CHAPTER II 



THE FULNESS OF THE EARTH 



The greatness of living nature lies in its bounty. To 

 the earlier races of mankind this fulness was brought 

 home by the increase of herds and crops, on which 

 their sustenance depended. ' The cattle upon a 

 thousand hills,' ' The valleys also are covered over 

 with corn ' — such were the images that conveyed a 

 joyful sense of the full measure of earth's ungrudging- 

 ness. From time immemorial, men have acknowledged 

 their dependence on the fertility of nature by appeals 

 to the spirit of vegetation and by charms against 

 malevolent influences. They realised that success 

 in raising foodstuffs and stocks was only possible by 

 opposing the inroads of weeds and beasts of prey. In 

 the abundance of locusts or lions, of weeds or rust, 

 they saw that the fertility of nature was not directed 

 to the good of man only, and also that through the 

 powers of increase which man shares with animals and 

 plants, arises the keenest of all forms of the struggle 

 for existence. Small wonder the early shepherds cele- 

 brated successful harvests or increasing herds. 



In later times the wonderful diversity and rich- 

 ness of human and animal life became more widely 



