MARVELS AND MYSTERIES 
 
 INSTINCT ; 
 
 OR, 
 
 CURIOSITIES OF ANIMAL LIFE. 
 
 G, GAEEATT, 
 
 LONDON: 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, 
 
 1856.
 
 LONDON : 
 
 Printed by SPOTTISWOODB & Ct 
 New-street-Square.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 THE subject of this volume was delivered in the form 
 of a lecture, and the interest which its Marvels and 
 Mysteries awoke subsequently induced the Author 
 to fill up at his leisure the sketch he had made. 
 The principal object has been to select for con- 
 sideration those topics which would instruct and 
 entertain the general reader. Simplicity of form 
 has been studied in the treatment of every topic, 
 that the whole might be understood by the humblest 
 capacity. 
 
 The Table of Contents indicates the general plan, 
 and the subjects from which the Marvels and Mys- 
 teries have been taken, are treated in the follow- 
 ing order: The Divine Method Nervous Systems 
 Instinct Instinct in Man in Apes in Mam- 
 mals in Birds Theory of Sensation Animal 
 Intelligence Instinct in Insects Keason and 
 Instinct compared. 
 
 If the Author's labours should prove instrumental 
 in leading but one mind to the study of God's won- 
 derful Creation, he would feel that his chief hope 
 had not been altogether disappointed. 
 
 Burcott Cottage, 
 April. 1856. 
 
 2091073
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Creator. The Creation. Man, the Chief. Adam's 
 Creation a Miracle .... Page 1 
 
 CHAP. H. 
 
 The Human Brain. Man's Face. Bones of his Cranium a 
 Marvel. Cromwell's Brain. The Spine a great Contri- 
 vance. The Spinal Chord. The Nerves. Their curious 
 Properties. How communicate with the Brain. Experi- 
 ment on them - - - - - - 6 
 
 CHAP. HI. 
 
 Brain, Seat of Mind. Shakspeare's Head. Swift's, a Dis- 
 appointment. Dr. Moore on Brain of Negro. Relation of 
 deep Thought with weighty Brain. Is Mind defective? 15 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Brain of Animals. Cuvier on Structures of Man and Animals. 
 
 Nervous System. Its Use. Comparisons of Brain in 
 Man and Animals. In Birds. In Reptiles. In Mollusca, 
 
 In Insects. Criterion of Intelligence - - 21 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Instinct a Mystery. Secret Things. How Instinct operates. 
 
 Instinct in the Flesh-Fly at fault - - - 26
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Instinct of the solitary Wasp a Marvel. Of the common 
 Wasp. Her Mode of rearing a Vespiary. Her social 
 Policy. The Wasp and Paper-manufacturers. Instinct 
 of the Spider very curious Her Web a Wonder. 
 Web of House-Spider. Ingenuity of Structure. The Geo- 
 metric Net. Tactics of an infirm Spider. One in a 
 Dilemma. Trap-door of Mason-Spider. Her Mode of 
 Defence - - - - - Page 213 
 
 CHAP. XVH. 
 
 Reason and Instinct. Reason and Folly. Creator's Design. 
 Wisdom. Man's free Agency. Reason better than 
 Instinct. Man's Responsibility. Animal incapable of De- 
 votion - - 235 
 
 General Summary ..... 944
 
 MARVELS AND MYSTERIES 
 
 INSTINCT. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 The Creator. The Creation. Man, the Chief. Adam's Creation 
 a Miracle. 
 
 IF with the dim and flickering light of the Greek 
 philosophy, which prevailed more than two thousand 
 two hundred years ago, Aristotle, the preceptor of 
 Alexander the Great, could declare that to give a treatise 
 on the world, and nothing upon its Author, would be 
 impious, with how much greater force must the truth 
 of the observation be felt, when supported by the flood 
 of glorious light and knowledge which the nineteenth 
 century is pouring on the human intellect ? 
 
 The pious disposition of Sir Isaac Newton prompted 
 him to make a voluntary choice of the example of 
 his great prototype, and he cheerfully acted upon the 
 admonition of the ancient sage. His strong sagacity, 
 as well as his religious instinct, directed him to the 
 Supreme Being, as the sovereign ruler' of the universe. 
 His reason was fully convinced that the attempt to 
 base its government upon anything else was not only 
 difficult, but that it led also to the most extravagant 
 absurdities. Nature speaks to her pupils with ten thou- 
 sand voices, all of which are vocal with the praise of the 
 Most High ; and point to Him as the source of their
 
 2 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 emanation. She teaches lessons of the highest wisdom, 
 and furnishes illustrations of the purest benevolence. 
 She utters a rebuke to man's folly, and guides him 
 in the paths of rectitude. Her mysteries and her 
 marvels fill the contemplative mind with wonder ; the 
 good meditate upon the latter with delight, and in 
 faith anticipate the revelation of the former. Such 
 persons are not wise above what is written, nor are they 
 faithless as to that which is not revealed. The wise 
 philosopher puts one hand upon the works of God, 
 and the other upon His word ; then, to him, the 
 solution of Nature's mysteries becomes only a question 
 of time ; and since God is the alpha and the omega 
 of everything, let Him be the first and the last of all 
 that man undertakes. 
 
 The study of the creation cannot possibly be pro- 
 secuted with either pleasure or profit to him who does 
 not refer the ultimate cause of all causes and effects 
 to the Creator. Without a reference to him, the voyager 
 will ever find himself upon a rude and treacherous 
 sea, with neither chart nor compass to guide him to 
 his destiny. The chances are, that he will be 
 tossed by the winds and waves from one shoal to 
 another, till he become eventually split upon a rock ;- 
 and then feel to his bitter cost that he is nothing more 
 than a floating wreck upon the bosom of the ocean. To 
 change the figure, he has no foundation upon which to 
 rear a superstructure. Man may as well attempt to 
 build his house upon the ever-shifting sands, as to seek 
 to understand the book of creation, without a settled 
 faith in the Divine Being, as the supreme lawgiver to the 
 whole universe. Nature's works and Nature's God, must 
 be studied together, or everything will for ever remain 
 shrouded in dismal gloom. In every variety of form 
 may be found the mysteries of the Infinite, and, although 
 innumerable, all resolve themselves into the one great 
 mysterious " I Am." 
 
 Let the foregoing be suflicient to introduce us a little 
 nearer to our subject, and as it is one which involves 
 many curious manifestations of some mysterious faculty, 
 we beg our readers to be prepared to encounter the 
 difliculties of the dark and secret things, by referring
 
 MAN'S SUPERIORITY. 3 
 
 them to the All-wise Being for the true explanation, 
 and then they, though amazed, will not be bewildered by 
 inexplicable operations, and such that are incompre- 
 hensible to their understandings. The animal kingdom 
 will furnish many such, and manifestations of faculties 
 and powers that cannot be comprehended by man's mind, 
 while confined by the limitations of the present. The 
 intellect of man is no doubt given to him for the purpose 
 of exploring the nature and extent of God's handy works, 
 so far, at least, as its powers are able to conduct him ; 
 and it is most assuredly his duty as well as his privilege, 
 to follow the pursuit as far as any light will guide him ; 
 but there he must stop. Here let him remain satisfied, 
 and rest his faith upon the promise that the now un- 
 known shall be revealed hereafter, for " the secret things 
 belong unto the Lord our God." 
 
 All creation is full of marvellous variety, and man, 
 who is the lord of all, is a wonder unto himself. Though 
 possessing many things in common with the animals, he 
 is yet very different from it ; and, as we shall endeavour 
 to show, infinitely superior to any other form of existence. 
 The whole earth seems to have been created for him, and 
 all the forms of its life brought into being either for his 
 use or for his instruction. As all things are full of 
 interest to him, so should his life be full of his Maker's 
 praise. Between him and the lowest form of matter, 
 or the elementary principles, there are two grades of 
 living things, which elaborate from earth and air the 
 means of his sustenance. The vegetable prepares him 
 his farinaceous food, while the animal converts the 
 vegetable into his meat. Thus the operations of both 
 are put into requisition to supply him with all those 
 necessaries, which fitly nourish and support his con- 
 stitution. But these things are accomplished by a regular 
 succession of means, and such as display that the pre- 
 sence of a wonderful contriving power is existing 
 somewhere. Every part is so nicely adapted to another 
 part, and the precise wants of one thing so exactly sup- 
 plied by another thing, as well as the manner in which 
 they are often sought and found, combine to excite the 
 curiosity and draw forth the admiration of the intelligent 
 observer.
 
 4 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 But though many things present a marvel and a 
 mystery, everything, speaking according to the natural 
 course of events, is not a miracle. If living beings 
 originated, as they most certainly did, in a miracle, they 
 are not sustained and perpetuated in that way. Such ig 
 not the mode of the Divine procedure. 
 
 The first man was not born. In an instant, we may 
 suppose, he came forth direct from the hand of his Maker. 
 He knew neither infancy nor childhood. At one and 
 the same moment he opened his eyes and saw ; his 
 heart beat, and the blood circulated in his veins. It was 
 by no gradual accumulation of osseous matter that formed 
 and matured his bones ; nor was it by nutrition that 
 flesh grew upon them, giving to his whole frame a 
 symmetrical and pleasing form. But he stood forth at 
 once a perfect man, and every organ, with all its com- 
 plexity, delicacy, and repletion of design, was wonderfully 
 and nicely adjusted in the whole, and that purely inde- 
 pendent of either means or time. 
 
 " The hand that modelled the dust into the abode of 
 B sentient being, touched it with perfection; and no 
 better type of form or finish will be required by the 
 spirit of man through the dispensations of earth, be 
 they dark or be they glorious, than a body like that in 
 which the first man bowed in worship, or walked erect 
 in fellowship with his God. The body itself mirrors its 
 Maker." 
 
 Adam stood, as he was intended to stand, the noblest 
 creature of all creation. The world has not seen his 
 beauty since. His face, too, what an illustration of fine 
 physiognomy ! Who among men has ever seen its like ? 
 No internal evil had traced lines of external deformity 
 down his calm symmetrical features. It was an index, 
 not of vice within, but of the purest and heavenly-like 
 virtue. He was pure, too, in every part of his structure 
 from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet. 
 
 Such was the peculiarity of his physical constitution, 
 and it was also equally characteristic of his mental one. 
 The brain of his head was not destined to laborious exer- 
 cise in order to acquire the first principles of knowledge. 
 As appeared his body, so appeared the knowledge and 
 the reasoning faculties of his mind, both ready for
 
 HUMAN MIND. 5 
 
 mutual action : and at his command, too, was the lan- 
 guage, of which he could make immediate use. (This 
 particular has had a resemblance in the day of Pon- 
 tecost.) We cannot suppose that Adam began to learn 
 at his A, B, C. Of such infant toil he knew nothing, 
 and if ever he was a child at all, it must have been at those 
 times only when it is said that the man is once a man 
 and twice a child, and in that sense merely. 
 
 What a curious sensation must that have been which 
 Adam experienced when he took his first gaze upon all 
 those natural beauties which surrounded him in the Para- 
 disaical garden, and when he found he stood unconnected 
 with any previous matter, and could remember no past. 
 
 These were miracles. But the race of Adam were to be 
 brought to maturity under very different circumstances, 
 and by a succession of certain means and slow processes. 
 The growth of their physical constitutions requires the 
 duration of a long series of years, and the incessant 
 ministering of the proper agencies ; while to furnish 
 and develop their mental faculties, require the applica- 
 tion of a large amount of teaching, of precept, and of 
 example, through years of much toil. And so wonder- 
 ful in capacity and elasticity is the human intellect, 
 that after all that can be done and that as long as 
 man can live, the mind is neither filled nor brought 
 to perfection. Yea, the more it receives, the more it 
 will hold. What an extraordinary volume it is ! How 
 compact its pages, how closely may they be printed ! 
 It is ever going on to perfection ever learning, and yet 
 never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. Indeed, 
 well may it be asked, where and when is this surprising 
 and incomprehensible faculty of man to become perfect 
 and full ? 'In eternity ? If so, when ? and what will 
 ever satisfy it ? 
 
 This is the power peculiar to man ; and this it is which 
 distinguishes him from the brute. The comparison, 
 however, will be instituted subsequent to the facts 
 which we shall endeavour to bring forward as illustra- 
 tions of the power peculiar to animals. 
 
 Before proceeding to the task more immediately ap- 
 pointed to us, we propose giving just an outline of the 
 nervous systems in man and animals, and ofthe functions
 
 6 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 of the human brain. This will be found a necessary 
 preliminary in order the better to understand the nature 
 of some of the questions that will arise out of our sub- 
 ject. There are authors who ascribe several of the 
 phenomena of Instinct to sensation, and sensation has its 
 seat in the nervous system ; but, according to our view 
 of it, the facts will in no way support such a theory. 
 Besides this, however, there are other much more 
 important reasons why some little knowledge of the 
 nervous system is requisite to every one who is disposed 
 to pry into the marvellous workings of Instinct. 
 
 CHAP. H. 
 
 The Human Brain. Man's Face. Bones of his Cranium a 
 Marvel. Cromwell's Brain. The Spine a great Contrivance 
 The Spinal Chord. The Nerves. Their curious Properties. 
 How communicate with the Brain. Experiment on them. 
 
 THIS organ, the uppermost in the structure, is con- 
 tained in the cranium. It is evidently the seat of that 
 faculty in man which distinguishes him from the brute, 
 and elevates him to superior dignity. In him it is 
 larger and heavier in proportion than those of animals ; 
 and consequently its functions work with a corre- 
 sponding degree of power. In addition to the greater 
 mass of its matter, something also may be said as to the 
 posture of the head that contains it. It is differently 
 articulated to the neck to what those of animals are. 
 The head in man rests upon the first vertebra of the neck 
 by means of a sort of hinge-joint, which allows the play 
 of the backward and forward motions, as far, at least, as 
 the ligaments will permit. This being accomplished 
 the rotatory motion was to be provided for, and that is 
 done by a kind of tenon and mortise, which connects 
 the uppermost bone or vertebra and the next one under- 
 neath it. The contrivance is double, and very remark- 
 able ; for it provides for both motions without the one 
 interfering with the other, and that in a part where the 
 slightest injury might prove of fatal consequence. The 
 uppermost joint is called the atlas. Through an aperture
 
 HUMAN FACE AND CRANIUM. 7 
 
 in this bone proceeds the spinal chord, and so on 
 through the rest of the vertebrae quite down the back. 
 The bone at the top of the vertebrae, connecting the 
 atlas, is called the occipital bone. 
 
 When a man throws himself upon all fours, he has 
 the greatest difficulty in raising his head to look for- 
 wards ; nor can this position be acquired by habit, so 
 as to be natural, for there is a protuberance on the 
 occipital bone to prevent it. On the occipital bone of 
 animals there is no protuberance of the kind, and in 
 most of them the great hole of that bone is situated at 
 the back part of the head, and the plane of its aperture 
 is vertical, while that in the occiput of man is almost 
 horizontal ; indeed, the head of the animal is not 
 balanced on the spine, but is supported by muscles and 
 ligaments, which are very strong in those quadrupeds 
 that have heads of great weight. The design is evident : 
 man was to walk in the dignity of the erect posture, 
 the animal upon all fours. The one was to look to the 
 earth, the other to the heavens. 
 
 The human face, under the front of the cranium, is 
 in a vertical line, and the jaws, compared with those of 
 most animals, are short, and extend but very little in 
 front of the forehead. The animal face is placed generally 
 in advance of the cranium, rather than under it. The 
 inferior tribes represent a greater obliquity in the facial 
 angle, and stupidity is associated with the elongation of 
 the snout. Hence Solomon's proverb " As a jewel of 
 gold in a swine's snout, so is a fair woman which is 
 without discretion." 
 
 As we recede from man, making the descent of the 
 animal kingdom, the cranium is seen to diminish until at 
 length it becomes lost altogether. This test is very 
 greatly in favour of the superiority of man. His 
 noble structure, moreover ; his erect and commanding 
 attitude ; his majestic deportment; his firm gait, though 
 touching the earth only with one extremity ; and the 
 display of a divine image in his face ; all combine to 
 declare, as with the voice of acclamation, that he is de- 
 signed to be the lord in creation. 
 
 Great and peculiar, too, has been the care with 
 which the bones of the skull have been shaped and 
 
 B 4
 
 8 MAftVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 put together. The different parts of the bony fabric 
 are wedged and locked into one another on the principle 
 which constructs a bridge in the form of an arch, with 
 key-stone and buttresses. So that if pressure be applied 
 to the arch, the temple bones on each side will act like 
 the buttresses of a bridge ; and the two side bones, called 
 the parietal bones, of the convex surface, rest upon the 
 edges of the temple bones, in a manner that it is not 
 possible for any amount of force to slide them off. This 
 completely effectual provision is made by the parietal 
 bones being levelled off at an acute angle, so as to be 
 overlapped by the edges of the temple bones. Then again 
 the temple bones are locked into the spheroidal bone, 
 which is the central piece at the base of the skull. 
 The same may be said also of the frontal bone, or os 
 frontis, which is locked in with the others, so as to 
 prevent any starting outwards by the force of a sud- 
 den blow. Thus, the solid framework is unyielding in 
 all its parts. It is a strong fortress, constructed for the 
 defence of an important province. The form of its 
 vault or dome effectually resists all external pressure ; 
 and the soft, delicate, and mysterious organ within 
 is most admirably protected from all injury coming 
 from without. This was the end to be sought ; and the 
 contrivance is complete. 
 
 There is another feature in the architecture of the 
 skull-cap we cannot pass over without some notice, since 
 it seems to display more wonderfully still the provident 
 design of the Great Architect. It is the composition of 
 the bones themselves. An ordinary bone here would be 
 liable to fracture, and would also allow the transmission 
 of vibrations from concussions to the brain. Two things 
 then were to be provided against ; and this is effected by 
 the bone being composed of two plates instead of one. The 
 outer plate, instead of being brittle and of easy fracture, 
 like bones in general, is fibrous and tough, and not 
 therefore easily broken ; the inner plate is more brittle in 
 its nature, therefore harder and more powerful to resist 
 any direct pressure. Not only so, but there is another 
 thing yet, which deserves particular attention ; and that 
 is, the cancellated structure, which is a thick layer 
 of spongy bony fibres, intervening between the two
 
 HUMAN BRAIN. 9 
 
 strata of bones, and there acting the part of a cushion, 
 arresting the progress of external vibrations, and at the 
 same time preventing the fracture of the internal plate. 
 It seems hardly possible that any sound intellect, which 
 is able to comprehend this elaborate contrivance, can look 
 into it without admiring the exquisite beauty of the 
 adaptation of the means to the end to be answered. 
 There are, too, others of considerable beauty and im- 
 portance that might be mentioned, such as the greater 
 thickness of those parts of the bones of the skull that 
 are more particularly exposed to blows, as well as 
 the sutures, or joinings of the bones, which are so con- 
 trived as to stop the transmission of vibrations ex- 
 tending to any distance round the cranium ; but the bare 
 allusion to them must be sufficient. The strength of the 
 castle betokens an important inmate, the character 
 of which we shall now endeavour to investigate. 
 
 The cavities of the cranium are filled with a large 
 mass of a pulpy substance, called the brain. The nervous 
 system includes the brain, and all its distributions, such 
 as the spinal chord, and the nerves it sends to every part 
 of the body. The brain itself is divided into the brain 
 proper, or the cerebrum, and the small brain, or the 
 cerebellum. The former, which is considered the seat of 
 the intellectual faculties, is placed in the front part of 
 the head ; while the latter, supposed to be the source of 
 those propensities which are common to man and animals, 
 is situated in the lower and back part of the head. Sur- 
 rounding the brain is a sort of double membrane ; the 
 outer one, being hard, is termed the dura mater ; and 
 the inner one, which is thin and soft, is called the pia 
 mater. At the head of the spinal chord is a kind of 
 bulb, denominated the medulla oblongata ; and so situated 
 at the central part of the base, as to connect the cerebrum 
 with the cerebellum. 
 
 The average weight of the human brain in adults, 
 when washed of its blood, is about three pounds ; that 
 is, taking all the three parts together, the cerebrum, the 
 cerebellum, and the spinal chord. The average of the 
 first, or brain proper, is about two pounds ; while that of 
 the cerebellum is not more than about five or six ounces, 
 being thus only about one seventh of the whole. It is said
 
 10 MAKVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 that Cromwell's brain was most prodigious ; for, having 
 been put in the scales, it turned a weight of six pounds 
 and a quarter. One can easily believe that it was un- 
 usually large, far exceeding those of men in general ; 
 but it is difficult to believe it was the monster that 
 such a weight would make it. Cuvier's brain, however, 
 is well known to have been extraordinarily large, and of 
 an immoderate mass and weight. 
 
 The spine, or back -bone, is an assemblage of bones, 
 that form a piece of workmanship of a very wonderful 
 and peculiar construction. It serves so many purposes, 
 that their number and contrariety would have puzzled 
 the art of the master mechanic to have embodied them 
 all in one piece of mechanism. He must have solved 
 the difficulty of that problem, which would have included 
 the following conditions : how to construct an appara- 
 tus, so as to be capable of fulfilling the most inconsistent 
 and opposite functions ; an instrument that would give 
 support to the trunk, and thus act the part of a great beam 
 to the whole fabric, at the same time, to furnish a basis 
 of support to all the other bones of the skeleton; the 
 body was to be held erect, it therefore must be^/zrm 
 yet it must be flexible, for a curving motion, both late- 
 rally and longitudinally, was required ; a canal or tube 
 was also wanted, it must therefore be hollow ; the canal 
 moreover, demanded numerous outlets all down both its 
 sides; and yet the fluid to traverse it was to be so de- 
 licate and tender, that if the apparatus would not at the 
 same time protect it from even the slightest injury or 
 pressure, the whole contrivance would be just good for 
 nothing. Now, how seemingly incompatible are all 
 these different functions, quite from first to last! And 
 had such a task been set, the probability is, that the 
 mechanic would not have racked his thoughts with 
 a problem, the solution of which would have appeared so 
 utterly hopeless. No wonder either, when the operations 
 of such contradictory offices are taken into consider- 
 ation. But it really has been solved, and man's spine 
 offers the illustration. 
 
 " Bespeak," says Paley, " of a workman a piece of me- 
 chanism which shall comprise all these purposes, and 
 let him set about to contrive it ; let him feel the difficulty
 
 HUMAN SPINE. 11 
 
 of accomplishing the task, before he be told how the 
 same thing is effected in the animal frame. Nothing 
 will enable him to judge so well of the wisdom which 
 has been employed ; nothing will dispose him to think 
 of it so truly." 
 
 The Architect of the human frame has most admirably 
 exemplified it in the following manner. The sub-division 
 of the spine into a great number of bones gives the flexibi- 
 lity that allows a considerable curve to be formed with- 
 out any sufficient relative displacement of the several 
 vertebrae that would interfere with the passage of the 
 spinal chord, or even to exert the least pressure upon 
 it, which would be of fatal consequence. Though the 
 bend in the whole column may be very considerable, it is 
 very slight at each vertebra, in consequence of the great 
 number of joints. These several vertebras rest upon 
 one another by a broad basis of attachment, and they are 
 bound together by very strong ligaments. Besides these, 
 there is a tough cartilage intervening between each ad- 
 joining vertebra, which has such a spongy and elastic 
 quality, that it seems of itself sufficient to allow of all 
 the motion required for the curves. Between the several 
 contiguous vertebrae, a passage is left for the nerves, 
 which issue in pairs from the spinal chord. 
 
 The nerves are exceedingly minute, white, and deli- 
 cate cords, proceeding from the brain and the spinal 
 marrow. They divide into a great number of branches, 
 with endless ramifications, and extend to all parts of the 
 body, more especially to the muscles, viscera, and blood- 
 vessels. They appear to enclose the nervous matter in 
 a tough cellular membrane, called the neurilema, and so 
 thin that it is scarcely perceptible. Sometimes, more 
 particularly in the lower orders of animals, small rounded 
 nodules, called ganglia are found; at one time in the 
 trunk of a single nerve, and at others at the point of 
 junction of two nerves. 
 
 These nerves are remarkably curious things, and 
 maintain a mysterious correspondence between the brain 
 and all points of the system, both remote and near. 
 They are the telegraphic wires of that peculiar organ 
 in man's head which appears to be the seat of his sensa- 
 tion, as well as the source of his mental operations.
 
 12 MAKVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 What that battery is which works these wires, no one can 
 tell; nor how it works them, nor how they operate by it. 
 They transmit the intelligence as momentarily as do the 
 wires along the railway from one station to another. Their 
 communication, also, can be suspended or cut off in the very 
 same manner. Unless the communication of a nerve Vith 
 the brain be uninterrupted, no sensation will be conveyed. 
 Let a nerve be divided in any part of its course, and no 
 sense of any irritation that may be attempted on that 
 side of the division farthest from the brain will be 
 carried to that organ ; and consequently, none will be 
 felt by the individual suffering the experiment ; but if 
 the attempt to produce^ pain be made on the side of the 
 separation next the brain, the intelligence of the irrita- 
 tion will be immediately transmitted. The same thing 
 will happen if a nerve be tied up by a ligature. Com- 
 pression of a nerve, too, suspends its functions of re- 
 ceiving and conveying impressions ; and the benumbing 
 effects of cold greatly impair its sensibility, and if of 
 sufficient power, or of long continuance, destroy it alto- 
 gether. These causes, however, seem to operate indirectly 
 through the blood in the capillary vessels, in consequence 
 of its circulation being arrested. Sensibility seems to 
 predominate most where the nervous matter is greatest, 
 and its acuteness is more or less great, as that system is 
 more or less developed. The nervous power is supposed 
 to stand connected, in some unknown way, with that of 
 electricity. 
 
 If the spinal chord be divided near the foramen mag- 
 num, all those parts of the body with which it is con- 
 nected, and they are nearly the whole, will be rendered 
 quite insensible ; while those parts of the face, which 
 derive their nerves from the brain, independent of the 
 spinal chord, will not be deprived of their sensibility im- 
 mediately, nor at all from the same cause. Accidents of 
 the spine interfere with the transmission of impressions 
 by the nerves, in a manner that affords ample confirma- 
 tion, that the brain is the seat of sensation. 
 
 The nerves, again, communicate from the brain as well 
 as to it ; and though the order may be carried down 
 the same nerve which brings up the tidings of sensation 
 from some remote part of the body, it is still not con-
 
 EXPERIMENTS ON NERVES. 13 
 
 ducted by the same part of the nerve, but by another 
 set of filaments, as if a nerve were composed of two 
 conducting strings or wires, the one for transmitting 
 the intelligence of what takes place on different points 
 of the frame, and the other for the purpose of acting 
 the part of an aide-de-camp," in carrying the commands 
 of the will from its head-quarters in the brain itself. 
 Neither does it appear from experiment, that the one 
 kind of nervous filament can be made to perform both 
 functions ; that is, to transmit intelligence both ways ; 
 so that that part of a nerve which takes the messages 
 from the extremities of the body, will refuse to bring 
 back an order from the brain. 
 
 Experiment has given something more decisive with 
 respect to those which issue from the spinal chord. It 
 is well known that these nerves have a double origin ; 
 that is, the one nerve proceeds from the anterior, and the 
 other from the posterior side of that column. Now, if 
 any injury be done to the roots 'of those coming from 
 the former side, the muscles which they supply will be 
 convulsed, without exciting any sensation of pain in the 
 individual upon whom the experiment is made ; while 
 the complete division of those same nerves puts the same 
 muscles entirely out of the control of the will, for they 
 can no longer be made to contract by any voluntary 
 efforts. But if, on the contrary, the roots of the other 
 nerves, that issue from the posterior side of the spinal 
 column, be injured or irritated, it will be followed by 
 sensations of violent pain in those parts which such 
 nerves supply ; while their section or complete separation 
 is succeeded by insensibility in the very same parts, 
 though the power to contract them by a voluntary effort 
 of the will remains undisturbed. 
 
 Another very striking peculiarity in respect to the 
 nerves is, that they appear to be endowed with appro- 
 priate powers, and such as are consistent with the various 
 functions they have to perform. The optic nerve, for 
 instance, receives the impression of light, and conveys 
 the image to the brain. The olfactory nerve, again, 
 has the power to receive an impression from scent, 
 and hence to impart the sense of smell to the brain. 
 The nerves of the ear are capable of transmitting the
 
 14 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 sense of sound ; while those of the tongue and palate 
 convey that of taste. The sense of touch or feeling 
 seems common to all, at least, very nearly so. But they 
 do not interfere with each other's prerogative ; indeed, 
 each one is quite incapable of performing any other 
 function, with the exception of that of touch, but that 
 which is allotted to it. Let any person well stop up his 
 ears, and keep his eyes wide open as long as he pleases ; 
 he will yet find that the optic nerve will refuse to convey 
 to his brain any impression of sounds. It will remain 
 fully insensible to all tones, whether loud or soft, 
 whether musical or discordant. On the other hand, 
 let him reverse the experiment, and, instead of pre- 
 senting his eyes to the light, let his ears be turned to 
 it. He will soon be taught that the nerves of the ear 
 will not act. No image will they convey to the brain, 
 because they are not capable of receiving an impression 
 from light. Concentrate the light right upon them, it is 
 still in vain, for they have no passage open to the trans- 
 mission of the imponderable agent. These remarks 
 apply equally the same to those of taste and smell ; yet 
 who can detect any physical difference in the form or 
 composition of these various nerves ? This is a question 
 that cannot be answered. It is a problem that cannot 
 be solved. It is a mystery that cannot be known. 
 
 " The hemisphere of the cerebrum seems to be insen- 
 sible to puncture and incision. Strange fact, that that 
 part of the body in which sensations are combined, 
 and weighed, and stored up, should itself be devoid of 
 sensation ! Parts have been removed without producing 
 any sensation. Injury to the upper part of the cerebrum 
 produces no convulsions or contraction of muscles. Re- 
 moval of one hemisphere produces blindness on the 
 opposite side. A pigeon, in which one hemisphere was 
 removed, saw very well with the eye of the injured 
 side. It heard, stood, walked, flew, and did not 
 appear uneasy. Even when both hemispheres were 
 removed, it had the power of flying, walking, and 
 swallowing. It was, however, deaf and blind, and 
 originated no voluntary movement, and was compared 
 by Flourens to an animal condemned to perpetual sleep.
 
 15 
 
 CHAP. IIL 
 
 Brain, Seat of Mind. Shakspeare's Head. Swift's, a Disappoint- 
 ment. Dr. Moore on Brain of Negro. Relation of deep 
 Thought with weighty Brain. Is Mind defective ? 
 
 THAT there is a very mysterious and close connection 
 between man's mind and his brain, no one can have 
 ground for entertaining the remotest doubt. It is evident 
 that the capacity of this physical organisation is a 
 measure of the power of its thought. The immaterial 
 principle in man is blended with his materiality in a 
 manner that nobody can understand, much less explain. 
 Its office is most assuredly in the brain, and it performs 
 its functions by means of that organ, though its mode 
 of operating is beyond the power of mortal compre- 
 hension. It is a great mystery, and one that no human 
 being is ever likely to unravel ; neither is it necessary 
 that he ever should. Undoubtedly it is best as it is. 
 No human genius must ever expect to wend its way 
 into this region of knowledge by the intricate paths of 
 metaphysical refining. The tendency of such disqui- 
 sitions is only to lead one into greater mystery, and then 
 to leave him in it quite bewildered with mysticism ; 
 whereas the man of simple faith can believe the great 
 fact of the mystery, and that it is one of God's secret 
 things. He is therefore willing to wait the revelation of 
 it at the time appointed ; and after all, this is much the 
 greatest philosophy, and involves much less mystery. 
 
 The union, then, of mind with matter we consider 
 inexplicable, either to us or by us, or anybody else. 
 Nor is it possible for any being to shut his eyes against 
 the force of the conviction. The matter with which the 
 sentient principle, or man's immaterial soul, is associated, 
 and by which it performs its functions, is more complex 
 in its structure, more tender and delicate in its com- 
 position than any other organ of the human body ; hence 
 the great care that has been bestowed upon the me- 
 chanism which was to protect it. If it be contended 
 that mind is neither united to materiality nor operates by
 
 16 MAEVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 it, then brain is not matter. But this cannot be denied. 
 The connection between that organ and the thinking 
 faculty is obviously very close. If not, why should facts 
 show so invariably as they do that the power of thought 
 bears an evident relation to the power of the brain from 
 which it has sprung ? We believe that all the critics 
 of the world are now agreed that, for beauty and 
 grandeur of conception, for fertile powers of thought, 
 for the production of lofty intellectual sentiment, and 
 for appropriate phrase, Shakspeare still stands unrivalled. 
 It is said that a "large dictionary might be made of 
 such phrases as 'win golden opinions,' 'in my mind's 
 eye,' ' like patience on a monument,' ' o'erstep the mo- 
 desty of nature,' 'more honour'd in the breach than in 
 the observance,' 'palmy state,' 'my poverty and not 
 my will consents,' and so forth, without end. This 
 reinforcement of the general language, by aids from the 
 mintage of Shakspeare, had already commenced in the 
 seventeenth century." But what kind of brain was it 
 that coined them? Search the picture gallery for a 
 good portrait of this British poet, and the magnificence 
 of the cranium will reveal the quality and power of that 
 internal organ, which threw out such a noble exterior. A 
 college professor, and no mean authority, once made the 
 remark to us, when examining a portrait of the poet, 
 that he had no doubt in his own mind that Shakspeare's 
 head was the finest specimen of intellectual greatness that 
 the Creator had ever fashioned. Whether that be so or 
 not, its productions have insured it an imperishable 
 fame. We do not speak thus to encourage devotion either 
 to him or to his writings ; for we lament that he did not 
 throw his vast powers into a much better and a much 
 more noble cause than that of the drama. 
 
 The cranium of Swift, whose body was exhumed 
 ninety years after his death, when the white locks had 
 all mouldered away from it, was a disappointment to 
 the phrenologists, who expected that it would develop 
 in a very striking manner the organs of wit, of causality, 
 and of comparison. Notwithstanding, however, the dis- 
 appointment in the exterior of this object of scientific 
 curiosity, the interior of it exhibited a much larger 
 capacity of brain than could have been inferred from
 
 FEATURES HOW MODIFIED. 
 
 its external aspect. We have faith in the broad and 
 general principle of phrenology, but can see very little 
 other use in those numerous and indefinite divisions which 
 are made to intersect the cranium in all directions, than 
 that of converting it into a mere toy for children. 
 
 "The brain," says Dr. Moore, of the uneducated 
 adult negro resembles that of a white educated child, 
 and the head of the uneducated white person retains 
 much of the child character, size, and proportion. _ Mr. 
 Owen found that the brain of an Irish labourer weighed 
 no more than the average brain of a youth from the 
 educated classes of the age of fourteen ; and Tiedemann 
 infers, from the size of the skull, that the brains of our 
 uncivilised British ancestors were about the average 
 size of thernegro's .... 
 
 "We see that when the indwelling soul can be ap- 
 pealed to through the medium of appropriate senses, it 
 is capable of visibly influencing the form and expression 
 of the features, and of controlling the body, so far as 
 the voluntary muscles are fit for its use. And, moreover, 
 the prominent state of mind becomes permanently written 
 in the face, and in the very manner of the body, inis 
 can arise only from that which feels and acts deter- 
 mining to a certain extent the development ot the or- 
 ganisation. ... If, then, the body was formed to enable 
 the soul to experience and exhibit affections, and these 
 when healthy are always beauteous, it is simply be- 
 cause the body and its circumstances are so tar in 
 keeping with the nature of the spirit that animates it 
 and therefore a free and perfect manifestation of that 
 spirit, in whatever vehicle, must be significant only oi 
 what we are formed to admire. The body of a child, 
 if not diseased, will continue to be beautiful in expression 
 as long as the mind within it is kept in order by haying 
 its happier sympathies excited and exercised by fellow- 
 ship with minds that manifest nothing but what is 
 amiable. Anger, wrath, malice, and all uncharitableness, 
 being manifested as they are by a single look, will in- 
 stantly arouse the corresponding passions in a child, 
 and these being frequently exhibited to it, will soon fix 
 upon its features and its form the characteristics oi tear
 
 18 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 and suspicion, and foster within its heart the fierce pro- 
 pensities that spring from them." 
 
 Deep thought is a criterion of a weighty brain, though, 
 perhaps, not altogether of magnitude ; for it is quite pos- 
 sible that the brain, like other matter, may be subject to 
 varying quality of structure, that is, to different degrees 
 of compactness. So that two brains of equal size may 
 differ as to quantity, and that containing the most 
 matter be capable of putting forth the greater power. 
 There may, then, be magnitude ; but, from the want of a 
 proper degree of concentration of substance, the corre- 
 sponding amount of energy is not displayed. Hence, on 
 this hypothesis, firmness of texture is a proper compen- 
 sation for any falling off in dimension ; while, on the 
 other hand, an extraordinary development of*the organ 
 of mind is not necessarily accompanied by the presence 
 of any transcendental talent. And perhaps the proverb, 
 that good stuff is found in small quantities may not be 
 wrongfully applied here. 
 
 Still it is possible for the two extremes, the best 
 quality and greatest quantity, to meet together, though 
 it must be admitted that Nature furnishes but few ex- 
 amples of such union. We can recur to a case in point. 
 The immense height of the forehead, yet with a dome of 
 full proportions, is at once patent to every eye that fixes 
 itself upon it. The power of its thought is felt not by 
 the force of its oratory, which has no necessary connec- 
 tion with mightiness of thought by every intelligent 
 man that forms an individual of the audience it so fre- 
 quently holds in the most silent suspense. It operates 
 slowly, and the thoughts seem to move about so as to 
 resemble more the massive structure and firm tread of the 
 elephant, than those of the lesser form and swifter motions 
 of the horse. But perhaps the power of this much- 
 honoured preacher has another secret, and that is, the 
 depth of his sincerity ; every word he speaks has a 
 meaning of a practical nature. We consider, then, that 
 compactness of structure in brain affords the greatest fa- 
 cility to the operations of thought, because the thinking 
 faculty seems to display its powers more fully when in 
 connection with such a medium, and hence weight ap- 
 pears of more importance than surface.
 
 MIND AND MATTER. 19 
 
 According to our supposition, therefore, the brain, like 
 the different metals, may be a conductor more or less 
 perfect. In some constitutions its organisation may not 
 be so nicely elaborated as it is in others, consequently 
 not so fitted to fulfil the offices assigned to it. Any 
 person, however illiterate, can perceive a difference of 
 structure between that of a piece of marble and a piece 
 of common limestone. Yet it is well known that they 
 are really the same thing ; that is, a composition of car- 
 bonic acid and lime, in the very same proportions. The 
 diamond has a widely different texture from that of a 
 piece of charcoal ; yet both are the very same in sub- 
 stance ja piece of pure carbon. The structure affects 
 the quality, and it is clear to any perception, that the 
 qualities of marble over those of limestone, and the 
 qualities of the diamond over those of charcoal, are in 
 both cases almost infinitely more useful and superior. 
 
 Muscle and flesh, too, in different people, have dif- 
 ferent degrees of firmness of texture. Some persons' 
 flesh is loose and flabby, and these very generally have 
 lax energies ; while those whose flesh is unyielding and 
 full of stability, are capable of putting forth the greatest 
 amount of energy, and often with the most untiring per- 
 severance. Among the latter we should class Julius 
 Caesar, Napoleon, and Sir Walter Scott. Much, then, 
 we think is dependent on physical organisation, as that 
 is more or less perfect. 
 
 The evidence from experiment, that the brain is the 
 medium of mind is irresistibly conclusive, and the de- 
 clarations of fact are unequivocally strong. Amputate 
 the foot or the leg, .the hand or the arm of any person, 
 still the thinking principle continues as before. But de- 
 stroy or take away the brain, and the individual thinks 
 no more. The latter case does not any more directly 
 interfere with the circulation of the blood from the heart 
 than the former ; though of course it will soon stop 
 when the seat of the intelligent principle has been re- 
 moved. It may very often be seen that the forehead of 
 idiots falls back at a very considerable angle from the 
 perpendicular on the eyebrows : hence the cerebrum, the 
 seat of the intellectual faculty, is in part wanting, and it 
 only partially developes the cranium. They have there- 
 c 2
 
 20 MAKVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 fore no power to think, the mind cannot operate, the 
 physical medium is imperfect. 
 
 In general the mind apparently comes to maturity, 
 ripens, and decays with these several stages of the body ; 
 but man's mind, or his immaterial essence, is no more 
 matter, or a material part of his body, than is electricity 
 a part of the electrical machine which 'is made to col- 
 lect and conduct it. The matter of the brain, like the 
 machine, is the instrument merely. It is the conducting 
 medium. The machine, as a conductor, may be more or 
 less perfect ; if imperfect, the shock is not felt in all its 
 power. But no one thinks of ascribing the feebleness of 
 the shock to a defective quality in the electric fluid itself, 
 but to the right source, to some defect in the instrument. 
 Thus it is possible for the mind to be perfect also, only 
 accidentally and unfortunately associated with an im- 
 perfect physical organisation. 
 
 On the same grounds we speak of weak or shallow 
 minds, but strictly speaking there appears to be no 
 positive authority for it. For no metaphysician can 
 abstract mind from matter, and examine it alone. Nor 
 will it ever be done. The earth was not designed to be 
 a region of spirits. Spirit here can only make a partial 
 manifestation of its power, because it is subject to the 
 ever-varying and imperfect states of materiality. Man 
 grows old, and his mental powers fail him. But that is 
 no proof of an enfeebled mind. The brain decays, and 
 no longer allows the functions of thought to be properly 
 performed in it. Here it seems to resemble an imperfect 
 electrical machine, which refuses to perform the experi- 
 ment so effectually and completely as the operator desires 
 and attempts. A skilful surgeon could not operate suc- 
 cessfully with a blunt instrument. But the failure would 
 not implicate his skill, for put a good tool into his hand, 
 and he performs to everybody's satisfaction. Because 
 mind, then, cannot develope itself through an imperfect 
 medium, or appears feeble with a blunt instrument, we 
 nevertheless have no proof whatever that the sentient 
 principle itself has either decayed in the one case, or 
 is imperfect in the other. For brain or matter is not 
 mind, nor mind matter, nor the result of material or- 
 ganisation. The two things are quite different, and
 
 CTJVIEK ON HUMAN FRAME. 21 
 
 man's immaterial soul has been given to him in addition 
 to his materiality, and to him alone. God Himself has 
 spoken decisively on this point. "Because God hath 
 deprived her" the ostrich "of wisdom, neither hath 
 he imparted to her understanding." "{But there is a 
 spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty 
 giveth them understanding." 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Brain of Animals. Cuvier on Structures of Man and Animals. 
 Nervous System. Its Use. Comparisons of Brain in Man and 
 Animals. In Birds. In Reptiles. In Mollusca. In Insects. 
 Criterion of Intelligence. 
 
 MAN, the lord of creation, presents, in almost every 
 point of view, some marks of superiority or ascendency 
 over all other living tribes. If he is not endowed with the 
 same amount of physical strength as some beasts, he 
 yet finds no difficulty in obtaining the mastery, or in 
 maintaining his government over them all. He does 
 this by his wisdom, which is an attribute of mind ; and 
 this it is which distinguishes him from all other animated 
 beings. Even his structure bears all the marks of evi- 
 dent superiority. Though his frame has many things 
 in common with the vertebrate animals, still the con- 
 nection, the attitude, and the form of his bones present 
 differences which serve to indicate a greater nobility, as 
 well as a greater complexity of mechanism. The monkey 
 tribe, which approaches man's attitude and structure 
 more closely than any others, cannot assume his erect 
 attitude with ease, not even the orang-outang or the 
 chimpanzee. 
 
 " If," says Cuvier, " man was intended to walk on 
 all fours like animals, the situation of his eyes would 
 be directed towards the earth ; but not being possessed 
 of the cervical ligament that is found in quadrupeds, he 
 would not be able to support his head. His inferior 
 extremities would be too much elevated in proportion 
 to his arms, and his feet too short to enable him con-
 
 22 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 veniently to bend them like other animals who tread 
 only on their toes. His chest is so large that it would 
 impede the free motion of his arms. He could not even 
 climb with so much facility as apes, because he has not, 
 like them, the great toe separated from the rest; nor 
 could he climb like the cats, on account of the weakness 
 of his nails." 
 
 But the great distinguishing organ of the human 
 frame is its brain. The size and the degree of perfection 
 to which this mysterious matter attains in man, gradually, 
 though not quite regularly, diminishes, as we descend in 
 the scale of beings, until it becomes lost altogether, and 
 with it vanishes every trace of intelligence. Instinct 
 then takes its place, while just so much of brain or 
 nervous matter is apportioned to certain animals as is 
 necessary to render them useful to man. Hence the 
 elephant, the horse and the dog have a quantity suffi- 
 cient to impart to them the capability of being trained 
 to perform certain things ; but their education cannot 
 be carried beyond certain limits, and these limits pre- 
 scribe them to certain useful purposes. 
 
 A portion of brain and a nervous system were need- 
 ful to animals, without which they could neither have 
 properly fulfilled the functions assigned to them, nor 
 have been so useful to man as many now are. Sensation 
 is an attribute of nerve, and has its seat therefore in the 
 nervous system. In this particular many of the inferior 
 tribes surpass man in the acuteness of their powers. 
 But in all these cases the necessity is plain. In acute- 
 ness and extent of vision man has no powers by which 
 he can rival those of the eagle or some other birds of 
 prey. The dog, especially the hound, is much more 
 susceptible cf scent. Nor does man appear to possess 
 any nerve so finely sensitive as is that in the ear of an 
 owl, which can receive an impression by means of vi- 
 brations that pass through the air and originate in the 
 slightest motion of a tiny mouse in some distant corner 
 of a barn. Some animals there are, too, that have 
 nerves greatly more sensitive to touch than any that 
 can be found in humankind. In every case, however, 
 of such extraordinary sensitiveness there is to be seen 
 its corresponding purpose or necessity. If it then be
 
 COMPARISONS OF BRAIN. 23 
 
 asked, why the whole animal creation should not be 
 guided by instinct, and by that alone, and why it should 
 have any portion of brain and nervous matter at all ? we 
 should ask the counter-questions, How could animals 
 perform some of those delicate tasks which are assigned 
 to them without the means of sensation ? how could 
 there be sensation without nervous or brain matter? 
 how could they be taught to be useful to man without 
 some glimmering of intelligence ? and how could there 
 be any sort of understanding without that matter which 
 seems the necessary medium of mind ? We conclude, 
 therefore, that the animal economy is best constituted as 
 it is, and answers all the purposes of the All-wise De- 
 signer much better than if instinct had been the only 
 governing principle of the animal kingdom. 
 
 A nervous system and a cerebral are found in the ver- 
 tebrated or backboned animals, and in connection with 
 the matter contained in them various degrees of intelli- 
 gence prevail. The decrease of quantity in brain, and 
 the corresponding diminution of intelligence, do not run 
 regular and parallel all down the scale of animal exist- 
 ence. No very accurate conclusions, therefore, can be 
 drawn as to the degree of intelligence any animal pos- 
 sesses from the proportional amount of its brain. In the 
 mammalia the principle holds good very generally. The 
 weight of man's brain in proportion to that of his body 
 varies from 1 to 22, to 1 to 35 ; that is, giving an average 
 of about 1 to 27. The long-armed ape is as 1 to 40 ; the 
 fox as 1 to 205 ; the donkey as I to 254 ; the beaver as 1 
 to 290 ; the hare as 1 to 300 ; the horse as 1 to 400 ; the 
 elephant as 1 to 500 ; and the rhinoceros as about 1 to 
 2000. 
 
 In birds the proportion is greater ; but not the cere- 
 bral portion, which is the seat of the intellectual faculties, 
 for here the cerebellum is comparatively large. The 
 brain of the canary bird is given as 1 to 14 ; the sparrow 
 as 1 to 25 ; the eagle as 1 to 160 ; that of the goose as 1 
 to 360 ; and it is said that the cavity for the brain in the 
 parrot is smaller than that of any other bird. From the 
 fact of this bird being able to chatter a little, and to 
 give a sort of expression to certain words, it might have 
 been expected to have a larger proportion of brain ; but
 
 24 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 what display of intelligence is there in the talk of a 
 parrot ? Nor can its facility in imitating be at all the 
 result of intelligence. 
 
 In reptiles the brain becomes exceedingly small. 
 That of the tortoise is given as 1 to 2240 ; that of the 
 sea-tortoise as 1 to 5688 ; and the space for the brain in 
 the crocodile is so small that it will scarcely admit a 
 man's thumb into it. In some fishes the brain is almost 
 lost. In the tunny, it is as 1 to 37,000; while, however, 
 that of the carp approaches very nearly to the proportion 
 of that of the elephant. 
 
 It is therefore very difficult to gather any particular 
 and precise conclusions from such an irregular gradation 
 of facts ; but the general and broad principle is plain. 
 With the exception of a few small birds, as sparrows, 
 finches, and bats, which are generally very lean, and 
 therefore weigh but little, man greatly exceeds all in 
 the proportion. The proportional weight, too, of his 
 cerebrum to the weight of his cerebellum is much 
 greater than that in animals ; though in this particular 
 the ox is about upon a level with him, and the dog very 
 nearly. There are still other differences between man's 
 brain and those of animals, all of which confer upon it 
 some distinctive marks of superiority over theirs. 
 
 The nervous system in the mollusca is more simple 
 than it is in the higher classes. It appears in the form 
 of ganglia and filaments. The principal ganglion, some- 
 times called a brain, is situated at the entrance of the 
 stomach above the gullet. The mouth, the tentacula, 
 and the eyes receive their nerves from this ganglion. 
 From it also proceed two filaments, one on each side of 
 the gullet, and by their union underneath it form there 
 a second ganglion, which again sends out other nerves to 
 the different parts of the body, and in some places these 
 form other and smaller ganglia. 
 
 In the insect the brain is situated above the oesophagus 
 or gullet, though still in the head, but it is exceedingly 
 diminutive. It sends out filaments of nerves about the 
 head, and a double cord that encircles the ossophagus. 
 These cords unite at intervals, and compose other 
 ganglia, whiclyepresent new centres ; and these not only 
 distribute nervous threads, but appear to act independ-
 
 BRAIN AND INTELLIGENCE. 25 
 
 ently of the original brain, so that, if the insect be sepa- 
 rated, the sectional portions seem to possess an equal 
 amount of vitality. 
 
 It may be said, that if the "degree of intelligence be 
 proportional to the proportional weight of the brain to 
 that of the body, close consistency would require that 
 the goose should have rather more of intelligence than 
 the elephant, which is quite hostile to all fact ; but then 
 it must be remembered that no one can tell us how 
 much must be put down to the score of quality as 
 well as to that of weight. There |are many things 
 about the human brain, such as the peculiarity of its 
 structure, its better position, its greater complexity and 
 finer quality, if we may so express it, which are all 
 positive evidences of its being designed for some superior 
 work. How far, then, may it be possible for the brain of 
 the elephant to differ in quality and structure from that 
 of the goose ? We presume the chemist cannot answer 
 this question. Before it be answered, the assertion that the 
 goose, in consistency with the principles, ought to have 
 the' greater amount of understanding, cannot be positively 
 made. The general principle, however, holds good where 
 there is no brain there is no understanding. It is also 
 quite evident that those animals which are not capable of 
 being instructed, as fishes, reptiles, and insects, have the 
 least quantity of brain and the least degree of intelli- 
 gence ; moreover, these are the animals to which instruc- 
 tion would have been of the least use as regards man's 
 purposes ; hence we find that they have not a sufficient 
 quantity of brain to be the medium even of a glimmering 
 of intelligence. It was not wanted, and it has not been 
 given. Sensation was necessary to them, and they have 
 a sufficiency of nervous matter, and of the right kind, to 
 answer all the purposes it was designed to serve.
 
 26 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 Instinct a Mystery. Secret Things. How Instinct operates. 
 Instinct in the Flesh-Fly at fault. 
 
 THIS word Instinct represents a most mysterious faculty, 
 and one that is found in connection with both plants and 
 animals, but more particularly the latter. Its marvellous 
 manifestations greatly excite the curiosity of all philoso- 
 phers, and present subjects of meditation to every think- 
 ing mind. It makes a grand display to man's view, 
 but conceals itself from his scrutiny, as well as from 
 his sight. It is more inexplicable to his understand- 
 ing, and farther removed from his penetration than is 
 that amazing and frightful force which often vibrates 
 through thousands of miles in the interior of the globe, 
 upheaving mountains on the land and islands on the 
 sea ; rending the earth in one place and swallowing 
 down whole towns at a gulp, while burying them be- 
 neath showers of ashes or streams of molten liquid in 
 another. The refined logic of the most acute meta- 
 physician fails to describe the intrinsic quality of In- 
 stinct ; so in like manner the nature of gravitation, which 
 operates with the greatest nicety and force over start- 
 ling distances, baffles all astronomical effort or human 
 conception. Its laws and its perfect obedience to them 
 have been discovered, but itself will ever remain undis- 
 covered. The electrician collects the electric fluid, and 
 by his skill and control over it converts it to many pur- 
 poses of utility ; but ask him what it is, or how it is 
 possible for it to move almost instantaneously through 
 the hardest substances, and he will say 'these are 
 questions which involve matters that he cannot even un- 
 derstand, much less explain. By the use of his know- 
 ledge, and the application of his experience and reason, 
 he is able to note the laws to which it is subject, and he 
 has therefore its power under his control ; but he re- 
 mains in total ignorance of what the real thing is that he 
 manages with so much cleverness. So it is with Instinct, 
 the laws which regulate it are known, but the thing 
 itself is unknown.
 
 INSTINCT A MYSTERY. 27 
 
 The operations of Instinct are as wonderful as are the 
 phenomena of gravity and electricity. There are some 
 that no human art can rival, and there are others that 
 cannot be even imitated. A rough cast in masonry is 
 an imitation of the marten's nest, but none of the nests 
 of any of the finches, to say nothing of those of a more 
 exquisite and delicate structure, have we ever seen 
 attempted ; nor do we believe that the handicraft of 
 man will ever (make a near approach to them. The 
 proportions of the bee's work are so exact, that the geo- 
 metrician has been puzzled to measure them ; while the 
 most able of mathematicians have been no less puzzled 
 to calculate the uses of such niceties. A well-trained 
 mind has its attention arrested by such manifestations, 
 and meditates upon them with wonder and admiration. 
 And, though they bewilder the sceptic, their mysteries 
 are no sources of trouble to the man of faith. He knows 
 where to rest them in safety. The Scriptures enlighten 
 his mind, and not only make him wise to salvation, but 
 supply him with the key that unlocks the secret treasures 
 of all other wisdom or knowledge. 
 
 If asked to give a definition of Instinct, we should 
 say, it is that propensity in animals which directs or 
 impels them to do certain things, usually for the preser- 
 vation or the continuation of their species, at the fittest 
 time and with the greatest perfection, quite independent 
 of knowledge, without experience from themselves, and 
 without teaching from others. It is the governing prin- 
 ciple in the animal kingdom. It is given to control 
 the actions of the inferior tribes of creation. To control 
 those of man, reason is given. Instinct is therefore a 
 substitute for reason. Though its operations are more 
 certain, more precise and more perfect, than those of 
 reason, they are only proofs that man is the noblest 
 creature, since they are the results of a power which 
 deprives the animal to a very large extent of both will 
 and judgment, thereby showing that it has not been 
 considered of a nature or destiny sufficiently exalted 
 to be intrusted with a free agency in matters of 
 choice. The brute has no choice in concerns that are 
 of most importance to itself. It yields a blind obedience 
 to its instinctive impulses. Its enjoyments are confined
 
 28 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 to the physical. The pleasures of knowledge, of pro- 
 gress, and of discovery are all withheld from the animal. 
 Mental pleasures are peculiar to man, and they are 
 infinitely more exalted than the sensual, which are 
 peculiar to brutes. The faculty of Instinct teaches if 
 the expression be allowed the animal how and where 
 to seek the food best suited to its own constitution ; 
 impels it to bestow just so much care in cherishing its 
 offspring as is necessary to bring them to maturity, 
 or till the time they can provide for themselves, and no 
 more ; and how to defend either itself or young from 
 danger or attack. These purposes being answered, the 
 operations of instinct proceed no further ; the animal 
 has no desire or motive beyond them, if indeed it has 
 any motive at all. Reason has motives and pleasures 
 in addition to these, as the sequel will show. 
 
 Much has been written by the ablest pens, and no 
 less produced by the most profound in philosophy as to 
 the nature or essence of instinct and the manner by 
 which it operates ; and we think all to no purpose. 
 Both subjects are exceedingly obscure, and we have 
 seen no light thrown upon either, nor shall we ever 
 expect to see any ; for our belief is that it was never 
 intended that the human mind should be able to explore 
 them. We shall therefore have but little to say upon 
 these questions, which shut up all investigators to 
 despair. 
 
 La the world of nature, as well as in the world of 
 spirits, there are things secret and things revealed ; that 
 is to say, concealment and a revelation of second causes. 
 For it is not competent to the powers of mind to grasp 
 or fathom the first cause of anything. And surely it 
 does not require a very powerful intellect, or a vast range 
 of observation, or a very sure judgment, or the presence 
 of an extraordinary share of common sense, to render a 
 person capable of discerning a difference between the 
 conditions, relations, and consequences of the one and 
 the other. Let us look into the Scriptures, and take the 
 plan of salvation as an instance, and we shall find, 
 whether we refer to doctrine, to precept, or to example, 
 -whether to future rewards or punishments, all that 
 is necessary to guide, to encourage, or to warn the fallen
 
 NATURE'S SECRETS. 29 
 
 race of Adam is fully made known to them. So far, then, 
 as these things are concerned, all is clear. On the 
 other hand, the things which are dark, symbolical, or 
 mysterious are among the matters that minister nothing 
 more necessary for sinful man to know k than what He has 
 already revealed to him. And that many things are 
 kept secret are profound mysteries to man must 
 be considered a wise and useful provision in the 
 economy of redemption ; for, if the Divine Being had 
 made a revelation of all His awful and sacred mysteries, 
 where would there have been any object for the exercise 
 of the good man's faith ? The work of faith is a con- 
 templation of their revelation with a full and firm belief 
 in it. These meditations are sources of infinite pleasure 
 to the devout and Christian mind. So much so, indeed, 
 that such a Christian will at any time say, that Divine 
 Wisdom has well and wisely concealed many of His 
 ways and purposes. He may ponder them, wonder, 
 and admire ; but he is quite satisfied to leave them as 
 they have been ordered till the hereafter shall bring all 
 things to light, when his mind, now finite, shall then 
 be made able to comprehend what is now dark and 
 infinite. 
 
