THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LIFE OF OTHERS 295 



Life of Others. For Reproduction alone the flower 

 is created ; when the process is over it returns to 

 the dust. This miracle of beauty is a miracle 

 of Love. Its splendour of colour, its variegations, 

 its form, its symmetry, its perfume, its honey, its 

 very texture, are all notes of Love — Love-calls or 

 Love-lures or Love-provisions for the insect world, 

 whose aid is needed to carry the pollen from anther 

 to stigma, and perfect the development of its young. 

 Yet this is but a thing thrown in, in giving some- 

 thing else. The Flower, botanically, is the herald 

 of the Fruit. The Fruit, botanically, is the cradle 

 of the Seed. Consider how great these further 

 achievements are, how large a place in the world's 

 history is filled by these two humble things — the 

 Fruits and Seeds of plants. Without them the 

 Struggle for Life itself would almost cease. The 

 animal Struggle for Life is a struggle for what? 

 For Fruits and Seeds. All animals in the long run 

 depend for food upon Fruits and Seeds, or upon 

 lesser creatures which have utilized Fruits and Seeds. 

 Three-fourths of the population of the world at 

 the present moment subsist upon rice. What is 

 rice ? It is a seed ; a product of Reproduction. 

 Of the other fourth, three-fourths live upon grains — 

 barley, wheat, oats, millet. What are these grains ? 

 Seeds — stores of starch or albumen which, in the 



