to fecundity? Would they start the process of organization all over again?
‘This must have been tried. What was the outcome?
‘
Idem
for man. (The Australian experiment? New Guinea?)
‘Group instinct or intelligence, where each individual is specialized, as against individual instinct or intelligence.
‘Evolution of each genus. Rise or decline as specialization is accomplished?
‘Influence of this specialization on defence against disease.
‘Same in psychiatry.’
‘Comparison between animals, hominoids, and men living in society and those in isolation
from childhood.
‘At what age, in each group, does self-defence develop?
‘Influence of society or group on precocity.
‘
Idem
for number of offspring in the litter, among mammals.
‘Number of offspring among hominoids and prehominoids.’
‘Triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, which are a rarity in our times: are they an accident or a kind of throwback to earlier stages?
‘(Twins seem to be a hereditary characteristic. Was there a time when they were the rule or the majority?)
‘What is the frequency of twins, triplets, etc., among primates?’
End of quote. Since then I’ve looked for some answers without finding them. But not in a very systematic way. Perhaps future reading will permit me to fill in the blanks.
No doubt the rest will come much later, when we
discover new ways of investigating the past, as we have just discovered the process of determining the age of a fossil by radiation (which is not quite exact, I’m summing it up in a word).
Same day, 5 p.m.
Intermission. Photographer for two hours. English this time. Study. Pencil. Children. Garden, library, etc.
I’m continuing copying my notes. They date from barely six months back. However, I’m transcribing them rather uneasily.
The same discomfort I feel when I am obliged to reread a passage from a novel only a year or two old. Or when I think of such and such a year in my life. Or when I see old photos again.
It always seems so incomplete to me! (
It
means me.) Tomorrow it will be the same for the present. Isn’t this true of man in general? 1900 seems ridiculous to us, childish. Yesterday’s science makes us smile. Today’s will make us smile in its turn. At what moment will I be satisfied with myself ? I’d rather not answer.
Nevertheless I am copying, without conviction, like a lesson, knowing that it all is leading nowhere and probably will diminish me in the eyes of those who read me.
Another caption: ‘
The rat.
’
‘At what period did the rat appear? Before or after man or the hominoid? Was it a sort of parasite of man from the beginning? Before that was it the parasite of another
animal? Has it always lived on the “remains” or the offal of another creature?
‘(The word “creature” leads to nothing or rather to too precise a meaning. All words, basically, are tendentious.)’
Another title: ‘
Isolated territories.
’
‘Why have certain animal forms ceased to evolve in certain territories that have suddenly (or progressively) been isolated from others?
‘The Galápagos, for example. There one finds species that are no longer found elsewhere except in fossil form. This can be explained. But why did evolution stop at a certain stage?
‘
Idem
for New Zealand (kiwi – moa – tuatara).
‘
Idem
in part for Australia (kangaroo, etc.).
‘Did certain animals cease to evolve because they had no enemies that forced them to?
‘Why, when, with the appearance of man, such enemies appeared, none of the earlier species began to evolve?
‘In other places one finds only a certain percentage, more or less high, of extinct species.
‘Here, they
all
seem to die out, save domestic exceptions like the ostrich.
‘Is there a moment when evolution becomes impossible?
‘In the Galápagos, up to recently, no apparent struggle between the species.
‘The struggle seems to begin with the arrival of domestic animals which return to the wild state in very
‘This must have been tried. What was the outcome?
‘
Idem
for man. (The Australian experiment? New Guinea?)
‘Group instinct or intelligence, where each individual is specialized, as against individual instinct or intelligence.
‘Evolution of each genus. Rise or decline as specialization is accomplished?
‘Influence of this specialization on defence against disease.
‘Same in psychiatry.’
‘Comparison between animals, hominoids, and men living in society and those in isolation
from childhood.
‘At what age, in each group, does self-defence develop?
‘Influence of society or group on precocity.
‘
Idem
for number of offspring in the litter, among mammals.
‘Number of offspring among hominoids and prehominoids.’
‘Triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, which are a rarity in our times: are they an accident or a kind of throwback to earlier stages?
‘(Twins seem to be a hereditary characteristic. Was there a time when they were the rule or the majority?)
‘What is the frequency of twins, triplets, etc., among primates?’
End of quote. Since then I’ve looked for some answers without finding them. But not in a very systematic way. Perhaps future reading will permit me to fill in the blanks.
No doubt the rest will come much later, when we
discover new ways of investigating the past, as we have just discovered the process of determining the age of a fossil by radiation (which is not quite exact, I’m summing it up in a word).
Same day, 5 p.m.
Intermission. Photographer for two hours. English this time. Study. Pencil. Children. Garden, library, etc.
I’m continuing copying my notes. They date from barely six months back. However, I’m transcribing them rather uneasily.
The same discomfort I feel when I am obliged to reread a passage from a novel only a year or two old. Or when I think of such and such a year in my life. Or when I see old photos again.
It always seems so incomplete to me! (
It
means me.) Tomorrow it will be the same for the present. Isn’t this true of man in general? 1900 seems ridiculous to us, childish. Yesterday’s science makes us smile. Today’s will make us smile in its turn. At what moment will I be satisfied with myself ? I’d rather not answer.
Nevertheless I am copying, without conviction, like a lesson, knowing that it all is leading nowhere and probably will diminish me in the eyes of those who read me.
Another caption: ‘
The rat.
’
‘At what period did the rat appear? Before or after man or the hominoid? Was it a sort of parasite of man from the beginning? Before that was it the parasite of another
animal? Has it always lived on the “remains” or the offal of another creature?
‘(The word “creature” leads to nothing or rather to too precise a meaning. All words, basically, are tendentious.)’
Another title: ‘
Isolated territories.
’
‘Why have certain animal forms ceased to evolve in certain territories that have suddenly (or progressively) been isolated from others?
‘The Galápagos, for example. There one finds species that are no longer found elsewhere except in fossil form. This can be explained. But why did evolution stop at a certain stage?
‘
Idem
for New Zealand (kiwi – moa – tuatara).
‘
Idem
in part for Australia (kangaroo, etc.).
‘Did certain animals cease to evolve because they had no enemies that forced them to?
‘Why, when, with the appearance of man, such enemies appeared, none of the earlier species began to evolve?
‘In other places one finds only a certain percentage, more or less high, of extinct species.
‘Here, they
all
seem to die out, save domestic exceptions like the ostrich.
‘Is there a moment when evolution becomes impossible?
‘In the Galápagos, up to recently, no apparent struggle between the species.
‘The struggle seems to begin with the arrival of domestic animals which return to the wild state in very
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