INTRODUCTION I'J 



thirty-three must die, and only two remain to replace 

 the parents. 



It is just the same with all animals and plants. 

 Everywhere there are far more born into the world 

 than can be supported. Take an apple-tree in blossom. 

 If a fresh tree were born of every flower, there would 

 soon be nothing but apple-trees on the earth. But 

 besides the fruit-trees there are myriads of other plants, 

 and each of these has an immense progeny. The 

 earth is not large enough to hold this vast wealth; 

 every corner of it is already occupied. Thus it is 

 clear that over-production in Nature creates an infinity 

 of life only to destroy it. 



We may, of course, admire the "inexhaustible riches" 

 of Nature, but on the other hand we must shudder at 

 the tragedy of millions and millions of living things 

 coming into the world only to die, because there is no 

 room for them. However, they all have an unconquer- 

 able lust for life, and are impelled by it to fight with 

 all their strength for space with those that already occupy 

 it. Thus there is bound to be an endless strife in 

 Nature. It is the "wealth of Nature" that occasions 

 the pitiless, ghastly, despairing struggle, and converts 

 the earth into a reeking battle-field. 



However, we will not regard Nature, so cold and 

 pitiless, with the warm feeling of a human heart. We 

 will seek to detect the causes that lie at the bottom of 

 the facts. 



Darwin explained to us the over-production of Nature, 

 by showing how large the posterity of this or that living 

 thing would be. All animals by no means increase at 



