Altruism  is  a  quality  the  understanding  of  which
has  been  much  obscured  by  its  being  regarded  from
the  purely  human  point  of  view.  Judged  from  this
standpoint,  it  has  been  apt  to  appear  as  a  breach
in  the  supposedly  "  immutable  "  laws  of  **  Nature
red  in  tooth  and  claw,"  as  a  virtue  breathed  into
man  from  some  extra -human  source,  or  as  a  weak-
ness which  must  be  stamped  out  of  any  race  which
is  to  be  strong,  expanding,  and  masterful.  To  the
biologist  these  views  are  equally  false,  superfluous,
and  romantic.  He  is  aware  that  altruism  occurs  only
in  a  medium  specifically  protected  from  the  unquali-
fied influence  of  natural  selection,  that  it  is  the
direct  outcome  of  instinct,  and  that  it  is  a  source  of
strength  because  it  is  a  source  of  union.
'  In  recent  times,  freedom  of  travel,  and  the
development  of  the  resources  rendered  available  by
education,  have  increased  the  general  mass  of  inter-
communication to  an  enormous  extent.  Side  by
side  with  this,  altruism  has  come  more  and  more  into
recognition   as    a    supreme    moral    law.       There    is


124  INSTINCTS  OF  THE   HERD

already  a  strong  tendency  to  accept  selfishness  as
a  test  of  sin,  and  consideration  for  others  as  a
test  of  virtue,  and  this  has  influenced  even  those  who
by  public  profession  are  compelled  to  maintain  that
right  and  wrong  are  to  be  defined  only  in  terms  of
an  arbitrary  extra -natural  code.
