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diff --git a/75505-0.txt b/75505-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..694c7a7 --- /dev/null +++ b/75505-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11531 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75505 *** + + +[Illustration: + + M. ÉLIE METCHNIKOFF +] + + + + + THE + NATURE OF MAN + STUDIES IN OPTIMISTIC PHILOSOPHY + + BY + + ÉLIE METCHNIKOFF + PROFESSOR AT THE PASTEUR INSTITUTE + + + THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION + + EDITED BY + + P. CHALMERS MITCHELL + M.A., D.SC. OXON. + SECRETARY OF THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON + + + G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS + NEW YORK AND LONDON + =The Knickerbocker Press= + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1903 + BY + G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS + + Eleventh Printing + + + + + 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 mediæval 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 revolution +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. + +Élie 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 Kharkoff (Little Russia). He was educated at the +Gymnasium and the University of Kharkoff, passing through the Faculty of +Science. From 1864 to 1870 he worked at Zoology at Giessen, Göttingen +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 expeditions to Madeira, Teneriffe +and the Kalmuck Steppes in connection with his zoological researches. In +1882, in consequence 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 knowledge 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 jellyfish, 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. + +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 interesting 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 patient 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 satisfaction of his +immediate wants to reflect upon his nature and destiny, these problems +and the invention of fantastic solutions or evasive anodynes have +absorbed his attention. The folklore and philosophy, the religion and +poetry of all races and of all stages of culture, from savage barbarism +to decadent 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 Metchnikoff’s 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 implies not only the mental +qualities of man, but his bodily framework, with its inherited and +acquired anatomical structure and physiological functions. The phrase +“human constitution,” 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 Metchnikoff 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 functions, there is much plain +speaking on matters that modern civilisation attempts to conceal. I have +not had the impertinence 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 remembered that this volume is an attempt to explain mysteries 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 rallying-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-powerfulness 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 +orientation 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. + + ÉLIE 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 3 + + 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 + + + CHAPTER II + + HARMONIES AND DISHARMONIES AMONGST BEINGS INFERIOR TO MAN 17 + + 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 + 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 fœtus of man and anthropoid apes—Blood + relationship of man and monkeys shown by serums and + precipitates—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 + + + CHAPTER IV + + DISHARMONIES IN THE ORGANISATION OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM OF MAN 61 + + 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 + cæcum 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 + + + CHAPTER V + + 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—Desertion 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 + + + PART II + + ATTEMPTS TO DIMINISH THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF THE + HUMAN CONSTITUTION (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS) + + + CHAPTER VII + + 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 + Nirvâna—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 reproductive 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 CONSTITUTION 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 + 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 + + + PART III + + WHAT SCIENCE IS ABLE TO DO TO ALLEVIATE THE DISHARMONIES 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 Brunetière—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 + cellular soul—Occurrence of natural death in the case of + certain animals—Natural death in the Ephemeridæ—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 Élie Metchnikoff _Frontispiece_ + _Figs._ _Page_ + 1. _Catasetum saccatum_ 24 + 2. _Herminium monorchis_ 26 + 3. _Cerceris_ 28 + 4. _Listera ovata_ 32 + 5. _Pelopæus_ 34 + 6. Cæcum and vermiform appendage of man 44 + 7. Cæcum and vermiform appendage of chimpanzee 45 + 8. Fœtus of gibbon 46 + 9. Human fœtus 47 + 10. Fœtus of gorilla 50 + 11. Human fœtus 51 + 12. _Paramecium_ about to divide 230 + 13. Conjugation of _Paramecia_ 231 + 14. Section of a renal tubule invaded by Macrophags 241 + 15. Brain cells devoured by Macrophags 241 + 16. Hair becoming grey 243 + 17. _Chætogaster_ 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 mankind 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 relation to such categories of humanity as family, nation, 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 century were steeped in melancholy, and led straight to a +denial of the possibility of happiness and even to an advocacy 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.[1] + +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 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[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] +Such a doctrine was formulated by Plato, and became a fundamental +principle of the Old Academy; the New Academy assumed it, and handed it +on to the Sceptics. According to Xenocrates (fourth century), who +belonged to the Old Academy, happiness consisted not only in the +possession of human virtue, but in the accomplishment of all natural +acts.[5] + +The principle of a worship of human nature is in itself rather vague, +and it is not surprising that disputes and contradictions 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.[6] + +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.[7] 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.”[8] Setting +out from the same fundamental principle, the theories of the Stoics and +Epicureans led in opposite directions. + +The Roman philosophers adopted the principle of a life strictly natural. +Seneca, for instance,[9] 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 development 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 centuries 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,[10] a Scotch philosopher of the +eighteenth century, 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[11] 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 based on +Nature.”[12] 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.”[13] + +The principle of ancient philosophy reappeared in the works of +rationalists of the nineteenth century. Wilhelm 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,[14] defines the aim of life as the full +development of all that exists in the proportions determined 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[15] when he wrote: “The +term general good may be defined 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 conditions to which they are +exposed.” + +Georges Seidlitz,[16] an advocate of the great English naturalist, got +still nearer to the conception of the ancients. 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,[17] 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 religious 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 widespread 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 emasculate +themselves, and many other instances make it plain that natural +perfection is not taken as the basis for conduct. + +Buddha[18] in the clearest way showed his belief that human nature was +base. Coming out from the apartments of the women, there came to him a +“vivid idea of the impurity of the body, a feeling of repulsion from it, +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 regarded +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 imperfection of man, and +of the persisting power of evil, Seneca declared that human nature +contained a vicious and essentially 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. According to Seneca[19] 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 +our nature became a rule of life. The most absolute asceticism spread +throughout the Christian world.[20] 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.[21] + +Such doctrines soon brought about a most serious perversion 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 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.[22] + +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,[23] 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. 11, +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 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 +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,” soon became a command, and since the fourth century the +Catholic Church has advocated 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 “Encyclical on Freemasons,” proclaimed +it.[24] “Human nature,” he said, “was contaminated by the Fall, and as +it is therefore 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, 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 indifference 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 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.”[25] + +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[26] 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 unsubstantial, Christs that look like crushed and bleeding +earthworms, 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 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.[27] + +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 Ethnography 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 largely in the +formation of ideas of the good and the beautiful. 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 weakness. 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 selection—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 articulated 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 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 protected by a shell, such as foraminifera and mollusca, +certain species have survived even from an earlier time than the coal +period. + +In contrast with this extraordinary survival, there are instances of the +complete disappearance of numbers of species 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.[28] These animals, notwithstanding that +their organisation was superior 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 incontestable 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 specific +characters after the appearance of man. Such are certain tape-worms and +microbes, such as a species of _gonococcus_. 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 progress. Organisms +almost innumerable are born every day with variable characters. Those +amongst them which are adapted to existing circumstances survive and +produce offspring 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 æsthetic 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 practical interest to the +cultivator, the matter was investigated, 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 Réunion, 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.[29] + +In the original home of the vanilla the intervention of man is +unnecessary. In Guiana and Mexico fertilisation of the flower is the +work of small bees (of the genus _Melipona_). 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 contact of +the male and female elements. + +Sterility of the vanilla in the countries to which it has been +introduced, before the employment of artificial fecundation, is easily +explained by the fact that in these countries there are no insects nor +humming-birds capable of transporting the pollen. + +But it is not only the vanilla that requires the co-operation 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.[30] + +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. Ménière relates that a person who kept bees near the garden of +the Faculté 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 recognise in these bodies the +pollinia of orchids very firmly attached to the bees’ heads.[31] + +When an insect, bearing these pollinia, introduces itself into another +flower of the same species of orchid, it inevitably 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 considerable 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 sometimes 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 instantaneously, 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:[32] + +“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 penetrated 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 adaptation 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 1.—_Catasetum saccatum_ (from “La Lindenia,” Gand, 1890). +] + +In other orchids (_Catasetum_, Fig. 1), 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.”[33] + +After giving detailed descriptions of the cross-fertilisation 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?”[34] + +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_. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 2.—_Herminium monorchis_ + + (after Sowerby, “English Botany,” ix. 1869) +] + +In addition to orchids, there are other flowers the organisation of +which is adapted in a remarkable way to fertilisation by insects. But to +find perfect harmony in the nature of living beings it is not necessary +to confine 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 themselves 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 larvæ 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 larvæ 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 +larvæ are hatched underground 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 fastidious in the +choice of their food, and behave like collectors whose interest is only +in a single or a few species of small animals. Léon Dufour, the +well-known entomologist, was much struck by the ability displayed by +certain wasps (_Cerceris_, Fig. 3) in seeking out and capturing the +pretty beetles of the genus _Buprestis_, which he had great difficulty +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 freedom. The burrows were +filled with motionless, but perfectly well preserved, _Buprestes_. +Although dead Coleoptera dried up in a short time, those recovered from +the burrows remained in a good state of preservation for weeks. Léon +Dufour came to the conclusion that the _Cerceris_ kill their prey, but +inject into them some antiseptic liquid which perfectly preserves their +flesh and intestines. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 3.—_Cerceris_ (after Buffon). +] + +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 locomotion, +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 fossorial 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_ and weevils in particular, are furnished with a very hard +covering which cannot be perforated by the small and slender sting of a +fossorial 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 paralysed, but lives for many days. “The _Cerceris_ which preys +on Coleoptera,” writes Fabre,[35] “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 carefully 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 were dead, putrefaction +or desiccation (according to circumstances) would render them unfit for +the larvæ. 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 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 fertilisation 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 themselves, 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 _rôle_ 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 pollinia are thrown +with force on the bodies of insects, there are some female flowers in +which the male organs are rudimentary and without utility. In these +flowers, according to Darwin,[36] “the two membranous sacks containing +the rudimentary pollen-masses never open, but they easily 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 incompletely 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 rudiments 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 fertilisation by means +of insects, but many insects display special adaptations to their habit +of visiting flowers. Butterflies, 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[37] 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 +was not so large as one of the pollinia, and after causing the explosion +had not strength enough to remove them; it was punished for attempting a +work beyond its strength, and perished miserably.” + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 4.—_Listera ovata_ (after Barla, “Flora of Nice,” 1868). +] + +Many insects, well adapted for the purpose, delight themselves by +sucking the nectar of flowers. Many others would wish to do the same, +but their want of adaptation 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 Müller[38] has described the +behaviour of this insect in procuring the nectar of _Erodium +cicutorium_. “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 honeycups 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 succession with +petals which it had detached without gaining wisdom.” + +The instincts of insects, well developed for certain functions, often +present aberrations more or less whimsical and remarkable. The +caterpillars of some butterflies, before changing into chrysalids, +envelop themselves in a wellwoven 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 metamorphosis becomes impossible, and the larva dies +before its maturity. Fabre[39] 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 caterpillar +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 chose for this experiment the fossorial wasp _Pelopæus_ +(Fig. 5), which preys on spiders. He took away the egg which had been +deposited in a carefully-prepared burrow, and watched the subsequent +manœuvres. “The _Pelopæus_ continued 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 5.—_Pelopæus_ (after Buffon). +] + +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 abandoning 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[40] states that when male ants have a lack of females they ravish +the workers, the attacks being fatal, 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.[41] Higher animals, such as dogs, +furnish analogous examples of sexual perversion. + +Onanism is well known amongst mammals. It is frequent 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, chamois, +elephants, parrakeets, etc.,) which resort to onanism.[42] + +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 constant 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,[43] 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 insects singe their wings. The +innumerable bodies incapable of flight fall into the water, and provide +a coveted food for the fish.[44] 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 _Rhizotrogus_, resembling each +other in form and general appearance, 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 home in the +plants.