A Short History of the WorldWells, H. G. (Herbert George)
History
A Short History of the World
Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)
World history
The most fundamental of all these differences lies in the mental life
of the two periods. It arises essentially out of the continuing
contact of parent and offspring which distinguishes mammalian and in a
lesser degree bird life, from the life of the reptile. With very few
exceptions the reptile abandons its egg to hatch alone. The young
reptile has no knowledge whatever of its parent; its mental life, such
as it is, begins and ends with its own experiences. It may tolerate the
existence of its fellows but it has no communication with them; it
never imitates, never learns from them, is incapable of concerted
action with them. Its life is that of an isolated individual. But
with the suckling and cherishing of young which was distinctive of the
new mammalian and avian strains arose the possibility of learning by
imitation, of communication, by warning cries and other concerted
action, of mutual control and instruction. A teachable type of life
had come into the world.
The earliest mammals of the Cainozoic period are but little superior in
brain size to the more active carnivorous dinosaurs, but as we read on
through the record towards modern times we find, in every tribe and
race of the mammalian animals, a steady universal increase in brain
capacity. For instance we find at a comparatively early stage that
rhinoceros-like beasts appear. There is a creature, the Titanotherium,
which lived in the earliest division of this period. It was probably
very like a modern rhinoceros in its habits and needs. But its brain
capacity was not one tenth that of its living successor.
The earlier mammals probably parted from their offspring as soon as
suckling was over, but, once the capacity for mutual understanding has
arisen, the advantages of continuing the association are very great;
and we presently find a number of mammalian species displaying the
beginnings of a true social life and keeping together in herds, packs
and flocks, watching each other, imitating each other, taking warning
from each other’s acts and cries. This is something that the world had
not seen before among vertebrated animals. Reptiles and fish may no
doubt be found in swarms and shoals; they have been hatched in
quantities and similar conditions have kept them together, but in the
case of the social and gregarious mammals the association arises not
simply from a community of external forces, it is sustained by an inner
impulse. They are not merely like one another and so found in the same
places at the same times; they like one another and so they keep
together.
STENOMYLUS HITCHCOCKI--A GIRAFFE-CAMEL
STENOMYLUS HITCHCOCKI—A GIRAFFE-CAMEL
_Nat. Hist. Mus._
SKELETON OF PROTOHIPPUS VENTICOLUS—EARLY HORSE
SKELETON OF PROTOHIPPUS VENTICOLUS--EARLY HORSE
_Nat. Hist. Mus._
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