The Conquest of Death

of life,.whose young, passing through former stages of evolution, are in this period more or less helpless, more care is required. This care at first given entirely by the female, is, as life becomes more complex, and as its preparatory period becomes longer, shared in by the male. In the highest types the male protects, and often provides for, both mother and young. These necessities of life continuation in man have become formalized amongst all of humanity by custom and code into marriage. Marriage then is a legal provision for reproduction. It is a codified expression of the highest animal instincts for the continuation and improvement of life. In this convention man strengthens nature, as we see her manifestations in the sexual relations of other animals. The possession given by monogamy to the husband of the wife, and to the wife of the husband, especially the former, prevents the necessity of contests to maintain the purity of the breed, and the certainty of the p... --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.