Man's Place in Nature 213 



to the following effect: "Of course, strictly speak- 

 ing, social life and the ethical process in virtue of 

 which it advances toward perfection, are part and 

 parcel of the general process of Evolution, just as 

 the gregarious habit of innumerable plants and 

 animals, which has been of much service to them, 

 is." "Among birds and mammals, societies are 

 formed, of which the bond in many cases seems to 

 be purely psychological; that is to say, it appears to 

 depend upon the liking of the individuals for one 

 another's company. The tendency of individuals 

 to over-self-assertion is kept down by fighting. 

 Even in these rudimentary forms of society, love 

 and fear come into play, and enforce a greater or 

 less renunciation of self-will. To this extent the 

 general cosmic process begins to be checked by a 

 rudimentary ethical process, which is, strictly 

 speaking, part of the former, just as the "gov- 

 ernor" in a steam engine is part of the mechanism 

 of the engine." 



It may be pointed out that the sentence, "The 

 tendency of individuals to over-self-assertion is 

 kept down by fighting," is, for many cases, a quite 

 unverifiable statement, but let that pass. It is 

 more to the point to notice that to admit a rudi- 

 mentary ethical process to a rle like that of the 

 "governor" is admitting much; in fact, it rather 

 takes the edge off his previous argument. But 

 in spite of his appendix, Huxley leaves the reader 



