Struggle for Nourishment 



of the existence of which we are not certain ! 

 For aught we know there may be an intracellular 

 struggle for nourishment among the various 

 molecules and among the atoms which compose 

 the molecules. If one molecule enjoys any 

 special advantage over the others the result may 

 be an unusual degree of development of the 

 resulting unit character ; in other words, the 

 result will be a variation in the organism. This 

 variation may prove favourable or unfavourable 

 to its possessor. 



Certain phenomena seem to point to a struggle 

 for nourishment between the germinal and the 

 somatic portions of the egg, between the parts from 

 which the sexual cells of the resulting organism 

 are produced and those which give rise to the body 

 of the organism. Each molecule may strive, so 

 to speak, to increase at the expense of the others. 

 Thus, great size in an organism is likely to be 

 produced at the expense of the germinal cell- 

 forming molecules. In other words, great size in 

 an organism would be incompatible with exces- 

 sive fecundity. This is what we observe in 

 nature. On the other hand, poor development 

 of bodily tissue, as in the case of intestinal para- 

 sites, would be correlated with great fecundity. 

 Some organisms are mere sacs full of eggs. 



Success in the struggle for nourishment of one 

 molecule might be shared by the other molecules 

 near to it, hence the phenomena of correlation. 



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