 Let the same rule be applied to the works of 
 nature, and it will be seen in them also, that the 
 useful and necessary are revealed. The knowledge of 
 the unsearchable and unfathomable cannot be shown to 
 be of use to man, either as a philosopher or a man of 
 science. Suppose, for instance, that the astronomer could 
 be made acquainted with the nature of gravitation, as 
 well as with its laws, he would even then be no better 
 able to calculate the time of an eclipse, of a transit, of 
 the tides, than he does now. Nor would it be possible 
 either for him to do it with greater nicety. But all 
 these computations are of the greatest utility. 
 
 The knowledge of the laws of gravity, again, enable 
 him to put even Jupiter in a pair of scales, and not only 
 to bring out of him the weight of his ponderous body, 
 but to tell also the density of his matter. Could any- 
 thing more be obtained, though the solution of that 
 invisible and mighty power which governs the universe 
 were given ? To assert that it could lead to no useful
 
 30 MAEVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 discovery might be considered rash. But to say that it 
 would confer a benefit upon the world would be much 
 more rash ; because the latter case would be presuming 
 that the wisdom of the Being who keeps it secret is at 
 fault. Such a presumption is inadmissible to our faith. 
 
 Thus also may we speak of the electric fluid. Here 
 is another wonder, another mystery. Yet all about it 
 that is useful and necessary is known, while the thing 
 itself is unknown. It is another of those secrets of 
 Nature which her God never intended to reveal ; and 
 when once this Divine decree has been stamped upon 
 any one of His works, the philosopher may experiment, 
 and the speculative metaphysician hazard conjecture till 
 doomsday, and both will fail to make any way on ground 
 which the Omnipotent has made His own prerogative. 
 
 We are disposed to place Instinct in the category in 
 which we class gravitation and the electric fluid. Our 
 belief is, that the human mind will never divine the 
 nature of any one of them, for the very reasons we have 
 already stated. What, then, is the evidence of the 
 designed non-revelation of a mystery as distinct from 
 that which fairly invites the application of human in- 
 genuity? This is perhaps a question that cannot 
 be answered very positively, or very distinctly. A 
 little common sense, however, will be sufficient to hit 
 upon a few general guides. One instance only will 
 serve to illustrate our meaning. Some few years ago 
 there was, as is well known, a very great excitement 
 created in many parts of the civilised world by the 
 wonders of animal magnetism or revived mesmerism. 
 And it, or something like it, may be revived again 
 before long. But what man of sense and intelligence 
 ever believed in the foolish and extravagant pretensions 
 put forth by some of its advocates ? Yet what numbers 
 were credulous ! How superficial is the thought of the 
 million ! For here to some extent at least might have 
 been found the point of test, that the pretensions were 
 manifestly inconsistent with the established order of 
 nature. They were a violation of the laws which pre- 
 serve the world in harmony. Had they been matters of 
 fact instead of pretension, they would have filled every 
 human being with doubt and mistrust, and have intro-
 
 INSTINCT DEFINED. 31 
 
 duced the bane of suspicion among all classes of society. 
 Surely there is nothing in nature or Revelation to 
 warrant the conclusion that such a state of things was 
 ever designed by the Creator ! But quite the contrary. 
 God has wisely set a limit to the range of man's intellect 
 in this world ; yet what has been given has been done 
 with no sparing hand, for the field of knowledge is most 
 spacious, and such that no one human mind will ever fully 
 explore. But the Divine Being has reserved to Himself 
 the power of reading man's thoughts, and this preroga- 
 tive He will in nowise give to another. With man in 
 his present fallen condition could nations or individuals 
 transact their business, or society carry on its inter- 
 course so satisfactorily and so orderly as they now do, 
 if any of the parties felt assured that their thoughts 
 were being told in some secret place or other, they knew 
 not where ? All confidence in everybody would be de- 
 stroyed. Who would think this an improvement? 
 Such is the standard by which we would estimate the 
 worth of such extravagant discoveries. 
 
 Instinct is so much of a mystery, that man must never 
 expect to unravel it. Its operations are so odd, and so 
 apparently miraculous, that they strike the attention of 
 observers more than those which are less obvious, though 
 not less seemingly miraculous. Hence some writers have 
 attempted to account for the workings of Instinct in 
 almost every way but the right one. Those operations 
 of nature which do not deviate from a course which is 
 universal and common, though inexplicable and mys- 
 terious, are not said or thought to be any way miraculous. 
 
 Now Instinct, strictly speaking, is no more of a miracle 
 than the growth of a common blade of grass. The one 
 is involved in as much obscurity as the other. Neither 
 the philosopher nor the chemist can tell in what 
 manner a simple blade of grass elaborates the elementary 
 matters which compose its substance. They can truly 
 analyse it, and find the exact proportions of carbon, 
 oxygen, hydrogen, or silica which may enter into its 
 composition. These very elements, with all their propor- 
 tions to the greatest nicety, can be obtained, and, though 
 they be put into a crucible together, it will be impossible 
 to convert them into a blade of grass, or anything like a
 
 32 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 blade of grass. Nature has a secret that cannot be dis- 
 covered a mystery that she will not reveal. No person 
 expects to discover it. Yet everybody knows that grass 
 grows out of the earth, but not many think about the im- 
 possibility of manufacturing it. No art can imitate the 
 process. The difficulty of comprehending the nature of 
 Instinct is not at all more insuperable. The Almighty 
 Himself is the secret of both, and neither admit of any 
 other explanation. " It is the glory of God to conceal a 
 thing." 
 
 Believing, then, that the Creator is the First Cause of 
 Instinct, the question arises, are its operations performed 
 by any second cause ? that is, does the Deity exert and 
 influence on the animal mediately or immediately ? This 
 query is as difficult as the other, and much has been 
 needlessly and uselessly written upon it also. If analogy 
 be any guide in this matter, it would conduct us to the 
 hypothesis of an intermediate agent ; and such is our 
 opinion. How it is so we cannot explain, for we are 
 unable to understand it, nor have we any means of know- 
 ing it ; moreover, we shall never expect that anything in 
 this world will put us in possession of either. Sir Isaac 
 Newton, a good and great authority, seems to incline to 
 the other opinion, for he terms Instinct the manifestation 
 of an " ever-living Agent." He says the Instinct of the 
 brutes and insects can be the effect of nothing else than 
 the wisdom and skill of a powerful, ever-living Agent, 
 who, being in all places, is more able by His will to move 
 the bodies within His boundless uniform sensorium, and 
 thereby to form and reform the parts of the universe, 
 than we are by our will to move the parts of our bodies." 
 Addison calls it "an immediate impression from the 
 First Mover : " while it is denned by Hartley, Hancock, 
 Mason Good, and Kirby respectively, " a kind of inspir- 
 ation " "the Divine energy" "the Divinity that stirs 
 within them" and " the inter-agent of the Deity." 
 
 Notwithstanding all that these able writers have 
 penned upon it, and much they have well said, the thing 
 itself remains undetermined. The point at issue is still 
 where it was. And here is the true explanation, that 
 the subject lies beyond the limits which prescribe the 
 extent of human knowledge, and man's thought cannot
 
 CONTRIVANCE AND MECHANISM. 
 
 even reach it ; how much less, then, can his intellect grasp 
 it? No ability, however great, no ingenuity, however 
 acute, and no language, however precise and eloquent, 
 can make that matter plain which neither is nor can be 
 understood. 
 
 Since, then, the operating cause of Instinct is so con- 
 cealed and mysterious, it follows that the evidences in 
 favour of one or other mode of operating cannot be 
 taken as at all conclusive or satisfactory. There is no 
 standard of comparison. The infinite cannot be com- 
 pared with the finite. The design of a clock or watch- 
 maker is executed, not by his own hand, but by a piece 
 of mechanism that he contrives for that purpose. The 
 presence, therefore, of the mechanist, or what would be 
 equivalent to it, the attention or superintendence of some 
 other party, is dispensed with. He leaves his order or 
 design in charge of the contrivance, as an intermediate 
 agent, which is to perform his will in his absence. In 
 this case, then, the designer does not operate imme- 
 diately or directly, but mediately or indirectly. The 
 machine may become disordered, and then it will not 
 work; but the original designer being absent, knows 
 nothin^ of it. But the operations of a clock or watch 
 and those of Instinct do not present a perfect parallel, 
 although our illustration may be found to oifer the 
 greatest similarity and the nearest approach that can be 
 made. The Divine Being may leave in some unknown 
 and mysterious manner the execution of His will to 
 certain laws as the intermediate agents between Himseli 
 and the animals which they are made to govern. Still 
 He is ever present, and, though knowing all that goes 
 on in every place, He nevertheless does not interfere 
 with the usual course of law, nor work a miracle to save 
 an accident. The commander-in-chief of an army 
 cannot be in all parts of the field at one time, and he 
 sends his generals hither and thither with full directions 
 for the proper execution of his plan. His design is 
 thus carried out, though he may be at a distance. He 
 acts mediately through men and officers ; but this again 
 is not a proper standard of comparison. Every other 
 kind of finite illustration will fail if put in comparison 
 with the infinite. The Creator stands alone in His ways,
 
 34 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 and above all in His government and works. 'He is un- 
 known, and His ways are past finding out. " Canst 
 thou by searching find out God ? canst thou find out 
 the Almighty to perfection ?" 
 
 A few remarks, however, may be made in favour of 
 one of the two theories which are adopted to explain 
 the operations of Instinct. It sometimes happens that an 
 animal is mistaken ; that is, its Instinct appears at fault. 
 The flesh-fly has been seen to mistake the blossom of the 
 carrion-plant, Stapelia hirsuta, for a piece of putrefying 
 flesh ; and the consequence of the mistake has been, 
 that the maggots which should have come from the eggs 
 of the fly could not be reared in the plant, because the 
 food was inappropriate to them. Again, some nodules 
 of chalk may be placed in the nest of a sitting hen as 
 -substitutes for her own eggs, and she will continue to sit 
 as before. She has no power to perceive the distinction ; 
 and though she may turn them over with her beak, 
 as we have often witnessed, she does not even then make 
 the least discovery of the fraud. 
 
 It is therefore contended that, if the Creator were the 
 immediate Guide of the animal, these mistakes could 
 not possibly occur under His infallible direction. Lord 
 Brougham, who seems to favour the Newtonian doctrine, 
 says the argument is worth nothing at all ; for, if the 
 mistake be from the intermediate agent or law, it reverts 
 through that to the Lawgiver, who could as easily have 
 given a perfect law as He could direct it with certainty 
 by His immediate influence. True, but the All-wise 
 does not always do what He could do. And his lordship 
 remarks, " The same Being gave the general law whom 
 the Newtonian theory supposes to be the particular 
 agent. Then is it not just as inconsistent with His 
 perfections to believe He has made a faulty statute as 
 to suppose that He makes a mistake in particular cases? 
 Can there be any difference at all here ? " 
 
 We think there is most certainly. The course of the 
 hen's Instinct goes regularly on, without her taking the 
 slightest notice of the fraud, because she is not conscious 
 of it. The hen is evidently under the force of a certain 
 law, which impels her to do a certain thing, quite in- 
 iependent of any knowledge of the results that it is
 
 INSTINCT AT FAULT. 35 
 
 to produce. Now, if the hen were able to discover the 
 deception practised upon her, and were then to refuse to 
 sit any longer, she would show some evidence of one of 
 two things, either that she was under the influence of an 
 immediate guide, or that she was possessed of some rational 
 endowment. But we find no such thing. The law 
 of her Instinct takes its usual course, but it cannot 
 bring forth its proper results, because an accident has 
 interfered with the process, and by that means frustrated 
 the object. 
 
 In the case of the flesh-fly it is quite possible that 
 the sense of smell may interfere and overrule the law of 
 its Instinct. This is probably a circumstance in which 
 the two principles would be both strong, and in some 
 particular cases the power of the smelling sensation 
 might prevail. So that, after all, the Instinct itself might 
 not be exactly at fault. But we do not agree with Lord 
 Brougham when he represents the argument as proving 
 nothing. The method of the Divine procedure is not to 
 work miracles to make everything go right. Were He 
 to interfere with the regular and legitimate course of 
 any established law it would be the performance of a 
 miracle, and this is not in accordance with the attributes 
 of His wisdom. We, however, believe that the benevo- 
 lent One does sometimes break into the natural order of 
 things, or suspend them, for the purpose of making 
 them fulfil some particular mission of His providence ; but 
 then such instances are exceptions to the general rule, 
 and nothing more. 
 
 Descartes endeavoured to account for the instinctive 
 operations of the inferior creation by the laws of me- 
 chanism. He considered that the influence of physical 
 or ethereal agents, as the impressions of light, sound, 
 touch, and smell, on their organs of sense, was sufficient 
 to produce that odd series of motions which are the 
 results of the instinctive faculty. So that, according to 
 this theory, the animal is a sort of machine, destitute of 
 the principle of life, yet having sensation, which is per- 
 fectly unintelligible. Lord Brougham, however, intimates 
 that the language of the great philosopher has been 
 misconstrued, for it does not deny life to the brutes ; and 
 that Descartes himself positively affirms that they have
 
 36 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 it. Still his theory would ascribe the marvellous mani- 
 festations of instinct to an adaptation of organisation to 
 the influence of external agents. Some facts to which 
 we shall allude hereafter will be sufficient to controvert 
 such a supposition and to banish it from all further 
 consideration. 
 
 Buffon's theory is not more tenable. In addition to 
 life, he admits that animals possess a faculty that can 
 distinguish between pleasure and pain. And since their 
 aversion to the one is so strong, and their predilection 
 for the other so obvious, he thinks these predilections 
 and aversions will account for all the marvels of 
 Instinct. 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 Bee's Stupidity. Line of Demarcation, as between Instinct and 
 Eeason, where ? Effects of Sin in the World. Man's In- 
 stincts. Faculty of Wit. Presence of Mind. Clive's. 
 Napoleon's. Providence. 
 
 BUT the theory which is most rife with the evil 
 genius is that which identifies Instinct with Reason. 
 Dr. Darwin appears to attempt to steer the argument to 
 this issue. His sea is very rough, and the waves throw 
 him back upon his own shore. He merely performs 
 a circle upon the waters, yet is quite satisfied that he has 
 got safely over to the other side ; for, being without chart 
 or compass, he has nothing to convince him that he has 
 made no head. 
 
 In his Philosophy of Natural History Mr. Smellie 
 maintains "that between Reason and Instinct there 
 is no difference, and that the reasoning faculty is itself 
 the necessary result of Instinct." According to this 
 notion, then, the bee and other insects which display 
 proofs of the purest Instinct, ought to possess the 
 greatest share of reason ; more by far than the dog 
 or the elephant more than even man himself. 
 One fact alone will falsify the assertion. Obstruct 
 the passage of a bee homewards, or turn it out of its
 
 BEE WITHOUT INTELLIGENCE. 37 
 
 course just at the hive on its arrival home, and what 
 animal will exhibit more Drofound stupidity ? We have 
 often seen them put upon the most rapid wing by the 
 sudden indications of a thunder-storm ; and the house in 
 which it was our good fortune then to live was situated 
 between the flower-garden on the south side, and the 
 kitchen-garden on the north. The latter contained a 
 large stock of hives, and one large room in the house had 
 windoAvs on both sides, one opening into each of the two 
 gardens. In the summer both windows would occasion- 
 ally be open at the same time, and then the industrious 
 insects found a passage quite through. But we have 
 known the window nearest the hives to be shut, while 
 the other has been open and a storm rising. The bees 
 have rushed in at the open window as usual, and wafted 
 themselves across the room with a speed which has made 
 them quite invisible ; but, instead of passing clear through, 
 they have knocked their heads, not against the wall, but 
 against the glass of the shut window with a shock that 
 has been apparently sufficient to break the panes ; 
 though, having fallen to the floor by the force of the 
 stroke, they have soon recovered themselves. Now, 
 what course, in this embarrassment, have these busy 
 creatures, which are so apparently rational and wise in 
 some matters of the greatest difficulty and nicety, pur- 
 sued ? Most certainly not a rational one ; indeed, it has 
 been quite the contrary ; for they have mounted the 
 window and tugged away at the glass with energy and 
 anger, as furious as the motive has been stupid. All 
 their efforts have been directed to go ahead ; it was the 
 way of their Instinct. Now the presence of any reason 
 would have taught them to go back, and make their 
 escape at the open window ; and we have many times 
 seen dogs do this without any hesitation. But this 
 course never seemed to occur to the bee. Where, then, 
 is the reason that some persons will accord to these tribes 
 of being, although they are so skilled in the principles of 
 geometry ? Nothing can be more conclusive. Instinct, 
 therefore, is not Reason, but something very different 
 from it. Neither is Reason the necessary result of 
 Instinct. 
 
 The difficulty of defining the line of demarcation 
 D 3
 
 38 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 which is suppposed to run between Instinct and Reason 
 is a source of great perplexity to some people. They 
 cannot discover with exactitude where the one begins 
 and the other ends. This may be. It may be also they 
 have not the ability to do it. It is probable, too, that 
 they are incapable of understanding it ; how, then, can 
 they expect to define it ? Will such people tell us to a 
 moment, to an hour, or to a day, or even to a week, when 
 the winter season terminates, and that of spring opens? 
 Will they, furthermore, tell us, with the greatest exactness 
 of time, when daylight closes and darkness sets in? 
 Yet nobody calls spring winter, or darkness light. 
 They border upon one another in a manner that cannot 
 be described. So do Instinct and Reason meet each other 
 in some way that is not perhaps intelligible to man's 
 powers of reason. It is not to be supposed that they 
 infringe the one upon the other, with the same plain 
 surfaces each to each, as do the copper and zinc plates 
 in a galvanic battery. Does not their meeting more 
 resemble that of nature than art? The geologist is 
 often unable to point out the spot or the line which 
 marks the separation of two strata of rocks ; neither can 
 his assistant naturalist define the limits of any one group 
 of animals by their fossil remains. This feature in 
 nature seems quite universal ; nor is it a characteristic 
 of the organic world only, but the same principle of 
 merging is seen with regard to life itself. It cannot be 
 discovered where animal life begins, nor where that of 
 the plant ends. Hence we have plant-animals. Such 
 appears to be nature's rule, and Instinct and Reason form 
 no exception to it. 
 
 Before entering upon the facts illustrative of in- 
 stinctive operations, let us receive a very necessary and 
 useful premonition. The student of nature must ever 
 bear in mind that sin, having entered into this world, has, 
 to a certain and fearful extent, disordered the harmony 
 and beauty of her admirable economy. To show how 
 far, or in what manner it has done so, is a duty we do 
 not here impose upon ourselves. All that we wish now 
 is, to direct the attention of our readers to the fact, and 
 ask them to hold, it as a basis of faith, by which the 
 reconcilability of anomalies that would otherwise greatly
 
 POWER OP EVIL. 39 
 
 perplex them may appear more than possible. The 
 knowledge of the effects of sin may be considered the 
 key that will unlock some of the doors in the temple of 
 mystery. Let it be rightly applied, and a satisfactory 
 entrance will be made. No one, however, must feel 
 surprise if all, even then, cannot be opened. Sin may 
 be said to partake of the infinite ; man's knowledge, 
 therefore, which is finite, cannot comprehend it ; how, 
 then, can his mind understand it, and how can his ability 
 explain it ? The effects of evil are more wide-spread, 
 more deeply sunken, and more complete than any human 
 being knows or even believes. They have made greater 
 havoc of the human heart than that heart has ever felt, 
 be it that of a Bunyan or a Baxter. Who among men 
 can wipe away the dark and foul stain sin has fixed 
 upon every man's soul? Yea, an angel cannot do it. 
 These facts present an important item of consideration 
 in the study of God's works. Without it, indeed, many 
 things must appear doubly obscure and dark. The 
 Christian will meditate upon it, and obtain from it some 
 light in a dark place, although the thoughtless and the 
 profane pass it over as a matter of little consequence, and 
 therefore of little worth in the argument. 
 
 The more immediate subject contemplated for illus- 
 tration in this little work being the manifestation of pure 
 Instinct, we purpose commencing with the highest order 
 of beings in which its power makes the least display of 
 itself, and tracing it down the scale of existence, making 
 the space devoted to it proportional to its development, 
 until at length we arrive at the point of its full meridian, 
 where it shines forth with the most marvellous lustre. 
 
 Man, then, who wears the diadem of reason, will soon 
 be disposed of, for his instincts are mostly of the 
 physical or mechanical kind, which we have no intention 
 of treating at any length. His heart is the centre and 
 prime-mover of his organic life, even as the brain is the 
 centre and the authority that sets in motion all the 
 functions of animal life. The operations of the former 
 are performed involuntarily ; the latter by the exertion 
 of will. The heart beats without the individual being 
 conscious of it ; and, though the rising of the passions will 
 quicken its pulsations, there is no opposing power that 
 
 D 4
 
 40 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 can stop them altogether. Closely connected with this 
 is the mechanical or automatic act of breathing, over 
 which the will can exercise a partial control ; but it is 
 very limited, for the action cannot be long suspended. 
 The blood must come in contact with atmospheric air, 
 to be cleansed of its carbonaceous matter, or death will 
 speedily ensue. The action determines to go on regularly 
 and constantly, whether one is in active wakefulness or 
 in quiet sleep ; the work therefore has not been left to 
 be done either by will, which is sometimes capricious, 
 or by reason, which can only act intermittingly, and, 
 moreover, is liable to err ; but it is given in charge of 
 certain muscles, which expand and contract the chest 
 independent of either. 
 
 Some other motions of the body there are that are re- 
 markable for their momentary duration. That one of the 
 eyelids, by which the eye is closed against danger, 
 real or imaginary, is not a little striking. This, un- 
 like the others just named, is said not to be the result 
 of any mechanism, inasmuch as infants do not, at least 
 until some days after birth, close their eyelids on the 
 approach of external objects. But, whether its cause be 
 more instinctive or habitual, the motion which takes 
 place every instant has a use, for it is necessary in order 
 to preserve the lustre of the eyes. Neither can the 
 power of will long suspend it. Then, again, the instant 
 a man loses his balance his arms are instinctively thrown 
 out to prevent a fall, or to bring him back to the per- 
 pendicular. The motion is made so instantaneously, 
 that there seems no time whatever for it to be the 
 result of either reason or will, which require a moment 
 of thought, at least to decide the course necessary to be 
 pursued. 
 
 The accommodating power in the iris of the eye, which 
 dilates and contracts the pupil, is from an instinctive 
 principle. The will has no concern in this operation 
 at all, nor has reason either ; indeed, the mind is totally 
 unconscious of the performance, does not even subse- 
 quently know that any change has taken place. The 
 eye is an optical instrument of the most wonderful com- 
 plexity and delicacy, while at the same time it is replete 
 with the most admirable contrivances. We have the
 
 MOTIONS OF THE IRIS. 41 
 
 nicest evidence from the one now under consideration. 
 The optic nerve, which comes from the brain, expands its 
 extremity over the back part of the eyeball in the form of 
 a net-work, and on that account it is called the retina. 
 This expansion of nervous matter is the seat of vision. 
 The image of any object is thrown upon it, and the optic 
 nerve conveys the impression to the brain. A certain 
 portion of light is necessary to make the figure distinct, 
 but too much only dazzles and makes great confusion. 
 While an intense light, moreover, produces pain, and 
 inflicts an injury. But the guard stands at the door 
 ready at a moment's notice to act upon orders from 
 within. The instant an intense light begins to enter 
 the door-keeper receives the admonition. The iris com- 
 mences to converge immediately, though with slow 
 motion, and as the diameter of the pupil becomes smaller, 
 a less quantity of light is let in. The reverse operation 
 takes place when the light is feeble, and more espe- 
 cially so in the darkness of night. In the latter case 
 the pupil is opened to the fullest extent of the iris, in 
 order that all the light possible may be collected. But 
 the motor power is not in the iris itself, for if, through 
 disease, the optic nerve or the retina be rendered incap- 
 able of transmitting impressions to the brain, the iris 
 remains quite steady ; in short, perfectly immoveable, 
 although its own structure is complete and healthy, and 
 in no way incapacitated for the proper performance of 
 its functions. The officer at the entrance therefore 
 receives the commands to act from the authorities inside. 
 These orders are transmitted through the sixth pair of 
 nerves, a filament of which joins the ciliary nerves in 
 the lenticular ganglion, and these are traced to the iris, 
 which is a sort of curtain composed of muscular fibres. 
 Here, then, is a motion of physical instinct, and one over 
 which the will exerts no influence. 
 
 And probably man has but one instinct that can be 
 denominated of a purely mental character, and that is 
 developed in his early infancy, at a time, it must be 
 observed, when reason has not even begun to dawn, and 
 before any experience has been obtained or any in- 
 struction communicated. Something, then, is wanted 
 as an equivalent, either to reason, or experience, or in-
 
 42 MARVELS OP IXSTIXCT. 
 
 struction. Something to supply their places until they 
 are in a capacity or condition to do their own work. 
 Now, Instinct is the equivalent : and that is given and 
 ready to act, be it remarked, just at that particular time 
 in a person's life when it is wanted, and that period, too, 
 is a very short one ; for no sooner has reason assumed her 
 powers than the mental instinct disappears, and returns 
 no more during the period of the longest lifetime. Who 
 but the All-wise could know when such an instinct 
 would be required ? and who but He who created the 
 being could provide for it an infallible though mysterious 
 guide ? 
 
 The writer of the article Instinct in the seventh edition 
 of that magnificent book, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, 
 sums up the evidence of the instinctive faculty as 
 being the guide of the infant thus : " A healthy and vi- 
 gorous infant within ten minutes of its birth gives the 
 plainest and the most unequivocal evidence of a desire 
 to suck, before anything be brought into actual contact 
 with its mouth. It stretches out its neck, and turns 
 its head from side to side, apparently in quest of some- 
 thing ; and that the object of its pursuit is something 
 which it may suck every man may satisfy himself by a 
 very convincing experiment. When an infant is thus 
 stretching out its neck and moving its head, if anything 
 be made to touch any part of its face, the little creature 
 will instantly turn to the object, and endeavour by quick 
 alternate motions from side to side to seize it with 
 its mouth, in the very same manner in which it always 
 seizes the breast of its nurse, till taught by experience to 
 distinguish objects by the sense of sight, when these al- 
 ternate motions, being no longer useful, are no longer 
 employed. If this be not an instance of pure Instinct 
 we know not what is. It cannot be the result of asso- 
 ciation or mechanism ; for when the stretching of the 
 neck takes place nothing is in contact with the child's 
 mouth, and no association which includes the act of 
 sucking can have been formed. Associations of ideas 
 are the consequences of simultaneous impressions fre- 
 quently repeated ; but when the child first declares, 
 as plainly as it could do were it possessed of language, 
 its wish to suck, it has not received a single im-
 
 INSTINCT OP INFANTS. 43 
 
 pression with which that with can possibly be asso- 
 ciated." 
 
 It may be further observed, that the child makes 
 tlie effort to suck, not to chew like its parent ; and the 
 action of sucking is the only appropriate one under the 
 circumstances. The mouth, moreover, is directed to any 
 object of contact, and no other member of its body. 
 Why that, for aught the child knows, rather than the 
 nose, or the eye, or the hand, or even the ear ? Who 
 teaches it, and in what manner is it taught that the 
 mouth is the proper receptacle, and that sucking is the 
 appropriate action ? It is quite evident that the infant 
 knows nothing of either, or of anything else. 
 
 The eyes of a newly-born infant are open, but it does 
 not appear to see ; for it will not wink at the approach of 
 an object, at least until several days after birth. And it 
 requires forty days to produce a smile, and as many to 
 fetch a tear. 
 
 If there be anything at all in subsequent manhood 
 that is any way allied to mental instinct, it must be that 
 particular faculty which responds impromptu with the 
 most befitting matter. It seems a faculty, the natural 
 tendency of which is to associate in the most ready and 
 certain manner. Let an instance or two just illustrate 
 our meaning. It appears that on one occasion an indi- 
 vidual dropped a remark upon the good fortune which 
 brought home Sir Francis Drake in safety from so many 
 long and dangerous voyages. This observation brought 
 out the following from another party immediately : 
 " Truly it is strange that in all that time he was never 
 ducked" 
 
 Lord Falkland was elected to sit in Parliament when 
 quite young, and some members objected to his admission 
 on the ground that he had not sown his wild oats. 
 " Then," replied the youthful member, " it will be the 
 best way in the world to sow them in this house, where 
 there are so many geese to pick them up." Perhaps the 
 greatest exemplification of this faculty in the present 
 
 House of Commons is to be found in Mr. O , the 
 
 member for M , who is well-known, probably too 
 
 well by his antagonists, to have that bow always abiding 
 in strength, and that the arrows he lets fly from it
 
 44 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 never fail to pierce the very heart of the foe. Two or 
 three years since, while representing the members of a 
 certain cabinet as fawning to the people, and no sooner 
 getting into power than they turned with scorn upon 
 their supporters, he applied some lines from Swift with 
 remarkable appropriateness and effect. They were the 
 following : 
 
 " They forgot the dunghill whence they grew, 
 And thought themselves the Lord knows who." 
 
 But men of the most brilliant and dazzling wit are not 
 the most profound or original thinkers ; nor do they 
 appear to possess judgment of the most solid worth. 
 Still wit is a quality which pulls others in its wake. Its 
 very tendency is to inform, quite in spite of a man's 
 liking. Hence the mind of a wit is often of more than 
 average fertility, and possesses a greater amount of in- 
 formation ; while his understanding is above the average 
 in power and quickness. In society it is the brightest 
 ornament, and gives its possessor an advange over every- 
 body else. But a man of shrewdness and of good 
 common sense will always be disposed to suspect the 
 judgment of a flashing wit. Though the faculty may 
 be polished, it can never be imparted. It is an inherent 
 quality, and appears to act independently of the manner 
 that is characteristic of mind, or of the reasoning 
 powers. Reason takes at least some time to compare 
 and judge. But the finest strokes of wit are for the 
 most part given impromptu. This particular mode 
 of acting bears a close resemblance to that of Instinct. 
 It differs, however, from that of Instinct in this, that it 
 is the effect of the power of association in some measure, 
 while that of Instinct is not so. But, whether the 
 associating power is instinctive or not, we do not feel 
 competent to offer an opinion. 
 
 We may here just notice also another mental qua- 
 lity, very much like the preceding, called presence of 
 mind, and which is often a characteristic of the great- 
 est commanders. In this case the promptness may or 
 may not be equal to that in the foregoing. The faculty 
 of presence of mind displays itself in an overpowering 
 crisis, and either intuitively, or by the force of reason
 
 CLIVE AND NAPOLEON. 45 
 
 pounces upon an expedient which suddenly opens a door 
 of escape from otherwise an inevitable catastrophe. 
 The evidence is that no alarm has thrown reason off her 
 guard, so as to deprive her of the power to act. The 
 sudden and loud clap of thunder does not strike her ma- 
 chinery with effect enough to put it in disorder. Reason 
 continues to sit upon her throne without being thrown 
 from the attitude of command, and without having the 
 balance of her powers disturbed. She is therefore in a 
 capacity to perform her proper functions ; indeed, such 
 is the meaning of presence of mind. Are, then, the 
 operations of presence of mind the results of the rea- 
 soning faculty? or are they the productions of an 
 independent power, or of both combined ? 
 
 In India, rather more than a century ago, the cele- 
 brated Clive found himself in a very awkward and 
 unpleasant dilemma, and saved himself from a consequent 
 disaster by his remarkable presence of mind. Captain 
 Clive was then at the head of about 6000 troops on an 
 expedition against M. Law and Chunda Sahib. Having 
 seized the village of Saniavarum, he formed it into a 
 fortified camp. The enemy conceived the design of 
 taking this camp by surprise in the night, and in the 
 absence of Clive, who had gone with a part of his forces 
 to intercept a body of the foe. The column destined 
 for this nocturnal exploit consisted of about 780 men, 
 among whom were some English deserters, and some 
 spies, moreover, had found their way into Clive's camp. 
 The outer trench was reached at midnight, and the leader 
 was there informed by one of the spies that Clive had 
 returned to the village. The assailants, however, passed 
 on, headed by the English deserters, who, when chal- 
 lenged, declared themselves to be a reinforcement sent 
 for Clive from Major Lawrence. They were therefore 
 allowed to penetrate the camp unopposed ; and having 
 surrounded the bivouac in which Clive lay asleep, they 
 opened their fire. A sudden panic seized the sepoys, 
 and consternation filled the camp. Clive started from 
 his sleep, and the first man he met rushed upon him 
 with the sword. A momentary struggle with his ad- 
 versary, and the man fled. But, before Clive knew the 
 cause of the strange tumult, he suddenly found himself
 
 46 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 in the midst of six French soldiers. The moment was 
 critical, and within its small space lay the problem of 
 his ealvation. In that short period of time, however, 
 he solved it, by assuming the tone of a conqueror, and 
 telling his besiegers, with the utmost self-possession and 
 coolness, that, if they rejected the terms he now came to 
 offer them, they should all be put to the sword without 
 mercy. The stroke was like a shock from a galvanic 
 battery. Three of the six Frenchmen threw down their 
 arms upon the spot, and the other three ran away. 
 
 Napoleon, too, extricated himself in a similar manner, 
 only on a much larger scale. It was after the battle of 
 Castiglione, in 1796, when and where the Austrians under 
 Wurmser were completely put to the rout. A division 
 of the Austrian army, consisting of about 4000 men, was 
 wandering about in search of a road by which the de- 
 feated general might be reached in safety. Suddenly the 
 lost troops came -upon Lonato, and their chief was in- 
 formed that a force of 1200 Frenchmen only was left in 
 the town. The place being so entirely surrounded, the 
 Austrian commander sent a summons for an immediate 
 surrender. Fortunately for the French, Napoleon had 
 just entered Lonato, and having assembled his staff and 
 his guards around him, ordered the officer with the 
 summons to be introduced. The bandage being removed 
 from the eyes of the Austrian, Napoleon, with a stern 
 countenance and firm tone of voice, asked, " What means 
 this insolence ? Do you beard the French general in the 
 midst of his army ? Go, tell your commander, if it be 
 his intention to offer an insult, that I am here ; that it is 
 himself who is my prisoner ; therefore, if in eight minutes 
 his troops do not lay down their arms, if a single gun be 
 fired, I will cause every man to be shot." The Austrian 
 commander then offered to capitulate ; but " No," replied 
 Napoleon, " you are all prisoners of war, and must sur- 
 render at discretion." Four thousand men immediately 
 grounded their arms at the tone of a single individual, and 
 nothing more. Thus the prison-door, which was already 
 shut upon the rising Corsican, and only wanted the bolt 
 being put in, was suddenly thrown quite open, he walking 
 quietly out, and his numerous foes walking innocently 
 and securely in.
 
 DELIBERATION AND INSTINCT. 47 
 
 Many more instances of the kind might be cited, but 
 the two examples we have selected are sufficient for our 
 purpose, and they furthermore illustrate the same prin- 
 ciple with a difference. In the one case there was ample 
 time for reason to perform her functions legitimately ; 
 while in the other, the time, which was comparatively 
 none at all, seemed quite insufficient for her to make a 
 single act, much less a number in succession. There can, 
 however, be no doubt that the faculty which saved Clive 
 from inevitable death at Saniavarum was the same in 
 kind as that which delivered Napoleon from a prison at 
 Lonato. And there is every reason to believe that the 
 latter person, under the same circumstances, would have 
 performed the act with as much promptness in Italy as 
 the former did his in India. The same high authority 
 we have just previously quoted states, " We think it may 
 be safely affirmed, that no action, whether of man or brute, 
 which is deliberately performed with a view to con- 
 sequences, can with any propriety be said to proceeifrom 
 Instinct, for such actions are the effect of reason in- 
 fluenced by motives. Deliberation and Instinct are 
 obviously incompatible. In the natural works of animals, 
 which are confessedly under the influence of Instinct, we 
 perceive no symptoms of deliberation ; but every one, 
 when not interrupted by external violence, proceeds with- 
 out hesitation in the direct road to an end of which the 
 animal itself knows nothing." 
 
 Still these facts do not afford proof that presence of 
 mind is an instinctive quality. Neither is such the 
 writer's meaning, for he is making no allusion to our case. 
 But the presumptive evidence is strongly in favour of 
 reason as the motor power ; for presence of mind im- 
 plies a capacity to act. And it must be remembered, in 
 the next place, that thought is quick beyond conception, 
 so much so, that there is but one other known agent with 
 which it is or can be compared. It may be said, there- 
 fore, to be more of an ability than of an Instinct. If the 
 faculty be instinctive at all, it certainly does not resemble 
 animal Instinct in its most distinguishing feature. For 
 the animal Instinct is in no way capricious, but steady 
 and uniform, both as to its power and to its operations. 
 The same species possess it in the same degree. There
 
 48 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 is no inequality of skill between any number of bees, for 
 instance ; or any between those same busy creatures in 
 England and those in any remote country, as China. 
 
 The same thing cannot be affirmed of man's presence 
 of mind, for not, one in a thousand possesses this remark- 
 able quality to the extent of the two cases we have 
 described. 
 
 We, however, believe it to be a faculty of some kind, 
 and not a distinctive mark of Divine Providence. And 
 we shall take the opportunity to state here that there 
 are many marvellous operations of animals upon record 
 which must be attributed, not to Instinct, but to some 
 particular interposition of Divine Providence, "either," 
 says Kirby, " to prevent some calamity, or to produce 
 some blessing or benefit to the individuals concerned. 
 Thus the account of Sir H. Lee's dog, mentioned by 
 Mr. French, which saved its master's life by taking and 
 maintaining its station, which it had never before done, 
 under his bed : and that given by Dr. Beattie of a dog 
 who, when his master was in a situation of the most 
 imminent peril, after fruitlessly attempting to save him, 
 ran to a neighbouring village, and by significant gestures 
 at last prevailed upon a man to follow him, and saved 
 his master's life. These, and many more such cases, can 
 scarcely be regarded as belonging to the ordinary 
 Instinct of the species ; for if they did, more murderers 
 would be disappointed of their intended victim by the 
 agency of his or her dog. I knew myself an instance 
 in which a most valuable life was saved by a dog which, 
 being condemned to the halter by a former master and 
 escaping from those appointed to despatch him, at last 
 established himself, after repeated expulsion, in my 
 friend's family ; and afterwards, there is every reason to 
 believe, by the sacrifice of his own life, prevented his 
 master from being drowned. These cases are remark- 
 able ; but they do not appear to belong to Instinct, but 
 rather to the doctrine of a particular Providence."
 
 49 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 Monkey Tribe. Chimpanzee. His Brain Strange Habits. 
 Does not Season. Ourang-outang. Remarkable Death. 
 Gibbons. Method of catching Apes. A Baboon. Imitating 
 Propensity. A preaching Ape. Monkeys. Their curious 
 Habits and Antics. Lecturing Monkey. Monkey Craft, A 
 Crow punished. Strange Defect of Memory. Monkey's Gra- 
 vity. 
 
 WE take this tribe of animals next because they are 
 said, or supposed, to possess more of the rational faculty 
 than any others of the irrational orders of being. But 
 there are some facts, which we shall hereafter mention, 
 that put out the notion that the creatures belonging to 
 this tribe are capable of reasoning ; and they show, 
 moreover, that not one of them has the ability to take 
 one single and complete step in that direction, not even 
 the most simple in the process. Naturalists distinguish 
 them by the general term quadrumana, or four-handed 
 animals. 
 
 There are several particulars, both in the structure and 
 manners of these animals, that make the tribe appear the 
 oddest in the whole creation. On that account monkeys 
 always excite a strong and curious sensation in the 
 minds of all young people; while, with no less force, 
 they arrest the attention of the philosopher and the man 
 of thought as to what can be the object of their being. 
 Indeed, their ludicrous mimicries, their inimitable gri- 
 maces, their ever-varying antics, and their mischievous 
 inquisitiveness, never fail to amuse and delight all 
 classes of people of all degrees of intelligence ; and what 
 in them is most singular and odd in appearance is that 
 solemn seriousness with which they perform all their 
 actions, and which gives the most decisive evidence that 
 they are destitute of the sense of the ridiculous. It is 
 true there are some men also who appear insensitive ^ to 
 the power of the ludicrous, for they will both describe 
 such facts and mimic the buffoon with the most solemn 
 gravity, while the matter itself, or the action of it, is 
 sufficient to keep a whole crew or company in roars of 
 E
 
 50 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 laughter. But this seems owing to some particular 
 command such individuals have over themselves, rather 
 than to the absence of the faculty to appreciate it, for 
 few men only have the power to exercise that controul 
 over their risible faculties. Not so in the animals of the 
 monkey tribe. All exhibit the most profound serious- 
 ness, and everything they do is droll. And it is their 
 antic postures and comic actions, in connection with so 
 much apparent solemnity of demeanour, that strike 
 man's attention, and excite his laughter, in spite of the 
 disposition of his mind to meditate upon the great singu- 
 larity of the phenomena. There is also another feature 
 in the aspect of the phenomena that is no less striking ; 
 it is the evident absence of the reasoning faculty from 
 a structure which seems at the same time to warrant its 
 presence. The near resemblance the frame and the 
 attitude bear to those of man makes him suspect that, 
 after all, reason must be lurking there too. The power 
 of the association has become so strong in his mind, that 
 he cannot well rid himself of the impression, and has a 
 difficulty in believing that the creature of such a forma- 
 tion is a mere animal. Hence the remark was once 
 made with regard to the higher families of the order, 
 that they could both understand and speak, but would 
 not, lest they should be called upon to labour. 
 
 Their resemblance to the human form imparts an in- 
 terest to all their doings, and invests them with a sagacity 
 and shrewdness that are apparent only, and such as no other 
 animal possesses. Between the most debased savage and 
 the most intelligent family of the monkey tribe there is 
 an immeasurable distance, as will be subsequently shown ; 
 for the tendencies of the aspirations are in opposite di- 
 rections, and well put by Solomon when he asked, " Who 
 knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the 
 spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth." 
 
 SimiadcB is the classical appellation given to the apes 
 in general. These are limited to Asia and Africa, 
 while the monkeys are found in great numbers in the 
 new world, both north and south, but in the latter more 
 especially. The rock of Gibraltar is the only spot on 
 the continent of Europe that is inhabited by any of the 
 race, and they have now established here a flourishing
 
 COMPARISON OF SKELETONS. 51 
 
 colony, having probably sprung from the coast of 
 Barbary some generations ago. The appetites of the 
 order are somewhat accommodating, and in this parti- 
 cular resemble more that of man's, but their habits of life 
 are essentially frugivorous, and their food for the most 
 part consists of fruits, which they find upon trees. A 
 remarkable adaptation of structure for climbing and 
 gathering enables them to collect their food with ease. 
 The trees, too, upon which they climb, afford them a 
 certain security from the beasts of the forests below 
 them, or they would be an easy prey to the panthers, 
 leopards, and serpents. Their creator, then, has given 
 them a peculiarity of structure every way suitable for 
 the purposes it has to serve. 
 
 The Chimpanzee, Troglodytes, is considered to make 
 the nearest approach to the human being, both as to 
 figure and rationality. Put, however, a skeleton of 
 each side by side, and the most inattentive observer 
 cannot fail to be struck with the difference. In that of 
 man, there is an erect attitude which bespeaks a magis- 
 terial deportment and power, altogether wanting in 
 that of the ape. The latter, in comparison with the 
 former, seems the very picture of decrepitude and 
 decay ; the one appears to represent some marked de- 
 ficiency, while the other exhibits a fitness for some 
 superior intelligence and authority, v Such is the impres- 
 sion indelibly fixed by a simple view of the two skeletons 
 in contact. And it is quite impossible to escape from it, 
 though the power that leaves it cannot be defined. In- 
 describable is the presence of that something seen in 
 that of the man ; while its absence in that of the ape is 
 indescribable likewise. 
 
 Such is the general aspect, and an examination of the 
 particular organization of each presents the animal as 
 wide apart from the man as ever. Some parts of the 
 former's dental apparatus are apparently designed as 
 weapons of defence or attack. Their canine teeth, for 
 instance, are quite formidable, being long and prominent. 
 They are, moreover, separated from the neighbouring 
 teeth by a break or an interval, and each one often 
 requires for its point a corresponding socket in the 
 opposing jaw. Now man's teeth are arranged in either 
 E 2
 
 52 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 jaw, in one uniform and unbroken series, and there is 
 nothing about them indicative of means either of defence 
 or attack. 
 
 Their voice again is different; in short, the apes 
 cannot give utterance to sounds. The very structure of 
 the larynx deprives the animal of that ability. There 
 are two membranous sacs which communicate with the 
 glottis, thus raising barriers to the production of sounds, 
 and thereby showing that these creatures were never 
 intended for the delivery of speech. Furthermore, their 
 back bones have three vertebrae less than those of the 
 human skeleton. Also the ape's tongue is differently 
 formed, and as such is a very inferior instrument to that 
 by which man performs so many nice operations. If a 
 skeleton each of man, of a chimpanzee, and of an ourang, 
 be put side by side, the arms of the two latter will 
 appear out of all proportion, those of the chimpanzee 
 reaching to the knees, and those of the ourang even 
 touching the ankle joints ; while those of man fall far 
 short of his knees. 
 
 But the great distinctive mark, and the only one we 
 shall mention, is to be found in the skull, although the 
 chimpanzees and the ourangs make the nearest approach 
 to the human head in the form and structure of cranium, 
 as also in the quantity of brain they contain. Hence 
 they appear to be capable of receiving a corresponding 
 amount of instruction. Accordingly they may be 
 taught to do certain things quite beyond the reach of 
 other animals' understanding, and beyond the power of 
 any others to execute, even could they be made to under- 
 stand them. A few of these things will be noticed. 
 
 The reasoning or intellectual faculty develops itself in 
 proportion to the development of brain in one's forehead. 
 It the organisation of the latter incline backwards, there 
 will be found, in all probability, a deficiency of intellect ; 
 but if it runs up perpendicularly from the floor of the 
 nostrils and the alveoli, or sockets of the teeth in the 
 upper jaw, then it may be concluded that the nervous 
 matter within is situated in the right place to have the 
 command of its proper work. 
 
 If a line be run down the front of man's forehead to 
 the base of his nostrils, close to the roots of the incisor 
 teeth in the upper jaw, and then another taken from
 
 HABITS OF THE PONGO. 53 
 
 that point towards the bottom of his ear, in an hori- 
 zontal direction, his cranium will be included between 
 those two lines, and the angle they subtend is called the 
 facial angle, or the facial line. The method followed by 
 Camper is to carry the horizontal line from the base of 
 the nostrils at the point named, to the external orifice of 
 the ear. According to this method, the cranium of a 
 young ourang was found to subtend an angle of 67. But 
 that of the European infant subtends an angle of 90, or 
 a quarter of a circle ; that of the European adult gives 
 85 only, and falls to 75 in the aged European ; that 
 of the American monkey subtends one of 65 ; that of the 
 young mandrill 42 ; that of the pug-dog 35 ; and that 
 of the horse only 23. 
 
 But if the line from the base of the nose be carried, 
 as is sometimes the case, to the occipital condyle, which 
 is lower down than the external orifice of the ear, 
 the angle will be larger than that taken by Camper's 
 method. According to this mode of taking it, that of 
 the European adult measures 95, and those of animals 
 in like proportions, so that in either case the most intel- 
 ligent animal in the whole creation, or that which is con- 
 sidered so, has a cranium that falls about 55 less than 
 that of man. Or the angle subtended by the skull of the 
 chimpanzee, which is about 40, if taken by the latter 
 method, is only about two-fifths of the measure given by 
 the human head. As to the habits of this wild man of 
 the woods, we cannot find anything more to our purpose 
 than the account given of him by Battel, a Portuguese 
 traveller, and it is from the Encyclopaedia Britannica that 
 we quote it. 
 
 " This pongo," he says, " is exactly proportioned like 
 a man ; but he is more like a giant in stature, for he is very 
 tall, and hath a man's face, hollow-eyed, with long hair 
 upon his brows. His face and ears are without hair, 
 and his hands also. His body is full of hair, but not 
 very thick, and it is of a dunnish colour. He differeth 
 not from a man but in his legs, for they have no calf. 
 He goeth alway upon his legs, and carrieth his hands 
 clasped on the nape of his neck when he goeth upon 
 the ground. They sleep in the trees, and build shelters 
 from the rain. They feed upon fruits that they find in 
 E 3
 
 54 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 the woods, and upon nuts ; for they eat no kind of flesh; 
 They cannot speak, and appear to have no more under- 
 standing than a beast. The people in the country, when 
 they travel in the woods, make fires where they sleep in 
 the night ; and in the morning, when they are gone, the 
 pongos will come and sit about the fire till it goeth out ; 
 for they have no understanding to lay the wood together, 
 or any means to light it. They go many together, and 
 often kill the negroes that travel in the woods. Many 
 times they fall upon the elephants which come to feed 
 where they be, and so beat them with their clubbed 
 fists, and with pieces of wood, that they will run roaring 
 away from them. Those pongos are seldom or never taken 
 alive, because they are so strong, that ten men cannot 
 hold one of them; but yet they take many of their 
 young ones with poisoned arrows. The young pongo 
 hangeth on his mother's belly, with his hands fast clasped 
 about her, so that when the country people kill any of the 
 females, they take the one which hangeth fast upon 
 its mother, and being then domesticated and trained up 
 from their infant state, become extremely familiar and 
 tame, and are found useful in many employments about 
 the house." 
 
 From the same authority we learn also that a young 
 negro was once carried off by an African ourang, and was 
 maintained during a whole season in the society of these 
 animals without being injured by them. He returned 
 in safety, and reported that they had never put him to 
 inconvenience, but seemed the rather delighted with his 
 company, especially the females, who brought him fruits 
 in great abundance ; and, when necessary, defended him 
 with very great courage from the attacks of serpents 
 and other beasts of prey. In like manner, they have 
 been known to carry off also the negresses, whom they 
 have then obliged to take up their dwelling among them. 
 These singular animals never appear to have starved 
 their human captives, or have put them to any hard- 
 ship ; on the contrary, the negresses were carefully at- 
 tended to, well fed, and pertinaciously defended. And it 
 is stated that M. de la Brosse knew a negress at Lowanjo 
 who had lived three years in company with these odd 
 creatures, before she had an opportunity of effecting 
 her escape from them.
 
 HABITS OF THE OURANG. 55 
 
 The great ape, or black ourang, of Sierra Leone, 
 remarkable for its strength and likewise its industry, has 
 been found, when properly trained and fed, to be domes- 
 tically useful ; but when sent to the river for water, 
 and the pitcher not being taken from it immediately on 
 its return, it will let it fall to the ground. And seeing 
 the jug smashed in pieces, it utters forth a lamentable 
 cry. 
 
 Pyard says that he has seen them trained to hand the 
 beverage to company at table, rinse out the glasses even, 
 and also turn the spit. It is stated in Brown's anecdotes 
 that M. de Grandpre saw on board a vessel bound 
 for America a female chimpanzee, which exhibited some 
 proofs of astonishing intelligence. She could not only 
 heat the oven, but could recognise the moment when the 
 necessary degree of heat was attained, and would then 
 fetch the baker to put in his dough. It was necessary to 
 see that no live coals fell from the oven into the ship, 
 and it is said that she was careful to observe this 
 duty likewise. She would furthermore assist the sailors 
 in splicing the ropes, and in handling and unfurling the 
 sails. 
 
 In the same country, Lieutenant Sayers describes them 
 as being exceedingly watchful, and quickly discovering 
 the approach of strangers. The first one that makes the 
 discovery gives the alarm immediately. Hearing them for 
 the first time, Sayers was much startled by the peculiarity 
 of the cry, which somewhat resembles the voice of a 
 human being in great distress. It was on coming near a 
 jungle, and the alarm was no sooner given than the whole 
 wood appeared quite alive with their numbers. His 
 guide, a native, assured him the whole would instantly 
 leave the trees which exposed them to view, to seek con- 
 cealment in the brush-wood below. The native showed 
 signs of fear, and entreated the lieutenant to proceed no 
 further in that direction. 
 
 In the dense forests of Sierra Leone, Guinea, Congo, 
 Loango, and other like places, these beings live in troops, 
 and take up their their abode in the vicinity of some de- 
 serted village, but more particularly in those which 
 produce the papau tree most abundantly, the fruit 
 of which they are very fond of. The huts they construct 
 
 E 4
 
 56 3IARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 are nearly in the form in which the natives build their 
 houses, and are covered with leaves ; but these habita- 
 tions seem intended only for the females and their young, 
 since the males have always been found to lie on the out- 
 side. When, according to Lieutenant Matthew, any one 
 of them is shot, the rest give immediate pursuit to the 
 destroyer ; but their vengeance is satisfied if they can 
 seize the gun that they had seen to be the instrument 
 of the mischief. This they smash to pieces with all 
 imaginable rage, while they leave the fugitive, their real 
 aggressor, to effect bis escape. This is a very fortunate 
 turn in favour of their assailants, for one blow of their 
 paws is said to be suificient to kill the strongest man, and 
 some of their skulls, which have been sent to England, 
 render such an assertion quite credible, since they 
 betoken an almost marvellous size and strength. 
 
 They can imitate almost any kind of action, and have 
 been known to sit at table, to use a knife and fork, to 
 drink wine, to wear clothes, and to lie in bed with their 
 heads upon a pillow. Still, Mrs. Lee says the natives 
 assured her that these animals, in their wanderings, 
 pick up the fallen tusks of elephants, until they have ac- 
 cumulated a vast burden, which they carry about with 
 them, and at length drop from its pressure, when they die 
 of fatigue ; also that when one of their young dies, the 
 mother carries its body in her arms until the bones fall 
 from her grasp by piecemeal. 
 
 It appears that these animals attracted the notice 
 of the ancients, who long ago discovered them on the 
 western coast of Africa ; for we find in Brown's anecdotes 
 the following quotation from Hanno, a Carthaginian ad- 
 miral, who paid a visit to these shores 330 years B. c. : 
 " There were many more females than males, all equally 
 covered with hair on all parts of the body. The inter- 
 preters called them gorilbes. On pursuing them, they 
 could not succeed in taking a single male; they all 
 escaped with astonishing swiftness, and threw stones at 
 us, but we took three females, who defended themselves 
 with so much violence, that we were obliged to kill 
 them ; but we brought their skins, stuffed with straw, to 
 Carthage." 
 
 Some of these facts, then, are sumcient to show that
 
 INTELLIGENCE OF THE APE. 57 
 
 these creatures are not devoid of human reason in part, 
 or of something else very much like it. They prove, 
 moreover, that their rationality, of whatever kind it is-, 
 excels that of any other animal ; or, at any rate, that 
 they are capable of receiving a greater amount of in- 
 struction. That feat of detecting the exact degree of 
 heat required in the oven is very remarkable, indeed, 
 rather astonishing. It implies a considerable amount of 
 the power of observation, as well as of the ability 
 to profit by experience. And no less remarkable is the 
 confirmed fact of their carrying off the negresses, appa- 
 rently for the sake of their society. This is an act quite 
 unique in the history of brutes. It is totally unlike 
 what any other animal ever does, or ever attempts. No 
 other manifests any disposition to do likewise. We do 
 not pretend to say how far the quality alluded to goes 
 to establish the groundwork of a superior rationality. 
 Neither does it appear, with one exception at least, that . 
 any other animal can be taught the etiquette of the 
 table ; that is, to that degree of perfection acquired by 
 the ape ; nor could any other execute such operations, 
 even though it could be instructed in them. There 
 is, however, every reason to believe that the unwieldy, 
 yet half reasoning elephant, might be trained to perform 
 with its trunk the like actions at table quite as nicely as 
 the monkey, and certainly to do its honours much more 
 abundantly. 
 
 There is another peculiarity in the habits of the apes 
 that may be just noticed : it is the use they make of 
 sticks or stones, as circumstances of attack or defence 
 may require. We know of nothing in the animal king- 
 dom, except an instance to be named hereafter, that bears 
 any analogy to it, and it more nearly resembles the 
 human mode of recourse to offensive and defensive 
 weapons. And it must be allowed to be an act indicative 
 of more intelligence than anything else they do. The 
 elephant does nearly the same thing when he makes use 
 of his trunk to draw up water, in order to squirt it upon 
 those he wishes to punish for som,e acts of misdemeanour 
 committed towards himself. This the elephant has 
 recourse to only as circumstances require ; while the 
 larger apes arm themselves with sticks as they travel in
 
 58 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 a body, as if they anticipated the foe. Now thig 
 certainly seems very much like foresight ; but to affirm 
 that it is really such would, in our judgment, be coming 
 to a rather premature conclusion ; for if foresight at all, 
 it is quite possible that it may be more of an instinctive 
 than of a rational character. Not much can be said as 
 to the principle of their architecture. Their huts being 
 formed very much after the fashion of the negroes' 
 dwellings, the question arises, since the builders are 
 apeing ones, are the structures imitative, or are they 
 reared by the principle of instinct ? If they are perfectly 
 uniform, which is very probable, the latter principle 
 may lay the greater claim to the honour of the archi- 
 tecture. 
 
