EGOISM IN THE HUMAN RACE 227 



tive power, it is not always possible even for twen- 

 tieth century man to prove himself the complete 

 victor. Insect pests still make their ravages, some- 

 times almost unhindered by the most strenuous 

 efforts of man to check them. Some regions of the 

 world are still uninhabitable because of the abun- 

 dance of insect pests and everywhere they form the 

 most serious enemies of the agriculturist. Against 

 still lower and smaller animal enemies we are even 

 more helpless. We have just learned that some of our 

 most serious diseases — malaria, yellow fever, etc. — 

 are caused by microscopic organisms which are them- 

 selves distributed by other animals. In these direc- 

 tions, then, man has still a battle to carry on with the 

 animal world, and it may be long before it is brought 

 to a triumphant close. 



Struggle with Inanimate Nature 



The second phase of man's struggle for existence 

 is his contest with inanimate nature. Among the 

 savage races this is excessively severe. Living, as 

 they do, upon such fruits as they can incidentally 

 gather, and upon the flesh of such animals as they 

 are skillful enough to capture, they are many times 

 brought to actual starvation by lack of food. At 

 certain seasons of the year fruits fail them and 

 animal food is not to be found. Food is almost 

 always scarce among the savage races of man, and 

 starvation is a mighty factor in their struggle for 

 life. The scarcity of food produces the endless, rest- 

 less migrations of the savage tribes, which can rarely 

 be found for any considerable length of time in one 

 localitj^ as they are forced inevitably to keep moving 

 in search of new food supplies. The whole history 



