ioo GRAND STRATEGY OF EVOLUTION 



in many different ways, to form still larger, less co- 

 herent groups, thus leading up to the many different 

 kinds of cooperative social growth, social multiplica- 

 tion, and social amalgamation. 



These three basic methods of vital growth: (i) 

 growth in unit volume and in unit organization; (2) 

 by multiplication or dissociation, and (3) by cooper- 

 ative union and organization, or association, are fam- 

 iliar ways of growth and development, every phase 

 of the process having its own peculiar limitations. 



Justly to appreciate these larger methods of growth, 

 we must clearly recognize that individuality and unity 

 do not depend on the existence of different parts either 

 at the same time, or near the same place, or on their 

 bodily contact and cohesion, but on the continuity of 

 their cooperative action and mutual services. 



There are invisible avenues of exchange which 

 everywhere permeate nature, knitting separate lives to- 

 gether into a complexly woven fabric. They are of 

 infinite variety, of the most subtle and enduring char- 

 acter, and as intangible as life itself. Like wireless 

 impulses, they may have no fixed abode, nor substan- 

 tial boundaries, yet they are as sure and effective in 

 their services as blood-vessels, nerve fibres, or ocean 

 cables. 



These ways and means of upbuilding nature life 

 are overshadowed by the more obvious isolation and 

 conflicting interests of highly individualized lives. It 

 is only when animals and plants live in more immediate 

 relations with one another, or when they are held 

 closely together by common physical bonds, or when 

 they are merged with one another in the more intimate 



