THE LAW OF CONCORD IN NATURE 37 



feeding in themselves involve regulative, limiting and restraining 

 factors in so far as every worker or unit is fed in accordance with 

 its contributions, as every substance is supplied in accordance 

 with reciprocal needs, and particularly because a strenuous, 

 working organism has to be restrained in its appetites because 

 of the very fact of work. I would make it a strong point, there- 

 fore, that Symbiosis constitutes a safeguard not only of adequate 

 work, but also of normal appetites and, hence, also a safeguard 

 against disease and likewise against prolific reproduction. The 

 symbiotic nexus, as already pointed out, has successfully estab- 

 lished itself precisely because of a fundamental and perennial need 

 of regularisation of supply and demand, both of food material and 

 of individuals and species. Those who entirely overlook the 

 indispensable symbiotic nexus in organic civilisation, of course are 

 not unnaturally startled to find that an indiscriminate supply of 

 any one essential substance can have such surprising correlated bad 

 effects as actually exist. Once, however, we grant the need of 

 symbiotic moderation, it is clear that no link in the symbiotic chain 

 of life can be seriously interfered with without other links being 

 thereby thrown out of gear. 



The " Law of Minimum," therefore, is nothing more than the 

 " Law of Symbiotic Moderation." This " Law of Minimum," 

 or of " Symbiotic Moderation " is closely akin to another which, 

 as I have elsewhere shown, operates as an application to Biology 

 of Gresham's " Law of Currency," namely, that bad organic 

 " currency " drives out good " currency," much the same as in 

 the life of States bad currency drives out good. 



And these laws may indeed be considered as affording further 

 apposite analogy between Sex and Nutrition. The fusion oi 

 germ-cells in the process of Fertilisation proceeds in such a manner 

 that after mytosis the germ-cell contains of unclear substances 

 only that, but all that, which is necessary to produce a new typical 

 aggregation of hereditary substances. Superfluities are eliminated. 

 The success of that form of sexual co-operation which we call 

 " Fertilisation," would thus seem to depend upon the unimpeded 

 union of essential elements, and the process of Fertilisation, in 

 the last analysis, may be said to purport racial purity quite as 

 much as amphimixis, both being indispensable to true viability 

 and true success. 



Physiologists are beginning to see that the process of Digestion 

 inter alia purports similar ends, and hence, it is explainable why 



