Physiology: The Science of the BodyMartin, Ernest G.
Science
Physiology: The Science of the Body
Martin, Ernest G.
Physiology
Continuous food supplies are the main necessity for continued life, but
there are some other things that have to be looked out for in addition.
The favorite food for large numbers of animals, and, indeed, in many
cases the only food, consists of the bodies of other animals. All the
flesh-eating sorts prey on other animals for their food. This places the
other animals on the defensive, so that a large part of their activity
consists in escaping the attacks of the beasts that wish to eat them.
For most kinds of animals the greater part of their waking life is taken
up with movements which serve either to get them food or to prevent them
from becoming food for others. If we add to these the movements that are
necessary to preserve the animals against other kinds of danger than the
danger of being eaten, and those connected with the propagation and
care of the young, we shall have about covered the list of what we may
call the serious activities of animals, and of men as well. Many kinds
are active besides in play. This is particularly true of young animals,
although grown-ups, both among animals and men, find play both agreeable
and beneficial when not overindulged.
Protective motions need to be even more accurately made than those whose
purpose is the getting of food, for if the food is missed at one effort
another trial may be more successful, but if an attempt to escape fails
there will probably be no more chances to try. The sense organs and the
nervous system are just as deeply concerned, therefore, in avoiding harm
as in finding food materials, and it is as important for them to do
their work well in the one case as in the other. When we think of the
activities of animals, for whatever purpose they are carried on, we must
think of them as made up of the combined actions of the muscles, the
nerves, and the sense organs, and not of any of them working by
themselves.
These parts of us that are so closely concerned in the maintaining of
our life by getting us food and keeping us safe from harm make up, also,
the only parts of us which really share in what we may call conscious
living. When we come right down to it we could spare our other
organs--heart, lungs, stomach, and the rest--and never miss them so far
as adding anything to our happiness is concerned. In fact, the less
these organs intrude themselves into our attention the better off we
are; only when we are ailing do we begin to think about them. Of course,
they are absolutely necessary to us, and we should die instantly if one
of the more important of them were to stop working, but the part they
play is not one which enters actively into our consciousness, as do the
muscles, nerves, and sense organs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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