 Notwithstanding the large amount of intelligence 
 displayed in many of the actions of this large ape, the 
 animal which the most nearly resembles man both in 
 organization and form of structure as well as in in- 
 tellectual capacity, there is not one of its acts that 
 can be said to be the result of an abstract mental 
 quality. There is no positive evidence of a purely 
 abstract mental operation. It cannot be affirmed that 
 its mental faculty, whatever that may be, is capable of 
 performing the functions of mind without the presence 
 of some sensible object, acting as an aid to its memory 
 by the mechanical power of association. There is 
 nothing to warrant the belief that the chimpanzee, 
 or the ourang-outang, can by any effort of will charge 
 its memory to present to it any such thing as the idea 
 of a past event independent of the presence, or the sight, 
 or the touch, or the sound of some material substance 
 with which that event has been previously, and, in 
 most cases, repeatedly associated. Even then it be- 
 comes very limited, and the action is performed without 
 a motive as to the consequence ; while the knowledge 
 of the operation, like that of other animals, appears to 
 keep pace only with the process. This cannot be called 
 reasoning. It falls infinitely short of it. What mental 
 operation there is, is so weak, that it requires something 
 to support it, for it is neither self-instituted, nor self- 
 sustained. Now the mind of man can think or reason 
 without the presence or sight of any sensible object
 
 ABSENCE OF REASON. 59 
 
 whatever. Man can cast his thoughts in any direction. 
 He can reflect upon the past, and meditate upon the 
 future, quite independent of any material body. But 
 the animal mind can do neither. Man has the power 
 to command his memory in an abstract manner. The 
 brute can do no such thing ; but it must have some- 
 thing made evident to its external senses. 
 
 We will now offer two or three remarks upon those 
 facts, which not only fall far short of giving proof of reason 
 but which are quite conclusive as to its non-possession 
 by the apes. It has been said that these beings pursue 
 no farther when once they see that the piece from 
 which the shot is fired is destroyed. In one form this 
 may go to prove that it is an act produced from a 
 degree of intelligence superior to that of the tiger or 
 the lion, which will not stop at the weapon, as many 
 persons have unhappily experienced to their cost ; but 
 nevertheless the act does not prove enough for reason. 
 The wild beasts evidently rush on without the least ability 
 to discriminate between the instrument and the party 
 using it. In a certain sense, however, the apes appear 
 to have a faculty of sufficient power of observation to 
 make such a discernment. But the lion and the tiger 
 do more nearly the work of reason, or that which 
 reason would direct to be done. Yet they do it blindly, 
 for reason is not their guide. They pursue the greater 
 and the living object, without noticing the weapon of 
 attack. But the ape falls upon the instrument only, 
 and his reason does not bring him to the cause of the 
 mischief, but suffers the real object of its vengeance to 
 escape. Here, then, its intelligence is at fault ; it is 
 greatly deficient. 
 
 And if anything was wanting to prove the utter in- 
 competency of the great ape's intelligent faculty to 
 reason, or even to take one single, simple, and complete 
 step in the process of reasoning, it may be found in a 
 habit that is common to some other brute creatures as 
 well as this one. It seems that whenever the negroes 
 decamp from a wood, where they leave the fires burning, 
 the chimpanzees will approach and sit round them till 
 all the fuel is consumed, and every spark of fire has 
 vanished. Do these beings, then, like the fire, or do they
 
 60 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 encircle them merely in imitation of travellers ? It is 
 immaterial which of the two forces impels them to the 
 act, for the question is in no way affected by the one 
 more than the other. If they are partial to the warmth 
 of the artificial heat, they would naturally, if they under- 
 stood it, feed the fire with a supply of fuel. On the 
 other hand, if they surround them merely because they 
 see the negroes do it, they would call upon their imita- 
 tive faculty for a further effort, and that is, to put the 
 sticks upon the fire in like manner as they had seen it 
 done by the travellers. But they never do this ; nor 
 any other animal either. Wood is abundant, and close 
 at hand ; their peculiar organization and surprising 
 strength are in every way adapted to seize such fuel and 
 break it to pieces ; yet these most intelligent of brutes 
 fail to perceive what is necessary to keep the fire burn- 
 ing. This fact is very remarkable. Why, the large 
 quantity of wood around them and their extreme facility 
 in handling it, present together, one would think, a 
 power of association almost sufficient of itself to suggest 
 the idea to the meanest intellectual capacity; that is, 
 the two materialities almost work out the idea for them. 
 Even then it is missed. Nothing can be more decisive 
 of the absence of the truly rational faculty. Can, then, 
 this animal think ? Is not the test in this case as simple 
 as possible, and is not the failure as complete as possible ? 
 Now we believe that no human savage, however de- 
 based by his barbarism, ignorance, and vice, has ever 
 been found who had not discovered the means of light- 
 ing a fire, and of sustaining it when lit. But the brute 
 can do neither. 
 
 The Ourang-Outang. This large ape has the facial 
 angle rather smaller than that of the chimpanzee ; but, 
 like the latter, it has the laryngal sac extensive and 
 double. It appears to be native to different parts of 
 Asia, but more particularly to Borneo and Sumatra. 
 
 In 1817, Dr. Clarke Abel brought an under-aged 
 ourang to England from Java, and the following are 
 some of the habits of this animal observed by him on 
 the voyage. The ape, in order to be made secure, 
 was fastened to a strong staple ; but his keeper had no 
 sooner done it, than he unfastened it, and run away with
 
 INSTINCT OF THE APE. 61 
 
 his chain ; but finding its drag embarrass him, he formed 
 it into a coil, and threw it over his shoulder. Other 
 attempts to secure him failed also, and he clung to the 
 ropes of the vessel with such pertinacity and power of 
 muscle, that though the sailors sometimes shook them 
 with the utmost violence, he still retained his hold. At 
 times he would appear to be playing the pranks of 
 a child in anger. When tantalized with an orange, 
 he would give utterance to the most violent shrieks, 
 swing himself furiously about the ropes, and then with 
 piercing screams rush at the side of the vessel, as if with 
 the intention to commit suicide by throwing himself 
 overboard. When off the Cape, the temperature became 
 low, especially early in the morning ; and the tropical 
 ourang, like a true thermometer, indicated the full 
 extent of the change, by descending from the mast, 
 shuddering with cold, and endeavouring to make himself 
 snug in the arms of any one of his friends to derive 
 heat, screaming violently if any attempt was made 
 to remove him. He died at Exeter Change in less than 
 two years after his arrival in this country. 
 
 The climate of Europe, especially that of the northern 
 parts, is much too cold for the ourangs, consequently 
 they live but a short period when brought into it. In 
 1776, one being conveyed to Holland, was observed, 
 when about to lie down on board at the approach of 
 night, to prepare her bed by shaking well the hay on 
 which she slept, and after putting it in proper order, 
 would wrap herself snugly up in the quilt. In addition 
 to the making of her bed very neatly every day, M. le 
 Guat saw one at Java that was accustomed to bind 
 up her head with a handkerchief before she retired 
 to rest. 
 
 The former, on the voyage to Holland, noticed that 
 the padlock of her chain was opened with a key. The 
 ape soon began to practise the manreuvre, by taking up 
 a little bit of stick, and after putting it in the key-hole of 
 the lock, endeavoured to open it by turning the stick in 
 all directions. One morning when on shore she escaped 
 from her chain, and it was then tbat the real and beau- 
 tiful instinct of the animal displayed itself. This was from 
 the immediate impulse to climb, and accordingly she was
 
 62 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 seen ascending with surprising agility the beams and the 
 oblique rafters of a building. Being endowed, like all 
 the species, with extraordinary strength, and capable of 
 prodigious celerity, she was not retaken without some 
 considerable trouble. Though but two feet and a half 
 high, she was nearly a match for the combined strength 
 of four men, who found it necessary to put forth all their 
 eiforts in order to secure her. This they effected by two 
 of them seizing her legs, while a third took charge of her 
 head, and the other fastened the collar round her neck. It 
 is no wonder, then, that the full-grown ourang of seven 
 or eight feet in height should prove a formidable ad- 
 versary to the united force of ten men. During the time 
 of her liberty, she took the cork from a bottle of Malaga 
 wine, and appeared highly gratified with the contents, 
 which she drank to the very last drop, and then put the 
 bottle in its place again. 
 
 It is said of Milo, of Crotona, that he saved the life of 
 Pythagoras, his tutor, by his monster strength, but lost 
 his own by an equal amount of folly. He was so strong 
 that he could carry a bullock of four years old upon his 
 back, and he therefore fancied he could tear up a tree by 
 its roots like an elephant, and then break it to pieces. 
 Having accomplished the former, his strength became 
 exhausted in the attempt at the latter; and when the 
 tree was half cleft, Milo allowed his fingers to become 
 pinched in the crevice, at the moment when the re- 
 uniting force of the tree was gaining in power over that 
 of his own ; and being then held fast, the wild beast came 
 and devoured him. 
 
 Now it appears that the instinct of the ourang, in a 
 similar case, imparts to the animal a wisdom superior to 
 that of Milo ; for, according to Gemelli Carreri, these 
 creatures sometimes descend from the mountains to the 
 sea-coast, where they find some food in a species of shell- 
 fish, particularly in a large sort of oyster, which they 
 find lying open on the shore. Before putting in their 
 paws, they take the precaution to insert a stone between 
 the shells, to prevent their closing together, and thereby 
 crushing their clutches. They then drag]out their prey in 
 safety, and devour it at their leisure. 
 
 M. Palavicini, who had two ourangs, male and female,
 
 A REMARKABLE DEATH. 63 
 
 in his house in Batavia, says, that when any person set 
 his eye intently upon the female, she would throw her- 
 self into the arms of her mate, and there conceal her 
 face in his bosom. Of the mate and female taken on 
 board by M. de la Brosse, the former fell sick during the 
 voyage, and submitted to be treated in the manner of a 
 human patient. His disease, being a kind of inflamma- 
 tion, led the surgeon to bleed him twice in the right arm, 
 and ever afterwards the ape, when discovering any re- 
 turn of his indisposition, did not fail to hold out his arm 
 for the pupose of again letting blood. 
 
 In Buffon's " Natural History " is the following quo- 
 tation from Marmot : " These animals have feet and 
 hands, and, if I may be allowed the expression, a human 
 face, with an appearance of much vivacity and malice. 
 They live upon corn, herbage, and all sorts of fruits ; to 
 obtain which they sally forth in large bodies, and 
 plunder the gardens or villages. Before they venture 
 out on this expedition, one of the company ascends an 
 eminence, and surveys the environs. If there is no 
 appearance of any person near, he makes signs to his 
 companions to enter the vineyard or orchard, and begin 
 their plunder ; but as soon as the sentinel perceives any 
 body coming, he instantly sets up a loud cry, and the 
 whole company scamper off with the utmost precipita- 
 tion, and jumping from tree to tree, retreat to the 
 mountains. It is a great curiosity to see these animals 
 retreat, for the females carry four or five young ones 
 upon their backs, and with this heavy load leap with 
 great agility from branch to branch, though great 
 numbers of them are taken, notwithstanding their cun- 
 ning. When they are angry, they bite ; but while they 
 are coaxed they are very tame. Those that are tamed, 
 perform wonders, and imitate mankind in almost all 
 whatever they see them do." In Sumatra, the animal 
 just, described is called the pigmy, and being much 
 smaller than the real ourang-outang, is considered by 
 some to be of another species. 
 
 As we have the means of knowing how the ourang- 
 outang dies, it will perhaps not be considered irrelevant 
 to our purpose if we allow its description a place here by 
 way of concluding our references to the habits of this
 
 64 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 singular animal. The manner of its death is truly affect- 
 ing, and probably such that no humane person would wish 
 to see a second time. In 1825 a male ourang was killed 
 at Ramboom, on the north-west of Sumatra, by the crew 
 of Captain Cornfoot, and described by Dr. Clarke Abel. 
 But although we have the original description before us, 
 we like the manner in which it is put in the article 
 Mammalia, of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and we 
 shall therefore quote it from that stupendous and 
 matchless work. 
 
 " It was upwards of seven feet in height when placed 
 in a standing posture, and measured eight feet when 
 suspended by the neck for the purpose of being skinned. 
 On the spot where he was killed, there were several tall 
 trees, which greatly prolonged the attack ; for such was 
 his strength and agility that his pursuers were unable 
 to take a determinate aim, until they had felled all the 
 trees but one. He received numerous balls before he 
 was brought down, and then he lay upon the ground as 
 dead, exhausted by many wounds, with his head resting 
 on his folded arm. It was at this time that an officer 
 attempted to give him the coup de grace, by thrusting a 
 spear through his body ; but he instantly sprung upon his 
 feet^ wrested the weapon from his antagonist, and shivered 
 it in pieces. This was his last effort, yet he lived some 
 time afterwards, and drank, it is said, great quantities 
 of water. He appeared to have travelled from some dis- 
 tance to the place of the " untoward event," for his legs 
 were caked with mud up to the knees. On the reception 
 of each deadly wound he placed his hand over the in- 
 jured portion, and distressed even his relentless pursuers 
 by the human like agony of his countenance. Indeed, 
 his piteous actions, and great tenacity of life, are said to 
 have rendered the scene altogether highly affecting. At 
 the same time, it seemed odd that so much sentimental 
 perception should have been vouchsafed to those who 
 committed the onslaught, and who were under no abso- 
 lute necessity of bringing the business to so tragical a 
 close." 
 
 There is, then, nothing either in the instincts or in 
 the intelligent habits of these animals to call for any 
 particular remark in addition to what we have already
 
 INFANTS INSENSIBLE TO DANGER. 65 
 
 made upon those of the chimpanzee. We may, however, 
 just notice the remarkable instinct displayed by the 
 young of both. It is an instinct exactly similar to that 
 with which the young of many other animals are en- 
 dowed, the instinct of self-preservation. On the moment 
 of alarm the little apes spring upon their mother's body, 
 and grasp it with such tenacity that no jerk can possibly 
 loosen their hold, for the female parent, notwithstand- 
 ing her burden, makes her usual and often surprising 
 leaps of twenty or thirty feet from branch to branch, 
 and from tree to tree, without finding it necessary to 
 give any assistance to her offspring by way of support- 
 ing it upon her own body. Each little one holds fast, 
 quite fearless of a fall, and doubtless without knowing 
 anything as to the cause of its being carried off in such 
 a hasty manner, or as to the consequence of insecurity, 
 or of a tumble ; for if these creatures resemble the 
 young of some others we have seen in a similar situation, 
 of which there is every probability, they will appear in 
 one moment after as innocently unconcerned as ever. 
 
 Now these are not the characteristics of a child, as 
 every intelligent observer of children must be aware. 
 It is true that the infant of a certain age will cling in a 
 certain manner round its parent for refuge against 
 danger. But this is when the child is capable of dis- 
 covering the approach of danger, be it real or imaginary, 
 for itself, and not by having it communicated to it, as is 
 the case with animals. Sometimes a child, when on the 
 precipice of some imminent peril that it does not itself 
 perceive, but which its mother does see, and although 
 she calls with all the earnestness of terror, the child, 
 instead of rendering a prompt obedience to the alarm 
 she sounds, and of effecting its escape with celerity, 
 remains motionless, and often till the catastrophe over- 
 takes it. But the moment the mother of a young animal 
 gives the alarm, or a command for her offspring to make 
 their escape or take refuge, their obedience is implicit 
 and instantaneous, and rendered in a manner that is pe- 
 culiar to all the species. How animals communicate 
 the alarm so as to be understood by their young, is a 
 question upon which we shall speak in another place. 
 
 The Gibbons These animals are natives of the forests
 
 66 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 of India and the Asiatic islands. They are much smaller 
 than the great ourang, and very remarkable for the 
 expertness of their arboreal exercises. Their motion 
 through the trees is so rapid, and their touch on the 
 branches so light, momentary, and easy, that their pro- 
 gress is said to resemble an aerial flight ; and it has 
 been observed that they have been seen to launch them- 
 selves over a distance of forty feet that has intervened 
 between one branch and another, their whole body 
 seeming suspended in the air by their long and extended 
 arms alone. 
 
 All the apes of this genus possess large powers of 
 imitation, and their propensity to indulge in such often 
 betrays them into trouble, which sometimes terminates 
 in capture, and sometimes in death. Ever watchful and 
 attentive to all the actions of man, they descend from their 
 posts of observation, and then endeavour to imitate as 
 near as possible all they have seen performed. The 
 ape-catchers take advantage of this propensity, and 
 in some instances place a vessel of water in a situation 
 that is open to the view of the animals perched upon 
 the trees. The men take care to dabble well in the 
 vessel, and to wash their hands, particularly their faces, 
 with a great deal of attention, that they may set a copy 
 worthy of the brutes' ambition to do the like. All this 
 being done, the water is poured out, and its place supplied 
 with a solution of glue. The article is left for the in- 
 spection of the meddling mimics, which never fail, unless 
 they have been previously caught, to handle and apply 
 it in the manner their entrappers were observed to 
 handle and apply the water. Unwarily they set to in 
 good earnest, bedaubing their faces with the treacherous 
 liquid, and soon their eye-lids become glued over the 
 sockets, and being thus blindfolded, they cannot effect 
 escape from want of sight, and they then present an 
 easy prey to their captors. 
 
 Another mode of ensnaring them is by means of in- 
 toxicating drinks. The apes being known to be fond of 
 spirituous liquors, the person who wishes to secure any 
 of them places a number of vessels filled with ardent 
 spirits within their sight and reach, and after a pretence 
 to drink he retires to a distance, where he can behold
 
 GENERALSHIP OP AX APE. 67 
 
 the novel spectacle of animals holding a feast to Bacchus. 
 They drink ; the spirit takes effect ; the apes fall asleep, 
 and, like man in the same circumstances, become the 
 victims of their own folly. 
 
 It is said that the Indians sometimes direct their imi- 
 tating propensity to useful purposes ; for wishing to col- 
 lect the cocoa-nuts and other fruits from the trees in 
 the woods frequented by the apes, they repair to these 
 places, setting the example of gathering a few heaps 
 first themselves, and then, withdrawing, leave the work 
 to be performed by the animals at will. These creatures, 
 seeing a heap or two commenced, descend with the cer- 
 tainty of carrying on the business, and when the produce 
 has been thus rather plentifully collected, the Indians ap- 
 proach and take away the harvest. 
 
 M. de Maisoupre was once a witness of a single male 
 ape of a larger species finding his way within the walls 
 surrounding the pagoda of Cheringham, which enclosed a 
 district claimed by the community of a smaller species ; 
 for it appears that certain herds of them live together 
 in this way, and assert their rights to the possession of 
 particular provinces, and if necessary will take up arms 
 to defend them. The trespasser was very quickly made 
 to understand that he had got into an enemy's country. 
 The alarm cry being given, numbers of the resident 
 males put themselves in a posture of attack. Though 
 the interloper was much larger and stronger than any 
 of his assailants, he yet seemed to be aware that the 
 contest would be unequal on a fair field, for he betook 
 himself to a stratagem, and fled for an advantageous 
 position on the top of the pagoda, which was eleven 
 stories in height, and when faced about on the pin- 
 nacle of it, he saw a number of his enemies in force 
 at his heels. His sagacity and generalship now proved 
 the means of his safety. Being himself secure upon a 
 narrow dome, he, taking advantage of his superior per- 
 sonal strength, instantly seized four of his furious pur- 
 suers, and as furiously hurled them down from the dizzy 
 top. This exploit was sufficient to warn and to in- 
 timidate the rest, and after a great deal of noisy clamour, 
 they resolved upon a retreat, which they effected in 
 F 2
 
 68 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 safety, leaving the intruder unrevenged upon his perch. 
 Here he took care to remain till the evening, when he 
 was able to get clear off. 
 
 According to M. d'Obsonville, the female apes manifest 
 a considerable degree of tenderness towards their off- 
 spring ; and, what is very remarkable, they exercise, 
 sometimes at least, their parental authority in a sort of 
 judicial and strictly impartial form. The young ones 
 were seen to sport and gambol with one another in the 
 presence of their mother, who sat ready to give judgment 
 and punish misdemeanours. When any one was found 
 guilty of foul play or malicious conduct towards another 
 of the family, the parent interfered by seizing the young 
 criminal by the tail, which she held fast with one of her 
 paws till she boxed its ears with the other. Now we do 
 not know of anything exactly similar to this in any other 
 tribe of animals. The proper performance of such an 
 act most certainly implies a very considerable amount of 
 understanding. There is another habit, too, peculiar to 
 these creatures, that, if true, requires no less intelligence 
 than the one just named. It is said that when any one of 
 them receives a wound by an arrow, the whole community 
 fly to its assistance ; but instead of pulling out the 
 missile, which by so doing would lacerate the flesh and 
 give pain, they bite off the shaft only, and thus allow 
 the unfortunate animal to go off with the remainder in 
 its body. It is also affirmed of the baboons that they will 
 nip off the sting of a scorpion with so much dexterity 
 and rapidity that they leave no time for the venomous 
 weapon to produce any effect upon their hands, and 
 that being done, the apes devour the scorpions with much 
 greediness. 
 
 The baboons are the most ferocious and the most dis- 
 gusting in manners and appearance of the monkey 
 tribe. Their strength from muscular energy is very 
 great, and when put fully forth is sufficient of itself to 
 tear the strongest dog to pieces in the short space of a few 
 minutes. Goldsmith says that these animals, " mixing 
 the figure of the man and the quadruped in their con- 
 formation, seem to possess only the defects of both ; the 
 petulance of the one, and the ferocity of the other." 
 The natives dread them, for they wiU plunder their vil-
 
 IMITATING PROPENSITY. 69 
 
 lages, rob their orchards, and retire leisurely with the 
 booty. Sometimes they appear to do the latter business 
 by method. A sentinel is appointed to watch, while 
 a part of the company enter the enclosure, and a part 
 remain without ; the latter form a line to the place of 
 depot, and the former gather the fruit. If the wall is 
 high, a small force takes station upon it, and these, after 
 receiving the produce from those within, throw it to those 
 in line without. It is then passed along the line to its 
 hiding-place, which is generally in some crag of a 
 mountain, 
 
 Le Vaillant, when making his tour through the 
 southern part of Africa, kept in his possession a dog- 
 faced baboon, to which he gave the name of Kees. He 
 made use of the inquisitive propensity of his ape for the 
 purpose of tasting strange or unknown roots or fruits. 
 Kees would taste all without scruple, and those he re- 
 jected were supposed to be either of a disagreeable flavour 
 or of a pernicious quality. But whenever the animal met 
 with any favourite root, he was always anxious to secure 
 it for himself, and stemming the ground with his fore 
 feet, he grasped the plant with his teeth, and pulled out 
 its root by main force. Sometimes, however, his strength 
 applied in this form was not sufficient for the purpose, 
 and then he would have recourse to the expedient of still 
 holding the herbage in his teeth close to the ground, and 
 throwing himself quite over, thus making his body act as 
 a sort of lever, and this mode seldom ever failed to bring 
 up the root. 
 
 Kees was fond of newly-laid eggs ; and in order to de- 
 prive him of his feast and secure* the eggs, a dog 
 was trained to run to the nest immediately the hen was 
 heard to cackle, ad bring away the egg before the thief 
 had got possession of it. Occasionallyjthe ape would run 
 too, and being the stronger animal, he in these cases 
 often obtained the mastery, and carried off the prize. 
 
 The imitating propensity in all the monkey tribe is a 
 very curious thing. It must be the result of a very re- 
 markable instinct, for it is neither an acquired habit, nor 
 anything obtained by instruction, nor is it gathered by 
 experience. It seems to have no motive either. It is 
 r 3
 
 70 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 quite clear that the apes do not exercise it for the sake of 
 the fun afforded by mimicry. Such sport is as remote 
 from their understanding as is the motive ; for they always 
 appear serious, if not melancholy, even while engaged in 
 the very act. Still it may be productive of some kind of 
 pleasure to them, and very probably it is ; but it never 
 seems to put them in a state of ecstacy or great hilarity. 
 Now when man has recourse to mimicry, it is either for 
 the purpose of exhibiting the most profound contempt, or 
 of exciting to laughter. Whether this instinctive faculty 
 in monkeys can be or ever was intended to be directed 
 to any useful purpose, is perhaps a question that cannot, 
 at present at least, be very satisfactorily answered. It 
 is sufficient for us to believe that the Creator has 
 made nothing in vain, and that all His works are done in 
 wisdom. 
 
 The case of the Barbary ape and the preacher, Cau- 
 bassan, related by Mrs. Loudon, is perhaps an instance 
 of imitation as ludicrous as anything of the kind that 
 has ever been witnessed. Father Caubassan brought up 
 the animal in question, and having become attached to 
 him, it wished to follow him wherever he went. One 
 day when Caubassan was going to church, the ape, not 
 being made secure, followed its master to the place of 
 public worship, and being a good climber, silently 
 mounted the sounding-board, and there lay quiet and 
 concealed till the sermon was in course of delivery. It 
 then advanced to the edge of its perch, to see what was 
 going on beneath it, and to watch the actions of the 
 orator. These were no sooner observed by the able 
 mimic, than it began to perform also ; and its imitation 
 of the preacher's gestures was so perfect and grotesque 
 that the whole congregation was put into a state of great 
 risibility, and such that could not be suppressed. The 
 good father was alike shocked and indignant at the ill- 
 timed levity of his audience, and began to minister some 
 severe reproofs. But seeing all his efforts failing, he 
 launched forth into violent action, accompanied by loud 
 vociferations. His frequent gestures the ape did not 
 fail to take up immediately with no less animation than 
 that which inspirited his master ; and at this apparent 
 competition of the two individuals, the people burst into
 
 INSTINCT OF MONKEYS. 71 
 
 roars of laughter, and when the animal was pointed out 
 to the pastor, though highly exasperated, it is said that 
 he could scarcely command his own countenance while 
 he gave directions to have the ape removed. 
 
 We quote the following instance of the imitating 
 powers of the baboon from Brown's Anecdotes of Animals : 
 " The army of Alexander the Great marched in complete 
 battle array into a country inhabited by great numbers 
 of baboons, and encamped there for the night. The 
 next morning, when the army was about to proceed on 
 its march, the soldiers saw, at some distance, an 
 enormous number of baboons, drawn up in rank and file, 
 like a small army, with such regularity, that the Mace- 
 donians, who could have no idea of such a manoeuvre, 
 imagined at first that it was the enemy drawn up to 
 receive them." 
 
 Monkeys. The species of the genus Saguinus, have 
 comparatively a large cranium, and exhibit a correspond- 
 ing amount of intelligence. Fruits and insects form 
 their food, and the equatorial forests of the new world 
 are the places of their abode. Their habits are grega- 
 rious ; and their tails being destitute of the prehensile 
 character, they frequently resort to the denser brush- 
 wood, or to the escarpments of the rocky banks of rivers. 
 With a rounded head, a rather flat visage, and an 
 expression of innocency, their physiognomy bears a 
 resemblance to that of the human infant, and though 
 they are ever in motion, all their movements are said to 
 be full of grace. Humboldt was considerably amused 
 by seeing one of these animals, of the species Sciareus, 
 squirrel monkey, endeavouring to single out a spider 
 among some engravings on paper, and to pick it off with 
 its paws. The play of its instinct made the same efforts 
 to take the insect that it would have done had there 
 been a living spider within its grasp instead of a picture. 
 Their instinctive adroitness, made manifest in the cap- 
 turing of insects, is very marvellous, and might, it is 
 supposed, be brought under the controul of the efctomo- 
 logical collector. It is through the instinct of affection 
 that their young are taken, since they refuse to abandon 
 the mothers when bleeding and dying from wounds. 
 F 4
 
 72 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 One species of the Saki, or fox -tailed monkeys, have 
 a very singular habit in the mode of taking their drink. 
 It is called the hand-drinking monkey, because it takes 
 the water in the hollow of its hand, and after putting his 
 head on one side, the careful creature then conveys the 
 liquor to its mouth. This peculiar mode of taking 
 beverage appears to be necessary in order to avoid 
 wetting its long tufted beard ; but its adoption cannot 
 be said to be the result of the animal's sagacity, for intel- 
 ligence does not produce a uniform mode of acting in all 
 the individuals, whereas instinct does; it is therefore 
 more in accordance with analogy to refer it to an in- 
 stinct, and a very remarkable one it is. Why its 
 instinctive aversion to the wetting its beard is not 
 known. No doubt a cause exists somewhere, though its 
 spring is concealed from man's gaze, for the animal be- 
 comes furious when any water accidentally or otherwise 
 runs down its precious beard. 
 
 The monkey of the Jacchus genus, or Onistitis, is a truly 
 remarkable creature, and has some extremely curious 
 habits or instincts. Crickets and cockchafers are great 
 luxuries to it, and it darts upon these insects, and de- 
 vours them with much apparent greediness. Its manner 
 of capturing all kinds of flies is wonderfully dexterous ; 
 and though it seizes upon them so instantaneously, 
 and without any apparent discrimination, it will yet 
 recoil with instinctive and agitating fear from the 
 attempt to clutch a wasp. M. Audouin of Paris, who 
 had a pair of these animals for some time in his posses- 
 sion, was satisfied that this fear was the result of an 
 instinctive faculty, and not of experience, for the French 
 species of wasp was quite different from any these 
 monkeys could have ever seen before. They would, too, 
 dart at the representation of insects in paintings, but 
 would immediately withdraw their paws from that of a 
 wasp, while that of a cat exceedingly alarmed them. 
 These creatures could recognise themselves in a glass 
 as well'as others of their own species. Now this is a 
 power of perception beyond that of the dog. Though 
 they exhibited no fondness for flesh, they would yet 
 capture a bird, and after putting it to death, do nothing 
 more than scoop out its brains. Why they should do
 
 LECTURING MONKEY. 73 
 
 this only, gives rise to a very curious question as to its 
 cause, and one that is enveloped in much mystery, and 
 probably will remain so. 
 
 Of one species, which Buffon calls ouarine, " I have 
 frequently," says Margrave, " been a witness of their as- 
 semblies and deliberations. Every day, both morning 
 and evening, the ouarines assemble in the woods to 
 receive instructions. When all come together, one 
 among the number takes the highest place on a tree, and 
 makes a signal with his hand to the rest to sit round, in 
 order to hearken. As soon as he sees them placed, 
 he begins his discourse with so loud a voice, and yet 
 in a manner so precipitate, that, to hear him at a 
 distance, one would think the whole company were crying 
 out at the same time ; however, during that time, one 
 only is speaking, and all the rest observe the most 
 profound silence. When this has done, he makes a sign 
 with the hand for the rest to reply ; and at that in- 
 stant they raise their voices together, until by another 
 signal of the hand they are enjoined silence. This they 
 as readily obey ; till at last the whole assembly break 
 up, after bearing a repetition of the same preachment." 
 
 If such is a correct representation of the monkey 
 school, it affords an example of propriety and order that 
 might be profitably imitated by the debating societies 
 and the legislative assemblies of all the nations of 
 the world. That is certainly a most marvellous instinct, 
 which gathers the assembly by the no less marvellously 
 instinctive command of an individual of the species. 
 What the subject of the lecture is, and what its object, 
 are both unknown ; but they start some curious specula- 
 tions in the mind of the philosopher. Whether the 
 lecturer must possess certain qualifications before he can 
 have the appointment, or whether he receive the appoint- 
 ment by election or otherwise, are matters that are un- 
 known also. 
 
 It has been said that the monkeys manifest much 
 parental tenderness towards their young, as well as 
 much concern for their future welfare ; that they seem to 
 labour with great assiduity to instruct them, and even to 
 apply the rod of correction when they observe any want 
 of aptness to learn, or any disinclination to profit by the
 
 74 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 example set them. The male and female take their turn 
 in this duty, and hand their little ones from one to the 
 other, as occasion or convenience may serve. Though 
 we read of the eagle teaching her young to fly and 
 to mount aloft in the air, yet to instruct is not a charac- 
 teristic of animals, and such a feature in the habits of 
 the monkey is all the more striking and peculiar. The 
 very attempt to teach seems to imply the presence 
 of some superior intelligence ; but we believe this case, 
 and others like it, proves too much, and requires such a 
 process of abstract reasoning that is not accorded to 
 animals ; and we see no reason why it should not be as- 
 cribed to a faculty of instinct ; nor do we know why 
 instinct should not direct its functions to such a purpose 
 as well as to various others quite as indicative of 
 reason. 
 
 We apply the same remarks to that singular and well- 
 known habit some species of monkeys have of devising 
 an expedient to reach a branch of a contiguous tree that 
 is too far distant for their ordinary leap. One suspends 
 itself from an upper branch ; then the rest of the family 
 form a chain with the first by locking tail in tail, or hand 
 in hand ; this being done, the whole string of monkeys 
 is thrown into a swinging motion like that taken by 
 a pendulum, until the undermost one is able to seize hold 
 of some branch on the opposite tree, when the one 
 above, which sustains the weight of the whole, lets go its 
 hold, and reverses its position ; for it sinks down to the 
 bottom, though maintaining its grasp, and it is then the 
 first to creep up the chain to gain the branches that could 
 not have otherwise been reached. 
 
 Now the following questions, questions more easily 
 put than answered, arise out of this remarkable opera- 
 tion. What, in the first place, directs these animals to 
 the expedient at all ? How do they know one another's 
 intention as to the act itself, and the moment of entering 
 upon it ? How do they, being destitute of speech, com- 
 municate their meaning to each other ? How does the 
 uppermost one of the chain know when to let go its 
 hold? How is it that it does not, sometimes at least, 
 make a mistake by being too precipitate, and thereby 
 letting aU the chain fall to the ground? And all that
 
 THEFT PUNISHED. 75 
 
 can be said to them is, that they are the curious opera- 
 tions of that marvellous faculty in animals called instinct, 
 and not, w e apprehend, the products of purely rational 
 powers. 
 
 In the Oriental Annual, 1836, there is a remarkable 
 feat of a species of monkey, which Buffon terms the 
 Talapoin, recorded as an instance of that animal's sa- 
 gacity. The exploit was performed by one which had 
 been tamed by a native of Hindoostan. He was chained 
 to a pole of thirty feet in height, and in such a manner 
 that he could ascend or descend the bamboo pole at will, 
 for his chain was fixed to an iron ring that encircled 
 the pole, and slipped up and down with the ascent and 
 descent of the animal himself. When perched upon his 
 lofty seat, and gazing upon the fine prospect around him, 
 the crows of India, which are noted for their audacity, 
 often pounced upon his food at the bottom, and carried 
 it off. This robbery was frequently repeated, and no- 
 thing the monkey could do was sufficient to scare them 
 away. 
 
 " One morning, when his tormentors had been par- 
 ticularly troublesome, he appeared as if seriously in- 
 disposed ; he closed his eyes, drooped his head, and 
 exhibited various other symptoms of severe suffering. 
 No sooner were his ordinary rations placed at the foot 
 of the bamboo, than the crows, watching their oppor- 
 tunity, descended in great numbers, and, according to 
 their usual practice, began to demolish his provisions. 
 The monkey began to slide down the pole by slow 
 degrees, as if the effort were painful to him, and as if 
 so overcome by indisposition that his remaining strength 
 was scarcely equal to such exertion. When he reached 
 the ground, he rolled about for some time, seeming in 
 great agony, until he found himself close by the vessel 
 employed to contain his food, which the crows had by 
 this time well nigh devoured. There was still, however, 
 some remaining, which a solitary bird, emboldened by 
 the apparent indisposition of the monkey, advanced to 
 seize. The wily creature was at this time lying in a 
 state of apparent insensibility at the foot of the pole, 
 and close by the pan. The moment the crow stretched 
 out its head, and ere it could secure a mouthful of the
 
 76 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 interdicted food, the watchful avenger seized the depre- 
 dator by the neck with the rapidity of thought, and 
 secured it from doing further mischief. 
 
 " He now began to chatter and grin with every ex- 
 pression of gratified triumph, while the crows flew 
 around, cawing in boisterous chime, as if deprecating 
 the chastisement about to be inflicted upon their captive 
 companion. The monkey continued for awhile to chatter 
 and grin in triumphant mockery of their distress ; he 
 then deliberately placed the captive crow between his 
 knees, and began to pluck it with the most humourous 
 gravity. When he had completely stripped it, except 
 the large feathers in the pinions and tail, he flung it 
 into the air as high as his strength would permit, and 
 after flapping its wings for a few seconds, it fell on the 
 ground with a stunning shock. The other crows which 
 had been fortunate enough to escape a similar castigation 
 now surrounded it, and immediately pecked it to death. 
 The expression of joy on the animal's countenance was 
 altogether indescribable ; and he had no sooner seen the 
 ample retribution dealt to the purloiner of his repast 
 than he ascended the bamboo to enjoy a quiet repose." 
 
 If this account of the feigning operations of the 
 animal is a faithful and unexaggerated description of the 
 real facts, it then bears testimony to the presence of some 
 thinking powers. We must confess, however, it does 
 a little tax our credulity. Many observers of matters 
 of this kind, that is, of things that are a little marvellous 
 because uncommon, have a tendency to give too much 
 rein to their imaginations ; not wilfully perhaps always, 
 but often thoughtlessly, or from a vain desire of raising 
 an excitement, and drawing the attention of others 
 through themselves to an object that cannot fail to be 
 regarded as a wonder. So that in a great many cases 
 the one or the other of these motives prevails, whether in 
 writing or speaking, and hence, we believe, a very great 
 gloss is often put upon the representations of any of 
 Nature's extraordinary phenomena, till the original and 
 the copy become so wide apart that it is quite impossible 
 to recognise the principal points of likeness. In the case 
 before us, the monkey must have been conscious of a 
 purpose when he so artfully feigned illness ; and that
 
 FATJLTINESS OF MEMORY. 77 
 
 purpose could have been no other than to deceive the 
 crows. 
 
 How did the monkey know that the crows would be 
 deceived by such a device ? And supposing him to have 
 been conscious of that fact, he must then have inferred 
 a consequence, or that something would follow. Now 
 these two things are sufficient to constitute reason. They 
 form a greater stride in the process of reasoning than 
 the fact of supplying fuel to a lighted fire would require, 
 and which we have already noticed. Yet no animal, not 
 even the chimpanzee, or the ourang-outang, has been 
 known to do that simple thing, although association has 
 contributed all its power, and inducement all its force. 
 Let this fact be ever borne in mind, it is conclusive. The 
 intelligent faculty is so flexible and accommodating, that 
 if the animal could reason on one thing, it could do the 
 like on another. Reason is, moreover, progressive, but the 
 brute stands still. No doubt there have been witnessed 
 many extraordinary feats of animals that have apparently 
 sprung from the seat of intelligence, but have been in 
 reality the workings of a hidden instinct. Our belief -is, 
 that many tribes of the inferior creation possess what may 
 be called a dormant or latent instinct, which makes itself 
 manifest only in cases of emergency, and for which it 
 was only designed. The most sagacious and intelligent 
 of animals may have this peculiar faculty, which operates 
 at times that cannot be detected, and in a manner that 
 cannot be discovered. 
 
 A very strange deficiency in the faculty of memory 
 has been noticed in most, at least in many, species of the 
 monkey tribes. As they perigrinate through the trees 
 of the forest, though their leaps from branch to branch 
 and from tree to tree are executed with astonishing 
 velocity, they have yet been observed to give a momen- 
 tary attention to any object falling in their way, and 
 with which they have not been familiar, as if to examine 
 the qualities of the new thing, and to see whether they 
 can make anything of it. The commixture of so much 
 brevity and inquisitive scrutiny must appear strikingly 
 odd to the beholder. 
 
 But the point to which our special attention must be 
 directed is, that whenever these singular creatures
 
 78 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 happen to repass the object of their late inspection, no 
 matter how recently, they will survey it again in the same 
 manner as before, and this as often as they come upon it, 
 without apparently being able to recognise the same 
 object, and without seeming to have the least remem- 
 brance of having seen, or of having examined it just 
 previously. 
 
 Mrs. Lee, too, mentions of the monkey on board the 
 vessel with herself, that Jack, for such was his name, 
 would sometimes scald or burn his fingers, by snatching 
 out the herbs from the hot beverage ; the pain would 
 keep him quiet for a few days, but no sooner had it been 
 alleviated than Jack repeated his tricks, and again 
 suffered the penalty. Was this owing to any absence 
 of memory in the monkey, or did he, like mankind, 
 too often commit the deed right in the face of the con- 
 sequence ? No doubt that man does this injustice to 
 himself much more often than does any brute whatever. 
 He will gratify some sensual appetite for a moment, 
 although he knows full well that the pain which will 
 certainly follow will be neither light nor short. The 
 probability is, that Jack's knowledge of the past ceased 
 with the pain ; at least we should judge so from analogy, 
 because those animals which appear to have a memory 
 active, when assisted by the power of association, are 
 not found to be so easily taken in when that is present. 
 This kind of memory, although exceedingly imperfect, 
 is nevertheless sufficient to enable them to profit by ex- 
 perience. 
 
 Yet the same authoress informs us of another in the 
 Jardin des Plantes, in Paris, that she very much an- 
 noyed by striking him on his paws for some misbehaviour 
 towards one of his companions, and that this monkey 
 seemed ever afterwards to recollect the treatment, when, 
 at least, the associating power of her presence came to 
 the aid of his memory ; for on future occasions, he 
 no sooner saw her, or heard her voice, than he threw 
 himself into a passion, rolled about in rage, and in one 
 instance seized her gown, and dragged a portion of it 
 within the bars of his cage, where he then tore a piece 
 out of it, although it was made of some stout material. 
 
 As an instance of the monkey's apparent gravity, even
 
 THE ELEPHANT. 79 
 
 in the midst of frolic, Mrs. Lee tells an amusing story 
 of some pigs that were allowed to run about the deck 
 occasionally, and Jack would then sometimes " suddenly 
 spring on the back of one of them, his face to the tail, 
 and away scampered his frightened steed. Sometimes 
 an obstacle would impede the gallop, and then Jack, 
 loosening the hold which he had acquired by digging 
 his nails into the skin of the pig, industriously tried to 
 uncurl its tail, and if he were saluted by a laugh from 
 some one near by, he would look up with an assumed 
 air of wonder, as much as to say, What can you find 
 to laugh at ? " So that which is so touching to man's 
 sensibility has no power to excite any risible faculty in 
 the animal, because there is none. The brute has no 
 such perceptive mental powers. 
 
 CHAP. VHI. 
 
 Elephant. Musical Faculty. His Brain. Sagacity. Attack 
 on Tiger. His Instinct curious. 
 
 ON surveying an elephant, one is struck with the mas- 
 sive structure and ponderous body of the beast. With 
 the enormous weight of about seven thousand pounds, 
 a large individual moves through a forest of trees with 
 the certainty of a powerful locomotive engine, scarcely 
 allowing an obstacle either to turn from his course or to 
 impede his speed. If the huge proportions of the animal 
 astonish and interest the spectator, the amount of food 
 he requires for his daily consumption is enough to 
 astound, if not to affright his proprietor. We take the 
 following interesting paragraph from the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica: 
 
 "Elephants in this country are usually fed on hay 
 and carrots, and the quantity of food which they con- 
 sume is enormous. Those of the emperor Akbar had 
 each a daily allowance of 200 Ibs. in weight, with an 
 additional supply of ten pounds of sugar, besides rice, 
 milk, and pepper, and during the sugar cane season each 
 was provided daily with 300 canes. The Mogul princes
 
 80 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 are known to have kept up their stud of elephants at a 
 vast expense ; and according to Pliny, even the Romans, 
 a people so addicted to extravagance, found the sustain- 
 ing of the Carthaginian elephants captured by Metellus 
 so costly, that they were afterwards slain in the circus. 
 Yet, according to jEolian's account, less rigid economy 
 prevailed in the days of Germanicus. His elephants 
 were exhibited in the arena, reposing on splendid 
 couches, adorned with the richest tapestry. Tables of 
 ivory and cedar wood were placed before them, and on 
 these their viands were presented in vessels of gold and 
 silver. They danced to the sound of "flutes and soft 
 recorders," or moved about the theatre in measured and 
 harmonious steps, scattering around them the freshest 
 and the choicest flowers. Arrian mentions an elephant 
 which played on cymbals, one being fastened to each 
 knee, and another held by his proboscis, while his un- 
 willing companions danced in a circle, keeping time 
 with the greatest exactness." 
 
 Has, then, the elephant any kind of instinctive musical 
 faculty ? If so, it is not improbable, considering the 
 well-known intelligence of this animal, that such an en- 
 dowment might be educated. It has always appeared to 
 us that the musical faculty possessed by man, by some 
 more than others, is at least to a certain degree in- 
 stinctive; for we are slow to believe that that rapid 
 motion of the fingers, yet composed of a mixture of 
 many simultaneous strokes, and of many in succession, 
 and so that all the touches are made to the least frac- 
 tion of a moment, which a dexterous and accomplished 
 player can put into execution upon the piano, is an art or 
 habit altogether attainable by education and practice. 
 We do not think that all these rapid and complicated 
 touches proceed from the volitions of a will under the 
 controul of reason simply. The intelligent faculty must 
 be aided here by an instinctive impulse. We have often 
 looked upon the perfection of the art as a wonder ; it 
 never fails to arrest our attention and excite our highest 
 admiration ; but the operations of the mental powers 
 merely, though in connection with the power of habit 
 acquired by long practice, do seem to us insufficient to 
 account for it. Admitting instinct to have a share in
 
 ELEPHANT'S BRAIN. 81 
 
 the performance, the thing becomes more explicable, 
 though the instinct itself, like every other instinct, is 
 mysterious. 
 
 Our conclusion is, that the musical faculty in man 
 is partly an instinctive power, or impulse, the manifesta- 
 tion of which its possessor can hardly suppress ; for in 
 those persons, moreover, who have it in great strength, 
 it is perfection itself, though not acquired, and before in- 
 struction has been brought to bear upon it. But whether 
 animals possess the same kind of faculty, or anything 
 corresponding to it, may perhaps be a matter of question. 
 It is true that many are sensitive to the charms of 
 music, but in what way we do not attempt to explain. 
 
 Sir E. Home made an experiment upon a full grown 
 elephant in London, and found that the grave notes of the 
 piano produced an apparently pleasing effect upon the 
 animal, for he put forward his large external ear, as if in 
 the act of listening, and of endeavouring to discover from 
 whence the sounds proceeded. A similar one was made 
 at Paris in 1798, and was attended with results somewhat 
 more effectual. A lively national air had the greatest 
 effect, and wrought up the elephants, male and female, to 
 a degree of very curious excitement. 
 
 Phrenologically speaking, the elephant has a magnifi- 
 cent cranium, and in appearance very nobly developed ; 
 but when the organ of intelligence is sought for within, 
 with an expectation of finding something equally grand 
 there also, the philosopher, who looks with hope, has that 
 hope disappointed ; for the cavity of the organ is com- 
 paratively very small, and the cerebral matter is not more 
 weighty than that to be found in the head of man, whose 
 bulk is comparatively so insignificant. Still, for an 
 animal, the elephant has a large quantity of this myste- 
 riously working matter ; and, notwithstanding the great 
 authority of Baron Cuvier, who says, that after a long 
 study devoted to elephants, he could not find that their 
 intelligence surpassed that of the dog or that of many 
 others, we think, on the contrary, that its sagacity stands 
 unrivalled by any other inferior creature whatever, at 
 any rate for its grace and nobleness. This huge beast 
 becomes so docile and gentle that he may be trusted 
 to the utmost; so harmless and free from stealth, tl at,
 
 82 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 unlike the tiger and the leopard, or even the lion, he is 
 never suspected ; but if his majestic ire be once unjustly 
 provoked, he will not fail, if possible, to retaliate with the 
 most condign retribution, and his gigantic strength makes 
 his revenge quite fearful, for it is then even vindictive. 
 There are so many anecdotes of this animal's execution 
 of the most f rigid justice by making the culprit feel the 
 weight of his vengeance, and so many instances of 
 his sagacity likewise, put upon record in almost all books 
 of natural history, that it is unnecessary to introduce 
 any here ; nor, were we so inclined, would our space 
 admit of it. But one instance of the latter, most nobly 
 displayed, shall have a place. 
 
 The favourite elephant of the grand vizier under 
 Rajah Dowlah was the hero of the noble feat. This 
 great nabob was about to make the diversion of a mighty 
 hunt in the neighbourhood of Lucknow, where the game 
 was rather plentiful. The preparations being completed, 
 and a train of Indian nobility assembled, the proces- 
 sion of Nimrods began to move off for the field. After 
 passing through a ravine, the gorgeous sportsmen entered 
 a meadow, which was covered with sick people, who 
 were lying exposed to get the benefit of the pure and 
 fresh air, and they were so distributed as to obstruct 
 the course of the beasts of burden. Rajah Dowlah 
 was intent upon feasting his cruel eyes with the sight 
 that the mangling of the bodies of the miserable creatures 
 would produce, by compelling the huge elephants to 
 trample them under foot. 
 
 The grand vizier rode upon his own beast, and the 
 nabob ordered the driver to goad him on, and he went at 
 a quick pace ; but when he arrived at the spot of the in- 
 disposed people, though in a trot, the sagacious animal 
 stopped short before the first invalid. The vizier cursed 
 him ; the driver goaded him ; and the nabob cried, " stick 
 him in the ear." All, however, was vain. More humane 
 than his superiors, the elephant stood firm, and refused 
 to violate his better feelings. At length, seeing the poor 
 creatures helpless and unable to move themselves out of 
 his way, he took up the first with his trunk and laid 
 him gently down again out of his path. He did the 
 same with the second, and third, and so on, until he had
 
 INSTINCT OF THE ELEPHANT. 83 
 
 made a clear passage, along which the retinue could pass 
 without doing injury to any one of them. The brute 
 and the man had made an exchange of their proper sen- 
 timents, and humanity triumphed gloriously in the 
 animal. We question whether another instance of such 
 strong and humane sagacity can be produced from any 
 region in the animal kingdom. 
 
 The elephant, however, with all his docility, tract- 
 ableness, and sagacity, could not be trained so as to be 
 trusted at all times in battle. The ancients used him 
 much for this purpose, and when he could be guided 
 rightly, he was found a mighty engine of destruction ; 
 but when wounded, especially if his trunk was lacerated, 
 he would under his irritation turn upon his own ranks, 
 and make horrible carnage of his friends. The Romans, 
 under Metellus, galled the Punic elephants by pouring 
 showers of darts upon their sensitive trunks, and the 
 animals becoming infuriated and unmanageable, threw 
 the African troops into confusion, and the Carthaginian 
 army was then easily defeated. The elephant, then, 
 however well trained, and well trained he often was, 
 and however firmly attached to his patrons, could not be 
 made to understand that an enemy inflicted the wounds 
 which wrought him up to such ungovernable rage. 
 But he acted as if he believed that treason was in the 
 camp, and unlike rational beings at such a crisis. He 
 does not, then, and cannot reason. 
 
 Where there is the presence of the intelligent ele- 
 ments, there the reasoning faculty, like a superior, 
 always appears to claim the priority in operating ; hence 
 in these cases the power of instinct, though present, is 
 paralysed, and the functions thereof are held in abey- 
 ance. In so sagacious an animal, therefore, as is the ele- 
 phant, the latter will not be expected to display itself 
 very frequently, nor very powerfully. 
 
 Still there are some habits of the elephant that must 
 be attributed to the workings of an instinct ; for in- 
 stance, the animal seems to be instinctively conscious of 
 the importance of the part his trunk is required to play 
 in the economy of his life ; and he is accordingly ever 
 watchful over its safety. He sets a strict guard upon 
 it during a dangerous crisis, and takes the utmost care 
 G 2
 
 84 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 that it shall not be exposed to peril. When provoked to 
 take vengeance on man, he does not scruple to seize him 
 with his trunk, but never employs that member to 
 grapple with a tiger, nor to hurl him in the air with it. 
 He scents the tiger's lair at a distance, and instantly 
 throws his trunk high up, so that it may be as far as 
 possible from the reach or spring of his stealthy adver- 
 sary. The unwieldy animal manifests great uneasiness, 
 and proceeds with extreme caution, as if conscious that 
 his enemy would be upon him unawares. When at 
 length the fierce feline has taken his leap of attack, and 
 the furious struggle commenced, the elephant endea- 
 vours, though not with his trunk, to bring his antagonist 
 under his enormous feet, which attempt, if successful, 
 crushes him instantly, or if he can get an opportunity of 
 dashing at the tiger with his tusks, he tosses him, like 
 a ball, to an immense distance, and does him severe 
 injury by the shock. But his favourite mode of attack 
 is the pitch, whereby, with the certainty of killing his 
 adversary, he transfixes and pins him to the ground 
 with his tusks ; for here the whole weight of the animal 
 is brought to bear in the dreadful plunge ; and either 
 by sagacity or instinct, the latter we should say, the 
 elephant is made fully aware of this force, and of the 
 advantage it gives him. 
 
 So much does the elephant dread the consequence of 
 the wild beast's attack upon his most powerful yet most 
 delicate proboscis, that he will throw it out of reach 
 even when a dead tiger is brought in his presence. The 
 following account is given of the poor beast that was 
 burned at Dublin, and is an illustration of a strong 
 instinctive consciousness of the value of his trunk : 
 " Doubtless the elephant's care to preserve the proboscis 
 was great; for when we dissected him, we found it 
 thrust near two feet into the very ground, upon which 
 account we thought it had been burned, till the head 
 was divided from the body, and then we found it kept 
 fast to the ground by the proboscis." 
 
 If, after considering the importance of the trunk, we 
 knew the elephant to be possessed of reason, we should 
 then no longer feel any surprise at the extreme care he 
 takes of that serviceable member of his body. This
 
 INSTINCT OF THE ELEPHANT. 85 
 
 curious organ is so admirably constructed that it serves 
 purposes as innumerable as they are infinitely various. 
 It is composed of nearly 40,000 small muscles, collected 
 into small bundles, and so interlaced with one another as 
 to produce every diversity of motion. It blends in a 
 very remarkable manner the strength of a giant with 
 the most exquisite touch of a tentaculum. At one 
 moment it can lift a cannon from the ground, or tear up 
 a tree by its roots ; and at another, pick up a small pin 
 from the dust of the earth. It collects the food into his 
 enormous mouth, and drives the water down his capacious 
 throat ; hence the life of the beast is dependent upon the 
 preservation of this curious structure. How does the 
 animal know this ? Certainly not by experience ; nor 
 probably by sagacity. Instinct must be his teacher. 
 
 The elephant manifests also a most marvellous instinct 
 in relation to the great weight of his body. He seems 
 to have a kind of knowledge that his ponderous mass is 
 of unusual and extraordinary heaviness ; for when he is 
 required to pass over an unsafe bridge, or other artificial 
 road, he suspects the danger with wonderful prescience, 
 although man is unable to detect any defect in the 
 structure. In one of the Indian expeditions, an artificial 
 road, formed by the trunks of trees, was made on a dif- 
 ficult ascent, up which it was designed each elephant 
 should drag a gun. 
 
 " Having cut a good deal of the most promiment part 
 of the hill away, and laid trees on the ascent as a footing 
 for the elephants, these animals were made to approach 
 it, which the first did with some reluctance and fear. 
 He looked up, shook his head, and when forced by 
 his driver, roared piteously. There can be no question, 
 in my opinion, that this sagacious animal was com- 
 petent instinctively to judge of the practicability of 
 the artificial flight of steps thus constructed ; for the 
 moment some little alteration was made, he then seemed 
 willing to approach. He commenced his examination and 
 scrutiny by pressing with his trunk the trees that had 
 been thrown across, and after this he put his fore 
 leg on with great caution, raising the fore part of his 
 body so as to throw its weight on the tree. This done, 
 he seemed satisfied as to its stability. The next step 
 o 3
 
 86 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 for him to ascend by was a projecting rock which we 
 could not remove : the same sagacious examinations took 
 place, the elephant keeping his flat side close to the bank, 
 and leaning against it. The nexts tep was against a 
 tree ; but this, on the first pressure of his trunk, he did 
 not like. . . . Force was at length resorted to, and the 
 elephant roared terrifically, but would not move ; some- 
 thing was then removed, he seemed satisfied as before, 
 and he ascended that stupendous ghaut." 
 
 The female elephant, only seven years old, that was 
 taken to the Adelphi to repeat some parts she had 
 performed in Paris, likewise carefully ascertained the 
 safety of the stage before she ventured her whole weight 
 upon it. 
 
 There is another habit of elephants which is proper to 
 our subject, and which, therefore, we shall just notice. 
 It is the understanding they have, or the arrangement 
 they make, when a whole herd, amounting sometimes to 
 300, is on its march to open a new track through a dense 
 forest of trees. The large male elephants always put 
 themselves in the van, and proceed in some cases to tear 
 down the branches, and in others to uproot the trees 
 which obstruct the passage, that a way may be cleared 
 for the females and those of youth and weakness, which 
 follow in the wake in a single file. How do all come to 
 this mutual understanding ? How do the tall and strong 
 individuals know that it becomes them to undertake the 
 most diflicult task in the operation ? Do they assume it 
 instinctively, and the others instinctively assent to it ? 
 Or is the arrangement come to by appointment ? The 
 secret, no doubt, lies in an instinct.
 
 87 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 The Dog. His Endowment. Peculiarities of the Greyhound. 
 Of the Bull-Dog. An Exploit. An Impulse. The Blood- 
 hound extraordinary. Murderers taken. Pointer. His curious 
 
 Instinct. His remarkable Attitude. The Hound's Instinct 
 
 The Wild Dog's. Animal's Weapons. How used. Fox. 
 His Artifices. Instinct of Kittens and Cubs. Fox feigning 
 Death. His Tricks. Guided by Instinct or Mind ? Instinct 
 accommodating. 
 
