THE NAKED APE

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have rather a heavy suckling burden and because the breasts are so obviously a part of the feeding apparatus, we have automatically assumed that their protruding, rounded shapa must also be part and parcel of the same parental activity. But it now looks as though this assumption has been wrong and that, for our species, breast design is primarily sexual rather than maternal in function. Leaving the question of feeding, it is worth looking at one or two aspects of the way a mother behaves towards her baby at other times. The usual fondling, cuddling and cleaning require little comment, but the position in which she holds the baby against her body when resting is rather revealing. Careful American studies have disclosed the fact that 8o per cent of mothers cradle their infants in their left arms, holding them against the left side of their bodies. If asked to explain the significance of this preference most people reply that it is obviously the result of the predominance of right-handedness in the population. By holding the babies on their left arms, the mothers keep their dominant arm free for manipulations. But a detailed analysis shows that this is not the case. True, there is a slight difference between right-handed and lefthanded females, but not enough to provide an adequate explanation. It emerges that 83 per cent of right-handed mothers hold the baby on the left side, but then so do 78 per cent of left-handed mothers. In other words, only xx per cent of the left-handed mothers have their dominant hands free for action. Clearly there must be some other, less obvious explanation. The only other clue comes from the fact that the heart is on the left side of the mother's body. Could it be that the sound of her heart-beat is the vital factor? And in what way? Thinking along these lines it was argued that perhaps during its existence inside the body of the mother, the growing embryo becomes fixated ('imprinted') on the sound of the heart-beat. If this is so, then the re-discovery of this familiar sound after birth might have a calming effect on the infant, especially as it has just been thrust into a strange and frighteningly new world outside. If this is so then the 94
mother, either instinctively or by an unconscious series of trials and errors, would soon arrive at the discovery that her baby is more at peace if held on the left, against her heart, than on the right. This may sound far-fetched, but tests have now been carried out which reveal that it is nevertheless the true explanation. Groups of new-born babies in a hospital nursery were exposed for a considerable time to the recorded sound of a heart-beat at a standard rate of 72 beats per minute. There were nine babies in each group and it was found that one or more of them was crying for 6o per cent of the time when the sound was not switched on, but that this figure fell to only 88 per cent when the heart-beat recording was thumping away. The heart-beat groups also showed a greater weight gain than the others, although the amount of food taken was the same in both cases. Clearly the beatless groups were burning up a lot more energy as a result of the vigorous actions of their crying. Another test was done with slightly older infants at bedtime. In some groups the room was silent, in others recorded lullabies were played. In others a ticking metronome was operating at the heart-beat speed of 72 beats per minute. In still others the heart-beat recording itself was played. It was then checked to see which groups fell asleep more quickly. The heart-beat group dropped off in half the time it took for any of the other groups. This not only clinches the idea that the sound of the heart beating is a powerfully calming stimulus, but it also shows that the response is a highly specific one. The metronome imitation will not do-at least, not for young infants. So it seems fairly certain that this is the explanation of the mother's left-side approach to baby-holding. It is interesting that when 466 Madonna-and-child paintings (dating back over several hundred years) were analysed for this feature, 373 of them showed the baby on the left breast. Here again the figure was at the So per cent level. This contrasts with observations of females carrying parcels, where it was found that 50 per cent carried them on the left and 50 per cent on the right. What other possible results could this heart-beat im- 95
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THE NAKED APE by Desmond Morris A B
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This book is intend
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INTRODUCTION THERE are one hundred
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some respect. If they were healthy,
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CHAPTER ONE ORIGINS THERE is a labe
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we put it, it looks out of place. E
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The primate group, to which our nak
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Faced with a new environment, our a
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complex manoeuvres could be develop
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The brightest stars in the carnivor
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a pack of African hunting dogs it i
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the night, but the contrast is neve
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in the dirt of the den or lair. Aft
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was a process of differential infan
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eating it, each have their own part
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Male and female hunting apes had to
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feature was its naked skin, which l
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home bases, its dens became heavily
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vital missing links in our ancient
