78 STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. [Chap. Ill 



of prey; we do not always bear in mind, that, though 

 food may be now superahundant, it is not so at all sea' 

 sons of each recurring year. 



The Term, Struggle for Existence, used in a large sense. 



I should premise that I use this term in a large and 

 metaphorical sense including dependence of one being 

 on another, and including (which is more important) not 

 only the life of the individual, but success in leaving 

 progeny. Two canine animals, in a time of dearth, may 

 be truly said to struggle with each other which shall 

 get food and live. But a plant on the edge of a desert 

 is said to struggle for life against the drought, though 

 more properly it should be said to be dependent on 

 the moisture. A plant which annually produces a 

 thousand seeds, of which only one of an average comes 

 to maturity, may be more truly said to struggle with 

 the plants of the same and other kinds which already 

 clothe the ground. The mistletoe is dependent on the 

 apple and a few other trees, hut can only in a far-fetched 

 sense be said to struggle with these trees, for, if too 

 many of these parasites grow on the same tree, it lan- 

 guishes and dies. But several seedling mistletoes, grow- 

 ing close together on the same branch, may more truly 

 be said to struggle with each other. As the mistletoe is 

 disseminated by birds, its existence depends on them- 

 and it may metaphorically be said to struggle with other 

 fruit-bearing plants, in tempting the birds to devour and 

 thus disseminate its seeds. In these several senses 

 which pass into each other, I use for convenience' sake 

 the general term of Struggle for Existence. 



