Book Description

Excerpt from Mental Evolution in Animals: With a Posthumous Essay on Instinct by Charles Darwin It will be observed that the title of this volume is "Mental Evolution in Animals." The reasons which have led me to depart from my intention (as expressed in the Preface of "Animal Intelligence") to devote the present essay to mental evolution in man as well as in animals, are given in the introductory chapter. It may appear that in the following pages a somewhat disproportionate amount of space has been allotted to the treatment of Instinct; but, looking to the confusion which prevails with reference to this important branch of psychology in the writings of our leading authorities, I have deemed it desirable to consider the subject exhaustively. It is, I think, desirable briefly to explain the circumstances under which I have been enabled to produce so much hitherto unpublished material from the MSS of the late Mr. Darwin, and also to state the extent to which I have availed myself of such of this unpublished material as came into my hands. As I have already explained, in the Preface of "Animal Intelligence," Mr. Darwin himself gave me all his MSS relating to psychological subjects, with the request that I should publish any parts of them that I chose in my works on Mental Evolution. But after his death I felt that the circumstances with reference to this kind offer were changed, and that I should scarcely be justified in appropriating so much material, the value of which had become enhanced. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.