 THOUGH the dog is so universal and common, he does, 
 nevertheless, from a combination of causes in his habits, 
 present volumes of the most interesting study to every 
 admirer of nature's wonders. His social disposition, 
 unlike that of most other animals, is more directed to 
 human society than towards that of his own species ; 
 at least, where he has man to associate with. In the 
 intimacy of this association with the lord of creation, 
 he stands alone, even surpassing in every way that of 
 the domestic cat. His knowledge of his master or 
 his friends is thorough, ready, and decisive ; while his 
 attachment is sincere, firm, and enduring. He re- 
 members a caress or a kindness, and forgets an injury 
 from his friends. He is quick to perceive the ap- 
 proach of a stranger, and his watchfulness and suspi- 
 cion are instantly awakened. His fidelity is so stable 
 that no vicissitude or circumstance ever shakes it. He 
 will risk his life to save that of his protector, and die 
 rather than relinquish his post of duty. He is capable 
 of intense emotion, for it has happened that the unex- 
 pected joy of meeting a long absent friend has burst 
 his very heart asunder, and he has expired at the feet of 
 a former and indulgent master. All these are qualities 
 peculiar to himself, and distinguish him above any other 
 tribe of animals. Yet how often do we see this amiable 
 creature ill used by ignorant and cruel men or boys. 
 Sometimes he is unmercifully beaten because he is a 
 brute, and cannot understand all that is expressed in 
 the commands given to him, and sometimes he is re- 
 G 4
 
 88 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 quired to suffer much through the capricious and irra- 
 tional temper of his owner. 
 
 The dog is remarkable for one physical property of 
 exquisite delicacy, and that lies in the fineness of his 
 olfactory nerve, by which he scents his game with un- 
 erring certainty. Nevertheless some birds of prey 
 exhibit a power of scent more astonishing than his, be- 
 cause it is even more refined. But the dog has some 
 mental endowments that perplex the philosopher infi- 
 nitely more than that wonderful sense of smell we have 
 just named ; for they are such that make him appear to 
 live, as expressed by Professor Harwood, " in the doubt- 
 ful confines of the material and spiritual worlds." 
 
 His mental qualifications, whatever called, are such 
 as to enable him to perceive quickly and learn aptly. 
 Hence he can be trained to perform incredible feats. 
 The smuggler has taught him the art of carrying on his 
 contraband traffic, both by land and water. The thief 
 lias taught him to purloin from a shop any parcel he 
 had previously pointed out to the pupil ; and the sheep- 
 stealer has been successful in training him to find and 
 bring to him from a large flock the very sheep he him- 
 self had selected in the dog's presence. So many extra- 
 ordinary facts and curious anecdotes have been recorded 
 as instances of the dog's mental ability, that they Avould 
 fill volumes were they all put together. Doubtless some 
 are too far fetched, and others are glossed over by a 
 dilated imagination ; still we do not withhold our credit 
 from the truth of many that are most astonishing. Our 
 space will only allow us to give the substance of a few 
 examples, and we shall not go to the extremes to bring 
 in the most startling illustrations either of instinct or of 
 intelligence; we must prefer those every day things 
 which are open to all eyes, and at all times. It has been 
 too much the practice of writers on instinct, as well 
 as that of the advocates of animal reasoning, to quote a 
 few extraordinary and isolated facts, to comment on 
 them merely, and to draw inferences from them only. 
 And they have been content to build a theory upon ex- 
 ceptions simply, and have then been satisfied that they 
 have established a principle. Are the exploits of one 
 particular dog sufficient to give the rule of a thousand,
 
 THE GREYHOUND AND BTJLL-DOG. 89 
 
 or it may be of ten thousand ? The general rule must 
 be the proper standard of judgment, and not the excep- 
 tion. We have just read an account of a Scottish girl 
 of ten years of age being able to multiply mentally a 
 prodigious, and, were it not well attested, an incredible 
 numbers of figures ; but no reasonable man will affirm 
 that that feat ought to be taken as a fair specimen, or as 
 an average of woman's mental powers. Yet the criteria 
 by which many authors judge of the mental constitution 
 of animals have not been much less extragavant. 
 
 We have said that we do not believe that animals 
 are capable of working thought in an abstract manner ; 
 for, in order that mind may be in a capacity to perform 
 functions of this nature, memory must be endowed with 
 the ability to recollect. Now, as far as our observations 
 have been extended, we have seen no animal operate by 
 such method, otherwise than by instinct, as to give any 
 satisfactory evidence of being gifted with that power. 
 We hold that when an animal appears to recollect by 
 an intelligent effort, and not by an instinctive impulse, 
 it is by the aid of the power of association. It must 
 either hear some sound, or come in contact with some 
 substance or some scent, or see some figure, with any of 
 which the matter in question stands associated in the 
 mind of the animal, before it can recur to it. This, then, 
 we consider a highly important principle, supposing, at 
 least, that it can be properly substantiated. We shall 
 not, however, attempt to sustain it in cases of unusual 
 occurence ; but we shall suspect all those facts which 
 appear to refute it to be more the workings of a mys- 
 terious instinctive faculty than the legitimate operations 
 of intelligence. 
 
 It will have been observed that we are inclined to 
 exercise strong faith in the general principle, that in 
 proportion to the physical matter of the brain, such 
 is the degree of intelligence displayed by it. The dog 
 genus affords us an exemplification. The greyhound 
 and the bull-dog have the least development of brain ; 
 for though the head of the latter is large, the capacity 
 of the cranium is small, while the forehead of the former 
 is flattened, and accompanied with an elongated snout, 
 which, as we have said, is the symbol of stupidity. The
 
 90 MARVELS OF DfSTIXCT. 
 
 intelligence of either is very limited, for neither is 
 capable of profiting much either from experience or 
 education. Yet, if some accounts that are given of 
 coursing be true, the greyhound can derive benefit from 
 experience ; for it is said, that when an old and young 
 dog are running together, the inexperienced hound in- 
 stinctively follows the hare in every turn and winding, 
 while the old courser sometimes takes the way the crow 
 flies, anticipating the hare in her habit of doubling, and 
 thus deprives puss of the advantage she otherwise would 
 gain by making a sudden turn. 
 
 Some few old dogs may sometimes put this stratagem 
 into execution, but we have never seen it, and are a little 
 disposed to question the truth of its adoption as a general 
 rule. It is just the sort of thing that, having once been 
 put upon record, writers will copy from one book into 
 another, without taking the trouble to make inquiry 
 of a practical man. And even if the old dog were in 
 the constant habit of doing this, and we will not affirm 
 it is not the case with some, we should see less difficulty 
 in ascribing it to an instinct than to any process of 
 reasoning ; for this animal does not reason evidently upon 
 any other thing whatever. 
 
 But the powers of reason are flexible and accommo- 
 dating, and admit of universal application. A judge 
 upon the bench has an infinite variety of cases brought 
 before him ; but of all the diversities, not one comes upon 
 which he cannot weigh and ponder the evidences. 
 However wide the extremes in knowledge through which 
 the cases may oscillate, none are ever found upon which 
 his intelligence is not able to operate. However diverse 
 the causes, he can draw inferences from the evidences of 
 all with equal facility. He is not ready and sound upon 
 one particular thing only, and strangely stupid upon all 
 others. But this must be the case with the greyhound ; 
 that is, if we allow the animal to reason when coursing 
 a hare, for most assuredly it is stupid enough under 
 all other circumstances. If the hound is in possession of 
 a reasoning faculty at all, why cannot that power perform 
 its functions upon more things than one, and in more 
 places than one ? And because it cannot, we conclude 
 that the dog's turning off to meet the game is not an
 
 NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. 91 
 
 intelligent act purely, and that writers and advocates 
 of animal intelligence have taken the fact for more than 
 it is worth. In sentiment the greyhound is distinguish- 
 able from most other dogs in this, that he forms no par- 
 ticularly personal attachment ; for though he is alive to 
 caresses, and responds to all, it is to all friends nearly 
 -alike, and not to any one more particularly than another. 
 
 The bull-dog is remarkable for the fierceness of his 
 attack, and the tenacity of his hold. Some barbarous and 
 cruel experiments have been made upon this animal while 
 in the act of seizing his antagonist, with the view of 
 ascertaining if it were possible to make him desist ; but 
 all have been in vain. When once he has got his bite, 
 nothing will oblige him to relinquish it, even though 
 every foot he has be cut clean from his legs. And this 
 manner of fighting is all this prodigy of brute ferocity 
 ever does, or can be made to do. It is his only instinct, 
 and a very remarkable and mysterious one it is. 
 
 The Newfoundland dog has a sagacity that is remark- 
 ably strong and humane in its character. This animal 
 appears as if designed to be a companion to man, but 
 more particularly when he is exposed to the perils of 
 the water. With semi-webbed feet, which make him a 
 good swimmer, and an inclination to enter the water, this 
 element seems half natural to his nature. It is when 
 persons are in the act of drowning that the sagacity 
 of this dog displays itself most strongly, and innumerable 
 lives has it saved from a watery grave. 
 
 One instance will serve our purpose as well as a 
 hundred which might be enumerated. A singular case 
 is given of a person who was travelling in Holland, and 
 accompanied by a Newfoundland dog. Not taking 
 proper heed to his steps in an evening walk along a 
 high bank by the side of one of those deep canals 
 common in the country, his foot slipped, letting him 
 into the deep with a plunge, and being unable to swim, 
 the fish's element soon deprived him of his senses. In 
 the mean time the sagacious animal had no sooner dis- 
 covered the danger to which his master was exposed, 
 than he was in the water, and engaged in the struggle to 
 rescue him from his peril. A party at a distance saw 
 the faithful servant at one moment pushing, and at an-
 
 92 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 other dragging the body towards a small creek, where at 
 length he succeeded in landing his charge, and placing 
 it as far from the water as possible. Tiiis being done, 
 the dog first shook himself, and then licked the hands 
 and face of his apparently dead lord. The body being 
 conveyed to a neighbouring house, the efforts to restore 
 the lost senses were successful. 
 
 From the marks of teeth on the body, it appeared 
 that the dog had taken his first hold on the shoulder ; 
 but finding that this did not keep the head out of the 
 water, the instinct or the intelligence, which ? of the 
 animal prompted him to change his grasp from the 
 shoulder to the neck, by which he was enabled to raise 
 the head above the strangling liquid for the distance of 
 about a quarter of a mile. 
 
 That this brute creature should have followed his 
 master with such promptness is remarkable enough ; but 
 that he should have taken the precaution to keep his 
 head above water, as if he knew that if he did not he 
 would perish, is truly marvellous. What was the motor 
 power in this case ? Was it an impulse of instinct, to 
 which the dog rendered a blind obedience ? Or was it 
 an act purely of intelligence ? Our opinion is that it 
 was a mixed operation, and that both instinct and intel- 
 ligence had a share in the business. That much of it 
 was owing to instinct, we have the proof in the fact that 
 the Newfoundland dog is not only always found ready 
 to enter the water for such purposes, but even has a 
 strong inclination for it, without either being com- 
 manded or directed, and without experience or a prece- 
 dent. Perhaps the intelligence of this dog is more 
 flexible and accommodating than that of any other species, 
 but yet how infinitely short does it come of the uni- 
 versal? It has its limits, and if compared with the 
 range man's reason takes, they will appear exceedingly 
 narrow. We do not think, therefore, that the apparent 
 sagacity in the feats of this fine animal is to be taken 
 solely as the result of a purely reasoning faculty. The 
 operations prove too much. 
 
 We find also that the notorious and surprising powers 
 of the shepherd's dog are displayed in only one depart- 
 ment of service ; and that is among sheep. Here he
 
 THE SHEPHERD'S DOG. 93 
 
 learns every lesson with astonishing aptness, and when 
 once acquired, he performs his tasks with such a saga- 
 cious readiness, that it seems to come from the spur of 
 the moment. He is faithful to a proverb, and is so 
 eminently successful and useful in the pastures of plain 
 and heath, and down, that no one can doubt for a mo- 
 ment that such is the service for which he was designed. 
 Hence his most extraordinary fitness for it ; not from 
 any particularly reasoning powers we hold, for the very 
 same reasons we have given with regard to the New- 
 foundland dog ; but more from some peculiar intuitive 
 and mysterious disposition or impulse in the animal it- 
 self. It is an endowment from nature. It is a principle 
 that the Creator in his wisdom has implanted, and it 
 works his sovereign will in a manner that is inexplic- 
 able to human reason. 
 
 Though we profess to refrain from introducing, as 
 examples or criteria, any of those feats of animals which 
 are too extraordinary and too exceptional to be often 
 witnessed, we shall quote here an instance of a very 
 surprising character, and which came under the observa- 
 tion of Mr. Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, and which is 
 told by himself. 
 
 Sirrah was the name of this famous dog, and Mr. 
 Hogg was his owner. On one occasion 700 lambs 
 broke up in an evening, and scampering off in three 
 divisions, soon lost themselves among the neighbouring 
 hills. Sirrah seemed to understand that this large flock 
 of lambs ought not to be absent from their accustomed 
 dwelling-place at night, and, without orders from his 
 master, set off in search of them. The night was dark, 
 and the shepherd and his companion spent the whole of 
 its long hours in scouring the hills, but they could ob- 
 tain no trace either of the seeking dog, or of the recreant 
 flock. " On our way home, however," says Mr. Hogg, 
 " we discovered a lot of lambs at the bottom of a deep 
 ravine called the Flesh Cleuch, and the indefatigable 
 Sirrah standing in front of them, looking round for some 
 relief, but still true to his charge. The sun was then 
 up, and when we first came in view, we concluded that 
 it was one of the divisions which Sirrah had been unable 
 to manage until he came to that commanding situation.
 
 94 HARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 But what was our astonishment when we discovered that 
 not one lamb of the whole flock was wanting ! How he had 
 got all the divisions collected in the dark is beyond my 
 comprehension. The charge was left entirely to himself 
 from midnight till the rising sun ; and if all the shep- 
 herds in the forest had been there to have assisted him, 
 they could not have effected it with greater propriety." 
 We do not question the truth of this exploit ; for although 
 it was of most wonderful execution, it is so naturally 
 characteristic of the shepherd's dog, that we give full 
 belief to all its particulars. 
 
 The successor of Sirrah was Sirrah's son ; and though 
 not so famous a dog as was his father, he was yet a 
 more interesting one. And Mr. Hogg relates an instance 
 of Hector for that was his name manifesting a strong 
 instinct, but a defective intelligence ; indeed, this latter 
 faculty always appeared more obtuse than that of his 
 immediate and most notable predecessor. One evening, 
 at dark, Hector and his master had safely enclosed a flock 
 of lambs in a fold, and when the passage flake was shut, 
 the dog must have been shut inside, and it was supposed 
 that he did not discern that the lambs were made secure ; 
 for although his master called him away when he left, 
 Hector did not obey the summons, and in the morning 
 he was found standing inside the fold just at the middle 
 of the fold door, with his eyes steadfastly fixed on the 
 lambs, as if chained to the spot by some irresistible 
 power. What was this but the instinctive impulse ? 
 
 There had been a deluge of rain in the night, but Hector 
 had never once been down, and in the fatiguing attitude 
 of strict watchfulness did this patient and persevering 
 representative of the shepherd spend the whole of that 
 cold and dreary night. Hector's disposition to obey was 
 strong, but the force of his peculiar instinct was yet 
 stronger ; for when called off, he yielded to his innate 
 impulse, and refused to attend to the commands of his 
 master, because his intelligence was at fault. The 
 animal could not perceive that the lambs were already 
 made safe enough in the fold, nor that his own watch was 
 unnecessary. 
 
 Mr. Hogg tells a case of a young man having lost his 
 life through the unconquerable force of his dog's in-
 
 THE BLOOD-HOUND. 95 
 
 stinct. This young man had resolved to make an ad- 
 venture in the crime of sheep-stealing; and bavin* 
 selected some sheep from the flock of a former master" 
 he and his dog commenced driving them away; but 
 before he had got them off the farm, he, whether from the 
 voice of conscience, or from the terror of possible con! 
 sequences countermanded the execution of the project 
 and let the sheep go back again. He called hVdog 
 away, and mounting his pony, rode off at a gallop. But 
 halting at the distance of three miles, !nd turning 
 round, he there saw the stolen sheep at his heels with 
 his dog m their rear, driving them after him at a furious 
 
 S kp <h ? ff un i ma , n T as in trouble ' and affer ? unish - 
 
 ing the thief for his disobedience, rode off a second time. 
 ine dog, however, was quite incorrigible, gave his 
 master the slip, and again fetched up the pooAnfmal 
 already panting and smoking from the effects of the rate 
 of their recent travel. This time the day was beginning 
 to dawn and the young man began to feel thatTwas 
 impossible for him to make a defence against such ov- 
 
 CdTdf evid fT, ce '^ d ' seeing he co " ldnot ^5. 
 
 hands clean of the stolen property, disposed of the sheep, 
 and the transaction cost him his life 
 
 ' 
 
 mar' t t i had to scent K* 
 
 masters track as well as to drive the flock before him 
 
 It is very plain that this animal was under the .influent 
 of his proper instinct, which was so strong that no other 
 power was competent to resist its impulsed His intelli- 
 gence should have made him obedient to his master's 
 commands; but his instinct led the other way and 
 the business of his instinct he would do. And this fact 
 confirms^ in the opinion we have before broached, that 
 slon, sT, a > 6Xhlblt some . Wently clear evidences of 
 strong sagacity in one particular service only, it may be 
 concluded that the motor power is more of an instinctive 
 than of an intellectual faculty. 
 
 The blood-hound is a most extraordinary animal and 
 possesses some marvellous features in his instinct Ac 
 carding to Mr Bell a Mr. Boyle, to make trial whe- 
 ther a young hound was well instructed, desired one of 
 his servants to walk to a town four miles'off, and then 
 to a market town three miles from thence. The do "
 
 96 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 without seeing the man he was to pursue, followed him 
 by the scent to the above-mentioned places, notwith- 
 standing the multitude of market people that went along 
 the same road, and of travellers that had occasion 
 to come ; and when the blood-hound came to the cross 
 market town, he passed through the streets, without 
 taking notice of any of the people there, and ceased not 
 till he had gone to the house where the man he sought 
 rested himself, and where he found him in an upper 
 room, to the wonder of those who had accompanied him 
 in this pursuit." 
 
 The English blood-hound has a wide forehead, with 
 an obtuse nose, and expansive nostrils. His tongue is 
 awfully deep and highly sonorous, while a degree of 
 serene ferocity is spread over his countenance ; and 
 though his character is supposed to be full of decided 
 enmity to man, it is yet considered doubtful whether 
 this dog, whose 
 
 " Nostrils oft, if ancient fame sings true, 
 Trace the sly felon through the tainted dew," 
 
 would, in a tame state at least, devour him, were he not 
 trained to it, as has been done in the West Indies, by 
 feeding him upon blood, and setting him to chase a 
 figure representing a negro, and containing blood and 
 the entrails of beasts. He is distinguished by that re- 
 markable property which will never change from the 
 particular scent upon which he is first laid, whether it 
 be by the foot or by the shed-blood of an animal ; and 
 it is said that nothing will destroy the scent from his 
 power to detect it, except blood spilt upon the track. 
 
 Almost every reader of natural history is familiar 
 with the capture in Cuba of some Spanish sailors, who, 
 when passing the island, ran the ship ashore, and after 
 murdering the English officers, carried away all the 
 available plunder to the wild and unfrequented retreats 
 among the mountains, where they believed all pursuit 
 would be vain. A body of twelve chasseurs with their 
 dogs was obtained from Havanna, and these infallible 
 pursuers being put upon the scent, were very quickly 
 upon the heels of the fugitive murderers, who were imme- 
 diately captured without being hurt by the dogs, and
 
 THE BLOOD-HOUND. 97 
 
 a few days sufficed to bring every man of them to 
 judgment, which was speedily followed by the execution 
 of the whole gang. 
 
 About the beginning of the present century there 
 was, it appears, at Thrapstow, an association formed 
 for the prosecution of felons, and a blood-hound was 
 kept and trained for the detection of sheep-stealers. 
 
 " To demonstrate the unerring infallibility of this 
 animal, a day was appointed for public trial ; the person 
 he was intended to hunt started in the presence of a 
 great concourse of people, about ten o'clock in the fore- 
 noon, and at eleven the hound was laid on. After a 
 chase of an hour and a half, notwithstanding a very 
 indifferent scent, the hound ran up to the tree in which 
 he was secreted at the distance of fifteen miles from the 
 place of starting, to the admiration and perfect satisfac- 
 tion of the very great number assembled upon the 
 occasion." 
 
 It has been observed that when the object of the 
 blood-hound's pursuit crosses a river, and the scent not 
 readily found on the other side, the dog will make a 
 considerable circuit in order to intersect the track that 
 must have been taken. That this animal should be able 
 to trace with unerring certainty any person through 
 numerous streets and busy thoroughfares, where the 
 track has been crossed and recrossed by hundreds of 
 individuals of a kindred scent, is a feat that strikes 
 every contemplative mind with astonishment, What 
 mind of man can comprehend the refined sensibility of 
 his olfactory nerve ? It is so sensitive that the least 
 atom of scent will affect it ; for neither the principle of 
 gaseous diffusion, however constant and insidious, nor 
 the agitation of the aerial elements by the winds, how- 
 ever violent, is able to remove from the track all the 
 taint the man or animal to be hunted leaves upon it ; 
 for it seems that even after these two potent forces, and 
 others as well as these, have done their utmost, this 
 determined dog will yet find sufficient left to discover 
 the path of the fugitive. We may and ought to admire 
 it, but we cannot understand it. 
 
 We observe here that the intelligence of the blood- 
 hound is confined within very narrow limits, for he can be
 
 93 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 instructed only in the business of his very mysterious 
 instinct. What strength of power could teach, or what 
 force of habit 'could make this hound perform, the part 
 of a shepherd's dog among sheep ? His nature would 
 be an insurmountable obstacle in the way of accom- 
 plishing such a task. Which, then, is the ruling or the 
 preponderating power, instinct or intelligence ? 
 
 There is another dog that presents to all observers of 
 nature's operations some truly wonderful phenomena, 
 which greatly and equally excite the curiosity of the intel- 
 ligent and the admiration of the devout ; for this creature, 
 which is the pointer, unites to the quality of a good 
 nose, the singular and remarkable habit of coming in a 
 very curious manner to a dead stand upon the scent, and 
 is satisfied with merely indicating the position of the 
 sportsman's game. The sense of the pointer's smell is 
 not so acute and extraordinary as that of the blood-hound; 
 but his power of scent, which is nevertheless very strong, 
 and accompanied and blended with the habit of pointing 
 out the presence of game before it can be seen, makes 
 him, perhaps, a more wonderful and interesting subject 
 of study. His mode of pointing is alike striking and 
 characteristic. The moment he falls upon the scent, he 
 not only makes a sudden halt, but assumes at once an 
 attitude of very great peculiarity, and such as must be 
 seen before it can be fully appreciated or understood. In 
 an instant he may be seen standing upon three legs, 
 one of the fore feet being raised ; and, what is unex- 
 ampled, his face, his back, and his tail, are all in a line. 
 This is his invariable position when the scent is taken 
 naturally ; but when it is interfered with, such as run- 
 ning with the wind, or barred by an impenetrable fence 
 or any other circumstance, and the dog tumbles in con- 
 sequence suddenly upon the game, he then pulls himseli 
 up so instantaneously, that not one of his limbs is suffered 
 to move after the instant the scent is discovered ; and 
 however great the singularity in the conformation of his 
 body at that moment, or however painful to him, that 
 attitude, which is sometimes most peculiar, and sometimes 
 quite grotesque in appearance, he will maintain with re- 
 markable steadiness, until the sportsman arrives to put 
 an end to his marvellous suspense. In such cases the
 
 INSTINCT OF THE POINTER. 99 
 
 dog appears as if conscious of having got too close upon 
 the birds, and as if he recognised the danger of disturbing 
 them before any shot could be given. Sometimes it has 
 happened that when the pointer has been in the act of 
 springing over a strong fence, such as a stone wall, he 
 has hit upon the scent of birds lying close to it on the 
 other side, and he has then been seen to halt suddenly 
 upon the top of it, with his four feet all collected to- 
 gether, and his body almost doubled up, thus fixing him- 
 self like a statue. An old experienced and feeble dog, 
 however, will sometimes have recourse to the expediency 
 of sitting down upon his haunches while pointing, with 
 his face directed towards the game, yet ever and anon 
 turning his head to see whether his master is giving him 
 attention, and wistfully wishing the approach of the 
 gun. 
 
 Mrs. Lee records the following instance of the force 
 of the pointer's instinct : '' Mr. Gilpin speaks of a 
 brace of pointers, who stood an hour and a quarter, 
 without moving. This, however, was exceeded by 
 Clio, a dog belonging to my father, who stood with 
 her hind legs upon a gate for more than two hours, with 
 a nest of partridges close to her nose. She must have 
 seen them as she jumped over the gate, and had she 
 moved an inch, they would have been frightened away. 
 My father went on, and having other dogs, did not miss 
 Clio for a long time ; at length he perceived she was not 
 with the rest, and neither came to his call nor his whistle ; 
 he went back to seek her, and there she stood just as she 
 had got over the gate. His coming up disturbed the 
 birds, and he shot some of them ; but Clio, when thus 
 relieved, was so stiff that she could not move, and her 
 master sat down on the grass and rubbed her legs till she 
 could bend them again." 
 
 It is said that the natural habit of the pointer is 
 to steal cautiously up to his prey, in order to capture it 
 with a sudden spring, and that his stand in pointing is 
 an educated modification of this instinct. If so, why 
 then does not a young pointer follow the original habit ? 
 This he never does, but points after the manner of the 
 old ones, before he has had any training or experience. 
 It is, moreover, a habit that is unnatural to any of thai 
 H 2
 
 100 MARVELS OF DfSTEfCT. 
 
 tribe. Stealth is a strong characteristic of the feline 
 race, but it is remote from the nature of the canine. 
 
 " The instinct of pointing," says the author of the 
 article " Shooting," in that great work, the Encyclo- 
 pedia Britannica, " we apprehend, is an inextinguish- 
 able and indestructible principle in the blood of the 
 pointer, which, however it maybe mingled with inferior 
 blood, will always, in some degree, manifest itself ; and 
 on this ground we build our theory that the further any 
 dog is removed from the original Spanish pointer the 
 worse the dog is." Education may bring this dog under 
 command while following the course of his instinct, 
 but it can neither alter that faculty, nor change its di- 
 rection. 
 
 The following is taken from the same book just men- 
 tioned : "If dogs were unknown in Europe, and some 
 traveller from a distant part of the southern hemisphere 
 were to relate that he had seen a new species of quad- 
 ruped with wonderfully fine olfactory nerves, by the aid 
 of which it was enabled to hunt to death the hare, stag, 
 fox, or jackal, the tale would readily be credited ; for the 
 instinct of the hound, as compared with that of other 
 animals, is not such as to excite surprise. But were the 
 traveller to relate that he had seen a quadruped which, 
 untaught, would stand motionless, as if converted into a 
 statue, on coming in contact with the slightest scent of 
 game, he would not be believed ; it would appear 
 incredible, such is the extraordinary instinct of the 
 pointer and getter. We use the term extraordinary ad- 
 visedly. There are other animals, and indeed other 
 dogs, which possess a degree of instinct more nearly ap- 
 proaching to reason, but none possessing so extraordinary 
 an instinct, not analogous to that of any other living 
 creature that we are aware of. The pointer seems to be 
 endued with it for the exclusive service of man ; whereas 
 the instincts of all other animals are conducive to 
 the supply of their individual wants, and their usefulness 
 to man is secondary thereto. It would be difficult to 
 controvert the argument that this instinct was given to 
 the pointer for the purpose of aiding men to capture or 
 kill game, by means of engines as nets or guns. This, 
 we are aware, may be a doubtful position to maintain ;
 
 THE STAG-HOUND. 101 
 
 but who can say for what other apparent purpose this 
 peculiar faculty was given ? It may, indeed, be urged 
 that the propensity to point in the pointer is a means or- 
 dained by providence for his subsistence in a wild state, 
 by enabling him to approach within the reach of his prey, 
 and thus to accomplish, by another species of stealth, 
 what the tiger and other animals of the cat tribe effect 
 by ambuscade. Such an argument, however, is pre- 
 sumptuously rebutted by the fact that all existing races 
 of wild dogs are gregarious, and resort to the chase for 
 food ; nor is there any record of the existence of dogs 
 in a state of nature, except those calculated for the 
 chase." 
 
 The pointer possesses a considerable share of intelli- 
 gence, since he can be trained to obedience : but he 
 again cannot be taught to perform any task that does not 
 come within the province of his proper instinct ; for 
 instance, this dog, unlike the Newfoundland, will not 
 fetch or carry any object in his mouth, not even the game 
 he has pointed. The difficulty of modifying his aversion 
 to water, briars, and gorse bushes, cannot be surmounted, 
 and for this kind of practice the setter is brought in as a 
 substitute. The apt faculty, then, in the pointer to indi- 
 cate the presence of game, is an instinct, and not intel- 
 ligence, which would be more flexible and accommodating 
 in its application. We take, therefore, the facts as con- 
 firmatory of our general principle, that when an animal 
 has the ability to act on one stage only, it operates under 
 the influence of an instinctive faculty, and not under 
 that of an intellectual one. 
 
 There is a feature in the character of the hound which 
 deserves some notice, and that is, his indomitable perse- 
 verance. The most remarkable illustration of this de- 
 termined impulse is to be found in the account of a stag- 
 hunt which took place many years ago in Scotland. 
 The stag was turned out of Whinfi eld Park, Westmoreland, 
 the hounds followed, and were seen giving chase to him 
 near Annan, in Scotland, which was a distance of not 
 less than forty-six miles from the place of starting in 
 the north of England. The stag having turned round, 
 made for home again, keeping ahead of the dogs all the 
 run ; but he had exhausted all his power to move, and
 
 102 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 with it the very life of his body, for he had no sooner 
 taken his last leap over the park wall than he fell and 
 instantly expired. Only two dogs came up, all the pack 
 except these had been thrown out by fatigue or accident, 
 and even these could not reach the object of their pur- 
 suit, for their power to run further was gone also, and 
 their life departed likewise. They had nearly made the 
 wall ; but being totally unable to take this last leap, they 
 fell dead on the outer side of it, and there, within a few 
 yards of each other, lay the three lifeless animals, the 
 stag on the one side of the wall, and the dogs on the 
 other, the one the victims of an indefatigable instinct, 
 the other the victim of the chase. The distance run 
 was supposed to be not less than 120 miles. How 
 nearly balanced were the powers of foot in the dogs and 
 the stag. Why such a relation ? How came it ? 
 
 Some methods of giving chase among dogs are of no 
 mere ordinary interest to the naturalist. The hound 
 announces his discovery of the scent by a strong cry, or 
 by giving tongue as long as he keeps it, more or less loud 
 and quick, as he is more or less near to the object of pur- 
 suit. In the case of a find of a fox, one dog begins to 
 open his mouth, sometimes at first it is at intervals, as if 
 in doubt, but soon a second, and a third cry is heard ; 
 and quickly the whole pack, though scattered all over a 
 cover, will converge to the point of attraction, and all 
 getting assembled on the tract, they pour out a united 
 cry in pursuit that is not altogether devoid of melody. 
 We may discover the use of their tongue in the fact of 
 its enabling them to unite all their forces, by its giving 
 notice to the distant and straggling hounds, for it is ne- 
 cessary to spread them out, in order to draw a cover 
 perfectly. Did the few finding dogs, like the greyhound, 
 give chase in silence, the rest of the pack would never 
 come up at all. Yet we must suppose that the dogs do 
 not know the purposes their cry answers. They do it 
 merely because they cannot help it. The impulsive 
 power is within them, and their cry is involuntary and 
 irrepressible. It is not wanted in the greyhound, for his 
 game is chased by sight, and the instinct to give tongue 
 is altogether absent, 
 
 We have often seen a pack of fox-hounds, as well as of
 
 THE WILD-DOG. 103 
 
 stag-hounds, in full cry, and we have always been struck 
 with the plodding and apparently hasteless character of 
 their progress. Most other dogs are greatly excited 
 while on the track of game, and make great manifestation 
 of it ; but the fox-hound and the stag-hound in particular 
 seem so calm, and take it as such a matter of course, that 
 they appear to resemble an imperturbable man, who, 
 though overtaken with a disaster sufficient to put most 
 men out of their senses, can yet remain unmoved. This 
 quality in these hounds has never failed to strike us, nor 
 have we ever ceased to admire it. 
 
 Lest from our manner of writing on this subject we 
 should be thought to give encouragement to hunting and 
 the sports of the field, it will not be improper just to 
 disabuse our readers of that notion, should any have re- 
 ceived it. We believe it is high time that the pastime 
 of hunting in England was at an end. We object to it on 
 many grounds. It is a national as well as a moral evil. 
 England is becoming crowded with people, and it is not 
 only necessary to provide for their bare subsistence, but 
 it is incumbent upon the wealthy classes to see that they 
 do not impede the cultivation of the ground, nor destroy 
 the fruits of the husbandman's industry when he has 
 spent his labour to bring them forth. While there are 
 so many thousands of famishing families as are to be 
 found in this country, we hold that it is not morally 
 right that large portions of land should be suffered to 
 lie waste for the sake of giving a few sportsmen an 
 occasional opportunity of indulging their passions for the 
 field. 
 
 Morally, too, it dissipates man's mind, but we will say 
 no more than to ask every sportsman to remember, that 
 while he is gratifying himself in a superfluous luxury, 
 obstructing the culture of productive soil, and damag- 
 ing the prospects of the agriculturists, there are hundreds 
 upon hundreds of little children who know not what 
 it is to have a sufficiency of bread to eat. 
 
 The habits of the dog in his wild or savage state 
 must just be mentioned. And it is well known that if 
 they no not live in troops, they associate together for 
 the purpose of securing their prey, and hunt it in packs ; 
 so that when they do not find amongst them that being
 
 104 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 whose society they prefer to that of their own specie?, 
 they become sociable with one another. It may be re- 
 marked that the wild dog hunts only to supply his neces- 
 sities, without appearing to take any further pleasure in 
 it, while in a tame state he is always delighted with it, 
 and in being accompanied and conducted to the chase by 
 man, whose superior guidance and understanding the 
 animal seems to appreciate. The wild dogs in the north 
 of Canada and India will hunt and attack the most for- 
 midable of animals. Wild boars, bisons, tigers, and even 
 lions, will be selected as objects of chase ; and when such 
 is the case, these otherwise triumphant beasts must be 
 content to come off second best, even if they do not fall 
 the victims of the dogs' relentless worry. In this un- 
 tamed state, the bark of the domesticated dog is unheard, 
 but they have the instinct to give cry, and they make a 
 wolfish howl, instead of the more musical tongue given 
 by the fox and stag hounds. 
 
 Is it, then, instinct or sagacity which assembles these 
 wild dogs together for the purpose of hunting their 
 prey? How should they know that a union of their 
 forces is necessary to bring down and conquer the object 
 of their chase ? If by knowledge, is that knowledge ob- 
 tained by experience or instruction, or by both in 
 part ? We believe it is done independent of experience, 
 and that their intelligence is insufficient to account for 
 it. The balance of evidence points us to instinct, as 
 being the captain of these chasing companies. 
 
 We shall dismiss the dog tribe with just a reference 
 to their mode of attack, which they adopt in order to 
 make it as effective as possible. All animals which are 
 furnished with weapons of attack or defence, always use 
 them as if they understood the most effectual way of 
 of doing it. The dog has no sooner seized hold of his 
 foe than he begins to shake him with might and main. 
 The object of this is, whether the dog knows it or not, 
 to take all the advantage of his bite, to tear the flesh as 
 much as possible, and by these means to worry his an- 
 tagonist to the utmost. This remorseless manner of 
 carrying on the conflict is peculiar to the dog, and all 
 the different species do it in the same way, only some 
 more or less fiercely than others. The fact that the
 
 INSTINCT OF THE FOX. 105 
 
 young of all animals apply their weapons in the right 
 and best mode is a very decided proof of its being the 
 result of a pure instinct, and not of intelligence. 
 
 The Fox, The fox is an animal of the most marked 
 notoriety. He is a wary and skilful depredator ; and 
 though, for his size, a great glutton, his rapacity is more 
 than equal to his voracity ; for he puts to death all that 
 fall victims to his power, irrespective of the quantity suffi- 
 cient to supply his pending wants. Reynard, however, 
 is provident withal, since he carries off the spoil to some 
 distant and convenient spot, where he hides it in different 
 places ; and thus, by repeated journeys, he transports 
 and stores away all his booty before he makes his own 
 retreat from the scene of his violence. He is solitary, 
 and seems to live a life of unexampled suspicion. When 
 taking a predatory excursion on his own account, he 
 proceeds with the utmost caution, suspecting not only 
 every body, but everything that is to be heard or seen. 
 Hence how natural that such an animal should conceal 
 himself during the day, and roam at night in search of 
 his prey, for his deeds will not endure the light. His 
 cat-like eyes are evidently designed for nocturnal prowl- 
 ing. The pupil of his eye is not round, but linear and 
 vertical, and gleams with such brilliant light that it is 
 snfficient to fascinate the hen from her roost, or to 
 strike her with some other inexplicable power. The 
 fox is too coy to be often entrapped, and much too sulky 
 to be tamed when caught. When hard run, he has been 
 known to have recourse to surprising stratagems, and 
 the feats of Reynard upon record are so numerous that 
 they have established for him a world-wide fame. We 
 will make a selection of some few from those which we 
 consider the best authenticated, and coincide most with 
 the natural character of this famous animal. 
 
 The following sort of dramatic performance was acted 
 by Reynard in the presence of Mr. St. John, who 
 brought it to a rather tragical close, and who is the 
 narrator of it : " Just after it was day -light, I saw a 
 large fox come very quietly along the edge of the 
 plantation ; he looked with great care over the turf wall 
 into the field, and seemed to long very much to get 
 hold of some of the hares that were feeding in it, but
 
 106 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 apparently knew that he had no chance of catching one 
 by dint of running. After considering a short time, he 
 seemed to have formed his plans, examined the different 
 gaps in the wall, fixed upon that which appeared to be 
 most frequented, and laid himself down close to it, in an 
 attitude like that of a cat at a mouse hole. 
 
 " In the meantime I watched all his plans ; he then 
 with great care and silence scraped a small hollow in 
 the ground, throwing up the sand as a kind of screen ; 
 every now and then, however, he stopped to listen, and 
 sometimes to take a most cautious peep into the field. 
 When he had done this he laid himself down in a con- 
 venient posture for springing on his prey, and remained 
 perfectly motionless, with the exception of an occasional 
 reconnoitre of the feeding hares. When the sun began 
 to rise, they came, one by one, from the field to the 
 plantation ; three had already come without passing by 
 his ambush, one within twenty yards of him, but he 
 made no movement beyond couching still more flatly 
 to the ground. Presently two came directly towards 
 him, and though he did not venture to look up, I saw, 
 by an involuntary motion of his ears, that those quick 
 organs had already warned him of their approach. The 
 two hares came through the gap together, and the fox, 
 springing with the quickness of lightning, caught one 
 and killed her immediately ; he then lifted up his booty, 
 and was carrying it off, when my rifle-ball stopped his 
 course." 
 
 In Brown's anecdotes there is a case given of a fox- 
 hunt that took place in Galloway in 1819, in which 
 Reynard saved himself by the following stratagem : 
 The fox, being hard run, took a leap over a high wall, 
 and then crept along close under the other side ; but as 
 soon as the hound had cleared the wall, the sly animal 
 sprang back again, and this device proved completely 
 successful, for the impenetrable fence broke off the 
 scent from the dogs, and the fox had time to effect his 
 escape. 
 
 " While an old man was wandering by the side of 
 one of the largest tributaries of the Almand, he observed 
 a badger moving leisurely along the ledge of a rock on 
 the opposite bank. In a little time a fox came up, and
 
 THE ARTS OF REYNARD. 107 
 
 after walking for some distance close in the rear of the 
 poor badger, he leaped into the water. Immediately 
 afterwards came a pack of hounds, at full speed, in 
 pursuit of the fox, who by this time was far enough off, 
 floating down the stream ; but the luckless badger was 
 instantly torn to pieces by the dogs. 
 
 "An instance of still greater sagacity in the fox 
 occurred a few years ago, also in this neighbourhood. 
 As a farm servant was preparing a small piece of land 
 for the reception of wheat, near to Pumpherston Mains, 
 he was not a little surprised on seeing a fox slowly 
 running in the furrow immediately before the plough. 
 While wondering how it was that the sly creature was 
 so confident, he heard behind him the cry of the dogs ; 
 and turning round, he saw the whole pack at a dead 
 stand near the other end of the field, at the very spot 
 where Reynard had entered the newly enclosed trench. 
 The idea struck him that the fox had taken this in- 
 genious way of eluding pursuit ; and through deference 
 to the sagacity of the animal, he allowed it to escape. 
 
 " Whenever a cat is tempted by the bait, and caught 
 in a fox-trap, Reynard is at hand to devour the bait 
 and the cat too, and fearlessly approaches an instrument 
 which the fox must know cannot then do him any harm. 
 Let us compare with this boldness the incredible caution 
 with which the animal proceeds when tempted by the 
 bait in a set-trap. Dietrich aus dem Winkell had once 
 the good fortune of observing, on a winter evening, a 
 fox, which for many preceding days had been allured 
 with loose baits ; and, as often as it ate one, it sat com- 
 fortably down, wagging its brush. The nearer it ap- 
 proached the trap, the longer did it hesitate to take the 
 baits, the oftener did it make the tour round the catching 
 place. When arrived near the trap, it squatted down, 
 and eyed the bait for ten minutes at least ; whereupon 
 it ran three or four times round the trap ; then it 
 stretched out one of its fore paws after the bait, but did 
 not touch it : again a pause, during which the fox 
 stared immovably at the bait. At last, as if in despair, 
 the animal made a rush, and was caught by the neck." 
 
 Not a subject of small interest is the great concern 
 which the female fox manifests for the welfare of her
 
 108 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 young, and Goldsmith records the following illustration : 
 " A remarkable instance of this animal's parental affec- 
 tion happened while I was writing this history, in the 
 county of Essex. A she-fox that had, as it should seem, 
 but one cub, was unkennelled by a gentleman's hounds 
 near Chelmsford, and hotly pursued. In such cases, 
 when her own life was in imminent peril, one would 
 think it was not a time to consult the safety of her 
 young ; however, the poor animal, braving every danger, 
 rather than leave her cub behind to be worried by 
 the dogs, took it up in her mouth, and ran with it in this 
 manner for some miles. At last, taking her way through 
 a farmer's yard, she was assaulted by a mastiff, and at 
 last obliged to drop her cub, which was taken up by 
 the farmer. I was not displeased to hear that this 
 faithful creature escaped the pursuit, and at last got off 
 in safety." 
 
 There is a very curious circumstance connected with 
 the removal of the young of the fox, of the cat, and of 
 the dog, by their old ones, from one place of danger to 
 another of greater security. All are, more or less, 
 in the habit of doing it ; but the cat more so, perhaps, 
 than the others. Should any person take up some 
 kittens, puppies or cubs, and displace them, the little 
 things will whine so piteously as to excite to the utmost 
 the compassion of maternal affection ; nor, do what you 
 will, is it possible to pacify them. It matters little how 
 carefully and gently they are handled, nothing will pre- 
 vent their giving utterance to their trouble. Though 
 touched by the human hand, and this would seem an in- 
 strument much more soft and fitted for such a purpose 
 than the mouths and teeth of their mothers, the little 
 animals appear to be fully conscious that they are 
 being meddled with by a stranger. But let the fox 
 carry off her cubs for miles in her mouth, or the cat her 
 kittens, and the young creatures make no disturbance at 
 all, either in the act of removal, or when deposited in 
 a strange place of abode. They then whine not, neither 
 do they writhe; but suffer themselves to be carried 
 away in the apparently roughest manner, and that to any 
 extent, and aU the time as quiet as a lamb in content- 
 ment, as if they really understood that it was necessary
 
 THE ARTS OF REYNARD. 109 
 
 'for their safety to be still, and as if the old mothers had 
 communicated to them a sense of their peril. This 
 is a most inexplicable and mysterious phenomenon 
 
 The human intellect has no means of penetratino- the 
 mystery ; yet it is a very common fact. However much 
 of. understanding may be allowed to the dog, the fox and 
 the cat, as a guide to themselves in this matter none 
 can be granted to the puppy, the cub, and the kitten, 
 that have scarcely seen the light. In these young ones 
 therefore, it must be the result of a pure instinct- 
 while the part acted also by the old ones in taking 
 their offspring from one place to another is probably 
 prompted more by the same faculty than by their own 
 sagacity. Now the human infant, before the dawn of its 
 reason at least, cannot be so hushed into silence nor can 
 any apprehension of danger be imparted to it. Instinct 
 not only begins to operate at birth, but it then does its 
 business with as much perfection as ever it does while 
 reason not only does not begin with life, but only opens 
 gradually and slowly when it does begin. 
 
 " The cunning of foxes," says Lord Brougham is 
 proverbial ; but I know not if it was ever more remark- 
 ably displayed than in the Duke of Beaufort's country 
 where Reynard, being hard pressed, disappeared suddenly' 
 and was, after strict search, found immersed in a water- 
 pool up to the very snout, by which he held a willow 
 bough hanging over the pond." And we ourselves have 
 known cases in which, when hotly pursued, Reynard has 
 taken to a newly-made hedge, and run along the top of 
 it for a considerable distance. In all these cases the 
 object is to destroy the scent as much as possible, and it 
 is true that the animal takes the best of the means that 
 are at hand of doing it. How far the fox in such 
 instances recognises the means to the end by any intellec- 
 tual faculty is another question, and involves a point of 
 no small doubt. 
 
 It has been kncwn, on more than one occasion, that 
 the fox, when taken by surprise, has feigned death very 
 readily, and accordingly has stretched himself out on the 
 ground like a corpse. The following remarkable in- 
 stance, contributed by Mr. Mudie, is given in Partington's 
 Cyclopaedia : " One morning early a man in the North
 
 HO MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 was going to his work through furze-bushes on a 
 common, and came upon a fox stretched out at length 
 under the side of one of the bushes. The fox was drawn 
 out by the tail, and swung right and left, and then 
 laid on the ground ; but not a symptom of motion or life 
 did he show. The man, never doubting that Reynard 
 had gone the way of all foxes, and nothing loth to add a 
 fox-skin cap to the list of his personal garniture, and the 
 brush to the tail of peacock's feathers and other orna- 
 mental trophies over the little looking-glass that stood 
 inclined from the wall of his cottage, took the animal by 
 the tail, and swung it over the one shoulder, at the same 
 time placing his mattock on the other, to keep up the 
 balance ; and having done so, onward he trudged to 
 mend the high road. The animal had counterfeited 
 death to admiration, and he did not mind being carried 
 in the manner of a dead fox ; but he had no inclination 
 to undergo that species of dissection which the point of 
 the mattock was ever and anon giving his ribs ; so, at 
 last, he gave that decisive snap which is the characteristic 
 bite of foxes, on that portion of the labourer's rear which 
 is supposed to be more sensitive to all manner of inflic- 
 tions than any other region of the human body. The 
 man felt that something was the matter, but knew not 
 very well what ; so throwing the fox and the mattock 
 from him, he turned round to face the foe, whoever he 
 might be, and in turning he espied his dead fox at the 
 distance of full fifty yards, making for the brake with all 
 imaginable speed. 
 
 " We shall mention one other anecdote, which came 
 within the personal knowledge of the writer of this 
 article, because it throws some light on the mode of 
 action of the fox, as well as confirms the truth of his 
 counterfeiting death, in all cases where there is a like- 
 lihood that it may ensue. The parsonage of Kilmorac, 
 in Inverness-shire, is situated in a highly romantic spot, 
 and the clergyman of Kilmorac was a man of great taste, 
 and very hospitable ; and he accordingly endeavoured to 
 provide for his guests all the good things which his 
 glebe land would afford. A well-stocked poultry yard 
 is an essential requisite in such cases ; but here foxes were 
 so numerous, and their covers so near, that a poultry yard 
 was out of the question. A poultry house was thus re-
 
 COUNTERFEITING DEATH. Ill 
 
 quisite, and the reverend doctor prided himself not a little 
 in having constructed one which was completely fox 
 proof ; and for a good many years it had been impreg- 
 nable. A friend of ours had spent a night in this 
 romantic and hospitable abode ; and while fresh salmon 
 from the Beauly formed one article for the breakfast table, 
 new-laid eggs from the stronghold of the hens were, of 
 course, to form another. The purveyor in these cases 
 took the key and marched off, basket in hand, to bring 
 the supply ; but when she opened the door, a scene of the 
 most direful havoc presented itself; every perch and nest- 
 hole was bedabbled with blood ; dead hens lay in dozens 
 on the floor, and in the middle was a full-sized fox, 
 stretched out at full length, and, apparently, a sharer of 
 the common mortality. The maid never doubted the 
 death of the fox, but attributed it to a different cause, 
 namely, that he had so gorged himself on the poultry, that 
 he had burst. Here were three causes to rouse the 
 mingled wrath and contempt of the servant ; and after 
 some exclamations she took him up by the tail, and 
 swung him with all her might into the receptacle in 
 which were accumulated the requisites for garden com- 
 post. The fox fell safely, and rose again speedily, and 
 scoured along until he gained the cover of the woods, 
 leaving the servant in utter consternation." 
 
 It is related of an American sportsman of Pittsfield, 
 that after having pursued a fox with two blood-hounds 
 for nearly two hours, the dogs came suddenly to a halt 
 and appeared at fault. But they still yelped about, and 
 tracing the circumference of a circle only a few roods in 
 diameter, they intimated that the scent was not lost, and 
 that it did not extend beyond the limits of the circuit 
 they formed. Presently the huntsman came up, and in 
 looking about him was surprised at the dog's motions, 
 but at length was more surprised still when he discovered 
 Reynard lying at full length, as if lifeless, upon a large 
 log of wood that was somewhere near the centre of the 
 circle. He approached, and saw the fox breathe, but 
 could not direct the attention of his hounds to the spot. 
 The counterfeiting animal manifested no signs of alarm 
 at his presence, nor did he move until he was struck at 
 by the sportsman with the branch of a tree, which obliged
 
 112 MARVELS OF ES'STIXCT. 
 
 him to leap from his lurking-place, and the dogs imme- 
 diately pounced upon him. 
 
 When being chased, too, Reynard always appears to 
 act as if constantly yielding obedience to the dictates of 
 reason. If, for instance, there is a breeze, he will run 
 with the wind, if possible ; or, if that be not practicable, 
 he goes diagonally to it. He shapes his course for the 
 most woody country, and selects for his immediate run 
 the path that is most embarrassing to his pursuers, which 
 is the one that is most thickly set with thorns and briars. 
 As often as possible he makes his way through low and 
 watery ground, where his scent is soonest destroyed. 
 He goes forward in a direct line before the hounds, but 
 at no greater speed than necessary, as if his intention was 
 to husband his strength to the utmost ; and when over- 
 taken, he defends himself with the greatest desperation, 
 and sells his life most dearly at last. 
 
 What, then, is the nature of the fox ? Must it be 
 classed with mental powers, or with instinctive faculties? 
 Among which of these is the seat of that authority, 
 which directs so skilfully all his actions ? How does he 
 come in possession of so much skill ? Js it an endow- 
 ment, or an acquirement ? 
 
 " The fox," says a late writer, " goes warily to work ; 
 and having discovered from experience that he is in 
 danger of a foe or a snare at every turn, he has re- 
 course to that subtilty which a combination of fear, 
 caution, and appetite, influencing a shrewd disposition, 
 can bestow, and which have won for him a wide-spread 
 renown." 
 
 These remarks appear to us to embody no philosophy 
 at all; they are quite wide of they mark. They are 
 mere statements, resting upon no supports. The pre- 
 mises are put down in an advanced position. The 
 argument is founded on error, and the reasoning brings 
 forth accordingly erroneous conclusions. The expla- 
 nation is totally insufficient to throw any light upon the 
 dark point that is the hidden source of the operations ; 
 for, in the first place, before a fox can be said to have 
 obtained experience of a snare, he must have been caught, 
 and if once entrapped, the probability is that he would 
 have been killed, or at least disabled. Now a lame fox
 
 REYNARD'S DEVICES. 113 
 
 is rarely ever found. Besides, it cannot be supposed 
 that every fox has, some time or other, been caught in a 
 trap, yet all foxes are equally wary and cunning ; and 
 if they have not been ensnared in this way, how then 
 can they have derived experience from such means ? 
 The cunning of the fox, therefore, is not the result of 
 experience, for there has been nothing adequate to pro- 
 duce it. 
 
 It is true that Reynard's devices are very much like 
 the contrivances of human reason ; too much so, we think, 
 for the argument of those who ascribe the animal's skill 
 to an intelligent principle, for the facts prove too much. 
 If they are the work of his intellectual powers, then the 
 fox must be considered a very profound reasoner in his 
 way. But this hypothesis derives no support from the 
 physical structure of the animal. His brain is too small, 
 and his muzzle too pointed. The former is only u^tli 
 of the bulk of his body, and the formation of the latter is 
 indicative of stupidity. We conclude, then, that the mar- 
 vellous quality is innate. The power that influences 
 this so called cunning animal is, therefore, a mysterious 
 Instinct. It is an endowment from Nature, and no at- 
 tainment. 
 
 Some very curious questions may be started with 
 respect to the habits of Reynard. How does he know, 
 or how does he become conscious, that he has a scent 
 at all ? Why should he understand, or seem to under- 
 stand, or act as if he really did understand, that it was 
 by means of the scent he left behind him that he was 
 pursued ? And, what is still more marvellous, how 
 should he know the way to destroy it ? As, for instance, 
 that of directing his course over the lowest and most 
 splashy grounds; that of plunging himself into the 
 water ; that of running along the furrow immediately 
 before the team that his odour might be ploughed in ; 
 that of running along the top of a hedge that the taint 
 might be raised above the dogs' noses ; and, lastly that 
 most consummate trick played upon the less wary 
 badger. 
 
 To have devised some of these plans would have re- 
 quired what, in common language, is called a sharp 
 fellow. What man, for instance, although of no mean 
 i
 
 114 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 ability, would, on the moment, have suggested to the 
 fox the expediency of having recourse to the furrow, 
 as the safest means of covering his scent from the almost 
 infallible noses of his indefatigable pursuers ? Nor less 
 wonderful is the dodge Reynard made with the badger. 
 Both these facts involve an amount of knowledge some- 
 where which is greater than that possessed by men of 
 average information ; while they involve also some rea- 
 soning faculty, or something equivalent to it, that is stronger 
 and more acute than that which belongs to men in general. 
 Such an amount of knowledge, and such force of rea- 
 soning, we cannot concede to an animal ; we attribute, 
 therefore, the actions and the famous artifices of the fox 
 to some power different from that of intelligence, inas- 
 much as many of his operations cannot be explained by 
 the latter principle. 
 
 The fox displays most skill, perhaps, in the act of self- 
 preservation, and more especially in a crisis of imminent 
 danger. He accommodates his artifices to the circum- 
 tances and situations of the moment. This fact, it may 
 be said, is a strong proof of an intellectual power. But 
 has instinct no accommodating quality ? Why should it 
 not ? Admit this, and much of the difficulty in regard 
 to animal intelligence vanishes. Some cases there are 
 in which it is most difficult not to allow it. And the 
 most remarkable is that of a bee, repairing its broken 
 comb. Here we cannot see how it can be refused, un- 
 less this insect be considered a reasoning creature, and 
 some authors seem to have written with the view of 
 making the supposition good. It appears to us so absurd 
 that we do not entertain it for a moment, and the habits 
 of the bee entirely refute the notion ; but this matter 
 will be fully explained in its proper place. 
 
 " Taking instinct, therefore," says Dr. Hancock, " to 
 be a principle in the constitution of animals, given them 
 by their Maker for the purpose of preserving the in- 
 dividuals and continuing the kind, its accommodating 
 itself to circumstances and situations is no argument 
 against its existence, nor a good proof that it is always 
 the result of reasoning ; because he who made it a part 
 of the constitution of his creatures, knows that the same 
 ends must be often sought by different means, especially
 
 IKSTIXCT OF THE BEAVER. 115 
 
 when times, places, and circumstances are altered. For 
 if this accommodating property were not imparted to 
 instinct, it would not produce the effects for which it 
 seems intended, as we know that it is impossible that 
 similar means should produce similar effects, when cir- 
 cumstances, climates, and situations are different. The 
 accommodating variations only occur where the disad- 
 vantages exist, against which the instinct is intended to 
 provide." 
 
 The structure of the fox combines elegance with an 
 adaptation of parts to the predatory and solitary life he 
 is destined to live ; and, in like manner, his instinctive 
 faculties are such as to put him on his guard against 
 failing an easy victim to the perils to which his natural 
 habits expose him. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 The Beaver. Unlike Man who studies. Its Instinct very striking. 
 As if acquainted with Laws of Gravity. Its Brain. Animal 
 Intelligence. 
 
 LORD BROUGHAM says that the beaver " may be called, 
 in respect of its works, the bee of quadrupeds, or if you 
 will, of intelligent animals, holding among them as high 
 a place as does the bee among instinctive creatures." 
 
 The resemblance is in the civil polity and social habits 
 which pre-eminently characterise both. The beavers 
 work in concert, and in addition to their private dwell- 
 ings, rear in common a public work that is useful to all 
 the families which form a settlement. This is economy 
 of labour ; what, then, is their guide in this matter, for 
 we apprehend that these animals act blindly as regards 
 the ends, and are totally incapable of understanding it ? 
 The curious motor power lies deeply hidden in darkest 
 mystery, and this it is which makes the habits of this 
 peaceful, industrious, and harmless creature of peculiar 
 interest to every reflecting mind. Its operative faculty 
 is, as will be seen, more decidedly and purely instinctive 
 than that possessed by any other mammal. It is our 
 business, then, just to examine the character of the ani- 
 i 2
 
 116 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 mal's architecture in connection with the purposes it has 
 to serve, and to notice its mode of collecting and pre- 
 paring the materials that are necessary for the building, 
 for herefrom comes the manifestation of that power 
 which is the subject of our inquiry, and in it are to be 
 discovered as many objects of admiration as of wonder, 
 and such, we believe, that no intelligent human being 
 can contemplate without being the subject of both. 
 
