IN HIGHER PEOPLES 137 



tion more than agriculture, and play and dissipa- 

 tion rather than useful occupations. Our machin- 

 ery has never been made over to suit modern life 

 and conditions. 



8. The Fighting Instinct. 



The fighting instinct is the instinct to contend 

 and to overcome by force. It causes anyone who 

 has it to act differently from what the fear in- 

 stinct does. Fear urges one to retreat ; the fight- 

 ing instinct urges one to attack and injure and 

 kill. 



The fighting instinct is also an old instinct. It 

 was not invented by man. It \vas presented to 

 him by his pre-human ancestors, who fought and 

 bled and died for millions of years before there 

 were any human beings in the world. According 

 to Romanes, the fighting instinct first shows itself 

 in ants and spiders. It is, hence, not so old as the 

 fear instinct, for the ants and spiders are some- 

 what higher than the worms and came into the 

 world somewhat later. 



As a general rule, it may be said that the fight- 

 ing instinct is stronger in the higher and more 

 powerful animals and the fear instinct in the 

 lower and weaker species. Many species, like the 

 deer, rabbit, mouse, and sheep, have adopted a 

 different policy in the struggle for life from other 

 species, such as the lion, wolf, and rhinoceros. 

 The rabbit and the mouse run for their lives, as 

 a general thing, because they are better at run- 



