THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 25 



cess of delivery, and the male was by her side gulping 

 down the infants as soon as they appeared. After 

 the removal of the male one more young ferret saw 

 the light, the sole survivor of the brood, the others 

 having perished unconscious of a pang. 



" But other males besides carnivorous have the same 

 instinct. Herbivorous species, as you are aware, are 

 divisible into two classes, those which are prolific, the 

 female having several young at a birth, and those which 

 are non-prolific, the females of which generally have 

 one, though occasionally two, at a birth. In the former 

 I have found that the instinct which prompts the male 

 to devour the young is universal, while in the case of 

 the latter the offspring are unharmed by the male. 

 All boys who keep rabbits and guinea-pigs are aware 

 how necessary it is to remove the males before the 

 parturition of the females, as, if this was not done, the 

 males would repeat the story of the ferret. In like 

 manner the boar, if it were present when the sow 

 farrowed, would at once devour the litter." 



My friend, who had listened with apparent interest 

 when I was speaking, here remarked : " Do you not 

 think, sir, you are making too large a generalisation 

 from a very insufficient array of facts ? I do not 

 venture to throw doubt or discredit upon anything you 

 have said. It may indeed happen that it is the occa- 

 sional, if not the invariable habit of the males of a few 

 species to devour their offspring, if they find them when 

 the females are absent, or even, as in the case of the 

 male ferret that you mentioned, when they are present. 



