THE ORGANISM AND ITS ENVIRONMENT 383 



restricted or extinguished, the human soon reverts to a place in a 

 natural food chain. Here, then, is a direct and all-important rela- 

 tion between human industrial systems and the biological principles 

 that govern animal communities and between human industrial life 

 and the fundamental principles of transformation of energy and 

 materials in living organisms. And history records for us how 

 human communities respond to the food balance; both in savage 

 and civiHzed countries migrations occur singly or in great numbers 

 as a community becomes over-populated. There is no question that 

 population obedience to the inexorable biological laws which govern 

 animal communities in general constitutes the nucleus of the great 

 military, economic, social, and governmental problems that always 

 have, and apparently always will, face human civilizations. 



But one may repeat that the biological principles which apply to 

 animals generally are fundamentally responsible for civilization's 

 vast industrial set-up. Nor is Man justified in assuming any especial 

 credit for originality in his attempts to control and to provide a food 

 supply by culturing and safeguarding animals and plants for 

 human consumption. We are accustomed to regard this tremendous 

 industry as something peculiarly human in origin and a cause for 

 self congratulation on the part of civilization. Yet some varieties of 

 ants herd a species of bug commonly known as plant lice, and care 

 for them in order to obtain nutriment from the substances excreted 

 by the bugs; other species of ants maintain slave ants to provide 

 service for the handling of foods. Many varieties of insects store 

 food with their eggs so that the young on hatching may have food 

 immediately available. The fact that squirrels store foods for winter 

 consumption, that bees store honey, and that dogs bury bones is 

 often ascribed to human traits in these animals. On the contrary, 

 these are characters that are exhibited by many animals, including 

 Man. The behavior of lower animals in this respect is commonly 

 regarded as instinctive; in Man it is assumed to be associated with 



