BRAIN V. MUSCLE IN NATURE 179 



excessive development of this instinct. The parents 

 would not save themselves by deserting their offspring ; 

 consequently the whole family perished. Among most 

 species the protection to the young afforded by the 

 parents is so inadequate that, of the young ones, it is 

 the physically strong, rather than the mentally power- 

 ful, that tend to survive. 



One animal, however — Homo insapiens — in which the 

 maternal instinct was highly developed, learned to take 

 shelter in caves and to barricade the entrance to his 

 shelter, so that the females were able to bring up their 

 young without fear of molestation. There was then no 

 need for the development of these to be hurried. The 

 weakest of the family perished from disease and hunger 

 while still under their mother's care, but the healthy 

 children emerged, some years after birth, equipped with 

 a large brain, so that they were able to overcome the 

 superior strength of the other animals by craft, and 

 the most crafty of insipient mankind survived and left 

 offspring. 



Thus Homo sapiens appeared upon the scene. He is 

 the animal which pinned its faith to the brain, and his 

 faith has not been misplaced. He has sacrificed every- 

 thing to the brain. Almost all his other organs — his 

 legs, arms, eyes, teeth — have been allowed to de- 

 generate, but his brain has been kept up to the highest 

 possible efficiency. He now reigns supreme over all 

 the animals, which, so to speak, put their money on 

 muscle, on brute force. These backed the wrong horse, 

 and therefore are now the servants of those who staked 

 their all on the brain. 