 The communities of beavers in North America do not 
 always build their houses without some variety in the 
 situations ; but they are constructed either upon lakes 
 or ponds, or upon those narrow creeks which connect 
 the lakes together. Running water, however, is pre- 
 ferred, on account of the use that can be made of the 
 current. If the water of the river or creek is liable to 
 be drained off by its sources being frozen, so as to be- 
 come below a convenient point, the apparent wisdom of 
 these animals teaches them to provide against that evil 
 by constructing a dam or dyke across the stream, below 
 the spot in the bank they select as the place of their 
 private dwellings. Now this dam, moreover, is not uni- 
 form in shape, but varies, according to the circumstances 
 of the place, with remarkable precision and fitness. If 
 the current of water is slow, and has but little force in 
 its motion, the dyke is run across nearly in a straight 
 line ; but if the stream is rapid and of great strength of 
 motion, the dam is formed into a considerable curve, 
 with its convex side towards the current, that is, on that 
 side which is next their habitations. The design of the 
 dam is to retain a sufficient depth of water in the river 
 opposite the bank in which the beavers construct their 
 places of abode. 
 
 What, therefore, is the object of this breakwater 
 simply, and what the object of the curve in particular ? 
 It is plain in both cases ; that is, plain to men now that 
 they have discovered the laws of mechanical force, but 
 not before ; for we question whether any man who did 
 not understand them, and who was without any experi- 
 ence of the art, would do as the beaver does, were he 
 required to set about the means to answer the same 
 purpose. The probability is, that he would rear a dam 
 across the river under any circumstances, and that in a
 
 THE BEAVER AVD MATHEMATICS. 117 
 
 line as straight as could be, thinking it would be the 
 least labour to go the way the crow flies. The use of 
 the curve in the direction, and of the slope in the bank, 
 it may be safely affirmed, would never occur to him. 
 
 Everybody now knows the leading principle of an 
 arched bridge ; that it is to give strength to the struc- 
 ture, and that the arch is the form which secures more 
 strength, with the same amount and quality of materials, 
 than that of any other. But how does the beaver get 
 hold of this ? Without doubt the object is the same, for 
 the animal forms the curve only when it will be required, 
 or when there will be a strong force to resist. Man has 
 discovered the principle by bringing experience to the 
 aid of his reason ; but the beaver goes direct to work 
 without experience, and, moreover, without hesitation, 
 not in the least perplexed with a doubt about the possi- 
 bility of being wrong. Its guide is infallible, and this is 
 something superior to human reason. 
 
 There is, too, another feature about the construction 
 of the dam that is not less striking, and displays not 
 less beautifully the ingenuity of the architect. Its width 
 at the base is about twelve feet, and it then tapers 
 upwards, till the top has a thickness of only about three 
 feet ; but the slope is all on one side, and it is on that 
 which is opposed to the stream ; while the other side, 
 which has no force to resist, is perpendicular ; so that if 
 it was carried up to a point at the top, it would form a 
 right-angled triangle. Now this shape and these pro- 
 portions are just those which the principles of mathematics 
 discover as best fitted to offer the most resistance. Yet 
 the beaver can know nothing of mathematics. Very few 
 men even are sufficiently acquainted with them to work 
 out the problem. What is the nature, then, of that mys- 
 terious something, which guides and impels this animal 
 so unerringly to act upon the truest principles of the 
 art? 
 
 Then, again, how should the beaver know when the 
 water in the river or creek is subject to fail in the depth 
 necessary for its purpose ? For it does not build a dam 
 where it is not necessary. This is a most marvellous 
 prescience for an animal; but it cannot be supposed 
 that the beaver traces the marks of the water along the
 
 118 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 banks of the stream, and by its own observations thereon 
 comes to the conclusion, that what it sees has been, will 
 be again. This is the way man would get at it, were he 
 a stranger to the locality, and had he no other means of 
 knowing it. His mode of inquiry, however, and his 
 ability to explore and put his observations together, 
 in order to compare and reason upon his comparisons, 
 require certain mental faculties with which no animal has 
 ever been gifted, or ever will be. 
 
 The situation of the dam, too, deserves a little of our 
 attention. The beavers first appear to select a spot on 
 the northern bank of the river, in order to have the 
 benefit of the sun on their houses, and then appoint the 
 site of their breakwater; still they make no mistake 
 here, such as that of constructing the dyke on the wrong 
 side of their dwellings, where it would be of no use to 
 them. Who or what is their engineer ? Whoever or 
 whatever it is, it never misleads them ; and it is not 
 a little remarkable that they should never build the dam 
 out of its proper and most fitting place. They have no 
 necessity to appoint one of their number that has been to 
 college for the purpose of being trained in the art, to act 
 as their guide and ruler, to take the superintendence of 
 the structure, and the responsibility of the undertaking. 
 The secret and infallible monitor has its seat in the very 
 disposition of every individual beaver, with an equal 
 degree of certainty and amount of force, and all agree at 
 once to one plan, and in such a manner that one would 
 think they had some particular method of understanding 
 one another. They hit upon the right mode as if by ac- 
 cident ; more wonderful, however, than the coincidence 
 of two human beings falling upon the same design, for 
 it is a concentration of coincidences from the distinct in- 
 dividuals of a whole community. 
 
 " No man," says Lord Brougham, " ever acted so as 
 to make his operations chime in with another's, unless he 
 either had previous concert with that other, or both acted 
 under a common superior, and obeyed his direction ; and 
 then the joint operation was that of his superior. But 
 suppose a man were compelled by some feeling he could 
 not account for, and did not at all understand, to go at a 
 given time to a certain place, and with such speed as to
 
 * ANIMALS AT LABOUR. 119 
 
 arrive there at a given moment, and were to find another 
 just arrived there, who came to meet him without the 
 former previously knowing this, we should have a case 
 similar to that of animals acting in concert, supposing 
 them to do so." 
 
 It seems hardly possible to have the matter put 
 better; but we think the similarity would have been 
 more perfect and striking had his lordship substituted fifty 
 men or more instead of two only, as he has ; for, in 
 some cases, many more animals or insects than the 
 number we have suggested are found to act in the most 
 perfect concert. The beavers must act in this way, 
 for it is impossible that they can compass the ends of 
 their marvellous operations ; but what kind of mental 
 consciousness if any at all these creatures have of 
 their work while in the act of executing it, can never 
 be determined. 
 
 We may observe here that the usual habits of an 
 engineer, or an architect, either when planning or exe- 
 cuting, are not, in the same circumstances, the charac- 
 teristics of animals. In such cases, anxiety more or 
 less, in proportion to the responsibility of the under- 
 taking, distinguishes man, and that almost without an 
 exception ; but in no instance does the animal feel any, 
 although its very life may depend upon the success of 
 its measures. Man will rise early and sit up late, 
 spending many of his hours that ought to be given to 
 repose in troubled thought, in order to discover the best 
 means of answering his end. His anxiety often ex- 
 hausts his spirits, while his devotion emaciates his frame 
 and breaks down his health. The animal never does 
 any such thing. Its plans are formed without study 
 at all, and its work is executed without anxiety at 
 all. It is, properly speaking, neither depressed nor 
 elated, yet always labours w^th cheerfulness, and is 
 the subject of no harassing cares, because it is incapable 
 of feeling the responsibility of ultimate consequences. 
 Here, then, must be perceived a wide difference between 
 rational man and the irrational brute ; and, under the 
 circumstances named, the animal appears to have the 
 best of it, for it certainly acts the more rational part. 
 In the latter case, it is the wisdom of the Creator acting 
 i 4
 
 120 MARVELS OF INSTIXCT. 
 
 through Instinct ; in the former, it is man himself who puts 
 his own mind to applications of inordinate length and care. 
 
 One thing more remains to be mentioned concerning 
 the beaver, and that, too, is a very remarkable one. 
 Some branches of trees, as well as their trunks, are 
 necessary for the proper construction of their dam, and 
 the beavers here find work for their gnawing disposition, 
 which innate quality, however, would be of no use to 
 them had they no cutting tools suitable for such a 
 purpose. Just these tools, then, are found in the four 
 incisor teeth of these quadrupeds, which have them 
 two in each jaw. " The incisor teeth of the beaver are 
 broad, flattened, and protected anteriorly by a layer of 
 orange-coloured enamel, the rest of the tooth being of a 
 comparatively soft substance, where a cutting chisel-like 
 edge is obtained, and indeed no edge tool, with all its com- 
 bination of hard and soft metal, could answer the purpose 
 better. In fact, the beaver's incisor tooth is fashioned 
 much upon the same principle as that followed by the 
 tool maker, who forms a cutting instrument by a skilful 
 adaptation of hard and soft materials, in order to produce 
 a good edge." So that He who gave the propensity to 
 gnaw, must have been the same Being who supplied the 
 animal with the most fitting instruments for putting it 
 into use. 
 
 But the fact to which we wish to direct special atten- 
 tion here is the method the beaver adopts in the appli- 
 cation of its cutting instruments for the purpose of 
 answering its ends. It is well known that this animal 
 fells the trees it requires for use by means of these sharp 
 teeth ; and we shall now find that the beavers seems ac- 
 quainted with another science, and that not a simple one, 
 at least it goes to work as if familiar Avith the laws of 
 gravity. It begins the business of felling by gnawing 
 round the base of the tree ; but in order to save itself a 
 great deal of work, and to overcome an otherwise insu- 
 perable difficulty, for it is necessary that the tree should 
 fall across the stream, that it may float down with the 
 current, the beaver operates mostly on one side, and that 
 always on the right one, doubtless, without any previous 
 experience, for there is no reason to believe that a young 
 beaver would not do it as unerringly, and set about it with 
 as much readiness, as the oldest of the family. The fact
 
 INSTINCT UNCONQUERABLE. 121 
 
 that this singular creature should gnaw nearly through 
 on one side, while leaving the other nearly untouched, 
 without ever being in error as to the side taken, is as 
 exquisitely curious as it is deeply mysterious, and must 
 be the result of a purely instinctive faculty. The trees 
 cut down are sometimes of the thickness of a man's body, 
 and the beavers select those which stand up the stream, 
 from the place of their habitations, not those below it, 
 because, in the latter case, they could not haul them up 
 against the current, although of this again they can have 
 no experience, for they never try it. 
 
 In like manner, the branches of trees, which have been 
 dragged from inland, they commit to the water above 
 their dam, that these materials also may float down to it 
 likewise. 
 
 So strong is the impulse of their building instinct that 
 they cannot help yielding to it, even when there is no 
 necessity for it, and this is a presumptive evidence that 
 they know nothing whatever of its purport. Of the one 
 brought to this country in 1825, Mr. Broderip gives the 
 following account : 
 
 " It would drag along a large sweeping brush, or a 
 warming-pan, grasping the handle with its teeth, so that 
 the load came over its shoulder, and advancing in an 
 oblique direction, till it arrived at the point where it 
 wished to place it. The long and large materials were 
 always taken first, and two of the longest were generally 
 laid crosswise, with one of the ends of each touching the 
 wall, and the other ends projecting out into the room. 
 The area formed by the cross brushes and the wall he 
 would fill up with hand-brushes, rush baskets, books, 
 boots, sticks, cloths, dried turf, or anything portable. . . . 
 After he had piled up his materials in one part of the 
 room (for he generally chose the same place), he pro- 
 ceeded to wall up the space between the feet of a chest 
 of drawers, which stood at a little distance from it, high 
 enough on its legs to make the bottom a roof for him, 
 using for this purpose dried turf and sticks, which he 
 laid very even, and filling up the interstices with bits of 
 coal, hay, cloth, or anything he could pick up. This last 
 place he seemed to appropriate for his dwelling ; the 
 former work seemed to be intended for a dam."
 
 122 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 All the modes of -working, then, adopted by the beaver, 
 are purely instinctive in character. They prove too 
 much for animal intelligence, since some of them suppose 
 a large acquaintance with more than one of the abstruse 
 sciences, and not a less amount of sagacity in applying 
 them an extent of knowledge, and power of sagacity, 
 the former of which the large majority of human beings 
 never acquire, nor are they endowed with an equal 
 amount of the latter. 
 
 But what support can be gathered from the phreno- 
 logical facts ? Now the brain of the beaver, in proportion 
 to the bulk of its body, is only ^^th ; a proportion not 
 nearly so large as that of the rat, which is --Vth. So 
 that if the amount of nervous matter be allowed as any 
 sort of criterion, and as a general rule we think it is, the 
 rat ought to be a much more intelligent animal than the 
 beaver. But where Instinct interferes with the standard, 
 as it does in animals, in some more, in others less, no 
 certain conclusions can ever be arrived at. Adopting, 
 then, the rule, the facts support the belief that the ope- 
 rations of the beaver are the results of an instinctive 
 faculty rather than that of an intellectual one. The brain 
 of the beaver, too, like all other rodentia, is destitute of 
 those convolutions on its surface which characterise this 
 organ in man, and in some of the higher animals, but 
 which especially mark the human brain. 
 
 The operations of the beaver, in the words of Lord 
 Brougham, " are of great uniformity ; all packs or 
 companies of beavers, and at all times, build the same 
 shaped structure, and resemble one another so closely 
 in matters which are arbitrary, and therefore cannot 
 be considered as the result of experience or reflection 
 cannot be dictated by circumstances." 
 
 This last affirmation, though from such high authority, 
 is not perhaps strictly correct, for we have seen that 
 the be'avers do adapt the structure of their breakwater 
 to the circumstances of the river. If the water maintains 
 a uniform level, without being subject to fluctuations, 
 these economical and apparently shrewd creatures build 
 no dam at all ; if the current be steady in its flow, they 
 take it across nearly in a straight line ; but if the motion 
 of the water is violent or strong, they then make it into
 
 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 123 
 
 a considerable curve. And what is this but an ac- 
 commodating power of Instinct ? As a rule, Instinct 
 operates uniformly, but it seems, nevertheless, provided, 
 with a property that is capable of accommodating itself, 
 within certain limits, to emergencies or accidental cir- 
 cumstances that may happen within the particular pro- 
 vince the limits of which circumscribe the instinctive 
 operations of any species of animals or insects, birds or 
 fishes. 
 
 There are many other animals among quadrupeds, 
 the habits of which are fraught with very great interest ; 
 but the beaver must be the last of our selection from 
 its class, since all our space allotted to mammals is filled 
 up, and we shall, therefore, next pass on to make a 
 selection from the feathered tribes, which have habits 
 of life not less amusing and curious than those we have 
 already considered. 
 
 It will not be thought that we allow no sort of in- 
 telligence to quadrupeds, but we believe it is confined 
 very much to those of them that are destined to become 
 directly useful to man those that he must teach, 
 before he can guide and controul ; such, for instance, 
 as the elephant, the horse, and the dog. Had these been 
 gifted with no kind of intelligence whatever, how could 
 they be instructed? and without being instructed, what 
 use could man make of them? It appears to us, there- 
 fore, that intelligence is given to animals only, or 
 chiefly, in order that man may make them subservient 
 to his purposes, and in amount sufficient only to answer 
 his ends. The animals of purest and strongest instinct 
 cannot be taught, and such are those to which instruction 
 is not necessary ; they serve man's use best by the 
 force of their Instincts.
 
 124 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Instincts of Birds. Their Brain. The Stork. Striking Habits. 
 Mode of Travel very singular. How deals with other's 
 Young. Instinct in a Cage. Hen's Instinct. Her curious 
 Conduct. Ostrich's Instinct. Her remarkable Neglect. Her 
 Stupidity. Heron. Her mode of Fishing. 
 
 THE total bulk of the brain of birds, compared with 
 the weight of the body, is not less than that in the 
 mammalia. Its surface is destitute of those convolutions 
 or eminences which form such a prominent feature of 
 the human brain; nor is there any corpus callosum 
 fibres of white matter uniting the hemispheres; and 
 the cerebellum, moreover, is large. In some of the 
 smaller birds, as sparrows and canaries, the proportion 
 of brain exceeds that in man ; for in the latter birds 
 it amounts to T ' T th of their bulk, and to ^-th in the 
 former ; but this is accounted for in consequence of the 
 large quantity of medullary matter required for the origin 
 of the nerves ; and besides, the cineritious matter forms 
 but a small portion of the brain. The cineritious, glan- 
 dular, or secretory part is of a greyish-brown colour, 
 and surrounds the inner portion of this remarkable or- 
 gan. The optic thalami are, however, voluminous. 
 
 The birds of a migratory character shall have first 
 attention, and these creatures of God's creative wisdom 
 afford to man examples as instructive as their instinctive 
 impulse is curious and interesting. They engaged the 
 thoughts of the ancient poets and philosophers, as well 
 as those of the inspired penmen of old ; and they are 
 worthy of the consideration of every philosophic mind 
 of the present day. 
 
 Jeremiah thought it strange that the fowls of the air 
 should be wiser than the people of the Lord, yet so it 
 was, and so it still is. The fowls of the heaven, the 
 fishes of the sea, the cattle upon a thousand hills, and 
 every creeping thing upon the face of the earth, live in 
 obedience to those laws which, with infinite wisdom, 
 their Creator has stamped upon their constitutions. But
 
 HABITS OF THE STORK. 125 
 
 man, though made superior to all else, and placed at 
 the head of all, alone rebels. Let the prophet himself 
 speak : " The stork in the heaven knoweth her ap- 
 pointed times ; and the turtle and the crane and the 
 swallow observe the time of their coming : but my 
 people know not the judgments of the Lord." 
 
 The Stork. This sombre and apparently melancholy 
 being, so remarkable for its gravity and mournful visage, 
 is, like the swallow, a bird of passage. Storks make their 
 migrations in large flocks. Spring is the time of their 
 arrival in Europe, and though they rarely visit Britain, 
 they do yet find their way to Sweden and to the 
 north of Russia ; and though common at Seville, they 
 are seldom seen at Rome. As winter approaches, the 
 travellers return to seek again the more genial climes 
 of Asia and North Africa, but that of Egypt more espe- 
 cially. They are welcome guests to the inhabitants of 
 the marsh and the low countries, where frog and rep- 
 tile abound, for these scavenger birds clear the land of 
 all such nuisances, the living and the dead both. Hence 
 in Holland they are a privileged race, receiving pro- 
 tection from the laws. The Dutchman erects a false 
 chimney, and the German a platform, as sites for the 
 building of their nests ; while the birds themselves make 
 choice also of turrets and steeples for the same purpose, 
 and compose the nests with sticks and twigs, and line 
 them with reeds, grasses, and moss. When tamed, they 
 may be seen stalking unconcernedly about the streets 
 and market-places of towns, and clearing them of all 
 putrescent substances, such as offal and entrails, which 
 are often scattered about the thoroughfares of the people, 
 who are not particularly nice as to the consequence 
 of the invisible but not less noxious effluvia. 
 
 In Egypt the fields and meadows are sometimes seen 
 to be quite white with living storks, and Dr. Shaw, 
 while journeying over Mount Carmel, was there a witness 
 to one of their annual migrations from the valley of the 
 Nile, and states that the three flocks he saw pass over 
 were half a mile in width each, and occupied the space 
 of three hours in passing. At no other time are they 
 seen in flocks but those of assembling for starting and 
 for returning, and those of making their aerial flights
 
 126 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 to and fro. It is, too, with unerring sagacity that they 
 return to the same spot formerly occupied by them, 
 as well as to the same nests they quitted the previous 
 year, and manifest much joy in again taking possession 
 of their deserted steeples and turrets. Unlike the crane, 
 the storks seems incapable of producing any vocal sound, 
 and all the noise they make is a peculiar snapping clatter, 
 which results from the concussion of their mandibles. 
 
 But the most striking of the storks' habits, and those 
 which involve the points of special interest to us, not 
 only because they are proper to our subject, but because 
 they are so strangely curious, are to be found in their 
 mode of assembling together before setting out on their 
 journey homewards, and in the peculiar method by 
 which that journey is executed. Some considerable 
 time is spent in preparation for the aerial voyage. The 
 thought of it if the expression may be allowed 
 seems to put them into a great deal of excitement, espe- 
 cially as the time of departure approaches, which is about 
 the beginning of September ; and though silent at all other 
 times, they now begin to pour forth a most singular 
 clacking with their bills, as if debating the method of going 
 home, or the time of starting, or as if they were making in- 
 quiries as to whether the whole flock had come in, or which 
 were missing, or when all would be ready. For, and 
 it is worthy of special remark, the journey is not com- 
 menced until all the storks of a whole district have been 
 collected together, so that none be left behind after the 
 hour fixed upon. 
 
 What, then, is the method by which these birds know, 
 or appear to know, when all their numbers have ar- 
 rived ? Should one of a large flock be absent, can they 
 be really conscious of it ? They seem to act as if they 
 were, for none depart till all are in. For many days pre- 
 vious to their setting out, their place of meeting is like 
 the breaking up of a camp, only longer delayed ; the 
 whole body is in commotion, every individual in full 
 bustle, and the multitude of mandibles, all striking 
 quickly and forcibly together, produce a clatter as ex- 
 traordinary as the scene is mysterious and interesting. 
 It is plain that no philosophic explanation can be given to 
 these remarkable motions and noises. The cause, the
 
 THE STORK IN FLIGHT. 127 
 
 spring of the movements, lies too deeply hidden in 
 mystery for any power of intellect to investigate. Man's 
 philosophy will not, cannot reach it. But everybody 
 must admire the beautiful illustrations of an Instinct, 
 though itself not understood, which is so nicely adapted 
 to the necessities of a creature it so unerringly guides, 
 and so precisely controuls. 
 
 At length the clattering clamour ceases, silence 
 succeeds the general hubbub, and when everything 
 appears settled, and all arrangements completed, the 
 birds take to their wing in a body, as if every individual 
 of the whole flock had been duly and particularly ap- 
 prised of the moment of departure. We apprehend 
 that it is by no method of communication from one to 
 another that each stork comes to understand when that 
 moment is at hand. Yet evidently none misunderstand it, 
 for all are of one mind about it. They are able to distin- 
 guish it from that of taking an excursion for food. But 
 why should they ? Not one, not even those that have 
 never experienced it, is in doubt as to what is about 
 10 take place. There is not the least difference of 
 opinion about the time or the method, because there is 
 but one director, Instinct, which acts simultaneously, 
 and in all alike. But how this mysterious power operates, 
 we do not pretend to understand ; whether indirectly, by 
 a law stamped upon the nature of the stork, or directly, 
 by the continual superintendence of the Supreme Being. 
 Our opinion adheres to the former plan, for the reasons 
 we have already given, as being more consistent with our 
 Maker's general mode of government. 
 
 Night is the time that storks mount upon the wing 
 for the purpose of entering upon their journey ; rarely, 
 therefore, can their manner of arranging themselves be 
 witnessed, or it would be a spectacle of no ordinary 
 interest. It seems, however, that it is done without noise 
 or confusion, and ascending at once high in the air, they 
 form their numbers into a sort of an open triangle, thus, 
 A, in order the better to cleave the atmosphere. The po- 
 sition so assumed is the one best fitted to cut the aerial 
 element with the greatest ease and rapidity ; although 
 the confirmation of the birds appears very constrained, 
 for every head and neck is directed straightfonvards,
 
 128 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 and all legs are extended backwards. The leading bird, 
 which divides the air in advance of the others, or that at 
 the apex of the triangle, has the hardest place, and even 
 this seems to be fully understood by them, for the post is 
 held only for a time, when the head stork turns off and 
 falls in quite at the rear, while the succeeding bird im- 
 mediately takes its place, and presently the same thing 
 will be repeated, so that every individual takes its turn 
 at the most arduous duty. This is a most extraordinary 
 arrangement to be made by animals, and our curiosity 
 prompts us to ask, how do these creatures discover that 
 the apex of the figure is the most difficult place ? Then 
 again, that being understood, by what method do they 
 agree to take it in turns ? Further, how does the bird 
 filling it know when it has done its duty, and the time 
 to relinquish it ? How are all these things managed 
 by them ? These are questions in the highest degree 
 curious, but they cannot be answered. 
 
 It is said of the cranes, which take their flights in a 
 similar manner, that when the wind becomes violent, 
 and threatens to break their ranks, they throw their lines 
 into a circle ; or if an eagle is about to attack them, they 
 adopt the same manoeuvre, and it is supposed that the 
 storks have recourse to stratagems of the kind under like 
 circumstances. 
 
 The instinct of affection for their young is remarkably 
 strong in the storks ; and if the following account from 
 Brown's anecdotes is correct, they are a little more acute 
 in distinguishing their own young from those of other 
 birds, than are some well-known others of the feathered 
 tribes. " At Smyrna, storks have become very familiar, 
 and build their nests on the tops of houses, and other 
 elevated situations. The inhabitants take particular 
 delight in amusing themselves at the expense of the life 
 of the poor hen birds. This is by taking away some of 
 the stork's eggs from the nest, and replacing them by 
 those of the common domestic fowl. When the young 
 are hatched, the sagacious male bird discovers the differ- 
 ence of these from their own brood, and sets up a hideous 
 screaming, which excites the attention of the neigh- 
 bouring storks, which fly to his nest. Seeing the cau?e 
 of their neighbour's uneasiness, they simultaneously
 
 MIGRATORY INSTINCT. 129 
 
 commence pecking the hen, and soon deprive her of life, 
 supposing these spurious young ones to be the produce 
 of her conjugal infidelity. The male bird in the mean- 
 time appears melancholy, and bemoans her loss, though 
 he seems to conceive she justly merited her fate for 
 bringing disgrace upon her family." 
 
 The intensity of the migrating instinct is very great, 
 and no better, nor more striking proof of it, can be given 
 than what has been furnished by storks when confined in 
 a cage. The illustration is marvellously curious, and 
 remarkably precise and marked as to the time of its de- 
 velopment. Previously to the period of migration the 
 stork in captivity has no fault with its prison, nor kicks 
 at its confinement, but is very quiet, and apparently 
 quite contented. The moment, however, the time ap- 
 pointed for departure arrives, the bird can be at peace 
 no longer. Some strange impulse has awoke within it, 
 and exerts an irresistible influence. It is more like the 
 spirit of inspiration than any other thing to which we 
 can liken it, and operates, we should say, in a manner 
 very similar to that power which urged the prophets to 
 speak, more particularly on those occasions when they 
 were made to foretel events they did not clearly compre- 
 hend. The author of both powers is one and the same 
 Being. The mysterious instinctive faculty begins to 
 operate at the proper and fit time ; and though invisible 
 as the wind, its rising is irrepressible, and its indication 
 unmistakeable. The stork neither sees it, nor knows what 
 it is. The bird, however, has no means of resisting it, 
 nor inclination either ; but when the internal monitor 
 admonishes, the captive, for the first time, seems to feel 
 that she is a prisoner, and in her struggles to obtain 
 freedom, in order to obey the voice of her Instinct, she 
 dashes herself against the bars of her cage, and ceases 
 not till every spark of her life has been extinguished by 
 the force of her own efforts. Such, then, is the power of 
 this wonderful Instinct. 
 
 Verily there is a power, too, in the Spirit of the Lord, 
 but felt only in the hearts of those who fear Him : " The 
 wind bloweth where it chooseth, and thou nearest the 
 sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
 
 130 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 whither it goeth ; so is every one who is born of the 
 Spirit." 
 
 Though the instinctive faculty in animals is invisible, 
 it is yet plain that it is operative. The Spirit of God is 
 invisible, but nevertheless not inactive. It is given to 
 purify the innate corruptions of the human heart, and it 
 becomes man to seek it by earnest prayer at the hands of 
 Him who alone can give it. Without His refining in- 
 fluence, there can be no Christianity, and consequently 
 no salvation. Forms and duties and ceremonies are all 
 vain, where the heart is not under the mysterious and 
 holy influence of the Divine Spirit. 
 
 The common Fowl. A farm-yard hen, unlike the 
 stork, can be cheated with strange eggs and young easily 
 enough ; nor does she ever afterwards discover the trick. 
 She and her progeny have the greatest dread of water, 
 while her brood of tiny ducklings venture in with the 
 utmost delight. In the greatest distress as to what will 
 become of the strange little adventurers, the foster-mother 
 chucks all round the margin of the pond. She calls them 
 off, warning them of danger, and trying to alarm them ; 
 but they heed none of her cries ; her anxious tones do 
 not affect them, nor are they understood by them. She 
 wanders from point to point as if she thought some un- 
 accountable fate had taken possession of her offspring ; 
 and though she can swim, she never makes an adventure 
 in the water after her brood ; her aversion to that ele- 
 ment is greater than the Instinct of her affection. Not- 
 withsanding all these glaring inconsistencies of the little 
 strangers, the hen still makes no detection of the fraud. 
 She continues as stupid as ever about the matter. She 
 obeys her Instinct without knowing why. She is un- 
 acquainted with the object, and she cannot distinguish the 
 means. 
 
 The habit of the hen bird in sitting upon her eggs to 
 bring forth her young, like many other wonderful things, 
 is so common that it fails to arrest the attention, and 
 to excite the admiration, of those persons who are the 
 most familiar with it How true is the remark made 
 by Paley, that "It is difficult to resuscitate surprise, 
 when familiarity has once laid the sentiment asleep." 
 
 Yet the fact of the hen having a disposition to sit 
 upon her eggs with so much patience and tenacity as
 
 THE UNINTELLIGENT HEX. 131 
 
 she does is a truly wonderful phenomenon ; and if it 
 could be explained on any intelligent principle, it would 
 involve the knowledge of more than one particular 
 branch of science. On the supposition, for instance, 
 that it was founded upon reason, the hen must necessarily 
 know, first, that the eggs will produce her young, for 
 she insists upon having them, or something like them, 
 underneath her ; secondly, she must know that a certain 
 amount of heat is necessary to mature the chick ; thirdly, 
 that her own body will supply and impart it to the eggs ; 
 and lastly, that this heat must be continued during a 
 certain length of time without an interval even of suf- 
 ficient length to allow of their cooling. Now seeing 
 that the hen is too much of a simpleton to be able to 
 distinguish between a piece of chalk and one of her own 
 eggs, or between a duckling and a chicken, nobody will 
 be disposed to believe that intelligence is the source of 
 her actions, or that it has anything to do with them, 
 and consequently she can have no knowledge what- 
 ever of any one of the particulars we have named. If 
 she could understand one thing, she could understand 
 another that was not more difficult ; and if she could 
 reason upon one thing, she could reason upon another 
 that was not more complicated. 
 
 That the sitting hen, when having left her nest occa- 
 sionally for food, should always make it a point to re- 
 turn to it, whether she has been successful in finding 
 a sufficiency of nutriment or not, or whether any at all, 
 before the cool air has had time to abstract from her 
 eggs heat enough to do them damage, is, perhaps, the 
 most marvellous feature in the whole process. Her 
 anxiety to return is made strongly manifest. Her 
 instinctive propensity to be upon her eggs is more 
 intense than the desire to gratify her appetite. It is 
 too much to suppose that she knows for why, or that 
 she is not quite blind to the end. Were she to stop 
 away only once simply long enough for the external cold 
 to deaden the chemical and mysterious process generated 
 by the heat within the eggs, the object of her sitting 
 would be completely frustrated. But she cannot know 
 this ; yet she acts as if she did. Intelligence is wanting 
 to her ; she therefore has no means of knowing it. At
 
 132 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 the same time no intelligence, however exalted and pure, 
 could guide the hen in the use of the means to her end, 
 more unerringly than she is guided without a seeming 
 particle of an intellectual faculty. 
 
 Her conduct, then, cannot be explained upon any 
 principle of intelligence, but it must assuredly be the 
 promptings of a pure and infallible Instinct. The hen 
 does exactly and precisely what the delicate process 
 requires, without knowing anything of the nature of the 
 process, or its requirements either. How marvellously 
 nice is the adaptation between the impulse of her 
 Instinct, and the duties necessary to accomplish the 
 object designed ! It is quite plain that there is but one 
 Being from whom such things can emanate, but how 
 He carries on the operations is not plain. He, in His 
 wisdom, has not seen fit to reveal it. But let us be 
 content, and admire all that is clear about it. 
 
 In like manner act other birds ; but in one instance 
 the Instinct has been observed to accommodate itself to 
 circumstances, and this leads us to notice 
 
 The Ostrich which furnishes the example. This 
 bird has a wonderful Instinct of providing a different 
 kind of food for her young, when just hatched, from 
 that which they live upon subsequently, and from that 
 which she takes herself. The fact presents a very curious 
 phenomenon ; nevertheless, not altogether unique, in 
 principle at least, in the history of animals, as we shall 
 hereafter point out. 
 
 " In our way over the plain," says Mr. Burchell, "we 
 fell in with an ostrich's nest, if one may call a bare 
 concavity scratched in the sand, six feet in diameter, sur- 
 rounded by a trench equally shallow, and without the 
 smallest trace of any materials, such as grass, leaves, or 
 sticks, to give it a resemblance to the nests of other 
 birds. Within this hollow, and quite exposed, lay 
 twenty-five gigantic eggs, and in the trench nine more, 
 intended, as the Hottentots observe, as the first food 
 of the twenty-five young ones. Those in the hollow, 
 being designed for incubation, may often prove useless 
 to the traveller ; but the others on the outside will 
 always prove good and fit for eating. In the present 
 instance, the whole number was equally good." Some-
 
 INSTINCT OF THE OSTRICH. 133 
 
 times several female birds unite, and then sixty or 
 seventy eggs will be found in one nest, and monsters 
 they are, for one ostrich's egg is equal to twenty-four of 
 those of the common barn-fowl, and contains as much 
 as five pints of liquid. 
 
 It is no parallel to say that the young of the mammals 
 are provided at first with nutriment that they do not 
 afterwards have or require ; for here the mother, though 
 she brings forth their milk, it is yet secreted in a man- 
 ner over which she has not the slightest controul, either 
 directly or indirectly. But the act of the ostrich in 
 laying some of her eggs on one side, in order to have 
 their nutritious qualities preserved and ready for her 
 newly hatched and tender brood, is just what a know- 
 ledge of the particular qualities of the eggs and wants 
 of the young would suggest, and just what reason would 
 dictate ; since the old bird appears to have a deliberate 
 choice in this business. Yet, in truth, she can no more 
 know that her eggs are more digestible and nourishing, 
 therefore the better adapted to the powers and wants 
 of the little one just escaping from the shell, than are 
 stones, and pieces of leather and iron, which she herself 
 will often swallow. Still she does the right thing ; and, 
 could it be known, the probability is, that it would be 
 found that she adopts the only safe means of rearing 
 her offspring, and the most direct for accomplishing the 
 end to be answered. 
 
 But the fact worthy of special mention is the adapta- 
 tion of the ostrich's attention to the duties of incubation, 
 according as the variation of climate facilitates or 
 retards the chemical operation. In Senegal, where the 
 heat is excessive, the ostrich leaves the operation to be 
 sustained by the rays of the sun during the day, but 
 returns at night to her eggs, in order to perform the 
 functions of the maternal office in person. At the Cape 
 of Good Hope, however, where the sun's power is too 
 weak to be substituted in her stead, the ostrich there 
 conducts the business like other birds everywhere, and 
 sits upon her eggs both day and night. What curious 
 thing is it, then, that teaches her that she must be con- 
 stantly assiduous in the one place, while she may be 
 partially neglectful in the other? For she makes no 
 K 3
 
 134 3IARYELS OF INSTIXCT. 
 
 mistake in either case. She goes away only when there 
 is the presence of some power to carry on the process of 
 incubation without her, and that power, too, is an invi- 
 sible substance. She returns, moreover, at a moment 
 when her substitute withdraws its influence, and when 
 her further absence would be productive of mischief to 
 the chemical process going on within the eggs. 
 
 We ask here, how does the ostrich know that heat is 
 at all necessary to the operation ? and further, that its 
 supply must be constant ? but more especially, and this is 
 truly marvellous, how does she distinguish the very de- 
 gree of heat required ? In the South of Africa, she acts 
 as if she was fully aware that the heat of the sun there 
 was not of sufficient power for the purpose ; she therefore 
 never trusts to it. She cannot know it by experience, 
 for she never makes an experiment. But she behaves 
 as unerringly as if she was guided by the record of a 
 standard degree of heat that had been obtained for the 
 incubatory process, and as if she acertained the degree 
 of the sun's power by a thermometer, and could judge, 
 with all the certainty and nicety of the instrument's 
 measure, when it was in deficiency. These things must 
 either be results of a very strong reasoning faculty, or of 
 an accommodating property of Instinct. We admit the 
 latter alternative, and exclude the possibility of any ex- 
 plication from the former. 
 
 If the intellectual principle be adhered to, it must be 
 granted to the ostrich on a large scale, for no small 
 amount of intelligence will be sufficient to give an expla- 
 nation of her conduct. The facts display some very 
 correct reasoning from premises, based upon particular 
 knowledge. 
 
 Now it is well known that the ostrich is rather a stupid 
 animal ; at any rate, not in the least remarkable for any 
 degree of sagacity. It is even said that, when pursued, 
 the ostrich, instead of running ahead, like the fox, per- 
 forms the flight in circles, thus giving to her pursuer the 
 advantage of taking a shorter course. Nor, in a phy- 
 sical point of view, will the argument support the belief 
 that this bird has much strength of intellectual faculty ; 
 for in proportion to the size of her body, the head is 
 extremely small, and, moreover, very flat; so that the
 
 THE HERON'S INSTINCT. 135 
 
 organ we consider as the seat of that power must be 
 exceedingly diminutive likewise. Whether anything 
 can be said on the score of quality, we cannot tell. But 
 the brains of the ostrich were considered a choice deli- 
 cacy by the Romans, and formed one of the luxuries on 
 the profusely spread table of Heliogabalus, who had 
 them scooped out from hundreds of these birds' heads 
 at a time for the purpose of a licentious feast. 
 
 The Heron. We shall stop to notice one instinct 
 only of this bird, and that is one not a little wonderful 
 in its character. It is generally known that fish are 
 alarmed at shadows upon the water, especially at those 
 in motion ; but this is the case more particularly with 
 the trout and salmon tribes. They dislike to approach 
 a shadow at rest ; but when disturbed by one in motion, 
 they dart away as if with fright into the deep, and 
 return to the spot only after a lengthened period. Now 
 the heron seems familiar with the habits of such fish, 
 and shapes her conduct accordingly ; for she fishes only 
 in the absence of the sun, when there can be no shadow 
 to frighten away her prey. 
 
 Such being the case, this " bird alights in a quiet way, 
 then wades into the water to its depth, folds its long neck 
 partially over its back, and forward again, and with 
 watchful eye awaits till a fish comes within the range of 
 its beak. Instantaneously it darts, and the prey is se- 
 cured." It is not surely from knowledge that the heron 
 fishes at the right time ; for, if so, she must obtain it by 
 experience, and this we think a task too much beset with 
 difficulties for this or any other bird to accomplish. If 
 the old ones only did it, and the younger not, the suppo- 
 sition might be entertained ; but the great probability is 
 that all act alike, and that the young adopt the practice 
 with as much readiness and apparent sagacity as the 
 oldest and most experienced among them. We put it 
 down, then, as the marvellous working of an instinct 
 an instinct most admirably adapted to the circumstances 
 of the necessary method made use of by the heron to 
 obtain the means of subsistence. 
 
 But there is another characteristic in the habits of the 
 heron's fishing that makes the fact still more particular 
 and marked. On occasions when a river has inundated 
 K 4
 
 136 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 the marshes and plains of its basin, and the floods have 
 subsided, leaving here and there some pools of water 
 with fish in them, which had not been able to return with 
 the volume of the rolling element, then it is that the 
 herons fish in sun and shade indiscriminately, as if they 
 ielt quite positive that the alarm caused by a shadow 
 could then be of no consequence, since it was no longer 
 possible for their prey to escape them. The fish are in 
 peril, and the herons, seemingly aware of it, pounce upon 
 them without taking that peculiar precaution which 
 characterises their manner of doing it in other and ordi- 
 nary circumstances. " How," says the writer in the 
 British Naturalist, " the herons find out these occasions 
 it is difficult to say ; but we have seen several pairs 
 come after a flood to a river, which they never visited 
 upon any other occasion, and within many miles of which 
 a heronry, or even the nest of a single pair, was never 
 observed." 
 
 CHAP. XH. 
 
 The Swallow Tribe. Nicety of Migratory Instinct. Anecdote of 
 Napoleon. Freaks of the Swift. Nest of the Martin. How 
 built. Does the Martin make Reflection 'Curiosities of Nests. 
 
 The Blackbird's. The Thrush's. Their Masonry very 
 curious. The Magpie's Fortress. Finch's and Linnet's. The 
 tiny Wren's. Tomtit's. Hummingbird's. Marvels of Nests. 
 
 Why Eggs oval. Birds acting as if directed by Reason. 
 Migration of Quails. Sea-gulls no need of a Mariner's Com- 
 pass. Carrier Pigeons Their wonderful Feats. Instinctive 
 
 Concert. Language of Animals. 
 
 THE first appearance of swallows may be said to sig- 
 nalise the opening of spring, and thereby to gladden 
 the hearts of all who welcome the coming of both. It 
 is a handsome, clean, and lady-like bird, and is empha- 
 tically an inhabitant of the air, for it is extremely 
 little that it has to do with the earth. It seems fitted 
 for a more refined existence, and finds its principal 
 home in the " bright blue sky and the lofty pathways of 
 the air." Being the most purely and exclusively in-
 
 THE FLIGHT OF A SWALLOW. 137 
 
 sectivorous of birds, it is peculiarly fitted for the aerial 
 chase. 
 
 "There," writes the author of Popular Natural 
 History, "do these happy birds sport and wheel, in 
 their full felicity, for hours, floating without effort in 
 that rare expanse, which others of the feathered tribes 
 use chiefly as a highway, and not a home. No birds 
 touch the earth so rarely as the swallows, and for this 
 aerial life their structure is beautifully adapted. Look 
 at one as it comes sweeping along the village road, 
 within a few inches of the ground, which it touches not, 
 and passes close by your person, as if conscious of your 
 inability to harm or seize it during that arrowy flight. 
 Watch the bird with a keen eye, for there is little time 
 for observation with such a winged machine. Did you 
 mark the shape of its body ? What work of human 
 science does it most resemble? See how full the fore 
 part of the animal is, mark how it tapers gradually to- 
 wards the tail, and then remember that such is the 
 principle upon which the fastest sailing ships are con- 
 structed. The wings resemble oars of great power, 
 and are moved by muscles of singular force, whilst the 
 long-forked tail supplies a never failing rudder to guide 
 this bird through those numerous windings in which it 
 delights. The food is seized during flying, and this 
 requires a peculiar construction of the mouth, and also 
 the keenest powers of sight. We accordingly find that 
 the swallow's mandibles open as far back as the eyes, 
 thus producing a large gape, in which insects are caught 
 as by a net." 
 
 The migratory character of the swallow tribe consti- 
 tutes their claim to be considered as forming a part of 
 those oracles of nature, which declare the will of the 
 Deity. The time of their arrival here in the spring is 
 determined by the season, according as that is sooner or 
 later. The sun must first awaken up the life of in- 
 sects, and bring them forth from their lurking places) 
 ere these interesting birds can find the means of their 
 subsistence in this country. But there is no uncertainty 
 about their coming, and not much irregularity in the 
 times of their arrival and departure. The following 
 dates, according to Mr. Markwick, are the averages
 
 138 MARVELS OF INSTIXCT. 
 
 deduced from a computation that extended over more 
 than a quarter of a century : 
 
 Swallow, first seen, April 18th. ; and last seen, Oc- 
 tober 31st. Martin, first seen, March 4th ; and last 
 seen, October 16. Sand-martin, first seen, March 26th ; 
 and last seen, September 12th. Swift, first seen, May 
 9th ; and last seen, September 3rd. 
 
 It sometimes happens that a few stragglers arrive 
 before the spring has fairly opened ; and if it again sets 
 in cold, these forerunners are found missing, and it is 
 supposed they retrace their flight to warmer latitudes, 
 and return with the great body of their companions. 
 Hence the proverb, "one swallow does not make a 
 summer." But the fact itself looks a little like a preco- 
 city of Instinct. 
 
 They spend the summer happily on the wing, rear 
 two broods ; and their business being then done here, 
 they prepare for the passage back to Africa, there to 
 pass the winter in a warmer climate than we can give 
 them in our northern latitudes. 
 
 The swallow, like others of its tribe, finds the same 
 locality in which it was reared, or in which it has pre- 
 viously taken up its residence, and the revisit to its old 
 haunts seems to afford it considerable delight. The tiny 
 traveller has to discover its way over a space of several 
 hundred miles in extent, yet there is no reason to sup- 
 pose that it ever loses the road, or fails to reach the spot 
 of its previous habitation. But analogy leads us to the 
 belief that the bird takes the most direct and shortest 
 course without being guided in the least by any power 
 of observation it had brought to bear in the preceding 
 year upon marks of a topographical character. 
 
 That this bird, or any animal at all, should be able to 
 find its way over such immense distances without trouble, 
 without doubt, or hesitation, and without error, involves 
 a something we cannot understand ; however, we may 
 put ourselves to the puzzle by an attempt to peep into 
 the secret. It is truly one of the Creator's secret things ; 
 and though we may wonder much at the marvel, and 
 admire it too, it plainly becomes us to leave it as we find 
 it. It is the mystery of Instinct. 
 
 The act of starting, too, by these birds for the northern
 
 ANECDOTE OF NAPOLEOX. 139 
 
 countries, brings out another curious question, and that 
 is, how do they know when the proper time for setting 
 out has come ? In all the more wintry countries, such 
 as England, there is something to determine their de- 
 parture. The approach of cold, and the diminution or 
 extirpation of insect life, might either of itself be con- 
 sidered sufficient to dictate the event. But in the 
 northern and central parts of Africa, where neither of 
 those causes can be of sufficient power, what is there 
 then in external objects, first, to create the wandering 
 disposition in the bird, and afterwards to form, at the 
 fittest moment, the resolution to execute the project? 
 Yet both these things happen at the right time; and, 
 with the exception of the trifling precocious instances 
 we have mentioned, no mistake whatever is made. The 
 impulse to go is so intensely strong that no exposure to 
 hardship, such as the risk of famine, nor the dangers of 
 fatigue, in consequence of the length of the passage, nor 
 the threatenings of adverse winds, which they have some- 
 times to encounter, are ever able to exert an influence 
 powerful enough to deter by anticipation the effort of 
 eutering upon the journey, or to compel them to return 
 when once it has been commenced. They must perse- 
 vere, though death arrest them on their way. 
 
 At length autumn creeps on, when the old birds of 
 the swallow tribe must go back, and when their young 
 ones must go also to visit a country they have never seen 
 before. That the latter go because the former do, 
 cannot be granted, for there are facts upon record that 
 furnish its refutation. The young broods will set out, 
 they know not whither, at the time appointed, though 
 there is not a bird of experience, or one that has made 
 the voyage before, to accompany them ; still the young 
 adventurers act with as much unerring sagacity, as to 
 the right direction and so forth, as do those which have 
 already performed the journey several times over. What 
 is there, we ask, to induce these inexperienced creatures 
 to take at once the south any more than the north ? 
 Nothing surely that they can discern externally, such as 
 any signs of direction above them, or the configuration of 
 the earth below them. 
 
 It is said of Napoleon that he went, on one occasion,
 
 140 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 to explore in person, with a body of troopers, some par- 
 ticular part of the Red Sea, and night coming on, the 
 whole reconnoitring force lost their way in the water ; but 
 the great man of master mind, instead of giving way to 
 despair, though the danger of being drowned was immi- 
 nent, ordered, as if by an instinctive faculty, the horsemen 
 to form a circle round himself, with the head of each horse 
 turned on the outer circumference of the circle, of which 
 he stood as the centre ; that being done, he directed every 
 man to proceed straight ahead until he reached the 
 animal's depth, when he was to halt, and he that found 
 the water becoming shallower was to keep on, and lead 
 the way out. By this wonderful instinctive manoeuvre, 
 Napoleon saved himself and his force, in all probability, 
 from a watery grave. But the birds we are speaking of 
 never make a like experiment, flying round in a circle 
 of many miles in diameter, to discover in which direction 
 the warmer climes are to be sought. They require to 
 put out no such feelers ; yet of the four cardinal points, 
 they always hit upon the right one. 
 
 Nor do the swallows, any more than other migratory 
 birds, lose their way upon the wide waters. It is all the 
 same to them whether or not the clouds cover the face 
 of the sun, or hide the pole star from view. They are 
 adventurers upon the expanse of the ocean, without a 
 single available external index to guide them in the path 
 of certainty. No light from the heavens can instruct 
 them, no sight from any aerial height can direct them, 
 and no sound from shore can reach them. How com- 
 pletely at sea, then, must these little creatures be, when 
 they are found hundreds of miles from any coast, with no 
 visible object to conduct them through the air above the 
 trackless deep. But within every bird there is an in- 
 fallible monitor, which steers each in common along the 
 course that leads straight to the place of their destiny. 
 
 It may be asked further, how do these migratory birds 
 find their way at all to the Western Isles ? For they do 
 not follow the land, and cross the channel at the shortest 
 passage, but boldly venture on a long voyage, and search 
 for land where it is not possible for them to know any is 
 to be found. But such are, and ever will be, the marvels 
 of Instinct.
 
 THE SWALLOW'S NEST. 141 
 
 When the swallow tribes are about to leave the 
 northern countries for the more genial climes of the 
 south, they have a method of preparation for it peculiar 
 to themselves, and do not go off by solitary individuals, 
 nor by pairs, nor by families ; but they convene their 
 assemblies, and depart in flocks. How is this done ? 
 Who or what appoints the time and place of their 
 meeting ? Instinct gives the answer, but refuses an ex- 
 planation. 
 
 A few days previous to their departure, these birds 
 appear to delight in some freakish exercises ; but perhaps 
 those of the swift are the most amusing, " which," says 
 Mr. Couch, " usually takes its flight in the first or second 
 week in August the whole colony commonly disap- 
 pearing at once the actual departure being preceded, 
 for a few days, by exercises in flying, which seem to be 
 practising in sport what they soon expect seriously to be 
 obliged to execute. They may be witnessed ascending 
 in a spiral manner, and in very close phalanx, with even 
 more than their usual rapidity, at a very great height ; 
 and having two or three times executed this movement, 
 they suddenly sink down to their nests; after which, 
 until the next day, they are no more seen." 
 
 The writer in the Encyclopaedia Britannica describes 
 their freaks thus : " We doubt not that during every 
 summer evening in which these sable creatures pursue 
 their gladsome gambols through the unresisting air, they 
 travel many hundred miles. It is easy to observe, that 
 they are often on the wing incessantly for hours together, 
 careering in fine weather in vast and intersecting circles, 
 screaming after each other in no melodious strains, and 
 flying at such a maddening rate as if flight were the only 
 faculty worthy of exercise in earth or heaven." 
 
 The swallow builds its nest in this country about two 
 or three feet down the shaft of a chimney, and the martin 
 under the eaves of a house, and perhaps no better de- 
 scription of the latter bird's masonry work, and its 
 method of rearing the structure, can be penned than that 
 which has already been done by Mr. White. " The crust 
 or shell of this nest seems to be formed of such dirt or 
 loam as comes most readily to hand, and is tempered and 
 wrought together with little bits of broken straws, to
 
 142 * MARVELS OF EXSTIXCT. 
 
 render it tough and tenacious. As this bird often builds 
 against a perpendicular wall, without any projecting 
 ledge underneath, it requires its utmost efforts to get the 
 first foundation firmly fixed, so that it may safely carry 
 the superstructure. On this occasion the bird not only 
 clings with its claws, but partly supports itself by strongly 
 inclining its tail against the wall, making that a fulcrum, 
 and, thus steadied, it works and plasters the materials 
 into the face of the brick or stone. But then, that this 
 work may not, while it is soft and green, pull itself down 
 by its own weight, the provident architect has prudence 
 and forbearance enough not to advance her work too 
 fast, but by building only in the morning, and by dedi- 
 cating the rest of the day to food and amusement, gives 
 it sufficient time to dry and harden. About half an inch 
 seems a sufficient layer for a day. Thus careful work- 
 men, when they build mud walls (informed at first perhaps 
 by these little birds), raise but a moderate layer at a 
 time, and then desist, lest the work should become top- 
 heavy, and ruined by its own weight. By this method, 
 in about ten or twelve days is formed a hemispheric nest, 
 with a small aperture towards the top, strong, compact, 
 and warm, and perfectly fitted for all the purposes for 
 which it was intended." 
 
 Here, again, we see that the bird does the right thing 
 without knowing why she does it. She cannot judge 
 from sagacity of the consequence of too much haste in 
 her work. No one will admit the hypothesis of such 
 judgment. Neither can she know it by experience, for 
 the experiment, as such, is not made at all. Even to 
 suppose it was, the difficulty would not then be got rid of, 
 only shifted. Let it be granted, for instance, that she 
 worked hard, and threw up her nest with the utmost de- 
 spatch, and finally saw the whole structure give way, 
 and broken to atoms and scattered upon the ground be- 
 fore her own eyes what then ? Could she bring reflec- 
 tion to her aid, in order to find out the cause of the 
 calamity? Would it be at all likely that she could 
 discover it by that faculty? Not in the least. We 
 cannot tell when or where man himself became acquainted 
 with the secret, but we may fairly presume that it gave 
 him some little trouble before the principle became uni-
 
 CURIOSITIES OF NESTS. - 143 
 
 versally established. The small amount of intellectual 
 power possessed by these birds must ever be considered 
 inadequate to a task so difficult. Sagacity from know- 
 ledge, then, and the power of reasoning from experiment, 
 are both insufficient to give an explanation to the phe- 
 nomenon. It is the work of Instinct purely, and admi- 
 rably adapted to the ends to be sought. 
 
 But in situations near the sea, the tide of which has 
 covered the mud on the beach at the usual time of the 
 martin's labour, this little creature has been observed to 
 devote, in that case, the morning for collecting food, and 
 postponed its work till the afternoon, when the material 
 would be accessible to it, as if conscious that the waters 
 would be ebbing at that time. Mr. Couch calls this the 
 result of reflection and reasoning, and it looks very much 
 like them, and so do all instinctive operations ; indeed, 
 they are the perfection of the purest reason ; but we 
 prefer ascribing it to the accommodating power of Instinct. 
 This involves only the everlasting secret difficulty, and 
 not the natural one ; but the theory of intelligence in- 
 volves both. Now we have opened the subject of birds' 
 architecture, we will make here a few general observa- 
 tions upon it. And the structure of birds' nests furnishes 
 a theme of no ordinary interest to all contemplative and 
 pious minds a subject worthy of the talents of the pro- 
 foundest philosopher, and of the most sublime poet. 
 Whether their work be made the object of study, or 
 whether the purposes for which they are reared be con- 
 sidered, or whether they be looked upon as illustrations 
 of the workings of a pure Instinct, they will be found in 
 any one or all of these phases equally entertaining and 
 instructive. And for examples, it is not necessary to 
 rove abroad, either to the regions of perpetual snow, or 
 to the sunny climes of the tropics ; but we prefer con- 
 fining ourselves, or nearly so, to our own country, and to 
 select chiefly those instances that are the most common, 
 and with which most people are familiar. A few facts, 
 then, of actual occurrence shall first be presented, and the 
 observations they may seem to court shall follow. 
 
 The nests of the larger birds need not specially detain 
 us, because the apparent carelessness and looseness of 
 their structure deprive them of that power to interest
 
 144 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 the observer, which is such a marked characteristic of 
 the smaller ones. It will be seen, however, that in the 
 former the purposes of incubation do not require, as we 
 shall endeavour to show presently, that particular care 
 which is bestowed generally upon the nests of the more 
 diminutive birds. Though the large birds do all that is 
 necessary, yet they do no more. The work may be said 
 to begin with the gigantic ostrich, the nest of which ex- 
 hibits the essence of thoughtlessness, and the incarna- 
 tion of idleness ; and to end with the titmouse and the 
 humming-bird, the architecture of which, on the contrary, 
 displays an intensity of solicitude, and the most superb of 
 workmanship. The one extreme of size is connected 
 with the extreme of elaboration and beauty ; while the 
 other is associated with the extreme of unconcern and 
 want of assiduity. And the gradation, however remark- 
 able it may appear and remarkable enough it is pro- 
 ceeds regularly from one extreme to the other. 
 
 Let us take first, then, the nest of the blackbird, and 
 that is one with which almost all persons have some ac- 
 quaintance. The blackbird is among the first to com- 
 mence incubatory operations ; and before the wintry 
 winds have ceased to whistle through the yet leafless 
 hedges, this active and hardy bird has often completed 
 her domicile, and even begun the second process. A 
 thick-set hedgerow, an insulated bush, a dense ever- 
 green, or a bower of ivy, generally form the sites of her 
 choice, and all appear to be held in equal favour. Moss, 
 small sticks, grasses, and fibres, compose the outer frame- 
 work of the nest ; while the inside is lined with some 
 fine dry grass ; and between this and the exterior is a 
 coat of mud plaster of very neat workmanship, at least 
 for such a creature under the difficulty of the circum- 
 stances. 
 
 The mud coating forms also a feature in the nest of 
 the thrush, which suspends it upon the fork of a tree, in 
 an orchard, or near a garden, that it may be somewhat 
 under the protection of man against the attacks of the 
 rapacious crow and magpie, which are always in wait 
 ready to plunder and seize the eggs of it. This nest 
 consists of a basket work of fine straws and grass, inter- 
 woven with moss and lichens, which also cover the
 
 BIRDS' MASONRY. 145 
 
 exterior, and within is a layer of clay mixed with de- 
 cayed wood, beautifully smooth, and the circular pro- 
 portions as regular as if the structure had been cast in a 
 mould. 
 
 Now what is the object of the masonry coats which 
 the two birds place round their nests ? It is plain to 
 reason, but quite hidden from the birds themselves. 
 Both build early ; they have, consequently, to encounter 
 the last, though often not the least blasts of winter ; it 
 is necessary, therefore, to seek provision against them, 
 and the coat of mud, clay, and rotten wood is the one 
 that is provided, and anything more suitable is not, 
 perhaps, to be found. What kind of knowledge, then, 
 does the selection require ? This can be answered only 
 by looking into the necessary qualities of the material 
 used. A stratum of something is wanted that will prevent 
 the external cold absorbing the heat from the interior. 
 Then it must be a non-conductor of heat, or nearly so. 
 Nothing else will do. Accordingly these birds hit upon 
 the best non-conductor for the purpose. Here is the 
 table of the relative powers of certain bodies to conduct 
 or carry away heat; or the proportional celerity, by 
 which it will pass through them, and nothing can be 
 more obvious, nothing more convincing. We exclude 
 the decimal parts, and give the round numbers only. 
 
