300 THE ISSUES OF LIFE 



Here the competition is sometimes keen, but sometimes a 

 very one-sided affair. 



The third form of the struggle for existence is between 

 living creatures and the callous and changeful physical en- 

 vironment. Thus Darwin spoke of the struggle of the plant 

 at the edge of the desert, and one thinks of reactions of 

 animals against the winter's cold, and so on. This is obvi- 

 ously non-competitive ; it is crossing swords with Fate. 



So we see that in the struggle for existence between or- 

 ganisms and the inorganic environment, the element of direct 

 competition is always absent; in that between organisms of 

 entirely different kinds whose interests conflict it is often 

 absent ; and even in the struggle between members of the 

 same kith and kin the supposed state of internecine warfare 

 is often conspicuous by its absence. The furious battles 

 between different kinds of ants, and between disorganised 

 hives of bees, and between true ants and white ants, are 

 among the few phenomena in the animal world that suggest 

 human warfare. 



It may be said that this is surely cutting at the roots of 

 Darwinism (Natural Selectionism) to deny that fellows of 

 the same kith and kin are sifted inter se, but we make no 

 such denial. Our doubt is as to whether the sifting is often 

 effected by internecine intra-specific competition. Individ- 

 uals possessing an advantageous variation which enables 

 them to meet difficulties successfully are favoured by Natu- 

 ral Selection, as the phrase has it; our point is that their 

 success does not necessarily depend on any warfare or com- 

 petition with their fellows. When a plague enters a house- 

 hold and only one member survives, he does so because his 

 constitution successfully parried the microbe, not by any 

 competition with his brothers and sisters. When the last 



