CRUELTY AND KINDNESS 83 



the present day, newspapers find that their cir- 

 culation is increased by the publication of horrors. 

 And which of us will not confess with shame to 

 having been assailed by an impulse to say things 

 which he knows will unnecessarily hurt the 

 feelings of a friend ? 



KINDNESS appears to be an emotion which is 

 derived from an impulse to fondle or embrace. 

 We may, perhaps somewhat fancifully, detect the 

 effects of this instinct in the curious association of 

 different creatures, known as commensality or 

 symbiosis. Instances of this are very numerous. 

 A species of sea anemone (Adamsia) attaches 

 itself to the shells of hermit crabs : puffins and 

 rabbits, prairie dogs and prairie owls amicably 

 share the same burrow : grackles nestle round 

 the nest of the osprey. There is no question of 

 parasitism : each animal lives its life independ- 

 ently, but appears to be attracted by the other's 

 society. In mankind the propensity to keep pets 

 is very strong, and may not improbably have led 

 the way to the domestication of animals. In some 

 districts of India every man carries a bulbul about 

 with him, and caged birds enliven homes through- 

 out the East as well as Europe. Many people are 

 not happy without a dog. As objects of worship, 

 and as totems, animals, since the beginning of 

 history, have been treated by man with an 

 affectionate regard which the propensities of our 

 own boys will enable us to realize. The natives 

 of Peru have domesticated a snake : many a 

 schoolboy will carry one within his waistcoat, 

 and would sleep very agreeably with guinea pigs 

 and white rats nestling against him. 



In their dealings with one another, men, even 

 the most depraved, are often moved, most un- 

 expectedly, by feelings of kindness. In the cynical 



