The Descent of Man

duals which took the greatest pleasure in society
would best escape various dangers, whilst
those that cared least for their comrades, and
lived solitary, would perish in greater numbers.
With respect to the origin of the parental and
filial affections, which apparently lie at the base
of the social instincts, we know not the steps by
which they have been gained; but we may infer
that it has been to a large extent through natural
selection. So it has almost certainly been
with the unusual and opposite feeling of hatred
between the nearest relations, as with the worker-bees
which kill their brother drones, and
with the queen-bees which kill their daughterqueens;
the desire to destroy their nearest relations
having been in this case of service to the
community. Parental affection, or some feeling
which replaces it, has been developed in certain
animals extremely low in the scale, for example,
in star-fishes and spiders. It is also occasionally
present in a few members alone in a who-