[45] It is probable, therefore, that light induces a sort of +sexual excitement 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, entomologists have advised against the +lighting of fires by agriculturists in the belief that they destroy the +noxious _Botys_, as they maintain that the 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 destruction of so many male insects, +represents a sort of sexual aberration. In this connection it is to be +remembered 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 larvæ, a fact that led Darwin[46] +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.[47] +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 fatal to insect life. I wish only to point +out the frequency of the natural occurrence of disharmony, so that the +satisfaction of an instinct is fatal to so many of its possessors. + +It is plain that an instinct, or any other form of disharmony 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, individuals 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. 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 perpetuate 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 without 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 +communication, 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 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 fœtus of man and + anthropoid apes—Blood relationship of man and monkeys shown by serums + and precipitates—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 preoccupied 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 supernatural +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. In +1863 Huxley[48] gave an admirable review of the problem 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 intelligence 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.[49] 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 chimpanzee and the +ourang-outang were discovered, comparison became inevitable, and many +naturalists, including the great Linnæus, 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), +the form and general arrangement 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 anthropoid 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 differences 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 condition. 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.”[50] + +Another character which shows that anthropoids are nearer man than other +monkeys is furnished by the anatomy of the sacrum. In monkeys as a whole +the sacrum is composed of three, or rarely four, vertebræ, while in +anthropoid apes it contains five, that is to say just as many as in man. + +The whole skeleton, and particularly the skull of man, and the higher +monkeys, present certainly some marked differences; 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.”[51] + +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 +occasionally. 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 +essential respects the hinder limb of the gorilla terminates in as true +a foot as that of man.[52] “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 in the secondary arrangement of its +parts.”[53] + +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 those of the gorilla and those of the lower apes +are much greater.”[54] + +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 +distinctly simian peculiarities which the human organism exhibits.”[55] + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 6.—Cæcum and vermiform appendage of man (after Ewald). +] + +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 cæcum 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 accompanying figures (6 +and 7) will convince the reader of this. Yet none of the other monkeys +present any such resemblance with man. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 7.—Cæcum and vermiform appendage of the chimpanzee (from a + preparation in the Paris Museum of Natural History). +] + +It is not surprising, in the face of resemblances so numerous, that +forty years’ science has proclaimed the existence 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 anthropoid 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 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. 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 +knowledge is still imperfect. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 8.—Fœtus of gibbon (after Selenka). +] + +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 cord of +man, which was formerly considered as quite peculiar to him, is found in +anthropoid apes, as has been established by Deniker[56] and Selenka[57] +It is striking that the anthropoids resemble man rather than the lower +monkeys in the relation of the fœtus to the fœtal membranes. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 9.—Human fœtus of three months and a half. +] + +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 development that have been obtained can hardly +be distinguished from those of the lower monkeys either in position or +in shape. More advanced stages exhibit greater differentiation, and the +later embryos of man resemble those of anthropoids much more closely +than those of the lower monkeys. The fœtus of the gibbon, figured by +Selenka (Fig. 8), presents the most striking likeness to a corresponding +human fœtus (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 fœtus of anthropoids and human embryos of about the sixth month +is evident enough. M. Deniker had the good fortune to obtain the late +fœtus of a gorilla—a very rare piece of fortune—and he has made an +elaborate investigation of its structure. The general appearance (Fig. +10) is quite enough to show the close relationship with a human fœtus of +a corresponding age (Fig. 11). It is plain, moreover, that the young +gorilla is more human-like than is the adult. Detailed anatomical +investigation only confirms this conclusion. + +The skulls of the young stages of anthropoids are much more human in +their character than the adult skulls. Selenka 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 +individual 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 +palæontological evidence must be scanned to find this ancestor. The +greatest importance has been attached to a discovery in Java, made in +1894 by Eugène 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_[58] 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 embryologists. Darwin, seeking to broaden +the basis of the argument, called attention to the resemblances of the +parasites of men and apes, as evidence of a close similarity of +physiological 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 10.—Fœtus of gorilla (after Deniker). +] + +If, however, a serum be prepared from the blood of a rabbit into which +there had first been injected the blood of a guinea-pig, the serum shows +new and striking qualities. The addition to it of some drops of +guinea-pig’s blood brings about, in a very short time, a changed +appearance. The red liquid, at first opaque, becomes transparent. The +mixture of the prepared serum of the rabbit with the blood of the +guinea-pig will assume the colour of claret mixed with water. The change +is due to solution of the red corpuscles of the guinea-pig in the blood +serum of the rabbit. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 11.—Human fœtus of about five months. +] + +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 precipitate 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 introducing 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 blood serum of animals prepared by previous injections of +the blood of other 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 rendered 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. 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 +afterwards 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 sufficiently 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.[59] The relationship between the _Bovidæ_ 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_).[60] + +Gruenbaum, of Liverpool,[61] has 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-mentioned 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 precipitates 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 anthropoid +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 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 imperfect. In his researches on anthropoid apes, +Selenka insists on a more intimate relationship between the chimpanzee +and man. “The great resemblance of the pre-molars 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 +contradicted by the fact that the milk teeth of the chimpanzee are much +nearer those of the ourang-outang than those of man.”[62] + +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 formulated as to the exact mode of human descent. + +We have already shown that the fœtus 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 development. 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. 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 fœtus of the gorilla examined by M. Deniker +possessed an almost entirely smooth back. “The fœtus 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.”[63] + +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 fœtal 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 development of some simian of +ancient days, as it were, a simian monster from the zoological point of +view, although not from the æsthetic. Man may be regarded as a prodigy +sprung from an ape, born with a larger brain and an intelligence 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 made plain to us by the remarkable researches of the +botanist Hugo de Vries.[64] + +De Vries cultivated for fifteen years the Evening Primrose, a plant of +American origin (_Œnothera 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 (_Œnotera lata_, _Œn. nanella_, and sometimes _Œn. +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 phenomenon. 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 +development 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 +intelligence necessarily led to perfections in the choice of +nourishment, 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. + +These suggestions involve a conception of the mind that is in harmony +with known facts. From time to time prodigies 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 +mathematical calculations with surprising rapidity.[65] 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 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 fœtus 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,[66] has given in a +pamphlet a _resumé_ 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 manner (amongst these are the decadent muscles +of the leg and foot; the eleventh and twelfth pairs of ribs, the toes, +the cæcum, etc.), and not less than one hundred and seven rudimentary +organs which serve no useful physiological 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, useless 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 cæcum 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 anthropoid apes. A +comparison between even the lower races of man, such as the Hottentots +or the aborigines of Australia 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 production 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 programme. They prepare +ideal images to serve them as 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 +representing it in degraded forms, must be rejected. + +It is impossible, however, to apply this result to our conception 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 organisation. 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 body +is clad with hairs. This covering is known as the _lanugo_, and consists +of strands of hair, disposed very regularly all over the body, save on +the nose and the hands and feet. There is no doubt but that this is +functionless, and is no more than an inheritance from the 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 multiplication. 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 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[67] 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 associated 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.[68] 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[69] is on the whole to be regarded as an advantage. Certainly from +the “physiological 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 mastication.”[70] 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.[71] 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 sequelæ of wounds of the +wisdom teeth. Galippe[72] 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 fistulæ 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 tumours. +Magitot[73] 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, masticating 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 cæcal 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 sometimes +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 cæcal appendage in man is frequently 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,[74] nearly one person in four possesses the appendage in an +obliterated condition, the condition being particularly frequent in the +aged. In young persons and infants the aperture of the appendage is +usually open. In cases where there is no communication with the cavity +of the digestive tract, the processes of digestion appear to be normal. +It is logical to conclude that in the human being the function of the +cæcum is either absent or very slight. + +Even in the anthropoid apes the appendage of the cæcum 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 cæcum 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 +corresponds 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 congenital 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 America, +and occupies considerable space in treatises on the pathology of the +digestive tract. + +To give an idea of the prevalence of appendicitis, I may mention that in +a single Paris hospital (Hôpital Trousseau) four hundred and forty-three +cases of the disease have been treated in the five years 1895–1899.[75] +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,[76] 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 fœcal contents; and a Scotch surgeon, Parker Syms,[77] has +seen an appendage that he had removed, in the act of writhing about like +an earthworm. Such movements, undoubtedly, would aid the discharge 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 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 maintenance of life and health. The cæcum +itself, of which the appendage is only a portion, is degenerating in the +human body, as I stated in the last chapter. The human cæcum, in fact, +is very little developed in comparison with the cæcum of most +herbivorous animals, in which it is a true organ of digestion. In the +human embryo the cæcum 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 cæcum. 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 cæcum 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 absorption +of the products of digestion its importance is strictly secondary. And +so it is not astonishing to find that the 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, Körte[78] 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[79] 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 remainder of the gut, while the upper portion of +the large intestine (the cæcum 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. However, apart from +surgical evidence, there exists proof of the uselessness of the large +intestine in man. The best argument 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 abdomen. 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. Ciechomski,[80] thirty-five +years after the establishment of the fistula. The surgeon proposed to +operate, hoping to restore her to the normal condition, and the woman +consented. However, when the abdominal cavity was opened, it appeared +that the large intestine had atrophied along the whole length, from the +cæcum to the rectum; the inner orifice of the fistula had passed into +the digestive tract above the cæcum, 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 in 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 function similar to +that of the urinary bladder. The urine, which is being secreted +continuously by the kidneys, accumulates 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 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 reservoir would be very useful.[81] + +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 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 fæcal 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 childbirth, 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,[82] 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 +cæcum.[83] The small intestine is the only part of the digestive tract +that is indispensable, and it is attacked to a much smaller extent, +providing only 11 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 probable cause of +the frequency of cancer of the stomach. Of 10,537 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 extent 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 superfluous. 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 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 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 phosphorus 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 establishment, 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.”[84] + +The consumption of ergotised rye and of maize contaminated with certain +leguminous plants (_Lathyrus_) frequently 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 widespread 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. Moreover, 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. DISHARMONIES 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 disharmony. More than fifty years ago, +a great German physiologist, Johannes Müller, 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 perceptions. +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 relatively as well developed as the young guinea-pig, +it is probable that we should know far more as to the history of our +consciousness 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 provided 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 fallopian 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 hermaphrodite, 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 organs of Weber, of Rosenmüller, and so forth). The rudiments not +only are functionless but sometimes, as frequently happens with +atrophied structures, form the starting-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 formation +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 rudimentary structures. These, although usually benign, +not infrequently become malignant. Lawson Tait,[85] a celebrated 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 throughout 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 attention, as it might have been supposed that in +them would have been found special instances of adaptation to 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 +difference 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.[86] For some reason +impossible to establish, man has lost this bone. It may be that certain +ossifications of most rare occurrence[87] 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[88] has determined its absence in the +anthropoid apes, and his result has been confirmed by other observers. +Deniker[89] failed to find it either in the fœtal gorilla or in the +young gorilla. In the case of the fœtus of the gibbon, he found a slight +elevation round the entrance to the vagina “which might be homologised +with the hymen,”[90] but which, however, was not the membrane in +question. Deniker[91] himself decided that the “membrane was absent in +anthropoid apes at all ages.” Weidersheim, in his summary of the +organisation of the human body,[92] also sets down the fact that “in +monkeys a hymen is not present.” + +The fact that this structure appears late in the development of the +female fœtus 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 fœtal 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[93] +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 physiological +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.