﻿THE 
  ISSUES 
  OF 
  LIFE 
  295 
  

  

  and 
  we 
  know 
  in 
  point 
  of 
  fact 
  that 
  incalculable 
  myriads 
  of 
  

   minute 
  creatures 
  flourish 
  in 
  the 
  open 
  sea 
  without 
  over- 
  

   crowding. 
  Moreover, 
  the 
  length 
  of 
  an 
  organism's 
  life 
  is 
  

   adjustable, 
  and 
  can 
  be 
  regulated 
  in 
  relation 
  to 
  the 
  rate 
  of 
  

   increase. 
  (2) 
  It 
  is 
  conceivable 
  that 
  all 
  animals 
  might 
  have 
  

   been 
  vegetarian 
  and 
  debris-eaters. 
  To 
  a 
  much 
  greater 
  degree 
  

   than 
  was 
  previously 
  supposed 
  the 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  sea-floor 
  

   depend 
  upon 
  detritus, 
  the 
  crumbs 
  of 
  the 
  littoral 
  table. 
  Or 
  

   much 
  more 
  might 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  of 
  symbiotic 
  partnerships 
  

   between 
  animals 
  and 
  plants, 
  so 
  extraordinarily 
  successful 
  

   in 
  cases 
  like 
  Radiolarians, 
  of 
  which 
  some 
  authorities 
  say 
  

   that 
  there 
  are 
  five 
  thousand 
  species. 
  (3) 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  neces- 
  

   sity 
  that 
  life 
  should 
  be 
  continually 
  vexed 
  by 
  environmental 
  

   vicissitudes, 
  for 
  there 
  are 
  monotonous 
  conditions 
  in 
  which 
  

   it 
  flourishes 
  bravely. 
  We 
  know, 
  for 
  instance, 
  of 
  the 
  rich 
  

   fauna 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  oceanic 
  abysses 
  that 
  strange, 
  dark, 
  cold, 
  

   calm, 
  silent, 
  plantless 
  world 
  where 
  there 
  is 
  neither 
  day 
  nor 
  

   night, 
  neither 
  summer 
  nor 
  winter, 
  but 
  eternal 
  monotony. 
  

   We 
  see, 
  then, 
  that 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  is 
  not 
  an 
  in- 
  

   evitable 
  consequence 
  of 
  the 
  conditions 
  of 
  life. 
  In 
  fact, 
  it 
  

   is 
  often 
  evaded. 
  Reduction 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  offspring 
  is 
  

   an 
  evasion 
  of 
  the 
  difficulty 
  of 
  finding 
  foothold 
  in 
  crowded 
  

   areas; 
  change 
  of 
  diet, 
  e.g., 
  to 
  vegetarianism, 
  evades 
  the 
  

   necessity 
  for 
  cannibalism 
  ; 
  and 
  migration 
  often 
  evades 
  the 
  

   thrusts 
  and 
  arrows 
  of 
  an 
  unfriendly 
  environment. 
  The 
  true 
  

   inwardness 
  of 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  is 
  discerned 
  when 
  

   we 
  fix 
  our 
  attention 
  not 
  only 
  on 
  the 
  limitations 
  and 
  difficul- 
  

   ties, 
  but 
  on 
  the 
  self-assertiveness 
  and 
  insurgence 
  of 
  the 
  crea- 
  

   ture, 
  which 
  insists 
  on 
  having 
  its 
  own 
  way. 
  

  

  A 
  second 
  point 
  is 
  that 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  existence 
  is 
  not 
  

   synonymous 
  with 
  great 
  mortality. 
  That 
  may 
  be 
  a 
  problem 
  

   in 
  itself, 
  but 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  the 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  struggle 
  for 
  exist- 
  

  

  