CHAPTER II

A HUMAN PAIRING SEASON IN PRIMITIVE TIMES

Hypotheses as to the periodicity in the sexual life of animals, p. 25.—Every month or season of the year the pairing season of one or another mammalian species, pp. 25, _et seq._—The rut not dependent upon any general physiological law, but adapted to the requirement of each species separately, pp. 26, _et seq._—Wild species without a definite pairing season, p. 27.—Rutting season among the man-like apes, _ibid._—Among our earliest human or half-human progenitors, p. 28.—Periodical increase of the sexual instinct among existing savages, pp. 28-31.—Among civilized peoples, pp. 31-33.— The increase of the sexual instinct at the end of spring or in the beginning of summer, probably a survival of an ancient pairing season, pp. 34, _et seq._—The winter maximum of conceptions, pp. 35-37.—Why man is not limited to a particular period of the year in which to court the female, pp. 37, _et seq._—Domestic animals without a definite pairing season, p. 38.