230 THE STRUGGLE FOB THE LIFE OF OTHERS. 



itors, and their apparently rival paths continuously 

 intertwine. But mark a few of the things that have 

 mainly grown up around this second function and 

 decide whether or not it be a worthy ally of the 

 Struggle for Life in the Evolution of Man. 



To begin at the most remote circumference, con- 

 sider what the world owes to-day to the Struggle for 

 the Life of Others in the world of plants. This is the 

 humblest sphere in which it can offer any gifts at all, 

 yet these are already of such a magnitude that with- 

 out them the higher world would not only be inex- 

 pressibly the poorer, but could not continue to exist. 

 As we have just seen, all the arrangements in plant 

 life which concern the flower are the creations of the 

 Struggle for the Life of Others. For Reproduction 

 alone the flower is created ; when the process is over 

 it returns to the dust. This miracle of beauty is a 

 miracle of Love. Its splendor of color, its variega- 

 tions, its form, its symmetry, its perfume, its honey, 

 its very texture, are all notes of Love — Love-calls or 

 Love-lures or Love-provisions for the insect world, 

 whose aid is needed to carry the pollen from anther 

 to stigma, and perfect the development of its young. 

 Yet this is but a thing thrown in, in giving something 

 else. The Flower, botanically, is the herald of the 

 Fruit. The Fruit, botanically, is the cradle of the 

 Seed. Consider how great these further achievements 

 are, how large a place in the world's history is filled 

 by these two humble things — the Fruits and Seeds of 

 plants. Without them the Struggle for Life itself 

 would almost cease. The animal Struggle for Life is 

 a struggle for what ? For Fruits and Seeds. All an- 

 imals in the long run depend for food upon Fruits 



