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  THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  

  

  ment 
  is 
  capricious, 
  unpredictable, 
  combative. 
  On 
  the 
  one 
  

   hand, 
  we 
  see 
  the 
  Environment 
  acting 
  upon 
  the 
  organism, 
  

   burning 
  it 
  and 
  stoking 
  it, 
  heating 
  it 
  and 
  cooling 
  it, 
  quicken- 
  

   ing 
  it 
  and 
  slowing 
  it, 
  moistening 
  it 
  and 
  drying 
  it, 
  provoking 
  

   it 
  and 
  quieting 
  it, 
  nurturing 
  it 
  and 
  killing 
  it, 
  cradling 
  it 
  

   and 
  burying 
  it. 
  On 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  we 
  see 
  the 
  Organism 
  

   responding 
  to 
  the 
  environment, 
  operating 
  on 
  it, 
  changing 
  it; 
  

   thrusting 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  parrying; 
  defying 
  it, 
  mastering 
  it, 
  and 
  

   using 
  it; 
  even 
  selecting 
  it. 
  Now 
  the 
  business 
  of 
  life 
  is 
  the 
  

   continual 
  adjustment 
  of 
  this 
  twofold 
  relation. 
  But 
  when 
  

   we 
  look 
  more 
  closely 
  into 
  the 
  effective, 
  regulated, 
  self-asser- 
  

   tive, 
  self-expressive, 
  insurgent 
  activity 
  which 
  we 
  call 
  ' 
  life 
  \ 
  

   we 
  see 
  that 
  it 
  takes 
  two 
  main 
  directions 
  caring 
  for 
  self 
  

   and 
  caring 
  for 
  others. 
  That 
  is 
  the 
  twofold 
  business 
  of 
  life 
  

   which 
  all 
  pursue, 
  the 
  half-awake 
  plant, 
  the 
  dreamy 
  coral, 
  

   the 
  instinctive 
  ant, 
  the 
  intelligent 
  beaver, 
  and 
  rational 
  man. 
  

   The 
  imperious 
  primal 
  impulses 
  are 
  ' 
  Hunger 
  ' 
  and 
  ' 
  Love 
  ', 
  

   the 
  subject 
  and 
  counter-subject 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  fugue 
  of 
  life. 
  

   " 
  Why 
  do 
  the 
  people 
  strive 
  and 
  cry 
  ? 
  ' 
  the 
  poet 
  asked, 
  

   and 
  gave 
  the 
  lasting 
  answer 
  : 
  " 
  They 
  will 
  have 
  food 
  and 
  

   they 
  will 
  have 
  children, 
  and 
  they 
  will 
  bring 
  them 
  up 
  as 
  

   best 
  they 
  can." 
  So 
  is 
  it 
  through 
  the 
  realm 
  of 
  organisms. 
  

   Of 
  course 
  the 
  words 
  ' 
  hunger 
  ' 
  and 
  i 
  love 
  ' 
  must 
  not 
  be 
  used 
  

   woodenly 
  ; 
  they 
  correspond 
  to 
  self-preservation 
  and 
  race-con- 
  

   tinuance, 
  to 
  self-regarding 
  and 
  other-regarding, 
  to 
  feeding 
  

   and 
  flowering, 
  to 
  nutrition 
  and 
  reproduction, 
  to 
  self-increase 
  

   and 
  self-multiplication. 
  We 
  may 
  not 
  be 
  inclined 
  to 
  speak 
  

   as 
  Erasmus 
  Darwin 
  did 
  of 
  the 
  ''Loves 
  of 
  the 
  Plants", 
  but 
  

   it 
  is 
  sound 
  science 
  to 
  emphasise 
  the 
  fact 
  that, 
  rich 
  as 
  plants 
  

   are 
  in 
  adaptations 
  which 
  secure 
  food, 
  they 
  are 
  not 
  less 
  rich 
  

   in 
  adaptations 
  which 
  secure 
  the 
  nurture 
  and 
  dispersal 
  and 
  

   development 
  of 
  their 
  offspring. 
  

  

  