204 THE PSYCHICAL KINSHIP 



crab during the moulting season stations a sentinel, 

 an unmolted or hard-shelled individual, to prevent 

 marine enemies from injuring moulted individuals 

 in their unprotected state.' Walruses go to the 

 defence of a wounded comrade when summoned 

 by its cries for help. Romanes tells of a gander 

 who acted as a guardian to his blind consort, 

 taking her neck gently in his mouth and leading 

 her to the water when she wanted to take a swim, 

 and after allowing her to cruise for a time under 

 his guidance and care, conducting her back home 

 again in the same thoughtful manner. When 

 goslings were hatched, this remarkable gander 

 seemed to realise the inability of the mother to 

 look after them, for he took charge of them as if 

 they were his own, convoying them to the water- 

 side, and lifting them carefully out of the ruts 

 and pits with his bill whenever they got into 

 difficulty (10). 



The disposition to go to the aid of a fellow in 

 trouble is one of the most characteristic traits in 

 the psychology of the swine. A single squeal of 

 distress from even the scrawniest member of a 

 swine herd will bring down on the one who causes 

 this distress the hair-raising wrath of every porker 

 within hearing. This trait has been considerably 

 reduced by domestication, and in those varieties 

 in which degeneracy has gone farthest it scarcely 

 exists. But it is exceedingly strong in all wild 

 hogs. Animals as low in the scale of development 

 and as proverbially cold as snakes have been 

 known, when educated and treated with kindness, 



