THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 83 



antarctic ice and the Protococcus of the red snow. If our 

 globe is proceeding from a condition in which it was too 

 hot to support any but the lowest living thing to a con- 

 dition in which it will be too cold to permit of the exist- 

 ence of any others, the course of life upon its surface 

 must describe a trajectory like that of a ball fired from 

 a mortar; and the sinking half of that course is as much 

 a part of the general process of evolution as the rising. 

 From the point of view of the moralist the animal 

 world is on about the same level as a gladiator's show. 

 The creatures are fairly well treated, and set to fight 

 whereby the strongest, the swiftest, and the cunningest 

 live to fight another day. The spectator has no need to 

 turn his thumbs down, as no quarter is given. He 

 must admit that the skill and training displayed are won- 

 derful. But he must shut his eyes if he would not see 

 that more or less enduring suffering is the meed of both 

 vanquished and victor. And since the great gams is 

 going on in every corner of the world, thousands of times 

 a minute; since, were our ears sharp enough, we need 

 not descend to the gates of hell to hear 



sospiri, pianti, ed alti guai. 

 Voci alte e fioche, e suon di man con elle 2 



it seems to follow that, if the world is governed by 

 benevolence, it must be a different sort of benevolence 

 from that of John Howard. 3 



But the old Babylonians wisely symbolized Nature by 

 their great goddess Istar, who combined the attributes of 



2 ... Sighs, complaints, and ululations loud 



And voices high and hoarse, with sound of hands, 

 Dante, Inferno, Canto 111:22, 27. Longfellow's translation. 



3 John Howard was an eighteenth century British philanthro- 

 pist who brought about important reforms in British prisons. 