[94] 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 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 shall 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.[95] + +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.[96] Moreover the membrane is a +frequent seat of ulcers, specific or otherwise.[97] + +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. 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 anæmia, as for instance the +chloranæmia of virgins, may be produced by microbial growth. This would +easily explain why marriage is the readiest cure for such anæmia, as +marriage involves destruction of the membrane, and so makes possible the +complete discharge of fluid from the vagina.[98] + +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 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.[99] In Madagascar, 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 marry +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 provision 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 there are now fewer +married boys. Thus, formerly, the proportion of women who at the first +childbirth still possessed 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 homologue of the female +hymen is a little fold that hinders the mingling of urine with the +seminal fluid during emission, and that is known to anatomists as the +_caput gallinaginis_ or _colliculus seminalis_. It is very much smaller +than the hymen, so that we cannot regard the latter as a rudimentary +homologue of a useful organ. However, the prepuce 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.—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. 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.[100] 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,[101] 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, seventeen 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 flows of women, +these occurrences in monkeys are distinguished 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,[102] “swelling and reddening of the genitalia +occurred. The labiæ majores, which are usually inconspicuous, enlarged +greatly, and a similar increase took place in the labiæ 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 menstruation. 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. + +Instances are known from recent observation of pregnancies occurring +before the onset of menstruation. According to Rhode, among the Guatos, +Indians inhabiting the mouth of the Rio Sâo 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 appearance 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. Bötlingk 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 Çûdrâ, and was never to be taken as a wife. + +There is no doubt as to the possible fertility of marriages contracted +at these early ages. Polak[103] 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,[104] 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 circumstances menstruation would have been a rare +phenomenon. + +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, preceded and accompanied by +pain and by nervous and mental distress as so frequently happens, has no +apparent kinship with the processes of normal life. + +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 menstruating 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.[105] 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 +character. 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 sequelæ normal.[106] Moreover, Dr. Dionij +has stated his 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.[107] + +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.[108] In British India the disadvantages 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 condition +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, 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 disharmony 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 sympathy or 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,[109] 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, 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.[110] + +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 Fürbringer,[111] 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.”[112] 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,[113] “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 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.[114] Similar instances occur elsewhere, but +in most races the practice is thought wrong, and is concealed as much as +possible. + +Among girls,[115] 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. + +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._[116] + + 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 development. 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.[117] But the presence +of ripe spermatozoa is not the only condition 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 retention 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 perverted 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 difference 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 arrangements are complicated on +account of the necessary mediation 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 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.[118] It is in early infancy that this aberration 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. + +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 complete 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 completely. + +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.”[119] It is clear, however, when we consider the disharmonies +in the development and activities 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 sexuality 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 +intercourse.”[120] It is simply because the disharmonies of sexuality +lead to sexual aberrations that religions have found cause for +denouncing human nature as vile.[121] + + + 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. + +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[122] on this subject. Deliberate +abortion with the object of limiting the number of children is customary +all over the globe. In most primitive races and among peoples of low +civilisation 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 subsequent 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 abortion is permitted +within certain limits. The Turks do not regard a fœtus 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 circumstances it is not surprising that +illegitimate children are rare in the East. + +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 pregnancies by various kinds of medicaments and by +violent operative interferences. + +The arts by which abortion has been produced are numerous 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, 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,[123] 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, and as a rule not more than two or at +most three are actually reared.[124] Among the Melanesians the custom of +infanticide is very common. “It must also be assumed,” said Ratzel,[125] +“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 diminution 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. 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 averting 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 attention 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 the wild condition, anthropoids live only in +families, and these contain few individuals. As regards the social +capacities of the chimpanzee Dr. Savage wrote:[126] “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.[127] + +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 Büchner,[128] a German 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,[129] 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 neighbour.... 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 ‘neighbours’ 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.” + +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 nationality 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. What was the bond that united nations so different? It +was not religion, for the bond included Catholics and Protestants, +orthodox Christians and Buddhists. Most probably 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 regulated +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, excluding 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. To the question, “Was it +right for the whites to take possession 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.”[130] +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 relations 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 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 different 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 following 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.”[131] + +As general paralysis is a result of syphilis, in order to make a large +number of persons believe themselves thoroughly 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 condition of human knowledge, we all inflict and +undergo injustices of different degrees. This misfortune is a +consequence 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 operation 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 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 + + +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 protoplasm, 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 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 accomplished without +mental connivance, conscious or unconscious. 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. + +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 +seeing 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 human 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 circumstance 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 Sebastopol, Tolstoi, who at that time was only twenty-six years +of age, writes as follows: “Notwithstanding the distractions offered by +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 instinctive clinging to life in any marked degree. +They often risk their lives for trifling reasons, and commit all sorts +of indiscretions 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 unknowing 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, +undervalues 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, proclaimed 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 Wert 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.”[132] + +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 hypersensitive 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 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 hypersensitiveness 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 preponderance 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 pretends 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.”[133] + +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, expressed 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 manifested 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 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.[134] “The young Prince +Çakya-Mouni, the founder of the Buddhist 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 Çakya-Mouni met on the road a man consumed by fever, his +body weakened, 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 Çakya-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, lamenting, wailing, their hair +disordered, placing dust upon their heads, and beating their breasts.” +The violent emotion 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! Woe to the attractions of pleasure which +seduce the hearts of the wise.” These reflections of Çakya-Mouni are the +basis upon which Buddhism is founded, and that religious philosophy is +impregnated with pessimistic doctrines relating to human life. + +Modern pessimists hold views resembling Buddhism. Schopenhauer from +early youth was engrossed by the great problems of human life. His +mother, in a letter to him[135] 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[136] that “the greatest, and generally speaking the +worst, misfortune 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 Goncourt 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:[137] “Our old established dinner of five took place +to-day. Flaubert was missing, so there were only Tourguéneff, Zola, +Daudet, and me. The ethical ennui of some of us, the physical +sufferings of the others, led the conversation to death, which we +discussed until eleven o’clock, sometimes passing to other subjects, +but always coming 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 Médan, 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! 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.” + +Jean Finot[138] 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 Léon 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.”[139] 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?’”[140] For +some time Tolstoi did not pay 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.”[141] “In this +condition I felt that I must cease to live, and, fearing death, I had to +employ various ruses to prevent myself from taking my life.”[142] “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 horrible truth. Why then should they live at all? Why should +I love, cherish, and protect them? In order that 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.”[143] To conclude 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.[144] 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 speaking, 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 +conscious.... 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 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.”[145] + +He tries to prove that the feeling arises from a false conception 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.”[146] 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 phenomena 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.”[147] + +Tolstoi thinks that the fear of death is a superstition, and that it +disappears when we see life as it is.[148] + +Tokarsky,[149] another Russian writer, a few years ago published a +treatise on the fear of death, and tried to show how little reason there +was for it. The writer was a physician 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. Judging from +the evidence of a number of persons who 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[150] 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.”[151] The idea that death is +generally attended by pain seems to Finot quite erroneous, and he comes +to the conclusion that “our ignorances and prejudices are responsible +for the creation of this superstition, so terrible to contemplate, so +far removed from the truth.”[152] 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, however, 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 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.”[153] 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 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,[154] 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. + +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 +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.[155] The ancient +inhabitants of Germany, 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 almshouses 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[156] 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 tolerated, 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 prolonged. In a Home occupied by fairly well-educated persons, I +discovered that one and all felt as if they were continually being +threatened by death, as if they were convicts awaiting the day of +execution. At the Salpêtrière, 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 subject, 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 property 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 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[157] showed a +fairly well preserved organic system, healthy, with the exception of +chronic inflammation of the membranes 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 meningitis +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 réunions of literary +celebrities (Zola, Daudet, and Tourgéneff), the conversation turned most +frequently 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.”[158] Old age was even then knocking at the doors of +the distinguished writers mentioned, 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 +reproductive 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,[159] +“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[160] 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,[161] “is the +real inspiring genius of philosophy.... Without death it 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 constitution, although in many ways +perfect and sublime, exhibits 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 DISHARMONIES OF THE HUMAN + CONSTITUTION + (RELIGIOUS AND PHILOSOPHICAL SYSTEMS) + + + + + CHAPTER VII + RELIGIOUS ATTEMPTS TO COMBAT THE ILLS ARISING FROM THE DISHARMONIES OF + THE HUMAN CONSTITUTION + + + 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 Nirvâna—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 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 all 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 intelligence, +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 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,[162] “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 provide +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.[163] 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 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 comes +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. + +Saint-Foix[164] relates that when Bertrand du Guesclin 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 been laid in the tomb, the +horse was killed and buried with him.[165] + +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 importance of the existence of this conviction, +however, I must 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 Pentateuch 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,[166] “the Hebrews believed +in a kind of double personality, 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.” According to +Chantepie de la Saussaye,[167] “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 everlasting life and some to +shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel xii. 2). “It is plain,” said +Renan,[168] 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 +drinking; the good sit there with crowns on their heads and see God in +bliss.”[169] + +At the date of the Cabalistic philosophy, the Jews had 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. Büchner,[170] for instance, who came to be +almost the official representative of 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 completely 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.”[171] + +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 development 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 to be of service to them. +According to A. Réville,[172] 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 unconsciousness.” 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.”