“…Presumably, any interference with this act would result in impairment or alteration in maternal behaviour with respect to the young. Indeed, cannibalism is said by a number of workers to result from just such dietary insufficiency or toxicity (Perla, 1939;Perla & Sandberg, 1939;Carlson & Hoelzel, 1948;Hankin, 1958Hankin, , 1960Karmurthi, Sreenivasamoorthy & Parpia, 1972). On the other hand, Hauschka (1952) believes nutritional deficiency an unlikely explanation for cannibalistic behaviour, and while he found some genetic control of cannibalistic tendencies, he considers the phenomenon to represent a disoriented grooming device.…”