THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LIFE OF OTHERS. 23) 



and Seeds, or upon lesser creatures which have util. 

 ized Fruits and Seeds. Three-fourths of the popu- 

 lation of the world at the present moment subsist 

 upon rice. What is rice ? It is a seed ; a product of 

 Reproduction. Of the other fourth, three-fourths 

 live upon grains — barley, wheat, oats, millet. What 

 are these grains? Seeds — stores of starch or albumen 

 which, in the perfect forethought of Reproduction, 

 plants bequeath to their offspring. The foods of the 

 world, especially the children's foods, are the foods 

 of the children of plants, the foods which unselfish 

 activities store round the cradles of the helpless, so 

 that when the sun wakens them to their new world 

 they may not want. Every plant in the world lives 

 for Others. It sets aside something, something costly, 

 cared for, the highest expression of its nature. The 

 Seed is the tithe of Love, the tithe which Nature 

 renders to Man. When Man lives upon Seeds he 

 lives upon Love. Literally, scientifically, Love is Life. 

 If the Struggle for Life has made Man, braced and 

 disciplined him, it is the Struggle foi Love that sus- 

 tains him. 



Pass from the foods of Man to drinks, and the gifts 

 of Reproduction once more all but exhaust the list. 

 This may be mere coincidence, but a coincidence 

 which involves both food and drink is at least worth 

 noting. The first and universal food of the world is 

 milk, a product of Reproduction. All distilled spirits 

 are products of Reproduction. All malted liquors are 

 made from the embryos of plants. All wines are 

 juices of the grape. Even on the plane of the animal 

 appetites, in mere relation to Man's hunger and his 

 thirst, the factor of Reproduction is thus seen to be 



