“What we actually saw, again and again,” states Dr. Wilson, “was the wild dash made by a dozen adults, each weighing anything up to ninety pounds, to take possession of any chicken that happened to find itself deserted on the ice. It can be compared to nothing better than a football scrimmage, in which the first bird to seize the chicken is hustled and worried on all sides by the others while it rapidly tries to push the infant between its legs with the help of its pointed beak, shrugging up the loose skin of the abdomen the while to cover it.… The chicks are fully alive to the inconvenience of being fought for by so many clumsy nurses, and I have seen them not only make the best use of their legs in avoiding so much attention, but remain to starve and freeze in preference to being nursed. Undoubtedly, I think that of the 77 per cent. that die before they shed their down, quite half are killed by kindness.” It is from such an example as this that we may come to realise the extraordinary power of parent-hunger. Consider these penguin mothers and fathers clamouring and fighting for the possession of a child. With them the parental instinct has gained fierce strength from being thwarted. Is there not here yet another lesson for us to learn? CONTENTS OF CHAPTER VI PARENTHOOD AMONG THE HIGHER ANIMALS THE FIXING OF THE PARENTAL INSTINCT IN THE MOTHER Retrogression in fatherhood—Among mammals no examples of devoted fathers—Egoistic desires increase in the males and interest in the family decreases—Probable reason—Method of birth and circumstances of life of infant mammals force mothers to monopolise nutrition and care of young—Parenthood more automatic—The father pushed out of his earlier position of service to the family—Instead of a working partner with the mother he becomes a member apart—His character appears to change—He becomes masterful, pugnacious and jealous—This general among mammals—Number of young among mammals usually reduced—Varied forms of sexual association practised by different species—Polygamy frequent—The matriarchal family—The clue we are seeking—The egoism of the males acts for the advantage of the females—The maternal instinct fixed in the mothers—Self-sacrifice becomes once and for ever the supreme joy and privilege of the female—Objections that may be raised—Resumé—General conclusions to be drawn from pre-human parenthood. CHAPTER VI PARENTHOOD AMONG THE HIGHER ANIMALS THE FIXING OF THE PARENTAL INSTINCT IN THE MOTHER “The universe throbs with restless change. Everything that we know is becoming rather than being.”—P. CHALMERS MITCHELL