^f 



CHAPTER IX 

 THE EVOLUTION OF A FATHER 



T N last chapter we watched the beautiful experi- 

 ''" ment of Nature making Mothers. We saw 

 how the young produced at one birth were grad- 

 ually reduced in numbers until it was possible for 

 affection to concentrate upon a single object ; how 

 that object was delayed in birth till it was a 

 likeable and presentable thing ; how it was tied to 

 its mother's side by physical bonds, and hindered 

 there for years to give time for the Mother's care 

 to ripen into love. We saw, what was still more 

 instructive, that Nature, when she had laid the train 

 for perfecting these arrangements, gave up making 

 any more animals ; and that there were physio- 

 logical reasons why this well-mothered class should 

 survive beyond all others, and, by sheer physio- 

 logical fitness, henceforth dominate the world. 



But there was still a crowning task to accomplish. 

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