56 PARA. Chap. IL 



energy of the vegetation might produce. There is the 

 incomparable beauty and variety of the foUage, the 

 vivid colours, the richness and exuberance everywhere 

 displayed, which make, in my opinion, the richest 

 woodland scenery in Northern Europe a sterile desert 

 in comparison. But it is especially the enjoyment of 

 life manifested by individual existences which com- 

 pensates for the destruction and pain caused by the 

 inevitable competition. Although this competition is 

 nowhere more active, and the dangers to which each 

 individual is exposed nowhere more numerous, yet 

 nowhere is this enjoyment more vividly displayed. 

 If vegetation had feeling, its vigorous and rapid gro^\i:h, 

 uninterrupted by the cold sleep of winter, would, one 

 would think, be productive of pleasure to its individuals. 

 In animals, the mutual competition may be greater, the 

 predacious species more constantly on the alert, than in 

 temperate climates ; but there is at the same time no 

 severe periodical struggle with inclement seasons. In 

 sunny nooks, and at certain seasons, the trees and the 

 air are gay with birds and insects, all in the full enjoy- 

 ment of existence ; the warmth, the sunlight, and the 

 abundance of food producing their results in the anima- 

 tion and sportiveness of the beings congregated together. 

 We ought not to leave out of sight, too, the sexual 

 decorations — the brilliant colours and ornamentation of 

 the males, which, although existing in the fauna of all 

 climates, reach a higher degree of perfection in the 

 tropics than elsewhere. This seems to point to the 

 pleasures of the pairing seasons. I think it is a childish 

 notion that the beauty of birds, insects, and other 



