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  THE 
  REALM 
  OF 
  ORGANISMS 
  CONTRASTED 
  

  

  6. 
  A 
  System 
  of 
  Inter-related 
  Lives. 
  

  

  The 
  hosts 
  of 
  living 
  organisms 
  are 
  not 
  random 
  creatures, 
  

   they 
  can 
  be 
  classified 
  in 
  battalions 
  and 
  regiments. 
  Xeither 
  

   are 
  they 
  isolated 
  creatures, 
  for 
  every 
  thread 
  of 
  life 
  is 
  inter- 
  

   twined 
  with 
  others 
  in 
  a 
  complex 
  web. 
  This 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   fundamental 
  biological 
  concepts 
  the 
  correlation 
  of 
  organ- 
  

   isms 
  in 
  the 
  web 
  of 
  life 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  as 
  characteristically 
  Dar- 
  

   winian 
  as 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence. 
  ]STo 
  creature 
  lives 
  or 
  

   dies 
  to 
  itself; 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  insulation. 
  Long 
  nutritive 
  chains 
  

   often 
  bind 
  a 
  series 
  of 
  organisms 
  together 
  in 
  the 
  very 
  funda- 
  

   mental 
  relation 
  that 
  one 
  kind 
  eats 
  the 
  other. 
  All 
  things 
  are 
  

   in 
  flux, 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  ceaseless 
  circulation 
  of 
  matter 
  ; 
  all 
  flesh 
  

   is 
  grass 
  and 
  all 
  fish 
  is 
  diatom; 
  and 
  so 
  the 
  stuff 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  

   goes 
  round 
  from 
  one 
  incarnation 
  to 
  another. 
  One 
  organism 
  

   gets 
  linked 
  on 
  to 
  others, 
  and 
  becomes 
  dependent 
  on 
  them 
  

   for 
  the 
  continuance 
  of 
  its 
  race. 
  Flowers 
  and 
  insects 
  are 
  fit- 
  

   ted 
  to 
  one 
  another 
  as 
  hand 
  to 
  glove. 
  Cats 
  have 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  

   the 
  plague 
  in 
  India 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  with 
  the 
  clover 
  crop 
  at 
  home. 
  

   The 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  fresh-water 
  mussels 
  are 
  carried 
  about 
  for 
  

   a 
  time 
  by 
  minnows, 
  and 
  the 
  young 
  of 
  the 
  fish 
  called 
  

   the 
  bitterling 
  are 
  harboured 
  within 
  the 
  fresh-water 
  mussel. 
  

   Squirrels 
  affect 
  the 
  cornfields 
  and 
  water 
  wagtails 
  the 
  sheep- 
  

   folds. 
  In 
  short, 
  we 
  get 
  a 
  glimpse 
  of 
  Nature 
  as 
  a 
  vast 
  sys- 
  

   tem 
  of 
  inter-linked 
  lives 
  a 
  Systema 
  Nature 
  in 
  a 
  new 
  sense 
  

   a 
  web 
  with 
  a 
  pattern 
  (see 
  Thomson, 
  1914, 
  1916). 
  With- 
  

   out 
  entering 
  upon 
  any 
  discussion 
  of 
  the 
  weaving 
  or 
  evolu- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  web 
  through 
  untold 
  ages, 
  let 
  us 
  take 
  the 
  realm 
  

   of 
  organisms 
  as 
  it 
  is, 
  and 
  emphasise 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  just 
  as 
  

   there 
  is 
  a 
  correlation 
  of 
  organs 
  in 
  the 
  body, 
  so 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  

   correlation 
  of 
  organisms 
  in 
  the 
  world 
  of 
  life. 
  When 
  we 
  

   learn 
  something 
  of 
  the 
  intricate 
  give 
  and 
  take, 
  supply 
  and 
  

  

  