MAN'S PLACE IN THE WEB OF LIFE 



From this brief sketch of man as food for animals and of 

 the animals as food for man we get a true idea of man's real 

 place in nature. Man as a race consumes all things that can 

 serve as food for him, while all types of creatures that can do 

 so feed upon his body, which in its relation to the lower an- 

 imals may be compared to a sahne pond crammed with food- 

 stuffs. 



The contacts of the mammals, birds, etc., with the other 

 groups of animals resembles in its general features that of 

 man, though they are far more subject to attack, especially 

 the smaller ones, by large predaceous creatures. 



But man in addition makes use of very many animals for 

 purposes other than the direct increase of his food supply. 

 The powerful bodies of the horse, ox, camel, elephant, water- 

 buffalo, llama, yak, dog, etc., assist him in his labors. The 

 milk of cows, goats, sows and other animals yields butter, 

 cheese and other products. The woolly covering of sheep 

 gives him warm clothing, and the hair of beavers and of rab- 

 bits, felt. Fish yield glue, isinglass, and other things, and 

 sea turtles tortoise-shell. The industry of bees gives him wax 

 and honey. Various caterpillars of the larger moths are silk 

 producers, and from other insects he gets dyes, varnishes and 

 medicines. The list of animal products used by man, of which 

 those given are but samples, is very long. 



To a large extent man lives in an artificial world of his own 

 creation. All the enemies of his domestic animals and culti- 

 vated plants are enemies of his just as truly as if they attacked 

 his own body; their enemies are his friends; the enemies of 

 the latter are again his enemies, and so on. The indirect re- 

 lationships of man to animals are much more important than 



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