THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 35 



effect of confinement rendering them savage beyond 

 their wont in the free state ? " 



" I do not think so," I said. " Just consider 

 what was my argument, before I spoke of Nature's 

 method of eliminating the excess of reproduction. 

 Did I not clearly demonstrate that no such struggle 

 for existence prevails in the free life of Nature 

 as would account for the destruction of nine out 

 of every ten of carnivorous food-seekers, and that 

 it is utterly impossible to believe with Darwin 

 that they perish from mutual slaughter or from 

 starvation ? Is there any fact in Nature more evident 

 than that neither of these forms of destruction affect 

 to any appreciable degree the more formidable carni- 

 vora ? And there exists no reason for believing that 

 they prevail to any greater extent among other 

 carnivorous types. 



" Again, what would happen if the young of the 

 larger carnivora, protected, as we know them to be, 

 by their parents, until they are able to forage for 

 themselves, should appear as devourers of their 

 natural prey ? Neither mutual slaughter, nor destruc- 

 tion from other species capable of destroying them, 

 nor starvation, thins their ranks. Their production 

 being in such numbers, their increase would be 

 prodigious. What would then become of those 

 animals that form their natural prey ? But their 

 natural prey is never found to undergo diminution so 

 long as they have no other enemies than their 

 carnivorous destroyers. Therefore their carnivorous 



