetics, influence of, compared 
 
 with death, 159 
 Ancestor-worship, in China, 144 
 
 by Confucius, 145, 146 
 
 by Kaffirs, 150 
 
 quotations from Tylor on, 150 
 Animism, Tylor on, 138, 139, 140 
 Anisoplia and light, 36 
 Annelids, vegetative reproduction of, 
 
 264 
 Annihilation, Biichner on, 220 
 
 Mailaender on, 188 
 Anthropoid apes, relationship to man, 
 
 social instincts of, 105 
 Ants, sexual disharmonies in, 34 
 Apes, compared with man, 42, 43 
 Appendage, vermiform, of man and 
 
 apes. 44 
 Appendicitis, 66, 67 
 
 curable by modern science, 211 
 
 frequency of, 68 
 Apoplexy, phagocytes in, 239 
 Aristotle, on future life, 169 
 
 on pleasure, 6 
 Art, as affected by Christianity, 13 
 
 of the Greeks, 5 
 Arterial sclerosis, 247 
 Arteries, in old age, 237 
 Asceticism, n 
 Atrophy, in old age, 238 
 
 Aurelius, Marcus, on death, 172, 174, 
 
 262 
 
 on immortality, 172 
 Renan on, 174 
 
 BACON, on failure of philosophy, 203 
 
 on lengthening life, 257 
 Bacteria of the intestines, 248, 249 
 Baobab-tree, age of, 266 
 Baudelaire, on death, 288 
 Baumann, on microbes in intestines, 
 
 251 
 
 Beetles, as food of wasp larvae, 28, 29 
 Behring, von, on diphtheria, 211 
 Benares, Buddha's sermon at, 154 
 Bert, Paul, on treatment of the aged, 
 
 Bible, old age in, 280 
 
 Bienstock, on harmful microbes, 256 
 
 on intestinal putrefaction, 255 
 Birds, absence of large intestine in, 
 
 252 
 
 age of, 232 
 Bischoff, on reproductive organs of 
 
 apes, 8 1 
 Blindness, of infants, how prevented, 
 
 211 
 Blood, experiments on serum of, 52, 
 
 Blood corpuscles, specific sensibility 
 
 of, 1 60 
 
 Boas, on cancer, 215 
 Bones, in old age, 237, 243 
 Bordet, on cytotoxic serums, 245 
 Botulism (" sausage-disease "), mi- 
 crobe* of, 257 
 Brain, invasion of macrophags 
 
 (figure), 241 
 
 Bruneriere, on failure of science, 218 
 Buddha, contempt of women, 9 
 death of, 158 
 on disease, 154 
 on fear of death, 153 
 on immortality, 147
 
 34 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Buddha, on Nirvana, 158 
 
 on old age, 154 
 
 on renunciation, 154 
 
 sermon at Benares, 154 
 
 on sorrows of existence, 205 
 Buddhism, and celibacy, 163 
 
 and fear of death, 119 
 
 and future lite. 144 
 
 and immortality, 147, 148 
 
 and pessimism, 176, 177 
 Biichner, on Buddhism, 144 
 
 on morality, 107 
 
 on science, 219 
 Burial, of the old, alive, 152 
 Biitschli, on immortality of protozoa, 
 
 264 
 Byron, on fear of death, 177 
 
 on instinctive nature of fear of 
 death, 128 
 
 on pessimism, 177 
 
 CMCVM, absence of, in birds, 253 
 
 of chimpanzee (figure) , 45 
 
 and disease, 69 
 
 of man (figure), 44 
 
 of man and apes, compared, 44 
 
 of monkeys, 67 
 Cakya-Mouni, discovers death and 
 
 disease, 119, 120 
 Calkins, on degeneration of infusoria, 
 
 232 
 Cancer, in alimentary canal, 73, 74 
 
 modern science and, 213, 214 
 Casimir, sacrifices at burial of, rq.i 
 Castration, Hartmann on, 183 
 Catasetum, disharmony in, 30 
 Catasetum saccatum (figure), 24 
 Caterpillars and cocoons, 33 
 Celibacy, 12, 13, 163 
 Cellulose, digestion of, 252 
 Centenarians, Lankester on, 259 
 
