52 galton.org
52
Inquiries into Human Faculty
the camp; and yet there is usually evidence in footprints of her having
sustained a regular siege from the wild beasts; but she is so restless and
eager for the safety of her young that no beast of prey can approach her
unawares. This state of exaltation is of course exceptional; cattle are
obliged in their ordinary course of life to spend a considerable part of the
day with their heads buried in the grass, where they can neither see nor
smell what is about them. A still larger part of their time must be spent in
placid rumination, during which they cannot possibly be on the alert. But
a herd of such animals, when considered as a whole, is always on the
alert; at almost every moment some eyes, ears, and noses will command
all approaches, and the start or cry of alarm of a single beast is a signal to
all his companions. To live gregariously is to become a fibre in a vast
sentient web overspreading many acres; it is to become the possessor of
faculties always awake, of eyes that see in
all directions, of ears and
nostrils that explore a broad belt of air; it is also to become the occupier of
every bit of vantage ground whence the approach of a wild beast might be
overlooked. The protective senses of each individual who chooses to live
in companionship are multiplied by a large factor, and he thereby receives
a maximum of security at a minimum cost of restlessness. When we
isolate an animal who has been accustomed to a gregarious life, we take
away his sense of protection, for he feels himself exposed to danger from
every part of the circle around him, except the one point on which his
attention is momentarily fixed; and he knows that disaster may easily
creep up to him from behind. Consequently his glance is restless and
anxious, and is turned in succession to different quarters; his movements
are hurried and agitated, and he becomes a prey to the extremest terror.
There can be no room for doubt that it is suitable to the well-being of
cattle in a country infested with beasts of prey to live in close
companionship, and being suitable, it follows from the law of natural
selection that the development of gregarious and therefore of slavish
instincts must be favoured in such cattle. It also follows from the same
law that the degree in which those instincts are developed is on the whole
the most conducive to their safety. If they were more gregarious they
