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188 HENRY RUTGERS MARSHALL: life for the emoluments of one kind or another connected' with it, must be supposed also to be fairly intelligent, and intelligent enough surely to note that relatively few of thosa who seek to gain the hallucinatory guidance by this means ever really gain it at all ; and this fact is so evident that it would certainly act as a distinct bar to the intelligent and voluntary acquisition of the painful habits, even though they were seen in some few cases to lead to the gain of this guidance. On the whole then I think we must grant that it is impossible to explain the acquisition and persistence of the habits of seclusion which we are considering, under the hypothesis that they are due to intelligent recognition of personal benefits to be obtained from such seclusion. But if we are compelled to grant that the habit of seclu- sion is on the whole one that would be naturally avoided by the man seeking self-satisfaction, we are also compelled to grant that if it did appear in the race it would, in its direct results, be disadvantageous to the individual, and furthermore would be opposed to the persistence of the species. Persistent seclusion must, on the whole, be dangerous to the individual, who thus loses the advantages that go with co-operation and mutual help in moments of emergency ; and in the early days of man's development, when these habits w T ere becoming ingrained in the race, the dangers con- nected with attack by enemies and beasts of prey would certainly be greatly increased if the man were unable to avail himself of protection by others of his own kind. I need not say a word to convince any one that the same persistent seclusion from the world, if honestly carried out, must necessarily prevent reproductive functioning ; and this in itself would tend to eliminate the portion of the race which had acquired these habits of seclusion. It is apparent then, I think, that in connexion with the instinctive actions leading to seclusion, we must look for some other significance than the advantage of the individual or the persistence of the race through reproduction : for without such other significance these habits, even if once acquired, would speedily be eliminated by natural processes through the failure in the struggle for existence of those in whom these habits became predominant. But as a matter of fact, we know that the habits of seclusion which we have under discussion have not been eliminated. A volume might be filled with the names of " saints," and ethical masters, and of hermits, who have found messages of inspiration in their lives of separation from the world. But vast numbers who have received no such messages have