BRAIN v. MUSCLE IN NATURE _ 179 
excessive development of this instinct. The parents 
would not save themselves by deserting their offspring ; 
consequently the whole family perished. Among most 
species the protection to the young afforded by the 
parents is so inadequate that, of the young ones, it is 
the physically strong, rather than the mentally power- 
ful, that tend to survive. 
One animal, however—Homo insapiens—in which the 
maternal instinct was highly developed, learned to take 
shelter in caves and to barricade the entrance to his 
shelter, so that the females were able to bring up their 
young without fear of molestation. There was then no 
need for the development of these to be hurried. The 
weakest of the family perished from disease and hunger 
while still under their mother’s care, but the healthy 
children emerged, some years after birth, equipped with 
a large brain, so that they were able to overcome the 
superior strength of the other animals by craft, and 
the most crafty of insipient mankind survived and left 
offspring. 
Thus Homo sapiens appeared upon the scene. He is 
the animal which pinned its faith to the brain, and his 
faith has not been misplaced. He has sacrificed every- 
thing to the brain. Almost all his other organs—his 
legs, arms, eyes, teeth—have been allowed to de- 
generate, but his brain has been kept up to the highest 
possible efficiency. He now reigns supreme over all 
the animals, which, so to speak, put their money on 
muscle, on brute force. These backed the wrong horse, 
and therefore are now the servants of those who staked 
their all on the brain, 
