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OMIT 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872
the trees now growing on the 1859

which must formerly have been cleared of trees, now display 1860 1861 1866 1869 1872
display 1859

must 1869 1872
between the several kinds of trees must here 1859 1860 1861 1866

between the several kinds of trees, each 1869 1872
each 1859 1860 1861 1866

where each shall fall compared to that 1861 1866 1869 1872
compared to the action and reaction 1859 1860

action and reaction of the innumerable 1861 1866 1869 1872
innumerable 1859 1860

that destroy the mice." Hence it is quite credible that the presence of a feline animal in large numbers in a district might determine, through the intervention first of mice and then of bees, the frequency of certain flowers in that district!
In the case of every species, many different checks, acting at different periods of life, and during different seasons or years, probably come into play; some one check or some few being generally the most
potent;
potent,
but all
concurring
will concur
concur
in determining the average number or even the existence of the species. In some cases it can be shown that widely-different checks act on the same species in different districts. When we look at the plants and bushes clothing an entangled bank, we are tempted to attribute their proportional numbers and kinds to what we call chance. But how false a view is this! Every one has heard that when an American forest is cut down, a very different vegetation springs up; but it has been observed that OMIT ancient Indian
mounds,
ruins
in the Southern United States, which must formerly have been cleared of trees, now display the same beautiful diversity and proportion of kinds as in the surrounding virgin
forests.
forest.
What a struggle must have gone on during long
centuries,
centuries
between the several kinds of trees, each annually scattering its seeds by the thousand; what war between insect and
insect— between
insect—between
insects, snails, and other animals with birds and beasts of
prey—
prey—all
all
....
striving to increase,
and
....
all feeding on each
other
other,
or on the
trees
trees,
or
....
their seeds and seedlings, or on the other plants which first clothed the ground and thus checked the growth of the trees! Throw up a handful of feathers, and all
must
must
fall to the ground according to definite laws; but how simple is
this
the
problem where each shall fall compared to that of the action and reaction of the innumerable plants and animals which have determined, in the course of centuries, the