THE WEB OF LIFE 63 



pests are rife among the crops. For " the cheapest 

 and most effective insecticides are birds." 



The recognition of consequences often far- 

 reaching grows with us as we work with the 

 idea of the web of life, as we see in proper 

 perspective the criminality of those who are 

 ruthless. President Roosevelt 1 has declared his 

 abomination of " the land-skinner " " the in- 

 dividual whose idea of developing the country is 

 to cut every stick of timber of it, and then leave 

 a barren desert for the home-maker who comes 

 in after him. That man is a curse, and not a 

 blessing, to the country. The prop of the country 

 must be the man who intends so to run his business 

 that it will be profitable to his children after him." 

 Every right-thinking man, and especially those 

 who have grasped the idea of the web of life, 

 will say with Roosevelt, " / am against the land- 

 skinner every time." 



It may be said that man must exterminate a 

 good deal if he is to go on peaceably with his 

 business, and it will be admitted that there has 

 never been a strong enthusiasm, humanitarian or 

 otherwise, against the elimination of rattlesnakes, 

 and such like. The naturalist's answer is that 

 every crusade should be carefully considered on 

 its own merits, and that every careless and hasty 

 destruction of life is to be condemned. Even in 

 regard to snakes killing may be carried too far. 

 Some creatures are, as it were, on the fringes of the 

 web, while others occupy a position where many 

 threads meet. It is scientifically and aesthetically 

 deplorable that birds like the great auk and 



1 Quoted by A. H. 8. Lucas in his admirable Presidential Address, 

 "Proc. Linnean Soc. N.S.W." (1908), vol. xxxiii. pp. 1-38. 



