58 GORILLAS AND CHIMPANZEES 



ability to rescue the one in danger, but the parent is 

 not wholly aware of its own danger. 



I doubt if any animal except man ever deliberately 

 offered its own life as a ransom for that of another, 

 and such instances in human history are so rare as 

 to immortalise the actor. 



To whatever extent the instinct may be found, it 

 is much stronger in the female than in the male, and 

 it appears to be stronger in domestic animals than 

 in wild ones. To what extent this is due to their 

 contact with man, it is difficult to say. The germ 

 may be inherent, but it certainly yields to culture. 



The fact of the ape deserting its offspring under 

 certain conditions, may be taken as an evidence 

 of its superior intelligence and its appreciation of 

 life and danger, rather than a low, brutish impulse. 

 It is the exercise of superior judgment that causes 

 man to act with more prudence than other animals. 

 It does not detract from his nobleness. 



Within the family circle of the chimpanzee the 

 father is supreme ; but he does not degrade his 

 royalty by being a tyrant. Each member of the 

 family seems to have certain rights that are not 

 impugned by others. For example, possession is the 

 right of ownership. When one ape procures a 

 certain article of food, the others do not try to 

 dispossess it. It is from this source, doubtless, that 

 man inherits the idea of private ownership. It is 

 the same principle amplified by which nations hold 

 the right of territory, but nations often violate this 

 right, and so do chimpanzees when not held in check 



