344 ANIMAL MOTIVES AND 



Mutual assistance may or may not involve desire or 

 intention to assist for instance, in 



1. Birds that accompany the African buffalo, rhinoceros, 

 and crocodile. 



2. Birds that warn man or other animals of danger. 



3. Birds such as the African honey-guide that point 

 or lead the way to honey stores. 



So far from there being in such cases any moral merit, the 

 ruling motive or idea may be self-interest. In the case of 

 the African honey-guide its object is apparently selfish; 

 for Livingstone tells us l that it flies in front of the hunter 

 only till he arrives at the spot where the bees' nest exists, 

 waits till he takes the honey, and then * feeds on the 

 broken morsels of comb which fall to its share.' But even 

 here distinction may have to be drawn between real and 

 apparent selfishness. 



There may be a selfish reason real or apparent for 

 humanity, as in the case of -ants feeding and kindly treat- 

 ing as friends not as slaves their milk cattle, plant lice 

 (Aphides) or beetles (species of Claviger). Various authors 

 have pointed out that Aphides are to ants their captors, 

 keepers, and masters not mere prisoners of war ; they are 

 domesticated and happy. Whether or not the motive or 

 purpose be a selfish one an act of, or prompted by, self- 

 interest the procedure itself is obviously a wise, prudent, 

 and commendable policy. 



When harvesting ants nip off the germinating radicles 

 of seeds prior to their storage, the possible result is a malt- 

 ing of the grain from the production of sugar; but it does 

 not follow that the animals are aware of the fact that 

 malting may or will occur, and that their destruction of the 

 radicles has this end in view. They must be aware, how- 

 ever, of the necessity for destroying the radicle, and for 

 thorough drying of the seeds in order to the proper preser- 

 vation of the grain in their granaries. 



An animal regarding itself for the first time in a mirror 

 is less likely to be actuated by self-admiration than by mere 

 surprise or wonder; or the reason may be curiosity or 

 1 In his ' Last Journals,' vol. i. p. 164. 



