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The Worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs

"Feral children, also known as wild children or wolf children, are children who've grown up with minimal human contact, or even none at all. They may have been raised by animals (often wolves) or somehow survived on their own. In some cases, children are confined and denied normal social interaction with other people." ~ Feral Children Site

Occasionally throughout our history, civilized society has come across a "wild child" who has grown up in  isolation with virtually no human contact. Many researchers believe that we're born with the principles of language, but if a first language isn't acquired by puberty it may be too late -- we just don't have the neurological development. It also appears that there's a particular period in the life of humans when they're ripe for learning languages. Studies of feral children who have had little contact with humans during the critical ages of one through four years show that they've had tremendous difficulty mastering language and reintegrating with humans.

Languages are complex and dynamic -- constantly evolving according to the needs of societies. To some degree humans appear to have the innate ability to form languages and many feral children learn to mimic animal sounds: barking, growling, whining, howling, bird sounds, etc., But research suggests that it takes the interaction with other humans to develop a form of communication with any degree of complexity. We are the result of complex interactions between the environment and our genes.

Many of the "wild children" raised in isolation are found to be quite uncivilized and barely able to walk or talk. They are unable to empathize with of the needs and desires of other humans -- they don't even identify themselves as human. The concepts of morals, property and possessions are alien to them. Many of them prove to be surly, uncooperative and self-centred individuals -- a far cry from the Noble Savage notion put forth by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

A study of feral children suggests that our upbringing is entirely responsible for endowing us with language, the ability to think and other traits. What happens in early childhood thus has a profound impact on the neurological development of the brain:

"Studies of childhood abuse and neglect have important lessons for considerations of nature and nurture. While each child has unique genetic potentials, both human and animal studies point to important needs that every child has, and severe long-term consequences for brain function if those needs are not met. The effects of the childhood environment, favorable or unfavorable, interact with all the processes of neurodevelopment."
~ Dr Bruce D Perry, Childhood Experience and the Expression of Genetic Potential

"The importance of early intervention and attention to the chronicity of environmental adversity may indicate the need for permanent alternative caregivers, in order to preserve the development of the most vulnerable children. . . . Child abuse and neglect are (wo)man-made phenomena which adversely affect a child's development and sometimes survival, and which should, at least in theory, be preventable."
~ Danya Glaser, Child Abuse and Neglect and the Brain

Obviously research studies in this field are of major importance to educators to whom a knowledge of language, moral, and overall neurological development of students of all ages is of vital concern when designing educational programs and instructional techniques. The Internet is an ideal forum for the collation of related articles and research on this subject. Until now there has never been an attempt made to scan the rare early writings on the subject of feral children, so as to present them to researchers at one location for open access study.

The most famous feral child in fiction is probably Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan. The character was introduced in Burroughs' 1912 novel, Tarzan of the Apes, and soon became a cultural icon. John "Tarzan" Clayton, the young orphan of Lord and Lady Greystoke, was raised by an advanced "missing link" tribe of anthropoids in the African jungles. He learned their rudimentary language as a young child and later taught himself to read from his dead parents' collection of primers and other children picture books -- an interesting case study. Using this fictional character as a rallying point I have worked with Dr. Georges Dodds of McGill University to present and document almost 100 feral-related works that inspired this literary phenomenon. We believe that the discovery and perusal of these many thousands of pages and illustrations will serve as an impetus for further research in the field.

Sample Art From
Heroes of the Dark Continent by J. W. Buel
Found at ERBzine 1813 and ERBzine 1813a

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