74 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS ' 



ground in its vicinity, he was at once enabled to gather 

 the cause of its terrible plight. In a word, it had been 

 attacked by two leopards, and the mother, in an endeavour 

 to beat off the assailants with a blow of her fore-foot had 

 accidentally struck her offspring. Horses, Cattle, Ante- 

 lopes, Camels and Elephants can all kick with precision 

 and effect. So far as the evidence goes, however, this 

 is a method of defence used against beasts of prey, and is 

 rarely, if ever, employed in conflicts between rival males. 

 Females persecuted by the undesired attentions of 

 amorous males, however, do, as we know from the case 

 of domesticated animals, use this device to defend 

 themselves. 



It is not difficult to account for the origin of such 

 secondary sexual characters as manes, beards, tusks, and 

 brightly-coloured areas of skin, though whether our 

 interpretations are really correct is another matter. But 

 no attempt to explain the origin of horns has yet achieved 

 a like degree of persuasiveness. These weapons appear 

 only in the Ungulates, a group which has, in past times, 

 given birth to some very extraordinary types of head 

 armature of this kind. These must be excluded from 

 the present discussion; suffice it to say that, as usual, 

 they were the adjuncts of the males. According to 

 current theories it is supposed that these weapons arose 

 as the result of the action of sexual selection. It is 

 assumed that the hornless ancestors of now horned 

 ruminants fought for their mates by " butting " with the 

 forehead. Naturally, other things being equal, the 

 thickest skulled combatants obtained the mastery. Any 

 tendency to develop frontal " bosses " of bone would 

 further enhance the chances of success, and would, indeed, 

 soon become necessary for survival. And from such 



