34 THE NATURE-STUDY OF PLANTS 
Before leaving this subject I must warn my readers 
against thinking that the protective devices we have 
been considering have been produced in order to save 
their possessors from being eaten. It is outside my 
plan to explain such things as why the Gorse has 
spines, the Spurge latex, and the Enchanter’s-night- 
shade raphides; on the other hand, it is altogether 
foreign to my purpose to convey an impression or 
suggest a conclusion that the student who pursues 
the subject will discover to be erroneous. All I 
can say about this matter now is that the reason 
of the Gorse being spiny is not to prevent animals 
from eating it, raphides were not designed to choke 
hungry caterpillars nor latex to set on fire the mouth 
of browsing animals : all these things arise from quite 
other causes connected with the nutrition and general 
well-being in its own environment of their possessor, 
and while they serve the useful purpose of protecting 
plants against the too assiduous attentions of the 
animal world we cannot allow that they have been 
called into existence in response to that need. 
We must now pass on to what I have called 
Mutual Competition, that between man and man or 
plant and plant in the struggle for existence. 
(c) Mutual Competition 
There is no need for me to remind the reader of 
the various weapons of attack and defence that man 
uses in warfare or for self-preservation on a smaller 
scale ; it is more profitable to recall, though I do not 
propose dwelling upon, the more elevating competition 
in the realms of Art and Science, Commerce and Trade, 
the weapons of which are neither fire nor frightfulness, 
but brains. 