 Lejoncourt on, 280 
 Cerceris, figure of, 28 
 Chatogaster, vegetative reproduction 
 
 of (figure), 265 
 
 Chemotaxis, of sexual cells, 268 
 Childbirth, ages of women at, 93 
 
 pains of, 92 
 Chinese, ancestor- worship among, 144 
 
 belief in immortality, 145 
 
 Buddhists, views on future life, 
 149 
 
 laws against, 109 
 Christianity, and asceticism, n 
 
 and continence, 163 
 
 influence of, on art, 13 
 
 and human nature, 7, 10 
 Chromophags, in blanching of hairs, 
 243 
 
 Cicero, on death. 169, 263 
 
 on future life, 169 
 Civilisation, and progress, 292 
 Cocoons, formation of, 33 
 Confucius, on ancestor-worship, 145, 
 
 146 
 
 Conjugation, and immortality, 264 
 Connective tissue, in old age, 236, 238 
 Consciousness, relation of to bodily 
 
 functions, 160 
 Crede, on prevention of infantile 
 
 blindness, 210 
 
 Cruger, on bees and orchids, 23 
 Cuisine, modern, evils of, 292 
 Cytotoxic serums, 245 
 
 DAHLMANN, on meaning of Nirvana, 
 
 156 
 Darwin, on fertilisation of orchids, 
 
 21, 22 
 
 on luminous insects, 37 
 
 on natural morality, 8 
 
 on origin of man, 40 
 Davids, Rhys, on meaning of Nirvana, 
 
 156, 157 
 Death, Aurelius on, 262 
 
 Baudelaire on, 288 
 
 Cicero on, 169, 263 
 
 Guyau on, 195 
 
 Hartmann on, 184 
 
 Mailaender on, 188, 189, 190 
 
 Nordau on, 193 
 
 Plato on, 166, 167 
 
 Renan on, 195 
 
 Riickert on, 195 
 
 Schiller on, 195 
 
 Schopenhauer on, 179, 180, 181, 
 288 
 
 Seneca on, 171 
 
 Socrates on, 166, 167 
 
 Tokarsky on, 125 
 
 Tolstoi on, 122. 123, 299 
 
 Weismann on, 266 
 
 Zola on, 226 
 
 Philosophers on, 133 
 
 as annihilation, 162 
 
 compared with anaesthetics, 153 
 
 fear of, 115, 116, 153 
 
 feigning of, 114 
 
 in ephemerids, 275 
 
 instinct of, 281, 298 
 
 of Jewish patriarchs, 280, 281 
 
 natural, 266, 272, 277, 278, 279, 
 280. 299 
 
 in old age. 267 
 
 scientific study of, 262 
 Degeneration, senile, in infusoria, 231 
 
 in insects, 232 
 
 in vertebrates, 232
 
 INDEX 
 
 305 
 
 De Goncourt, quotations from, 121, 
 
 225 
 
 Deniker, a foetus of man and ape, 47 
 Descartes, on lengthening life, 257 
 Desire of life, not to be ignored, 228 
 De Vries, on new species, 57 
 Diet, as regulated by religious, 162 
 Digestive system of man, 60 
 Disease, religious measures against, 
 
 164 
 
 Dogs, old age in, 233 
 D'Holbach, on natural morality, 7 
 Dragon-tree, of Oratava, 265 
 Dubois, on Pithecanthropus, 50 
 Du Bois Reymond, on agnosticism, 
 
 221 
 
 Dufour, on wasps. 27 
 Duhring, a blind optimist, 117 
 Duncan, Matthews, on childbirth, 
 
 94 
 Duration of life, 277, 278 
 
 EBSTEIN, on prolonging life, 258, 
 
 260 
 
 Ecclesiastes, on life, 293 
 Edgren, on arterial sclerosis, 247 
 Elixirs of life, 257 
 Emasculation, by Skoptsy, 9 
 Ephemerids (figures), 271, 273 
 
 absence of instinct of preser- 
 vation in, 275 
 
 larvae (figure), 272 
 
 sexual instincts of, 36 
 
 swarming of, 271 
 Epicureans, sumntum bonum of, 6 
 Ewald, on microbes in intestines, 251, 
 
 252 
 Eye, of man, imperfections of, 78 
 
 FABRE, on caterpillars, 33 
 
 on fossorial wasps, 27, 28, 34 
 
 Faith, modern return to, 222 
 Tolstoi's return to, 224 
 Zola's attraction to, 225 
 
