Struggle for Nourishment 
of the existence of which we are not certain! 
For aught we know there may be an intracellular 
struggle for nourishment among the various 
molecules and among the atoms which compose 
the molecules. If one molecule enjoys any 
special advantage over the others the result may 
be an unusual degree of development of the 
resulting unit character; in other words, the 
result will be a variation in the organism. This 
variation may prove favourable or unfavourable 
to its possessor. 
Certain phenomena seem to point to a struggle 
for nourishment between the germinal and the 
somatic portions of the egg, between the parts from 
which the sexual cells of the resulting organism 
are produced and those which give rise to the body 
of the organism. Each molecule may strive, so 
to speak, to increase at the expense of the others. 
Thus, great size in an organism is likely to be 
produced at the expense of the germinal cell- 
forming molecules. In other words, great size in 
an organism would be incompatible with exces- 
sive fecundity. This is what we observe in 
nature. On the other hand, poor development 
of bodily tissue, as in the case of intestinal para- 
sites, would be correlated with great fecundity. 
Some organisms are mere sacs full of eggs. 
Success in the struggle for nourishment of one 
molecule might be shared by the other molecules 
near to it, hence the phenomena of correlation. 
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