CHAPTER XXIX. 



COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 



THERE is a striking resemblance' between courtship and 

 marriage in the lower animals and in man; almost every 

 phenomenon in the latter has its exact counterpart in the 

 former. Mating or pairing in other animals, and the pre- 

 liminary operations including the peculiarities of what is 

 variously spoken of as the ' season of love/ or the breeding 

 season furnish illustrations of the most important kind of 

 certain of the mental and moral qualities of the lower ani- 

 mals. These features in their mental or moral character 

 include more especially 



1. Preference or choice in the selection of mates by the 

 nubile females. 



This, again, involves 



a-. Deliberation the consideration of the qualifica- 

 tions of candidates. 



b. Testing comparative qualifications by a sort of 



competitive examination ; sometimes 



c. Decision ; or, on the other hand 



d. Indecision, vacillation, or hesitancy not know- 



ing her own mind in the female. 



e. Change of mind or fickleness. 

 /. Caprice or whimsicalness. 



g. The development of singular, perhaps unac- 

 countable, likes and dislikes. 

 h. Fastidiousness. 



2. The paying and accepting or refusal of addresses or 

 attentions by and from the male. 



3. The deliberate display to the greatest advantage 



