ACCEPTING THE UNIVERSE 



conjecture, and pack the germ with many possibili- 

 ties, each one depending for its development upon 

 chance occurrence or conditions. 



Besides this struggle with the environment there 

 is the struggle of individuals and of species with 

 one another — of oak with oak, of beech with 

 beech, of plant with its kind, for the moisture and 

 nutriment in the soil; of robin with robin for in- 

 sects and fruit, of fox with fox for mice and rabbits, 

 and of lion with lion for antelope and zebra. I say 

 "struggle," but it is rarely struggle in the sense of 

 strife or battle, but in the sense of natural com- 

 petition — the victory is to the most lucky and the 

 most vigorous — the sharpest eye, the quickest 

 ear, the most nimble foot; and those most favored 

 by fortune win. 



Under the law of variation some individuals 

 have a fuller endowment of vital energy than others; 

 under a severe strain and trial of whatever kind 

 the favored ones will survive, while the others per- 

 ish. Some men, some animals, can endure more 

 hardships than others; under the same conditions 

 all will not starve or freeze or fall exhausted by the 

 wayside at the same time. In the vegetable world 

 the same inequality in the gift of life exists, though 

 not in the same degree. Some seeds will lie dor- 

 mant in the soil longer than others of the same kind, 

 and some kinds longer than others. Some seeds will 

 not sprout after the second year, but a few may 



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