1 82 CHILDHOOD OF ANIMALS 



their young on their backs, and each Uttle creature supports itself 

 by twisting the end of its tail round the tail of the mother (Fig. 35). 

 Male marsupials appear to take no interest in their families and 

 do not assist in any way in the work of protecting them. 



Thus, in many different ways, first in the womb, afterwards at the 

 breast, keeping them warm, protecting and educating them, the 

 mothers of mammals are in very close relations with their young, 

 and in a smaller but considerable number of cases the fathers take 

 some part of the burden of bringing up the family. The first result is 

 an economy of life, for a much larger proportion of the young that are 

 born have a chance of escaping the perils of youth and inexperience 

 than in any other group of the animal kingdom. Next, this intimate 

 association has led to a high development of the emotional and 

 intellectual powers. In watching the relations between young 

 mammals and their mother, we cannot avoid using the words and the 

 ideas which we would use of the human race, and cannot doubt 

 but that affection and tenderness, devotion and anxiety are 

 experienced in the same way, if not to the same degree, as amongst 

 human beings, and our kinship with animals is brought home to us 

 far more closely than by the best-reasoned anatomical arguments. 



