XIII 



SOCIAL INSTINCTS 



which is carrying it away, and the cry of the young bird 

 may stimulate the parent to go worm-hunting. But here 

 again we find a " particularity " in the behaviour of animals 

 which could not be provided for beforehand by a class- 

 response. When a monkey and a male, moreover 

 comes back from a general flight to rescue a young one 

 which has been cut off by dogs, 1 the notion of an instinctive 

 adjustment, or an action acquired gradually by practice, is 

 ludicrously out of place. We are forced to speak of the 

 ape as acting with a purpose, and if we allow it purpose 

 in this case, we must grant it sympathy or fellow feel- 

 ing of some kind. It is not merely mothers that feed 

 their young, but companions or " friends " that upon 

 occasion feed others in distress. 2 A cat no doubt suckles 

 its young by instinct, but it is not by instinct that when 

 her milk has run dry, she will coax her mistress to the hay- 

 loft where the kittens are, and bring them to her. 3 A 

 young mammal will doubtless follow an older one more or 

 less blindly and uniformly, but what can we say of the 

 following incident described by Mr. Cornish 4 on the 

 authority of Lord Lovat ? 



"Three stags had been moved in a young plantation. The 

 two best jumped the three ft. wire fence, but a third, a two year 

 old stag, got frightened, and refused. The two waited for him 

 for some time, while he walked and ran up and down ; at last 

 the larger of the two a good royal came back to the fence. 

 The little one ran towards him and the royal trotted away ; 

 but no, the little one could not make up his mind to jump. 

 Back came the royal over the fence, went close up to the little 

 fellow, and actually kissed him several times. With the glass not 

 500 yards away, we could see them rub their noses together. 

 Then the royal led down to the fence, but still the little stag 

 would not have it. At last the royal tossed his head in the air, 

 and seeming to say " Well, you are a fool," went off up the hill 

 to join his companion. When out of sight the little one took 

 courage, got over the fence in a scramble, and followed." 



The ordinary reader would infer from this that the 



1 See Brehm's Thierleben, I. p. 186. 



2 See Darwin, Descent of Man, I. p. 77 ; and Lloyd Morgan, Animal 

 Life and Intelligence, pp. 397, 398. Cf. Romanes, p. 473. 



3 Brehm, Thierleben, I. p. 438. 



4 Animals at Work and at Play, p. 26. 