 Family instincts, 108 
 love, 295 
 
 Fauvel, on natural death, 280 
 
 Fear, of death, Rousseau on, 118 
 Tokarsky on, 125 
 Tolstoi on, 122, 123 
 in the aged, 118, 131 
 in Buddhism, 119 
 by a Christian minister, 124 
 by French writers, 121, 122, 132 
 instinctive nature of, 127, 128, 
 
 '53 
 occasional absence of, 152 
 
 Feet, of man and apes, 43 
 
 Fichte, on future life, 176 
 
 Finot, on continuity of life, 197 
 
 on fear of death, 122, 126, 197 
 Flies, cause of death of, 274 
 Flora of the intestines, 248, 249, 251 
 Flourens, on limits of life, 277 
 Foetus of gibbon, figure of, 46 
 
 of man, figure of, 47 
 Food, of ancestral man, 74 
 
 instinct of choice of, 75, 76 
 Fossorial wasps, 27, 34 
 Future life, Cicero on, 169 
 
 Fichte on, 176 
 
 Kant on, 176 
 
 Plato on, 1 68 
 
 belief in, 141, 149, 151, 159 
 
 opposed by reason, 161, 165, see 
 Immortality 
 
 GENERAL paralysis, symptoms of, in 
 Gerontology, science of old age, 297 
 Glow-worms, 37 
 Goal of human life, 300, 301 
 Gods, of the Greeks, 4 
 
 of the Orientals, 4 
 Goncourt, E. de, quotations on fear 
 
 of death, 121, 132 
 Gorillas, old age in, 233 
 Greek art, 5 
 
 philosophy, 5 
 Gruenbaum, on injection of serums, 
 
 54 
 Guinea-pigs, reared without microbes, 
 
 249 
 Guyau, on death, 195, 196; on love, 
 
 196 
 
 on religion and death, 133 
 on failure of science, 222 
 on resignation, 199 
 
 HAECKEL, on the "cellular soul," 269 
 
 on future life, 221 
 
 on morality, 107 
 Hair, blanching of, 242 (figure), 243 
 
 and disease, 63 
 
 of embryo, 63 
 
 Hammerling, on optimism, 191, 192 
 " Hamlet," quotation from, 227 
 Hands, of man and apes, 43 
 Happiness, Hartmann on, 186 
 
 Mailaender on, 189 
 
 Meyer-Benfey on, 198 
 
 meaning of, in 
 Hartmann, on death, 184 
 
 on immortality, 184 
 
 pessimism of, 183 
 
 on progress, 185 
 
 as a youthful pessimist, 117 
 Hassenstein, on childbirths in the 
 young, 283 
 
 U
 
 3 o6 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Heape, on menstruation, 88 
 Hegel, death from cholera, 120 
 Heim, on feelings at death, 126 
 Hell of Chinese Buddhists, 149 
 Helmholz, on the eye, 78 
 Henseler, on ages of patriarchs, 259 
 Hermaphroditism, 79, 80 
 Herminium mononkis, figure of, 26 
 Huber, on ants, 34 
 Hufeland, on prolonging life, 258 
 Humanity, vagueness of conception, 
 
 296 
 
 Humboldt, on natural morality, 8 
 Hunt, on burial of the aged living, 
 
 152 
 
 Hutcheson, on naturalism, 7 
 Huxley, on origin of man, 41 
 Hymen, disharmonies of, 85 
 
 distinctive of human race, 81, 82 
 primitive function of, 85, 86 
 ritual destruction of, 83, 84 
 
 ILLUSION, Hartmann on, 183 
 
 Mailaender on, 188 
 Immortality, Aristotle on, 169 
 
 Buddha on, 147 
 
 Hartmann on, 184 
 
 Meyer- Benfey on, 198 
 
 Plato on, 1 68 
 
 Schopenhauer on, 179, 180, 181 
 
 Seneca on, 170 
 
 Spinoza on, 175 
 
 amongst animals, 270 
 
 of " cellular soul," 269 
 
 of protozoa, 264 
 
 of reproductive cells, 267 
 Inaudi, the calculator, 58 
 Infanticide, 103, 104 
 Infusoria, conjugation of, 231 
 
