(3) The instincts of caring for the offspring until it is 

 able to care for itself. 



5. The Sex Instincts and Impulses. When minute 

 gametes are produced it is easy to see that it is something 

 of a problem to bring them together and cause them to 

 unite. The simplest instinct connected with mating is the 

 attraction exerted by one gamete on the other. When the 

 female gamete secretes substance in the water, the male 

 gamete is so sensitive to it, that it at once responds, very 

 much as a young animal swallows when food is in its 

 mouth. There is here something inherited in the nature 

 of the sperm that impels it toward the egg. 



When one gamete comes to be formed by one parent 

 and the other gamete by a wholly different one, it is not 

 enough that the gametes attract one another. They are 

 so separated that neither can influence the other until 

 they are brought together. In order to bring the gametes 

 together, the parents must attract one another. Out of 

 this condition of different parents, carrying different kinds 

 of cells that must be brought together, we have arising 

 the selfish sex desires that lead to the attraction and 

 mating of the parents. These impulses are evidently felt 

 by many of the lower animals as well as by the higher. 

 They are usually stronger in the males than in the females, 

 and cause the males to seek out the females. They are 

 among the most powerful instincts known among animals, 

 and insure that the gametes will be brought together. 



In connection with this purely mating instinct, we find 

 a number of others that are only indirectly connected 

 with mating. Such are the singing and acting instincts of 

 the male birds at the mating season; the actions of spiders 

 at the same period; the fierce fighting instincts of some of 

 the larger male mammals and of some birds; the instinct 

 of flight in the mating of the queen bee. Many other 

 similar phenomena might be mentioned. 



6. Relation of the Sex Instincts to the Reproductive 

 Instincts. It has been repeated frequently that the whole 

 of reproduction is a process of sacrifice. It looks toward 

 the species. The instincts that lead to it may be fairly 

 described as unselfish, without implying that the organism 

 is conscious of it or deserves any credit for it. On the 

 other hand, the instincts of sex point solely to satisfying 

 selfish desires and appetites. They are like hunger and 

 thirst in that they involve satisfaction rather than 

 sacrifice. They are just as selfish as eating. 



7. ThiE Tendency in Man. In lower animals and plants 

 there is no special tendency to abuse or over-use the se.x 

 instincts. In man, on the contrary, just because we can 

 remember and think and anticipate gratification, men do 

 give way to these desires and impulses in ways that 

 animals do not. An animal that is not deprived of food 

 is not likely to overeat, though it may give nearly its 

 whole time to eating; so it is with its sex gratification. 

 Man. however, because he can dwell on the pleasures of 

 food, can talk about the things he eats, and can do various 

 things to make our food more pleasant, is constantly 

 falling into over-indulgence in the matter of eating. His 

 continued consciousness and imagination of the pleasure 

 is a temptation to him. This same tendency in man is seen 

 in gratifying the sex impulses, and some most serious 

 dangers to our society and to our morals and our 

 civilization are connected with sex. 



8. The Need of Education. It has long been the custom 

 to say little to young people about the facts of sex and 

 reproduction. It has been felt that knowledge of these 

 matters might make more of wrong doing, but human 

 sentiment is changing with respect to this. It is coming to 

 be felt that young people will be helped and not harmed 

 by knowing the wonderful facts of reproduction. 



You should know that the sex impulses are natural and, 



if not wrongly used, build us up in all the qualities which 

 each sex admires in the other. But you should also clearly 

 understand that these impulses are selfish, and must be 

 self-controlled. They are in danger of leading us into 

 wrong that is likely to destroy health and morals, respect 

 for each other, self-respect, and happiness. It is certainly 

 true that instincts and impulses that have all these 

 possibilities of both good and evil can be better guided 

 and controlled if we know about them than if we are 

 ignorant. Nature has shifted the responsibility to us. 



With his powers of reasoning and of imagination, there 

 has come to man responsibility for his own guidance. It 

 is these powers of reasoning and imagination which tempt 

 him to indulgences which are destructive. It must be the 

 same powers of reasoning and imagination which will 

 reveal to him that he must be his own master and control 

 his instincts. By reason he must judge which of his 

 feelings are good and which are bad, and by his will power 

 he must control his acts. Otherwise he travels a path 

 which leads to destruction. 



It is surely true that instincts which have such 

 wonderful power for good or evil can be better controlled 

 and guided if we understand them than if we are 

 ignorant of their meaning. You have an instinct for 

 what is right as well as for what is wrong. Your happiness 

 and real success in life can be won only by standing 

 firmly by what you know to be right. 



CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO. 

 HOMES AND HOME MAKING. 



1. Homes and Homes. There are all sorts of homes 

 among animals, and it is necessary for us to try to define 

 what we mean by a home. Many animals burrow in the 

 ground or in wood or even in stone, and thus form a den 

 into which they may retreat as a protection. This is a 

 very simple kind of home, if we can call it a home at all. 

 The burrows of the earthworm or the mole or the 

 burrowing beetles will illustrate this. Some animals make 

 or find places in which they store food for winter. We 

 see this in squirrels, ants, etc. The desire for protection 

 and for storing of food is thus motive for home-making 

 of a simple sort. 



There is, however, another factor, which may be found 

 alongside these, that is more important than both of 

 these in insuring the making of homes. This is the care 

 and rearing of offspring. Many animals seek or 't)repare 

 a specially protected place in which they rear their brood. 

 Indeed so important is this factor that we can scarcely 

 give the name of home in those cases where young are not 

 cared for. 



2. Homes for the Rearing of Offspring. We have seen 

 that increasing care for offspring tends to hold together 

 the parents while the young are immature. This is not 

 always true. Very often one sex is left alone to care for 

 the young, but usually where such instinct exists at all, 

 both father and mother give some attention to the young. 

 This common tie inevitably leads to closer and more 

 permanent relations between the parents. We see this in 

 many birds. In most of the song birds those of a pair 

 remain faithful during the whole season; indeed in some it 

 seems that they are faithful through several years, or even 



