PERVERSIONS OF THE NATURAL AFFECTIONS. 63 



so terrified, no less on their own account than on that of 

 their offspring, that they were virtually irresponsible in every 

 sense for the calamity narrated. A common form of selfish- 

 ness is devolving maternal duties on others. Certain birds, 

 for instance the cuckoo and yellow warbler, do not rear their 

 own young. 



As illustrating other forms of neglect, Mrs. Mackellar 

 tells us of a hedgehog that neglected certain of its young 

 brood e so that they died,' after eating two of them. But 

 this was on board ship a few days after capture in other 

 words, under circumstances that were exceptional, or un- 

 usual. 



Instead of the ordinary attention to their young there is 

 sometimes marked indifference, e.g., in the cow, mare, bitch, 

 and pigeon. Indifference may be shown only at the loss of 

 young, which is remarkable chiefly when contrasted with 

 the violent demonstrations of grief, so common, for instance, 

 in the dog under the same circumstances. 



Many forms of cruelty are also common, but none so 

 much so as murder and cannibalism especially the devouring 

 of their own young by mothers, usually in the puerperal state. 

 Indeed, this kind of infanticide is one of the usual indications 

 and concomitants of recent maternity, and in modified forms 

 this unnatural treatment of her own offspring is as charac- 

 teristic of the human female as of the female of certain 

 other animals, in the puerperal condition. Sometimes there 

 is an immediate or exciting cause, which, however, may be of 

 the most nominal kind. At other times there is no apparent 

 cause for what is obviously a morbid appetite or impulse, 

 determined by the puerperal state. 



The most trifling circumstances sometimes cause mothers 

 to devour their offspring, e.g., in the dog and cat, as well as 

 in swine. Infanticidal mothers occur also among several 

 of the gallinacese (birds) and in the ouistiti monkey 

 (Houzeau) . Any disturbance of whatever kind of the female 

 or her surroundings, while she is in the highly excitable, 

 morbid condition that succeeds parturition for a time, may 

 precipitate or produce destruction and cannibalism of the 

 young. The mere sight of her young in the female emu 



