Care of the Young in the Animal Kingdom. 187 



have the same international character, extending even 

 to the rearing of the young developed therefrom; as 

 in many ants and birds the instinct of adoption, which 

 is founded on the external resemblance between the 

 nurslings of strangers and their own, is now and then 

 extended to entirely different species (Lomechusa, 

 cuckoo) : so there is in apes a similar instinct owing 

 to the same psychological causes, which proves to 

 evidence the lack of intelligence in animals. "It is a 

 well-known fact," as the third ed. of Brehm's Tierleben 

 (p. 52) has it, "that apes, without much ado, adopt 

 the children of any other species, protect them with 

 the utmost tenderness, and can scarcely be separated 

 from their dead bodies. When our shepherd-dog 

 Trina would present us again with young puppies 

 swarming with fleas, we used to put them into a cage 

 of marmosets. There they were heartily welcomed, 

 cleaned and fondled with care and tenderness, whilst 

 from without the old dog was watching with a know- 

 ing look (sic). But as soon as we deprived them 

 of their nurslings, the monkeys would set up a pitiable 

 screaming: they had distributed the pups among 

 their number and evidently intended (sic) to keep 

 them." The anthropomorphism, with which modern 

 fanatics in the matter of animal intelligence try to 

 varnish over the true character of these adoption phe- 

 nomena, must be mercilessly exposed by genuine, crit- 

 ical psychology. We wish to picture the psychic life 

 of the animals such as it is in itself, and not as it 

 exists in the imagination of would-be psychologists. 

 That the inclination of apes to adopt the offspring 

 of other apes, of dogs, cats, rabbits, Guinea-pigs, and 



