258 SEXUAL SELECTION : MAMMALS. [Paut IL 



is occupied. Frequently a struggle ensues between the 

 two males for the possession of the same female, and both 

 seizing her at once ]>ull her in two or terribly lacerate her 

 with their teeth. When the space is all filled, the old 

 male walks around complacently reviewing his family, 

 scolding those who crowd or disturb the others, and fierce- 

 ly driving off all intruders. This surveillance always 

 keeps him actively occupied." 



As so little is known about the courtship of animals in 

 a state of nature, I have endeavored to discover how far 

 our domesticated quadrupeds evince any choice in their 

 unions. Dogs offer the best opportunity for observation, 

 as they are carefully attended to and well understood. 

 Many breeders have expressed a strong opinion on this 

 head. Thus Mr. Mayhew remarks, " The females are able 

 to bestow their affections ; and tender recollections are as 

 potent over them as they are known to be in other cases, 

 where higher animals are concerned. Bitches are not 

 always prudent in their loves, but are apt to fling them- 

 selves away on curs of low degree. If reared with a 

 comi)anion of vulgar appearance, there often springs up 

 between the pair a devotion which no time can afterward 

 subdue. The passion, for such it really is, becomes of a 

 more than romantic endurance." Mr, Mayhew, who at- 

 tended chiefly to the smaller breeds, is convinced that the 

 females are strongly attracted by males of large size." The 

 well-known veterinary Blaine states " that his own female 

 pug became so attached to a spaniel, and a female setter 

 to a cur, that in neither case would they pair with a dog 

 of their own breed until several weeks had elapsed. Two 

 similar and trustworthy accounts have been given me in 



*> ' Dogs : their Management^' by E. Mayhew, M. R. C. V. S., 2d edit 

 1864, pp. 187-192. 



«' Quoted by Alex. Walker 'On Intermarriage,' 1838, p. 276; see alflo 

 p. 244. 



