CHAPTER III 



THE STRUGGLE OF LIFE 



1. Nature of the Struggle for Existence 2. Armour and Weapons 



3. Different Forms of Struggle. 



1. Nature of the Struggle for Existence. In many cases 

 the life of a fullgrown, well-established creature such as 

 an oak-tree or a squirrel among its branches gives us the 

 impression of smoothly working, stable activity, and 

 success is certainly written on the face of much that we 

 see in wild nature. On the other hand, it is quite plain 

 that life is often difficult, strenuous, and hazardous ; 

 that the young creature in particular has to struggle to 

 get and keep a foothold. The reasons for this are not 

 far to seek. The living creature is by its very nature 

 assertive and often insurgent. The philosopher Spinoza 

 said that every individual thing, so far as in it lies, en- 

 deavours to persist in its own being, and this is especially 

 true of an individual organism. It will feed and grow 

 and multiply ; it will be an agent and operate upon its 

 surroundings. But three great sets of difficulties and 

 limitations encompass it. First, there is the tendency 

 to overcrowding, for most living creatures are very 

 prolific. Second, there are the nutritive chains which 

 have been forged in the course of ages, and there are 

 obvious difficulties involved in the universal conjugation 

 of the verb to eat. Third, there is the changeablen.ess 

 and callousness of the physical environment, which often 

 puts living creatures on their mettle. 



It is important to realise vividly the rapid multiplica- 

 tion of individuals which sometimes makes struggle 

 inevitable. A single Infusorian may be the ancestor of 



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