i54 PHYSICAL BASIS OF CIVILIZATION 



in this argument, man's powerful brute enemies 

 were sufficiently subdued at that period so that 

 there was no need of going daily in pursuit of 

 them. 



The males inclined to these depredations, how- 

 ever, would probably not venture on them on days 

 when the other men were with their families. Only 

 isolated cases would occur, when roving males, find- 

 ing that the protecting men had gone away from 

 retreats in which accumulations existed, would dare 

 to make raids on them. This is the line of greatest 

 temptation, attraction, and least resistance. They 

 would make attempts to enter the retreats to possess 

 themselves of the supplies. 



In that early period, the natural emotions and 

 passions of the females and young in these retreats 

 thus trespassed upon had obviously not existed 

 long enough to become modified by either prudence 

 and policy, which are the products of experience 

 of natural consequences (and the experiences of these 

 attacks, by the hypothesis, were absolutely new) 

 or by social and conventional feelings or sentiments, 

 which are the results of very refined and therefore 

 much later experiences. It is therefore beyond 

 doubt that they followed the natural impulse to 

 resist aggression without considering consequences ; 

 and the conflicts following could hardly be sup- 

 posed to end without loss of life. Success in sordid, 

 selfish, cruel acts makes these exceedingly infectious, 

 and a few occasional robber raids could not satisfy 





