)26 The Descent of Man. Part XL 



to their mother; but such uses need not here be considered. 

 We are concerned only with the difference between the voices of 

 the sexes, for instance between that of the lion and lioness, or of 

 the bull and cow. Almost all male animals use their voices 

 much more during the rutting-season than at any other time; 

 and some, as the giraffe and porcupine, 1 are said to be completely 

 mute excepting at this season. As the throats (i.e. the larynx 

 and thyroid bodies 2 ) of stags periodically become enlarged at the 

 beginning of the breeding- season, it might be thought that their 

 powerful voices must be somehow of high importance to them ; 

 but this is very doubtful. From information given to me by 

 two experienced observers, Mr. McNeill and Sir P. Egerton, it 

 seems that young stags under three years old do riot ' roar 

 or bellow; and that the old ones begin bellowing at the com- 

 mencement of the breeding-season, at first only occasionally and 

 moderately, whilst they restlessly wander about in search of the 

 females. Their battles are prefaced by loud and prolonged 

 bellowing, but during the actual conflict they are silent. Animals 

 of all kinds which habitually use their voices utter various 

 noises under any strong emotion, as when enraged and pre- 

 paring to fight ; but this may merely be the result of nervous 

 excitement, which leads to the spasmodic contraction of almost 

 all the muscles of the body, as when a man grinds his teeth and 

 clenches his fists in rage or agony. No doubt stags challenge 

 each other to mortal combat by bellowing ; but those with the 

 more powerful voices, unless at the same time the stronger, 

 better-armed, and more courageous, would not gain any advan- 

 tage over their rivals. 



It is possible that the roaring of the lion may be of some 

 service to him by striking terror into his adversary ; for when 

 enraged he likewise erects his mane and thus instinctively tries 

 to make himself appear as terrible as possible. But it can 

 hardly be supposed that the bellowing of the stag, even if it be 

 of service to him in this way, can have been important enough 

 to have led to the periodical enlargement of the throat. Some 

 writers suggest that the bellowing serves as a call to the female ; 

 but the experienced observers above quoted inform me that 

 female deer do not search for the male, though the males search 

 eagerly for the females as indeed might be expected from what 

 we know of the habits of other male quadrupeds. The voice of 

 tlie female, on the other hand, quickly brings to her one or more 

 stags, 3 as is well known to the hunters who in wild countries 



1 Oven, ' Anatomy of ~ T erte 3 See, for instance, Major W. 



t rates,' vol iii. p. 585. Ross King (' The Sportsman in 



8 Ibid, p 595. Canada' 1866, p. 53, 131) on the 



