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  THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  ping 
  them 
  so 
  that 
  they 
  have 
  a 
  rather 
  shorter 
  life 
  or 
  a 
  rather 
  

   less 
  numerous 
  or 
  less 
  successful 
  family. 
  This 
  is 
  precisely 
  

   what 
  eugenists 
  of 
  the 
  gentler 
  persuasion 
  wish 
  to 
  see 
  in 
  opera- 
  

   tion 
  in 
  mankind 
  the 
  replacement 
  rather 
  than 
  the 
  destruc- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  baser 
  sort. 
  

  

  As 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  takes 
  three 
  

   main 
  forms: 
  (a) 
  between 
  fellow-organisms 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  

   kith 
  and 
  kin, 
  (fr) 
  between 
  foes 
  of 
  entirely 
  different 
  kinds, 
  

   and 
  (c) 
  between 
  living 
  creatures 
  and 
  the 
  physical 
  fates. 
  

  

  In 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  first, 
  Darwin 
  headed 
  a 
  paragraph 
  " 
  Strug- 
  

   gle 
  for 
  Life 
  Most 
  Severe 
  Between 
  Individuals 
  and 
  Varieties 
  

   of 
  the 
  Same 
  Species 
  ", 
  and 
  that 
  paragraph, 
  along 
  with 
  a 
  

   subconscious 
  desire 
  to 
  get 
  a 
  theoretical 
  backing 
  for 
  individu- 
  

   alistic 
  human 
  practices, 
  has 
  given 
  rise 
  to 
  the 
  widespread 
  idea 
  

   that 
  what 
  is 
  most 
  characteristic 
  of 
  Nature 
  is 
  an 
  internecine 
  

   competition 
  of 
  near 
  kin 
  for 
  food 
  and 
  foothold. 
  

  

  But 
  it 
  is 
  very 
  profitable 
  to 
  examine 
  Darwin's 
  evidence 
  

   for 
  his 
  momentous 
  conclusion. 
  Not 
  that 
  we 
  doubt 
  that 
  keen 
  

   competition 
  between 
  fellows 
  is 
  one 
  mode 
  of 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  

   existence 
  ; 
  the 
  point 
  is 
  to 
  what 
  extent 
  it 
  obtains. 
  The 
  gladia- 
  

   torial 
  show 
  conception 
  of 
  Animate 
  Nature 
  is 
  illustrated 
  by 
  

   the 
  supposed 
  internecine 
  competition 
  between 
  brown 
  rat 
  and 
  

   black 
  rat, 
  and 
  might 
  almost 
  be 
  called 
  the 
  rat 
  theory 
  of 
  life. 
  

   The 
  story 
  of 
  this 
  internecine 
  competition, 
  for 
  which 
  Darwin 
  

   is 
  largely 
  responsible, 
  is 
  well 
  known, 
  but 
  it 
  suffers 
  from 
  

   the 
  demerit 
  of 
  not 
  being 
  quite 
  true. 
  Long 
  ago 
  Britain 
  had 
  

   only 
  the 
  Black 
  Rat 
  (Mus 
  raitus) 
  which 
  probably 
  came 
  from 
  

   Asia 
  through 
  Mediterranean 
  ports. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   introduced 
  into 
  Western 
  Europe 
  by 
  the 
  ships 
  of 
  the 
  

   Crusaders. 
  The 
  Brown 
  Rat 
  (Mus 
  decumanus), 
  also 
  of 
  East- 
  

   ern 
  origin, 
  was 
  a 
  later 
  arrival, 
  becoming 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century. 
  

  

  