In regard to mammals, there is no strict relation between the degree of intellectual development and the form of sexual union. The carnivorous animals often live in couples for the reason previously given; but this is not an absolute rule, for the South African lion is frequently accompanied by four or five females.[1] Bears, weasels, whales, etc., on the contrary, generally go in couples. Sometimes species that are very nearly allied have different conjugal customs; thus the white-cheeked peccary lives in troops, whilst the white-ringed peccary lives in couples.[2]
There is the same diversity in the habits of monkeys. Some are polygamous and others monogamous. The wanderoo (Macacus silenus) of India has only one female, and is faithful to her until death.[3] The Cebus capucinus, on the contrary, is polygamous.[4]
Those cousins-german of man, the anthropoid apes, have sometimes adopted polygamy and sometimes monogamy. Savage tells us that the Gorilla gina forms small hordes, consisting of a single adult male, who is the despotic chief of many females and a certain number of young.
Chimpanzees are sometimes polygamous and sometimes monogamous. The polygamous family of monkeys is always subject to the monarchic régime. The male, who is at the same time the chief, is despotic; he exacts a passive obedience from his subordinates, and he expels the young males as soon as they are old enough to give umbrage to him. To sum up, he is at once the father, the protector, and the tyrant of the band. Nevertheless, the females are affectionate to him, and the most zealous among them prove it by assiduously picking the lice from him, which, with monkeys, is a mark of great tenderness.[5] But the master who has been thus flattered and cringed to sometimes comes to a bad end. One fine day, when old age has rendered him less formidable, when he is no longer capable of proving at every instant that right must yield to
