46 Studies in Animal Behavior 



milk, and it is probable that without parental affec- 

 tion there would be little more contact between 

 parent and offspring than there is among fishes and 

 amphibians. From the genetic standpoint both ex- 

 planations put the cart before the horse. 



Among animals generally parental affection is 

 rather strictly limited to the period of infancy, after 

 which there is a disregard or indifference that con- 

 trasts strangely with our own natural sentiments. 

 The affections of animals, like most of their other 

 characteristics, are quite closely subordinated to the 

 needs of the species; when the young are able to 

 make their way in the world alone the function of 

 parental love is past, and the feeling rapidly becomes 

 extinct. 



As we approach man we find a lengthening of the 

 period of infancy and a prolongation of the time dur- 

 ing which the parents bestow their care and affection 

 upon their offspring. As John Fiske has shown, the 

 lengthening of infancy affords opportunity for the 

 young to acquire experience and perfect themselves 

 in the varied activities which are demanded in the 

 life of a highly evolved animal. Where, as in 

 higher forms, success in life depends relatively more 

 on intelligence than blind instinct it is important that 

 there should be a period of education in which the 

 young animal is more or less shielded from the hard- 

 ships and dangers with which it will have to cope in 

 later life. Our simian cousins remain with their 

 young for a long period, and exhibit a degree of 