Page 39 and 40: first appears. A great deal will de
Page 41 and 42: CHAPTER TWO SEX SEXUALLY the naked
Page 43 and 44: phase, privacy is sought and the su
Page 45 and 46: summatory act of sperm ejaculation
Page 47 and 48: the arteries pumping blood into the
Page 49 and 50: activity. Once the climax has been
Page 51 and 52: old females will have experienced o
Page 53 and 54: stay put and mind the babies while
Page 55 and 56: -the female remains responsive to t
Page 57 and 58: mucous surfaces permanently exposed
Page 59 and 60: areas in other animals where there
Page 61 and 62: Any body relationship, they feel, s
Page 63 and 64: At some point, back in our ancestry
Page 65 and 66: sexual contacts. In this particular
Page 67 and 68: This may also explain why the male
Page 69 and 70: lengths to render her as sexually r
Page 71 and 72: ised his sex life. The contemporary
Page 73 and 74: apology being proportional to the d
Page 75 and 76: enlarges it, imitating in this way
Page 77 and 78: ituation where the female is produc
Page 79 and 80: and avoids being attacked. A subord
Page 81 and 82: object lacking these signals. Secon
Page 83 and 84: is that the prolonged period of inf
Page 85 and 86: on the fundamental sexual structure
Page 87 and 88: CHAPTER THREE REARING THE burden of
Page 89: is not enough for the infant's lips
Page 93 and 94: apid during the first two years of
Page 95 and 96: onwards. It may even clasp on to he
Page 97 and 98: unlike the verbal signals, they eme
Page 99 and 100: mother's face and to distinguish he
Page 101 and 102: oth frighteningly odd and at the sa
Page 103 and 104: friendly, but if we greet them by l
Page 105 and 106: We develop the vital bond of attach
Page 107 and 108: andom and unco-ordinated. The cryin
Page 109 and 110: CHAPTER FOUR EXPLORATION ALL mammal
Page 111 and 112: But the reverse is actually the cas
Page 113 and 114: are combined, one with another, to
Page 115 and 116: equired no reward-it was its own re
Page 117 and 118: Writing, a formalised offshoot of p
Page 119 and 120: and clothing, in furniture and cars
Page 121 and 122: contacts immensely difficult and wi
Page 123 and 124: epeatedly bite themselves, or pull
Page 125 and 126: on the other hand, of vital signifi
Page 127 and 128: in respiratory activity. Breathing
Page 129 and 130: under the extreme conditions of agg
Page 131 and 132: formalised into rhythmic twistings
Page 133 and 134: sdditional energy on it, and it is
Page 135 and 136: the grooming itself. Monkeys make g
Page 137 and 138: signal. (With the arm bent and held
Page 139 and 140: intensities of it are expressed in
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mechanisms. Many moths have a pair
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largely confined now to a form of s
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such a situation can be seen to per
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the policeman into a position of im
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attacker and his enemy, and it is t
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intelligence that must get us out.
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frequent accompaniment of wailing o
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of the `pomp and circumstance' will
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in profusion. This is usually expla
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personal acquaintances listed there
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grounds. It is a predominantly masc
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elements of challenge, luck and ris
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Another interpretation is that we h
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If they appeal to our old primate w
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disposal, we might be expected to r
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giving an impression of great conce
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the female can then fondle it and c
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is it aesthetically pleasing. Its f
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significance of the hair. In its re
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co-operativeness, specialised groom
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it is a strong dose of security tha
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If the environment becomes too cold
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CHAPTER EIGHT ANIMALS UP to this po
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prey-predator relationship, since i
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substitute space-traveller. No othe
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interferes with the efficient runni
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point of view, are fully justified
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small objects (chimpanzee, monkey,
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The unexpected discovery here is th
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on its back. It must be stressed he
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This cannot be explained solely on
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spiders being nasty, hairy things.
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symbolically, scientifically or aes
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tendencies; that if we have to beco
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Heart-beat response: Salk, 1966. Gr
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BIBLIOGRAPHY AMBROSE, J. A., `The s
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MILES, W. R., 'Chimpanzee behaviour
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Mimikry der Primaten'. Die Naturwis
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THE NAKED APE

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