CHAP. VI The Domestic Life of Animals 105 



upon them and killed them." "The female of Dendryphantes 

 elegans is much larger than the male, and her loveliness is accom- 

 panied by an extreme irritability of temper, which the male seems 

 to regard as a constant menace to his safety ; but his eagerness 

 being great, and his manners devoted and tender, he gradually 

 overcomes her opposition. Her change of mood is only brought 

 about after much patient courting on his part." In other species 

 {Philnus militarii) the males take possession of young females and 

 keep guard over them until they become mature. We sometimes 

 hear of courtship by telephone. In the Epeiridse spiders "it seems 

 to be carried on, to some extent at least, by a vibration of web 

 lines," as M'Cook and Termeyer have also observed. 



Surely it is a long gamut this, from a mammal's clamant 

 call and forcible wooing, or from the sweet persuasiveness 

 of our singing birds, and the fluttering displays of others, to 

 the trembling of a thread in the web of a spider. But, 

 however varied be the pitch of the song and the form of 

 the dance, all are expressions of love. 



Mates are also attracted to one another by odours. 

 These are best known in mammals {e.g. beaver and civet) 

 and in reptiles ; they predominate in the males, and at the 

 breeding season. They usually proceed from skin glands ; 

 but we understand little about them. They serve as 

 incense or as stimulant, but perhaps this usefulness is 

 secondary. The zoologist Jaeger regards the odoriferous 

 substances in plants and animals as characteristic of and 

 essentially associated with each life ; but without going so 

 far we may recognise that in the general life of flowers 

 and animals alike odours are very important. We know, 

 too, that certain odours make much impression upon us ; 

 such as those of hawthorn and of the hay-field, of newly- 

 mown grass and of withered leaves, of violet and of 

 lavender ; and furthermore, that in some mysterious way 

 some fragrances excite or soothe the system, and have 

 become associated with sexual and other emotions. 



2. Love and Care for Offspring. — Gradual as the 

 incoming of spring has been the blossoming of parental 

 love among animals. We cannot tell in what forms it 

 first appeared in distinctness. We cannot say Lo here ! or 

 Lo there ! for it is latent in them all. 



