Sexual desire became idealized (as Sergi has pointed out) even by some animals, especially birds, for when a bird pines to death for the loss of its mate this cannot be due to the uncomplicated instinct of sex, but must involve the interweaving of that instinct with the other elements of life to a degree which is rare even among the most civilized men.

Some savage races seem to have no fundamental notion of love, and (like the American Nahuas) no primary word for it, while, on the other hand, in Quichua, the language of the ancient Peruvians, there are nearly six hundred combinations of the verb _munay_, to love.

Among some peoples love seems to be confined to the women.

Letourneau (_L'Evolution Litteraire_, p.

529) points out that in various parts of the world women have taken a leading part in creating erotic poetry.