[173] + +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.[174] + +The worship of the dead had laid hold of the Chinese so firmly that even +Confucius, notwithstanding his intelligence and scepticism, paid it a +large tribute. “Confucius the philosopher,” said Réville, “regarded it +as a duty to offer to his ancestors the gifts of food that princes had +sent to him desiring to honour him.”[175] + +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 ceremonies as carefully as if they had had a +confident faith in the immortality of the soul.”[176] 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 themselves specially to +the problem of immortality. They made efforts to discover an elixir that +would be capable of prolonging earthly life to eternity. “One of the +chief claims of Taoism,” wrote Réville, “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 perfection who could hope to pass into the +better world without being subjected to the pains of death.”[177] “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.”[178] + +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 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.”[179] + +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 prepared for the guilty by the ten courts of +justice that sit in the depths of an ocean hidden in the interior of the +earth.”[180] + +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 transmigration 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.”[181] + +There are many instances of the evasions of Buddhist teachers when they +were pressed with this disturbing question. Pasénadi, the king, once met +Khémâ, 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 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?”[182] + +Take again the mode in which Soumirmitá,[183] “the son of a god, and +surrounded and preceded by a crowd of gods,” worshipped Bouddha +(Tathâgata): “Thou art the physician, skilful to save, and who givest +the gift of life everlasting.” + +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 continuous life.[184] + +The Chinese Buddhists retained the fundamental conceptions 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 Nirvâna into paradise, and to inculcate in the Chinese race +the doctrine of future rewards and punishments. “The Buddhist +monasteries in China for the most part possessed a set of little 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.”[185] + +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.”[186] + +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 no +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 continuation 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 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[187] 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.”[188] In the Malay Islands “the souls of deceased +ancestors are looked to for prosperity in life and help in distress.” +In Africa ancestor-worship is well developed. The Zulu warriors, +“aided by 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.”[189] 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.”[190] + +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 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 animated 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 the joys of Paradise that, when stricken with a mortal +illness, she awaited death with a great impatience. 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 clergyman already given.[191] 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 Buddhism, 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.”[192] + +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! Would 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 consider +deliverance.”[193] + +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.”[194] + +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 forgetting of all desire, the +freeing of the body of all desire, until there is no place left for +desire.”[195] + +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 livelihood pure, the study pure, the attention pure, +the meditation 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 Nirvâna, as +if the latter were the goal to which human life should be directed. Many +philosophers, and the pessimists chief among them, naturally with +Schopenhauer at their head, have adopted Nirvâna as the goal of mankind, +as they see the world. However, the word Nirvâna 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. However, 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 Nirvâna as the goal of human existence. + +For long Nirvâna was represented as a sort of blank, in which there was +no display of any mental operations. Max Müller,[196] the celebrated +Oxford professor, opposed this interpretation on the ground that, +according to him, in “all passages of Buddhistic origin in which Nirvâna +occurs there is nothing to betoken annihilation. Most of these passages, +if not all of them, would be quite unintelligible if we were to replace +in them the word Nirvâna 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 Nirvâna 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 “sanctity.” According to him, Nirvâna does not +mean extinction or annihilation, but rather freedom from the great +passions, such as envy and hate. Pfungst[197] agrees with Max Müller; he +is convinced that the first adepts of Buddha could not have conceived of +Nirvâna as extinction. Dahlmann[198] on the other hand, tries to prove +that Nirvâna in its primitive signification implied the abolition of the +will to live, and really corresponded to annihilation. + +I must add, however, that Nirvâna 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 Nirvâna 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 Nirvâna. + +When the young Buddha, still very exacting, asked his father to obtain +for him perpetual youth, health, life everlasting, 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.”[199] + +As I have already stated, Buddhism had embraced the Brahmanistic +doctrine of transmigration of souls. According 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.[200] 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, metempsychosis 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 Nirvâna was the opposite shore. He who reaches Nirvâna +would never again plunge into the great sea of Sangsâra. In a passage +quoted by Rhys Davids, and ascribed to Kâma Sutta, it is stated +expressly that “the sea is an image of the Sangsâra or transmigrations, +while Nirvâna 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 Nirvâna. Nirvâna is by no means the +cessation of all consciousness, 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 Nirvâna is spoken of. + +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 Nirvâna +without having spoken with those who have cared for me, without speaking +to the community of disciples. By the force of my will I shall 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 Nirvâna +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 Nirvâna. And the earth trembled, and thunder rolled +across the skies.”[201] + +It is clear that in this passage Nirvâna 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 Nirvâna 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 Nirvâna 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. However, a survey of the Buddhistic writings +makes it plain that at least Nirvâna was not associated with +annihilation. In this respect Max Müller’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 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 anæmia of the +brain, at once arrests consciousness, that is to say, the fundamental +sensation of the individual mental life. Anæsthetics, 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 chloroform for surgical +purposes fall into a state of absolute unconsciousness. 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 produced by any +other form of anæsthetic, 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 +anæmic 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 movements. 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 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 of 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 sensibility. 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 individual 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 annihilation 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.”[202] 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.”[203] “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.”[204] 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.”[205] + +It has been suggested that these rules were founded on ideas of hygiene +in consonance with the results of modern 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 functions of the +reproductive organs. Most of the founders of the great faiths have paid +a keen attention to the disharmonies of this side of our constitution. +They became persuaded 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 intercourse +outside marriage was forbidden, on the ground that it was +degrading.”[206] + +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.”[207] + +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 fœtal membranes.[208] + +Many other idols are used by savages as protections against disease. +Ploss-Bartels,[209] 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 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 completely 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 old +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, +religion 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 philosophers 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 philosophic 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”: “Far from being +depressed by the death of a friend, I felt, on the 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 immortality of the soul by speculative hypotheses. +He recalled the Pythagorean doctrine of metempsychosis, and suggested +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 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 they 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 deathbed. In the dialogue he tried to refute all +kinds of objections. But, in spite of the assurance with which he +formulated his doctrine, there may be seen underlying the argument a +note of doubt, and it is just this that distinguishes 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[210] at one time admitted that +part of the soul was immortal, 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 indestructibility of the “rational spirit,” an +immortal principle. + +The Stoics still further developed such a conception. They held that +besides the individual soul there was a universal soul, a presiding +influence in which all others had their being. + +Cicero, again, discussing old age and death, tried to establish 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 immortality 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 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 surrounding 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 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 all 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 detaching 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 +reform, and that the creative power of God displays itself in this cycle +of change throughout the universe.” 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 universe. 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, philosophy became content to +advocate resignation to the inevitable laws of nature, and to console +itself with the 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 mysteries. 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 universe, or +one 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 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.” “Philosophy,” according to +Marcus Aurelius, “is to 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. Do we 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 children? Are not all such events in +their due season, and the work of nature? Death comes 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[211] compares his philosophy of +resignation with the Nirvâna of the Buddhists. “Like Jesus, Çakya-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 theories of Buddha became +transformed into a religion which promised the immortality of the soul, +and as Nirvâna 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 long, philosophical systems set themselves the task of +supporting the dogmas of religion by arguments independent of divine +revelation. The gods were replaced by philosophy 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 +transmigration 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 life, a +merging with the absolute, a return to the immortal and universal +substance. + +Philosophers have exhausted themselves in the study of the foundations +of human knowledge with the sole object of demonstrating the truth of +religious dogmas. In spite 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 still may be +possible, for it transcends human knowledge.” Hegel 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 regarding death +was reduced to the stoical idea that our end is in harmony with the laws +of nature, and that it must therefore 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 conclusion, 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 fully +the doctrine that everything of this world is evil. That “life is made +up of suffering” is the inexhaustible theme which, whether in the shape +of philosophical argument, or in the more attractive form of poetry, the +Buddhist Scriptures din ceaselessly in our ears.[212] + +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 +feeling. 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, Schopenhauer +endeavoured to give a presentation of a pessimistic theory, borrowed +from Hindoo religions and from the views of contemporary poets, in the +form of a rational philosophy. He developed a conception of life +according to which “existence is to be regarded as something one is +better without, as a kind of mistake which should be remedied when +recognised.”[213] 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 interpreted as a useless +disturbance of the exquisite tranquillity of nothingness,” the meaning +of the disturbance being wrapped in impenetrable mystery.[214] + +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 appreciating 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 unbearable. “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.”[215] Schopenhauer was convinced that happiness +should not be regarded as the aim of life. “The greatest mistake we can +make,” he said in his principal work,[216] “is to imagine that we are +placed here to be happy.” “So long as we continue 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 solution +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 +immortality 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 resurrection of the body, nor the +immortality of the conscious soul. “Just as the individual has no memory +of prenatal existence, so after death he will remember nothing of his +present life.”[217] “Those who regard birth as the actual beginning of +man’s life must necessarily face death as final, the two being parallel. +No man can therefore regard himself as immortal without forfeiting his +belief in his own birth. Birth and death have the same origin and the +same significance. They represent but one line, extending in opposite +directions. If birth implies an origin from nothingness, then death must +be complete annihilation.”[218] + +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.”[219] + +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.”[220] “Consciousness ceases at death, but the cause +which produced that consciousness persists; life comes to an end, but +not the principle which became manifest by life.”[221] + +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 Schopenhauer 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 everlasting 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. And thus the problem of what it +is in itself cannot be resolved.”[222] + +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.”[223] 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 sympathy with it, and regard +life and death indifferently.”[224] Schopenhauer himself feels that his +theories and arguments are unsatisfactory. When he had reached the full +development 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 abrogation 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 conclusion 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 dying willingly, with joy and delight, is reserved for him +who has learned resignation, and has abolished and abandoned 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, “Nirvâna, or nothingness.”[225] + +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.[226] +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 affecting the system as a whole.”[227] + +The will to live manifesting itself, according to Schopenhauer, by the +creation of new individuals, the philosopher would naturally, in +accordance with his views of life, abstain from bringing others into the +world. Schopenhauer lived and died a bachelor, and, so far as I am +aware, had no children. 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 resignation and desire for +annihilation (Nirvâna, according to 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 Schopenhauer’s principal +work,[228] another German philosopher, E. Hartmann,[229] went a step +further in the same direction. Without agreeing wholly with his +metaphysics, he shared Schopenhauer’s views on the impossibility of +regarding 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.”[230] “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.”[231] That, +according to Hartmann, “is the only possible means of securing the +happiness of the individual.” It is at the 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 themselves 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.”[232] 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.”[233] + +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 system 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 humanity, while the greater part will consist of +melancholy old age.”[234] + +Against this idea that the happiness of the race will be the eventual +result of progress, Hartmann employs the following 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 +progress of education increases discontent. The progress of science +contributes little or nothing to the absolute happiness 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.”[235] +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 intelligent, 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 illusion 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 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 Nirvâna. 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 to be attained? Hartmann is no advocate of +suicide as the best remedy of the evils of human existence. Upon this +point he agrees with Schopenhauer, 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 reproduction 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 universe +would continue to exist, and the Unconscious would immediately take +advantage of the opportunity to create a new man or some other similar +type.”[236] Thus it is not the disappearance of mankind that should +constitute our aim, but “the complete abandonment of the individual to +the cosmic process, in order that the latter may accomplish its end and +bring about the universal deliverance of the world.”