Omaha daily bee., 1914-09-15
To Live is to Fight
French Biologist Says Nature is Revealed in Its
Struggle Against the Force of Gravity.

the cane and the crab are united by an
invisible mechanism so that to each
movement of the end OF the cane cor
responds instantly, and with precision,
movement of the crab, thanks to which
the defense is always directed exactly
toward the enemy"
Now this conduct of the poor crab
badgered by an inquisitlve and imperti-
nent savant Is, Mr.. lie Dantec finds.
perfectly anthropomorphic," this is TO
say, in plain words, just what man
would do in similar circumstances, and
he likens it in particular to the sparring
Of a pair of bruisers in the boxing ring.
Those who have followed Mr.. lie Dan
tee thus far may not see that they are
much advanced toward a comprehension
OF the statement that all life is fight,
or an act Of defense. But follow his next
step and you may at least find new food
for thought.
The examples OF the irTitated crab and
the watchful boxer are, he admits, open
! TO the objection that in them intelligence
enters into play, and what is wanted Is
proof that life exhibits the same defen-
s!ve acts and attitude when intelligence
is not in question. The proof he offers
will surprise you. Here IL is:
How does 1t happen that a man, a
young lamb or chicken. stands erect?
This phenomenon is the result OF a
prodigious assemblage of factors. One
my say that all parts of the Individual
collaborate to produce the vertical at
titude, and II this coordination Of parts
is destroyed as by a sudden congestion,
or a pistol shot, the animal falls The
cause of the erect attitude is the attrac-
tion OF gravitation.
That attraction acts as an aggressive
force which Is resisted by the living body
II there were no attraction of gTavita-
tlon man could not stand erect because
he could not fall.
The same opposition to gravitation is
shown by a tree. Because the earth's
attraction tends 10 pull it down the tree
grows up. It's rfe is fight against
gravity, a struggle against an opposing
force. A llfeless object like a stone
yields TO gravity and falls down because
it is drawn down. The living object. by
virtue Of the principle of life, reacts
against tho force and stands. or grows.
up when gravity pulls It down.
II AdhNS tue INTENSIVE dNNlNuuC Oh NtlS
I crab and Of the pugilist but its action
betrays no conscious intelligence as theirs
! does.
! I cannot undertake TO give here a
complete summary of Mr.. lie Dantec's
argument. but there is another part of II
which needs to be mentioned. The strug-
( gle between the living organism and the
I inimical forces that attack II is an in
itiation Of them, but an imitation In re-
verse, so TO speak, The fighting crab
: initiates the motions Of the cane. to op-
/ pose them. The growing tree initiates
the force of gravity. but in an exactly
contrary sense.
! II you do not read the book you may,
at least, find much mental exercise In
I pondering over what we have borrowed
from 1t; and II you do read II, I. for my
own part, would advise you not 10 ac-
/ cept his conclusion that there is nothing
about man that physics and chemistry
cannot explain But when that conclu-
sion has been rejected there will remain
much else that will be an addition 10
. your knowledge ana TO your stock OF
4 material for thought.