﻿56 
  THE 
  REALM 
  OF 
  ORGANISMS 
  CONTRASTED 
  

  

  We 
  see 
  life 
  persistent 
  and 
  intrusive 
  spreading 
  everywhere, 
  

   insinuating 
  itself, 
  adapting 
  itself, 
  resisting 
  everything, 
  

   defying 
  everything, 
  surviving 
  everything 
  ! 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  Sequoia 
  trees 
  may 
  be 
  taken 
  as 
  emblems 
  of 
  life's 
  

   tenacity. 
  For 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  flourish 
  over 
  two 
  

   thousand 
  years. 
  One 
  of 
  the 
  oldest 
  had 
  2,425 
  annual 
  rings 
  

   when 
  it 
  was 
  killed, 
  and 
  must 
  have 
  begun 
  to 
  live 
  525 
  years 
  

   before 
  the 
  Christian 
  era. 
  " 
  We 
  have," 
  wrote 
  Prof. 
  W. 
  R. 
  

   Dudley, 
  i 
  deep 
  in 
  their 
  annual 
  rings, 
  records 
  which 
  extend 
  

   far 
  beyond 
  the 
  beginnings 
  of 
  Anglo-Saxon 
  peoples, 
  beyond 
  

   even 
  the 
  earliest 
  struggles 
  for 
  liberty 
  and 
  democracy 
  among 
  

   the 
  Greeks 
  records 
  of 
  forest 
  conflagrations, 
  of 
  the 
  vicis- 
  

   situdes 
  of 
  the 
  seasons, 
  of 
  periods 
  of 
  drought 
  and 
  periods 
  of 
  

   abundant 
  and 
  favouring 
  rains." 
  In 
  our 
  conception 
  of 
  life 
  

   we 
  must 
  not 
  forget 
  these 
  sublime 
  instances 
  of 
  its 
  power 
  

   to 
  endure. 
  

  

  5. 
  Struggle 
  and 
  Sifting. 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  insurgence 
  of 
  life 
  we 
  mean 
  a 
  certain 
  quality 
  of 
  

   i 
  push 
  ? 
  or 
  aggressiveness 
  often 
  observable 
  both 
  in 
  plants 
  and 
  

   animals. 
  It 
  is 
  an 
  outcome 
  of 
  a 
  native 
  self-assertiveness, 
  and 
  

   it 
  is 
  a 
  factor 
  in 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  as 
  much 
  as 
  a 
  con- 
  

   sequence 
  of 
  it. 
  More 
  metaphorically, 
  it 
  is 
  an 
  expression 
  of 
  

   the 
  i 
  will 
  to 
  live 
  ', 
  or 
  of 
  the 
  spirit 
  of 
  adventure. 
  To 
  the 
  

   conception 
  of 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  we 
  shall 
  have 
  to 
  

   give 
  careful 
  consideration 
  at 
  a 
  later 
  stage 
  ; 
  meanwhile 
  we 
  

   must 
  notice 
  that 
  the 
  phrase 
  leads 
  us 
  astray 
  if 
  it 
  is 
  taken 
  

   literally 
  or 
  woodenly. 
  It 
  includes 
  every 
  form 
  of 
  the 
  clash 
  

   between 
  individuals 
  and 
  their 
  environing 
  difficulties, 
  all 
  the 
  

   novel 
  responses 
  that 
  individual 
  living 
  creatures 
  are 
  always 
  

   making 
  to 
  the 
  pressure 
  of 
  limiting 
  conditions. 
  These 
  re- 
  

   sponses 
  may 
  take 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  intensified 
  competition, 
  even 
  of 
  

  

  