496 THE DESCENT OP MAN. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OP MAMMALS. 



The law of battl&— Special weapons, confined to the males— Cause of 

 absence of weapons in the female— Weapons common to both sexes, 

 yet primarily acquired by the male— Other uses of such weapons— 

 Their hig-h importance— Greater size of the male— Means of defense 

 —On the preference shown by either sex in the pairing of quadru- 

 peds. 



Witli mammals the male appears to win the female much more 

 through the law of battle than through the display of his 

 charms. The most timid animals, not provided with any special 

 weapons for fighting, engage in desperate conflicts during the 

 season of love. Two male hares have been seen to fight together 

 until one was killed; male moles often fight, and sometimes 

 with fatal results; male squirrels engage in frequent contests, 

 "and often wound each other severely;" as do male beavers, so 

 that "hardly a skin is without scars. "^ I observed the same fact 

 with the hides of the guanacoes in Patagonia; and on one oc- 

 casion several were so absorbed In fighting that they fearlessly 

 rushed close by me. Livingstone speaks of the males of the 

 many animals in Southern Africa as almost Invariably showing 

 the scars received in former contests. 



The law of battle prevails with aquatic as with terrestrial mam- 

 mals. It is notorious how desperately male seals fight, both with 

 their teeth and claws, during the breeding-season; and their 

 hides are likewise often covered with scars. Male sperm-whales 

 are very jealous at this season; and in their battles ''they often 

 "lock their Jaws together, and turn on their sides and twist 

 "about;" so that their lower jaws often become distorted.^ 



1 See Waterton's account of two hares fighting, 'Zoologist,' vol. i. 

 1843, p. 211. On moles. Bell, 'Hist, of British Quadrupeds,' 1st edit. p. 

 100. On squirrels, Audubon and Bachman, 'Viviparous Quadrupeds of 

 N. America,' 1S46, p. 269. On beavers, Mr. A. H. Green, in 'Journal of 

 Lin. Soc. Zoolog.' vol. .-.. 1869, p. 362. 



- On the battles of seals, see Capt. C. Abbott in 'Proc, Zool. Soc' 

 1868, p. 191; also Mr. R. Brown, ibid. 1S6S, p. 436; also L. Lloyd, 'Game 



