400 SYMBIOGENESIS 



co-operative (symbiotic) factors which, indeed, he had not 

 entirely overlooked, though insufficiently appreciated. 



But now with the study of symbiosis more advanced it is 

 possible to be more explicit than in Darwin's days. We can 

 now rationally distinguish between co-operative and com- 

 petitive factors and their respective spheres of action ; and, 

 what is more, bring the light of the science of Economics to 

 bear on the phenomena concerned. Thus equipped, and with 

 an appropriate terminology, we are now able to establish a 

 proper scientific (bio-economic) method of biological interpre- 

 tation. So far as competition alone is concerned, just as it has 

 been found convenient for the practical purposes of medicine 

 (and indeed of life) to distinguish between hundreds of 

 maladies, so it is important for practical biological and 

 sociological purposes to distinguish between the varied forms 

 of biological antagonism existing in Nature. Only so shall we 

 bring order (cosmos) out of the present biological and 

 sociological chaos and arrive at a fuller appreciation of the 

 Laws of Life than has yet been possible. 



We shall now also be able to meet the burning inquiry 

 which at the present time animates the whole civilised world, 

 viz., What is the biological law? by pointing to the law of 

 Syinbiogenesis, and demonstrating that the laws of competition 

 and of " battle " are but alternatives to that of Symbiogenesis. 



If this recognition entails emancipation from an 

 ambiguous, outworn and impeding metaphor which, moreover, 

 carries far too many meanings to describe adequately what is 

 sought to be represented (or what Biology should represent), 

 the world will be the better for such emancipation. The 

 sooner we discard " The Struggle for Existence " (and with it 

 ''Natural Selection") from all scientific disquisitions, the 

 better : 



Der Mohr hat seine Schuldigkeit gethan 

 Der Mohr kann gehn. 



Bald Darwinism as once understood does not, as we have 

 already seen, stand alone in its failure to account for the 



