CHAPTER III 



THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 



The Idea not so Simple as it seems — The Anthropomorphism of 

 the Idea — Different Forms of the Struggle for Existence — 

 Struggle for Existence in the Plant World — Illustration of the 

 Complexity of the Struggle for Existence — Reasons for the 

 Struggle for Existence — ^Results of the Struggle for Existence — 

 Breadth of the Darwinian Concept of the Struggle for 

 Existence — The other Side of the Struggle for Existence — 

 Mutual Aid — Application of the Concept to Human Life. 



The Idea not so Simple as it seems. — No evolu- 

 tionist phrase is more familiar than " the struggle 

 for existence," which has passed into everyday 

 usage. Yet it is not easy to grasp its full meaning, 

 or to keep it vividly in mind. " Nothing is easier," 

 Darwin said, " than to admit in words the truth 

 of the universal struggle for life, or more difl&cult — 

 at least I have fotind it so — ^than constantly to 

 bear this conclusion in mind. Yet, unless it be 

 thoroughly engrained in the mind, the whole 

 economy of nature, with every fact on distribution, 

 rarity, abundance, extinction, and variation, will 

 be dimly seen or quite misunderstood."^ 



If a recognition of the " struggle for existence " 

 is essential to a clear outlook on nature, and 

 if Darwin found difficulty in bearing it constantly 

 in mind, we must be prepared to take some pains 

 in trying to get a grasp of the facts which the 



t " The Origin of Species," p. 49. 



