130 SEX-LORE 



affection exhibited by the carnivores, such as the cat 

 and dog tribes. The duties of parenthood generally 

 fall on the female, the male taking little interest in 

 the young. For a certain period, which varies with 

 each species, the young are very helpless, so that the 

 mother is hardly able to leave them at all, except at 

 intervals to search for food. She suckles them a 

 comparatively long time, and they remain long with 

 her. She shows every sign of affection, nursing them, 

 and even playing with them. Carnivores generally 

 have a lair for their young in a well-concealed place, 

 which is kept very clean. The young, too, are kept 

 very clean, the mother licking them with her rough 

 tongue until they have learnt to do this themselves. 

 If the cubs wander away, the mother carries them 

 back in her mouth, picking them up by the loose 

 skin on the back of the neck. An exception is found 

 in the Polar bear, who carries the cubs under her 

 arm, and also in some carnivores living in trees. 

 The mother (and sometimes both parents) teaches 

 the young to stalk and hunt prey, and also how to 

 kill it. Polar bears teach their cubs to fish and to 

 swim. 



An aberration of parental care is sometimes found 

 among carnivorous animals; they are in the habit of 

 eating the afterbirth, and it happens occasionally 

 that they devour their own young; this is also known 

 to occur in the case of the pig. 



The apes and monkeys approach very much nearer 

 in type to man. Their period of gestation is one of 

 the longest known among all the animals, and the 

 corresponding time of suckling is also much length- 

 ened. The young are born very weak and helpless, 



