294 THE EVOLU'i ION OF A FATHER. 



The Evolution of a Father is not so beautiful a pro- 

 cess as the Evolution of a Mother, but it was almost 

 as formidable a problem to attack. As much de- 

 pended on it, as we shall see, as the training of the 

 mother; and though it began later it required the 

 bringing about of one or two changes in Nature as 

 novel as any that preceded it. When the work was 

 begun, the Father was in a much worse plight, so far 

 as training for family life was concerned, than the 

 Mother. If Maternity was at a feeble level in the 

 lower reaches of Nature, Paternity was non-existent. 

 Among a few Invertebrates the male parent took a 

 passing share in the care of the egg, but it is not until 

 we are all but at the top that fatherly interest finds 

 any real expression. Among the Birds, the parents 

 unite together in most cases to build the nest, the 

 Father doing the rough work of bringing in moss and 

 twigs, while the more trusty Mother does the actual 

 work. When the eggs are laid, the male parent also 

 takes his turn at incubation ; supplies food and pro- 

 tection ; and lingers round the place of birth to defend 

 the fledglings to the last. When we leave the Birds, 

 however, and pass on to the Mammals, the Fathers 

 are nearly all backsliders. Many are not only indif- 

 ferent to their young, but hostile: and among the 

 Carnivora the Mothers have frequently to hide their 

 little ones in case the father eats them. 



We have another and a more serious count against 

 early Fatherhood. If the Love of Father for child 

 was in this backward state, infinitely more grave was 

 the condition of things between him and the Mother. 

 Probably we have all taken it for granted that hus- 

 bands and wives have always loved one another. 



