2l8 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 



paralleled among birds, but here the care of the 

 nestling is less intimate, far less maternal, than the 

 care of the mammal for her young. As the number 

 of the young grows less and the care taken of them 

 increases, the intensity of the affection also increases. 

 By the time we get as high as the dog or the cat this 

 fondness becomes a fierce, self-sacrificing love. When 

 we come to man, with his high intellectual powers, 

 with his deeper moral sense, we find a wonderful 

 change. This love of the mother for her child has 

 grown into the finest emotion possible to the human 

 heart. It no longer is confined to the dependent life 

 of the child, but follows the offspring through its 

 entire life, guiding, guarding, shaping its destiny, 

 handing on to the child the treasured wisdom of the 

 race. Influenced by the example of the mother, the 

 father comes to have a love for his children. It is 

 not so strong as that of the mother, nor so utterly 

 unselfish, but it is still a noble and exquisite love. 

 Developing in a different direction, the love of the 

 mother for her children grows as civilization advances, 

 and spreads over the father of those children as well. 

 Again reflecting her love, the man finds himself filled 

 with a new feeling for the woman. It is never as 

 unselfish, as free from desire, as is her love, but it 

 completely transforms his relation to her. What has 

 been with him simply desire is ennobled and enriched 



