BIOLOGY OF MAN 1163 



than any animal on the heritage outside himself — the social heritage 

 — and he has almost unlimited powers of making this better and 

 better. Finally, man has the power, if he would only exercise it more, 

 of guiding his conduct in reference to ideals. Animals are often kind 

 parents, affectionate lovers, helpful to their kindred, devoted to 

 their society, but there seems no warrant for supposing that they 

 ever think of their duty! They may be good and kind, but they do 

 not know what "ought" means. Perhaps we may draw a distinction 

 between animal behaviour and human conduct; but it is not always 

 that man rises above behaviour. 



So much for differences, but let us not forget the resemblances 

 between animal and human societies. It used to be common to 

 compare a human society with an animal body, and to speak of the 

 "social organism" ; thus the government was compared to the nervous 

 system, the muscles to the workers, the circulation of the blood to 

 transport, and so on. But that was a confusion of thought; the true 

 comparison is between a human society and an animal society. We 

 have seen that the comparison must not be pushed too far, and 

 another reason for being careful is that the members of an animal 

 society are all nearly related, whereas in a human society this is 

 usually far from being the case. 



The science of societies is Sociology, and the sociologist mainly 

 seeks to describe the life of the society in terms of Folk, Work, 

 and Place. Everything depends on the people themselves, what 

 they busy themselves with, and what their surroundings are. Now 

 these three concepts — Folk, Work, Place, which the French sociolo- 

 gist Le Play called Famille, Travail, Lieu — obviously correspond to 

 what in biological Icinguage we call Organisms, Function, and Environ- 

 ment. These three fundamental ideas apply to all living creatures, 

 and thus there must be deep resemblances between animal and 

 human societies. For men are organisms, functioning in a particular 

 environment, and thus they resemble animals, though they rise 

 high above them. 



If we believe that tentative men, who might be called Hominids, 

 but not Homo, arose from a stock common to them and to the 

 Anthropoid Apes, we are linking mankind back to creatures that 

 are nearer the social than the solitary. Gorillas sometimes prowl 

 about in smaU troups, and chimpanzees are very fond of one 

 another's company. Although it cannot be said that any of the 

 Anthropoid Apes live in communities, they are related to monkeys, 

 among which the social note is often sounded. W^e are not, of course, 

 including any living monkeys in man's lineage — ^no one believes that 

 — but they represent a kindred stock, specialised for arboreal life, 

 and they are often more than gregarious. They sometimes combine to 

 drive off intruders; they will tear an over- venturesome eagle to 

 pieces; they sometimes unite to raid an orchard; and they can 



