492 THE GENERAL PRINCIPLES OE ZOOLOGY 



factory evidence that such associations among animals are the 

 result of the formation of a rational ideal of the family, as is 

 the case in the human race, where the monogamous family of the 

 more highly civilized countries must be regarded as a realized 

 ideal, which has been attained out of such communistic associa- 

 tions as exist still among some savage tribes. 



In the evolution or development of social behavior, imitation, 

 conscious or unconscious, undoubtedly plays a part. Uncon- 

 scious or instinctive imitation is exemplified in some voung 

 birds, which require to be taught to peck before they will per- 

 form the act. The monkeys furnish many examples of con- 

 scious or intelligent imitation ; one observed a man prving off 

 the lid of a box, and when given a similar box imitated him pre- 

 cisely and removed the lid. A careful study of instances of 

 imitation in animals leads us, however, to the conclusion that 

 reason plays no part in the process except in man ; it is either 

 instinctive or simply intelligent. 



The emotions of which we see evidence in animals are numer- 

 ous, especially in the higher vertebrates. Love, hate, anger, 

 fear, joy, grief, pride, shame, and even moral and aesthetic emo- 

 tions, have all been attributed to animals, and the majoritv of 

 them are certainly often manifested. But it is sometimes diffi- 

 cult to discriminate between certain varieties of emotions. Thus, 

 when your terrier leaps from your best sofa pillow as you sud- 

 denly open the door, his hangdog expression is quite as likelv 

 to be due to fear of reprimand or punishment as to shame, to 

 which you are more inclined, perhaps, to attribute it. There 

 are many stories of the manifestation of revenge by elephants, 

 some of which are certainly authentic. Sympathy is an emo- 

 tion often manifested by monkeys; they have been observed to 

 fold a wounded companion in their arms in a very human 

 fashion and to cuddle up beside one which was ill, as a child 

 might do. But as to the subtler emotions, such as the moral 

 and the aesthetic, it is extremely doubtful if they exist at all in 

 animals below man ; their existence demands the presence of an 

 ideal which implies the exercise of reason, and there is no direct 

 evidence that such an ideal ever enters into the consciousnc— 

 of any animal. As we observed at the beginning of this chap- 

 ter, we are very prone to attribute to other animals the same 



