It is generally considered that death is the common lot of all living beings. But is this necessarily so? Infusoria and other unicellular animals multiply by division. That is to say, if we watch one for a certain time, we shall observe, as already mentioned, that a constriction takes place, which grows gradually deeper and deeper, until at last the two halves become quite detached, and each swims away independently. The process is repeated over and over again, and in this manner the species is propagated. Here obviously there is no birth and no death. Such creatures may be killed, but they have no natural term of life. They are, in fact, theoretically immortal. Those which lived millions of years ago may have gone on dividing and subdividing, and in this sense multitudes of the lower animals are millions of years old. FOOTNOTES: [15] Address to Microscopical Society, 1890. [16] _Ants, Bees, and Wasps_, and _The Senses of Animals_. [17] Prof. Drummond (_Tropical Africa_) dwells with great force on the manner in which the soil of Central Africa is worked up by the White Ants. [18] Lankester, _Comparative Longevity_. See also Weismann, _Duration of Life_. CHAPTER IV ON PLANT LIFE Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies, I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower--but _if_ I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is. TENNYSON. CHAPTER IV ON PLANT LIFE We are told that in old days the Fairies used to give presents of Flowers and Leaves to those whom they wished to reward, or whom they loved best; and though these gifts were, it appears, often received with disappointment, still it will probably be admitted that flowers have contributed more to the happiness of our lives than either gold or silver or precious stones; and that our happiest days have been spent out-of-doors in the woods and fields, when we have ... found in every woodland way The sunlight tint of Fairy Gold.[19] To many minds Flowers acquired an additional interest when it was shown that there was a reason for their colour, size, and form--in fact, for every detail of their organisation. If we did but know all that the smallest flower could tell us, we should have solved some of the greatest mysteries of Nature. But we cannot hope to succeed--even if we had the genius of Plato or Aristotle--without careful, patient, and reverent study. From such an inquiry we may hope much; already we have glimpses, enough to convince us that the whole history will open out to us conceptions of the Universe wider and grander than any which the Imagination alone would ever have suggested.