136 SOCIAL HEREDITY AND SOCIAL EVOLUTION 



the parental interest in each individual cannot be 

 very great; but when the number is reduced to one 

 the intensity of the affection is vastly increased. 

 With all higher animals the mother's love lasts dur- 

 ing the period of helpless infancy, and since the 

 human offspring is dependent upon its mother for a 

 period of helplessness lasting many years, the 

 mother's love becomes deepened and produces a 

 lasting influence on her life. This lengthened child- 

 hood also tends to arouse paternal affection. The 

 father remains associated with the mother for a 

 longer time, and the helpless child appeals to his 

 affections as well as to those of the mother. Seeing 

 his children constantly before him and feeling their 

 dependence upon him, knowing also their possible 

 future value, he acquires an affection for them. 

 Travelers among the lowest savage races tell us that 

 the children gain a great hold upon the affections of 

 their parents. The savage may, it is true, in a fit of 

 petulance dash out the brains of a child who dis- 

 pleases him, but nevertheless in his soberer moments 

 he is willing to undergo sacrifices for the child. 



Thus it came about that the family was built 

 around the love of the parent for the child. This 

 feeling was earlier than the affection of the husband 

 for the wife, for they were primitively brought to- 

 gether by passion, a desire for a household, or for 

 children. The feeling of affection is said to play 

 absolutely no part in the marriages of primitive 

 peoples, as illustrated by savages; a condition of 

 things which is still more common among most races 

 of civilized men than marriages for affection. But a 

 union made from such motives, in civilized as well as 

 savage races, is subsequently cemented into a per- 



