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There is perhaps no phenomenon of nature that is at once so important,
so universal; and so little understood, as the struggle for existence
continually going on among all organised beings. To most persons nature
appears calm, orderly, and peaceful. They see the birds singing in the
trees, the insects hovering over the flowers, the squirrel climbing
among the tree-tops, and all living things in the possession of health
and vigour, and in the enjoyment of a sunny existence. But they do not
see, and hardly ever think of, the means by which this beauty and
harmony and enjoyment is brought about. They do not see the constant and
daily search after food, the failure to obtain which means weakness or
death; the constant effort to escape enemies; the ever-recurring
struggle against the forces of nature. This daily and hourly struggle,
this incessant warfare, is nevertheless the very means by which much of
the beauty and harmony and enjoyment in nature is produced, and also
affords one of the most important elements in bringing about the origin
of species.


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