402 Life and Immortality. 



others. Even where the eggs belong to birds of different 

 species, as to the common Muscovy-duck for example, the 

 hen displays as much affection for the young ducklings, 

 despite the disparity of instinct and habit, as she does had 

 they proceeded from her own eggs. May it not be that 

 parental love has different channels of transmission, and that 

 in such a case as this the emanation from the sitting-hen 

 may be the vehicle of parental love toward the young which 

 are to be hatched ? Certain it is that a sitting-hen, as many 

 of us have observed, is altogether a changed being, both in 

 attitude and expression. She is entirely absorbed in the 

 eggs when she is incubating, and, though she may not have 

 the intellect to distinguish a mere lump of chalk from one 

 of her own eggs, yet love is altogether independent of intel- 

 lect, and may exist in all its vigor, and yet may be wasted 

 on an unworthy object. 



Fishes, as is generally known, are not particularly emo- 

 tional beings, and are not likely to entertain a lasting love 

 for anything. Indeed, in some instances, parental love would 

 be absolutely useless, as in the case of the cod-fish, which 

 could be hardly expected to entertain a special love for each of 

 the countless thousands of young it produces every yean The 

 life of the mother would be an unenviable one, if he/ lot 

 were to look after her young as soon as they are hatched, 

 especially when the varied foes that beset her eggs as soon 

 as they are produced, are considered. Just as there are 

 fishes that possess conjugal love, so there are fishes that 

 possess parental love, and prominent among these are the 

 sticklebacks. But in the case of these fishes the most curi- 

 ous part is that parental love is shown by the father, and not 

 by the mother, the latter having nothing to do but to lay the 

 eggs, and leaving to the former the exclusive labor of pro- 

 viding for the young. 



Enough of instances of true parental love among the 

 lower animals could be given to fill this entire book, but 

 a sufficient number have been adduced to show that the 



