Book Description

Excerpt from On the Habits and Instincts of Animals So far, then, and considered as merely a general definition, or rather description, of instinct, this opinion is perfectly satisfactory; but it does not reach all the various bearings of this complicated subject. When we find some animals not only impelled to perform certain necessary functions in a regular and unvarying manner, - one generation following another in exactly the same track, and supplying their different wants in precisely the same manner, - but also that many others actually vary in what should seem to be the universal ordination of nature, and, as if in obedience to the deductions of reason, accurately adapting their plans to their circumstances, and their measures to those unexpected changes which accident may have wrought in their situation, - with these facts upon record, we feel it is not surprising that some who have written on the subject have gone a step further. They have, in fact, sought to solve the question, by admitting that, besides the faculty of instinct, animals may, in an inferior degree, also possess that of reason. But this admission brings with it fresh difficulties. If once we follow the least degree of reason to the brute creation, we must concede a portion of it altogether incompatible with their situation. We must admit that the bee, for instance, is guided in her wonderful operations, by an acquaintance with those principles of science, which man has required time and reflection to discover. We must, in short, acknowledge her both a geometrician and a philosopher; and endue her with a perception of causes and effects, inconsistent with the other habits and appearances of the creature, absolutely derogatory to the superior nature of man. 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.