154 SUPPLEMENTAL HISTORY OP MAN. 



attachment of the mother to the offspring is equally 

 strong in both, but it differs materially in the human 

 species as to the period of its duration and the cha- 

 racter it finally assumes. In brutes it is apparently 

 purely instinctive, blind, involuntary, irresistible, 

 and lasts no longer than the helpless state of the 

 offspring requires the assistance of the parent : nor 

 is it succeeded by that feeling of tender affection 

 which in man exists through life, a feeling which, 

 holding a due medium between the impulsive force 

 of instinct and the calmer regard of friendship, con- 

 stitutes the highest enjoyments of human life, and 

 is the basis and cement of society. 



The attachment of the dog to his master is cer- 

 tainly a proof in the animal kingdom of the existence 

 of a feeling of a higher order than those which are 

 merely instinctive, and in the individuals of other 

 tribes, we remark, in relation to man, certain de- 

 monstrations of a feeling which approximates to 

 friendship. It is very doubtful, however, whether 

 other animals ever form unions of friendship among 

 themselves. We are not in possession of any facts 

 sufficiently well authenticated to justify our adopt- 

 ing the affirmative of this question; the cases of 

 sexual combination for the support and preservation 

 of the offspring, which are merely instinctive, not 

 forming, in our apprehension, any legitimate proof 

 of the existence of what is properly termed friend- 

 ship. Brutes appear in general to be utterly desti- 

 tute of mutual sympathy, to be wholly unmoved by 

 the sufferings, and totally indifferent to the joys, of 

 one another. 