 immortality of. 263, 264 
 
 reproduction of, 230 
 
 senile degeneration of, 231 
 Insects, compared with vertebrates, 
 276 
 
 fertilisation of plants by, 21 
 
 senile degeneration of, 231 
 Instinct of death, 281, 282, 283, 298 
 
 of family, 108 
 
 of life, 129 
 
 sexual, 283 
 
 of society, 109 
 Intestines, bacterial flora of, 248, 249 
 
 large, degeneration of, 70 
 
 arge, diseases of, 73, 74 
 arge, excision of, 70 
 
 large, function of, 70, 71, 72 
 
 JEWISH belief in future life, 142 
 Justice, in relation to humanity, 112 
 
 KANT, on future life, 176 
 
 Kephir, use of, 255 
 
 Khema, legend on immortality, 147 
 
 Kidney ducts, 80 
 
 Koch, on microbe of tuberculosis, 212 
 
 LACTIC acid, arrests putrefaction, 255 
 Lady-birds and nectar, 32 
 Language, as a social band, 297 
 Lankester, Ray, on centenarians, 259 
 Lanugo, of human embryo, 62 
 Larvae, of ephemwids, 276 
 Lecky, on natural morality, 8 
 Lejoncourt, on centenarians, 280 
 Leucocytes and phagocytes, 240 
 Liberty, future limitation of, 301 
 Life, duration of. in Biblical times, 
 259, 260 
 
 modes of lengthening, 257, 258 
 Light, attractive to insects, 35 
 Linnaeus, on origin of man, 41 
 Lister, and antisepsis, 209 
 Listera ovata, figure of, 32 
 Loeb, on natural death, 266 
 Longet, on old age, 234 
 Longevity, in birds, 232 
 
 and large intestine, 252 
 
 in Old Testament, 259, 260 
 Love, Guyau on, 196 v 
 
 spreading of, 295 
 Lubbock, on ancestor-worship, 150 
 
 an optimist, 117 
 Luminous insects, 37 
 Luther, Martin, on supernatural 
 
 origin of disease, 164 
 Luxury, evils of, 293, 294, 301 
 
 MACROPHAGS, definition of, 240 
 functions of, 240 
 in senile decay, 241 
 
 Maeterlinck, on pessimism, 191 
 
 Mailaender, on pessimism, 187, 188 
 
 Malignant tumours, science and, 214 
 
 Mammary glands, rudimentary, 298 
 
 Man, destiny of, 286 
 
 disharmonies, and harmonies in, 
 
 285 
 
 origin of, 40, 286 
 peculiar characters of, 59 
 rudimentary organs of, 59, 60 
 
 Marinesco, on function of phagocytes, 
 241 
 
 Marriage, age at first, 97 
 Christian views on, 163 
 early, in primitive races, 86, 90 
 
 Martelly, on intestinal putrefaction, 
 255 
 
 Materialism, Biichner on, 220 
 Haeckel on, 220
 
 INDEX 
 
 30? 
 
 Matriopathy, 6 
 May-flies and light, 35 
 Medicine, advance of, 210 
 Memory, late development of, 78 
 Meniere, on bees and orchids, 21 
 Menstruation, in monkeys, 88, 89 
 
 origin and significance, 87, 88 
 
 origin of, 89 
 
 regarded as impure, 92 
 Merkel, on tissue-changes in old age, 
 
 238 
 
 Metamorphoses, of ephemerides, 272 
 Metchnikoff, on blanching of hair, 242 
 
 on senile atrophy, 238 
 Metchnikoff, Madame, on tadpoles 
 
 reared without microbes, 249 
 Meyer- Benfey, on happiness, 198 
 
 on immortality, 198 
 Microbes, absence of, in ephemerids, 
 274 
 
 harmful, 256 
 
 of the intestines, 248 
 
 producing poisons in intestines, 
 
 251 
 Microphags, definition of, 240 
 
 functions of, 240 
 
 Milk, fermented or soured, beneficent 
 action of, 255 
 
 human, 282 
 
 secretion of, by males, 298 
 Monkeys, and choice of food, 75 
 Morality, based on human nature, 9 
 
 true foundation of, 289 
 Mosaic regulations on diet, 162, 163 
 Moths and light, 35 
 Miiller, Johannes, on the eye, 78 
 
 Hermann, on lady-birds, 32 
 
 Max, on meaning of Nirvana, 
 
 I 55. J 5 8 
 Mutilations of the body, 9,15 
 
 NAEGELI, on natural death, 265 
 Natural death, 302 
 
 cases of, 278, 279, 280 
 
 in ephemerids, 27 
 
 Nature, Marcus Aurelius on life ac- 
 cording to, 173 
 
 and morality, early opinions on, 3 
 Negroes and whites, 109 
 Nicene Creed, compared with ances- 
 tor-worship, 151 
 Nirvana, Aurelius and, 175 
 
