2l8 The Descent of Man. Pabt II 



characters, in his great tusks and some other points. In Europe 

 and in India he leads a solitary life, except during the breeding- 

 season ; but as is believed by Sir W. Elliot, who has had many 

 opportunities in India of observing this animal, he consorts at 

 this season with several females. Whether this holds good 

 in Europe is doubtful, but it is supported by some evidence. 

 The adult male Indian elephant, like the boar, passes much oi 

 his time in solitude ; but as Dr. Campbell states, when with 

 others, " it is rare to find more than one male with a whole herd 

 " of females ;" the larger males expelling or killing the smaller 

 and weaker ones. The male differs from the female in his immense 

 tusks, greater size, strength, and endui-ance; so great is the 

 difference in these respects, that the males when caught, are 

 valued at one-fifth more than the females.'^ The sexes of other 

 pachydermatous animals dififer very little or not at all, and, as 

 far as known, they are not polygamists. Nor have I heard of any 

 species in the Orders of Cheiroptera, Edentata, Insectivora and 

 liodents being polygamous, excepting that amongst the Rodents, 

 the common rat, according to some rat-catchers, lives with several 

 females. Nevertheless the two sexes of some sloths (Edentata) 

 differ in the character and colour of certain patches of hair on 

 their shoulders." And many kinds of bats (Cheiroptera) present 

 well-marked sexual differences, chiefly in the males possessing 

 odoriferous glands and pouches, and by their being of a lighter 

 colour.'* In the great order of Rodents, as far as I can learn, 

 the sexes rarely differ, and when they do so, it is but slightly in 

 the tint of the fur. 



As I hear from Sir Andrew Smith, the lion in South Africa 

 sometimes lives with a single female, but generally with more, 

 and, in one case, was found with as many as five females ; so 

 that he is polygamous. As far as I can discover, he is the only 

 polygamist amongst all the terrestrial Carnivora, and he alone 

 presents well-marked sexual characters. If, however, we turn 

 to the marine Carnivora, as we shall hereafter see, the case is 

 widely different ; for many species of seals offer extraordinary 

 Bexual differences, and they are eminently polygamous. Thus, 

 according to Peron, the male sea-elephant of the Southern Ocean 

 always possesses several females, and the sea-lion of Forster is 

 said to be surrounded by from twenty to thirty females. In the 

 North, the male sea-bear of Steller is accompanied by even a 



'^ Dr. Campbell, in ' Proo. Zoo- " Dr. Gray, in ' Annals and 



log. Soc' 186y, p. 138. See also an Mag. of Nat. Hist.' 1871, p. 302. 

 interesting paper, by Lieut. John- '* See Dr. Dobson's excellent 



Btone, in * Proc. Asiatic Soc. of ' paper, in 'Proc. Zoolog. Soc' 1873^ 



Beagiil,' May, 1868. p. 'IM. 



