X. RELATIONS OF PLANTS TO EACH 

 OTHER AND THEIR HABITAT 



230. Societies and communities. — All living things 

 exist in the form of societies and communities, in 

 a manner which is fairly well illustrated by the 

 mode of life of the human famil}-. Men attempt 

 to live in the places where they may most easily 

 obtain food, clothing, and shelter, and enjoy comfort. 

 Nearly every man devotes his energy to certain 

 kinds of work, and lives in a suitable house so far 

 as possible for him to do so. It may be readily seen 

 that the men devoted to one trade could not form a 

 community. Thus the tailors, tinners, blacksmiths, 

 carpenters, and merchants could not separately form 

 communities, for a community is made up of repre- 

 sentatives of each of these and many other kinds of 

 workers. A community comprises the people in a 

 town, village, city, or a region of the country occu- 

 pied by a village and outlying land, according to 

 the habits of the people. Generally some one trade 

 or group of workers occupies the most prominent 

 place in the community, and this causes it to be 



191 



