2 8 4 THE BRITISH NATURALIST. [D 



THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL INSTINCTS. 



BY A. J. JOLLEY. 



( Continued from page 274.) 



The wild sheep, of which species are found in North Africa, the 

 Mediterranean Islands, and amongst the mountains of both Asia and 

 North America, are eminently social and intelligent animals ; they 

 are lively and spirited, and the adult males are very courageous. 



The chase of the kashkar of Central Asia or of the arni of the Atlas 

 Mountains is full of difficulty and danger ; an arni ram will attack a 

 man without hesitation. Domestication and artificial selection have 

 doubtless improved the wool and the mutton, but they have also 

 lowered the intelligence of the sheep. A similar consequence, though 

 in a less pronounced degree, has ensued from the domestication of 

 cattle ; artificial protection has removed the necessity for courage and 

 organization, and domestic breeds are more timid and less social and 

 intelligent than their wild relatives. The bisons, which as wild cattle 

 no longer exist, but which thirty years ago ranged in enormous herds 

 over the North American prairies, combined to resist the attacks of 

 carnivores, the cows and calves sheltering behind a line or within a 

 circle of bulls, who presented a formidable front to the enemy. Similar 

 tactics are adopted by other species of wild cattle, and as isolated indi- 

 viduals readily fall victims to their carnivorous foes, a moderate level 

 of sociality is effectively maintained. Although there is somewhat less of 

 sociability amongst the omnivorous swine than amongst the herbivorous 

 ruminants, yet most of them live in herds ; the boars have usually a for- 

 midable armament in their tusks ; they support one another loyally, and 

 have plenty of courage. The hideous wart-hogs of Central and Southern 

 Africa are the least social of the swine, whilst on the other hand, the pec- 

 caries v of America, which represent a different stock, and approximate in 

 some anatomical respects to the ruminants, also resemble them in being 

 eminently social ; though small animals and not provided with tusks 

 like their Old World relatives, they are very courageous, and as they live 

 in large herds and support one another loyally in battle, they often suc- 

 ceed in driving off carnivores much bigger than themselves. In the 

 remaining genus of even-toed Ungulates the necessity for combining 

 against carnivores does not exist ; their vast size and strength enable 

 the hippopotami to defy any enemy not provided with artificial 

 weapons ; yet they are eminently social animals, and are described as 

 sporting together in the evenings and bellowing with joy. 



Amongst the odd-toed Ungulates, the equine family, which 

 includes the wild horses of Asia, the wild asses of Asia and 



