THE BEGINNINGS OP SOCIAL EVOLUTION 131 



and Insectivora, and some of the others, show 

 scarcely a trace of association into family life. 

 Among the higher mammals, however, we do fre- 

 quently find individuals living in large groups 

 where there may be a monogamous relation. But 

 there is nothing here like the association of individ- 

 uals with each other to form a family union. The 

 male has usually no interest in the mother, and no 

 interest in the offspring, although there are some 

 rare and uncertain exceptions to this rule. Through- 

 out the great group of Ungulata there is a general 

 absence of a mutual interest even in the sexes for 

 each other. Among the Carnivora the family life 

 is, if possible, even less developed. Maternal love 

 is seen, it is true, and is a very strong influence in 

 animals of this order. The readiness with which a 

 mother tiger will sacrifice her own life for that of 

 her offspring is proverbial; but the male does not 

 associate with the female for any great length of 

 time, and in most of the groups the father has no 

 interest in the offspring. No organization of the 

 family is known, even on the scale on which we find 

 it among birds. 



Indeed, among the mammals the male parent does 

 not share in the parental love until we reach the 

 higher order of primates. Among the monkeys there 

 is sometimes an approximation toward family rela- 

 tionship. As a rule, monkeys live in large or small 

 groups and do not break up at the close of the 

 breeding season. In such groups the children ap- 

 pear to belong to the mother, or to the group, but 

 not to any particular family. Occasionally among 

 monkeys there is somewhat lasting union of the 

 sexes, and we begin to find that the offspring are 



