[110] Sir J. Lubbock, ‘Prehistoric Times,’ 2nd edit. p. 446.
[111] As quoted by Mr. L. H. Morgan, ‘The American Beaver,’ 1868, p. 272. Capt. Stansbury also gives an interesting account of the manner in which a very young pelican, carried away by a strong stream, was guided and encouraged in its attempts to reach the shore by half a dozen old birds.
[112] As Mr. Bain states, “effective aid to a sufferer springs from sympathy proper:” ‘Mental and Moral Science,’ 1868, p. 245.
[113] ‘Thierleben,’ B. i. s. 85.
[114] ‘De l’Espèce et de la Class.’ 1869, p. 97.
[115] ‘Der Darwin’schen Art-Lehre,’ 1869, s. 54.
[116] Brehm, ‘Thierleben,’ B. i. s. 76.
[117] See the first and striking chapter in Adam Smith’s ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments.’ Also Mr. Bain’s ‘Mental and Moral Science,’ 1868, p. 244, and 275-282. Mr. Bain states, that “sympathy is, indirectly, a source of pleasure to the sympathiser;” and he accounts for this through reciprocity. He remarks that “the person benefited, or others in his stead, may make up, by sympathy and good offices returned, for all the sacrifice.” But if, as appears to be the case, sympathy is strictly an instinct, its exercise would give direct pleasure, in the same manner as the exercise, as before remarked, of almost every other instinct.
[118] This fact, the Rev. L. Jenyns states (see his edition of ‘White’s Nat. Hist. of Selborne,’ 1853, p. 204) was first recorded by the illustrious Jenner, in ‘Phil. Transact.’ 1824, and has since been confirmed by several observers, especially by Mr. Blackwall. This latter careful observer examined, late in the autumn, during two years, thirty-six nests; he found that twelve contained young dead birds, five contained eggs on the point of being hatched, and three eggs not nearly hatched. Many birds not yet old enough for a prolonged flight are likewise deserted and left behind. See Blackwall, ‘Researches in Zoology,’ 1834, pp. 108, 118. For some additional evidence, although this is not wanted, see Leroy, ‘Lettres Phil.’ 1802, p. 217.
[119] Hume remarks (‘An Enquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals,’ edit. of 1751, p. 132), “there seems a necessity for confessing that the happiness and misery of others are not spectacles altogether indifferent to us, but that the view of the former ... communicates a secret joy; the appearance of the latter ... throws a melancholy damp over the imagination.”