﻿XI. 



THE RIGHT TO LIVE.* 



When we come to think of it, it is strikingly 

 patent that the world was not fashioned to 

 especially promote the convenience and happi- 

 ness of individuals. Should we assume such an 

 hypothesis what explanation could be offered 

 for the prevalence of parasitism, by which the of^^nts^ 

 individuals of one species of animal or plant 

 live upon, and at the expense of the individu- 

 als of another species, or what could be said 

 in extenuation of the carnivorous habit, or 

 even of the herbivorous habit ? We find that 

 plants as well as animals are no respecters of 

 personal liberty. The glittering tentacles of 

 the sundews encompass the struggling fly, and 

 reduce the exquisitely developed body to a 

 reeking paste, and bring to nought its enjoy- 



*Read before the Parlor Club, an organization devoted to 

 literary and scientifie culture, Lafayette, Ind., Sept. 17, 1897. 



