﻿WITH 
  THE 
  DOMAIN 
  OF 
  THE 
  INORGANIC 
  59 
  

  

  demand, 
  action 
  and 
  reaction 
  between 
  plants 
  and 
  animals, 
  

   between 
  flowers 
  and 
  insects, 
  between 
  herbivores 
  and 
  carni- 
  

   vores, 
  and 
  between 
  other 
  conflicting 
  yet 
  correlated 
  interests, 
  

   we 
  begin 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  glimpse 
  of 
  a 
  vast 
  self-regulating 
  organisa- 
  

   tion. 
  There 
  may 
  be 
  local 
  and 
  temporary 
  friction 
  and 
  dis- 
  

   order; 
  there 
  is 
  the 
  clash 
  of 
  fierce 
  competition 
  in 
  some 
  forms 
  

   of 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence; 
  but 
  the 
  larger 
  fact 
  is 
  the 
  

   smooth 
  working 
  of 
  a 
  balanced 
  correlated 
  system. 
  

  

  In 
  philosophical 
  reconstruction 
  we 
  must 
  surely 
  take 
  ac- 
  

   count 
  of 
  this 
  inter-relatedness 
  of 
  organisms. 
  Is 
  it 
  not 
  of 
  

   interest 
  to 
  find 
  in 
  Animate 
  Nature, 
  as 
  in 
  mankind, 
  advance 
  

   from 
  comparatively 
  isolated 
  units 
  towards 
  systematisation 
  

   and 
  solidarity? 
  The 
  multitudinous 
  unique 
  threads 
  of 
  life 
  

   become 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  interwoven; 
  the 
  warp 
  and 
  the 
  woof 
  

   of 
  the 
  web 
  are 
  hunger 
  and 
  love; 
  we 
  get 
  glimpses 
  of 
  a 
  chang- 
  

   ing 
  pattern 
  becoming 
  ever 
  finer. 
  The 
  web 
  seems 
  to 
  become 
  

   increasingly 
  coherent, 
  though 
  man 
  often 
  rends 
  the 
  fabric 
  

   ruthlessly. 
  

  

  Another 
  point 
  of 
  importance, 
  demanding 
  subsequent 
  

   study, 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  intricacy 
  of 
  the 
  web 
  of 
  life 
  becomes 
  in 
  it- 
  

   self 
  of 
  great 
  significance 
  in 
  evolution. 
  It 
  is 
  its 
  subtlety 
  that 
  

   gives 
  point 
  and 
  possibility 
  of 
  survival 
  to 
  minute 
  variations. 
  

   The 
  very 
  fact 
  of 
  complex 
  interaction 
  and 
  systematisation 
  

   tends 
  to 
  diminish 
  fortuity 
  and 
  to 
  make 
  towards 
  definite 
  

   progression. 
  The 
  correlation 
  of 
  organisms 
  which 
  is 
  a 
  prod- 
  

   uct 
  of 
  evolution 
  becomes 
  in 
  turn 
  a 
  directive 
  factor. 
  

  

  7. 
  The 
  Prevalence 
  of 
  Adaptations. 
  

  

  The 
  balance 
  demonstrable 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale 
  holds 
  through- 
  

   out; 
  every 
  higher 
  organism 
  is 
  a 
  complex 
  bundle 
  of 
  adap- 
  

   tations. 
  It 
  is 
  suited 
  to 
  its 
  surroundings, 
  to 
  its 
  food, 
  to 
  it- 
  

   own 
  weight, 
  to 
  its 
  way 
  of 
  moving, 
  to 
  the 
  regularly 
  recurrent 
  

  

  