224 THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 
tissue, they acquire the strange and fatal power of destroying 
that tissue in their own growth, and also of eating into 
any other structure with which they may be in contact, 
and even more than this, they are capable of sending off 
colonies to again take root and repeat their destructive 
action wherever they may lodge; in other words, a Cancer 
is formed. This is a strange mystery of life indeed, 
that the misplaced cells of one’s own body should become 
the agents of its destruction. 
I hope I have now justified the title chosen for my 
+B) 
paper, and shown that a real “Struggle for Life’? does 
take place within the animal body; and not only a struggle 
for the life of the individual as a whole, but also that, in 
spite of the mutual inter-dependence of the various parts 
and organs, there may be internecine struggles among 
themselves. There are struggles, both to obtain sufficient 
nutriment and also to get rid of noxious material, 
that is, between the processes of destruction and repair. 
The powers of good and evil are alike potent, both in the 
physical and psychical bodies, and the momentary equilib- 
rium is but the resultant of a constant warefare. Incessant 
warfare is indeed the essence of life, and rest means death. 
To this I may add, that our bodies and minds are, to a 
great extent, what we make them ourselves; use, or allow 
to lie idle one tissue or organ, and it will grow or decrease 
to a corresponding degree. Education, both physical and 
mental, is nothing more or less than an attempt to favour, 
in the struggle within the body, certain organs and faculties. 
This process, continued through long periods of time, 
must, and does, play an important part in the evolution of 
the race. The wise or unwise directions in which they are 
educated will influence, not only the present, but also 
future generations, and they will be better or worse accord- 
ingly, as education has strengthened or enfeebled the bodies, 
minds, aye, and even the moral characters of their ancestors. 
