ated. He was
informed that _Semnopithecus entellus_ breeds twice a year, in
April and in October. He accepts Aitcheson's statement that the
_Macacus rhesus_, in Simla, copulates in October, and adds that
in the very different climate of the plains it appears to
copulate in May. He concludes that the breeding season varies
greatly in dependence on climate, but believes that the breeding
season is always preserved, and that it affects the sexual
aptitude of the male. He could not make his monkeys copulate
during February or March, but is unable to say whether or not
sexual intercourse is generally admitted outside the breeding
season. He quotes the observation of Breschet that monkeys
copulate during pregnancy.
In primitive human races we very frequently trace precisely the same
influence of the seasonal impulse as may be witnessed in the higher
animals, although among human races it does not always result that the
children are born at the time of the greatest plenty, and on account of
the development of human skill such a result is not necessary. Thus Dr.
Cook found among the Eskimo that during the long winter nights the
secretions are diminished, muscular power is weak, and the passions are
depressed. Soon after the sun appears a kind of rut affects the young
population. They tremble with the intensity of sexual passion, and for
several weeks much of the time is taken up with courtship and love. Hence,
the majority of the children are born nine months later, when the four
months of perpetual night are beginning. A marked seasonal periodicity of
this kind is not confined to the Arctic regions. We may also find it in
the tropics. In Cambodia, Mondiere has found that twice a year, in April
and September, men seem to experience a "veritable rut," and will
sometimes even kill women who resist them.[129]
These two periods, spring and autumn--the season for greeting the
appearance of life and the season for reveling in its final
fruition--seem to be everywhere throughout the world the most usual
seasons for erotic festivals. In classical Greece and Rome, in India,
among the Indians of North and South America, spring is the most usual
season, while in Africa the yam harvest of autumn is the season chiefly
selected. There are, of course, numerous exceptions to this rule, and it
is common to find both seasons observed. Taking, indeed, a broad view of
festivals throughout the wor
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