68 CONTROLLED NATURAL SELECTION 



hasty consideration might lead to the expres- 

 sion of opinion that copulatory attitudes 

 depended on the position, structure, and 

 mechanism of the copulatory organs : but the 

 facts of Nature lead one to argue that she 

 does not mould organs and then leave the 

 individual to fit them as best he can ; instead, 

 one is encouraged to believe that organs are 

 made for use in a particular way. The ques- 

 tion that is now asked is Do the copula- 

 tory attitudes assumed by animals, in any way 

 assist in the preservation of the female at the 

 expense of the male ? 



In mammals and birds, the position of the 

 male above and behind the female must un- 

 doubtedly render him, in the event of an 

 attack by an enemy, far more liable to be 

 killed. A couple are especially liable to be 

 successfully attacked from behind ; a frontal 

 attack would be in their full view and likely 

 to fail. A hawk stooping at a pair of birds, 

 must strike the male. In mammals, the male, 

 standing on his hind legs, is helpless compared 

 to the female, who, standing on all four, is 

 able to spring aside on the instant. Further, 

 experience has taught predatory animals that 

 it is unwise to leave a stricken victim until 

 it is certainly dead; for this reason, seldom 