 Gold, with the speed of - - - 1000 
 
 Platinum, - - - 981 
 
 Silver, - - - 973 
 
 Copper, - - 898 
 
 Iron, - - - 374 
 
 Zinc, - - - -363 
 
 Tin, 303 
 
 Lead, - - - 179 
 
 Marble, . - - 23 
 
 Porcelain, - - - - 12 
 
 Clay, 11 
 
 This table makes the case so clear, that scarcely any- 
 thing more need be said. The dry and decayed wood, 
 too, made use of by the thrush, is a non-conductor like- 
 wise. But neither of the two birds can know anything 
 of that branch of the science of heat which relates to 
 conduction. These creatures act blindly, then, in the
 
 146 MARVELS OF IX3TINCT. 
 
 use of the means to their ends, and Instinct can be their 
 only guide. 
 
 The Magpie, shy and cunning, takes some consider- 
 able trouble to form a nest, both in the selection of a 
 suitable site, and in making it secure from danger. She 
 is certain to make choice of the most thorny and thickest 
 bush. This done, she begins some regular fortifications 
 so as to render the bush doubly formidable. Hawthorn 
 branches, with the sharp thorns projecting outwards, 
 constitute the exterior of the impenetrable fabric ; while 
 the interior is lined with roots, hair, and wool ; and if 
 the animals from which these materials are taken are at 
 hand, the audacious magpie will not scruple about 
 plucking them from the backs of the living stock, with a 
 wonderful deal of chattering while in the act of doing 
 it. When the nest itself is thus finished, a strong 
 bushy canopy, composed of the sharpest thorns put very 
 compactly together, is erected above, leaving only a 
 small aperture for the ingress and egress of the rightful 
 owners. The defence is then complete, and forms a 
 fortress that bids no vain defiance to every natural foe, 
 such as the crow, the sparrow-hawk, and the kite. 
 Such ever was, is, and ever will be, the architecture of 
 the magpie, all ever adopting the same means and method 
 precisely. 
 
 The Finches and Linnets build very neat, pretty, and 
 lady-like nests. That of the common linnet is generally 
 placed in some low bush, a furze if at hand, and is com- 
 posed of moss, stalks of grass, and wool, and lined inside 
 with hair and feathers. The goldfinch turns out a truly 
 elegant little piece of workmanship, and such as must 
 ever be an object of admiration to all examiners. Moss, 
 lichens, dry grass, and wool form the exterior, and hair, 
 the seed down of the coltsfoot, or down of the willow, 
 line the interior. All is so neatly, so compactly, so 
 beautifully, and so exquisitely put together, that no art 
 or hand of man can rival or imitate it. 
 
 "The foundation of a goldfinch's nest," says ?.Ir. 
 Couch, " is laid with small leaves, moss, or fibrous lichens, 
 and then so much wool is thinly and regularly drawn 
 throughout as shall form a tissue of felt, which, by its 
 contraction, binds all firmly together. I have known the
 
 ARCHITECTURE OF BIRDS. 147 
 
 latter article fetched from a great distance ; which shows 
 how important is this web, in the bird's own mind, to 
 maintain Lthe stability of the edifice, when distended 
 with the weight of an increasing family within." 
 
 The common Wren builds a nest of matchless struc- 
 ture also, and very large for such a small bird. The 
 place of nidification chosen by this tiny creature is va- 
 rious, but generally under some thatched covering, in 
 a cavity between the branches of a tree, amidst the ivy 
 clustering round some old tree or wall, and very fre- 
 quently in the side of a hay -rick. The shape of the nest 
 is that of a domed edifice, with a small hole in the side 
 towards the top, left for the purposes of a door -way. 
 The material composing the exterior is varied according 
 to the colour of the substance against which the nest is 
 built, and this is a feature in the case not a little re- 
 markable. If the nest is placed among the ivy or in the 
 hay, it is usually constructed of green moss, for this is 
 the colour that best answers the purpose of concealment 
 in those situations ; but if erected contiguous to some 
 light coloured branches, it will then be formed of the 
 grey lichens. The inside is lined with soft and warm 
 materials, such as hair, wool, and an abundance of 
 feathers. 
 
 The male and female both of these birds have been 
 observed to collect the coarser materials in a heap before 
 commencing the architectural operations, but the work 
 of building has then devolved upon the hen bird only, 
 while the other has gone in quest of the firmer substances 
 that are fit to furnish the interior. And the labour of 
 each seems, without debate, as perfectly understood as 
 is that of a bride when she first enters her new domicile, 
 and when she there assumes at once the presidency of 
 the tea-table, without thinking it necessary to consult 
 the bridegroom at all upon the question. 
 
 The Titmouse, or Tomtit, has special claims upon our 
 attention, on account of its nest, which is an object 
 of extraordinary beauty and interest ; indeed, it is a 
 most magnificent piece of workmanship, and extremely 
 elaborate. Here also, as in the case of the wren, the 
 female bird is the skilful architect. She generally makes 
 choice of a thick bush for the purpose, and the nest is so 
 
 L 2
 
 148 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 firmly fixed therein, and so closely woven with the main 
 branch, that, in order to preserve the beautiful fabric 
 entire, it is necessary to cut out the bush with it. It is 
 of an oval form, of considerable length, and its dimen- 
 sions altogether are disproportionally large for the tiny 
 form that rears it. The aperture for entrance is in 
 front of the upper part. A firm texture of moss and 
 wool forms the exterior framework, which itself is covered 
 with grey lichens, so nicely and so neatly put on, that 
 the whole surface sparkles as if coated with silver ; in 
 short, it is exquisitely superb. Then, again, the inside 
 is lined with such a profusion of the softest feathers, 
 that it seems really choked with a superfluous abundance. 
 Altogether it is a surprising and admirable structure, 
 uniting all the purposes of utility with the extreme of 
 beauty. No human hand can imitate it, and no machine 
 produce a rival to it. The object of all this work, as 
 well as of the kind of materials used in it, we shall 
 presently inquire into. 
 
 It is not at all necessary for our purpose to traverse 
 either the Pacific or the Atlantic for other illustrations, 
 but we will just bring one from the intratropical regions 
 of America and the West Indies ; because the bird we 
 wish to instance is still smaller than those we have 
 selected from our own country. We refer to the hum- 
 ming-bird. 
 
 The delicate nest of this diminutive creature is only 
 about one inch in diameter, and is not, therefore, so large 
 as a hen's egg. The external parts of the curious little 
 nid are formed of a light-grey lichen, and this substance, 
 being produced up the branch or stem from either ex- 
 tremity of the nest, makes it scarcely distinguishable 
 from those parts of the tree which support it. The 
 small pieces of lichen that form the outer coat are so 
 nicely arranged, and in such compact order, that they 
 really appear as if glued together, if they are not actuaUy 
 done so by some kind of saliva or other. The inside 
 layer consists of the fine down of flying seeds, and of 
 silky fibres obtained from various plants, and all ex- 
 tremely soft and delicate ; and between the inside lining 
 and the exterior is a layer composed of some cottony 
 substances. Such is the size, and such the construction
 
 UNIFORMITY OF DIMENSION. 149 
 
 of the fabric this tiny bird builds for its nest. Its eggs 
 are but two in number, and incomparably small, for the 
 size of a pea is the measure of their dimensions. 
 
 The facts before us suffice to furnish two or three in- 
 teresting topics of remark, and the first is the uniformity 
 of structure maintained by all the birds of the same 
 species. This is an illustration of Instinct of emphatic 
 purity, and attended with a marvellous witness. The 
 pattern is handed down from generation to generation, 
 with neither a defect, nor an addition. The original is 
 still preserved the same, no experience has improved it, 
 and from time immemorial there has been no careless- 
 ness to degenerate it. It for ever excludes all new in- 
 ventions, because none are wanted ; the thing was made 
 perfect at the first ; it requires, therefore, no improvement, 
 and the bird which built the very first was as wise as 
 the one which has built the last; and the modern archi- 
 tect is no better informed or more experienced than the 
 ancient. 
 
 Curious enough is this phenomenon, for the birds of 
 the same species do not teach one another, nor do the old 
 ones communicate the secret to their young, inasmuch as 
 those which have been reared under a strange and foster 
 bird, and consequently have never seen or been in com- 
 pany with their own parentage or with any of their 
 species, will build after the very identical motto, without 
 the least deviation from the original, and no other figure 
 can they describe, nor do they ever attempt another. 
 What strange thing is it, then, which impels the bird to 
 adopt just one plan, and no other, and that just the right 
 one? 
 
 It must be observed, too, that it is not the configura- 
 tion merely that is adhered to with such wonderful tena- 
 city and correctness, but the size is the same also, and 
 the proportions given with the same surprising exact- 
 ness. This particular is most striking in the tomtit and 
 the wren, because their nests are so much larger in pro- 
 portion to the birds themselves. Yet every tomtit and 
 wren of the present day will have the same bulk as had 
 their ancestors of primordial date. They must have it 
 so ; neither greater nor less can it be. Not only so, but 
 the materials, under like circumstances, are the same 
 
 L 3
 
 150 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 also, and, moreover, the different substances are placed 
 in the same order. All these particulars involve a me- 
 thod of proceeding so unlike those which are adopted by 
 human reason, that it strikes one, by the force of its pe- 
 culiarity and of its enigmatical character, with astonish- 
 ment. Man has discovered the art of building by the 
 application of his reason to the results of his experience. 
 The perfection of his architecture, or the point of his 
 present attainment, has been arrived at by a very slow 
 process a process that has run over 6000 years. Boughs 
 and branches of trees formed probably his first hut, and 
 this was his starting point. From this primitive extreme 
 his experience has been accumulating, and is now to be 
 gathered from the various monuments of the past, as Avell 
 as from all the written testimony ever made upon them. 
 
 But there is no written record, nor monumental pattern 
 to guide the bird. Man, again, adheres to no uniform 
 model, to no definite dimensions, nor to any particular 
 materials ; but all are as varied as the several architects 
 engaged in the art. Human reason has no settled plan, 
 but it shifts its plans, sometimes in obedience to a fanci- 
 ful taste, while at others it refuses to go an inch beyond 
 the limits of parsimonious utility. Reason, then, has 
 unlimited choice of both plan and method ; but Instinct 
 has none in either. 
 
 Herein, therefore, lies the exquisitely curious, the great 
 hidden mystery. The bird appears to be at the most 
 perfect liberty to choose any course, to select any site 
 for its nests, to gather any kind of materials, and to make 
 the building of any shape and size ; yet we see that this 
 is not actually the case : on the contrary, the animal is 
 evidently confined to one thing in each of these particu- 
 lars, and the power that controls it is nothing external 
 and visible, but some secret influence residing iu the 
 bird itself, and operating in a manner quite unknown to 
 any mortal being, and for ever undiscoverable by human 
 intelligence. " Have birds any notion of equality, or do 
 they know that heat is necessary for incubation ? No. 
 In all these operations men recognise the intentions of 
 nature ; but they are hid from the animals themselves, 
 and therefore cannot operate upon them as motives." 
 
 We have already intimated that the physical structure
 
 EGGS, WHY OF OVAL SHAPE. 151 
 
 and habits of the huge ostrich do not present a more 
 striking contrast to those of the little humming-bird, 
 than does the nest if we may call it so of the former, 
 to that of the latter ; and this wonderful difference 
 between the one extreme and the other forms another 
 topic of consideration ; and being fraught with the 
 deepest interest, it is deserving of particular attention. 
 Our observations upon it, however, must be few, and we 
 regret abler hands should not deal with it. 
 
 It has been seen that the nests of the smaller birds are 
 more carefully wrought exteriorly, and more richly fur- 
 nished within, than are those of the larger species. We 
 have, therefore, to inquire into the object of the soft 
 feathers, the cottony down, and the silky substances, that 
 so pre-eminently distinguish the nids. of the former from 
 those of the latter. And here will be found a very re- 
 markable adaptation of means to an end, but means over 
 which the birds themselves can exercise no more volun- 
 tary control than they can over the shape of their eggs ; 
 for the figure of the egg is nicely and beautifully adapted 
 to the process it has to undergo. It is not a globe, but 
 an oval. This form presents a greater surface to the 
 body of the sitting hen than that of any other known 
 figure, not excepting the perfect sphere. A certain 
 contrivance of design, is it not? Not surely the result 
 of blind chance. Who, then, is the contriver ? 
 
 It must be quite plain to all persons of experience and 
 intelligence, that it is much more difficult to maintain the 
 heat in a small body than in one of large bulk. A body 
 of small compass has a large proportion of the whole 
 exposed in its surface, and, in consequence, the heat 
 makes its escape with the greater facility. Now the 
 lesser birds act as if they knew this, and accordingly 
 make the surest provision against it ; and it has been 
 already shown that the care taken, and the amount and 
 quality of the provision made by the apparently saga- 
 cious animals, are in exact proportion to the diminution 
 of the eggs. A gradually increasing necessity is met 
 by a regular and progressive and indispensable quality 
 in the requisite substance. Some good non-conductors 
 of heat are the things wanted, uniting other qualities 
 
 L 4
 
 152 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 at the same time, for they must be soft and yielding, to 
 suit the tender offspring they have to protect. 
 
 The birds make choice, then, of just the right mate- 
 rials; as silk, cotton, wool, fur, and down, are among 
 the very worst conductors of heat. So that, let these 
 winged animals range where they will, substances better 
 adapted to their purposes they cannot find. But what 
 can the bird know about the transmission of heat through 
 bodies at all, and in particular, that there are certain 
 properties in some that will permit it to pass freely, while 
 there are others which obstruct its passage altogether ? 
 Very few men, indeed, understand it. The science is 
 not known generally, even amongst the most enlightened 
 people of the world. Yet the feathered race have acted 
 as if they have been acquainted with it from the be- 
 ginning. The faculty, then, which guides them so uner- 
 ringly to the use of the only means proper to their 
 object, is purely and emphatically instinctive. The ope- 
 rations by animals, as instruments, though neither ma- 
 chines nor automatons, are truly sublime and mysterious. 
 How loudly and sweetly do these creatures of the wing 
 sing, " The hand that made us is divine." 
 
 Some birds select a spot for the purpose of building, 
 that if it had been chosen by reason, it would have been 
 easy to discover the motive. Doubtless the object is the 
 same, though the bird seems the only part engaged in 
 the scheme. The following illustrations we quote from 
 Mr. Couch, who has produced an interesting book on the 
 subject : 
 
 " There are few British birds which show more know- 
 ledge than the Dipper or Water Ouzel (Cinclus aqua- 
 ticus), in adapting the form and position of the nest to 
 the exigencies of situation ; for, in its habits and haunts, 
 it not only differs from the species to which in form it 
 seems most nearly allied (Turdi, the Thrushes), but the 
 sites among which it must make its selection compel it 
 to adopt considerable variations, as its favourite mode 
 of escape, when in danger, is dropping into the water, 
 and passing off to a distance beneath its surface. The 
 only spot which could be selected within a given range, 
 in the instance we have under notice, was not so well 
 fitted for concealment as might have been desired ; and
 
 REMARKABLE SITUATIONS. 353 
 
 therefore its plan was, to mislead an observer, if any 
 prominent part of it struck his attention. The nest was 
 placed upon a stout stone projecting from a promontory 
 which overhung the deepest pool to be found in the course 
 of the brook. And it is to be remarked that though this 
 species is of retired habits, in two instances I have 
 known the nest to be laid at a short distance from a road, 
 along which there was frequent passing of people. The 
 front of the nest rose immediately from the face of the 
 support, in such a manner that anything falling from it 
 must drop into the stream. The material was moss 
 entwined with portions of a living bramble ; and to 
 aid the deception, pieces of the stem of a dead bramble 
 had been laid along the top, as if fallen there by accident ; 
 but they were so fastened to the structure as to make the 
 whole look like a natural elevation of ground, rising from 
 the overhanging stone to the level of the bank. The 
 nest had no lining, and its bottom was the bare stone, on 
 which the eggs and young rested ; and here in this snug 
 successful patch of deception the brood was reared. At 
 the time when it was built, the river was too deep and 
 rapid to make it probable that any one would discover 
 it on that side ; and as a combination of deceptive 
 fabric and unsuspected situation, a better instance will 
 rarely be found of the art of thrusting a thing forward 
 to the sight, with the utmost confidence in the choice of 
 arrangement and colour, to secure it from detection. 
 
 "Instances of unusual foresight in the mode of con- 
 structing a nest, or in the choice of its situation, are 
 related in most books of Natural History, and they might 
 be much multiplied; but the following, taken from 
 London's Magazine, and Mr. Yarrel's History of British 
 Birds, are sufficient to show how decidedly mind presides 
 over the proceeding : ' The piece of water called Old 
 Pond, about one mile from Godalming, on the London 
 Road, is a most attractive spot to water-fowl ; and an 
 island in its centre is the resort of some of them in the 
 breeding season, and also a variety of other birds, which 
 find it a safe and unmolested place for the same purpose. 
 One day, having pushed off from the shore, andgmoored 
 the little shallop to some of the osiers which surrounded 
 the island, I began my usual examination. The first
 
 154 MAKVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 object that attracted my attention was a lot of dry 
 rushes, flags, reeds, &c., enough to fill a couple of bushel- 
 baskets. This mass was lodged about twenty feet from 
 the ground in a spruce fir tree, and looked for all the 
 world as if it had been pitched there with a hay-fork. I 
 mounted instantly, thinking of herons, eagles, and a 
 variety of other wonders. Just as my head reached the 
 nest, " flap ! flap ! " and out came a moor-hen ; and 
 dropping to the water, made off in a direct line along 
 the surface, and was soon lost in the rushes of a dis- 
 tant bank. The nest contained seven eggs, warm as 
 a toast. The situation was a very odd one for a moor- 
 hen's nest ; but there was a reason for it : the rising of 
 the water in the pond frequently flooded the banks of 
 the island, and, as I had before witnessed, had destroyed 
 several broods by emersion.' " 
 
 The Quails afford a remarkable instance of the regu- 
 larity and strength of the migratory Instinct. They 
 take their flight across the Mediterranean from Africa in 
 the spring, and arrive at a fixed period in prodigious 
 numbers on the coasts of Naples, Sicily, and the Greek 
 islands, where they are then caught and killed by tens of 
 thousands at a time. As many as 100,000 have been 
 taken in one day, and that within a space of three or 
 four miles in extent The inhabitants of these places 
 prepare for their coming, and await their arrival in ex- 
 pectation of reaping a rich harvest from the flock. 
 
 " In Sicily, crowds of all ages and degrees assemble 
 on the shore. The number of boats is even greater, 
 and enviable is the lot of the idle apprentice, who, with 
 a borrowed musket or pistol, no matter how unsafe, has 
 gained possession of the farthest rock, where there is but 
 room for himself and his dog, which he has fed with 
 bread only all the year round, for these delightful clays, 
 and which sits in as happy expectation as himself for 
 the arrival of the quails." 
 
 A notable illustration of a curious feature of Instinct 
 is to be found in the Sea-Gulls, when in the act of 
 returning from their extensive excursions over the waters 
 of the ocean. These birds are spread throughout all 
 latitudes, residing chiefly on the coast, more particularly 
 about the mouths of large rivers. They wing their way
 
 SEA-GULLS, GOOD MARINERS. 155 
 
 over the trackless deep with an easy and buoyant flight, 
 exploring the surface of the waters beneath them, by 
 making wide circular sweeps. The gale may blow strong, 
 and the billows roll high, yet these birds will fly over 
 the one, and successfully head the other, as they proceed 
 in search of their food. 
 
 Sir Hans Sloane has stated that, at Barbadoes, the sea- 
 gulls fly off in flocks, to a distance of more than 200 miles, 
 and come back again the same day. Now it matters not 
 at all to these voyagers of the sea whether the day be 
 bright or cloudy, or whether the ocean be covered with 
 mist or sunshine, they never lose themselves in either 
 case ; on the contrary, they have been observed to take 
 the most direct course homeward, however thick the fog 
 through which they have tad to pass. Here we have a feat 
 that no sailor, however long he may have dwelt upon 
 the sea, and however great his practice upon it may have 
 been, can perform ; that is, under the same circumstances, 
 without the aid of his compass. Without this useful 
 instrument, any mariner, in the midst of a fog on the 
 ocean, would be lost in five minutes. This small space of 
 time would be sufficient to put him quite at sea. But the 
 gulls have no such aid, yet they take at once the right 
 way, without consultation or inquiry, without hesitation 
 or doubt. The manner of the operation is so odd, that it 
 appears to human reason somewhat in the light of a mi- 
 racle, and man is at a perfect loss how to comprehend it. 
 
 And this leads us to the Carrier Pigeon, the Instinct of 
 which, however, is not more marvellous than that of 
 some others of the kind, and which we have already con- 
 templated. " Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as 
 the doves to their windows?" Originally they came 
 from Persia, which appears to have been, if not of their 
 nativity, the land at least of their settlement. They still 
 fly there in clouds, and obscure the sun by their multi- 
 tudes. Turkey, Holland, and Belgium are the countries 
 in which they are now most used, the first more espe- 
 cially, but not there so much of late as formerly. For 
 endurance of wing and rapidity of flight, these beautiful 
 pigeons have no species of their order that can equal 
 them. From Babylon to Aleppo, a distance of thirty 
 days' journey, the carrier pigeon has travelled with a
 
 156 MARVELS OF INSTINCT, 
 
 letter in forty-eight hours. The following exploit is 
 taken from Mr. Knight's Museum of Animated Nature : 
 "It is recorded that a gentleman of Cologne, having 
 business to transact in Paris, took with him two carrier 
 pigeons which had young at the time, and on arriving in 
 Paris at ten o'clock in the morning, he tied a letter to 
 each of his pigeons, and despatched them at eleven pre- 
 cisely. One of them arrived in Cologne at five minutes 
 past one o'clock, the other nine minutes later ; and 
 consequently they had performed nearly 150 miles in 
 an hour, reckoning their flight to have been in a direct 
 line." 
 
 In the notes to Goldsmith the results of two grand 
 trials with carrier pigeons are given thus : " On the llth 
 of July, 1819, a great experiment was performed with 
 these animals between London and Antwerp. Thirty-two 
 pigeons, with the word Antwerp marked on their wings, 
 and which had been reared in that city, were let loose 
 in London at seven o'clock in the morning, after having 
 their wings countermarked with the name of the British 
 metropolis. The same day, towards noon, one arrived at 
 home, and obtained the first prize ; a quarter of an hour 
 after, another arrived, and gained the second prize. The 
 following day twelve others arrived, making fourteen in 
 all. Of the fate of the rest no record has come under our 
 notice. 
 
 " In July, 1829, another experiment was made, in con- 
 sequence of wagers laid at Maestricht between some 
 merchants there, that pigeons taken to London would, 
 when let loose, return in six hours. Forty-two pigeons 
 were brought to London, and after being properly 
 marked, were thrown up at twenty-six minutes past 
 eight in the morning. If any one of the number had 
 arrived at Maestricht within six hours, the principal 
 wager, which was for 10,000 guilders, would have been 
 gained ; but in consequence, it was supposed, of a heavy 
 rain, the first did not arrive till six hours and a quarter 
 from the time when it left London, having, nevertheless, 
 travelled at the rate of forty-five miles an hour, assuming 
 that the journey was performed in a straight line. The 
 second arrived in seven hours, the third in seven hours 
 and ten minutes, the fourth in seven hours and a half,
 
 CARRIER PIGEONS. 157 
 
 and in four days more than twenty had reached Maes- 
 tricht." 
 
 In such cases the missing birds are supposed to have 
 met with accidents, such as being shot, or to have taken 
 up their abode with other flocks on the road. The mo- 
 ment the carrier is let loose, it wings its way high in the 
 air, in the form of a spiral, widening the circles as it 
 rises, and when finding itself sufficiently far above the 
 earth, it takes the line which points as direct to its 
 destiny and home, as the needle to the magnetic pole. 
 The great peculiarity of these birds is a strong attach- 
 ment to locality or home. This predilection is necessary 
 to the proper performance of their remarkable exploits ; 
 for, unless the desire to return to its native spot was 
 great, it would not probably put its instinctive faculty to 
 the test, in order to find the way back. Hence it is 
 found necessary to train the young birds at first by easy 
 distances, and gradually extending them until a journey 
 of twenty or thirty miles has been made successfully. 
 And when this distance has been once accomplished, it is 
 said that the pigeons which have made it will ever after- 
 wards return from any spot, however remote it may be. It 
 appears, therefore, that practice is necessary to awaken 
 and develop the Instinct. 
 
 Some people deny that it is Instinct which guides the 
 carrier pigeon to- its home, and ascribe it more to the 
 powers of sight and observation. The latter hypothesis 
 might be received to account for it in short distances, 
 but cannot be admitted to give any explanation in those 
 of such immense length as those instanced. What, for 
 instance, can any bird observe over an extent of two or 
 three hundred miles ? It is difficult to believe that the 
 
 Sigeon, or even the eagle, can recognise an object at the 
 istance of twenty miles; but to suppose that either 
 should be able to see any mark much beyond that, is per- 
 fectly preposterous. Even if the carrier did really pos- 
 sess such an extraordinary power of vision, it would then 
 be comparatively useless, unless accompanied by a cor- 
 responding power of observation. The objects serving 
 as its marks must have been, as it were, previously 
 examined by the pigeon, and impressed upon its senses, 
 before it could turn them to account. Is it, then, to be
 
 158 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 supposed, that these birds do really observe so closely, 
 and at the same time so extensively ? This cannot be 
 imposed upon our belief. 
 
 But why should it not be the result of Instinct ? It is 
 not more marvellous in its operation than many other 
 manifestations of the same agent; not more, indeed, 
 than that of the swallow returning to one particular 
 locality in the north of Europe, or to a certain spot in 
 the British Isles, after having come all the way from 
 Africa. The carrier pigeon is guided, doubtless, by 
 Instinct, for nothing else will account for it ; and here 
 the mystery must be left, it cannot be explained. 
 
 According to the Assembles Nationals, an experiment 
 was made in August last, with some swallows, and 
 the trial came off with success. " Six swallows, taken in 
 their nests at Paris, were conveyed to Vienna, and there 
 let go, with a small roll of paper, containing 1510 words, 
 under the wing of each. They were let go at a quarter 
 after seven in the morning ; two arrived at Paris a few 
 minutes before one, one at a quarter past two, one at 
 four o'clock, and the other two did not make their ap- 
 pearance at all." 
 
 Instinctive Concert. Here is another marvellous and 
 mysterious feature of Instinct, and perhaps in no order 
 of animals is it more curiously and interestingly de- 
 veloped than in those of the feathered tribe. The re- 
 spective families have one plan, and only one ; and every 
 individual acts its part as if the mode and time of ope- 
 rating had been severally communicated, and as if all 
 fully comprehended the common object. These things, 
 with man at least, involve a knowledge of the object 
 itself, as well as of the means that will best accomplish 
 it, while he must also be in possession of the medium of 
 communication. But what knowledge has the bird, 
 either of the end or of the means ? and what is its 
 language ? 
 
 In the expedition to the Crimea, Lord Raglan, and 
 Marshal St. Arnaud, Admirals Dundas and Hamelin, 
 knew what they were going about before they set out 
 the capture of Sebastopol was the object, and each of the 
 chiefs was individually well acquainted with it. The 
 means, too, that were necessary to apply to the task were
 
 LANGUAGE. 159 
 
 pretty well known to them all. So far as their knowledge 
 went, the magnitude, position, and circumstances of the 
 object would determine their adequacy of strength, 
 through the medium of intelligence possessed by the 
 several commanders. But that they should all hit, 
 without any previous concert, upon one plan for putting 
 the operations in effect, is the most unlikely thing in the 
 world. Of course the several projects would fall within 
 certain limits, but no two upon the same line precisely 
 most assuredly, much less all the four. One might see 
 advantages for landing here, a second there ; while the 
 third might show reasons for giving the attack upon 
 some particular point, and the fourth upon another. All 
 these certain differences, then, must necessarily be ad- 
 justed, the balance of reasons struck, and one course 
 agreed to by the whole conferring party. The several 
 ideas of each could, be presented to all the rest, and 
 language was the medium of communicating them. And 
 this again, pi'e-eminently distinguishes man from the 
 brute, which, if it can communicate at all, can only do 
 so in certain things, even to its own species ; while a 
 human being can always employ his language to relate a 
 narrative or to impart ideas to his fellow man. 
 
 " What constitutes man," says Lamartine, " is not 
 simply the senses ; for the brute beasts have senses like 
 our own, and some of them infinitely more delicate, 
 stronger, and more unerring than ours. What especially 
 constitutes man, is thought ; but so long as this thought 
 does not exhibit itself either to us or to others by 
 language, it is as if it were not. Language is not 
 thought, but its necessary and co-ordinate manifestation. 
 So long as a man has not been able to say " I think," he 
 has not thought ; he has dreamed ; he has possessed 
 instinct, not ideas. There has been intellect, doubtless, 
 but intellect imprisoned and sleeping in the lethargy of 
 the senses, like the fire hidden in the powder, which 
 does not appear until the spark coming near it makes it 
 burst forth to life, light, and liberty. The spark which 
 gives to thought its fire, its light, its liberty, its living 
 power in man and in the human race, is Language : the 
 Word, as it was called by the ancients, who supposed 
 the existence, under the name of this truly divine
 
 160 MAEVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 faculty, of something intermediate between God and 
 man. 
 
 " They were right. Language is the revelation of 
 soul to soul. "Who else than God could reveal to the soul 
 his own mysterious creation, this revelation of itself ! 
 
 " We are, moreover, inclined to think that language 
 was not born of itself on the lips of the primitive man, 
 chattering by accident, and attaching, as centuries rolled 
 on, some vague meaning to inarticulate noises, and giving 
 to others lessons which he had not received himself on 
 the sound, the sequence, and the meaning of these 
 human bleatings. To pass from these bleatings to speech, 
 from speech to the unanimous agreement of words, from 
 the meaning of a few words to the verb and the phrase, 
 from the verb and phrase to logical syntax, from this 
 logical syntax to the language of Moses, of David, of 
 Cicero, of Confucius, and Racine, we must allow to the 
 human race more centuries of existence on this ball of 
 mud than there are stars visible or invisible in the milky 
 way. We must also suppose centuries without number 
 of brutishness, during which the race of man (a being 
 essentially moral and intellectual) must have vainly 
 sought, like the animals, an instance of morality and in- 
 telligence, without being able to discover it until after 
 the lapse of numberless generations, without speech, and 
 consequently without intelligence, and without morality. 
 The human race deaf and dumb for a hundred thousand 
 years ! I should think it blasphemy to believe in such 
 an incredible mystery. 
 
 " I prefer the other alternative, the paternal mystery 
 of the Creator himself, inspiring into the lips of his in- 
 fant creature, speech, words, language, and that natural 
 expression which affixes to things, at first sight, names 
 appropriate to their form and character. For giving 
 things their real names is in fact creating them anew. 
 Yes, indeed ! He must have taught the first word and 
 the first language; He who has made intellect and 
 feeling to be communicated from man to man, the breast 
 to serve as a sounding-board to the tense and trembling 
 strings of our heart, like a musical scale, always complete, 
 which we carry within us ; He who made the tongue to 
 articulate, the lips to pronounce, the voice to carry out
 
 MODE OF REASONING. 161 
 
 the echo of the soul. The wreck of this first and peri'ect 
 language, decomposed by intellectual decay, must have 
 been remodelled into other various and imperfect lan- 
 guages, as the stones of a ruined temple are slowly built 
 up in the desert to form a shelter for the caravan. 
 
 " When language had been given, found, or invented, 
 there were still many centuries to elapse before reaching 
 the other phenomenon, of confining invisible and imma- 
 terial thought, in visible and material signs, engraven on 
 a palpable substance. This phenomenon is the art of 
 writing. Writing transfers thought from one sense to 
 another. Speech communicates the thought from the 
 mouth to the ear, through the medium of sound : writing 
 seizes the impalpable sound on its passage, transforms it 
 into forms or letters, and thus communicates thought from 
 the hand to the eyes. The eyes communicate it to the 
 mind, by that ever mysterious relation which exists be- 
 tween our intellect and our senses, and behold speech 
 became palpable, instead of invisible and immaterial as 
 it was before ! Is any miracle comparable to this ? " 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Reasoning, how produced. Animal Concert superior to that of 
 Reason. A Sparrow out-generalled. Birds, meditating Design. 
 
 Swallows, liberating a Captive. A Scheme from a single Bird. 
 
 Curious Conduct of the Partridge. Crow-Courts. Punish- 
 ment of the Criminal. The Sparrow-Court. The Lapwing. 
 Her remarkable Artifice. The Cuckoo. Her lacking Propen- 
 sity. Selects the right Nest. 
 
 Now there can be no reasoning where either intellect 
 or knowledge is absent. The former is the power or the 
 instrument, while the latter may be said to be the mate- 
 rial it has to work up. The process is based upon the 
 knowledge of some known facts which have been ascer- 
 tained to have operated in a certain way, or to have been 
 the results of certain operations that bring forth products 
 according to rule. Observation notes the method; and 
 the proper faculties of man's intellect infer that a similar 
 process, under like circumstances, will produce similar 
 u
 
 162 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 results. This is called reasoning ; and he who recog- 
 nizes such rule most distinctly, and adheres to it most 
 tenaciouly, is deemed the most profound logician. And 
 animals often act with such a high degree of precision, 
 and with such consummate wisdom, that they appear, in 
 some instances, to be infinitely more skilled in the art of 
 logic than the being whom God has created their intel- 
 ligent master. 
 
 Notwithstanding, animals do not reason. The means 
 of the operation are wanting to them. They have 
 neither intellect, which may be considered the machine, 
 nor knowledge, which may be taken as the working ma- 
 terial. That the birds, for example, in their most difficult 
 tasks and nicest workmanship, are quite destitute of any 
 knowledge of the operation or its object, we have the 
 proof in the fact, that a bird of any species, though never 
 having been in company with either of its parents or one 
 of its species, will yet, nevertheless, not only construct 
 its nest without the least deviation from the true model, 
 both as to shape and size, but will also compose it of the 
 very same materials, and place them, too, in the very 
 same order. What on earth can be more remarkable 
 than this ? Knowledge, experience, or instruction, then, 
 can have nothing whatever to do with this matter. 
 
 But the thing is most striking when one idea is carried 
 out by a number of animals collectively. The question 
 is, how do animals understand one another, so as to work 
 together as if every individual was perfectly acquainted 
 with the design, and that design one ? It seems super- 
 fluous to ask, do they communicate with one another? 
 when we have just said they have nothing to impart. 
 And since we believe they have no medium of commu- 
 nication, or language, what is therefore the mysterious 
 secret of their concert ? 
 
 But the feathered tribes supply us with some extra- 
 ordinary instances of concert. And for once our pen 
 shall range a little beyond the limits of those every-day 
 things we have prescribed to it, so as to let in a little of 
 the unknown and the imaginative; while we will also 
 give somewhat of rein to our credulity, and believe in the 
 general correctness of the statements, at the same time 
 feeling at liberty to reject the showiness of the colours 
 with which they have been painted. The following ex-
 
 EXTRAORDINARY VICTORY. 163 
 
 traordinary circumstance is said to have occurred some 
 years ago on the banks of the Leven, in Fifeshire ; and 
 Father Bougeant, the advocate for the existence of brute 
 language, adduces it in favour of his proof. 
 
 A sparrow finding a nest that a martin had just built, 
 standing very conveniently for him, possessed himself of 
 it. The martin, seeing the usurper in her house, called 
 for help to expel him. A thousand martins came full 
 speed, and attacked the sparrow ; but the latter being 
 covered on every side, and presenting only his large 
 beak at the entrance of the nest, was invulnerable, and 
 made the boldest of them who durst approach him repent 
 of their temerity. After a quarter of an hour's combat, 
 all the martins disappeared. The sparrow thought he had 
 got the better, and the spectators judged that the martins 
 had abandoned their undertaking. Not in the least. 
 They immediately returned to the charge ; and each of 
 them having procured a little of that tempered earth 
 with which they make their nests, they all at once fell 
 upon the sparrow, and inclosed him in the nest to perish 
 there, though they could not drive him thence. " Can it be 
 imagined," asks Father Bougeant, " that the martins have 
 been able to hatch and concert this design all of them 
 together without speaking to each other, or without some 
 medium of communication equivalent to language ? " 
 
 We ask, will Father Bougeant be pleased to tell us 
 which of the martins he imagines concocted the design ? 
 For, taking his theory as the correct one, it must surely 
 have originated with one individual, and having language, 
 it was competent to communicate the plan to some others. 
 To say nothing, however, of this communicating medium, 
 which need not be taken into consideration until the 
 competency of a martin to devise the scheme be granted, 
 it is first too much to suppose that any one of these tiny 
 birds had an amount of intelligence anything like com- 
 mensurate with that displayed by the depth of the design. 
 It is impossible to allow it ; for if so, they must be in 
 possession of a very superior reasoning faculty. That 
 the martins did what they are said to have done, we do 
 not dispute ; but that it was a purely rational act on 
 their part, we do not for a moment admit. Probably the
 
 164 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 proprietor, seeing that she was deprived of her original 
 nest, wished to build another by its side, and the Instinct 
 of self-preservation came into play the instant the ne- 
 cessity for it arose, and the hole was stopped up in order 
 to get rid of a troublesome and quarrelsome neighbour. 
 
 Lord Brougham informs us of a singular story, not 
 unlike the foregoing, told by Dupont de Nemours, and 
 which he says he witnessed himself. In this case, 
 swallows performed the stratagem, and Paris was the 
 scene of the exploit. A single swallow had accidentally 
 put its foot into a noose of a cord that was attached to 
 the spout of the pump in the College des Quatre Nations, 
 and the only purpose answered by its own efforts to 
 escape was that of drawing the knot so tight upon itself 
 as to render all further exertions useless. In vain it 
 fluttered till all its strength was exhausted, when it gave 
 utterance to piteous cries, which were sufficiently loud 
 to assemble a vast flock of the same birds upon the spot ; 
 indeed, all the swallows from the large basin between 
 the Tuileries and Pont Neuf were soon collected at the 
 post of alarm. For a time, it is said, they crowded to- 
 gether, as if consulting a plan of release. At length the 
 attack being decided on, one of the number commenced 
 the operations by darting at the string, which it struck 
 with its beak as it flew past. Another and another 
 followed in quick succession, till the whole army of be- 
 siegers had given a dash at the fort to be dismantled. 
 The combined operation was sustained during half an 
 hour, when the cord was severed, and their captive com- 
 panion set free. For some time afterwards the whole 
 flock continued to hover together, chattering one among 
 another, as if conscious of a triumph. 
 
 Admitting the above to be a fact, and fairly repre- 
 sented, it is so remote from an every-day thing, that it 
 could not be considered very extravagant, nor running 
 wild beyond the range of probabilities, if an explanation 
 was attempted to be sought in simple chance. It is so 
 rare, that it is quite impossible to form an idea how it 
 ought to be put; as one to ten thousand is to bring 
 the chance surely into limits much too narrow, and, 
 perhaps, as one to a hundred thousand may not be suffi- 
 ciently wide. However, we do not mean to ascribe it to
 
 ANIMALS WITHOUT LANGUAGE. 165 
 
 chance, and thus meet the difficulty, but we cannot 
 allow it to be the result of the swallows' reasoning. 
 
 The difficulty is complex, inasmuch as all the indivi- 
 duals of the flock seemed to understand the plan. Let 
 it be supposed that any man of moderate intelligence, or 
 even a genius if you like, stood by as a spectator, and 
 was asked to determine for the swallows the best method 
 of setting their captive comrade at liberty. The great 
 probability is, that he would have said that the task is 
 impracticable for such feeble birds ; they cannot do it. It 
 is also very unlikely that he would have devised the ex- 
 pedient which the swallows hit upon, and which they 
 found really practicable. This forbids our belief that 
 the design was formed by the swallows themselves, for 
 we will not allow them an intelligence superior or equal 
 to that with which man is endowed. If the birds, then, 
 had no design, they could have had nothing to commu- 
 nicate. 
 
 But let it be supposed that the design really did origi- 
 nate with one bird, what language had that bird to 
 express and make its meaning intelligible to the rest ? 
 If the few noises or sounds which animals are capable 
 of uttering be called language, because they can be 
 understood in some limited extent by those of the same 
 species, the term in such cases must represent a very 
 different thing from human speech. The range of the 
 latter, for anything that can be known, is infinite, and 
 its flexibility will admit of every kind of convolution. 
 It is capable of giving expression to any meaning, and 
 to designs that have never before been expressed or 
 conceived. But animal sounds are but conventional 
 signs at most, and these exceedingly limited. They 
 have the note of alarm, and the tone that calls ; and 
 these are the two principal points of their speech. 
 Some others they have, but only those that are adapted 
 to the mode of one particular existence, and such as can 
 be understood only by the species. To suppose, then, 
 that animals are capable of giving expression to a totally 
 new invention, to an invention that they have never 
 seen or heard, and which would require not only some 
 varying, but new modes of expression, is monstrously 
 absurd. Yet this is what the martins which blocked 
 ii 3
 
 166 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 up the sparrow, and the swallows which cut the cord 
 asunder, must have done, if, at least, language was their 
 medium of communication. 
 
 We have more than once observed young pigs stray 
 from their sty into those of other families, where they 
 have found themselves the objects of attack ; and though 
 they have returned to their own department much 
 bruised and hurt, yet we have never seen a case in which 
 the unfortunate and suffering victims have communicated 
 the affair to the rest of the litter and the mother, both 
 of which have always remained as ignorant and uncon- 
 cerned as if nothing had been the matter ; in short, the 
 one has been as incapable of understanding it as has been 
 the other of making it known. Animals cannot commu- 
 nicate a strange event. 
 
 It is perfectly true that animals do seem to communi- 
 cate things to one another, and that they have certain 
 sounds which are mutually understood is true also ; but 
 we apprehend that it is chiefly by Instinct, and not by 
 anything which bears a resemblance to human speech. 
 And the facts we are about to mention furnish the 
 strongest support in favour of the instinctive hypothesis. 
 
 On walking across the fields contiguous to game pre- 
 serves, we have scores of times stepped upon covies of 
 very young partridges, and the moment the old bird has 
 struck the note of alarm, the handsome and pretty little 
 creatures, though in full chirp and active motion at the 
 time, have become as silent as the tomb, and as immov- 
 able as a statue. At the mother's warning voice they 
 have dropped coweringly on the ground, as if all had 
 been struck with one and the same stroke of lightning. 
 And thus have they squatted till the parents have re- 
 turned to indicate the danger was past. 
 
 The old birds, too, on these occasions, act in a peculiar 
 and interesting manner. Recourse is had to a very re- 
 markable and masterly stratagem, to allure an intruder 
 from the place of the covey. If reason devises it, the 
 parent partridges play their part with admirable skill. 
 Unlike themselves at any other moment, the two birds, 
 the hen bird more particularly, boldly approach the per- 
 son who has fallen upon them, doing their utmost, by the 
 means of every possible manoeuvre, to attract all his at-
 
 INSTINCTIVE COMMUNICATION. 167 
 
 tention upon themselves, that their young may have all 
 the chance of being unobserved. They fearlessly expose 
 their own life to peril, to save that of their offspring. 
 At first, the old birds will flutter along the ground, some- 
 times even tumble along, within two or three yards of 
 their disturber's person, and in the direction opposite to 
 the spot on which the covey is sitting. They actually 
 feign the inability to fly, hence they make their move- 
 ments with drooping wings ; while, with no less perfec- 
 tion, they dissemble their power to walk, so they fall to 
 the earth in the disguised attempt to fly away. When 
 the object of their artifice is accomplished, that is, when 
 success has attended their efforts, by the person being 
 misled, they fly off to a distance, and then return to their 
 brood as soon as convenient. 
 
 Now, what is this warning note given by the old birds, 
 and received by the young ones ? The signal evidently 
 communicates the right meaning, for it is properly un- 
 derstood ; and because it is so, it has been called language. 
 If so, it can only be a language that is peculiar to Instinct, 
 and quite unlike the medium of intelligent thought. 
 Human speech or language is acquired, and this distin- 
 guishes it from animal conventional signs, which are 
 not acquired. This is quite clear from the fact of their 
 being understood by the young of birds as soon as they 
 are hatched. The young of the partridge supply a most 
 striking illustration. The little creatures may be often 
 seen running about with a portion of the egg-shell still 
 upon their backs, and when danger is at hand, the parent 
 bird gives a peculiar cluck, which is no sooner sounded 
 than every tiny individual of the whole covey yields the 
 most prompt and uniform obedience to it. All under- 
 stand it at once, and that as perfectly the first time they 
 hear it as they do at the twentieth. Is this, then, ac- 
 quired ? Not in the least. There is no instruction, and 
 there is no experience. Nothing can be more clearly 
 and purely instinctive. And if it is Instinct in the 
 young birds, surely it is not more difficult to believe that 
 it is the same faculty in the old ones. 
 
 With regard to the artifice of the old birds, a late 
 writer on the subject seems to think that it is the result 
 G 4
 
 168 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 of a mixture of Instinct, skill, and observation ; for he 
 says, " Among the remarkable examples in which a com- 
 bination of Instinct with a skill only to be derived from 
 reasoning, founded on observation, has been shown by 
 animals in the protection of their young, may be reckoned 
 the arts employed by some birds to allure an intruder 
 from the neighbourhood of their nests." Now whether 
 Instinct and Reason give mutual aid, we are not pre- 
 pared to say. But it does appear to us that the presence 
 of skill, and the power to observe, imply the presence of 
 intelligence, and that the quality or strength of the latter, 
 as the cause, must be in proportion to the displays of the 
 former, as its products. 
 
 Let us, therefore, take the case of the partridge as an 
 example, and endeavour to form some sort of estimate of 
 the kind or amount of skill the stratagem of the old bird 
 requires. Such estimate will then be a measure of intel- 
 ligence, which must, on the intellectual theory, be ac- 
 corded to these animals of the wing. If the act of the 
 parent partridges in alluring away a stranger be a ra- 
 tional one, then it is contrived with wonderful ingenuity. 
 Not only so, it is even more ; for the birds adopt the 
 most likely means possible of answering the end in view. 
 And it must be remarked that human intelligence can- 
 not improve their plan, that is, supposing it to be put 
 into operation to mislead other animals, or even men, who 
 had no previous knowledge or experience of the artifice. 
 The plan is most complete in all its parts ; and, under 
 the circumstances named, it is without a defect. The 
 feathered strategists never make a mistake, so as to lead 
 the intruder on to their brood of young ; but the oppo- 
 site direction is always unerringly taken. Their object 
 in approaching so near to the aggressor is evidently to 
 induce him to throw his attack upon themselves; and 
 what can be more tempting to their foes than this ? 
 They do more still. They actually tempt the enemy to 
 persevere ; and hence their wings are suffered to trail 
 along the ground as if broken ; hence also their leaps as 
 if making the effort to fly, but cannot; and finally, their 
 tumbles as if their legs were broken. What man or 
 animal will not these exhibitions tempt to pursue ? None.
 
 JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 169 
 
 The temptation is almost irresistible ; yet this is the art 
 of a bird. 
 
 The power, then, that contrives the plan is a master 
 of all the circumstances ; and surely that which operates 
 so infallibly, so as not to be open even to a suggestion 
 from human intelligence, yet possessed by a bird, is a 
 faculty very different from man's intellect. If the design, 
 therefore, is the result of skill and observation, the intel- 
 ligence of the partridge is superior to human reason ; 
 but its being partly skill and observation, and partly 
 Instinct, is a combination we cannot understand. It is 
 just like Instinct in all its particulars, and Instinct we 
 call it. All partridges do it uniformly, and all equally 
 perfect. The bird that has never had a brood of young 
 before, will go through the operation as skilfully as one 
 that has had twenty. This is Instinct with a witness, 
 and we do not see the necessity or the use of bringing in 
 any other power as an explanation to the phenomenon. 
 
 Crow and Sparrow- Courts, as they are called, and 
 their business seems to justify the term, supply, in their 
 proceedings, some very curious illustrations of instinctive 
 concert. The laws of their community cannot be broken 
 with impunity ; but full justice must be executed upon 
 every delinquent, and the penalty of life be paid for all 
 capital offences. The social principle of the crow is 
 permanent ; for, unlike most others, it is continued during 
 the period of incubation ; though the assemblies that 
 unite for that purpose, laying claim to certain spots, are 
 but subdivisions of the vast flocks that congregate to- 
 gether to spend the night during the months of winter. 
 Their choice of place is very peculiar, and remarkably 
 uniform. A group of high trees on the margin of a pond 
 of never failing water, and near to some residence, is sure 
 to offer conveniences and special attractions to these 
 cawing and noisy birds. But a common house will not 
 do for them, and this is very remarkable. It involves 
 some secret that has not yet been told. No, they must 
 have either a mansion or a monastery, or one of those 
 old manor structures that have weathered the storms 
 since the age of the Normans or the Romans, and which 
 seem planned and built to last throughout all time. No- 
 thing less than these monuments of the past, or those
 
 170 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 representing the greatness of the present, will suit them. 
 On such sites the young are reared, and these are no 
 sooner able to step out of their nests than a force of 
 gunners march to the spot, and bring down the new 
 generation from their stately heights. Notwithstanding 
 this havoc, and though repeated year by year, the same 
 company of rooks will as often return to the place for the 
 like object. It does not drive them from the course 
 along which their proper Instinct leads them. 
 
 When the community is formed, the site selected, and 
 the season arrived, the work of building commences with 
 wonderful clamour and bustle. Should there be more 
 than one claimant to any particular fork between the 
 branches, the senior birds, whether conscious of their 
 right to it or not, quickly decide the point of dispute by 
 the force of might ; so that from this, and another 
 cause to be mentioned, the scene is full of strife and con- 
 tention all the time the work lasts. But then there is an 
 end of it. The young rooks, or those of one year old 
 only, often violate the rules of the rookery by pilfering 
 twigs and other materials from the nests of the older 
 ones, but the theft is always discovered, and never suf- 
 fered to go unpunished. The rogues do not allow them- 
 selves to be caught in the actual fact, for they seem to 
 watch their opportunity, and commit their robbery only 
 when both owners are absent. 
 
 Now the criminals are convicted in a very singular 
 manner. They first seem to be suspected like a person 
 who has made his fortune too fast to have done it ho- 
 nestly. Having their material close at hand, and already 
 broken up for them, their work goes on apace, and getting 
 so much ahead of the rest, the whole company act as if 
 jealous of such proceedings, and envious of the quick 
 success of their juniors. On these occasions some eight 
 or ten rooks have been seen to fall upon the nest of the 
 convicted, and in a moment tear it all to pieces. The 
 agreement among so many is the curious part of the pro- 
 ceeding. How is the complaint lodged at first ? What 
 is the mode of condemnation? What is the medium 
 of that perfect unanimity of action which puts the 
 judgment into execution ? To say that all this is there- 
 suit of reasoning, requires an amount of intelligence that 
 we cannot allow the rook.
 
 JUDICIAL TRIBUNALS. 171 
 
 But the proceedings of the crow-court have other and 
 more remarkable features. The most regular and notable 
 of these have been observed to take place in the Shet- 
 land Isles, among a species of rook termed the corvus 
 comix. According to Dr. Edmondson, a general assembly, 
 composed of deputations from distant quarters, is regu- 
 larly convened. No business must be transacted till the 
 convocation is complete ; the first comers, therefore, wait 
 a day or two for the arrival of the several deputies. A 
 particular field or hill of some character about it is se- 
 lected, as befitting the importance of the session to be 
 held upon it. When all the deputies have made their 
 appearance, the court opens. What crime has been com- 
 mitted is not known, but criminals there certainly are at 
 the bar. The charges appear to be made, and the evi- 
 dences given, not individually, but collectively, in a 
 general croaking and clamour ; and this seems to include 
 the passing of judgment also, for it is no sooner over than 
 the whole court, "judges, barristers, ushers, audience and 
 all, fall upon the two or three prisoners at the bar, and 
 beat them till they kill them. When this is accomplished, 
 the court breaks up, and quietly disperses." 
 
 The first question that presents itself to our curiosity 
 is, how do these birds know when all the deputies have 
 arrived ? How are so many informed of the crimes of a 
 few ? How are the criminals known ? What guard have 
 they ? for they seem to make no effort to escape. Are 
 the prisoners themselves conscious of what is about to 
 take place ? If so, why not fly off at night, when they 
 could not be pursued? For reason would adopt this 
 course ; and if the proceedings of the court were carried 
 on by reason and language, we should feel disposed to 
 allow just as much of both to the criminal as we should 
 to their judges. 
 
 The business of the sparrow-court is*not gone through 
 with so much formality and rule as that of the rook. A 
 large assembly is not convened. This mode of proceeding 
 appears too tedious for these more off-handed and pug- 
 nacious animals. They will have the punishment follow 
 more closely upon the heels of the offence. Here we are 
 reminded of a characteristic of one of the most energetic 
 men we ever knew. When told that the courts of law
 
 172 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 were open to him for the punishment of any delinquent, 
 he used to say, " Do not tell me about the law ; I want no 
 more law upon him than what I can give him myself." 
 That being over, his magnanimity never allowed him 
 to think more of the offence. 
 
 The sparrows act upon nearly the same principle, for 
 when anything is the matter, a force of from four to 
 half a dozen sparrows may sometimes be seen all at once 
 in a cluster, tumbling one over the other down to the 
 ground, and engaged in the sharpest conflict, which is 
 prolonged for a very short time only, but while it does 
 continue the clamour is of the most violent character, and 
 expressive of the most bitter and indignant censure. It 
 is, however, soon over, and the unfortunate sufferer, 
 having endured the penalty, is as well received after- 
 wards by the community as if it had committed no trans- 
 gression at all. This is generous, and as it should be. 
 Many men would do well to learn this lesson. Man is 
 not always magnanimous, but often manifests a little 
 mind and a mean spirit by cherishing some debasing 
 feelings within his mortal breast. 
 
 The Lapwing plays her part to mislead the person in 
 quest of her nest in a manner very similar to that acted 
 by the partridge ; with this difference only, that the latter 
 is much less on the wing than the former. Nothing is 
 more difficult than to find the nests of these singular 
 birds. How many times has their art tantalized our 
 ardent desire to satisfy a strong curiosity of youth. In 
 vain have we followed the bird, and in vain gone from 
 her. In vain have we taken the direction of all the car- 
 dinal points. In vain have we made the circle, and gone 
 from centre to circumference. It has been even difficult 
 to say whether we have been in the right field or not, for 
 such is the distance this species of plover will lead their 
 pursuers. At le'ngth we have grown weary, and after 
 giving up the search in despair, have retired, leaving 
 the bird to return with an air of triumph. 
 
 The lapwing, if obliged to quit her nest, does not 
 take wing immediately, but runs to a very long distance, 
 and then rises. All this time, too, she remains very 
 quiet, and it is only when fairly away that she breaks
 
 THE CUCKOO'S STRANGE INSTINCT. 173 
 
 her silence. The pee-wit then becomes endless, and is 
 given in a tone remarkably plaintive. As she nears and 
 beats about the intruder, her tones get louder, often 
 gliding into a whine or scream, at the same time she is 
 flying round and round, and tossing and tumbling herself 
 in the air. The further she makes from her nest, and ap- 
 pearing to be going on successfully, the more clamorous 
 is her noise, as if she really would, if possible, impress the 
 belief upon the mind of the invader that he was di- 
 recting his course to the very spot she was so anxious 
 should be avoided ; and herein lies the beauty and per- 
 fection of her art. But if the nest, on the contrary, be 
 actually approached, the apparently sagacious creature 
 ceases either to make a noise or to manifest concern at 
 all. It is not possible to carry the artifice further ; the 
 climax is complete. Human reason, being acquainted 
 with the bird's stratagem, might devise other schemes to 
 mislead men who were in possession of the same know- 
 ledge, but none better calculated to allure away an 
 animal, or a human being that was ignorant of the lap- 
 wing's practice. The phenomenon is as admirable as it is 
 marvellous. 
 
 The Cuckoo is a bird of such singular and exceptional 
 habits that she must come in for some share of our atten- 
 tion and remark. The propensity which makes, with one 
 exception, all others of the feathered tribes the admiration 
 of all observers, is wanting in the cuckoo. It is, therefore, 
 a most extraordinary trait of character. She is appa- 
 rently indifferent whether her race be perpetuated or 
 not, and the only proof she gives of any concern to have 
 her progeny reared is to be found in the most indirect 
 form. A procreant cradle to receive her eggs she will not 
 only not make, but she will wait neither to provide for 
 her young, nor to protect them. 
 
 Being a migratory bird, the cuckoo arrives in England 
 about the middle of April, and takes her departure late in 
 June, or early in July. And here we have a remarkable 
 instance of the infallibility of Instinct as a guide. The 
 young cuckoos, though hatched in a strange nest and 
 brought up by a foster parent, though having never seen 
 an old one of their own species that has gone the way 
 before, will yet migrate at the proper season, and inva-
 
 174 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 riably follow in the right direction. The old birds, parents 
 and all, have gone clean off some time before, leaving all 
 the young, which do not depart till the end of August, 
 to find their way as the innate faculty may instruct 
 them, and it is certain a better instructor they could not 
 have. This is a marvellous illustration of the power of 
 pure and unerring Instinct ; and this, moreover, in a 
 bird which is said to be the most stupid of winged 
 creatures. 
 
 The cuckoo, however, takes one step to secure to her 
 young the means of their subsistence. She leaves them 
 upon the right track. And this must clearly be the result 
 of a peculiar Instinct. The curious device is, to put the 
 young cuckoo in the nests of those birds only which 
 will bring the foundlings their appropriate food. Hence 
 the nests of those insectivorous species which live upon 
 caterpillars, especially the hairy kinds, and various insects, 
 as dragon-flies, &c., are selected by the cuckoo for the re- 
 ception of her eggs, because such will bring the food 
 upon which her progeny will best thrive. 
 