[237] This being so, +the instinctive love of life reasserts itself, and it becomes necessary +to admit, at least as provisional 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.”[238] + +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 conduct more clear than that vague aspiration to Nirvâna +proposed 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,[239] +shared fully Schopenhauer’s opinions as to the misery of human life, but +opposed the latter’s doctrine of resignation and Nirvâna as the solution +of the general problem of life. 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 exercise its power.”[240] + +Mailaender takes an entirely different view of the problem. Like his +predecessors, he is convinced of the futility of happiness, 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 disappearing “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 certain “that the +universe tends towards universal non-existence.”[241] 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.”[242] 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 approaching 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 development. 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.”[243] 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 for absolute extinction, and fancies that +he can hear the cry rolling from star to star, ‘Deliverance, +deliverance, death to our life!’ and the echoing cry of consolation, +‘Extinction and deliverance await you all!’”[244] + +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!”[245] + +It is absurd to expect anything to follow death but absolute +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.”[246] “In relinquishing Schopenhauer’s will to live,” +concluded Mailaender, “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.”[247] + +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 consistent 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, 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,[248] “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,[249] who +reproaches the pessimistic philosophers with ignoring the attitude of +mind of the majority of mankind who ask but one thing,—life—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 optimism, 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 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 dangerous 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 physiological phenomenon such as childbirth is often +attended by extremely violent pain which 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 presence 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 annihilation 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 +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 conceptions, and have +accepted the existence of some general principle into which the +individual consciousness will eventually be absorbed. There is division +of opinion as to the properties of this principle. For some it is the +Idea, for others Will, for others Force, or Eternal Energy.[250] The +nomenclature 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. + +German poets have helped to spread pantheistic conceptions very widely. +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 wünschest, unsterblich zu leben? + Leb’ im Ganzen! 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!” + +Rückert, in lines almost equally well known, expresses the same idea:— + + + “Vernichtung weht dich an, so lang Du Einzles bist. + O, fühl’ 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. + +Renan’s[251] ideas may be taken as typical of the compromise between +poetry and philosophy. Speaking of immortality, he said “that we shall +each live again by the traces we leave on the bosom of the +Infinite.”[252] + +The views elaborated by Guyau[253] 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 if she kills what is morally best in ourselves and in +others.”[254] + +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.”[255] + +This problem, so vast and so difficult to solve, is presented by him as +follows: “As regards the question of individual immortality, human +thought is dragged in opposite directions 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.”[256] + +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.”[257] + +On this hypothesis, “the problem is to be at the same time loving enough +and loved enough to live and endure in another.[258]... Those who vanish +and those who remain must love one another so greatly that the shadows +cast by them on the universal consciousness are identical.” “We 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.”[259] + +A solution recently offered by Finot[260] 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.”[261] + +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 larvæ 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.”[262] + +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. + +In my opinion, Meyer-Benfey, a scholar at Göttingen, has summed up the +present condition of the problem very clearly and exactly, in essays on +Modern Religion.[263] 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 immortality or Nirvâna.” 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 +advancing, 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 +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 reassure +those who look to philosophy for some word of consolation, 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.”[264] 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. + + + + + 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 + Brunetière—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 cast 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 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 more +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 ambiguous, 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 +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 sacrifice 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 (Polasièq) who is sucking 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 pregnancy 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. + +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 +pessimistic 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.”[265] + +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.”[266] + +Humanity will be fortunate if the pessimistic philosophers 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 +affections 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, discovered 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 +contamination of water or of vessels with fæcal matter containing 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 population of Europe. In those days, no one doubted but that 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 hope 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 interposition 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 organism, discovered simultaneously 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 association 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 seventeenth 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 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 fermentations 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 anæsthetics, 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 means of gauging the +progress of surgical treatment of gunshot 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 percentage mortality of wounded had fallen to 6.64.[267] In +the recent Transvaal war, the mortality was half what it had been in the +Franco-German war.[268] + +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 completely 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 Credé,[269] 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. + +Appendicitis, a disease so common that I referred to it in chap. iv. as +one of the most salient examples of disharmony in the human +constitution, has been resolutely attacked by medical science. In some +cases, surgical interference 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 Chamberland 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 remarkable 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 been proved to possess +both preventive and curative properties. 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 encouraging 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 pulmonary 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 the knowledge already +gained we could deal with tuberculosis in a manner more efficacious than +is the existing practice. 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 practically 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 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 infectious +diseases, for, before the discovery of microbes, something 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[270] has succeeded in transferring the +cancers of white mice, and his results have been confirmed by +Jensen[271] and Borr[272], 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. + +Dr. Boas, of Berlin,[273] 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 themselves too late for operation. Boas advised that the +attention 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 into 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 science is constantly casting +doubt 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[274] 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.[275] +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 idleness, they cherish their mother—Tell me, illustrious +philosophers, 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?”[276] + +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 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 nineteenth century. + +Tolstoi, in an essay of 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.”[277] + +The whole progress of science “up to the present time, has not only not +improved the lot of the majority of mankind, that is to say of the +labourers, but has made it worse.”[278] + +Tolstoi thinks that the epithet “true science” could be given only to +“knowledge of the right aim and true 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 amusements idle or even +harmful.”[279] + +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, Brunetière,[280] 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. + +Brunetière 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 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 Brunetière, 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 Brunetière as well as of quite a large section +of humanity. “In what standard works has science made the astonishing +promises that M. Brunetière recalls with so much bitterness?” asked +Richet.[281] “I have now before me,” he proceeded, “the Manuel du +baccalauréat ès 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.”[282] + +The promises referred to must be looked for in scientific treatises that +deal in generalisations. It is not to be disputed 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. Büchner, 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 this point. “We must seek the foundation of +morality,” said the German populariser, “elsewhere than in the timeworn +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.”[283] Büchner 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;’ everything that favours it is ‘good.’” + +The other question, as to whither we are going, finds an answer in the +materialistic and scientific breviary of Büchner. He disputes the idea +of immortality, which has been supported by nearly all the religions, +and comes to the conclusion 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 sensations that torture the +body and the mind—as was explained 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 Büchner. 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 +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 mankind. 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.”[284] + +There is a very close resemblance between the views of the two great +popularisers of the nineteenth century. Just as Büchner, 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 reflecting 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, can never be solved. +“Every day there comes a new conquest,” said Richet,[285] “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 durability.”[286] + +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, Brunetière 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 admitting 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 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; everything is evolving, +differentiating, moving towards complexity and amelioration, and the +progress is under the guidance of law. You, you yourself are part of +this whole.” “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, +something 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 guide 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. 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. Brunetière, 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 +which his thoughts have been fixed more than ever since 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 workwoman, 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 Prometheus, 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 madness and folly: I +perceived that this also is vexation of spirit. + +“For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge, +increaseth sorrow” (Ecclesiastes, i. 16). + +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 +problem, 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 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 treatment 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 Couddhôdana, 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 decay; 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 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 hundreds—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 containing macerations of chopped hay or leaves. They multiply +by means of division (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,[287] a very distinguished zoologist, observed that +the infusoria became smaller and smaller after a number of 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 +reproduction by simple division for many generations. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 12. Paramecium about to divide in two. +] + +The periodical debility, which precedes conjugation is, 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 organisms, conjugation has +been very rarely observed. Even the largest kinds, such as, for +instance, the _anthrax_ bacillus, may be propagated for a long series of +generations without the occurrence of conjugation. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 13. Conjugation of two Paramecia (after Bütschli). +] + +Even in the case of the infusoria which by means of the process of +conjugation can reproduce indefinitely, the preconjugal debility cannot +be identified with the senile degeneration of human beings, the higher +animals and trees. In all 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 infusoria 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 degeneration in man and +preconjugal debility in infusoria, it would be enough to reflect on the +result of applying to the case of man what is an infallible remedy in +the case of the infusoria. For conjugation brings about a real +rejuvenescence of the infusoria and a similar event in the case of man +would only increase the debility. Moreover, according to recent +investigations of Calkins,[288] 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 degeneration 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,[289] 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 observing a South American parakeet (_Chrysotis +amazonica_) which lived more than eighty-two years, longer than is usual +even 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.”[290] 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. + +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 characterised 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 speaking, an old man +presents an unpleasant picture of decrepitude 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.”[291] + +It may be objected that I am here supporting my argument by quoting from +a writer who, in his capacity of clever journalist, rather forces the +note. Let 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[292] draws the +following mental picture: “The old feel that their task in life is +accomplished, and believe themselves 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 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 weakness +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 accuracy, 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 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 degeneration. The fact has been known for long, but its +significance has been perceived more recently. Demange,[293] in his +monograph on the organic changes associated with old age, states as +follows: “Besides atrophy and degeneration of the parenchymatous +elements,[294] 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 +prostate gland, the altered organ may actually transcend the normal +size, partial or general atrophy, however, being more often the result.” + +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 commonly 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 modifications 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 +physically 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 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,[295] attempted to reply to this +question. Speaking of the tissues of old people, he tried to show that +certain of these, such as the skin and the mucous membrane (the +epithelial tissues), preserve their youthful characters 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 +conclusion. + +Later on, I myself[296] 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 neuroglœa, 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 +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 propagate 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 phagocytes 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 phagocytes. 