,XI PHENOMENA OF ORGANIC NATURE 439 



the increase in the number of organic beings in a 

 geometrical ratio, while the means of existence 

 cannot be made to increase in the same ratio, that 

 there must come a time when the number of or- 

 ganic beings will be in excess of the power of pro- 

 duction of nutriment, and that thus some check 

 must arise to the further increase of those organic 

 beings. At the end of the ninth year we have seen 

 that each plant would not be able to get its full 

 square foot of ground, and at the end of another 

 year it would have to share that space w r ith fifty 

 others the produce of the seeds which it would 

 give off. 



What, then, takes place ? Every plant grows 

 up, flourishes, occupies its square foot of ground, 

 and gives off its fifty seeds ; but notice this, that 

 out of this number only one can come to anything; 

 there is thus, as it were, forty-nine chances to one 

 against its growing up ; it depends upon the most 

 fortuitous circumstances whether any one of these 

 fifty seeds shall grow up and flourish, or whether 

 it shall die and perish. This is what Mr. Darwin 

 has drawn attention to, and called the " STRUGGLE 

 FOR EXISTENCE " ; and I have taken this simple 

 case of a plant because some people imagine that 

 the phrase seems to imply a sort of fight. 



I have taken this plant and shown you that this 

 is the result of the ratio of the increase, the neces- 

 sary result of the arrival of a time coming for every 

 species when exactly as many members must be 

 57 



