THE LAW OF BATTLE 75 



the female is often a spectator and seems even to 

 pair with the victor. I accepted it, therefore, as 

 the most reasonable interpretation of the facts. 

 But, as time passed by, incidents of a conflicting 

 character led me to think that after all there 

 might be another solution of the problem. And 

 when it was no longer possible to doubt that 

 there was a widespread tendency to establish 

 territories, it at once became manifest that the 

 battles might have an important part to play in 

 the whole scheme. But how was this to be 

 proved ? What sort of evidence could show 

 whether the proximate end for which the males 

 were fighting had reference to the female or to 

 the territory ? Clearly nothing but a complete 

 record of the whole series of events leading up 

 to reproduction could supply the necessary data 

 upon which a decision might rest. In the 

 present chapter I shall give, in the first place, 

 the reasons which lead me to think that the 

 origin of the fighting cannot be traced to the 

 female ; afterwards, the evidence which seems to 

 show that it must be sought in the territory ; 

 and finally, I shall make a suggestion as to the 

 part the female may play in the whole scheme. 



The facts upon which the "law of battle" 

 was founded were ample to establish the truth of 

 its main doctrine. But the evidence upon which 

 the interpretation of the battles was based was 

 somewhat superficial. It was based mainly upon 

 the general observation that one or more females 

 could frequently be observed to accompany the 

 combatants ; and if this were the sole condition 



