294 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



out the whdie range of the animal kingdom until 

 it culminates in its most consummate expression — 

 a human mother. Some of the links in this un- 

 broken ascent will be filled in at a later stage — 

 for the Evolution of Maternity is so wonderful and 

 so intricate as to deserve a treatment of its own 

 — but meantime we must pass on to notice a few 

 of the other gifts which Reproduction has bestowed 

 upon the world. In a rigid sense, it is impossible 

 to separate the gains to humanity from the Repro- 

 ductive function as distinguished from those of the 

 Nutritive. They are co-operators, not competitors, 

 and their apparently rival paths continuously inter- 

 twine. But mark a few of the things that have 

 mainly grown up around this second function, and 

 decide whether or not it be a worthy ally of the 

 Struggle for Life in the Evolution of Man. 



To begin at the most remote circumference, con- 

 sider what the world owes to-day to the Struggle 

 for the Life of Others in the world of plants. 

 This is the humblest sphere in which it can offer 

 any gifts at all, yet these are already of such a 

 magnitude that without them the higher world would 

 not only be inexpressibly the poorer, but could 

 not continue to exist. As we have just seen, all 

 the arrangements in plant life which concern the 

 flower are the creations of the Struggle for the 