 Hartmann on, 186 
 
 Schopenhauer on, 182 
 
 meaning of, 155, 156, 157 
 Nordau, on old age, 234 
 
 on optimism, 192 ; on pain, 193 
 Nuttall and Thierfelder, on germ-free 
 guinea-pigs, 249 
 
 OBSTETRICS, in ancient times, 300 
 Old age, Longet on, 234 
 
 Nordau on, 234 
 
 amelioration of, 254 
 
 in birds and mammals, 232, 233 
 
 characters of, 229, 230, 278, 294 
 
 morbidity of, 244 
 
 scientific study of, 228 
 
 serums in, 245, 246 
 Onanism, 35, 95, 96, 99 
 Optimism, Hammerling on, 191, 192 
 
 Nordau on, 192 
 
 Optimists generally old men, 117 
 Origin of man, due to sudden appear- 
 ance of new characters, 57, 59 
 Orangs, old age in, 233 
 Orchids, and fertilisation, 19, 20 
 Orthobiosis, the taste of science, 289 
 Ostwald, on love of humanity, 296 
 Ova, immortality of, 267 
 
 PAIN, Nordau on, 193 
 Palmgeuia, swarming of, 272 
 Pantheism, of German poets, 195 
 Paradise, according to the Talmud, 
 
 143 
 
 of Chinese Buddhists, 149 
 Paramecium, conjugation of (figure), 
 231 
 
 division of (figure), 230 
 Parasites, late evolution of, 18 
 Parovaria, 80 
 Parrots, paucity of bacterial flora in, 
 
 253 
 
 Pasteur, as founder of modern scien- 
 tific medicine, 209 
 Pasenadi, legend on immortality, 
 
 147 
 
 Pathology, of. old age, 278 
 Patriotism, 295 
 Pelopceus, figure of, 34 
 Penis, os, in man and apes, 81 
 Personality, consciousness of, 160 
 Pessimism, Byron on, 177 
 
 Hartmann on, 183 
 
 Maeterlinck on, 191 
 
 Mailaender on, 187 
 
 Schopenhauer on, 177, 178, 179 
 
 and Buddhism, 176, 177 
 
 and disease, 206 
 
 and disharmony, 38 
 
 origin of, 176 
 
 value of, 194 
 
 and youth, 117 
 Pettenkofer, suicide of, 131 
 Pfeffer, on chemotaxis in cryptogams, 
 
 269 
 
 Pfluger, on prolonging life, 258 
 Pfungst, on meaning of Nirvana, 156
 
 308 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Phagocytes, functions of, 239 
 inhibited by lactic acid, 255 
 and poisons, 247 
 sensibility of, 240 
 
 Phagocytosis, in old age, 244 
 in senility, 242 
 
 Philosophy, and death. 166 
 
 relation of, and religion, 166 
 tendency of, to become religious, 
 
 J 75 
 
 Phenol, production of by microbes, 
 
 251 
 
 Pithecanthropus, 50 
 Placenta, of man and apes, 46 
 Plague, cause of, 208 
 Plato, and nobility of man, 4 
 
 on pleasure, 6 
 
 views on death, 166, 167, 168 
 Pleasure, views of Plato and Aristotle 
 
 on, 6 
 
 Plotin, on immortality, 175 
 Pollinia of orchids, 21 
 Politicians, incapacity of young, 295 
 Politics, compared with savage ob- 
 stetrics, 300 
 
 Post-mortem examinationsj246, 289 
 Pregnancy, avoidance of, 101 
 Progress, Hartmann on, 185 
 
 Spencer on, 291 
 
 not uniform, 18 
 Protection, means for, amongst 
 
 animals, 114 
 Protozoa, absence of death, 263 
 
 sensibility of, 268 
 Purgatory, in Taoism, 146 
 Putrefaction, in large intestine, 73, 
 254 
 
 RABBITS, and destruction of young, 
 
 34,37 . 
 
