Evening star., 1937-08-22
is MOTHER LOVE 'HOKUM'?
Science Proves That the Sacfca Spirit of the Maternal Instinct
Has Not Altered Iota in Either Human Beings or
Animals Since Life Began.

~ IREMAN, save my child
shrieks an agonized mother
as she drops her precious
L babe into the net below and
gratefully lets herself be swallowed up
by the raging flames.
Sheer melodrama gool, old
fashioned hokum" the handsome
young blade murmurs lazily to his fair
partner, but people don't do those
things in real life. They are too
theatric. When you get right down
to it, he continues in his best erudite
manner, they are contrary to the
laws Of f-preservation-you know,
the laws of nature
The gay young thing sighs pro-
foundly and moves imperceptibly
closer to her man. Why should she
trouble to analyze the impulses of
motherhood while she is still young
and fancy-free? Time enough to worry
about the mysteries of being a mother
when the time comes. Besides, the
young man beside her talks elibly Of
science and figures things out neatly.
But the young mans knowledge of
science is somewhat lacking If his
best girl won't argue with him be-
cause she is much more intrigued by
the way he does the rhumba than by
the wise things he has to offer con-
versationally, there are others who
would take immediate umbrage to his
casual remarks
No af
here to Zanzibar and back again
would have plenty to say. His Off
hand indictment that flesh-and olood
mothers wouldn't really sacrifice their
lives for their progeny is provocative
enough to bring his compact little
world crashing about bis ears.
E1RST of all, there is always Mr..
Darwin to contend with. True.
MIR. Darwin startled the scientific
world out of its stolid complacency
when he articulated his theories of
lf-preservation But he caused even
more Of fanfare when after years
of research in the animal kingdom he
insisted that his findings proved that
the problem Of instinct had to be ap-
preached from new standpoint. The
scientist concluded that instead of
anelyzing instinct merely in terms of
human conduct. it demanded inspec-
ton from the standpoint of animal
behavior
OF course, in his glossary the word
instinct was taken as designating
forms Of behavior not acquired by an
animal through experience and learn
ing but provided for congenitally in
the animals structure-so that he
would be impelled to survive and to
propagate
Prof. j. Arthur Thomson in his
book, The Wonder of Life" states
that it is among birds and insects that
ue find the highest development OF
parental care building among
birds represents a climax of art on the
one hand and Of instructive altruism
on the other, he says Brooding i'm
plies patience and courage during
great suffering
Styles in motherhood show very
little variation from the days of the
Stone Age and the Iron Age Modern
invention. psychoanalysls, thought
movements, new tempos and new
gods have done nothing to alter the
maternal instinct 1t remains as vital
and propelling today as it did when
the cave man dominated the scene
even if the casual man-about town is
too uninteresNd to give 1t a second
thought.
TOO busy with his interests Of the
moment, he has probably never
stopped to think of the lady who is
responsible for his entrance into the
universe. He has never stopped to
wonder about some of the things his
mater did just to keep him fit as
fiddle