Tierbau und Tierleben in ihrem Zusammenhang betrachtet

Abstract

ONE of the fundamental ideas of biology, which found many illustrations in the work of Darwin, is that of the inter-relatedness of organisms in the web of life. Just as there is a correlation of organs in the body, so there is a correlation of organisms in the economy of nature. No creature lives or dies to itself; the orbit of one life influences many others; everywhere we find linkages and wheels, within wheels. An organism is compared by Prof. Doflein to a modern house, connected by various pipes and wires with other houses in the city and with the outer world, but the image is crude and too static. It is only in man's personal affairs that we find anything like the manifold, intricate, and subtle inter-relations that are to be seen in vigorous animals leading a full life. It is, indeed, altogether a matter of action and reaction between organism and environment, but with what complexity and nuance! Now things are in the saddle coercing the organism, and again the living creature exercises its prerogative and becomes master of its fate.

Tierbau und Tierleben in ihrem Zusammenhang betrachtet.

By Prof. Dr. F. Hesse Prof. Dr. F. Doflein. Band ii. Das Tier als Glied des Naturganzen. By Franz Doflein. Pp. xv + 960 + plates. (Leipzig and Berlin: B. G. Teubner, 1914.) Price 20 marks.