﻿278 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  PARENTAL 
  AND 
  SEXUAL 
  INSTINCTS 
  WORK 
  FOR 
  THE 
  PRESERVATION 
  OF 
  

  

  THE 
  RACE 
  

  

  General 
  statement. 
  — 
  The 
  desire 
  to 
  preserve 
  the 
  species 
  does 
  not 
  

   appeal 
  to 
  the 
  individual 
  so 
  strongly 
  as 
  the 
  instinct 
  of 
  self-preservation, 
  

   because 
  its 
  effect 
  lies 
  beyond 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  individual 
  existence 
  and 
  

   covers 
  unborn 
  generations. 
  Reaction 
  against 
  events 
  endangering 
  a 
  

   species 
  is 
  therefore 
  not 
  so 
  immediate 
  as 
  reaction 
  against 
  events 
  en- 
  

   dangering 
  the 
  individual. 
  The 
  instincts 
  governing 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  

   species 
  are 
  therefore 
  less 
  comprehensible 
  and 
  may 
  seem 
  mysterious. 
  

   The 
  parental 
  and 
  sexual 
  instincts 
  insure 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  a 
  race, 
  and 
  

   although 
  they 
  differ 
  in 
  different 
  groups 
  of 
  animals 
  and 
  among 
  

   different 
  individuals 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  group, 
  they 
  are 
  usually 
  more 
  powerful 
  

   than 
  the 
  instinct 
  of 
  self-preservation. 
  

  

  Parental 
  instinct. 
  — 
  The 
  parental 
  instinct 
  is 
  developed 
  to 
  extreme 
  

   perfection 
  in 
  the 
  insects. 
  A 
  large 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  many 
  adult 
  insects 
  

   is 
  devoted 
  to 
  work 
  done 
  in 
  the 
  interest 
  of 
  future 
  generations, 
  such 
  as 
  

   that 
  of 
  seeking 
  protected 
  places 
  in 
  which 
  to 
  raise 
  the 
  young 
  and 
  provid- 
  

   ing 
  them 
  food. 
  No 
  breeder 
  has 
  so 
  many 
  cares 
  for 
  his 
  stock 
  nor 
  plans 
  

   so 
  carefully 
  for 
  future 
  conditions. 
  This 
  instinct 
  is 
  also 
  possessed 
  by 
  

   fishes, 
  whose 
  well-known 
  seasonal 
  migrations 
  from 
  the 
  sea 
  into 
  rivers 
  

   and 
  upstream, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  rapids 
  and 
  waterfalls, 
  are 
  made 
  for 
  no 
  other 
  

   purpose 
  than 
  to 
  find 
  good 
  breeding 
  grounds 
  for 
  the 
  next 
  generation. 
  

   So 
  devoted 
  are 
  they 
  to 
  their 
  task 
  that, 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  their 
  loss 
  of 
  strength 
  

   in 
  traveling 
  upstream, 
  they 
  do 
  not 
  stop 
  for 
  food, 
  but 
  completely 
  dis- 
  

   regard 
  the 
  instinct 
  of 
  self-preservation, 
  and 
  after 
  having 
  accom- 
  

   plished 
  their 
  aim 
  they 
  perish. 
  

  

  The 
  parental 
  instinct 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  very 
  foundation 
  of 
  human 
  

   society. 
  Such 
  institutions 
  as 
  marriage 
  and 
  the 
  family, 
  on 
  which 
  

   human 
  society 
  is 
  based, 
  have 
  originated 
  for 
  the 
  sake 
  of 
  future 
  genera- 
  

   tions. 
  Care 
  for 
  children 
  is 
  still 
  a 
  leading 
  motive 
  in 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  com- 
  

   munities, 
  among 
  barbarous 
  tribes 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  among 
  highly 
  cultured 
  

   nations. 
  With 
  rare 
  exceptions, 
  fathers 
  and 
  mothers 
  are 
  ready 
  to 
  

   sacrifice 
  their 
  lives 
  for 
  the 
  sake 
  of 
  their 
  endangered 
  children. 
  We 
  

   thus 
  observe 
  that 
  in 
  human 
  society, 
  just 
  as 
  among 
  fishes 
  and 
  insects, 
  

   the 
  instinct 
  of 
  self-preservation 
  retreats 
  before 
  the 
  parental 
  instinct. 
  

  

  Sexual 
  instinct. 
  — 
  The 
  sexual 
  instinct 
  among 
  all 
  animals 
  is 
  stronger 
  

   and 
  more 
  mysterious 
  than 
  the 
  parental 
  instinct. 
  The 
  most 
  striking 
  

   examples 
  are 
  found 
  among 
  the 
  insects, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  sexual 
  instinct 
  

   manifests 
  itself 
  in 
  different 
  and 
  in 
  extremely 
  peculiar 
  forms. 
  Among 
  

   the 
  bees, 
  for 
  example, 
  the 
  sexual 
  instinct 
  serves 
  exclusively 
  the 
  inter- 
  

   ests 
  of 
  the 
  community. 
  The 
  male 
  and 
  female 
  bee 
  mate 
  only 
  once, 
  

   and 
  after 
  the 
  mating 
  the 
  male, 
  being 
  mortally 
  mutilated, 
  dies 
  imme- 
  

   diately. 
  The 
  other 
  male 
  bees, 
  the 
  drones, 
  whose 
  possible 
  usefulness 
  to 
  

   the 
  community 
  is 
  ended 
  by 
  that 
  mating, 
  are 
  tolerated 
  only 
  until 
  the 
  

  

  