INTERDEPENDENCE OF ORGANISMS 5 



destruction upon any of its enemies that may become 

 excessively abundant ; and even the squirrels that greedily 

 gather its acorns to eat, distribute some of them in just the 

 way to insure another generation of oaks. 



Moreover, this complex relation began at its birth, and 

 will continue until it is "resolved to earth again." Weevils 

 devour its acorns; cutworms and lusty smothering weeds 

 imperil its infancy; and the trampling and browsing of 

 quadrupeds are a great menace to its early youth. The 

 storm that scars it, or the disease that weakens it makes 

 the opportunity for attack by beetles or molds that are 

 harmless in its health. When it is dead, its corpse is 

 riddled by borers and softened by molds and speedily 

 reduced to dust. 



And of the host of friends and enemies with which it has 

 come in contact, each has its own friends and enemies, 

 ready to help or to devour. There is no living thing that 

 either lives or dies unto itself alone. 



Let anyone who would see for himself the complexity 

 of the web of life, study some common plant or animal, 

 observing all the other plants and animals affecting it, 

 and their inter-relationships ; or, let him examine the home 

 of some social animal, and find all the inmates of different 

 species, and learn how they manage to live together. 

 There is no plant or animal, no flower or fruit, no nest or 

 burrow, no carcass or log, no product whatsoever of living 

 nature, that will not show a community of life with re- 

 lations infinitely varied and complex. To see how much 

 we ourselves are continually dependent on the organic life 

 of the world, we need only examine the food on our table, 

 the furnishings of our house or the materials of our ward- 

 robe ; however simple these departments of our living may 

 be, each will attest that many kinds of plants and animals 

 from many parts of the earth are tributary to it. 



