CHILDHOOD 



CHAPTER XI 



Generai. Reference to Infancy of Animate. Animals 



WITH no ChIIvDHOOD. iNTi'ANTS THAT ARE ESSENTIALLY 



Different from their Parents. Children that never 

 Grow Up. Birds that Avoid a Callow Infancy. Parental 



GUID.\NCE. lNSTINCTI\rE KnO\\XEDGE. InBORN FeAR. 



Specific Notes Inherited. Woodcock akd Snipe carrying 



Young. Adoption of Orphans. Maternal Instinct in 



VERY Young Birds. 



Taking man as the head of the animal kingdom, 

 we find many interesting facts awaiting con- 

 sideration when we come to compare his child- 

 hood with that of living creatures standing on the 

 various lower rungs of the great ladder of evolu- 

 tion. The rule of existence would appear to be 

 the longer the life the longer the childhood, al- 

 though to this rule there are some singular ex- 

 ceptions. Thus, when man appears on the 

 physical plane he is not only the most helpless of 

 created beings, but he remains so for a much 

 longer period than any other mammal in the 

 scheme of nature. 



The lion, the horse, and the deer, to take 

 examples at random, have attained to the full 

 development of their powers ; they can contend 

 with the strongest of their own species, bear 

 heavy burdens, and perform feats of endurance 

 on a level with the highest of their race at a 

 period when man has barely acquired the power 



ii6 



