26 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ANIMALS 



species as bees, ants, beavers and men, but is in fact 

 universal." 



The evidence was largely based on observations 

 of the existence of animal groupings in nature, 

 which are found widely distributed in the different 

 levels of the animal kingdom— facts such as I shall 

 review later in this chapter. It was clear to me that 

 the facts which Espinas had found so impressive had 

 not convinced others and, while suggestive, did not 

 seem compelling to me in the light of other indica- 

 tions to the contrary. Perhaps, I cautioned myself, 

 even the experimental evidence that I had accumu- 

 lated in 1930 was not really crucial, and it would 

 be well to avoid making too strong a claim in the 

 matter. The same caution must continue even in the 

 face of still stronger evidence known today. 



The conclusions of Espinas coming in 1878 are 

 the more important because the scientific world was 

 then, as men in the street are today, under the spell 

 of the idea that there is an intense and frequently 

 very personal struggle for existence so important and 

 far reaching as to leave no room for so-called softer 

 philosophies. The idea of the existence of natural 

 co-operation was apparently in the air despite the 

 preoccupation with this phase of Darwinism. Kessler 

 is said to have addressed a Russian congress of natu- 

 ralists on this subject in 1880, and from this ad- 



