CHAPTER XVI

SEXUAL SELECTION AS INFLUENCED BY AFFECTION AND SYMPATHY, AND BY CALCULATION

SEXUAL love is the passion which unites the sexes. The stimulating impressions produced by health, youth, and beauty, and ornaments and other artificial means of attraction, are all elements of this feeling. The antipathy to sexual intercourse with individuals of another species, and the horror of incest, belong to the same phenomenon. But the psychology of love is by no means exhausted by this. "Simple et primitif comme toutes les forces colossales," says Professsor Mantegazza, "l'amour paraît pourtant formé des éléments de toutes les passions humaines." 1 Around the sexual appetite as the leading element there are aggregated many different feelings, such as admiration, pleasure of possession, love of freedom, self-esteem, and love of approbation.2 A complete analysis of love would fill a volume. Here I shall discuss only one of the most important elements of this highly compound feeling, the sentiment of affection.

In the lower stages of human development sexual affection is much inferior in intensity to the tender feelings

1 Mantegazza,' Physiologie du plaisir,' p. 243.

2 Spencer, 'The Principles of Psychology,' vol. i. pp. 487, et seq. Bain, loc. cit. p. 136. Dr. Duboc remarks ('Die Psychologie der Liebe, p. 14), 'Es giebt keine inhaltvollere und triumphirendere Beseligung der eignen Selbstliebe als von dem über alle Anderen emporgetragen zu werden, den wir selbst höher wie alle Anderen erblicken, als von dem ausgezeichnet zu werden, der uns selbst mit allen Auszeichnungen geschmückt erscheint.'

with which parents embrace their children; and among several peoples it seems to be almost unknown. Thus, speaking of the Hovas in Madagascar, Mr. Sibree says that, among them, until the spread of Christianity, there was "no lack of strong affection between blood-relationsparents and children, brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren;" but the idea of love between husband and wife was hardly thought of.1 On the Gold Coast, says Major Ellis, "love, as understood by the people of Europe, has no existence." 2 At Winnebah, according to Mr. Duncan, "not even the appearance of affection exists between husband and wife;" and almost the same is asserted by M. Sabatier with reference to the Kabyles, by Signor Bonfanti with reference to the Bantu race. Munzinger says that, among the Beni-Amer, it is considered even disgraceful for a wife to show any affection for her husband. The Chittagong Hill tribes, according to Captain Lewin, have "no idea of tenderness, nor of chivalrous devotion." Marriage is among them regarded as merely a convenient and animal connection.5 In the Island of Ponapé, according to Dr. Finsch, love in our sense of the term is entirely unknown." As regards the Eskimo of Newfoundland, Heriot asserts, "Like all other men in the savage state, they treat their wives with great coldness and neglect, but their affection towards their offspring is lively and tender." 7 In Greenland, a man thought nothing of beating his wife, but it was an heinous offence for a mother to chastise her children.8 Almost the same is said of the Kutchin by Mr. Jones, and of the Eskimo of Norton Sound by Mr. Dall. According to Mr. Morgan, the refined passion

1 Sibree, loc. cit. p. 250.

2 Ellis, 'The Tshi-speaking Peoples,' p. 285.

3 Duncan, 'Travels in Western Africa,' vol. i. p. 79. Sabatier, 'Étude sur la femme Kabyle,' in 'Revue d'Anthropologie,' ser. ii. vol. vi. p. 58. Bonfanti, 'L'incivilimento dei negri nell' Africa intertropicale,' in 'Archivio per antropologia e la etnologia,' vol. xv. p. 131.

4 Munzinger, loc. cit. p. 325.

5 Lewin, loc. cit. p. 345.

6 Finsch, in 'Zeitschr. f. Ethnol.,' vol. xii. p. 317.

7 Heriot, loc. cit. p. 25.

8 Egede, loc. cit. p. 144.

9 Jones, in 'Smith. Rep.,' 1866, p. 326. Dall, loc. cit. p. 139.

of love is unknown to the North American Indians in general.1

Such statements, however, may easily be misleading. The love of a savage is certainly very different from the love of a civilized man; nevertheless, we may discover in it traces of the same ingredients. There are facts which tend to show that even very rude savages may have conjugal affection; nay, that among certain uncivilized peoples it has reached a remarkably high degree of development.

Among the wretched Bushmans, according to Mr. Chapman, there is love in all their marriages.2 Among the races of the Upper Congo, love is ennobled by a certain poetry; s and with the Touaregs, there is a touch of almost chivalrous sentiment in the relations between men and women. Regarding the man-eating Niam-Niam, Dr. Schweinfurth asserts that they display an affection for their wives which is unparalleled among other natives of an equally low grade.5

The Hos are good husbands and wives, and although they have no terms in their own language to express the higher emotions," they feel them all the same." 6 The missionary Jellinghaus found tokens of affectionate love between married people among the Munda Kols, Mr. Fawcett among the Savaras, Sir Spenser St. John among the Sea Dyaks, Mr. Man among the Andamanese.7 In New Caledonia, says M. Moncelon, "l'amour existe, et j'ai vu des suicides par amour." 8 In Samoa, stories of affectionate love between husband and wife are preserved in song." In Tonga, according to Mariner, most of the women were much attached

1 Morgan, 'Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity,' p. 207, note. Cf. Schoolcraft, loc. cit. vol. v. p. 272 (Creeks).

