CHAPTER II 

 THE LAW OF CONCORD IN NATURE 



La nature aime les croisements. E. FOURIER. 



IN the previous chapter I have tried to show that there exists 

 so close a parallel between the Economics governing the growth 

 of the organic world and those governing the progress of human 

 civilisation as to justify the concept of " organic civilisation," 

 and the allied biological concept of " duties " in the way of 

 division of labour and of community of life. 



In particular I showed a great " civilising " force in Nature 

 springing from, and associated with, Symbiosis, i.e., the pheno- 

 menon of systematic biological co-operation. Symbiosis we found 

 to be the source of accumulation of wholesome physiological 

 capital which is essential to the progress of organic life ; so much 

 so that we felt justified in drawing the inference which is here 

 to be further fortified that in Nature as in human life the best 

 results are achieved by a system of wholesome, independent, 

 though interdependent, labour. 



We found that the existence of numerous symbiotic " trade " 

 systems in the world of life acts as so much " pressure " in the 

 direction of a further and general advance. I spoke in this 

 connection of the principle of Symbiogenesis, meaning thereby 

 the direction given to evolution by the long-continued operation 

 of systematic biological reciprocity in the production of higher 

 forms of life and in the more complete development of beneiicial 

 relations between them. 



The success of Symbiosis was found to be determined by the 

 completeness and efficiency of reciprocal arrangements, of give 

 and take, and by the absence of depredation. It was also 

 emphasised that Symbiosis primarily subserves a quasi-economic 

 purpose in the natural world, that such economic association 

 as Symbiosis primarily entails, in course of time, and with growing 

 efficiency, conduces to pronounced physiological results, affecting 

 sex, structure, status and biological correlations. Stress was 



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