Biological Point of View 



life flows, so to speak, into progressively diver- 

 gent forms. In the process of time the innu- 

 merable species and varieties of the vegetable 

 and animal world spring into being. 



A third biological principle is the inevitable 

 struggle for survival that arises from the con- 

 flicting interests of the different forms of life. 

 Increase being at a rapid geometric rate — 2, 

 4, 8, i6, 32, etc. — it is obviously impossible 

 for all to find food, so there ensues a strenuous 

 competition in which the weaker starve or be- 

 come food for others. A fourth principle, the 

 survival of the fittest, naturally follows. The 

 strong, the swift, the cunning, the capable that 

 arise out of the chaotic conflict stand forth as 

 higher creations to enjoy for a brief time the 

 fruits of their victory, until the rising tide of 

 competition in turn overwhelms them. Nature's 

 apparent aim is fulfilled in the survival of the 

 fittest, in a progressive series. The losers — 

 the unfit — are forced backward toward obliv- 

 ion, perhaps to attain a degree of usefulness 

 in becoming food for their betters. 



2. Early Stages of Evolution 



In accordance with these principles the biol- 

 ogist pictures world history for us in somewhat 



