296 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



perfect forethought of Reproduction, plants bequeath 

 to their offspring. The foods of the world, especi- 

 ally the children's foods, are the foods of the 

 children of plants, the foods which unselfish activi- 

 ties store round the cradles of the helpless, so 

 that when the sun wakens them to their new 

 world they may not want. Every plant in the 

 world lives for Others. It sets aside something, 

 something costly, cared for, the highest expression 

 of its nature. The Seed is the tithe of Love, the 

 tithe which Nature renders to Man. When Man 

 lives upon Seeds he lives upon Love. Literally, 

 scientifically. Love is Life. If the Struggle for 

 Life has made Man, braced and disciplined him, 

 it is the Struggle for Love that sustains him. 



Pass from the foods of Man to drinks, and the 

 gifts of Reproduction once more all but exhaust 

 the list. This may be mere coincidence, but a 

 coincidence which involves both food and drink 

 is at least worth noting. The first and universal 

 food of the world is milk, a product of Reproduc- 

 tion. All distilled spirits are products of Re- 

 production. All malted liquors are made from 

 the embryos of plants. All wines are juices of 

 the grape. Ev^en on the plane of the animal 

 appetites, in mere relation to Man's hunger and 

 his thirst, the factor of Reproduction is thus seen 



