n6 Notices of Books. [January, 



enemies, it becomes useful to the creature itself, and could, there- 

 fore, have been acquired by natural selection. 



In some cases the explanations given seem far-fetched, or 

 simpler ones appear to be overlooked. I can hardly believe that 

 when a cat, lying on a shawl or other soft material, pats or 

 pounds it with its feet, or sometimes sucks a piece of it, it is the 

 persistence of the habit of pressing the mammary glands and 

 sucking during kittenhood ; nor that the frequent practice of cats 

 rubbing against their master's legs is derived from the habit of 

 fondling their young. The habits and ideas of infancy seem to 

 be completely lost in adult life, and to be replaced by others 

 widely different; and it seems hardly likely that they should 

 persist so strongly in one or two isolated instances without 

 leaving more frequent and less equivocal traces behind them. 



When a horse breaks into a gallop, at full speed, he always 

 lowers his tail, and this is said to be done in order that as little 

 resistance as possible maybe offered to the air. This reason seems 

 very fanciful, when the obvious explanation occurs, that, as the 

 whole available nervous energy is being expended in locomotion, 

 all special muscular contractions not aiding in the motion cease. 

 It also seems very unsatisfactory to refer the vague and unde- 

 fined yet deep emotions often excited by music to a recalling or 

 survival of " strong emotions felt during long past ages, when, 

 as is probable, our early progenitors courted each other by the 

 aid of vocal tones," although it is very difficult to suggest any 

 other explanation. 



The open mouth, and raised arms with open hands turned 

 outwards, is an expression of astonishment very general all over 

 the world. Mr. Darwin explains the open mouth by a complir 

 cation of causes, but he omits to notice, what seems to me a 

 very probable one, that it represents an incipient cry of alarm or 

 fear, or call for help. The raising of the arms and the open 

 hands are explained by antithesis, they being the opposite of a 

 state of indifference or listlessness. But this seems very unsatis- 

 factory. The attitude is too definite, too uniform, and too wide- 

 spread, to be derived from such a vague and variable cause as 

 the opposite of a position of unconcernedness. There seems, 

 however, to be a very obvious and natural explanation of the 

 gesture. Astonishment, among our savage ancestors, would 

 most frequently be excited by the sudden appearance of enemies 

 or wild beasts, or by seeing a friend or a child in imminent 

 danger. The appropriate movement, either to defend the ob- 

 server's face or body, or to prepare to give assistance to the 

 person in danger, is to raise the arms and open the hands, at the 

 same time opening the mouth to utter a cry of alarm or en- 

 couragement. It is the protective attitude of an unarmed man 

 to be ready to ward off attack of some uncertain or undefined 

 kind ; and very nearly the same attitude is that which we adopt 

 as we rush to the assistance of some one in danger, our hands 



