38 THE DESCENT OF MAN. [Part I. 



been gained, step by step, through the variability of the 

 mental organs and natural selection, without any conscious 

 intelligence on the part of the animal during each succes- 

 sive generation. No doubt, as Mr. Wallace has argued,' 

 much of the intelligent work done by man is due to imita- 

 tion, and not to reason ; but there is this great difference 

 between his actions and many of those performed by the 

 lower animals, namely, that man cannot, on his first trial, 

 make, for instance, a stone liatchet or a canoe, tli rough his 

 power of imitation. He has to learn his work by practice ; 

 a beaver, on the other hand, can make its dam or canal, 

 and a bird its nest, as well, or nearly as well, the first time 

 it tries, as Av^hen old and experienced. 



To return to our immediate subject : the lower animals, 

 like man, manifestly feel pleasure and pain, happiness and 

 misery. Happiness is never better exhibited than by 

 young animals, such as puppies, kittens, lambs, etc., when 

 playing together, like our own children. Even insects 

 play together, as has been described by that excellent ob- 

 server, P. Huber," who saw ants chasing and pretending to 

 bite each other, like so many puppies. 



Tlie fact that the lower animals are excited by the same 

 emotions as ourselves is so well established, that it will not 

 be necessary to weary the reader by many details. Terror 

 acts in the same manner on them as on us, causing the 

 muscles to tremble, the heart to palpitate, the sphincters 

 to be relaxed, and the hair to stand on end. Suspicion, 

 the offspring of fear, is eminently characteristic of most 

 wild animals. Courage and timidity are extremely va- 

 riable qualities in the individuals of the same species, 

 as is plainly seen in our dogs. Some dogs and horses 

 are ill-tempered, and easily turn sulky ; others are good- 

 tempered; and these qualities are certainly inherited. 



* 'Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection,' 1870, p. 212. 

 ■ 6 ' Recherches sur les Mceurs des Fourmis,' 1810, p. 173. 



