aracter the
more transitory processes of life and death in organisms and is
probably a representation of the primary steps in that great process of
evolution by which all terrestrial forms, organic and inorganic, have
been evolved from the original ether by an action inconceivably slow,
continuous, and admitting of no break in the series from inanimate to
animate forms.

From colloidal slime to man is a long road, the conception of which
taxes our imaginations to the utmost, but it is an ascent which is now
fairly well demonstrated. Indeed, the problems of the missing links are
not so difficult as is the problem of the origin of the organs and
functions which man has acquired as products of adaptation. For whether
we look upon the component parts of our present bodies as useful or
useless mechanisms, we must regard them as the result of age-long
conflicts between environmental forces and organisms.

Everywhere something is pursuing and something is escaping another
creature. It is a constant drama of getting food and of seeking to
escape being made food, evolving in the conflict structures fitted to
accomplish both reactions. Everywhere the strong prey upon the weak, the
swift upon the slow, the clever upon the stupid; and the weak, the slow,
the stupid, retaliate by evolving mechanisms of defense, which more or
less adequately repel or render futile the oppressor's attack. For each
must live, and those already living have proved their right to existence
by a more or less complete adaptation to their environment. The result
of this twofold conflict between living beings is to evolve the manifold
structures and functions--teeth, claws, skin, color, fur, feathers,
horns, tusks, wily instincts, strength, stealth, deceit, and
humility--which make up character in the animal world. According to the
nature and number of each being's enemies has its own special mechanism
been evolved, distinguishing it from its fellows and enabling it to get
a living in its particular environment.

In every case the fate of each creature seems to have been staked upon
one mechanism. The tiger by its teeth and claws, the elephant and the
rhinoceros by their strength, the bird by its wings, the deer by its
fleetness, the turtle by its carapace--all are enabled to counter the
attacks of enemies and to procreate. Where there is a negative defense,
such as a shell or quills, there is little need and no evidence of
intelligence: where a rank odor,