2 Chapman, loc. cit. vol. i. p. 258.

3 Johnson, 'The River Congo,' p. 423.

4 Chavanne, 'Die Sahara,' pp. 208, et seq.

5 Schweinfurth, loc. cit. vol. i. p. 510.

Dalton, loc. cit. p. 206.

7 Jellinghaus, in 'Zeitscher. f. Ethnol.,' vol iii. p. 369. Fawcett, 'The Saoras of Madras,' in 'Jour. Anthr. Soc. Bombay,' vol. i. p. 219. St. John, loc. cit. vol. i. pp. 54. et seq. Man, in 'Jour. Anthr. Inst.,' vol. xii.

P. 327.

s Moncelon, in Bull. Soc. d'Anthr., ser. iii. vol. ix. p. 366.

9 Turner, 'Samoa,' p. 102.

to their husbands; and in Fiji, says Dr. Seemann, "even widowers, in the depth of their grief, have frequently terminated their existence, when deprived of a dearly beloved wife."2 In several of the Australian tribes, married people are often much attached to each other, and continue to be so even when they grow old.3 Concerning the aborigines of Victoria, Daniel Bunce says it is an error to suppose that there exists no settled love or lasting affection between the sexes; among the Narrinyeri, Mr. Taplin has known as wellmatched and loving couples as he has among Europeans; and, according to Mr. Bonney, husband and wife among the natives of the River Darling, rarely quarrel, and "they show much affection for each other in their own way." 4

Among the Eskimo of the north-east coast of North America, visited by Lyon, "young couples are frequently seen rubbing noses, their favourite mark of affection, with an air of tenderness."5 The Tacullies, as Harman informs us, are remarkably fond of their wives. And Mr. Catlin goes even so far as to deny that the North American Indians are "in the least behind us in conjugal, in filial, and in paternal affection," a statement with which Mr. Morgan's does not agree. Mr. Brett asserts that, among the natives of Guiana, instances of conjugal attachment are very frequent.8 Azara and Mantegazza found tokens of it among some other South American tribes; and the rude Fuegians are said to "show a good deal of affection for their wives." 10

It is, indeed, impossible to believe that there ever was a 1 Martin, loc. cit. vol. ii., p. 171, et seq.

2 Seemann, 'Viti,' pp. 193, et seq.

3 Brough Smyth, loc. cit. vol. ii. p. 283. Bonwick, in 'Jour. Anthr. Inst.,' vol. xvi. p. 205. Waitz-Gerland, loc. cit. vol. vi. pp. 775, 781. Dawson, loc. cit. p. 37. Lumholtz, loc. cit. pp. 213, et seq.

4 Brough Smyth, vol. i. p. 29. Taplin, loc. cit. p. 12. Bonney, in 'Jour. Anthr. Inst.,' vol. xiii. p. 129.

Lyon, loc cit. p. 353. Cf. Nansen, loc. cit. vol. ii. pp. 325, et seq. (Greenlanders).

6 Harmon, loc. cit. p. 292.

8 Brett, loc. cit. pp. 98, 351.

7 Catlin, loc. cit. vol. i. p. 121.

9

Azara, loc. cit. vol. ii. p. 44.

Mantegazza, 'Rio de la Plata,' p. 456.

10 Weddel, 'Voyage towards the South Pole,' p. 156. Haydes, in 'Bull.

Soc. d'Anthr.,' ser. iii. vol. x. p. 334.

time when conjugal affection was entirely wanting in the human race. Though originally of far less intensity than parental love, especially on the mother's side, as being of less importance for the existence of the species, yet it seems, in its most primitive form, to have been as old as marriage itself. It must be a certain degree of affection that induces the male to defend the female during her period of pregnancy; but often it is the joint care of the offspring, more than anything else, that makes the married couple attached to each other. With reference to the Dacotahs, Mr. Prescott remarks that "as children increase, the parents appear to be more affectionate." 1

Of course it is impossible to suppose that mutual love can generally be the motive which leads to marriage when the wife is captured or purchased from a foreign tribe. In the main, Mr. Hall's assertion as to the Eskimo visited by him, that "love-if it come at all-comes after the marriage," holds good for many savage peoples. Among the Australians, for instance, according to Mr. Brough Smyth, love has often no part in the preparations for marriage. "The bride is dragged from her home-she is unwilling to leave it; and if fears are entertained that she will endeavour to escape, a spear is thrust through her foot or her leg. A kind husband. will, however, ultimately evoke affection, and fidelity and true love are not rare in Australian families." 3

The affection accompanying the union of the sexes has gradually developed in proportion as altruism in general has increased. Thus love has only slowly become the refined feeling it is in the heart of a highly civilized European. In Eastern countries with their ancient civilization there exists even now but little of that tenderness towards the woman which is the principal charm of our own family life. In China, up to recent times, it was considered "good form" for a man to beat his wife, and, if the Chinaman of humble rank spared her a little, he did so only in order not to come under the necessity of buying a successor.1 In Hindu families, according to Hall, loc. cit. p. 568.

1 Schoolcraft, loc. cit. vol. iii. p. 236. 3 Brough Smyth, loc. cit. vol. i. p.

4 Katscher, loc. cit. pp. 58, et seq.

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