IN HIGHEE PEOPLES 172 



monkeys, dogs, whales, mice, and many othei 

 non-hiimans. 



Even sympathy between adults begins low 

 down. A dog will lick another sick dog. Ro- 

 manes had a dog that objected to the whipping 

 of other dogs, and to the use of the whip on the 

 horse when he went out driving with his master. 

 Monkeys also have considerable s^mipathy for 

 each other, especially in times of sickness. 



Savages have some sympathy for each other, 

 but as a general thing the feeling is weak. This 

 is shown by the not unconmion practice they have 

 of killing off their old people in times of famine. 

 ^ ' Old women no good ; dogs kill otters, '' is the way 

 one savage expressed it. The ancient Romans 

 used to take their hopelessly sick slaves to an is- 

 land in the Tiber and let them die of hunger and 

 exposure. 



The instinct of sympathy in higher peoples is 

 much weaker than many of the older instincts, as, 

 for instance, the hunting and fighting instincts. 

 These latter instincts, when aroused, will over- 

 come the instinct of s>mipathy completely. Let 

 the *^ savage'' within us once get the smell of 

 blood, and it is all over with our sj^npathies. The 

 more recent acquisitions of human character are 

 like tender plants growing in a forest; they are 

 often choked by the more venerable instincts which 

 overtop them. 



The great growth of s^anpathy in higher peo- 

 ples is shown in their sensitiveness to the wrongs 