 If the cuckoo had any notion of proportion or dimen- 
 sions, she would, one would judge, make choice of the 
 nests of the blackbird, or the thrush, as the most fitting 
 receptacles for the size of her young ones ; for the nests 
 of the hedge-sparrow, the wagtail, the whitethroat, and 
 titlark, &c., which are those she makes use of, are too 
 small to afford comfortable accommodation to such large 
 birds. Yet the eggs of the cuckoo are very small in com- 
 parison to her size, for they scarcely exceed those of the 
 common chaffinch. 
 
 But the aliment upon which the blackbird and the 
 thrush usually or occasionally subsist is not proper, per- 
 haps some of it positively injurious to the young of the 
 cuckoo, and this is the main point of the matter ; they 
 are, therefore, in spite of their fitness, passed over. And 
 it would seem further, that the cuckoo was really con- 
 scious of the inconvenience the small nests she is compelled 
 to adopt will give to her offspring, since she is never 
 known to deposit more than one egg in each nest, as if she 
 was aware that two young birds could not possibly be 
 either properly housed or fed. Her conduct, then, is 
 shaped as if she knew all these things exactly ; and how
 
 THE CUCKOO'S STRANGE INSTIKCT. 175 
 
 can she know any one of them, much less all ? How 
 truly is she guided to the means that will accomplish 
 her end. The phenomenon is remarkably singular and 
 curious. Why this bird should be destitute of the pro- 
 pensity to build her own nest and foster her own young, 
 like others birds, is perhaps yet to be discovered. Doubt- 
 less it is an arrangement of an All-wise Providence, and 
 has, therefore, some purpose or other to serve. 
 
 When the young cuckoo is hatched before those of its 
 foster parent, it throws the unhatched eggs overboard by 
 means of its broad back, which has, moreover, a depression 
 in the middle, and, therefore, all the more capable of 
 ejecting them. It visits its companions with the same un- 
 ceremonious treatment, and, suffering no rival, mono- 
 polises all the room and all the supplies to itself; for such 
 is the voraciousness of this animal, that the most un- 
 tiring zeal and labour of the poor hedge-sparrow are 
 scarcely able to satisfy its monstrous cravings. The 
 young foundling, then, appears to act as if it was aware 
 that one party or other must come short, and to adopt, 
 consequently, the lesser of two evils a prompt star- 
 vation instead of a more lingering and cruel death. 
 
 The cuckoo is said to possess but weak powers of 
 flight ; notwithstanding, they brave and accomplish the 
 journey to this country, nor do they hesitate to make 
 the return. Their young, too, with no parent or bird of 
 any experience to lead them, start off, not as if in search 
 of more genial climes, but in the manner of the sailor 
 who is steering his vessel to a port he has visited times 
 without number, and who is never in doubt as to the 
 line he is taking. The young birds will go ; and what 
 is still more wonderful, they will venture upon the 
 waters, though they cannot know that there is land 
 beyond. The impulse is within them, and must be 
 obeyed. Indeed, such is the case with all migratory 
 birds. 
 
 " On the 25th of August, 1845," says Mr. Couch, "a 
 late season for vegetation and periodical actions of most 
 naturalkinds, a young shrike (laniuscollurio) was brought 
 to me that had flown on board a fishing-boat in the pre- 
 ceding night, at the distance of four or five miles from 
 land, while apparently in the act of migration, though
 
 176 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 its age from the nest was so little that it could scarcely 
 be supposed likely to have crossed the Channel in safety." 
 How marvellously irrepressible the instinct ! and how 
 admirably correct its tendency. 
 
 CHAP. XIV. 
 
 Theory of Sensation, Curious Case of a Swan. Pigs said to see 
 Wind. Galen's celebrated Experiment. Animals refusing 
 Plants poisonous to them. The same Plants wholesome Food to 
 others. Animal Intelligence. A singular Combat. Wild 
 Horses. Bacon's Raven. Remarkable Expedient by Goats. 
 
 THE THEORY OF SENSATION has been put forward to 
 account for many operations of animals that must be 
 otherwise considered as instinctive. But we think it 
 deserves but little attention, seeing how miserable are 
 the attempts that go to make out any case whatever in 
 its favour. It is in fact only stumbling from one diffi- 
 culty to another immediately. Atmospheric changes, 
 doubtless, affect the nervous system of animals as well 
 as that of man, and produce certain irritations which are 
 the springs of many of their motions. And Dr. Jenner 
 has produced a beautiful poetical illustration of the aerial 
 influence : 
 
 '' The hollow winds begin to blow, 
 The clouds look black, the glass is low, 
 The soot falls down, the spaniels sleep, 
 And spiders from the cobwebs creep. 
 
 Last night the sun went pale to bed, 
 The moon in halos hid her head. 
 The boding shepherd heaves a sigh, 
 For see, a rainbow spans the sky. 
 
 The walls are damp, the ditches smell; 
 Closed is the pink-eyed pimpernel. 
 Hark ! how the chairs and tables crack ; 
 Old Betty's joints are on the rack. 
 
 Loud quack the ducks, the peacocks cry; 
 The distant hills are looking nigh. 
 How restless are the snorting swine, 
 The busy flies disturb the kine.
 
 AERIAL INFLUENCE. 177 
 
 Low o'er the grass the swallow wings; 
 The cricket, too, how loud it sings! 
 Puss, on the hearth, with velvet paws, 
 Sits smoothing o'er her whisker' d jaws. 
 
 Through the clear stream the fishes rise, 
 And nimbly catch th' incautious flies; 
 The sheep were seen, at early light, 
 Cropping the meads with eager bite. 
 
 Though June, the air is cold and chill ; 
 The mellow blackbird's voice is still. 
 The glow-worms, numerous and bright, 
 Illumed the dewy dell last night ; 
 At dusk the squalid toati was seen, 
 Hopping, crawling, o'er the green. 
 
 The frog has lost his yellow vest, 
 And in a dingy suit is dress'd. 
 The leech, disturbed, is newly risen 
 Quite to the summit of his prison. 
 
 The whirling winds the dust obeys, 
 And in the rapid eddy plays. 
 My dog, so altered in his taste, 
 Quits mutton-bones, on grass to feast; 
 And see yon rooks, how odd their ilight, 
 They imitate the gliding kite; 
 Or seem precipitate to fall, 
 As if they felt the piercing ball, 
 'Twill surely rain." 
 
 Man's system, too, is affected by the same changing 
 influences. Some constitutions are so sensitive to the 
 alternating powers, that they have no need of a barometer 
 to indicate the weather that is soon coming, since their 
 nerves supply information as correct as that of the in- 
 strument itself. We have known such persons, some of 
 whom have been accustomed to beat about in the air, 
 while others have been given to sedentary habits. 
 Generally they have been of an ailing character, with 
 a bodily frame subject in some parts to infirmity and 
 weakness ; and the weakest parts, or those which have 
 obstructions in the circulation, are the parts most affected. 
 On the approach of a change in the weather, a corn, for 
 instance, on the foot of some persons becomes very 
 painful, and sometimes indicates, by the kind of pain 
 induced, what sort of a change is at hand, and how soon 
 it may be expected. In most instances the influence
 
 178 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 exerts its power upon the weakest organ of the body, 
 whether that be the head or the chest, or upon any 
 other part that happens to be deficient in strength. 
 
 But what is the cause of these aches and pains ? 
 Previous to rain the glass sinks ; that is, the mercury in 
 it falls lower down, because the air has changed from a 
 certain density to a state of less compactness, therefore 
 will no longer support the semi-metal at the height it 
 stood before the alteration took place. As soon, then, 
 as the change happens, the pressure of the atmosphere 
 on the surface of the human body the average being 
 fifteen pounds to every square inch becomes less, and 
 immediately there will be a struggle to restore the 
 equilibrium between the air within the body and that 
 without it. This process, therefore, is probably the 
 cause, in some measure at least, of the uneasiness ; and 
 its seat is in the sensitiveness of the nerves. 
 
 Then again, as the air becomes lighter, or of less 
 density, a less amount of oxygen, the vital element, is 
 taken into the lungs at every inspiration, wherefore the 
 blood cannot be so perfectly cleansed, for it is the oxy- 
 gen which is the purifier. Hence many people get 
 drowsy, and sometimes fall into a sound sleep. But this 
 cannot be the only consequence of vitiated blood. It 
 must extend its influence over the whole system, and 
 any imperfection, however small, in the work of the 
 lungs, produces great disorder and much pain in some of 
 the delicate organs of the body. 
 
 Another cause is to be sought in the varying electrical 
 states of the atmosphere. And it is quite impossible to 
 say, either what power the presence of this strange fluid 
 exerts, or what are the consequences of its absence. 
 Here we have, then, the operations of three different and 
 distinct agencies, all of which may be considered as 
 having a physical character. We will, therefore, apply 
 these agencies to some instinctive operations, in order to 
 ascertain, if possible, whether they can be made to 
 account for them on the theory of sensation. 
 
 " There is a peculiarity," says Mr. Waterton, " in the 
 nidification of the domestic swan, too singular to be 
 passed over without notice. At the time it lays its first 
 egg, the nest which it has prepared is of a very moderate
 
 AERIAL INFLUENCE. 179 
 
 size; but as incubation proceeds, we see it increase 
 vastly in height and breadth. Every soft material, such 
 as pieces of grass and fragments of sedges, are laid hold 
 of by the sitting swan, as they float within her reach, 
 and are added to the nest. This work of accumulation 
 is performed by her during the entire period of incuba- 
 tion, be the weather wet or dry, settled or unsettled; and 
 it is perfectly astonishing to see with what assiduity she 
 plies her work of aggrandisement to a nest already suffi- 
 cient in strength and size to answer every end. My 
 swans generally form their nest on an island quite above 
 the reach of a flood ; and still the sitting bird never 
 appears satisfied with the quantity of materials which 
 are provided for her nest. I once gave her two huge 
 bundles of oaten straw, and she performed her work of 
 apparent supererogation by applying the whole of it to her 
 nest, already very large, and not exposed to destruction, 
 had the weather become ever so rainy." 
 
 Mr. Yarrell gives an interesting account of a swan 
 that was about nineteen years old, and having brought 
 up many broods, was highly valued by the neighbours. 
 " She exhibited, some eight or nine years past, one of the 
 most remarkable instances of the powers of Instinct ever 
 recorded. She was sitting on four or five eggs, and was 
 observed to be very busy in collecting weeds, grasses, &c., 
 to raise her nest : a farming-man was ordered to take 
 down half a load of haulm, with which she most indus- 
 triously raised her nest and the eggs, two feet and a half : 
 that very night there came down a tremendous fall of 
 rain, which flooded all the malt-shops, and did great 
 damage. Man made no preparation, the bird did ; and 
 Instinct prevailed over reason. Her eggs were above, 
 and only just above, the water." 
 
 A change in the atmosphere, and the cat is disturbed, 
 and she cannot sit quiet. She manifests considerable un- 
 easiness, and begins washing her face to allay the irrita- 
 tion. If the air be overcharged with the electrical fluid, 
 her susceptible hair is the first thing to be affected, and 
 instead of lying down smooth, it becomes ruffled, and 
 probably the sensation of itching is produced on the 
 animal ; hence she is perpetually rubbing her coat and 
 ears to smooth down the hair, and wipe off the cause of 
 x 2
 
 180 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 the irritation. But being domesticated, puss has no neces- 
 sity to provide against a fall of rain, or a threatening storm. 
 In the country, many people may be found who hold 
 the belief that rooks can " smell powder," because they 
 take themselves off rather hastily at the sight of a gun ; 
 and by the same force of reasoning, there are as many 
 who come to the conclusion that the pig " can see the 
 wind," because of the squeaking whine, betokening mi- 
 sery, this animal makes whenever a gale is blowing, or is 
 about to rise. It is true that, on these occasions, the 
 more especially when partly exposed in the farm-yard, 
 from want of a water and wind-proof cover, they do often 
 whine most piteously, and sometimes may be seen running 
 about with straw in their mouths, in anticipation of a 
 high wind, the motive of which is, evidently, to collect a 
 sufficient store to protect themselves from the inclement 
 storm. This object, however, they seldom if ever ac- 
 complish in the yard ; they appear as if they knew the 
 purpose only in part. The straw is carried to no pro- 
 perly defined place, but dropped down anywhere, as if 
 without fixed intention, and as if the plan was not pro- 
 perly matured. 
 
 Undoubtedly, it is the impulse of this animal's natural 
 Instinct, which would complete its own work in a state of 
 nature ; but the domestic habits of the pig, under man's 
 protection and shelter, have in part destroyed the power 
 to carry out the operations more fully. 
 
 These few facts will serve the purpose of our inquiry 
 for an application of the theory, as well as a hundred of 
 the same kind. Let it be supposed, then, that the start- 
 ing point of the pig's motions has its seat in a sensation 
 which has been produced by a change in the atmosphere, 
 and the facts of the case seem to prove very clearly that 
 the cause is thus in the altered state of that element. 
 But will that account for the operation ? How can it ? 
 It can do so in no other way than on the supposition 
 that the pig is an intelligent animal, and capable of 
 acquiring sufficient knowledge as to be able to profit by 
 experience. 
 
 It is mostly by experience that man becomes ac- 
 quainted with the signs of the weather, either from his 
 own internal sensations, or from external appearances,
 
 THEORY OF SENSATION. 181 
 
 upon both of which he is in the habit of making obser- 
 vations. But can the pig derive any experience in this 
 way ? Does it remember that it once felt a particular 
 sensation that was followed by wind or rain, and there- 
 fore concludes that the latter was a necessary conse- 
 quence of the former ; and that, on the occurrence of the 
 one, it may very reasonably expect that of the other ? 
 This is a process too rational, and involves too much of 
 something like human knowledge to be allowed to the 
 animal ; and without it the pig could not know the 
 meaning of any one sensation. We affirm, then, it does 
 not know it, that it cannot judge of the effect from the 
 cause ; and that whenever it takes up the straw into its 
 mouth, it is the result purely of its naturally instinctive 
 impulse, an impulse which is clearly and perfectly dis- 
 tinct from the sensation. Sensation, consequently, will 
 not, in our judgment, account for the strange yet proper 
 conduct of these animals. It is only putting the diffi- 
 culty a little further on. 
 
 The same remarks may be applied to the case of the 
 swan, which so admirably provided against the coming 
 flood. That the atmospheric change produced a sensa- 
 tion upon her is quite probable. But the question 
 arises how did she know what it meant, or what was to 
 follow ? Only one mode of becoming acquainted with it . 
 was open to her, and that was by experience. Then 
 what faculty had she that could collect the circumstances 
 of passing events, and afterwards was competent to 
 work them up as the material for the production of ex- 
 perience? Such a process could not have been gone 
 through without, to some extent, the power of mental 
 abstraction ; that is, the ability to conceive, or to form a 
 distinct idea of events independent of the presence of some 
 visible objects that bring into play the powers of associ- 
 ation. We know of no case, none most certainly has 
 come under our observation, that affords the least proof 
 that an animal is capable of thinking in this manner. Our 
 belief, therefore, is that the swan knew nothing of the 
 meaning of the atmospheric change by the sensation she 
 might have felt, but that she raised her nest from an 
 impulse that she did not at all understand. 
 
 Sensation, as applied to the palate, or to the sense of 
 
 N 3
 
 182 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 smell, may, with much more show of reason, be shown 
 to be a guide to the animal in the selection of its most 
 fitting food. The nerves in the seat of this sense are 
 peculiarly sensitive. Some substances excite upon the 
 palate, or upon the organ of smell, the most disagreeable 
 sensation ; while, on the contrary, there are others which 
 gratify it to the utmost. And such a variety does 
 nature supply that she can fill up, with a regular grada- 
 tion, all the space between the two extremes. To j udge 
 what kind of food is suitable to his constitution, man 
 has, in addition to those senses of taste and smell, his 
 intellectual faculties given him, and he is, therefore, 
 not left entirely dependent on the properties of his olfac- 
 tory nerves and those of his palate. But it is a different 
 matter with the brute. Its intelligence is not sufficient 
 to instruct it in these things. Hence the sense of taste 
 in animals is more adapted for the proper selection of 
 the food especially created for them, and is much more 
 perfect and nice in them than what it is in human 
 beings. On this supposition, animals might naturally 
 be expected, unless under extraordinary circumstances, 
 to give the preference to that sort of food upon which 
 they would thrive best, and to reject that which would 
 be positively injurious to them. And many facts which 
 have been observed and recorded, seem to convert the 
 supposition into a perfect truism. 
 
 Perhaps the most remarkable instance on record is 
 that given by Galen, who, after Hippocrates, is con- 
 sidered to have the best claim to the title of prince of 
 the Greek physicians. After his return from his travels, 
 a commotion drove him from Pergamos, where he was 
 born about the year 131 ; and having repaired to Rome, 
 his eminently successful practice there excited the envy 
 of the faculty, and being then driven from his adopted 
 city also, the land of his nativity again received him, and 
 was honoured with his mortal remains about 200 B. c. 
 
 This celebrated philosopher states the case of his re- 
 markable experiment thus : "On dissecting a goat with 
 young, I found a brisk embryon. and having detached it 
 from the matrix, and snatched it away before it saw its 
 dam, I brought it into a room, where there were many 
 vessels, some filled with wine, others with oil, some with
 
 GALEN'S EXPERIMENT. 183 
 
 honey, others with milk or some other liquor, and in 
 others there were grains and fruit. We first observed the 
 young animal get upon its feet and walk ; then it shook 
 itself, and afterwards scratched its side with one of its 
 feet ; then we saw it smelling to every one of those things 
 that were set in the room, and when it had smelt to them 
 all, it drank up the milk." 
 
 The first part of this beautiful story exactly corre- 
 sponds to the efforts we have often observed in the 
 young of the sheep, and much have we been amused with 
 the manner in which the newly-born lamb has com- 
 menced the search for its nourishment. If in a healthy 
 condition, it is very quickly upon its feet. After a 
 little floundering and a tumble or two, it secures a 
 footing, and then begins its peculiar and curious conduct. 
 It does not wait to be taught how to act, or where it 
 must look for the source of its supply ; but it goes to 
 work as if that had been already communicated, though 
 it is, perhaps, not ten minutes old. It may sometimes, it 
 is true, be seen beating about the chest of its mother, 
 notwithstanding it puts its head in the right position, 
 and directs its muzzle a little upwards as well as a little 
 forwards. It never makes a search on the ground, but 
 adopts from the first the proper method, and applies it- 
 self to the right place. Neither instruction nor experi- 
 ence can have lent it any aid. And perhaps the most 
 remarkable and striking feature of the whole operation 
 is, that the moment its nose comes in contact with the 
 teat of its dam, the little animal instantly seizes it, as if 
 gladly and perfectly conscious it had found the right 
 thing, and with as much apparent certainty as if it had 
 taken it a thousand times before. How admirably and 
 beautifully nice are the operations of Instinct ! 
 
 " But the great source of instinctive acts," says Bush- 
 man, "in the lower animals, are the senses of smell and 
 taste. By these, particularly by the former, they are 
 led with unerring certainty to the selection of their food. 
 Of herbs they reject such as are noxious, while they 
 select those which are salutary, with a certainty which 
 far exceeds the boasted knowledge of man ; yet what is 
 this but an original connection between the muscular 
 movement necessary for cropping the herbage and the 
 
 N 4
 
 184 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 sensations which the smell of it excites ? How wisely ad- 
 justed to each other must be the two processes, and how 
 redolent of inferences of the goodness and greatness of 
 the Creator! but the animal kingdom everywhere 
 abounds with such, and innumerable as they are, they 
 are inadequate to impress us with more than a faint idea 
 of the stupendous extent to which these attributes are 
 displayed. There is scarcely a plant which is not re- 
 fused by some, while it is eagerly sought after by others. 
 The horse rejects the common water-hemlock, on which 
 the goat luxuriates ; the cow refuses the long-leaved 
 water-hemlock, which the sheep is greedy for ; and the 
 goat will not touch the wolf s-bane, which the horse en- 
 joys. The Indian buceros devours with avidity the nux 
 vomica, so well known as poisonous to dogs, rats, and 
 most animals ; and the land-crab feeds on the berries 
 of the deadly manchineel tree. The deer and the round- 
 horned elk thrive on the broad-leaved kalmia, which is 
 poisonous to sheep, horned cattle, horses, and man. 
 From the flower of the same plant the bee draws honey, 
 and man finds death." 
 
 "The bee," says Dr. Hancock, "extracts honey with- 
 out injury from the flower of this plant," the broad-leaved 
 kalmia, " but the man who partakes of that honey, after 
 it is deposited in the hive-cells, falls a victim to his re- 
 past. In the autumn and winter of 1790, at Philadel- 
 phia, extensive mortality was occasioned among those 
 who had eaten of the honey collected in the neighbour- 
 hood of that city, or had feasted on the common Ameri- 
 can pheasant, or primated grouse, as we call it. The at- 
 tention of the American government was excited by the 
 general distress ; a minute examination into the cause 
 of mortality ensued ; and it was satisfactorily shown 
 that the honey had been chiefly extracted from the 
 flowers of the kalmia latifolia, and that the pheasants 
 which had proved thus poisonous had fed harmlessly on 
 its leaves. The consequence was, that a public procla- 
 mation was issued, prohibiting the use of the pheasant 
 as a food for that season." 
 
 Animal Intelligence. That many animals are en- 
 dowed with some sort of rational property cannot be 
 denied. And this, as we have already indicated, is
 
 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 185 
 
 spread over the various orders in a proportion remark- 
 ably adapted to the necessities of the circumstances of 
 their respective existences, or to the subserviency of 
 the purpose [man requires of them. Hence we see it 
 displayed most in those which man finds capable of 
 rendering menial service, but which must be instructed 
 before they can be made manageable and useful. And 
 the competency of their intelligence seems very nicely 
 adapted to receive just that amount of instruction neces- 
 sary to enable them to understand the meaning of his 
 signs. 
 
 Now what is the meaning of this measure of rational 
 capacity? Is it not that the Creator saw in what 
 manner these animals would be useful to the being to 
 whom He had made them subject, and that He, accord- 
 ingly, provided them with a faculty more flexible than 
 Instinct, and such that would facilitate man's govern- 
 ment over them ? That this was the object designed by 
 the All-wise, there is not room for a doubt ; for we see 
 that the amount of intellectual power given to them is 
 just sufficient to answer that end, and insufficient to per- 
 form anything more. This question is of the utmost 
 importance to every philosopher who is devoted to the 
 study of natural history. The prominent import of it 
 may be questioned from the fact that there are other 
 animals besides those which man is accustomed to bring 
 into his special service that have been taught to perform 
 wonderful feats also. But how rarely do we meet with 
 a successful instance ! And when it is so, what infinite 
 pains and labour, and discipline and practice, have been 
 bestowed upon it ! Here is, therefore, the wide differ- 
 ence. We require no other proof, that the object of so 
 much forced and difficult training in the latter case, then 
 successful only as it were by chance, was not designed 
 by the Being who created them. After all, the instruc- 
 tion which is given to animals, even the highest, is re- 
 sponded to by them, more by a mechanical than by an 
 intellectual method, perhaps much in the same way as a 
 child repeats the multiplication table. But we pass on 
 to notice a few cases that have been taken as proofs of 
 animal reasoning. 
 
 "In the spring of 1791," says the author of the article
 
 186 MAKVELS OP TXSTIXCT. 
 
 Instinct, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, "a pair of 
 crows made their nest on a tree, of which there are 
 several planted round his garden ; and in his morning 
 walks he had often been amused by witnessing furious 
 combats between them and a cat. One morning the 
 battle raged more fiercely than usual, till at last the cat 
 gave way, and took shelter under a hedge, as if to wait ! 
 a more favourable opportunity of retreating to the house, j 
 The crows continued for a short time to make a threat- j 
 ening noise ; but perceiving that on the gronnd they < 
 could do nothing more than threaten, one of them lifted j 
 a stone from the middle of the garden, and perched with < 
 it on a tree planted in the hedge, where she sat watch- j 
 ing the motions of the enemy of her young. As she ! 
 crept along under the hedge, the crow accompanied her 
 by flying from branch to branch, and from tree to tree ; 
 and when at last puss ventured to quit her hiding-place, 
 the crow, leaving the trees, and hovering over her in the 
 air, let the stone drop from on high on her back. That 
 the crow on this occasion reasoned is self-evident ; and 
 it seems to be little less evident that the ideas employed 
 in her reasoning were enlarged beyond those which she 
 had received from her senses. By her senses, she may 
 have perceived, that the shell of a fish is broken by a 
 fall ; but could her senses inform her that a cat would 
 be wounded or driven off the field by the fall of a stone ? 
 No. From the effect of the one fall preserved in her 
 memory, she must have inferred the other by her power 
 of reasoning." 
 
 This singular story is contained in a note to the 
 seventh edition of that work, but our advice would be 
 that it should be given in a supplement to ,/Esop. It is 
 right to say, however, that the author tells us that the 
 fact was communicated to him " by a gentleman whose 
 veracity is unquestioned, and who, being totally unac- 
 quainted with the theories of philosophers, has of course 
 no favourite hypothesis to support." The gentleman's 
 veracity we will not question, but we must beg to be 
 pardoned if we suspect the correctness of his apprehen- 
 sion in regard to the crow's object or motive. That she 
 should watch the cat off is very natural, and she might 
 very possibly drop something from her mouth ; but that
 
 BACON'S RAVEN. 187 
 
 she should do it under the motive ascribed to her, and 
 through a process of rather refined reasoning, involves a 
 mode of thinking quite unnatural to her ; we think, 
 therefore, that the author's concluding comment is not 
 only misplaced, but that it contributes very largely to 
 the belief that the crow is a positively rational creature. 
 
 But why argue from such an isolated fact at all an 
 instance, for aught anybody knows, that has occurred 
 only once in the history of the species ? For ten years 
 we lived near the spot where every crow from all the 
 surrounding districts within twelve miles assembled at 
 evening to roost ; and over all that period, and among 
 the vast diurnal assemblage which was generally col- 
 lected in a meadow, we never witnessed any conduct, as 
 being purely the result of reasoning, that required for its 
 solution a fiftieth part of the intelligence that must be 
 necessary to explain the phenomenon of the case we have 
 quoted. Many manifestations of some beautiful Instincts 
 we have seen, but none whatever to induce us to believe 
 that the crow is enough endowed with intellectual powers 
 to reason on the best mode of making her attack. In this 
 particular we differ from the writer we have referred to ; 
 but it is with much diffidence that we do so, since the 
 articles which compose that great work, the Encyclopae- 
 dia Britannica, are written, almost without exception, 
 with the rare combination of the greatest talent with the 
 soundest sense. 
 
 Lord Bacon, it is said, gives an account of a raven that 
 filled up with pebbles some hollows in a tree containing 
 water, in order to make the liquid rise up to a point 
 within its reach ; but whether or not this case came under 
 the personal observation of that remarkable philosopher, 
 we do not know. Lord Brougham, however, brings it 
 under the head of animal intelligence, but with no better 
 reason for it, that we can see, than that of our previous 
 author, when he classes the cat and crow contest after 
 the same manner. We cannot see how an argument can, 
 with any propriety at all, be based upon an extreme and 
 isolated fact, a fact that almost everybody is just 
 likely to call in question. Let the argument rest upon a 
 broad and visible foundation upon something intelli- 
 gible to all.
 
 188 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 The same noble and accomplished writer gives the 
 following instance as also illustrative of animal intelli- 
 gence : "In the forests of Tartary and of South America, 
 where the wild horse is gregarious, there are herds of 
 500 or 600, which, being ill-prepared for fighting, or 
 indeed, for any resistance, and knowing that their safety 
 is in flight, when they sleep, appoint one in rotation, who 
 acts as sentinel, while the rest are asleep. If a man ap- 
 proaches, the sentinel walks towards him, as if to recon- 
 noitre, or see whether he may be deterred from coming 
 near ; if the man continues, he neighs aloud, and in a 
 peculiar tone, which rouses the herd, and all gallop away, 
 the sentinel bringing up the rear. Nothing can be more 
 judicious or rational than this arrangement, simple as it 
 is." 
 
 Perhaps we ought to beg his Lordship's pardon before 
 we venture to say that there is no proof whatever that 
 the arrangement is a rational act at all ; unless, however, 
 the result or even the design of the operation be taken as 
 proof, and then too much is proved. The character of 
 the act makes it appear to us much more like the result 
 of instinct than of reason. Now the contrivances of 
 the latter vary, and so much so, that no two men ever 
 design the same thing exactly alike ; while, under the 
 same circumstances, the faculty of the former is con- 
 stantly uniform in its operation ; and we are told by 
 Lord Brougham himself, than whom no one perhaps was 
 ever gifted with more multifarious talent, that the same 
 rules are observed by these horses in two different and 
 distant parts of the world in Tartary in Asia very 
 much to the north of the equator, and in America consi- 
 derably to the south of that line, and separated, moreover, 
 by a wide ocean on either side. 
 
 It is a little remarkable to us that this circumstance 
 did not strike his Lordship when he penned the sentence 
 which ascribes the singular conduct of these animals to 
 reason. If the arrangement was planned by intelligence, 
 we should scarcely expect to find it identically the same 
 in both countries. Their respective native inhabitants 
 will not supply a similar illustration. Would not a tra- 
 veller think it very strange were he to find himself ap- 
 proached by the sentinel horses of both countries in the
 
 GOATS IN EXTREMITY. 189 
 
 very same manner, then to see them turn away from the 
 very same cause, to neigh in the very same tone ; and 
 finally to take up the rear in the very same order like- 
 wise ? Would he be likely to say that it was the work 
 of two separate intelligences ? Could he think the plan 
 had been discovered by the ancestors of these horses at 
 some remote period before the race became divided and 
 scattered to distant regions of the earth, and that all the 
 divisions had taught it to their immediate successors 
 from one generation to another so successfully, even as 
 perfectly as if it had been by stereotype, that it bore the 
 marks of the probability of its being transmitted with 
 every detail, however minute, to the very end of the 
 world ? But if not communicated from one to another, 
 then, on the theory of intelligence, every new generation 
 of horses, as well as every individual of the vast herds, 
 must have discovered it for themselves. Then, again, 
 how very singular that the horses in Tartary should hit 
 not only upon the very same plan, but carry it out also 
 in the very same manner, as those in the far off districts 
 of the New World. Is it, then, intelligence ? Who will 
 believe with Lord Brougham that it is ? We will not 
 most certainly. Our readers will judge for themselves. 
 
 The following example as an illustration of the power 
 of reasoning in animals is given by Dr. Hancock : "Two 
 goats, grazing about the ramparts of Plymouth citadel, 
 got down upon the narrow ledge of the rock, and one of 
 them advancing before the other, till it came to an 
 angle, was enabled to return, but in its way back met 
 its companion, which produced a most perplexing di- 
 lemma, as it was impossible for them to get past each 
 other. Many persons saw them without being able to 
 lend any assistance. After a considerable time one of 
 the goats was observed to kneel down with great caution, 
 and crouch as close as could be ; which was no sooner 
 done, than the other, with great dexterity, walked over 
 him, and they both returned the way they came in 
 perfect safety. And at Ardinglass, near Glenarm, in 
 Ireland, two goats, moving towards each other, over a 
 precipice 1000 feet high, on a narrow ledge of the rock, 
 were seen to extricate themselves from danger by 
 similar expedient.
 
 190 MARVELS OF IXSTLN'CT. 
 
 " In both these instances the animals looked at each 
 other for some time, as if they were considering their 
 situation, and deliberating what was best to be done 
 in the emergency. I apprehend that mere Instinct 
 would have prompted them immediately to act, instead 
 of thus comparing and judging, by their outward senses, 
 of danger and expedients." 
 
 So writes Dr. Hancock. And the apparent deliber- 
 ation of the goats may perhaps very fairly be taken as 
 evidence of reasoning; such, however, is its charac- 
 teristic in man. But is it to be supposed that it operates 
 in animals by an exactly similar method ? While, on 
 the other hand, the remarks we have made in favour of 
 Instinct in regard to the wild horses of Tartary and 
 South America, are equally applicable to both the cases 
 of goats before us. The two pairs behaved precisely 
 alike. And nothing can be more indicative of Instinct, 
 and, in our opinion, supports the argument for the in- 
 stinctive faculty more strongly, than the fact of the 
 animals appearing to contrive a plan of escape gives for 
 that of the intellectual powers. As regards the evidence 
 of the apparent comparing and judging of their situation 
 by the goats, it may be observed, that if taken on the 
 theory of Instinct, both the goats in the two cases 
 would be endowed with the same power ; that is, both 
 would have the impulse to drop down, and both the im- 
 pulse to walk the one over the other. How was this 
 matter to be decided? Which of the two was to drop 
 down ? Is this sufficient to give any explanation to 1 ' 
 the seeming deliberation of the animals ? 
 
 CHAP. XV. 
 
 Instincts of Insects. The Hive-Bee Its Economy and Govern- 
 ment. Its Mathematics a Wonder. Its Conduct" not from Sen- 
 sation or Reason. Eernarkable Concert. Repairs an Injury 
 from Accident. Royal Cells formed by Instinct. Carder Bees. 
 
 Carpenter Bees. Upholsterer Bees. Rose-leaf Cutter Bees. 
 
 Their wonderful Instinct. 
 
 INSTINCTS OF IXSECTS. The instinctive marvels of 
 this class of creation are truly various and many, and
 
 INSTINCT OF INSECTS. 191 
 
 as truly curious and astonishing. Yet there is every 
 reason to believe that but comparatively few of them are 
 known, so that by far the greater number remain hidden 
 from man's view, and beyond the reach of that intellec- 
 tual search he has hitherto made to discover them. To 
 become thoroughly acquainted with all the habits and 
 instincts of all the orders of the class, would demand the 
 study and devotion of no ordinary lifetime. Their va- 
 riety is as endless as are their forms, and affords ample 
 scope for the powers of the most intelligent, sagacious, 
 and diligent of men. But who, on earth, is there that 
 can understand all the works of the Most High ? 
 
 In coming to the insect tribes, we appear to be taking 
 a descending step in the scale of creation, for a de- 
 finite brain is no longer to be recognised, although the 
 principal ganglion, from the fact of its having its seat in 
 the head of some, is sometimes denominated a brain. 
 The ganglia in insects, distributed over different parts of 
 their body, form about twelve in number, and are con- 
 nected together by a double cord. The ganglion in the 
 head is double or bi-lobed, and sends nerves to the eyes, 
 to the mouth, and to the antennae respectively. From 
 the posterior part proceed two delicate recurrent nerves 
 towards the dorsal vessel, which is a long cylindrical 
 tube extending along the back, and though closed on all 
 sides, seems to answer the purpose of a heart ; for it is 
 subject to contractions in one part, while the other is 
 being dilated, and in this manner propels backwards and 
 forwards the fluid contained in the canal. The nervous 
 system, then, of the insect tribes is exceedingly diminu- 
 tive in bulk, and apparently only just sufficient to supply 
 matter for nerves of sensation, and the quantity necessary 
 to connect them together. 
 
 Man was to be entrusted with responsible powers, and 
 he was made a thinking being. At the same time he 
 was to be a free agent, that his conduct might be deter- 
 mined and swayed by sufficient motive. He was never 
 designed to give a blind obedience to the laws of his 
 Maker. The motives or the reasons were to be assigned 
 that his obedience might be willing and cheerful, and he 
 was accordingly endowed with intelligent powers that 
 could understand and appreciate them. This thinking
 
 192 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 apparatus, or mind, some spiritual thing distinct from 
 matter, was to be united in some mysterious manner 
 with his body ; and it pleased the Creator in His wisdom 
 to create some special matter by which it was to perform 
 its functions. This organ of matter is the brain, and is 
 evidently the seat and medium of thought ; and in pro- 
 portion to its health, strength, and vigour, in that pro- 
 portion does it display the powers of mind. Not that the 
 only difference between a man and an animal is a ques- 
 tion of brain ; for though the soul of man must be in- 
 telligent, it does not follow that all intelligence is spirit. 
 But the Divine Being, never intending to implant an im- 
 mortal principle in animals, withheld from their physical 
 structure the full and perfect organization of that peculiar 
 matter which appears so essential to the due performance 
 of the functions of thought. And being without respon- 
 sibility of soul, because they have none, animals are des- 
 titute of the means of reasoning, any further at least than 
 is necessary to serve either some purpose of their own 
 existence, or of usefulness to their master. But in the 
 class of beings the wonderful works of which we are 
 about to examine, we find almost as little as possible of 
 brain matter ; from which, must it not be naturally in- 
 ferred, that the All-wise did not purpose that these 
 animals should be thinking creatures ? Notwithstanding, 
 it will be seen that many insects adopt principles that, if 
 discovered by man, could only be the result of the most 
 profound reasoning reasoning, too, that must have been 
 founded upon such depth of mathematical knowledge 
 that not one man perhaps in twenty thousand ever ac- 
 quires, or is able to acquire. We have, then, to describe 
 some of these animals' habits and works, which illustrate 
 the principles referred to. 
 
 The Hive-Bee. The commonness of this remarkable 
 insect, and man's ignorance, contribute alike their united 
 powers to keep the many marvels of its beautiful policy 
 concealed. And how little do the multitude still know 
 of it ! Yet the subject of its economy and government 
 occupied the philosophic genius of Aristotle as well as 
 the muse of Virgil, and we are told that Cicero and 
 Pliny report that Aristomachus devoted a period of sixty 
 years to the study of it. Its beautiful policy, we say ; so
 
 THE BEE'S ECONOMY. 193 
 
 it is truly and wonderfully enough, but nevertheless 
 some parts of it are as wonderfully strange and myste- 
 rious ; still all the different parts are nicely connected to- 
 gether, and dependent upon one another. 
 
 The honey-bees are gregarious and social, and the 
 state of their society is well-ordered. Three different 
 kinds of bees compose a society, and this it is which dis- 
 tinguishes them from almost all other insects. There 
 are the drones, or males ; the neuters, or workers ; and, 
 lastly, the female or queen bee, in which the governing 
 principle of the community resides. She is much longer 
 than any of the others, and is provided with a sting. 
 The drone has a thick body, and an obtuse appearance, 
 but is not so lengthy as the queen, and has no sting. 
 The worker is both shorter and smaller than the 
 drone, its proboscis is extended, and its hinder legs, 
 being transversely striated on the inner side, are parti- 
 cularly adapted for the collecting of materials from 
 flowers. Nearly 20,000 workers are sometimes found in 
 a well-stocked hive, while the drones may not be more 
 than about 700. But there can be but one queen. A 
 rival here is not suffered. 
 
 All the labour devolves upon the workers. They 
 engage, moreover, in the profession of arms, as well as 
 in the arts of industry and commercial enterprise. They 
 explore the country for materials to construct the common 
 habitation, collect and bring home all the supplies, attend 
 upon the queen and provide all her wants, defend the 
 hive from the invasion of depredators, and carry on war 
 with all the enemies of the tribe. But the subject of our 
 special attention is their architecture, and that we will 
 now attempt to describe with as much brevity and per- 
 spicuity as possible. And for the benefit of those of our 
 readers who may not be particularly conversant with the 
 mode of measuring angles, we offer the accompanying 
 figures, which, from their simplicity, it is hoped, will 
 enable them to understand the method without much dif- 
 ficulty. 
 
 All circles are supposed to be divided into 360 equal 
 parts, called degrees, so that the opening between any 
 two lines is measured by these degrees on the circumfe- 
 rence of the circle. It will be seen, therefore, that the 
 o
 
 194 
 
 MARVELS OF INSTDfCT. 
 
 angle subtended by the lines a and b is measured by just 
 a quarter of the circle, Fig. L; that is, by 90 of it, for 
 
 Fig. l. 
 
 this number is a fourth part of 360 ; but the angle em- 
 braced by the lines b and c is more acute at the corner, 
 and consequently less, measuring only 45, or only the 
 one-eighth part of the circumference. A much larger 
 or smaller circle may be imagined to be placed over these 
 lines ; the measurement of the angles would be still the 
 same, for all the circles, be they large or small, are di- 
 vided into 360 degrees. 
 
 The second example will show that a hexagon, or a 
 figure of six equal sides, cuts the circle in six points, di- 
 viding it into six equal parts, each of which must be 60, 
 since six times 60 make 360. This is sufficient for the 
 present to throw some light upon what is to follow, and 
 we proceed to explain the wonder. 
 
 The marvel is in the structure of the honey-comb, 
 which displays the art to such perfection and nicety, 
 that man himself did not only not discover it, but was a 
 long time, and that with infinite pains, before he could
 
 THE BEE S MATHEMATICS. 
 
 195 
 
 explain it, even when the bee had given him the illus- 
 tration. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 The combs are the receptacles for the eggs of the 
 queen bee, and wax is the material with which they are 
 constructed. This wax is secreted by a set of bees that 
 remain in the hive, and which are fed with honey for 
 that purpose by the collectors outside. It is, there- 
 fore, a costly article, and when a sufficient quantity is 
 ready the building commences and goes on apace. 
 
 The combs consist of a series of plates, suspended 
 from the top of the hive in a vertical position, in the 
 manner of a plate in a plate rack. Let the p]ate so 
 standing represent the thin partition of wax which forms 
 the bottom of the cells. Then the latter will be con- 
 structed on both sides of the partition, in an horizontal 
 or level direction, so that the openings, or the mouths of 
 the cells of one plate, stand opposed to the mouths of 
 that of the next ; and in like manner the bottoms are 
 opposed also, and separated only by the vertical partition. 
 Each stratum of combs is about an inch in thickness, 
 and separated the one from the other by an interval of 
 o 2
 
 196 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 half an inch, -which is left as a space of ingress and 
 egress for the bees going to and from the different cells. 
 
 The cells are of an hexagonal form, that is, of six 
 equal sides, about half an inch in depth, and a quarter 
 of an inch in diameter. " The comb," says Lord 
 Brougham, " is constructed thus. Wax-making bees bring 
 a small mass of this material and place it vertically to the 
 plane from which the comb is to hang down. Then 
 other bees begin to excavate, one on one side, another 
 on the other, and they work with such perfect nicety, as 
 never to penetrate through the thin layer of wax ; also 
 so equally that the plate is of equal thickness all through- 
 out, its surfaces being parallel." 
 
 Now there are only three possible figures, equal and 
 similar, that will allow all the space to be filled up, and 
 admit at the same time of its being divided into com- 
 partments. These are the equilateral triangle, the square, 
 and the regular hexagon. No other can be used without 
 leaving interstices ; but this would not do, it would not 
 be compatible with the bee's economy of material. A 
 cylinder, though insuring the greatest strength in its 
 form, would, nevertheless, not obtain the balance of ad- 
 vantages in its favour, and the bee, therefore, passes it 
 by. But we beg the reader to pay particular attention 
 to the following fact, and his pains will be well re- 
 warded. 
 
 It has been discovered that the proportion of the area 
 of a polygon increases as the number of the sides of the 
 figure ; that is, a figure of five sides will give more space 
 or room inside than one of four sides, or a square ; and 
 one of seven sides, or a heptagon, more than one of six 
 sides or a hexagon. Now the bee goes to work as if it 
 reasoned in this manner. The square is the most simple 
 figure, and can be constructed without leaving inter- 
 stices ; so far therefore it will suit me ; but the principle 
 of an increase of space with that of the number of 
 sides must be taken into the account, and though the 
 next in number, that of five sides or a pentagon, will 
 not admit of all the space being brought into use, a 
 hexagon will ; that, therefore, I can take, and being of a 
 greater number of sides than that of a square, it will 
 atford me a greater amount of room.
 
 THE BEE S MATHEMATICS. 
 
 197 
 
 As to the amount of difference in space between a 
 square and a hexagon, that cannot at any time of course 
 be large ; but in the case of the bee's cell, it must be ex- 
 ceedingly small, in a single one scarcely appreciable ; yet, 
 in thousands, its total becomes of considerable conse- 
 quence, and these insects so conduct their operations as 
 if they were perfectly aware of it. How do they know 
 all this ? What is it that makes them such clever geo- 
 metricians ? In this science, they have taken the lead, 
 and beat man thoroughly in the race. The marvel is very 
 great ; yet another discovery, which we shall next en- 
 deavour to explain, puts it higher still. 
 
 The vertical plate or thin partition separating the 
 cells, and serving as their bottom, is not a plane ; that is, 
 it is not level or flat on either of its sides ; but the 
 bottom of each cell is composed of three rhomboidal 
 plates. And that this remarkable contrivance may be 
 quite plain, we have described the accompanying figure, 
 by way of giving it illustration, for it is difficult to 
 understand it without one. 
 
 The external six sides represent the bottom of a cell, 
 and the inner lines mark the boundaries of the three 
 rhomboidal plates. The figure of a rhomboid has two 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 o 3
 
 198 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 of its angles or corners acute, and opposed to each other, 
 as a, b ; the remaining two are also opposed, but they are 
 both obtuse. It will be seen from the figure that the 
 three inner angles of the three plates are all obtuse, and 
 meet in the centre of the cell ; but these same three 
 plates do not serve as the bottom of another cell on the 
 other side of the partition plate, for a third part of the 
 three contiguous cells will stand on this bottom, so that 
 the outsides of these three cells will run along the inner 
 lines of our figure, which are, therefore, made to an- 
 swer the purpose of buttresses, so that greater strength 
 may be given to the whole fabric, for the bottom of 
 each cell rests against the point where three partitions 
 meet. This mode of putting in the bottoms gains all the 
 strength possible, with the least amount of wax. A 
 plane or flat bottom would not serve the purpose so 
 admirably. The contrivance is so beautifully and so de- 
 licately nice, that one must pity the mind in which it 
 fails to excite the most touching admiration. 
 
 But there is yet another feature about these three 
 plates which is, if possible, more striking and touching 
 than the last. The rhomboidal plates are inclined to 
 one another, that is, they do not lie down level so as 
 to make one flat bottom. Then the question for the 
 bee to determine is, how great the inclination must be, 
 in order to make it most compatible with economy and 
 strength. More like which of these two figures A , A ? 
 And here, again, it has been found, to the astonishment 
 of the most learned mathematicians, that the insect has 
 determined rightly, for it adopts the precise angle re- 
 quired. This problem " has exercised the skill of several 
 modern mathematicians of great eminence, and has ge- 
 nerally been resolved by the assistance of the infinitesimal 
 calculus, or the methods of maxima and minima." 
 
 There are but few men who ever attain the point in 
 the scale of mathematical knowledge necessary to enable 
 them to work out the problem ; that is, so as to render 
 them competent to show exactly at what angle the bee 
 ought to make the three rhomboidal plates to meet in 
 the centre. "It would take," says Sidney Smith, "a 
 senior wrangler at Cambridge ten hours a day, for three 
 years together, to know enough mathematics for the
 
 THE BEE'S MATHEMATICS. 199 
 
 calculation of these problems, with which not only every 
 queen bee, but every undergraduate grub, is acquainted 
 the moment it is born." 
 
 The solution of the difficult problem, as to what angle 
 the greatest saving of wax required, gave a result as 
 near as possible to that which the bee actually makes. 
 " It was," says Lord Brougham, " the celebrated Maraldi 
 who first measured the angles, and found them to be 
 109 28' respectively. Reaumur afterwards set a young 
 mathematician, pupil of Bernoulli, called Koenig, to 
 find what were the angles that made the greatest saving 
 of wax, and the result was, by his analysis, 109 26' and 
 70 34', being within two minutes of his own measure- 
 ment, which measurement he had not communicated to 
 Koenig. But it turns out that the bee was right, and the 
 analyst wrong ; for, by solving the problem in another 
 way, I find that he erred by two minutes ; and other 
 mathematicians, with whom I have communicated, dis- 
 tinctly find the same thing, and we have also found how 
 the error crept in. These angles never vary in any 
 place ; and it is scarcely less singular that the breadth 
 of all bees' cells are everywhere precisely the same, the 
 drone or male cells being -pgths, and the worker or female 
 cells |ths of an inch in breadth, and this in all countries 
 and times." 
 
 With respect to the purely instinctive faculty of the 
 bee, Lord Brougham makes some exceedingly appropriate 
 remarks, and couched in terms as forcible as his sentences 
 are lengthened and sustained. "But," he says, "be- 
 ginning with laying aside those actions of animals which 
 are either ambiguous or are referable properly to reason, 
 and which almost all philosophers allow, show a glim- 
 mering of reason ; and confining ourselves to what are 
 purely instinctive, as the bee forming a hexagon without 
 knowing what it is, or why she forms it ; my proof of 
 this not being reason, but something else, and something 
 not only differing in degree, but in kind, as from a com- 
 parison of the facts an examination of the phenomena 
 in each case, in a word, from induction. I perceive a 
 certain thing done by this insect without any instruction, 
 which we could not do without much instruction. I see 
 her working most accurately without any experience, in
 
 200 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 that which we could only be able to do by the expertness 
 gathered from much experience. I see her doing certain 
 things which are manifestly to produce an effect she can 
 know nothing about ; for example, making a cell, and 
 furnishing it with carpets and with liquid, fit to hold 
 and to cherish safely a tender grub, she never having 
 seen any grub, and knoAving nothing of course about 
 grubs, or that any grub is ever to come, or that any such 
 use, perhaps any use at all, is ever to be made of the 
 work she is about." 
 
 Again, when opposing that argument which would 
 make the operations of the results of the gratification of 
 some sense, he, with remarkable appropriateness, says : 
 " A great deal more is done by the bee, and a great deal 
 more must be supposed to make it conceivable that she 
 has any immediate or primary intention. She works so 
 that the rhomboidal plate may have one particular dia- 
 meter and no other, and always the same length, and 
 that its four angles may be always the same, the opposite 
 ones equal to each other, but each two of different 
 quantity from the other two ; and then she inclines the 
 plates at given angles to one another. Why is there 
 such a gratification to the bee in a straight line in a 
 straight line at right angles to a plane in rhomboids 
 in rhomboids with certain angles, any more than in lines 
 or planes inclining at other angles to one another ? Why 
 is the bee, after working for half a quarter of a line in 
 one direction, to go on, and not take delight in a change 
 of direction ? If she goes on, why is she to be pleased 
 with stopping at one particular point ? Nay, why is 
 each bee to take delight in its own little part of the 
 combined operation ? Why is each to derive pleasure 
 from doing exactly as much as is wanted, and in the 
 direction wanted, in order that when added to what 
 others have before done, and increased by what others 
 are afterwards to do, a given effect, wholly unknown to 
 her and to all the rest, her coadjutors, may be produced." 
 
 The author of the article Instinct, in the Encylo- 
 pfedia Britannica, gives also the following admirable 
 paragraph : " But if the inferior animals on all occasions 
 act with design, we should be glad to know the design 
 of the bees in forming the cells of their combs in the
 
 CONCERT OF BEES. 201 
 
 manner which we have so largely described. Do these 
 little animals indeed know that a comb, consisting on 
 both sides of hexagonal cells, with the bottom of each 
 composed of several planes meeting in a certain solid 
 angle, and so formed as that the bottom of a cell on the 
 one side shall rest upon the partitions between the cells 
 on the other side, is in all respects the most proper both 
 for holding their stores of honey, and for rearing their 
 young ? And do they likewise know that its excellence 
 arises from the precise figure and position of the cells, 
 by which there is a considerable saving of labour and 
 materials, whilst the comb at the same time has the 
 greatest possible strength, and the greatest possible ca- 
 paciousness ? If they know all this, and act with a view 
 to these ends, it must indeed be confessed that bees are 
 rational creatures, and that their thinking and reasoning 
 powers far surpass those of men ; for they have from the 
 earliest ages made discoveries in the higher mathematics, 
 which there is reason to believe were altogether unknown 
 to the human race till the beginning of the present 
 century, and which at this moment are beyond the com- 
 prehension of nine-tenths of mankind in the most enlight- 
 ened nation on earth." 
 
 The concert of the bees, too, is not less entertaining 
 than remarkable, and cannot be better put than in the 
 words of Lord Brougham, whom we cannot refrain from 
 quoting again : " One bee brings wax, and does not 
 sculpture ; another sculptures, and does not bring wax ; 
 but the wax-worker brings just as much as the sculp- 
 turing bee wants, and at the rery time she wants it ; 
 also, one works on the face, and another on the back of the 
 same rhomboidal plate ; and all so work as never to inter- 
 fere with or jostle one another, which is the perfection 
 of concert, and can only among men be effected by dis- 
 cipline, which refers the whole of the different purposes 
 to one superintendent, and makes his unity of design 
 the guiding rule and impulse, because concert among 
 the different agents is otherwise unattainable." 
 
 Such have been the habits and instincts of the bee 
 from the most remote periods of time, even as they still 
 are from the most remote corners of the earth. The same 
 laws that govern these remarkable communities in Europe
 
 202 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 and Africa, are those which the same tribe of animals 
 acknowledge in Asia and America. The bees in China 
 adopt the same figure, with the same dimensions, and form 
 the same angles precisely, as do the same order of beings 
 in England. And well has the poet expressed it : 
 
 " Thy arts of building from the bee receive ; 
 Learn of the mole to plough, the worm to weave : 
 Learn of the little nautilus to sail, 
 Spread the thin oar, and catch the driving gale." 
 
 The beautiful edifice, however, though so well con- 
 trived, is sometimes, like every thing else in this world, 
 subject to misfortune. Occasionally an accident occurs. 
 Perhaps the material, from the weight of the honey put 
 upon it, gives way, and a stratum of comb becomes 
 detached and falls. And because the little architects 
 have been observed to do the best thing under the circum- 
 stances, or to pursue a course that human reason would 
 dictate, in order to rectify the mischief, it has been said, 
 therefore, that they must be reasoning creatures. 
 
 When one stratum of the comb has fallen against the 
 side of another resting inclined upon it, the bees have 
 b, een known to erect some horizontal pillars between the 
 two for the purpose of supporting the detached piece in a 
 certain position until they have fully completed the re- 
 pair ; and that being done, they have then taken away 
 the temporary support altogether as being no longer 
 necessary. This, it is asserted, must be the result of rea- 
 soning. That it is just like a rational act, cannot be 
 doubted for a moment ; but that it is a rational act on the 
 part of the bees themselves, we ever shall more than doubt. 
 The proof is too much. The reasoning is too refined. 
 
 The bee, moreover, is not by any means a sagacious 
 creature when put out of the course of its Instinct. 
 Though, when laden with honey or materials, they may, 
 as it is declared they do, fly home in a line as direct as 
 if it had been marked out by a cannon-ball, yet they have 
 been seen to be confounded and lost by the hive being 
 simply turned a little round while they were out, so as 
 to place the hole to the right or to the left of its usual 
 position. It has seemed as if it were impossible for them 
 to be turned from the true direction. All their efforts
 
 ACCOMMODATING INSTINCT. 203 
 
 have been made to penetrate the hive in that one parti- 
 cular spot, and in no other. Their behaviour plainly 
 proves that the simple ideas of looking for the entrance 
 elsewhere than at the point to which their Instinct im- 
 pels them, never occurs to them. Yet such an idea is 
 surely more simple than what is required to repair a 
 shattered comb to do it at least in the manner it is ex- 
 ecuted and apparently designed by them. 
 
 We cannot think that the method the bee adopts to 
 rectify an accident that may have happened to its honey- 
 comb fabric is more extraordinary, or a gi'eater deviation 
 from the course' of its natural instinct, than are some 
 other characteristics of its constructive habits. The 
 royal cells, for instance, seem to us to afford a case in 
 point ; and more particularly when one is reared for a 
 special occasion, or to provide against an accident or an 
 emergency. These cells are but few, seldom exceeding 
 a dozen, sometimes only three or four in a hive ; and they 
 are not only much larger, but of a different shape 
 their figure being oblong, resembling a pear. Not only 
 so, there is another very remarkable difference between 
 these cells and the others ; and that is in their position, 
 which is vertical instead of horizontal. But the extra- 
 ordinary circumstance to which we wish specially to 
 advert, is the fact that when the queen bee is lost, and 
 there are no royal larvze, the workers, after the lapse of 
 four or five hours of confusion and disquietude, proceed 
 to select one of the common larvaa, about three days old, 
 and begin to break down two of the neighbouring cells, 
 destroying the larvae contained in them, and erecting a 
 royal cell upon their ruins. This cell is worked from 
 the top, which is wide, and is gradually contracted in 
 diameter downwards, until it has reached the bottom, 
 which is narrow. The royal worm is now well fed, and 
 in the space of about ten days she comes forth a queen. 
 
 That these are instinctive operations is not denied. 
 But it will be seen that the Instinct which directs the 
 insects on such occasions must be different from that 
 which impels them to build an ordinary cell, and to 
 feed an ordinary grub. Why should they not, then, be 
 provided with an instinct that is competent to guide them 
 in the repair of their edifice, when it has been injured by
 
 204 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 an accident that would be likely to happen to it ? Did 
 not the Creator foresee this ? And has He not, in His 
 wisdom, supplied the bee the means of finding a remedy ? 
 This, to us, is a much more satisfactory explanation than 
 we shall ever expect to find in that which is based upon 
 any supposed reasoning powers in the insect itself. Lord 
 Brougham, however, holds to the latter opinion. 
 
