THE STRUGGLE FOR THE LIFE OF OTHERS 303 



the mass. The florets in the centre of the group, 

 packed close together, are unable to do anything in 

 this direction; but those on the margin expand the 

 perianth into a blazing circle of flame, and leave the 

 deep work of Reproduction to those within. What 

 are the advantages gained by all this mutual aid ? 

 That it makes them the fittest to survive. These 

 Co-operative Plants are among the most numerous, 

 most vigorous, and most widely diffused in Nature. 

 Self-sacrifice and Co-operation are thus recognized 

 as sound in principle. The blessing of Nature falls 

 upon them. The words themselves, in any more 

 than a merely physical sense, are hopelessly out 

 of court in any scientific interpretation of things. 

 But the point to mark is, that on the mechanical 

 equivalents of what afterwards come to have ethical 

 relations Natural Selection places a premium. Non- 

 co-operative or feebly co-operative organisms go to 

 the wall. Those which give mutual aid survive 

 and people the world with their kind. 



Without pausing to note the intricate Co-oper- 

 ations of flowers which reward the eye of the 

 specialist — the subtle alliance with Space in Dioe- 

 cious flowers ; with Time in Dichogamous species, 

 and with Size in the Dimorphic and Trimorphic 

 forms — consider for a moment the extension of 

 the principle to the Seed and Fruit. Helpless, 



