PREFACE 



That " one touch of Nature which makes the whole 

 World kin " is surely nowhere more obvious than in 

 the " Courtship " of Animals. For the " Beasts that 

 Perish," no less than Man himself, are stirred by the same 

 emotions ; the Fever of Love runs as high in them as in 

 ourselves ; and its modes of expression are not so different, 

 though they may superficially appear to be so. The nature 

 of these differences and their interpretation, it is the 

 purpose of this book to set forth. 



Charles Darwin laid the foundation for the study of 

 this phase of Animal behaviour in his masterly work on 

 the " Descent of Man," a work which has been much 

 criticized and much misunderstood since Carlyle's crude 

 abuse of it as the " Gospel of Dirt." Darwin was the 

 first to show us that the fierce battles, and strange antics, 

 which characterize so many of the "Lower Orders of 

 Creation " under the exaltation of the Sexual emotions 

 are manifestations fraught with tremendous consequences 

 to the race. 



The facts which he brought to light, and the discussions 

 to which they have given rise, have, however, unfortunately 

 been too commonly regarded as merely interesting to 

 those who have a liking for Natural History. 



This is a most unfortunate mistake. For such facts 

 have a vitally important bearing on the very problems 

 of social well-being which now loom so largely among us. 

 ** Reform " is in the air. Its protagonists are busy 