 Reformation, 14 
 Regeneration, in brain, 277 
 
 in cells, 271 
 
 in vertebrates, 270 
 Religion, and diet, 163 
 
 and disease, 205 
 
 and future life, 150 
 
 and science, 3 
 
 and sexuality, 163 
 
 Tolstoi's return to, 223 
 Renal tubule, invasion of macro- 
 
 phags (figure), 241 
 Renan, on death, 195 
 
 on Jewish belief in future life, 
 
 142. J 43 
 
 on Marcus Aurelius, 174 
 Renaissance, art of, 14 
 Reproduction, not cause of death in 
 ephemerids, 275 
 
 Reproductive organs, 79 
 Resignation, in Buddhism, 159 
 
 Guyau on, 199 
 
 Hartmann 's system of, 187 
 
 Marcus Aurelius on, 174 
 Resurrection, primitive belief in, 140 
 Reville, on Chinese belief in immor- 
 tality, 145, 146 
 Rhtzotrogus and light, 36 
 Richet, on failure of science, 222 
 Rousseau, on age and love of life, 117 
 
 on failure of science, 216 
 
 on fear of death, 118 
 Rovighi, on utility of milk diet, 255 
 Riickert, on death, 195 
 Rudimentary organs, in man, 59, 60 
 
 SACRIFICE, at burials, 140, 141 
 Saint-Foix, on sacrifice of horses, 141 
 St. Matthew, on celibacy, 12 
 Savage, on old age in apes, 233 
 
 on social instincts of apes, 105 
 Schiller, on death, 195 
 Schopenhauer, and cholera, 120 
 
 on death, 121, 179, 288 
 
 on immortality, 179 
 
 pessimism of, 117, 177, 178, 179, 
 
 207 
 Schottelius, on rearing of germ-free 
 
 chicks, 249 
 Science, advance of, 286 
 
 Bacon on, 204 
 
 destroys faith, 226 
 
 failure of, 215, 216, 217,218,222, 
 223 
 
 and immortality, 287 
 
 and old age, 228 
 
 and pessimism, 207, 286 
 Sclerosis of arteries, 248 
 
 in old age, 236, 237, 243, 244 
 
 due to poisons, 247 
 Scotch clergy on man, 12 
 Seidlitz, on natural morality, 8 
 Selenka, on foetus of man and ape, 47 
 Self-preservation, 113, 275 
 Seneca, on death, 171 
 
 on human existence, 171 
 
 on immortality, 170 
 
 on nature as a guide. 7, 10 
 Senile decay action of macrophags, 
 241 
 
 characters of, 235, 238, 239 
 
 importance of phagocytes in, 241 
 Sensibility, specific, of white blood 
 
 corpuscles, 160 
 Serum, alteration of properties, 51 
 
 anti-diphtheritic, 211 
 
 properties of, as guide to amuity s 
 5'
 
 INDEX 
 
 3 C 9 
 
 Serums, use of in old age, 245, 246 
 Sexuality, early ^appearance of, 94, 95 
 in the aged ,'98 
 disharmonies of, 100 
 Sexual cells, immortality of, 268 
 
 soul of. 268 
 Shakespeare, sorrow and knowledge, 
 
 227 
 
 Shaving, regarded as degrading, 5 
 Skeleton, of man and apes, 43 
 Skin, of man, 62 
 Skoptsy, and emasculation, 9 
 Social instincts, 105, 109, 113 
 Societies, of insects, 294 
 Socrates, and death, 166, 167 
 Solidarity, of men, 297 
 Solomon, sorrow and knowledge, 
 
 226 
 
 Soul of cells, Haeckel on, 269 
 of protozoa, 268 
 of sexual cells, 268 
 Soured milk, benefits of, 255 
 Spencer, H., on belief in resurrection, 
 
 140 
 
 on natural morality, 9 
 on progress, 291 
 Spermatozoa, immortality of, 267 
 
 in old men, 97 
 
 Spinoza, on immortality, 175 
 Sterility, in human life, 295 
 
 in social insects, 294 
 Stoics, summum bonum of, 6 
 
 on future life, 169 
 Strassburger, on microbes of the 
 
 intestines, 248 
 Suicide, increase of, 4, t. 
 of the old, 131 
 Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and 
 
