BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barnes, Earle. "Children's Collections," Studies in Education (edited by Earle Barnes), Vol. I, No. 4, pp. 144–146. G. E. Stechert & Co., New York, 1896-1902.

Barus, Mrs. Annie Howes. " History of a Child's Passion," Woman's Anthropological Society, Bulletin No. 4, Washington, D.C.

Darwin, Francis. The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, pp. 28, 31, 37, 38, 43. D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1901.

Hall, G. Stanley, and Wiltse, Sara E. "Children's Collections," Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. I, pp. 234-237, June, 1891.

Loti, Pierre. Story of a Child (translated by C. F. Smith). C. C. Birchard & Co., Boston, 1901. 304 pages.

Sisson, Genevieve. "Children's Plays," Studies in Education (edited by Earle Barnes), Vol. I, pp. 171-174. G. E. Stechert & Co., New York. Smith, Fred. The Boyhood of a Naturalist. Blackie & Son, Ltd., London, 1900. 227 pages.

Stuart, Mrs. Ruth McEnery. Sonny: A Christmas Guest. The Century Co., New York, 1898. 135 pages.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF OWNERSHIP1

The present study is an attempt to investigate the origin and nature of the instincts and motives that operate in the accumulation of property, and to describe more thoroughly than heretofore attempted those mental states arising from the consciousness of things owned; also to indicate the rôle played by property as a mind-developing agent. For these purposes the sciences of biology, anthropology, social economics, child study, and history furnish analogies and illustrations.

BIOLOGICAL

Property, defined biologically, is anything that the individual may acquire which sustains and prolongs life, favors survival, and gives an advantage over opposing forces.

What are the conditions and circumstances attending the acquisition of property among the forms of animal life? Some of the most fundamental of these are hunger, thirst, cold, and the multiplication and distribution of species, any detailed consideration of which would lead us far into biological fields. A complete history of distribution alone would involve a consideration of the majority of biological problems. For our purposes it will suffice to call attention to a few of the most obvious results.

I. Distribution has subjected innumerable forms to the wide fluctuations of cosmic forces. This is notably true of the life in temperate zones. Nearly all forms of life in these zones (save domestic animals) either migrate, hibernate, or lay in a store of food at the approach of winter, a fact of value for

1 Reprinted in abridged form from Pedagogical Seminary, Vol. VI, pp. 421– 470, December, 1899.

the present investigation. The ant, bee, rat, squirrel, polecat, hamster, mole, not only burrow spacious underground dwellings, but also fill them with a store of winter food. Observations of these activities are so frequent, and the literature so accessible, that to give examples is unnecessary. Many birds also possess the hoarding activity, and all are more or less able architects. The owl buries its surplus provisions like the dog. The shrike, or butcher bird, having appeased his appetite with grasshoppers, mice, and small birds, still continues to slay and kill. His victims he hangs or rather impales on the thorns of bushes or on twigs. A California woodpecker bores holes in trees wherein to place his booty. In autumn he may be seen pecking away at pines and oaks, and slipping acorns into the cavities thus made.

2. Distribution has caused highly complicated relations and interdependencies among all forms of animals, even plants. All this has created new instincts and habits, and in some cases has modified structure and intensified, if not necessitated, the accumulation of property.

An illustration of multiplication and distribution modifying structure and necessitating the accumulation of a special kind of material is seen among different species of ants.

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Amongst the Amazon ants (Formica rufescens), who not only do not debase themselves by working, but even have the food put into their mouths by their slaves, the jaws have become elongated, narrow, and powerful, and project in sharp points, very suitable for piercing an adversary's head, but unfit to lay hold of food. When one of these Amazons is hungry she taps with her antennæ upon the head of a slave, who injects food from her own mouth into that of her mistress."

The yellow ant has domesticated the plant lice (aphides) for the milk that they furnish. "As soon as one of those new herds is found by an ant, she returns to the nest and informs her companions. One or two ants then accompany

her to the treasure, which in the future remains, night and day, under their watchful care. As the herd increases in numbers additional herdsmen are called into service." The constant guarding of the aphides is due to the fact that they are eagerly sought for by ants from other colonies, and especially by the swift-flying ichneumon, which uses the body of the aphides as a depository for its eggs. It is observed that when one of these flies is seen hovering over the herd, the ants at once endeavor to chase her away whenever she alights. In addition to slaves and cattle, the products of agriculture as well as the grains of uncultured plants constitute a species of property prized by the ants of the southern portions of the north temperate zone. I need only call attention to the harvesting ant of Texas. Moggridge, one of the earlier scientific observers of the harvesting ants of the Old World, writes: "I then selected a nest where the coarse and hard rock lay much nearer to the surface, barring the downward course of the ants and compelling them to extend their nest in a horizontal direction. Here . . . I came upon large masses of seeds carefully stored in chambers prepared in the soil. Some of these lay in long subcylindrical galleries, and, owing to the presence in large quantities of the black, shining seeds of amaranth, looked like trains of gunpowder laid ready for blasting. On carefully examining a quantity of the seeds and minute dry fruits he found more than twelve distinct species of plants belonging to at least seven separate families. The granaries lay from an inch and a half to six inches below the surface and were all horizontal. They were of various sizes and shapes, the average granary being about as large as a gentleman's gold watch."

3. Multiplication and distribution have thrown together in the same area or in adjacent areas different species and even members of the same species whose interests continually clash. Witness the extensive warfare among different colonies of ants

or the fight to the finish between the rabbit and the comical little puffin, when the latter attempts to take possession of the rabbit's burrow for breeding purposes, or the terrific battles between the male seals for the possession of a nuptial court.

"The lion lives alone, or at most in a temporary family; but he needs a vast hunting ground. This territory must be well furnished with game, and he chooses it himself. Having done so, he will allow no intruder to poach there. He has fixed its boundaries. If another animal of his own species ventures to infringe upon this domain, . . . he protests, lays a complaint against the invader after his own fashion, and, if the latter does not attend to him, has recourse to the ultima ratio of kings and lions, a battle."

"The wandering dogs of Egypt have similar customs; each pack chooses a habitat, and, says an eyewitness, 'Woe to the dog that strays into a neighbor's territory. Many times I have seen the other dogs fall upon the wretch and tear him to pieces.' The pariah dogs of India quarter themselves in the part of the town where they are born. Each of them has his district, 'police fashion,' which he clears of intruders, while for his own part he never crosses its boundaries."

Again, natural history abounds in observations of conflicts in bird families while defending their domain and hunting ground. More severe and even deadly are they if the contestants are flesh feeders or fishers. In these cases ownership in a given area as a hunting ground is absolutely necessary to the maintenance of life.

In October, 1889, the writer [Kline] saw an army of large black ants near the banks of the Colorado in Texas, carrying roundish pieces of leaves cut from the grapevine. The army was twelve feet long and eight inches wide. They were marching with "closed ranks," and at a distance looked not unlike a monster green serpent. I followed this military procession with the interest of a schoolboy. The march was brought to