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 phagocytes 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 phagocytes, 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 exudations 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 healing 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 hæmorrhages, 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 14. Section of a Renal Tubule, invaded by Macrophags, from the + body of an old man of 90 years. _m_ = macrophag. (From a preparation + made by Dr. Weinberg.) +] + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 15. Cell from the brain of a woman 100 years old being devoured + by macrophags. (From a preparation made by Dr. Philippe.) +] + +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 withdraw 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 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, clustering 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 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. +Marinesco,[297] an authority upon everything connected with the nervous +system, has disputed my theory, asserting that 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. +Marinesco 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 immense importance. In order, +however, to determine more precisely the nature of the function +fulfilled by these phagocytes, it was necessary to select a specially +favourable subject of investigation. My choice fell upon an examination +into the causes of the hair turning white,[298] that being as a rule the +first visible sign of approaching old age. + +Hair, before it has lost its colour, is full of pigment scattered +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 properly speaking +chromophags), become migratory, and, quitting the hair, either find +their way under the skin or leave the body (Fig. 16). The +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 dominant 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 destruction of the +framework 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 16. Hair about to become grey. Chromophags transporting the + pigment granules. +] + +The activity acquired by macrophags during old age is closely connected +with the phenomena that are characteristic of certain chronic +complaints. Sclerosis in old persons belongs to the same category 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 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 anæsthetic 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, pathologically +speaking, would be to strengthen the higher elements 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 +possible solution of the problem, and is offered for consideration 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 irrational to seek some means of +strengthening the blood corpuscles, 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 movements 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 introduced +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 elements, but actually strengthen +them.[299] Here the case is 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 experimenting with various doses +of cytotoxic serums of various strength. It is not therefore to be +wondered at that the 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 of 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 malevolent factor in the +phenomena of old age, is especially manifested in arterial sclerosis. +According to the careful investigations of a Swedish doctor, +Edgren,[300] 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 nearly every 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.”[301] + +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 microscopical 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 intestines. Among +these microbes there may be some that are harmless, and possibly even +beneficial, but there are undoubtedly 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,[302] 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 +numerous 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 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[303] 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[304] 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[305] succeeded in keeping +alive for several days new-born guinea-pigs, the 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 digestive capacity into the intestines compensated for the +functional inefficiency of the gastric juices. In addition to the +guinea-pigs experimented upon by Nuttall and Thierfelder, there may be +mentioned a whole series of lower creatures such as the larvæ 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 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 circulation, 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 +of 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, creosol, 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 circulation, 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 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 intellectual 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 +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. Rivière, 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 cæcum, the portion of the alimentary canal that +contains most bacteria. Examination 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 enormous 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. + +If we desired to make the phenomena of old age physiological 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 exist microbes +termed anærobic, 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 +putrefactions, and the production of poisons, such as the alkaloids +(ptomaines), fatty acids, and even true toxins. + +In the human intestines under normal conditions, putrefaction 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 putrefaction, it has +been noticed that milk putrefies with considerable difficulty, whereas +meat, preserved under the same conditions, decomposes very readily. +Investigators have attributed the stability of milk to the presence of +casein or of milk-sugar. However, investigations recently made by +Bienstock[306] and confirmed by Tissier and Martel[307] 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 diarrhœa, and +why treatment with lactic acid is so useful in maladies associated with +putrefaction of the intestinal contents. It makes intelligible, +moreover, the medicinal value of fermented milk. + +Rovighi,[308] 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. + +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, especially 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 probable 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 +anærobic 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 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 +disturbance 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 Ages 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. + +Hufeland,[309] 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 +advocating cleanliness and moderation, Hufeland advised that “we should +use vegetable rather than animal food, as animal food was more liable to +putrefaction, whilst vegetable substances contained an acid principle +that retarded our mortal enemy, putrefaction.”[310] 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 Pflüger, of Bonn, one of the +most distinguished of living physiologists, has published an essay[311] +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. +Pflüger 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[312] 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 an exuberant life, full of excesses, notably in the +consumption 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 such 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 phenomena 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 preserved 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,[313] 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 Testament is well +known. No doubt there is much exaggeration in these naïve 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[314] suggested that in these cases each season was 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 days shall be an hundred and twenty years.”[315] + +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[316] 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 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,[317] 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,[318] 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. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF DEATH + + + Theory of the immortality of lower organisms—Immortality 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 + Ephemeridæ—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 + + +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 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 preparation 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 animalculæ. From such facts, which are extremely easy to confirm, +several biologists, and in specially Bütschli and Weismann,[319] 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 complicated, 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 Götte[320] 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 conjugation 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 transverse divisions very actively. +“Throughout the summer,” said E. Perrier,[321] “the Naïdimorpha are +devoid of genital organs, and apparently (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,[322] 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 17.—_Chætogaster_ about to divide into four (from a drawing by M. + Mesnil). +] + +The age of the famous dragontree of the Villa Oratava at Teneriffe, +admired by Von Humboldt, was estimated at several thousand years. Its +trunk was hollow, but the huge monster continued to flourish until it +was overthrown by a storm. 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,[323] a distinguished +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 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 exists, 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 fœtus, 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 generations. + +Scientific proof exists, therefore, that our bodies contain 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 infusorian group of +protozoa, show that these simple beings, each of which is composed of no +more than a single cell, possess a high degree of sensibility. They +select their food, distinguish living from dead animalculæ,[324] 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 infusorians than in the case of higher animals, 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 and movement, +attract them, others repel them. The phenomena 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.”[325] 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 phagocytes 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 +possessing a cellular soul like that of the protozoa. + +A woman has no consciousness of the numerous spermatozoa, 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 fœtus. 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 sight.[326] 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 +or 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 invertebrates. 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 antennæ 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 salamanders, 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 reproductive 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 themselves. After their initial +appearance in the course of embryonic development, they pass their lives +without regenerating or reproducing. In acquiring the highest qualities, +that is to say, their psychical activity, they have lost completely the +power of reproduction, the distinctive feature of immortal cells. If +cells doomed to natural death really exist, it is in the nervous tissues +that we must look for them. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 18.—Ephemerids. +] + +The existence of natural death in the animal world cannot be denied, but +it is very rare. The best 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 larvæ feed on +the organic débris contained in fresh water. The larvæ are not +predaceous, and escape 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 of 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 larvæ 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 +larvæ 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 because 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. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 19.—Swarms of _Palingenia virgo_. +] + +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 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 parasitic 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 +ephemerids 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 intervention. + +Some biologists have suggested that the rapid death of ephemerids and of +some other insects is due to debility 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 (_Chloë_, for instance), +are extremely easy to capture. 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 larvæ are +timid. When a tube is brought near them, among the water plants, with +the object of capturing them, they rapidly move off. It often requires +much patience and quickness to capture these larvæ (Fig. 20). The +instinct of preservation of life displays itself by rapid flight. + +[Illustration: + + FIG. 20.—Larva of an ephemerid (_Chloërufulum_). +] + +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 allows +itself to be captured without any resistance. 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 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 examination 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 occasionally occurs in very old men. + +Attempts have been made to estimate the natural limits of human life. +Flourens[327] 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 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 corpuscles, 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 appearance 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 remembered 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 spoken (p. 241), showed a +marked degeneration of the nerve cells due to the activity of +macrophages. + +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.[328] 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 recovering health was suggested to +them, they showed signs of pleasure and of the renewal of hope. + +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,[329] 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_.”[330] “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.”[331] “After +this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his +sons’ sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and _full of +days_.”[332] 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.[333] The Biblical phrase is not merely a commonplace +phrase applied to the death of celebrities for 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.”[334] +“And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age +of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years.”[335] “And Aaron was an +hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in Mount Hor.”[336] +“And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eye was +not dim, nor his natural force abated.”[337] 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 constitution +of man. That instinct is of the same order as the instincts of hunger +and thirst, of the need of sleep, of movement 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 intrinsically 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 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 constitution 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 +attachment 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 instincts 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,[338] +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 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 this 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 sensitive. 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 strange +doctrines that have been imposed upon us as revealed truth. + +Human intelligence, in the course of its progressive evolution, has +rebelled against these naïve 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 continued 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 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 inevitable +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 conclusions. +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 premature and +pathological. Is not the goal of existence the 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,[339] 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 preparing in the course of life.” Baudelaire[340] has +exactly the same idea in his verse: + + “C’est la mort qui console, hélas! et qui fait vivre; + _C’est le but de la vie_, et c’est le seul espoir + Qui, comme un élixir, nous monte et nous enivre + Et nous donne le cœur 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. +Knowledge 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 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 qualities. +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 +(_Orthobiosis_). 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 transform 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 kinsmen put in no claim, co-operative +societies may take possession of the corpse and oppose the holding of an +examination. 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 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.[341]) 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 prejudice 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 investigation 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 possible, and Herbert Spencer, the greatest of living +philosophers, has devoted a special essay to the subject. He examined +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 finds 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 in 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 complexity, if I interpret his argument correctly. Civilised +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 elimination of +the disharmonies of human nature and in the cultivation 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 civilisation is a sign of progress according to Spencer, but I do +not agree with him. Spencer speaks of the variety and preparation 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 +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.”[342] 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.” + +“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.”[343] + +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 differentiation, 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, +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 patriotism; 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 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 advantages that have come +about from the English seizure of the forests that belonged to the +natives of Australia. Moreover, 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,[344] 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 something 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 (Stadesgenossen)?” +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 language, 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 improved, 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 be called _gerontology_ and +_thanatology_, will bring about great modifications in the course of the +last period of life. All that we know on these 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. Extremely rare cases have existed in which males possessed +large glands secreting enough milk to feed the young. These males, it is +true, had the genital organs either very badly developed or in a +condition approaching hermaphroditism.[345] 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.[346] +Such examples of the reappearance 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 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 sacrifices. 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 midwife. 