The struggle may take the form of a literal battle between two
individuals, or of the individual with inclemency of climate or
other destructive agents. More usually it is a competition, no more
noticeable and no less real than that between merchants or
manufacturers in the same line of trade.

The weeds in our gardens compete with the flowers for food, light,
and place, and crowd them out unless prevented by man. And when the
weeds alone remain, they crowd on each other until only a few of the
hardiest and most vigorous survive. And flowers, by their nectar,
color, and odor, compete for the visits of insects, which insure
cross-fertilization. And fruits are frequently or usually the
inducements by which plants compete for the aid of animals in the
dissemination of their seeds. So there is everywhere competition and
struggle; many fail and perish, few succeed and survive.

In a foot-race it is often very difficult to name the winner. Muscle
alone does not win, not even good heart and lungs. Good judgment,
patience, coolness, courage, many mental and moral qualities, are
essential to the successful athlete. So in the struggle for life.
The race is not always to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.

The total of "points" which wins this "grand prize" is the
aggregate of many items, some of which appear to us very
insignificant. Hence, when we ask, "Who will survive?" the answer is
necessarily vague. Mr. Darwin's answer is, Those best conformed to
their environment; and Mr. Spencer's statement of the survival of
the fittest means the same thing.

The judges who pronounce and execute the verdict of death, or award
the prize of life, are the forces and conditions of environment. We
have already considered the meaning of this word. Many of its forces
and conditions are still unknown, or but very imperfectly
understood. But known or unknown, visible or invisible, the result
of their united action is the extinction or degradation of these
individuals which deviate from certain fairly well-marked lines of
development. We must keep clearly before our minds the fact that the
world of living beings makes up by far the most important part of
the environment of any individual plant or animal. Two plants may be
equally well suited to the soil and climate of any region; but if
one have a scanty development of root or leaf, or is for any reason
more liable to attacks from insects or germs, other things being
equal, it will in