256 THE HISTORY OF CREATION. 



predominates, and that every year the struggle for life some- 

 what alters their relations. 



Every single species of animals and plants would have 

 densely peopled the whole earth's surface in a short time, if 

 it had not had to struggle against a number of enemies and 

 hostile influences. Even Linnaeus calculated that if an 

 annual plant only produced two seeds (and there is not one 

 which produces so few), it would have yielded in twenty 

 years a million of individuals. Darwin has calculated of 

 elephants, which of all animals seem the slowest to increase, 

 that in seven hundred and fifty years the descendants of a 

 single pair would amount to nineteen millions of indi- 

 viduals ; this is supposing that every elephant, during its 

 period of fertility (from the 30th to the 90th year), pro- 

 duced only three pairs of young ones, and survived itself 

 to its hundredth year. In like manner the increase 

 of the number of human beino-s — if calculated on the 

 average proportion of births to population, and no hin- 

 drances to the natural increase stood in the way — would be 

 such as to double the total in twenty-five years. In every 

 century the total number of men would have increased six- 

 teen-fold ; whereas we know that the total number of 

 human beings increases but slowly, and that the increase of 

 population is very diflferent in different countries. While 

 European tribes spread over the whole globe, other tribes or 

 species of men every year draw nearer to their complete 

 extinction. This is the case especially with the redskins of 

 America, and v/ith the copper-coloured natives of Australia. 

 Even if these races were to propagate more abundantly than 

 the white Europeans, yet they would sooner or later succumb 

 to the latter in the struggle for life. But of all human 