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 midwives are directed by obstetric +physicians who have specialised in the conducting of labour. This high +degree of differentiation has arisen with, and has itself aided, the +progress of obstetric knowledge. + +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. Practitioners 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 high degree of solidarity amongst +men will restrain actual egotism. The mere fact that the enjoyment of +life according to the precepts of Solomon is opposed to the goal of +human life will lessen luxury and the evil that comes from luxury. +Conviction that science alone is able to redress the disharmonies of the +human constitution will lead directly to the improvement of education +and to the solidarity of mankind. + +In progress towards the goal, nature will have to be consulted +continuously. Already, in the case of the ephemerids, 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 form 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, 130 + + Albius, and artificial fertilisation, 20 + + Alcohol, and length of life, 259 + as producer of sclerosis, 247 + + Altruism, limitations of, 296 + + Anæsthetics, 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, Büchner on, 220 + Mailaender on, 188 + + Anthropoid apes, relationship to man, 55 + 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, 11 + + 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 larvæ, 28, 29 + + Behring, von, on diphtheria, 211 + + Benares, Buddha’s sermon at, 154 + + Bert, Paul, on treatment of the aged, 130 + + 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, 81 + + Blindness, of infants, how prevented, 211 + + Blood, experiments on serum of, 52, 53 + + Blood corpuscles, specific sensibility of, 160 + + Boas, on cancer, 215 + + Bones, in old age, 237, 243 + + Bordet, on cytotoxic serums, 245 + + Botulism (“sausage-disease”), microbe of, 257 + + Brain, invasion of macrophags (figure), 241 + + Brunetière, on failure of science, 218 + + Buddha, contempt of women, 9 + death of, 158 + on disease, 154 + on fear of death, 153 + on immortality, 147 + + Buddha, on Nirvâna, 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 life, 144 + and immortality, 147, 148 + and pessimism, 176, 177 + + Büchner, on Buddhism, 144 + on morality, 107 + on science, 219 + + Burial, of the old, alive, 152 + + Bütschli, on immortality of protozoa, 264 + + Byron, on fear of death, 177 + on instinctive nature of fear of death, 128 + on pessimism, 177 + + + Cæcum, 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 + + Çakya-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, 141 + + 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 + + _Chætogaster_, 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, 11 + 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 + + Credé, on prevention of infantile blindness, 210 + + Cruger, on bees and orchids, 23 + + Cuisine, modern, evils of, 292 + + Cytotoxic serums, 245 + + + Dahlmann, on meaning of Nirvâna, 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 Nirvâna, 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 + Rückert 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 anæsthetics, 159 + 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 + + De Goncourt, quotations from, 121, 225 + + Deniker, a fœtus 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 preservation in, 275 + larvæ (figure), 272 + sexual instincts of, 36 + swarming of, 271 + + Epicureans, _summum 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, 153 + 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 + + Fœtus 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, 168 + belief in, 141, 149, 151, 159 + opposed by reason, 161, 165 + _see_ Immortality + + + General paralysis, symptoms of, 111 + + 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, 111 + + 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 + + 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 monorchis_, 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, 168 + 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 + large, diseases of, 73, 74 + large, 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 + + Khémâ, 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 + + Larvæ, of ephemerids, 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 + + Linnæus, 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 + 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, Büchner on, 220 + Haeckel on, 220 + + Matriopathy, 6 + + May-flies and light, 35 + + Medicine, advance of, 210 + + Memory, late development of, 78 + + Ménière, 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 + + Müller, Johannes, on the eye, 78 + Hermann, on lady-birds, 32 + Max, on meaning of Nirvâna, 155, 158 + + 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 according to, 173 + and morality, early opinions on, 3 + + Negroes and whites, 109 + + Nicene Creed, compared with ancestor-worship, 151 + + Nirvâna, 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 appearance of new characters, 57, 59 + + Ourangs, 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 + + _Palingenia_, 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 scientific medicine, 209 + + Pasénadi, legend on immortality, 147 + + Pathology, of old age, 278 + + Patriotism, 295 + + _Pelopæus_, 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 + + Pflüger, on prolonging life, 258 + + Pfungst, on meaning of Nirvâna, 156 + + 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, 175 + + 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 obstetrics, 300 + + Post-mortem examinations, 246, 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 macrophags (figure), 241 + + Renan, on death, 195 + on Jewish belief in future life, 142, 143 + 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 + + Réville, on Chinese belief in immortality, 145, 146 + + _Rhizotrogus_ 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 + + Rückert, 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 fœtus 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 affinity, 51 + + 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 + of the old, 131 + Schopenhauer, Hartmann, and Mailaender on, 190 + + Supernaturalism, modern craving for, 222 + + Survival after death, widespread belief in, 149 + + Sutherland, on morality of expropriation, 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 + + Tait, 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 Nuttall, on germ-free guinea-pigs, 249 + + Tissier, on intestinal putrefaction, 255 + + Tokarsky, on fear of death, 125, 279 + + Tolstoi, on fear of death, 115, 122, 299 + on failure of science, 217, 223 + return to religion, 223, 224 + + Tombs, burial of weapons and implements, 139 + + Transfusion of blood serum, 51 + + Transmigration of souls, in Buddhism, 157 + of souls, Jewish belief in, 144 + + Trees, death of, 265 + + Tuberculosis, modern science and, 212 + + Tylor, on ancestor-worship, 150 + on animism, 138 + + + Uhlenhuth, on injection of serums, 53 + + + 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 customs, 139 + + Weapons, burial with dead, 139 + + Weismann, on origin of death, 266 + on immortality of protozoa, 264 + + Wiedersheim, on human characters, 59 + + 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 + +----- + +Footnote 1: + + Since A. Wagner’s classical work, “Ueber die Gesetzmässigkeit der + scheinbar wilkürlichen 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 + Mortalitæt u. Morbiditæt,” Second Edition, Jena, 1901. + +Footnote 2: + + 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 + Privatalterthümer,” 1870, vol. I., pp. 175–177.) + +Footnote 3: + + Quetelet, “Anthropomètrie,” 1872, p. 86. + +Footnote 4: + + Zeller, “Die Philosophie der Griechen,” Third Edition, vol. II. 1, p. + 741, 1875. + +Footnote 5: + + Zeller, _l.c._ p. 880. + +Footnote 6: + + Zeller, vol. II., 2, p. 447. + +Footnote 7: + + Zeller, First Edition, vol. III., 7, p. 193. + +Footnote 8: + + Zeller, _l.c._ p. 401. + +Footnote 9: + + “De Vita Beata,” chap. viii. + +Footnote 10: + + “Moral Philosophy,” London, 1755. + +Footnote 11: + + Buckle, “History of Civilisation in England.” + +Footnote 12: + + Published at Amsterdam in 1776. + +Footnote 13: + + Vol. I., p. 32. + +Footnote 14: + + “History of European Morals,” Third Edition, London, 1877. + +Footnote 15: + + “The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex,” First Edition, + vol. I., p. 98. + +Footnote 16: + + “Die Darwin’sche Theorie.” Second Edition, 1875, p. 272, note 25. + +Footnote 17: + + “The Data of Ethics,” 1879. + +Footnote 18: + + The “Lalita Vistara,” translated from Sanscrit into French by Foucaux; + “Annales du Musée Guimet,” vol. VI. p. 183. 1884. + +Footnote 19: + + Zeller, _loc. cit._ p. 633. + +Footnote 20: + + Lecky, “History of European Morals,” chap. iv. + +Footnote 21: + + Lecky. + +Footnote 22: + + Lecky. + +Footnote 23: + + Buckle, “History of Civilisation in England.” + +Footnote 24: + + “De Secta Massonum,” Parisiis, 1884, p. 9. The passage was quoted by + Brunetière in the “Revue des Deux Mondes,” 1895, vol. CXXVII., p. 116. + +Footnote 25: + + Schnaase, “Geschichte der bildenden Künste, vol. III., pp. 577, 584, + and vol. IV., p. 718. + +Footnote 26: + + “Philosophie de l’Art,” Fourth Edition, 1885, vol. LXXXVIII., p. 352. + +Footnote 27: + + Reinhard, “System der christlichen Moral,” vol. IV., 1814, p. 831, and + vol. III., p. 14, 1813. + +Footnote 28: + + Gaudry, “Mammifères tertiaires,” p. 235, 1878. + +Footnote 29: + + Delteil, “La Vanille,” Paris, 1897. + +Footnote 30: + + Darwin, “The Fertilisation of Orchids,” Second edition, London, 1877. + See also Müller, “Die Befruchtung der Pflanzen durch Insecten,” pp. + 74–85, Leipzig, 1873. + +Footnote 31: + + _Bulletin de la Société botanique de France_, vol. I., p. 370, 1854. + +Footnote 32: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 44. + +Footnote 33: + + Darwin, _loc. cit._ p. 179. + +Footnote 34: + + _Ibid._ pp. 207–208. + +Footnote 35: + + Fabre, “Souvenirs entomologiques,” vol. I., pp. 71–78, Paris, 1879. + +Footnote 36: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 201. + +Footnote 37: + + _Loc. cit._ pp. 120–121. + +Footnote 38: + + “Die Befruchtung der Blumen durch Insekten,” p. 167, 1873. + +Footnote 39: + + “Souvenirs entomologiques,” Fourth series, Paris, 1847. + +Footnote 40: + + “Recherches sur les Mœurs des Fourmis indigènes,” Paris, 1810. + +Footnote 41: + + Féré, “L’Instinct sexuel,” Second Edition, p. 76, Paris, 1902. + +Footnote 42: + + Moll, “Untersuch. üb. d. Libido sexualis,” vol. II. pp. 372, 373. + +Footnote 43: + + Kœppen, “Insectes invisibles,” vol. II. p. 237, 1883. (In Russian.) + +Footnote 44: + + Swammerdam, “Biblia Naturæ,” Leydae, 1737. + +Footnote 45: + + Brehm, “Les Insectes,” édit. franç., vol. I., p. 206. + +Footnote 46: + + “Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex,” vol. I., chap. 10, + p. 345. + +Footnote 47: + + R. Dubois, “Les Elatérides lumineux,” p. 209, Meulan, 1886. + +Footnote 48: + + Republished, with other essays, as “Man’s Place in Nature,” Macmillan, + London, 1894. + +Footnote 49: + + Brunetière, _Revue des Deux Mondes_, Jan. 1, 1895, p. 99. + +Footnote 50: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 116. + +Footnote 51: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 111. + +Footnote 52: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 126. + +Footnote 53: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 126. + +Footnote 54: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 127. + +Footnote 55: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 139. + +Footnote 56: + + “Archives de Zoologie expérimentale,” 1885. + +Footnote 57: + + “Studien über Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere,” 1898–1902. + +Footnote 58: + + A summary of this question is to be found in a new volume by M. + Alsberg, “Die Abstammung des Menschen,” chap. iii., 1902. + +Footnote 59: + + Uhlenhuth, “Deutsche Medicin. Wochenschrift,” p. 82, 1901. + +Footnote 60: + + Wassermann and Schuetze, “Berliner klinische Wochenschrift,” p. 7, + 1901. + +Footnote 61: + + The _Lancet_, Jan, 18, 1902. + +Footnote 62: + + Selenka, _loc. cit._ p. 157. + +Footnote 63: + + Deniker, _loc. cit._ p. 17. + +Footnote 64: + + “Die Mutationstheorie,” vol. I., Leipzig, 1901. + +Footnote 65: + + “Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences,” 1892, pp. 275, 1329; + “Revue scientifique,” 1880, p. 1124. + +Footnote 66: + + “Der Bau des Menschen,” Third Edition, 1902. + +Footnote 67: + + Selenka, “Studien über Entwicklungsgesch. d. Thiere,” p. 89. + +Footnote 68: + + “Dictionnaire encyclopédique des Sciences Medicales,” article “Dent,” + by Magitot, p. 194, 1882. + +Footnote 69: + + Schmid, “Vierteljahrschrift für Zahnheilkunde,” p. 141, 1896. + +Footnote 70: + + Schmid, _loc. cit._ p. 147. + +Footnote 71: + + Redier, in “Revue mensuelle de Stomatologie,” p. 164, 1895. + +Footnote 72: + + “Comptes Rendus de la Société de Stomatologie de Paris,” vol. I., p. + 98, 1890. + +Footnote 73: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 204. + +Footnote 74: + + Virchow’s “Archiv für Pathologische Anatomie,” 1893, vol. CXXXII., p. + 76. + +Footnote 75: + + Lannelongue, in the “Bulletin médical,” p. 621, 1902. + +Footnote 76: + + Treves, “The Surgical Treatment of Perityphlitis,” London 1895. + +Footnote 77: + + _Edinburgh Medical Journal_, August 1893. + +Footnote 78: + + “Archiv für klinische Chirurgie,” vol. XLVIII., p. 715, 1894. + +Footnote 79: + + “Münchener medicinische Wochenschrift,” 1898. + +Footnote 80: + + “Archiv für klinische Chirurgie,” vol. XLVIII., p. 136, 1894. + +Footnote 81: + + This topic is discussed at length in my lecture, published in the + _Memoirs and Proceedings of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical + Society_, 1901, vol. XLV., note 5. + +Footnote 82: + + “Archives de Médicine navale,” 1887. + +Footnote 83: + + Ewald, “Klinik des Verdauungskrankheiten,” vol. III., p. 267, 1902. + +Footnote 84: + + Stillmarck, in “Arbeiten des pharmacologischen Institutes zu Dorpat,” + vol. III., p. 110, 1889. + +Footnote 85: + + The case is quoted in Pozzi’s “Traité de Gynécologie,” p. 714, 1890. + +Footnote 86: + + Crisp, “Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London,” p. 48, 1865. + +Footnote 87: + + Lenhossek, in Virchow’s “Archiv. für pathologische Anatomie,” vol. + XL., p. 1. + +Footnote 88: + + “Abhandlungen der mathem.-physikal. Classe d. K. Bayerisch. Akad. d. + Wissensch. München,” vol. XIII., Part II., p. 268, 1880. + +Footnote 89: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 245. + +Footnote 90: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 250. + +Footnote 91: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 253. + +Footnote 92: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 163. + +Footnote 93: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 208. + +Footnote 94: + + Ploss-Bartels in “Das Weib,” Seventh Edition, 1902. Vol. II., pp. + 228–229 is the source of information on this matter. + +Footnote 95: + + Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ vol. I., p. 489. + +Footnote 96: + + Pozzi, “Traité de Gynécologie,” p. 1067, 1890. + +Footnote 97: + + “Real-encyclopädie d. Gesammten Heilkunde,” Second Edition, vol. X., + p. 34, 1885. + +Footnote 98: + + It would be interesting to find out whether or no Hindoo or Chinese + virgins suffer from _chloranæmia_; at present we have no information + on this matter. + +Footnote 99: + + Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 622. + +Footnote 100: + + Saint Cyr, “Traité d’obstétrique vétérinaire,” p. 52, Second Edition, + 1888. + +Footnote 101: + + _Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 1897_, pp. + 135–166. + +Footnote 102: + + “Verhandlungen der Berliner Gesellschaft für Anthropologie,” p. 88, + 1876. + +Footnote 103: + + Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 625. + +Footnote 104: + + Vratch, in Russian, p. 1456, 1901. + +Footnote 105: + + Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 443. + +Footnote 106: + + Rakhmanoff. + +Footnote 107: + + Ploss-Bartels, _loc. cit._ p. 626. + +Footnote 108: + + _Ibid._ p. 626. + +Footnote 109: + + “Venus Urania,” Leipzig, 1798. + +Footnote 110: + + Moll, “Untersuch. über die Libido Sexualis,” vol. I., p. 44. + +Footnote 111: + + “Real-encyclopædie der gesammt. Heilkunde,” vol. XIV., p. 593. Second + Edition, 1888. + +Footnote 112: + + Fürbringer, _loc. cit._ + +Footnote 113: + + “Dictionnaire encyclopédique des Sciences médicales,” vol. XV., p. + 378, 1881. + +Footnote 114: + + Fritsch, “Die Eingeborenen Süd-Afrikas.” Breslau, 1873. + +Footnote 115: + + 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. + +Footnote 116: + + Wappaeus, “Allgemeine Bevölkerungsstatistik,” vol. II., p. 285, 1861. + +Footnote 117: + + “Sur les Altérations pathologo-anatomiques des Testicules pendant la + Vieillesse,” St. Petérsbourg, 1894 (in Russian). A 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’Hygiène publique,” p. 370, 1900. + +Footnote 118: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 377. + +Footnote 119: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., Supplement to chap. + xliv. + +Footnote 120: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 364. + +Footnote 121: + + _See_ chap. i. + +Footnote 122: + + Vol. I. chap. xxxv. + +Footnote 123: + + “L’Anthropologie,” vol. IV., p. 129, 1893. + +Footnote 124: + + Waitz-Gerland, “Anthropologie der Naturvölker,” vol. VI., p. 139, + 1872. + +Footnote 125: + + “Völkerkunde,” vol. I. p. 274, 1885. + +Footnote 126: + + Huxley, “Man’s Place in Nature,” p. 60. + +Footnote 127: + + Sutherland, “Origin and Development of the Moral Instinct.” + +Footnote 128: + + Büchner, “Force and Matter.” + +Footnote 129: + + Haeckel, “The Riddle of the Universe,” pp. 357–358, Second Edition, + 1901. + +Footnote 130: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 796. + +Footnote 131: + + Ballet and Blocq, “Paralysie générale progressive,” in “Traité de + Médecine,” published under the direction of Charcot, Bouchard, and + Brissaud, vol. VI., p. 1032, 1894. + +Footnote 132: + + Emile, “Œuvres complètes de J. J. Rousseau,” vol. II., p. 432, 1876. + +Footnote 133: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 76. + +Footnote 134: + + The “Lalita Vistara,” pp. 166–170. + +Footnote 135: + + Edouard Rod, “Les idées morales du temps présent,” p. 48, Paris, 1892. + +Footnote 136: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., p. 529. + +Footnote 137: + + “Journal de Goncourt,” vol. VI., p. 186, 1878–1884, 1892. + +Footnote 138: + + “La Philosophie de la Longévité,” p. 209, Paris, 1900. + +Footnote 139: + + “Les Confessions,” Paris, 1891. + +Footnote 140: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 41. + +Footnote 141: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 49. + +Footnote 142: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 51. + +Footnote 143: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 60. + +Footnote 144: + + _Union pour l’action morale_, No. 6, p. 258, Jan. 15, 1902. + +Footnote 145: + + Complete Works of Tolstoi (in Russian), vol. XII., p. 512, 1897. + +Footnote 146: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 517. + +Footnote 147: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 526. + +Footnote 148: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 536. + +Footnote 149: + + “Questions de Philosophie et de Psychologie,” 1897, No. 40, p. 931. + (In Russian.) + +Footnote 150: + + “La Philosophie de la Longévité,” Paris, 1900. + +Footnote 151: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 211. + +Footnote 152: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 213. + +Footnote 153: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 211. + +Footnote 154: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., p. 533. + +Footnote 155: + + Waitz-Gerland, “Anthropologie der Naturvölker,” vol. VI. + +Footnote 156: + + These words are quoted by Ebstein in his “Die Kunst das menschliche + Leben zu verlängern,” p. 51, 1891. I have been unable to find Paul + Bert’s own words, as the reference given by Ebstein is + bibliographically incorrect. + +Footnote 157: + + “Münchener Medicinische Wochenschrift,” p. 325, 1901. + +Footnote 158: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 186. + +Footnote 159: + + “L’Irréligion de l’Avenir,” Sixth Edition, p. 449, Paris, 1895. + +Footnote 160: + + “Tusculanes,” vol. I., chap. 30. + +Footnote 161: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., p. 527. + +Footnote 162: + + Tylor, “Primitive Culture,” vol. I., p. 485. Third Edition, 1891. + +Footnote 163: + + Waitz-Gerland, “Anthropologie der Naturvölker,” 6 vols., 1866–1872. + +Footnote 164: + + “Essais Historiques sur Paris,” in Œuvres Complètes, vol. IV., p. 150. + Maastricht, 1778. + +Footnote 165: + + Quoted by Tylor in “Primitive Culture,” chap. XI. + +Footnote 166: + + “Histoire du Peuple d’Israël,” vol. I., pp. 128–129. 