﻿THE 
  BEGINNINGS 
  OF 
  DEPENDENT 
  LIFE 
  

  

  BY 
  JOHN 
  M. 
  CLARKE 
  

  

  For 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  the 
  writer 
  has 
  endeavored 
  to 
  assemble 
  

   material 
  from 
  the 
  older 
  faunas 
  which 
  might 
  illuminate 
  the 
  incipient- 
  

   expressions 
  of 
  dependent 
  life. 
  It 
  is 
  through 
  this 
  avenue 
  only 
  that 
  

   the 
  problem 
  of 
  the 
  origin 
  of 
  the 
  symbiotic 
  conditions 
  which 
  now 
  

   pervade 
  all 
  nature 
  can 
  ultimately 
  be 
  approached 
  with 
  hope 
  of 
  

   resolution. 
  

  

  The 
  dependent 
  condition 
  of 
  individual 
  existence 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   manifold 
  presentments 
  of 
  organic 
  adaptation 
  which 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  com- 
  

   prehended 
  best 
  by 
  comparison 
  of 
  the 
  complicated 
  conditions 
  

   ^prevalent 
  today 
  with 
  their 
  simpler 
  expressions 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  life 
  of 
  the 
  

   earth. 
  Adaptation 
  is 
  in 
  large 
  measure 
  a 
  sociological 
  problem 
  of 
  

   immediate 
  concern. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  proper 
  to 
  consider 
  the 
  more 
  serious 
  

   features 
  of 
  sociological 
  adaptation 
  as 
  merely 
  analogous 
  to 
  organic 
  

   adaptation. 
  In 
  human 
  society 
  dependence 
  means 
  simplicity, 
  that 
  

   is, 
  loss 
  of 
  complexity; 
  it 
  reduces 
  moral 
  independence 
  and 
  induces 
  

   idleness, 
  beggary, 
  misery 
  and 
  crime. 
  Here 
  is 
  no 
  question 
  of 
  

   analogy, 
  but 
  rather 
  of 
  continuity 
  of 
  mode, 
  of 
  cause 
  and 
  effect, 
  

   penetrating 
  human 
  society. 
  Such 
  laws 
  as 
  govern 
  its 
  fundamental 
  

   and 
  primary 
  manifestations 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  sought 
  in 
  the 
  primitive 
  life 
  of 
  

   the 
  earth. 
  

  

  I 
  am 
  fully 
  aware 
  of 
  what 
  extensive 
  data 
  are 
  essential 
  to 
  adequate 
  

   conclusions 
  in 
  this 
  inquiry 
  and 
  how 
  far-reaching 
  the 
  bearings 
  of 
  the 
  

   inquiry 
  must 
  be. 
  At 
  this 
  time 
  I 
  should 
  go 
  no 
  further 
  perhaps 
  

   than 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  very 
  numerous 
  and 
  most 
  instructive 
  

   expressions 
  of 
  these 
  conditions 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  practicable 
  tD 
  I 
  ring 
  

   together, 
  abiding 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  eventually 
  collating 
  more 
  copious 
  

   data. 
  I 
  shall 
  not 
  go 
  too 
  far, 
  however, 
  in 
  suggesting 
  certain 
  

   obvious 
  inferences 
  which 
  seem 
  entirely 
  justified 
  by 
  these 
  data 
  and 
  

   by 
  the 
  general 
  principles 
  of 
  adaptation. 
  

  

  Dependent 
  life, 
  whether 
  expressed 
  in 
  the 
  often 
  extraordinarily 
  

   complicated 
  conditions 
  of 
  parasitism, 
  or 
  in 
  more 
  simple 
  symbiotic 
  

   manifestations 
  such 
  as 
  commensalism 
  or 
  mutualism 
  or 
  still 
  more 
  

   simply 
  in 
  the 
  merely 
  fixed 
  condition 
  of 
  the 
  individual 
  through 
  

   the 
  whole 
  or 
  a 
  part 
  of 
  its 
  life, 
  involves 
  conditions 
  of 
  degeneration. 
  

   These 
  degenerative 
  effects 
  are 
  relative; 
  they 
  may 
  involve 
  an 
  indi- 
  

   vidual 
  in 
  most 
  of 
  its 
  essential 
  organs 
  and 
  functions, 
  a 
  genus, 
  a 
  

  

  146 
  

  

  