SHEET-BUILDING SPIDERS 157 



nivorous ants, Myrmecocystus, will ferociously attack an 

 injured comrade, not because they owe it any hatred, 

 but because they associate the injury with the presence 

 of an enemy and, being unable to find this enemy, 

 they satisfy their instinctive sense of battle by turning 

 on their own kin. So also it is with many of the 

 higher animals. I was once told of a tiny kitten that 

 was reared from birth in a cigar-box. It recognized 

 the safety of its cradle, and when alarmed used to 

 hurry away to hide itself in its little home. At length 

 the kitten grew into a big cat, but it still retained the 

 instinct of its early days. It seemed to believe that 

 its first home was still its sure place of refuge, for 

 whenever it thought itself in danger it used to dash 

 away and squat over the old cigar-box, though now 

 little more than its feet were able to fit inside. Surely 

 this was a mistaken instinct, for the cat could find no 

 safety there. 



Similar instances are to be found even amongst the 

 monkeys. I once saw a monkey so annoyed by its 

 owner that it flew into a passion. It was full of 

 resentment, and it hissed and snarled at its master. 

 But just as in the case of the angry spider and the 

 well-armed wasp, so also did a similar behaviour occur 

 in the case of the enraged monkey. It dared not 

 attack its master, but the force of instinct impelled it 

 to attack something, and it fastened its teeth upon a 

 chair. So also it is amongst the most intelligent and 

 social of beasts. In their case this misguided instinct 

 leads them into horrible and cruel acts. For just as 

 the carnivorous ant will rend in pieces the disabled 

 members of its own nest, so also will the sagacious 

 elephant turn on the wounded of its own kin, or will 



