298 THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER. 



Provinces, at the end of August, and, in Asiatic Rus- 

 Bia, in September or October ; the wild Yak in Tibet 

 in September ; the reindeer in Norway at the end of 

 September; the badger in October; the Capra pyre- 

 naica in November ; the chamois, the musk-deer, and 

 the orongo-antelope in November and December ; the 

 wolf, from the end of December to the middle of 

 February." x It might seem that no law governed 

 these various dates, but their very variety is the proof 

 of an underlying principle. For these dates show 

 that each animal in each particular country chooses 

 that time of the year to give birth to her young when 

 they will have the best chance of surviving — that is to 

 say, when the climate is mildest, food most abundant, 

 and the prospects of life on the whole most favor- 

 able. The dormouse thus brings forth its young in 

 August, when the nuts begin to ripen ; and the young 

 deer sees the light just before the first grass shoots 

 into greenness. Because those born at this season 

 survived and those born out of it perished, by the 

 prolonged action of Natural Selection these dates in 

 time probably became engrained in the species, and 

 would only alter with climate itself. 



But when Man's Evolution made a certain progress, 

 and when the Mother's care reached mature perfec- 

 tion, it was no longer imperative for children to be 

 born only when the sun was shining, and the fruits 

 grew ripe. The parents could now make provision 

 for any weather and for any dearth. They could give 

 their little ones clothes when nights grew cold ; they 

 could build barns and granaries against times of 

 famine. In any climate, and at any time, their young 

 1 Westerinarck's History of Human Marriage, p. 26. 



