The Evolution of Parental Care 45 



of evolution. The suckling of young presupposes a 

 certain tolerance, if not regard, on the part of the 

 mother for her offspring. Had there not been among 

 the ancestors of the mammals a fairly close associa- 

 tion between the parents and their offspring during 

 the infancy of the latter there obviously could not 

 have been evolved the mammary glands and other 

 adaptations for suckling the young which are among 

 the most fundamental and distinctive features of 

 mammalian structure. Instinct and organization are 

 everywhere closely correlated and act and react upon 

 one another during the course of evolution. The 

 mammals afford an interesting instance of the way 

 in which instincts of parental care have been instru- 

 mental in developing certain fundamental peculiar- 

 ities of bodily organization. 



Certain writers of the associationist school of psy- 

 chology have endeavored to explain why animals 

 regard their young with affection on the basis of the 

 relief the mother experiences in having the milk re- 

 moved from her mammary glands. Bain would have 

 us believe that maternal love was compounded out 

 of numerous agreeable sensations of touch experi- 

 enced in handling the soft bodies of infants. Why 

 the mothers do not develop an equal fondness for 

 velvet-covered cushions the theory does not make 

 clear. Such explanations appear eminently absurd 

 in the light of a comparative study of the relations 

 of parents to offspring in various groups of animals. 

 Parental care must have antedated the giving of 



