CHAPTER IV 
COMRADES OF THE PLANT WORLD 
eee aes e which links by a fraternal tie 
The meanest of His creatures with the high.” 
—Lamartine 
HE first and greatest problem for every 
terrestrial creature is to live. The chief 
means of doing so is to eat. Therefore, the rela- 
tion of being to being and species to species is 
dominated by the necessity for food. Among 
man this fact is somewhat masked and obscured, 
but in the rest of the world it is entirely plain 
and obvious. Again and again on every hand, 
we see that plant, animal, and man all maintain 
their life impulses by consuming the tissue of 
their fellows. 
In view of this fundamental fact, we can af- 
ford to look with some degree of charity upon 
that class of plants which are termed parasites. 
These interesting creatures are merely carrying 
out in a very direct and apparent way a prin- 
ciple which permeates all domains of life. A 
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