THE CONQUEST OF THE DRY LAND 215 



and at this stage they are terribly destructive, 

 for they kill anything and everything that 

 they find, whether they need food or not, and 

 this is apparently done to excite the cubs so 

 that they may become mighty hunters in their 

 turn. The cubs remain with their parents till 

 their third year, when they leave the den, but 

 they do not reach their full growth and 

 strength till they are about eight years old. 



When parental care grew strong it became 

 unnecessary to have the multitude of offspring 

 produced, for instance, by fishes, which may 

 liberate millions of eggs. For the growth of 

 parental care secured the continuance of the 

 race with comparatively few offspring. But 

 as the number of children decreased it became 

 possible for the mother to know them all, to 

 see more of them, and to have them longer 

 with her, and all this meant more love. And 

 more love meant more care. So things work 

 round in a beautiful circle. 



Perhaps this argument may seem very diffi- 

 cult, but it is very important. Let us think it 

 over again. When it became possible for ani- 

 mals to take great care of their children, it 

 also became possible to have quite small fami- 

 lies without there being any risk of the race 



