﻿THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  297 
  

  

  solutions 
  of 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  meeting 
  the 
  winter; 
  the 
  brown 
  

   stoats, 
  for 
  instance, 
  by 
  becoming 
  white 
  ermine. 
  But 
  nowa- 
  

   days 
  the 
  stoats 
  cannot 
  help 
  changing 
  their 
  robe 
  ; 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  

   locality 
  they 
  all 
  do 
  it 
  equally 
  well; 
  the 
  ingrained 
  capacity 
  

   is 
  the 
  indirect 
  outcome 
  of 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  in 
  the 
  

   distant 
  past; 
  the 
  stoat's 
  present-day 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  

   is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  elsewhere. 
  Inter-specific 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  

   implies 
  individual 
  and 
  novel 
  reactions 
  and 
  responses 
  to 
  en- 
  

   vironing 
  difficulties 
  and 
  limitations. 
  As 
  we 
  understand 
  it, 
  

   inter-specific 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  cannot 
  be 
  illustrated 
  in 
  

   regard 
  to 
  adaptations 
  shared 
  equally 
  by 
  all 
  the 
  members, 
  

   but 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  illustrated 
  if 
  there 
  are 
  inequalities 
  in 
  these 
  

   adaptations, 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  way 
  they 
  are 
  used, 
  or 
  in 
  individual 
  

   adjustments. 
  

  

  It 
  should 
  also 
  be 
  noted 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  confusion 
  of 
  thought 
  

   to 
  identify 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  with 
  Natural 
  Selection. 
  

   The 
  concept 
  of 
  struggle 
  is 
  wider 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  selection. 
  The 
  

   struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  reactions 
  between 
  

   organisms 
  and 
  their 
  environing 
  limitations, 
  which 
  may 
  in- 
  

   clude, 
  of 
  course, 
  the 
  presence 
  or 
  antagonism 
  of 
  other 
  organ- 
  

   isms. 
  When 
  inequalities 
  or 
  idiosyncrasies 
  in 
  the 
  reactions 
  

   or 
  responses 
  are 
  of 
  life-saving 
  importance 
  the 
  result 
  is 
  dis- 
  

   criminate 
  elimination 
  and 
  the 
  survival 
  of 
  the 
  relatively 
  fitter 
  

   to 
  the 
  given 
  conditions. 
  But 
  in 
  many 
  cases 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  

   the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  is 
  not 
  discriminate 
  elimination. 
  

   There 
  may 
  be 
  nothing 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  lessening 
  of 
  population- 
  

   pressure 
  by 
  a 
  large 
  reduction 
  of 
  numbers. 
  And 
  even 
  when 
  

   discriminate 
  elimination 
  does 
  occur, 
  it 
  may 
  work 
  as 
  slowly 
  

   as 
  the 
  mills 
  of 
  God. 
  Some 
  writers 
  speak 
  as 
  if 
  a 
  decision 
  

   was 
  always 
  given 
  there 
  and 
  then. 
  But 
  that 
  is 
  a 
  misunder- 
  

   standing. 
  The 
  elimination 
  may 
  take 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  gently 
  

   handicapping 
  those 
  who 
  lack 
  what 
  others 
  have, 
  handicap- 
  

  

  