In this case it appears possible
that they might have wished to make themselves appear larger
and more terrible to their enemies, by voluntarily assuming
a threatening attitude and uttering harsh cries; such attitudes
and utterances after a time becoming through habit instinctive.
In this manner actions performed by the contraction
of voluntary muscles might have been combined for the same
special purpose with those effected by involuntary muscles.
It is even possible that animals, when excited and dimly
conscious of some change in the state of their hair, might act
on it by repeated exertions of their attention and will;
for we have reason to believe that the will is able to
influence in an obscure manner the action of some unstriped
or involuntary muscles, as in the period of the peristaltic
movements of the intestines, and in the contraction of the bladder.
Nor must we overlook the part which variation and natural
selection may have played; for the males which succeeded
in making themselves appear the most terrible to their rivals,
or to their other enemies, if not of overwhelming power,
will on an average have left more offspring to inherit their
characteristic qualities, whatever these may be and however
first acquired, than have other males.
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