THE PRICE OF DEVELOPMENT 



sprout after the third or even the fourth year. The 

 stream of life is not of uniform depth and fullness; 

 it is shallow in some places, and deep in others, as re- 

 gards both species and individuals. In the natural 

 competition which goes on all around us, the strong- 

 est, the fittest, win in the game, not necessarily by 

 violence, but because, apart from the role played 

 by chance, they carry more pounds of vital pressure. 

 Not all acorns become oaks, probably not one in 

 thousands; not all bird's eggs become birds; occa- 

 sionally one egg in the nest does not hatch, prob- 

 ably because of some defect in fertilization. Some 

 nests are torn out of the trees by storms, or are 

 robbed by crows or jays or squirrels; they were not 

 well hidden. A large percentage of nests on the 

 ground is destroyed by night prowlers or by day 

 prowlers; chance again plays a great part here. 

 Only a small fraction of the spawn of fishes hatches, 

 and a still smaller percentage of the hatched ever 

 reaches maturity. Fortune, good or bad, plays a 

 great part with all forms of life. The acorn that 

 becomes an oak owes much to chance — chance of 

 position and soil, and chance of the vicissitudes of 

 the woods and fields. Falling trees or branches, or 

 the foot of a passing animal, may crush or deform it, 

 or a squirrel or a raccoon devour it. Barring these 

 accidents, it owes, or may owe, not a little to its 

 inherent vitality — to its real oakhood. 



The natural competition, or the struggle for 



149 