 Mailaender on, 190 
 Supernaturalism, modern craving for, 
 
 222 
 
 Survival after death, widespread be- 
 lief in, 149 
 
 Sutherland, on morality of expropria- 
 tion, 109, 296 
 
 Syphilis, absence of reference to in 
 Bible, 260 
 
 resistance to effects of, 256 
 and sclerosis, 247 
 
 TADPOLES, reared without microbes, 
 
 249 
 
 Taine, on Christian art, 14 
 Tail, Lawson, on cysts, 80 
 Talmud, on paradise, 143 
 Taoism and immortality, 146 
 Teeth, disharmonies of, 63, 64 
 
 of man and apes, 41 
 
 wisdom, 64 
 
 Telepathy, no argument for future 
 
 life, 161 
 
 Tetanus, microbes of, 256 
 Thanatology, science of death, 297 
 Thierfelder, and Nuitall, on germ-free 
 
 guinea-pigs, 249 
 
 Tissier, on intestinal putrefaction, 255 
 Tokarsky, on fear of death, 125, 279 
 Tolstoi, on fear of death, 1 15, 122, 299 
 on failure of science, 217, 223 
 return to religion, 223, 224 
 Tombs, burial of weapons and imple- 
 ments, 139 
 
 Transfusion of blood-serum, 51 
 Transmigration of souls, in Buddhism, 
 
 r 57 
 
 of souls, Jewish belief in, 144 
 Trees, death of, 265 
 Tuberculosis.jmodern science and, 2 1 2 
 Tylor, on ancestor-worship, 150 
 on animism, 138 
 
 UHLENHCTH, on injection of serums, 
 S3 
 
 VANILLA, cultivation of, 19 
 
 fertilisation of, 20 
 Vaccination, 301 
 Vermiform appendage and disease, 
 
 66.68 
 
 of man and apes, 44 
 Virginity, historical importance of, 
 83.84 
 
 WAITZ-GERLAND, on primitive cus- 
 toms, 139 
 
 Weapons, burial with dead, 739 
 Weismann, on origin of death, 266 
 
 on immortality of protozoa, 264 
 Wiedersheim, on human characters, 
 
 Will to live, Mailaender on, 189 
 
 Schopenhauer on, 182 
 Wisdom teeth, degeneration of, 64, 65 
 Women, views of Buddha on, 9 
 Wounds, modern success in healing 
 of, 210 
 
 XENOCRATES, 5 
 
 YOUTH, absence of fear of death, 116, 
 117 
 
 and excesses, 116 
 ideals of, 263 
 and pessimism, 117 
 
 ZOLA, on death, 225 
 
 on fear of death, 121 
 Zulu, ancestor-worship, 151
 
 " Remarkable for its simple language and clear 
 style, , , , Bears the stamp of a production of 
 an erudite scientist and a deep thinker." Science. 
 
 The Prolongation of 
 Human Life 
 
 Optimistic Essays 
 
 By Elie MetcHniKoff 
 
 Author of " The Nature of Man, Etc. 
 
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 M. Elie Metchnikoff is one of those rare scientists who 
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 in The Nature of Man. 
 
 G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
 
 NEW YORK LONDON
 
 "A scientific monograph of the first order." 
 
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 first order. His marshalling of the multitudinous 
 details is masterly and so lucid that any one who 
 knows the meaning of the words can follow it with 
 ease. And these qualities are enhanced by the true 
 scientific spirit and scrupulous fairness with which 
 arguments are handled. The present position, as 
 here stated, is that resistance to disease is effected 
 both by the white cells and by various substances in 
 the fluids, but that the latter are also produced by the 
 cells. Since the whole process is a vital one and 
 the cells are the vital element the theory seems a 
 priori sound if not inevitable. " London Times. 
 
 Q. P. Putnam's Sons 
 
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 Meteors and Comets. By Professor C. A. YOUNG, Princeton Uni 
 
 versity. 
 
 The Measurement of the Earth. By Professor C. T. MENDENHALL, 
 Worcester Polytechnic Institute, formerly Superintendent of the U. S. 
 Coast and Geodetic Survey. 
 
 The History of Science. C. S. PIERCE. 
 
 Recent Theories of Evolution. By J. MARK BALDWIN, Princeton 
 
 University. 
 The Reproduction of Living Beings. By Professor MARCUS HARTOO, 
 
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 Man and the Higher Apes. By D.. A. KEITH, F.R.C.S. 
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 Life Areas of North America: A Study in the Distribution of 
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 Age, Growth, Sex, and Death. By Professor CHARLES S. MINOT, 
 Harvard Medical School. 
 
 History of Botany. By Professor A. H. GREEN. 
 Planetary Motion. By G. W. HILL,
 
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