266 THE COURTSHIP OF ANIMALS 



which, in the human race, may become a consuming fire, 

 purifying and ennobling, or exactly the reverse — accord- 

 ing to the nature of the inflammable material. That is 

 to say, in the phenomena of sex one sees emotions in the 

 making. The begetting of children becomes the under- 

 lying goal of life, the hidden heart and soul of animated 

 nature. 



This being so, one cannot but feel surprised at the 

 discovery that, in certain groups of the animal kingdom 

 one meets with a strange exception to this great rule. 

 And this is furnished by the phenomenon of partheno- 

 genesis, wherein sexual desire has been dethroned. Off- 

 spring result from Virgin births : parental care is non- 

 existent. This anomalous condition must be regarded 

 as an offshoot of the normal course of events traced in 

 these pages, and not as a primitive condition. This 

 interpretation seems to be shown clearly enough in that 

 almost every case where parthenogenesis obtains, males, 

 sooner or later, make their appearance — periodically or 

 sporadically. Every stage between the normal, seasonal 

 appearance of males and their entire suppression can be 

 traced, and an analysis of these cases demonstrates 

 unequivocally the uplifting character of the bi-sexual 

 state, if only by the fact that the uni-sexual condition 

 makes no demands on the parent, and does nothing to 

 foster the growth of the higher emotions. 



No attempt need now be made to discover the origin of 

 parthenogenesis. Let it be assumed, for the moment, 

 that it is a condition derived from hermaphroditism, 

 wherein each individual is monoecious or bi-sexual. In all 

 dioecious or uni-sexual animals, that is to say, where the 

 individuals composing the species are either male or 

 female, each contains a leaven of the opposite sex, even 



