2,6 The Descent of Man 



be possible for a baboon to bite off the claws of a kitten with- 

 out keeping the feet perfectly straight ? 



Again, we have an anecdote on only second-hand authority 

 (namely a quotation by Brehm of Schimper) to the following 

 effect : — 



' In Abyssinia, when the baboons belonging to one species (C. 

 gelada) descend in troops from the mountains to plunder the fields, 

 they sometimes encounter troops of another species (C. hamadryas), 

 and then a fight ensues. The Geladas roll down great stones, which 

 the Hamadryas try to avoid, and then both species, making a great 

 uproar, rush furiously against each other. Brehm, when accompany- 

 ing the Duke of Coburg-Gotha, aided in an attack with firearms on a 

 troop of baboons in the Pass of Mensa in Abyssinia. The baboons in 

 return rolled so many stones down the mountain, some as large as a 

 man's head, that the attackers had to beat a hasty retreat ; and the 

 pass was actually for a time closed against the caravan. It deserves 

 notice that these baboons thus acted in concert.' — Vol. i. p. 51. 



Now, if every statement of fact here given be absolutely 

 correct, it in no way even tends to invalidate the distinction 

 we have drawn between 'instinct' and 'reason'; but the 

 positive assertion that the brutes ' acted in concert,' when the 

 evidence proves nothing more than that their actions were 

 simultaneous, shows a strong bias on the part of the narrator. 

 A flock of sheep will simultaneous^ turn round and stare 

 and stamp at an intruder ; but this is not ' concerted action/ 

 which means that actions are not only simultaneous, but are 

 so in consequence of a reciprocal understanding and conven- 

 tion between the various agents. It may be added that if 

 any brutes were capable of such really concerted action, the 

 effects would soon make themselves known to us so forcibly 

 as to prevent the possibility of mistake. 



We come now to Mr. Darwin's instances of brute ration- 

 ality. In the first place he tells us : — 



* I had a dog who was savage and averse to all strangers, and I 

 purposely tried his memory after an absence of five years and two 



