v SOCIAL LIFE OF ANIMALS 



sion. As regards the origin of that we have nothing 

 to say ; we must fall back on Aristotle's fundamental 

 principle of evolution, that there is nothing in the end 

 which was not also in kind in the beginning. 



9. Advantages of Social Life. But animals are social, 

 not only because they love one another, but also because 

 sociality is justified of her children. " The world is the 

 abode of the strong," but it is also the home of the 

 loving ; " contention is the vital force," but the struggle 

 is modified and ennobled by sociality. 



(a) Darwin's Position. Darwin observed that " the 

 individuals which took the greatest pleasure in society 

 would best escape various dangers ; while those that 

 cared least for their comrades, and lived solitary, would 

 perish in greater numbers." He distinctly stipulated 

 that the phrase " the struggle for existence ' was to be 

 used in a wide and metaphorical sense to include all 

 the endeavours which animals make both selfishly and 



mi 



unselfishly to strengthen their foothold and that of their 

 offspring. While he emphasised the competition that 

 often ensues when living creatures find themselves up 

 against serious difficulties and limitations, he clearly 

 recognised that another kind of response that pays is 

 some experiment in mutual aid, co-operation, and 

 parental care. 



(b) Kropoikirf s Position. Against Prof. Huxley's con- 

 clusion that " Life was a continual free-fight, and beyond 

 the limited and temporary relations of the family the 

 Hobbesian Avar of each against all was the normal state 

 of existence," let us place that of Kropotkin, to whose 

 admirable discussion of mutual aid among animals we 

 would acknowledge our indebtedness. 



" Life in societies is no exception in the animal world. 

 It is the rule, the law of nature, and it reaches its fullest 

 development with the higher Vertebrates. Those species 

 which live solitary, or in small families only, are rela- 

 tively few and their numbers are limited. . . . Life in 

 societies enables the feeblest mammals to resist, or to 

 protect themselves from, the most terrible birds and 

 beasts of prey ; it permits longevity ; it enables the 



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