NATURAL SELECTION 25 



of advantage to these larger communal units, we find the 

 length of life is not determined by the close of the time of 

 functional reproduction among men, as it is among so many 

 of the lower forms. Still, among men, as among other 

 animals, it is the advantage of the race and not the welfare 

 of the individual which determines the length of life. 



This fact, that among men the welfare of the race is the 

 thing secured even at the sacrifice of the good of the indi- 

 vidual, is clearly seen when the two come into conflict. It 

 is not well for the individual that he die in battle, yet, 

 when the national welfare demands it, thousands so perish, 

 and there has even been developed among men a passion 

 for such death for the good of their country. When a man 

 has so indulged his evil impulses that he has become a 

 menace to the communal welfare, he is restrained by a fine, 

 or is deprived of his liberty, or may even be killed, and no 

 conditions of his personal welfare are allowed to interfere. 

 Even those who oppose capital punishment do so chiefly 

 because they believe it hurtful to the community as a whole. 

 Altruistic self-sacrifice is in line with the great principle in 

 accordance with which nature seeks the welfare of each 

 species as a whole, with no hesitation because of any hard- 

 ship to individuals which may be involved. 



Let us give attention to one other corollary of the 

 theory of natural selection. The struggle for existence is 

 most severe between those animals or plants which seek to 

 occupy the same place in nature. Plants which live in 

 moist valleys may come into very severe competition with 

 one another, but they do not come into rivalry with the 

 plants which like the dry hills or the barren rocks. The 