1887. + +Footnote 167: + + “Lehrbuch der Religionsgeschichte,” vol. I., p. 253. Freiburg, + Leipzig. Second Edition, 1897. + +Footnote 168: + + “Histoire du Peuple d’Israël,” vol. IV., p. 327. 1893. + +Footnote 169: + + Talmud. “Traité Bérakhote,” sheet 17. + +Footnote 170: + + “Force et Matière.” Sixth French edition, p. 439. 1884. + +Footnote 171: + + _Loc. cit._, p. 198. + +Footnote 172: + + “Histoire des Religions,” vol. III., “La religion chinoise,” Paris, + 1889; see also “Chantepie de la Saussaye,” _loc. cit._ vol. I., p. 58. + +Footnote 173: + + Réville, _loc. cit._ p. 191. + +Footnote 174: + + _Ibid._ p. 195. + +Footnote 175: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 185. + +Footnote 176: + + “Histoire des Religions,” vol. III., “La religion chinoise,” Paris + 1889, p. 187. + +Footnote 177: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 450. + +Footnote 178: + + _Ibid._ p. 444. + +Footnote 179: + + “Histoire des Religions,” vol. III., “La religion chinoise,” Paris, + 1889, p. 469. + +Footnote 180: + + _Ibid._ p. 470. + +Footnote 181: + + Oldenburg, “Le Bouddha,” French translation, p. 281, Paris, 1894. + +Footnote 182: + + Oldenburg, _loc. cit._ p. 282. + +Footnote 183: + + “Lalita Vistara,” _loc. cit._ p. 303. + +Footnote 184: + + Réville, _loc. cit._ p. 475. + +Footnote 185: + + Réville, _loc. cit._ p. 556. + +Footnote 186: + + _Ibid._ p. 525. + +Footnote 187: + + Tylor, “Primitive Culture,” vol. II., pp. 113–114, Third Edition, + 1891. + +Footnote 188: + + _Ibid._ vol. II., p. 114. + +Footnote 189: + + _Ibid._ p. 115. + +Footnote 190: + + _Ibid._ p. 116. + +Footnote 191: + + See p. 124. + +Footnote 192: + + The “Lalita Vistara,” p. 289. + +Footnote 193: + + The “Lalita Vistara,” p. 176. + +Footnote 194: + + _Ibid._ p. 170. + +Footnote 195: + + Oldenburg, p. 214. + +Footnote 196: + + “Buddhagosas Parables.” + +Footnote 197: + + “Das Freie Wort,” pp. 603–607, Jan. 5, 1902. + +Footnote 198: + + “Nirvâna,” Berlin, 1896. + +Footnote 199: + + “Lalita Vistara,” p. 176. + +Footnote 200: + + Spence Hardy, “A Manual of Buddhism,” p. 100, London, 1853. + +Footnote 201: + + Oldenburg, _loc. cit._ pp. 200–206. + +Footnote 202: + + Deuteronomy xii. 15, 16. + +Footnote 203: + + _Ibid._ 23. + +Footnote 204: + + _Ibid._ 25. + +Footnote 205: + + Exodus xii. 9. + +Footnote 206: + + Rhys Davids. + +Footnote 207: + + Corinthians vii. 7–9. + +Footnote 208: + + Ploss-Bartels, “Das Weib,” vol. I., p. 859. + +Footnote 209: + + “Die Medecin der Naturvölker,” p. 225, Leipzig, 1893. + +Footnote 210: + + Zeller, “Die Philosophie der Griechen,” vol. II., Part 2, pp. 462, + 465. Tübingen, 1862. + +Footnote 211: + + “Origines du Christianisme,” vol. VII., Sixth Edition, p. 483. Paris, + 1819. + +Footnote 212: + + Oldenburg, _loc. cit._ p. 215. + +Footnote 213: + + “Parerga und Paralipomena,” _Edition Reclam._, vol. II., p. 267. + +Footnote 214: + + _Ibid._ p. 253. + +Footnote 215: + + _Ibid._ p. 251. + +Footnote 216: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., p. 726, Leipzig. + +Footnote 217: + + _Loc. cit._ vol. II., p. 730. + +Footnote 218: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., p. 555, Leipzig. + +Footnote 219: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 561. + +Footnote 220: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 564. + +Footnote 221: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 566. + +Footnote 222: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 566. + +Footnote 223: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 537. + +Footnote 224: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 540. + +Footnote 225: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 581. + +Footnote 226: + + “Parerga,” vol. II., p. 258. + +Footnote 227: + + “Die Welt als Wille,” vol. I., p. 472. + +Footnote 228: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung.” + +Footnote 229: + + “Philosophie des Unbewussten,” Berlin, 1869. + +Footnote 230: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 560. + +Footnote 231: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 565. + +Footnote 232: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 603. + +Footnote 233: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 606. + +Footnote 234: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 615. + +Footnote 235: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 621. + +Footnote 236: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 636. + +Footnote 237: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 638. + +Footnote 238: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 638. + +Footnote 239: + + “Die Philosophie der Erlösung,” 2 vols. Third Edition, Frankfort, + 1894. + +Footnote 240: + + _Loc. cit._ vol. II., p. 637. + +Footnote 241: + + _Loc. cit._ vol. I., p. 325. + +Footnote 242: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 327. + +Footnote 243: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 334. + +Footnote 244: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 335. + +Footnote 245: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 349. + +Footnote 246: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 358. + +Footnote 247: + + _Loc. cit._ vol. II., p. 242. + +Footnote 248: + + “Le Temple Enseveli,” 1902. + +Footnote 249: + + Quoted by Steiner, “Welt und Lebensanschauungen im XIX. Jahrhundert,” + 1901. Vol. II., pp. 170–173. + +Footnote 250: + + Herbert Spencer. + +Footnote 251: + + “Dialogues et Fragments philosophiques,” Paris, 1876. + +Footnote 252: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 139. + +Footnote 253: + + “L’Irréligion de l’Avenir.” Sixth Edition, Paris, 1895. + +Footnote 254: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 462. + +Footnote 255: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 462. + +Footnote 256: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 464. + +Footnote 257: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 470. + +Footnote 258: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 471. + +Footnote 259: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 472. + +Footnote 260: + + “La Philosophie de la Longévité,” Paris, 1900. + +Footnote 261: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 307. + +Footnote 262: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 105. + +Footnote 263: + + “Die moderne Religion.” Leipzig, 1902. See also _Frankfurter Zeitung_, + Feb. 19 and 20, 1902. + +Footnote 264: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 476. + +Footnote 265: + + “Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung,” vol. II., p. 687. + +Footnote 266: + + “Philosophie des Unbewussten,” p. 615. + +Footnote 267: + + Borden, “The Use of the Röntgen Ray,” p. 20. Washington. 1898. + +Footnote 268: + + _Bulletin du Service de Santé Militaire_, No. 499, p. 73. 1901. + +Footnote 269: + + The efficacy of Credé’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 in 1899. See Widmark, “Mittheilungen a d. Augenklinik d. + Carol. Med. Chir. Instit. zu Stockholm,” p. 126. 1902. + +Footnote 270: + + “Archives de médecine expérimentale,” vol. VI., p. 677. 1894. + +Footnote 271: + + “Hospitalstidende,” May 7, 1902, p. 489. + +Footnote 272: + + “Annales de l’Institut Pasteur,” February 1903. + +Footnote 273: + + “Deutsche medecin. Wochenschrift,” October 30, 1902, p. 798. + +Footnote 274: + + “Si le rétablissement des sciences et des arts a contribué à épurer + les mœurs.”—“Œuvres complètes,” vol. I., p. 463, 1875. + +Footnote 275: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 469. + +Footnote 276: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 470. + +Footnote 277: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 437. + +Footnote 278: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 397. + +Footnote 279: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 411. + +Footnote 280: + + _Revue des Deux-Mondes 1895_, No. 1. p. 97. “La Science et la + Religion.” Paris, 1885. _Le Figaro_, January 4, 1899. + +Footnote 281: + + _Revue Scientifique_, vol. I., p. 33. 1899. + +Footnote 282: + + _Ibid._ p. 34. + +Footnote 283: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 511. + +Footnote 284: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 212. + +Footnote 285: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 35. + +Footnote 286: + + “Irreligion,” p. 460. + +Footnote 287: + + “Le Rajeunissement Kariogamique chez les Cillés,” “Archives de + Zoologie Expérimentale,” 1899. + +Footnote 288: + + _Biological Bulletin_, vol. III., October 1902, p. 192; “Archiv. für + Entwickelungsmechanik,” vol. XV. p. 139. + +Footnote 289: + + Gurney, “On the Comparative Ages to which Birds Live,” _The Ibis_, + January 1899, p. 19. + +Footnote 290: + + Huxley, “Man’s Place in Nature.” + +Footnote 291: + + “Psychological Paradoxes.” + +Footnote 292: + + “Traité de Physiologie,” Second Edition, vol. II. p. 935. + +Footnote 293: + + “Etude Clinique et anatomo-pathologique sur la Vieillesse.” Paris, + 1886. + +Footnote 294: + + The parenchymatous elements are the most important cells of the + organs, _i.e._, of the liver, muscles, brain, &c. + +Footnote 295: + + “Bemerkungen üb. d. Gewebe beim Altern,” “Verhandl. d. X Internat, + Medic. Congresses.” Vol. II., p. 124. Berlin, 1891. + +Footnote 296: + + “Année Biologique” de Yves Delage, vol. III., p. 249. 1899. + +Footnote 297: + + _Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences_, April 23, 1900. + +Footnote 298: + + “Annales de l’Institut Pasteur,” p. 865. 1901. + +Footnote 299: + + _See_ the “Annales de l’Institut Pasteur,” vol. XIV., pp. 369, 378, + 390, 402. 1900. The results described therein have been confirmed by + Bélonovsky (“Sur l’Influence de l’Injection de Diverses Doses de Sérum + Hémolytique sur le nombre des Eléments du Sang.” Saint Petérsbourg, + 1902), who has found that there is an increase in the amount of + hæmoglobin and of red-blood corpuscles in the blood of anæmic patients + that have been treated with minute doses of hæmolitic serum. + +Footnote 300: + + “Die Arteriosclerosis.” Leipzig, 1898. + +Footnote 301: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 118. + +Footnote 302: + + “Zeitschrift für Klinische Medicin,” vol. XLVI. p. 434. 1902. + +Footnote 303: + + “Archiv. für Hygiene,” vol. XXXIV., p. 210, 1898; _ibid._ vol. LXII., + p. 48. 1902. + +Footnote 304: + + “Annales de l’Institut Pasteur,” p. 630. 1901. + +Footnote 305: + + “Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie,” p. 109. 1895. + +Footnote 306: + + “Archiv. für Hygiene,” vol. XXXIX., p. 390. 1902. + +Footnote 307: + + “Annales de l’Institut Pasteur,” p. 865. 1902. + +Footnote 308: + + “Zeitschrift für Physiologische Chemie,” vol. XVI., p. 43. 1892. + +Footnote 309: + + “L’Art de Prolonger la Vie Humaine.” French translation of German + Second Edition. Lausanne, 1809. + +Footnote 310: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 296. + +Footnote 311: + + “Ueber die Kunst der Verlängerung des Menschlichen Lebens.” Bonn, + 1890. + +Footnote 312: + + “Die Kunst das Menschliche Leben zu Verlängern.” Wiesbaden, 1891. + +Footnote 313: + + “The Advancement of Science,” p. 237. London, 1890. + +Footnote 314: + + Quoted by Pflüger in “Ueber die Kunst der Verläng.,” p. 14. + +Footnote 315: + + Genesis vi. 3. + +Footnote 316: + + _Loc. cit._ p. 12. + +Footnote 317: + + “Die Medizin im alten Testament.” Stuttgart, 1901. + +Footnote 318: + + “Lehrbuch d. Geschichte der Medecin,” vol. III., p. 223. Jena 1878. + +Footnote 319: + + “Essays on Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems.” Authorised + Translation, Oxford, 2 vols., 1889–92. + +Footnote 320: + + “Ueber den Ursprung des Todes.” 1893. + +Footnote 321: + + “Traité de Zoologie,” p. 1713. + +Footnote 322: + + “Abhandlungen der k. Bayerischen Akademie d. Wissenschaften.” 1865. + +Footnote 323: + + “Archiv für die gesammte Physiologie.” Vol. XCIII., p. 59, 1902. + +Footnote 324: + + Salomonsen, in “Festskrift ved indvielsen af Statens Serum Institut,” + vol. XII. Copenhagen, 1902. + +Footnote 325: + + “Gesammelte Populäre Vorträge.” Bonn, 1878. + +Footnote 326: + + Preyer, “Die Seele des Kindes,” 1884, and “Specielle Physiologie des + Embryo,” p. 547. 1885. + +Footnote 327: + + “De la longévité humaine,” Second Edition. Paris 1885. + +Footnote 328: + + _Journal de Rouen_, September 23, 1900. Article by Georges Dubose. + +Footnote 329: + + “Galerie des Centenaires anciens et modernes.” Paris, 1842. + +Footnote 330: + + Genesis XXV. 7, 8. + +Footnote 331: + + Genesis XXXV. 28, 29. + +Footnote 332: + + Job xlii. 16, 17. + +Footnote 333: + + It may be 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.) + +Footnote 334: + + Genesis xxv. 17. + +Footnote 335: + + Genesis xlvii. 28. + +Footnote 336: + + Numbers xxxiii. 39. + +Footnote 337: + + Deuteronomy xxxiv. 7. + +Footnote 338: + + Ploss-Bartels, “Das Weib,” vol. I. p. 626. + +Footnote 339: + + “Die Welt als Wille u. Vorstellung,” vol. II. p. 730. + +Footnote 340: + + “Fleurs du Mal. La Mort des Pauvres,” p. 340. 1883. + +Footnote 341: + + The prohibitions in England are almost equally sweeping.—_Editor._ + +Footnote 342: + + Ecclesiastes, viii. 17. + +Footnote 343: + + Ecclesiastes ix. 7–10. + +Footnote 344: + + “Vorlesungen über Naturphilosophie.” Leipzig, 1902. + +Footnote 345: + + Wiedersheim, “Bau des Menschen,” Third Edition, pp. 21, 22. Alsberg, + “Abstam. d. Mensch.,” p. 61. + +Footnote 346: + + Ploss-Bartels, “Das Weib,” vol. II., p. 464. + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + Putnam’s + + Science Series + + + 1. =The Study of Man.= By A. C. HADDON. + + 2. =The Groundwork of Science.= By ST. GEORGE MIVART. + + 3. =Rivers of North America.= By ISRAEL C. RUSSELL. + + 4. =Earth Sculpture; or, The Origin of Land Forms.= By JAMES GEIKIE. + + 5. =Volcanoes; Their Structure and Significance.= Revised Ed. By T. + G. BONNEY. + + 6. =Bacteria.= By GEORGE NEWMAN. + + 7. =A Book of Whales.= By F. E. BEDDARD. + + 8. =Comparative Physiology of the Brain=, etc. By JACQUES LOEB. + + 9. =The Stars.= By SIMON NEWCOMB. + + 10. =The Basis of Social Relations.= By DANIEL G. BRINTON. + + 11. =Experiments on Animals.= By STEPHEN PAGET. + + 12. =Infection and Immunity.= By GEORGE M. STERNBERG. + + 13. =Fatigue.= By A. MOSSO. + + 14. =Earthquakes.= By CLARENCE E. DUTTON. + + 15. =The Nature of Man.= By ÉLIE METCHNIKOFF. + + 16. =Nervous and Mental Hygiene in Health and Disease.= By AUGUST + FOREL. + + 17. =The Prolongation of Life.= By ÉLIE METCHNIKOFF. + + 18. =The Solar System.= By CHARLES LANE POOR. + + 19. =Heredity.= By J. ARTHUR THOMPSON, M.A. + + 20. =Climate.= By ROBERT DECOURCY WARD. + + 21. =Age, Growth, and Death.= By CHARLES S. MINOT. + + 22. =The Interpretation of Nature.= By C. LLOYD MORGAN. + + 23. =Mosquito Life.= By EVELYN GROESBEECK MITCHELL. + + 24. =Thinking, Feeling, Doing.= By E. W. SCRIPTURE. + + 25. =The World’s Gold.= By L. DE LAUNAY. + + 26. =The Interpretation of Radium.= Revised Ed. By F. SODDY. + + 27. =Criminal Man.= By CESARE LOMBROSO. + + 28. =Social Evil.= By E. R. A. SELIGMAN. + + 29. =Microbes and Toxins in Nature.= By E. BURNET. + + 30. =Problems of Life and Reproduction.= By M. HARTOG. + + 31. =Problem of the Sexes.= By J. FINOT. + + 32. =The Positive Evolution of Religion.= By F. HARRISON. + + 33. =The Science of Happiness.= By J. FINOT. + + 34. =Life and Death of the Globe.= By A. BERGET. + + 35. =Genetic Interpretation.= By JAMES MARK BALDWIN. + + + + + PERSONALITY + + +By F. B. JEVONS, Litt.D. + +Author of + +“The Idea of God,” “Comparative Religions,” etc. + +_12º. $1.00 net_ + +This work deals with the problem of personality, especially as raised by +William James and M. Bergson. If a man imagines himself bound, in +deference to science or psychology, to deny the existence of +personality, he commits himself to saying “I do not exist.” If he +shrinks from that absurdity, he must accept personality as a reality: a +person is both a subject who knows others and an object of others’ +knowledge. The bond, however, which holds persons, human and divine, +together, cannot be merely intellectual: it must be emotional as well as +intellectual—the bond of love. + + + + + Genetic Interpretation + + +The Outcome of Genetic Logic + +By James Mark Baldwin + +Ph.D., D.Sc., LL.D. + +Foreign Correspondent of the Institute of France + +Author of “History of Psychology,” etc. + +The author here states the general results of the extended studies in +genetic and social science and anthropology made by him and others, and +gives a critical account of the history of the interpretation of nature +and man, both racial and philosophical. + +The book offers an _Introduction to Philosophy_ from a new point of +view. It contains, also, a valuable glossary of the terms employed in +these and similar discussions. + + + + + History of Geography + + +By + +J. Scott Keltie, LL.D. + +Secretary of the Royal Geographical Society + +and + +O. J. R. Howarth, M.A. + +Assistant Secretary of the British Association for the Advancement of +Science + +__No. 11 in “History of the Sciences”__ + +_16º. Illustrated. 75 cents net_ + +This is not a history of geographical exploration, though the leading +episodes in the advance of our knowledge of the face of the Earth are +necessarily referred to in tracing the evolution of geography as a +department of science. The author hopes that in the attempt to tell the +story of the evolution of geography up to the present day, it will be +evident that it is as amenable to scientific methods as any other +department of human knowledge, and that it performs important functions +which are untouched by any other line of research. + + + + + The + Science of Happiness + + +By Jean Finot + +Author of “Problem of the Sexes,” etc. + +Translated from the French by Mary J. Safford + +_8º. $1.75 net_ + +The author considers a subject, the solution of which offers more +enticement to the well-wisher of the race than the gold of the Incas did +to the treasure-seekers of Spain, who themselves doubtless looked upon +the coveted yellow metal, however mistakenly, as a key to the happiness +which all are trying to find. “Amid the noisy tumult of life, amid the +dissonance that divides man from man,” remarks M. Finot, “the Science of +Happiness tries to discover the divine link which binds humanity to +happiness through the soul and through the union of souls.” The author +considers the nature of happiness and the means of its attainment, as +well as many allied questions. + + + G. P. Putnam’s Sons + + New York London + +------------------------------------------------------------------------ + + + + + TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES + + + Page Changed from Changed to + + 100 Die Welt als Wille und Die Welt als Wille und + Vorsteilung Vorstellung + + 111 Traité de Médicine Traité de Médecine + + 117 Der Werk des Lebens Der Wert des Lebens + + 126 La Philosophie de la Longevité La Philosophie de la Longévité + + 133 L’Irreligion de l’Avenir L’Irréligion de l’Avenir + + 195 Einzler bist. O, fühl’ im ganzen Einzles bist. O, fühl’ im Ganzen + Dich dich + + 195 wünschest unsterblich zu leben? wünschest, unsterblich zu leben? + Leb im gazen Leb’ im Ganzen + + 265 Abhandlungen der k. bayrischen Abhandlungen der k. Bayerischen + Akademie d. Wissenschaften Akademie d. Wissenschaften + + 285 doctrines set forth in hits book doctrines set forth in this book + + ● Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + ● Used numbers for footnotes, placing them all at the end of the last + chapter. + ● Enclosed italics font in _underscores_. + ● Enclosed bold or blackletter font in =equals=. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 75505 *** |