FRIENDSHIP IN ANIMALS 6j 



which I first began to observe in horses during my 

 boyhood, is, like play, unconcerned with the satis- 

 faction of bodily wants and the business of self- 

 preservation and the continuance of the race. It is a 

 manifestation of something higher in the mind, which 

 shows that the lower animals are not wholly immersed 

 in the struggle for existence, that they are capable 

 in a small way, as we are in a large way, of escaping 

 from and rising above it. Friendship is in fact the 

 highest point to which the animal's mind can rise. 

 For whereas play, which has its origin in the purely 

 physical state of well-being and in instinctive impulses 

 universal among sentient beings, does indirectly serve 

 a purpose in the animal's life, friendship can serve no 

 useful purpose whatever and is the isolated act of an 

 individual which clearly shows a perception on his part 

 of differences in the character of other individuals, 

 also the will and power to choose from among them the 

 one with which he finds himself most in harmony. 

 Furthermore, such friendships do not come into exist- 

 ence inevitably, or automatically, as the result of a 

 feeling on the part of an individual : the feeling must 

 be expressed or exhibited and approaches made. 

 These may or may not be accepted, since the animal 

 approached has a will of his own. The result is some- 

 times a very one-sided friendship, as in the case of an 

 individual who forms an attachment for another which 

 is like an infatuation, and who is happy if his presence 

 is tolerated and who will go on day after day for weeks 

 and months following the indifferent one about. In 