 " It may be thought," says the writer we have before 
 quoted, from the Encyclopaedia Britannica, " that a de- 
 termination of the mind of the brute to act so variously 
 upon different occasions can hardly be conceived without 
 judgment or intelligence. But before our author had so 
 confidently affirmed that such accommodation to circum- 
 stances can never take place without a comparison of 
 ideas, and a deduction of inferences, he would have 
 done well to consider how nature acts in other organized 
 bodies, such as the vegetable. We see that a vegetable 
 reared in the corner of a dark cellar will bend itself 
 towards the light which comes in at the window ; and if 
 it be made to grow in a flower-pot, with its head down- 
 wards, it will turn itself into the natural position of a 
 plant. Can it be supposed that the plant, in either case, 
 does what it does from any judgment that it is best, and 
 not from a necessary determination of its nature ? But, 
 further, to take the case of bodies inorganized, how shall 
 we account for the phenomena which chemistry exhibits 
 to us ? When one body unites with another, and then, 
 upon a third being presented to it, quits the first, aud 
 unites itself with it, shall we suppose that this preference 
 proceeds from any predilection or opinion that it is better 
 to cleave to the one than to the other, from any compa- 
 rison of ideas or deduction of inferences ? Or shall we 
 not rather say, that it proceeds from an original law of 
 nature impressed upon it by that Being who mediately 
 or immediately directs every motion of the minutest 
 atom in the universe ? And if so, why may not instinct 
 be an original determination of the mind of the animal, 
 of which it is part of the nature or essence to accom- 
 modate itself to certain circumstances, on which depends 
 the preservation of the individual, or the continuation 
 of the kind ? Indeed it cannot be otherwise, if we have 
 defined instinct properly ; for no man ever supposed,
 
 THE BEE'S ROYAL POLICY. 205 
 
 that when animals work instinctively, they act for no 
 purpose. It is only affirmed that the purpose is not 
 known to them. It is known, however, to the Author 
 of instinct ; who knows likewise that the same purpose 
 must in different climates be promoted by different 
 means, and who accordingly determines the operations of 
 animals of the same species to be different under different 
 circumstances." 
 
 The bees' policy, with respect to the rearing of the 
 royal brood, and that attention which is bestowed upon 
 their queen, is too remarkable to be passed over in silence ; 
 and though we must be brief, it shall have some notice 
 before we dismiss the subject. The royal larvae come 
 from the same eggs as those of the workers, for only one 
 kind of eggs is laid. But the nursing bees supply, in 
 large quantities, the distinguished family with a peculiar 
 kind of food, which is, moreover, of a better quality, 
 therefore more stimulating, than that given to the larvae 
 of the common bees. In about five days this rich nutri- 
 ment and abundant treatment prepares them for the 
 production of their web, which is spun in the course of 
 twenty-four. hours. Each of the royal larvae is now en- 
 closed in its cell by a wall which is built up at the mouth 
 of its palace-prison. It is inactive for two days and a 
 half before it becomes transformed into a pupa, a state 
 in which it remains during four or five days, and then, 
 on the sixteenth day from that on which the egg was 
 laid, it comes forth a perfect insect. The bees gnaw 
 away a part of the wax covering of the cell, in order, as 
 it would seem, to facilitate the exit of the young sovereign. 
 Now this happens about the time a swarm is ready to go 
 off, and the old queen with it ; but lest the premature 
 presence of the young queen bee should lead to any 
 inconvenience, she is kept a prisoner by the guards, un- 
 til the throne has been fully vacated, and her way to it 
 left quite open. 
 
 Sometimes a swarm is ready at an unpropitious sea- 
 son of the Aveather, and the departure of the colony is 
 then delayed. Thus the old queen waits for a favourable 
 state of the atmosphere before she ventures to lead off 
 the new swarm, but in the meantime gives up none of 
 her prerogative, for while confined to the hive she de-
 
 206 MARVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 termines to continue the supremacy. And during this 
 delay her successor is kept in close confinement within 
 the walls of her cell, the mouth of which is strengthened 
 by an additional coating of wax, perforated with a 
 small hole, through which she thrusts her trunk for the 
 reception of her food. So jealous is the old queen of her 
 own royal progeny that her resentment becomes quite 
 furious, and were the guards to suffer her to approach 
 their cells, she would instantly give rein to her malignant 
 feelings by transfixing them all with her sting. 
 
 The common bees, the subjects of the queen, establish 
 a guard around the royal cells, and if the fury of the 
 reigning monarch impel her to attempt an attack upon 
 them, the sentinels, respecting more the laws of the body 
 politic than the person of their sovereign, beat her off" by 
 force as often as she endeavours to come near them ; so 
 that even her majesty is not suffered to violate the laws 
 of the community with impunity. But when the swarm- 
 ing is over, and no more queens are wanted, the guards, 
 as if aware of the fact, interpose no further obstacles to 
 the passion of the mother queen, and immediately she 
 tears open every royal cell, and completes the work of 
 destruction by putting every inmate to death. The 
 strange impulse to inflict death upon a rival, takes pos- 
 session of the young queen also the moment she is 
 liberated from the cell, and, if allowed, she would, after 
 the manner of the old one, put an end to all her royal 
 sisters. 
 
 The phenomenon is exceedingly curious, and gives rise 
 to a few questions in the mind of a meditative observer. 
 In the first place, how do the nursing bees know that a 
 better kind of food is necessary to produce the proper 
 growth of a queen ? What means have they of knowing 
 what that food is ? How do the guards know that it is 
 necessary to protect the royal family from the vengeance 
 of their royal mother ? How does she know that they 
 are to be rivals ? How does the young queen, that has 
 just come to light, know that she has rivals in her royal 
 sisters? Strange is the secret these questions involve. 
 That the insects do not know the import of their actions 
 is plain ; further than this, the questions cannot be 
 answered.
 
 INSTINCT OF VARIOUS OTHERS. 207 
 
 The Carder Bees, These are a species of humble-bee, 
 but rather smaller than the common one. The peculiarity 
 of their Instinct is to be found in the manner in which they 
 convey the materials for the construction of their nests. 
 A shallow excavation in the ground of about six inches 
 in diameter is selected as the floor of their dwelling. A 
 structure is reared in the form of a dome, composed of 
 grass and withered moss. A file of several bees is formed, 
 and extends from the site of the nest to the spot from 
 which the material is to be gathered. The bee on the 
 extreme end of the file, disengaging the moss and making 
 it up with her fore-limbs into small felted bundles, 
 pushes them one after the other under her body to the 
 next one behind her, and this bee again passes them on to 
 the next, and so the transfer continues until a sufiicient 
 amount of material has been amassed at the place ap- 
 pointed for the nest. 
 
 The principle is acted upon by bricklayers, when they 
 remove bricks from one place to another by throwing 
 them from man to man, who stand at certain distances 
 from each other. The method is, no doubt, more easy 
 and expeditious than any other ; but how do the bees 
 find that out ? In what manner do they form themselves 
 into a file? How do they decide which bee is to 
 have the first and which the last place ? How is it 
 that there is no confusion among them when taking their 
 places ? The bees give a practical answer, but leave 
 the wherefore unillustrated. We call this apparently 
 rational conduct of these irrational creatures the result 
 of Instinct, and that is all that can be said about it. 
 How infinitely varied and exquisitely beautiful are the 
 operations of Instinct how manifestly do they declare 
 the attributes of its Author ! 
 
 Carpenter Bees. Here again we find another and most 
 interesting variety of the Marvels of Instinct. These 
 insects work in wood ; hence their title. In the beginning 
 of spring the carpenter bee fixes upon some decayed 
 piece of wood, or upon an old weather-worn post, and 
 commences her excavating labours. By hard dint of 
 boring merely, she sinks a shaft of about twelve or four- 
 teen inches in depth, and of a diameter sufficient to admit 
 a person's finger. Her two strong teeth are the tools
 
 208 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 which perform this remarkable feat, and no wonder that 
 it should be a task of several days. The work, too, is 
 finished so smoothly that it needs no lining, nor is any 
 given. During the progress of the excavation, she is 
 careful to remove all the chips which have been chiselled 
 off to a distance. Here is an extraordinary incidental 
 feature of her conduct, and is evidently designed, though 
 not actually by herself, to escape detection. Who teaches 
 her the necessity of the precaution ? And what kind of 
 strange impulse is that which obliges her to do it ? 
 
 The next thing is to contrive the several cells for the 
 prospective young, and that in such a manner that each 
 one may have a separate apartment. A very singular 
 course is taken for this purpose, and which at the same 
 time provides against a serious inconvenience that must 
 happen were it not anticipated and the remedy supplied. 
 The hole being properly bored, the carpenter bee de- 
 posits a single egg at the bottom of the shaft, and with 
 it a ball of pollen ; and in order to form a separate cell 
 for this egg, she puts down a partition of clay and wood^ 
 dust glued together, at a short and proper distance up 
 the tube. Above this partition another egg is laid, and 
 in like manner another cell is formed for it ; and so she 
 continues, until the whole tunnel is divided into six or 
 eight compartments, each with its egg and pollen for the 
 unborn grub. The entrance is then well stopped up, 
 blocking all safely in, lest they should become the prey of 
 some devouring enemy. 
 
 But how is each weak and tender grub to get out of 
 its casemated pr'son ? The lowermost one, too, will be 
 ready to come out first, and this makes the difficulty still 
 greater. The old bee provides against the contingency, 
 and meets the difficulty. She makes a lateral and ho- 
 rizontal opening at the lower end of the tube, and fills it 
 with saw-dust paste, which, being more soft than the 
 wood, is more easy to penetrate by the tender mandibles 
 of her offspring, and to afford them greater facilities of 
 escape. Through this sort of back door the bottom one 
 can make its way out first, and all the others follow in 
 succession, according to the time of their development. 
 This sort of apparent foresight in the animal strikes 
 man, who is endowed with rational powers and accus- 
 tomed to reason, as something truly wonderful, and he
 
 INSTINCT OP THE UPHOLSTERER. 209 
 
 pauses with wonder. Then there is another thing that 
 puzzles him with respect to the young themselves, and 
 that is, each grub, on turning into a crysalis, places it- 
 self in such a position that its head is turned downwards, 
 as if it was aware that it could not go upwards, so that 
 it then lies in a direction to break open the cell at the 
 lower end, which is the right one. 
 
 And not less remarkable is it that the amount of pollen 
 in each cell should be so nicely proportioned to the exact 
 requirement of the grub it has to sustain, for it is neither 
 more nor less than the quantity wanted. How extraor- 
 dinary and curious is this fact ! for the mother herself has 
 no experience of what will be serviceable and necessary, 
 having never before provided for a family, nor having 
 ever known or seen her parents to be taught it by them. 
 Yet she puts in the right kind of food, and all that will 
 be essential for the purpose, and no more. Neither has 
 she ever made a nest before, nor ever seen one made, for 
 she builds but one during the period of her existence, 
 and dies before the next season opens. She goes to work, 
 therefore, not only without a pattern, but without even 
 an idea of it, having never seen one, and without also 
 any previous practice. Let the fact of the enduring uni- 
 formity of the plan, and of the manner of putting it into 
 execution, that is, the scheme this bee was made to 
 adopt in the beginning, as well as her method of com- 
 pleting all the parts, which have been continued by the 
 same species unto this day, and ever will be so long as a 
 decayed piece of timber can be found, be taken into re- 
 flection, and the reader will have an illustration of the 
 workings of Instinct as beautiful and curious as he ever 
 need wish to revolve in his intelligent and thinking 
 mind. 
 
 The Upholsterer Bees display in their contrivance 
 another variety of Instinct, though not very dissimilar 
 to the last. One species of them, called the poppy-bee, 
 digs a hole in banks of firm earth or trodden pathways, 
 and, in the shape of a Florence flask, scoops out a 
 chamber to the depth of about three or four inches. 
 This is the cell for the egg, and being situate in the cold 
 earth, and the dirt liable to fall from the sides, has to 
 be provided with a lining, which is an additional feature
 
 210 MARVELS OP INSTINCT: 
 
 to those we have described as belonging to the nest of 
 the carpenter-bee. Some of the upholsterer species 
 make use of the leaves of shrubs for lining their nests, 
 some the petals of flowers, others the down of plants or 
 trees, and our poppy-bee fixes its choice upon the delicate 
 petals of the scarlet poppy for the purpose. Many corn- 
 fields produce this plant in greater abundance than is 
 pleasant to the farmer; but notwithstanding the material 
 is so plentiful, the skilful little architect applies it with 
 great care, and adorns her chamber in a remarkably neat 
 and workmanlike manner. 
 
 She first cuts the petals into small portions of an oval 
 shape, and carrying them home between her legs, com- 
 mences the work of lining by spreading very accurately 
 three or four layers of the material over the bottom of 
 her cell. In like manner she proceeds with the sides, 
 covering them with the same scarlet substances quite up 
 to the entrance. The rich colour of the tapestry gives 
 it a brilliant appearance, the beauty of which, however, 
 cannot be supposed to have decided her choice of the 
 poppy leaves. Her next effort is to secure a store of 
 provisions for her young, and having collected a quantity 
 of the pollen of flowers mixed with honey that will fill 
 the cell half an inch up from the bottom, she carefully 
 deposits an egg on the top of the supply. The ends of 
 the scarlet curtains are then folded down so as to em- 
 bower the egg ; thus the little nursery -room is made as 
 conveniently soft and warm for her tender offspring as 
 it is beautifully fine to look upon. But the whole thing 
 must be concealed from a prying and voracious enemy, 
 and the entrance and narrow tunnel are filled up with 
 earth. Her work is now done, and without leaving a 
 watch for the protection of her habitation, or ever 
 thinking any more of it, she retires, and before her young 
 come to light she is numbered with the dead. 
 
 Now it is found almost impossible, even upon the most 
 nicely glazed paper, for the human hand to cut out a 
 poppy-leaf, and then lay it down quite smooth ; for, in 
 spite of the nicest efforts brought to bear upon this 
 material, it will curl up and wrinkle with great obsti- 
 nacy. But the little insect we have spoken of knows 
 how to do it well, and, without having learnt, always
 
 OP THE ROSE-LEAF-CUTTER. 211 
 
 performs the difficult art successfully. One would sup- 
 pose she must have some particular method or art that 
 man, with all his reason, cannot discover ; yet she is 
 perfectly acquainted with it almost as soon as she is 
 born. Nor is human intelligence ever likely to find out 
 why this bee should line her nest with the delicate petals 
 of the poppy, in preference to those of any other plant. 
 There is a reason, doubtless ; but who can tell what ? 
 What particular quality a quality appropriate to some 
 requirement or other in the young is there in these 
 leaves that is not to be found in others ? Or do they 
 possess a property or poison that some particular in- 
 vaders dare not touch or grapple with? If so, how 
 should these bees know it ? But thus worketh Instinct 
 in mystery. 
 
 The Hose-leaf -cutter- Bee supplies another example of 
 ingenious habits. She makes a burrow in some solid 
 ground or decayed wood, to the depth of from six to ten 
 inches. The chamber, unlike that of the upholsterer, 
 is horizontal, while its cells are constructed in a very 
 curious manner. They are made and put together in 
 the form of a file of thimbles, the small and closed end 
 of the one being inserted into the large and open mouth 
 of the other in regular succession, and portions of the 
 leaves of the rose-tree form the material with which 
 they are built. Some large pieces of leaf go first to form 
 the lining of the whole tube ; but each cell is constructed 
 of ten or twelve circular portions, neatly cut out by the 
 bee's mandibles, and placed in such a manner that the 
 serrated edge of each is always put undermost. And 
 what is truly remarkable, the different layers of leaf are 
 so spread out that no two joinings come together ; but 
 the centre of one piece is laid opposite the joining of two 
 others, which gives much greater strength and security 
 to the whole fabric. 
 
 The first cell being thus completed, a proper store of 
 honey and pollen is put into it, and then an egg de- 
 posited upon the provision, which is obtained chiefly 
 from the flowers of the thistle, and is of a beautiful 
 roseate tint. Some three pieces of leaf, cut out so ex- 
 actly circular that a pair of compasses would not do it 
 more nicely, are put into the mouth of the first cell, with
 
 212 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 the convexity turned downwards, so as to form the 
 bottom of the next one. She repeats this process until 
 the whole series is completed, when the entrance is 
 stopped up, and all is made secure. 
 
 This insect's method of cutting out the portions of leaf 
 is extremely interesting in any point of view, but more 
 particularly on account of its perfect inimitability. 
 Clinging to the lower edge of the leaf, she cuts the cir- 
 cumference of the circle with her mandibles, turning as 
 upon a pivot with her feet, which are fixed to one spot. 
 The piece, therefore, she is cutting out, has to support 
 the weight of her body, and when nearly cut round it 
 would tear off, were she to continue to hang by it. 
 Here, then, some contrivance is necessary to guard against 
 the inconvenience of a rent. She seems to be fully aware 
 of this danger, and letting go her hold in time to prevent 
 it, poises herself in the air with her wings, until she has 
 completely detached the piece from the leaf, when she 
 flies off in triumph, either .to hang her apartment or 
 build her cell. How extraordinary that this totally in- 
 experienced little creature should throw herself upon the 
 aerial element just at the right nick of time, for she can- 
 not really know that a few fibres only will not support 
 her weight, 6r that she has weight at all, or that a large 
 surface of the leaf is stronger than a small one. How 
 strange is that impulse, too, which compels her to act as 
 if she was acquainted with all these things. And not a 
 little strange is it also that all this species should hit upon 
 the same plans, and execute them all in the same mode 
 precisely, without a mistake or a deviation in any. How 
 implicitly do all obey the laws of their Instinct. The 
 Almighty hath done this : yet how small a part is it of 
 His many wonderful works !
 
 213 
 
 CHAP. XVI. 
 
 Instinct of the solitary Wasp a Marvel. Of the common Wasp. _ 
 Her Mode of rearing a Vespiary. Her social Policy. The 
 Wasp and Paper-manufacturers. Instinct of the Spider Tery 
 curious. Her Web a Wonder. Web of House-Spider. 
 
 Ingenuity of Structure. The Geometric Net Tactics of an 
 
 infirm Spider. One in a Dilemma. Trap-door of Mason- 
 Spider. Her Mode of Defence. 
 
 The Solitary Wasps. INTENSELY interesting are the 
 habits of these insects. The mason-wasp chooses a very 
 hard sand or gravelly bank, into which she bores a hole 
 of about three inches in depth, with an entrance that 
 will admit nothing wider than her own body. An egg 
 is deposited at the bottom, and the wants of the off- 
 spring are provided for in a manner that displays to us 
 another variety of the marvellous force and precision 
 of Instinct. This wasp collects a number of green 
 caterpillars, and packs one upon another over the egg, 
 in the form of a spiral column, each one in the shape 
 of a ring, and so close and firm that none of them can 
 move, although all still remain alive. Here, then, is the 
 food of the future grub : and what is the quantity it 
 will require by the time it is ready to come from its 
 prison, and to provide for itself? The mother seems 
 to know exactly ; for she puts in the proper quantity, 
 neither more nor less than what will be wanted ; and 
 the number is generally eleven or twelve, regulated, 
 doubtless, by the size of the caterpillars collected. She 
 closes the mouth of the cell, and proceeds to do like- 
 wise in another place. 
 
 The old wasp, again, provides for all contingencies in 
 a very remarkable manner ; for instance, it is necessary 
 that the caterpillars be kept alive, or they would, as 
 food, become putrid, before the grub would be ready to 
 eat them ; she is careful, therefore, to supply only such 
 as are full grown, and on that account can live the 
 p 3
 
 214 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 longest time without themselves taking nutriment. Young 
 caterpillars would not retain life long enough to serve 
 the wasp's purpose. But this is not all, there is another 
 feature not less extraordinary, and worthy of special 
 remark : it relates to her method of storing away the 
 living caterpillars. If she were to huddle these worms 
 in a heap, the grub might bite and partake of them 
 severally, and so kill the whole, instead of finishing up 
 one before she commenced another, and this would soon 
 put a period to the grub's own existence, as well as to 
 that of the caterpillars. But the latter being piled one 
 upon another, and the grub at the bottom, clean work 
 must be made as it goes, and thereby it is made to 
 economise the store that has been laid up for it. 
 
 But no one will believe that a wasp is endowed with 
 rational powers sufficient to contrive arrangements so 
 appropriate and wise. It is not conceivable that she can 
 know, in any way whatever, either what kind of cater- 
 pillars will live long enough to meet the case of her 
 young, or what kind will die before that purpose has been 
 served. Her capacity for knowledge, as well as her 
 powers of discrimination, must fall infinitely short of such 
 as are necessary to distinguish the conditions of the 
 former to maintain life, and the indications of a pre- 
 mature death in the latter. Here is a matter that man 
 himself could not discover without experience. Her 
 Instinct, then, whatever be its impulse, controls her with 
 absolute power, and guides her with unerring precision 
 and wisdom. But how is this mystery ? Eeader, would 
 you not much like to know this grand secret ? Be, then, 
 faithful to Him, who, though not probably in time, but 
 most certainly in eternity, will reveal not only it, but all 
 things else also, to them who yield a willing obedience to 
 His truth. How mighty and sublime must be that intel- 
 ligence which can receive the light of all His revelations ! 
 Who would not participate in it ? Independent of the 
 soul's salvation, who can tell how much the wicked will 
 lose? 
 
 With regard to this insect, Lord Brougham has so 
 admirably pourtrayed her conduct, and with such happy 
 phrase as well as comparison, that we are again tempted 
 to quote from him : " Indeed," he says, " I see the
 
 INSTINCT OF THE SOLITARY WASP. 215 
 
 solitary wasp bring a given number of small grubs, and 
 deposit them in a hole which she has made over the 
 egg, just grubs enough to maintain the worm that egg 
 will produce when hatched ; and yet this wasp never 
 saw an egg produce a worm, nor ever saw a worm, 
 nay, is to be dead long before the worm can be in exist- 
 ence ; and, moreover, she never has in any way tasted 
 or used these grubs, or used the hole she made, except 
 for the prospective benefit of the unknown worm she is 
 never to see. In all these cases, then, the animal works 
 positively without knowledge, and in the dark. She also 
 works without designing anything, and yet she works to 
 a certain defined and important purpose. Lastly, she 
 works to a perfection in her way, and yet she works 
 without any teaching or experience. Now in all this she 
 differs entirely from man, who only works well, perhaps 
 at all, after being taught who works with knowledge 
 of what he is about and who works, intending and 
 meaning, and, in a word, designing to do what he accom- 
 plishes. The instant a solitary wasp is hatched, or a bee 
 can fly, away they go to the spot where the caterpillars 
 or the wax -yielding substances are to be found. What 
 guides them through the air to things they cannot descry 
 or do not know the use of? " 
 
 " If, indeed, you put the case of a person ploughing or 
 sowing for the purpose of strengthening his limbs or 
 amusing himself, and not meaning anything to grow, and 
 also ignorant that anything will grow, and yet choosing the 
 seed which will grow, and sowing it at the right time to 
 make it grow, then you merely put the case of Instinct 
 in other words, and the one thing will be as difficult to 
 explain as the other. And if one man should, by mere blind 
 chance, do this the first time, and some other man, 
 equally ignorant of what the use of thrashed wheat was, 
 should reap and thrash it, and garner it away, and if all 
 men were to do so in two bodies, equally ignorant of what 
 they were about, and yet both chiming in with each 
 other in their operations, and both agreeing with the 
 nature of things, then we should say this is the self-same 
 case with Instinct ; but we should add that this could 
 not happen without ,some overruling power not only 
 giving those men the desire to stretch their limbs, but 
 
 p 4
 
 216 MARVELS OF IKSTIXCT. 
 
 guiding them immediately how to do it ; for there, as 
 here, two designs and only one designer appears, and 
 therefore some non-apparent contriver exists and works." 
 And again, the working of Instinct is " as if a man were 
 to make a skein of fine lace while he only meant to 
 amuse himself with twirling the bobbins, or playing with 
 his fingers among the flax or threads." 
 
 And as to sensation, " it means this : that each desire 
 is so nicely adjusted as to produce in the animal the effects 
 of reason and intention in the same animal when acting 
 with design and knowledge, and not instinctively. The 
 bird is to have a pleasure in bringing sticks or moss to a 
 certain place just at a given time, and putting them in 
 one position ; the solitary wasp, in bringing, and only 
 in bringing, for it never tastes, a certain number of cater- 
 pillars, and to have no gratification in bringing one 
 more, but the strongest desire, because a sensible pleasure, 
 in bringing the eleventh as much as the first ; also no 
 kind of gratification in carrying the eleventh to any other 
 place than the same where all the other ten were put ; 
 also a like pleasure in forming the hole for them, without 
 the least regard to the use she is to make of it, nay, 
 ignorant beforehand of its being to have any use ; and 
 yet all the pleasure of carrying caterpillars is to consist 
 in carrying them to that particular hole, and there is no 
 gratification to be derived from carrying them to a place 
 one hair' s breadth to the right or to the left." 
 
 This masterly exposition of the meaning of the theory 
 of sensation, as being the cause of those operations which 
 are performed by animals as if under the control of reason, 
 renders addition and comment quite superfluous. It would 
 be vain to seek a refutation more thorough and complete. 
 The theory of sensation will not account for the operations 
 of Instinct, nor will anything else lying within the 
 regions of human philosophy. All speculative theory 
 upon the subject is vain, so is all philosophising, and a 
 happy and wise man is he who can distinguish between 
 those things which the Creator has determined to keep 
 secret, and those which He has thrown on the paths of 
 intellectual discovery. 
 
 The Common Wasp. Though greatly resembling 
 the honey-bee in its social habits, this wasp yet exhibits
 
 MANUFACTURING INSTINCT. 217 
 
 a striking difference, yea, quite a contrast, in its house- 
 hold economy. She is rapacious of the present, but im- 
 provident of the future ; and the ordinary consequence 
 is brought about by the natural order of events. Neither 
 the queen wasp nor her subjects, which are her own 
 procreant generations, provide any store for the winter ; 
 all the summer broods, therefore, with the exception of 
 a few large females which fall into a state of torpidity, 
 perish from the severity of the season. The survivors, in 
 number about ten or twelve out of a vespiary of twenty 
 or thirty thousand, come forth under the influence of a 
 warm breath of genial spring, and quitting their native 
 home, which has now become a loathsome grave of the 
 numberless dead, they roam abroad in solitude, peeping 
 and prying into every hole the mice have burrowed in the 
 banks of the fields, in order to find an aperture that will 
 admit them deep enough to work a chamber in which a 
 new nest may be constructed. 
 
 Thus the solitary queen wasp hollows out a chamber 
 of not less than twelves inches in diameter ; and this hard 
 and gigantic task, being performed by a single and insig- 
 nificant insect, may well be considered a prodigy of 
 labour. 
 
 The queen first gives a firm lining to the chamber, and 
 then commences the work of building the habitations for 
 her offspring, which are to form the subjects of her po- 
 pulous kingdom yet to come. And here may be asked 
 the interesting question, what is she to do for material ? 
 She makes no use of wax, like the bee, but of paper in- 
 stead, or a sort of papier-mache ; and this is of her own 
 manufacture, and not a secretion, as is the wax produced 
 by the more busy insect. She takes some ligneous sub- 
 stances as her raw material, which, by means of her 
 strong mandibles, she tears from decaying trees, weather- 
 worn posts, and soft wood-blocks. The small fibres are 
 bruised as they are torn off, then kneaded and gathered into 
 a bundle with her feet for the convenience of carrying 
 the material home, where it is masticated into a sort of 
 pulp by mixing with it some viscid saliva, which renders 
 it capable of being spread out to the required degree of 
 thinness. The process of this manufacture was one day 
 observed by Reaumur, a female wasp having alighted
 
 218 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 upon the sash of his window, and there commenced the 
 operation we have described. A clue was at once ob- 
 tained to the mode of manufacturing the material of the 
 vespiary. For nearly 5000 years man had gone on 
 making a shift with the leaves of plants, the bark of trees, 
 or the skins of beasts, as his rude writing materials ; 
 although the wasp had been acquainted with a better 
 thing, and had shown it to him from the beginning. 
 Strange that this little insect should so long have been 
 the sole manufacturer of such a useful article. But thus 
 did it forestall the art of man. Neither the philosophic 
 Greek, nor the enterprising Roman, ever penetrated her 
 secret, as the annals of their respective countries abun- 
 dantly testify. 
 
 The wasp proceeds to hang her apartments with the 
 paper, not with one covering merely, but with fifteen or 
 sixteen layers, which make the walls of about two inches 
 in thickness ; and having spaces left between the several 
 coatings, it presents in appearance a work very much 
 like the shell of an oyster. A floor for the numerous 
 compartments in her nest is hung from the roof by 
 means of pillars of about an inch in length, and the cells, 
 which are hexagonal, are built on to this hanging floor 
 with their mouths downwards. The process of incuba- 
 tion, however, is set going before the whole chamber is 
 filled with tiers of comb, in the manner of the one just 
 described ; for after a few hundred cells are finished, the 
 eggs are deposited, and each, to prevent it falling from 
 the bottom of the cell, which is uppermost, is attached 
 with some kind of strong gluten. Presently, then, there 
 is a brood of larvae to attend to, and the queen wasp 
 must discontinue her efforts of building in order to feed 
 the young grubs, to the pressing wants of which she 
 ministers with very great assiduity, until they assume 
 the pupa state. In a few days a host of labourers come 
 forth, and the moment they can fly, they not only know 
 what is to be done, but how to do it know what kind 
 of substance it is that will produce the paper know 
 where to find it know how to carry it know how to 
 find their way home with it, though they have never 
 been out betbre know how to manufacture the 
 article from the material, and when they have done this,
 
 THE VESPIARY. 219 
 
 know how to construct a comb with it ; and they perform 
 all these operations as precisely and correctly as if they 
 had all the experience that could be derived from the 
 fabrication of the paper a thousand times over, and with 
 as much expertness of construction as the hand that had 
 practised it a thousand times before. How unaccountably 
 strange does all this seem. That the queen wasp should 
 leave off her work of building to bring forth a brood to 
 her assistance, as if she knew that such was the way to 
 obtain help, is as inexplicable as any part of the whole 
 mystery. It is the introduction of a novelty in our sub- 
 ject, and is another variety of marvel in the power of 
 Instinct. 
 
 The first brood being reared, the scene becomes 
 changed, and instead of a solitary wasp and a speck of 
 work, to be seen only at intervals, there is now won- 
 derful life and bustle, and the whole thing goes on apace. 
 Business takes a turn, and a large trade is driving. The 
 queen has brought forth the fruit of her labours, her 
 subjects have appeared, and her reign over her kingdom, 
 already growing mighty and prosperous, commences. 
 The unfinished fabric is continued with rapidity, and 
 there are young in all stages of growth. Thus matters 
 proceed till the end of the summer, when the chamber is 
 often found to contain as many as 16,000 cells, which as 
 often form the nursery of 30,000 wasps. What a pro- 
 digious result from a beginning so small and insignificant. 
 Now these hungry creatures go forth to trouble the 
 world with their voracity. There is not much comes 
 amiss to their taste. The shambles of the butcher and 
 the shop of the grocer are both alike unceremoniously 
 entered, plundered, and often very materially robbed of 
 their contents ; the bee-hive also is pillaged, while the 
 orchard, the garden, and the vineyard, are all despoiled 
 of their choicest fruits. None of these things, therefore, 
 are at all likely to become putrid and to taint the air, 
 while so many ravenous insects are upon the wing. If, 
 then, they have no other purpose to serve in the economy 
 of nature, this may be an important and useful one. 
 
 These insects develop also the policy of the social 
 principle, inasmuch as they make a division of their 
 labour, and appoint, by what method we cannot tell, n
 
 220 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 portion of the workers to do the in-door business, while 
 the rest are sent abroad to bring home the necessary 
 supplies. The larvae obtain the first attention, and 
 when they have been sufficiently fed, the surplus is dis- 
 tributed amongst the home-workers, and apparently with 
 impartiality. Workers, males and females, receive re- 
 spectively their due share of the disgorged juice. But 
 the business of the season is concluded with a tragedy, 
 contrasting in character as strangely with all the previous 
 parental, tender, and assiduous care over the young, as 
 it does with the object aimed at by all the previous 
 action. It is this: that when the cool October winds 
 begin to intimate the approach of winter, the numerous 
 insects seem as if possessed with a frenzy, and that 
 devoted attachment to their offspring, which has been 
 their characteristic during the months of summer, is 
 succeeded now by a disposition as apparently destructive 
 as the other was kind and cherishing ; and with the 
 vengeance of furies do they proceed to put to death all 
 the young inmates of the cells that are not matured 
 enough to help themselves. Were this conduct pre- 
 scribed by human reason, it would be explicable ; but 
 how unaccountable is it as proceeding from these per- 
 fectly irrational insects. There being no store of food, 
 the generation now rising must perish, and a violent 
 death, under such circumstances, is accompanied with 
 much less amount of pain than that resulting from a 
 lingering disease, such as starvation would bring about. 
 It is, then, an act, not of cruelty, but of mercy. The 
 wasps perform the deed as if they knew they were doing 
 a kindness to their progeny. Yet they cannot know 
 this. Something, therefore, must impel them to do it : 
 and what is that power ? It can be nothing else than 
 the impulse of mysterious Instinct, and that of a some- 
 what complicated character. And it is all the more re- 
 markable, inasmuch as it is totally opposed to their 
 natural instinctive faculty. Is not this, manifestly, a 
 clear case of a kind of an accommodating power of In- 
 stinct ? Yea, is it not something more, even ? 
 
 All the operations of the wasp are so decidedly in- 
 stinctive, and so admirably adapted to compass the ends 
 in view, that we need not call attention to any in par-
 
 INSTINCT OF THE SPIDER. 221 
 
 ticular ; but perhaps a word more on the manufacture of 
 her paper may be allowed. It is said that one kind of 
 her paper is so excellent, that none of the manufacturers 
 at Maidstone can turn out a superior pattern ; and this 
 paper she has been making from time immemorial from 
 the creation to the times of Aristotle and Pliny from 
 those ancient sages to the days of Buffon and Cuvier ; 
 and she still continues it, and the paper she makes now 
 is of the same quality as that she has been making quite 
 from the first. And more wonderfully remarkable is it 
 that the recent improvements which have been intro- 
 duced into the manufacture of writing-paper, from the 
 lengthening and the equalising of the fibres, show that 
 the wasp had all along been acquainted with these arts 
 also, and applied them in her process, although man has 
 only so lately discovered them. 
 
 The Spider. This insect, which " is in kings' palaces" 
 as well as in humble cots and forsaken castles, is so 
 common, that it is difficult to impress a mind of not more 
 than average attainment that there is much that is 
 marvellous about it, or anything worthy of close at- 
 tention. It is, however, a great mistake, although a pre- 
 vailing notion. If a huge elephant could spin strong 
 sopes from his trunk, and hang them in the form of a 
 net-work across the track of a tiger coming from his 
 lair, and could then be seen placing himself in conceal- 
 ment until he saw his enemy entangled in the meshes, 
 we should have a wonder that everybody would read 
 attentively enough. Yet the ingenuity of the spider to 
 ensnare its prey is on the same principle. And to 
 possess ourselves of the marvels of its Instinct, we shall 
 look into its art of weaving the web, of setting the snare, 
 and its own apparent craftiness while lying in ambush. 
 The success of these combined operations, the skill ex- 
 hibited in their performance, and the exquisite nicety of 
 their adaptation to reach the end they are destined to do, 
 will, if collectively or individually considered, be of a 
 force sufficient to arouse, even in an illiterate mind, any 
 dormant powers of admiration, though they may have 
 been reposing for a quarter of a century, and that in the 
 midst of a world of wonders. 
 
 Though we choose to call the spider here an insect, yet
 
 222 MAKVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 some naturalists do not, but place the order in the class 
 Arachnides, because spiders differ from insects generally, 
 in having no wings, and undergoing no regular transfor- 
 mations from the larva to the perfect insect. Their ner- 
 vous system, too, is more concentrated than that of 
 insects, being contained in three ganglia only, or swellings 
 of the nervous cords, instead of several, as in the latter 
 class of beings ; and on that account the former may be 
 considered as possessing an organised formation that is 
 indicative of a higher order of intellectual power than do 
 insects, which become the prey of the spider. Their 
 brain matter, however, is too small and insignificant 
 either for their boast or their help. The amount is to- 
 tally incommensurate with the achievements of these 
 insects ; for such are shall continue to term them. Their 
 conduct is altogether inexplicable on phrenological prin- 
 ciples ; nor will it be sought to be compassed by the 
 application of any of the known laws of intelligence. 
 The philosppher has nothing else to apply ; he can, 
 therefore, obtain no clue to the operations of that secret 
 power which controls and guides every creature over 
 which it presides in the accomplishing of the purposes 
 allotted to it. 
 
 The remarkable apparatus called the spinneret, situated 
 under the abdomen of the spider, merits the first mention ; 
 the delicate threads which compose the web are pro- 
 duced by this wonderful spinning machine. It consists 
 of about four cylindrical knobs, a sort of mammillary 
 processes, each of which is perforated by innumerable 
 minute orifices, a thousand and upwards, through which 
 the numberless filaments, from a glutinous fluid that is 
 secreted into reservoirs destined for the purpose, are 
 projected. The spinnerets combined, then, give out 
 upwards of four thousand distinct threads, yet so small 
 as to be invisible ; and uniting into one form, instead 
 of a single line, a cord at a little distance from the 
 multitude of nipples, and this cord is the ordinary web 
 of the spider ; and in order to present an idea of the 
 imperceptible diminutiveness of the original threads as 
 they issue from the orifices, it has been calculated that 
 a web of a size not larger than that of the human 
 hair would require about 16,000,000,000 of these
 
 THE SPIDER'S WEB. 223 
 
 simple filaments. This is a marvel great enough for the 
 admiration of a sceptic. But what, then, must be thought 
 of that spinning apparatus, contained in those diminutive 
 spiders that are themselves not equal, in all their bulk, 
 to a single grain of sand ? Here we have a marvel in 
 an infinity of littleness. Yet their machines are as 
 perfect as those of the larger species, and operate with as 
 much perfection. He that can realise a definite idea of 
 that portion of a human hair which is but the -g-o^th 
 part of its whole, may then further attempt to imagine 
 the extent of a single filament of those webs which issue 
 from the spinneret of a small spider. 
 
 This machine is under the control of the spider's will, 
 and she can work it or stop it at pleasure. Hence we 
 may sometimes see one of these insects, when drawing 
 out a perpendicular web from the ceiling to which it is 
 attached, come to a sudden halt on her downward course, 
 suspending herself upon the newly-spun cord, often, too, 
 reversing her motion, and, instead of prolonging the web, 
 taking it up again with amazing swiftness. But what 
 she does with it, whether she gathers it up in any par- 
 ticular manner or not, we have not been able to ascertain. 
 Now the spider seems not only to know how, but when 
 and where, to put her spinning apparatus into operation. 
 She stands in the same sort of relation to it as does the 
 engine-driver to his locomotive. She puts on the steam, 
 and starts it ; she turns it off, and stops it. She has to 
 determine both the time and the place, which is not a 
 mechanical act at all, any more than that of the railway 
 engine-driver, who turns off, his steam at a given 
 point on the line, in order to bring the train to a stand 
 at a certain station. This is an act of the man's intel- 
 ligence or judgment, for this faculty decides the point 
 at which the impelling power shall cease to operate, 
 and varies it according to the speed of travel. Some- 
 thing, then, in the spider, either of a mental character 
 itself, or something equivalent to intelligence, is neces- 
 sary, that she may be able to know when the web is 
 wanted, and what to do for its production. For how 
 otherwise could a young insect, which had never spun 
 a web before, know, when it had found that a trap 
 must be set, that i-t had the means within itself of
 
 224 1IARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 producing just the thing required ? And how know also 
 that a snare must be set at all ? It cannot be conceived 
 that any satisfactory answer can be made to either of 
 these questions from the intelligence of an inexperienced 
 spider. Yet the apparently knowing creature sets itself 
 to work as if it really understood all the circumstances 
 of both. It puts the machine into operation just when 
 the web is wanted, and not before; and suspends the 
 process of spinning precisely at those intervals that must 
 take place in the course of weaving and constructing 
 net-work, and when the continuance of the product is 
 unnecessary. Though the spider works without either 
 knowledge or experience, yet she performs her task as 
 if she was in possession of the largest amount of both. 
 She does everything at the proper time, and by the 
 most fitting method ; and as she works now, she has 
 ever worked, and so she will ever continue. Some in- 
 variable laws of certain impulses were impressed upon 
 her constitution at the beginning laws that were at 
 once perfect in their adaptation to the ends of her being ; 
 and being, therefore, unimprovable, are evermore to re- 
 main in force, and unchangeable. 
 
 To man, the phenomenon is exceedingly strange and 
 curious, because he cannot see how such laws can be 
 made to operate upon the will of animals : still, the fact 
 is stubborn and plain to his perception, and the best and 
 the only thing he can do is to make it the theme of his 
 admiration. The fact that a spider, of a bulk not larger 
 than that of a grain of sand, should yet contain a machine 
 so perfect in all its parts as to be practically workable, 
 is truly a wonder, and something more than an object of 
 admiration merely. It is a display of infinite power in 
 infinite littleness, and may well humble the mightiest 
 men upon earth, as well as those of the highest order of 
 intellectual greatness. Man's idea fails to compass either 
 extreme of the Creator's marvellous works. Magnitudes, 
 on the one hand, and diminution on the other, equally 
 defy the power of his comprehension. In utter amaze- 
 ment, he falls infinitely short in his greatest effort to 
 grasp either the one or the other. 
 
 On what principle is the web formed ? A rope com- 
 posed of a number of strings is much stronger than one
 
 THE SPIDER'S WORK. 225 
 
 of the same size that is spun with a single thread merely. 
 In the formation of the spider's web, then, an eye is had 
 to this principle, though not by the insect nor by her 
 Instinct, but by Him who so organised her constitution 
 that it should produce it, and belongs properly, therefore, 
 to the province of natural theology. The compound web 
 has, moreover, another advantage, and is to be found in its 
 ends, which are divided into several thousand points ; and 
 being so divided, the spider's work of fixing it to a sup- 
 port or to the side of a wall is very greatly facilitated. 
 
 The common house-spider spreads her net horizontally, 
 and places it in the corners of rooms, or among the 
 rafters of barns and stables. Having fixed the points of 
 the .first web, she proceeds to draw it out to an opposite 
 point on the wall, and there fastens it. Now a single 
 web would not be strong enough for the marginal line of 
 the net ; and the spider seems to know it, for she takes 
 the proper steps to strengthen it. How curious that she 
 should act thus, as if she either had intelligence in her- 
 self, or had profited from experience : hence her judgment 
 that one web was of itself too weak for the purpose ; 
 hence also her ability to select the means for a remedy. 
 But she chooses the right, and applies it without hesita- 
 tion, and therefore without consideration. There is no 
 mistake made, and then that rectified by testing and ex- 
 perience, but she proceeds at once to redouble and 
 strengthen the proper web by adding others to it; just 
 after the manner of an intelligent rope-maker. The 
 young spider, while setting about its first net, works in 
 the same way, and with as much perfection as even the 
 oldest of its species. So, in all probability, do those work 
 also which are, as we have said, not bigger than a grain 
 of sand. What a strange animal must this be that can 
 live and work in the compass of such a mite, and con- 
 struct an apparatus like an intelligent human being ! 
 Where are we to look here for a brain in which the in- 
 telligent principle resides and operates? The theory ex- 
 cludes all intellectual faculties from the answers to this 
 question. Then what a wonderful and mysterious 
 power is that Instinct, which prompts and directs the 
 odd actions of this tiny creature ! 
 
 Having made the points secure and the outer frame- 
 Q
 
 226 MAKTELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 work strong enough, the insect then draws out her 
 threads in all directions, crossing and recrossing them 
 until her irregular gauze-like structure is completed. 
 Some other lines are run up from its edges, like the 
 tacking of a ship, and form a maze of cordage in order to 
 entangle the rambling flies, and to throw them upon the 
 net which is spread for their destruction underneath. 
 This upper work makes the contrivance more complete. 
 But what teaches the young spider to carry up these ad- 
 ditional perpendicular strings, in a manner that seems to 
 give an intimation that the little inexperienced creature 
 was well aware of their object? How subtle the little 
 thing already appears ! Nor is this all. She is a foe of 
 grim aspect, and she acts as if she knew it ; for she 
 screens herself from the view of her prey by constructing 
 a little silken apartment in some remote corner below 
 the web. Here in her den she patiently lurks until her 
 telegraph line gives notice of a victim on the trap. The 
 electric wires consist of a number of threads carried into 
 her office, and when a fly falls they vibrate, and instantly 
 the artful spider makes a sudden dart along the same 
 lines as by a bridge, and as quickly pounces upon her 
 booty. Now how does she know, without being taught, 
 that it is necessary to conceal herself in a chamber ? and 
 her systematic manner of doing it seems to evince her 
 full conviction of the necessity of the artifice. 
 
 " Where gloomily retired 
 The villain spider lives, cunning and fierce, 
 Mixture ahhorred ! amid a mangled heap 
 Of carcasses, in eager watch he sits, 
 O'erlooking all his waving snares around. 
 Near the dire cell the dreadless wanderer oft 
 Passes, as oft the ruffian shows his front ; 
 The prey at length ensnared, he dreadful darts 
 With rapid glide along the leaning line ; 
 And fixing in the wretch his cruel fangs, 
 Strikes backwards grimly pleased ; the flutt'ring wing, 
 And shriller sound, declare extreme distress, 
 And ask the helping hospitable hand." 
 
 'All female spiders," says the writer in the Ency- 
 clopaedia, Britannica, " including even the erratic and 
 webless species, are provided with reservoirs of silky 
 matter, which, if not used in spinning, are at all events
 
 THE GEOMETRIC SPIDER. 227 
 
 employed in forming a protecting covering for the eggs. 
 The most casual observer of nature must have frequently 
 remarked the care with which the anxious mother carries 
 about and watches over her unhatched offspring ; and 
 the delicate colour of the silken bag which contains the 
 eggs, and the fine contrast which in some cases it presents 
 to the body of the parent, cannot have escaped observa- 
 tion. The truth is, that spiders, though frequently of a 
 repulsive aspect, are as often distinguished not only by 
 great beauty of colour, but by extreme elegance of form 
 and delicacy of structure. We are prejudiced against the 
 race in general, because all those that dwell within doors 
 are of a dark and lurid hue, and from their haunts and 
 habits, which have become objects of aversion and dis- 
 gust." 
 
 The spider of our hedges and gardens, called the geo- 
 metric spider, constructs her web more upon a principle 
 than the house-spider, and erects it in a vertical position, 
 instead of spreading it out horizontally like the latter in- 
 sect. And here again we have another beautiful variety 
 of the instinctive faculty. One position for the hedge, 
 and another for the house ; because, undoubtedly, each 
 is best adapted to its uses in its own place. But this 
 must be unknown to either of the species, though they 
 never build any other than the right one. Both adopt 
 the form proper to them, without knowing anything as 
 to their adaptation to the ends to be compassed. The 
 house- spider takes the horizontal direction, without ask- 
 ing why, or knowing why ; never building in any other 
 way, and never going wrong. On the other hand, the 
 geometric spider strikes off perpendicularly, ever pre- 
 serving the same form from one generation to another, 
 as if there was no other way of doing it in the world. 
 There is nothing to invent, because it is not possible to 
 make an improvement. This is quite unlike anything 
 man ever does or ever will do. With all his intelligence, 
 accompanied with all his own experience, and with the ad- 
 vantage of bringing it to bear the knowledge of the past, 
 he has not yet produced an infallible instrument ; but he 
 is everlastingly ^inventing, for there is not to be found 
 one of his works, however ingenious, that can be said to 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 be brought to such perfection as to be open to no further 
 improvement. 
 
 This spider, like the other, strengthens her outlines 
 by glueing five or six webs together, and what has been 
 observed as very remarkable is, that she tests its firm- 
 ness by pulling it first with her feet ; and then, as if she 
 knew how to apply the test in a higher degree, she 
 drops herself down from different points, and swings the 
 weight of her body upon it, in the manner of the motion 
 of a clock's pendulum. The precaution looks like the 
 promptings of memory from a previous misfortune ; as 
 if the insect had built once or more the margin of her 
 structure too weak ; had been let down, and had her 
 work to do over again ; and from such experience she 
 was resolved, for the future, to guard against the repeti- 
 tion of the calamity. Supposing she had been teased in 
 this way, a considerable amount of intelligence would be 
 necessary to enable her to discover the cause of the 
 break down, and to know how and where to apply the 
 remedy. But if a young spider, having no experience 
 of either misfortune or building at all, goes to work in 
 the same way as an old one, then it is conduct so strange 
 that man or his philosophy is at a total loss how to 
 account for it. He can plainly see that intelligence or 
 experience has nothing whatever to do with it ; he then 
 says it is Instinct, but what that is he will not presume 
 to say. 
 
 The margin or outlines of the figure being manufac- 
 tured and secured in their places, the spider proceeds 
 next to form the radii, which are the straight lines di- 
 verging from the centre to the circumference of a circle, 
 just in the manner of the spokes of a wheel, and as equal 
 in their distances from one another. How the insect 
 measures these distances so as to have them equal we do 
 not know ; but this being done, she has been seen to 
 run to the centre, turn herself there quickly round, and 
 to pull each of the radii with her feet, in order to dis- 
 cover if there were any that were not strong enough for 
 the purpose. Those which break by her test are re- 
 jected, and new ones spun in their places. It is not a 
 little curious that every one of these insect artificers
 
 A SPIDER WORKED UP. 229 
 
 should always think to examine its work at the stage 
 now arrived at. 
 
 Her next business is to form the concentric circles, 
 from the small one at the centre to the large one on the 
 outer circumference. And the first five or six nearest 
 the centre are run rather close together, while those 
 which follow are about half an inch or more apart. 
 Thus she goes on, round and round the web, until her 
 geometric figure is finished. Nor is it very long about, 
 for the spider is anything but a slow worker ; indeed, 
 some parts of the fabric are executed with marvellous ra- 
 pidity, sometimes so much so, that the eye of an observer 
 can scarcely detect what she is about. But her nicely 
 constructed net is liable to many accidents. It is often 
 rent asunder, or plunged through its midst by an enemy, 
 and then it must be repaired, or, if too much damaged, 
 it is necessary to erect altogether a new one ; and should 
 the insect have this to repeat too often, her spinnerets 
 get exhausted of the material ; her work is therefore all 
 over, and in order to live, she is compelled to introduce 
 some new tactics. She makes aggression upon the pro- 
 perty of a younger spider of the same species ; dispos- 
 sesses the rightful owner, and appropriates the snare to 
 her own purposes, leaving the sufferer, which from its 
 tender age has yet a plentiful supply of gum, to go and 
 construct for itself another net. This is a mode of pro- 
 cedure in the economy of these animals that may appear, 
 at first sight, unfair, cruel, and open to great objection ; 
 but if it be remembered that the unfortunate exhausted 
 spider has no other alternative but to perish, and that it 
 costs the young one but little trouble, and not much time 
 to provide for itself another snare, it must be seen that 
 the latter is much the less of two evils, and she is therefore, 
 doubtless, guided to the deed by the force of her Instinct, 
 which may always be trusted to take the right course. 
 
 If a spider be put upon a pole or twig surrounded by 
 water, she will be seen to be at no loss how to contrive 
 the method of escape. No sooner does the insect find 
 herself in this dilemma, than a silken line is thrown 
 out at a venture towards some distant object. Such 
 webs are either impelled with a sufficient projectile force 
 to reach an object, or are allowed to float upon a current 
 Q 3
 
 230 MAKVELS OF IXSTIXCT. 
 
 of air until they fall upon a support to which they be- 
 come attached. When finding they are thus firmly 
 secured, the little captive glues the end in hand to the 
 top of the insulated twig upon which she sits perched, 
 and then, after satisfying herself all is right, with no 
 hesitation marches across her suspension bridge in safety 
 and triumph. But before venturing upon it, she does 
 not fail to ascertain whether it can be done without 
 hazard ; for she carefully pulls at the lines with her feet, 
 and unless satisfied with the result, she will wait for a 
 better opportunity. What would be thought of an in- 
 fant only a twelvemonth old that had been cast upon a 
 rock out at sea, and, observing two bladders which the 
 waters had drifted to the same spot, it took them up, and 
 finding there were strings attached to each, proceeded at 
 once to tie them round its waist, the one under the one 
 arm, and the second under the other arm, and then, be- 
 fore risking itself to the deep water, it should experi- 
 ment upon their safety round the shallows of the rock, and 
 the result being satisfactory, it should immediately launch 
 forth, and, in the manner of a dexterous swimmer, 
 attempt to propel itself to shore ! and yet this same 
 child, when rescued, should be like any other child 
 of the same age, and with no more understanding than is 
 commonly possessed at that stage of growth. The con- 
 duct of the spider to eifect its escape from the insular 
 pole is very similar, and as much of a marvel. The odd 
 manner of Avorking in the one is as mysterious as that in 
 the other. Seeing, therefore, that a young spider will 
 pursue the very same conduct on the pole over water, it 
 would be quite absurd to say that it was the result 
 either of observation from experience, or sagacity from 
 knowledge. 
 
 There is, too, a mason-spider which displays wonderful 
 ingenuity in the construction of her domicile ; and Kirby 
 thus describes the nest and tube of the cteniza fodiens : 
 " The habitations of the species in question are found in an 
 argillaceous kind of red earth, in which they bore tubes about 
 three inches in depth, and ten lines in width. The walls of 
 these tubes are not left just as they are bored, but they are 
 covered with a kind of mortar, sufficiently solid to be 
 easily separated from the mass that surrounds it. If the
 
 THE SPIDER, PITTING ON A DOOR. 231 
 
 tube is divided longitudinally, besides this rough cast, it 
 appears to be covered with a coat of fine mortar, which is 
 as smooth and regular as if a trowel had been passed over 
 it ; this coat is very thin, and soft to the touch ; but 
 before this adroit workman lays it, she covers the coarser 
 earthy plaster-work with some coarse web, upon which 
 she glues her silken tapestry. 
 
 " All this shows that she was directed in her work by a 
 wise master ; but the door that closes her apartment is still 
 more remarkable in its structure. If her well was always 
 left open, she would be subject to the intrusion of guests 
 that would not, at all times, be welcome or safe ; Provi- 
 dence, therefore, has instructed her to fabricate a very 
 secure trap -door, which closes the mouth of it. To 
 judge of this door by its outward appearance, we should 
 think it was formed of a mass of earth coarsely worked, 
 and covered internally by a solid web ; which would 
 appear sufficiently wonderful for an animal that seems 
 to have no special organ for constructing ; but if it is 
 divided vertically, it will be found a much more compli- 
 cated fabric than its outward aspect indicates, for it is 
 formed of more than thirty alternate layers of earth and 
 web, emboxed, as it were, in each other, like a set of 
 weights for small scales. 
 
 " If these layers of web are examined, it will be seen 
 that they all terminate in the hinge, so that the greater the 
 volume of the door, the more powerful is the hinge. The 
 frame in which the tube terminates above, and to which 
 the door is adapted, is thick, and it arises from the 
 number of layers of which it consists, and which seem to 
 correspond with those of the door ; hence, the formation 
 of the door, the hinge, and the frame, seems to be a si- 
 multaneous operation, except that in fabricating the first 
 the animal has to knead the earth, as well as to spin the 
 layers of web. By this admirable arrangement, these 
 parts always correspond with each other, and the strength 
 of the hinge, and the thickness of the frame, will always 
 be proportioned to the weight of the door. 
 
 " The more carefully we study the arrangement of 
 
 these parts, the more perfect does the work appear. If 
 
 we examine the circular margin of the door, we shall find 
 
 that it slopes inwards, so that it is not a transverse section 
 
 Q 4
 
 232 MARVELS OP INSTINCT. 
 
 of a cylinder, but of a cone ; and on the other side, the 
 frame slopes outwards, so that the door exactly applies to 
 it. By this structure, when the door is closed, the tube 
 is not distinguishable from the rest of the soil ; and this 
 appears to be the reason that the door is formed with 
 earth. Besides, by this structure also, the animal can 
 more readily open and shut the door ; by its conical 
 shape it is much lighter than it would have been if cy- 
 lindrical, and so more easily opened ; and by its external 
 inequalities, and mixture of web, the spider can more 
 easily lay hold of it with its claws. Whether she enters 
 her tube, or goes out, the door will shut of itself. This 
 was proved by experiment ; for though resistance, more 
 or less, was experienced when it was opened, when left 
 to itself it always fell down and closed the aperture. 
 The advantage of this structure to the spider is evident ; 
 for whether it darts out upon its prey, or retreats from 
 an enemy, it is not delayed by having to shut its door." 
 
 How well worthy of admiration is the design in the 
 whole structure ! the completeness of its parts, and the 
 adaptation of one to another, and of all to the end, unite 
 to evince the undeniable art of a master builder. Gene- 
 rally the dwelling is excavated in a sloping bank, and the 
 sagacity of the little creature, which is never at fault, 
 always directs it so that the hinge of the door shall 
 be on the highest side ; thus, like a skilful general, taking 
 advantage of the ground position to give greater facility 
 in closing the trap. Why should it not, sometimes at 
 least, for aught the spider knows, get the hinge on the 
 lowest side ? But such a mistake is never made, not even 
 by the youngest and totally inexperienced of these insects. 
 Moreover, she leaves a groove or ledge round the top of 
 her tube, so that the trap-door, which is in prospect, may 
 shut into it so fittingly as to make the joining scarcely 
 perceptible ; and she does this, too, without any model 
 to guide her, nor, in all probability, has she ever seen one. 
 When cutting the groove, what kind of notion has she 
 about the shape of the lid which is to fit into it, or even 
 of a door at all ? She works as if she had determined 
 the plan in her own mind previously, and as if she retained 
 the order of all its parts in her memory. In all such 
 cases, man, through the medium of his mental powers,
 
 THE SPIDER IN DEFENCE. 233 
 
 obtains an intelligible idea of all the sequences of his 
 work ; and even then he requires a pattern. 
 
 The facts of the case, then, force us to conclude that 
 this animal has no intellectual faculty competent enough 
 to put her in possession of an idea that the one part she 
 may be cutting must be so shaped as to be adapted to the 
 one that is to follow. Here is the grand puzzle. Human 
 intelligence cannot conceive how it is possible for any 
 being, much less an inferior being, to execute, and that 
 with the nicest accuracy, a mechanical art without having 
 some notion of a plan, or of the work to be performed. 
 
 One more apparently intelligent act is done by this 
 spider. It occurs when an attempt is made to pull open 
 her door by an enemy, and is just such conduct that 
 reason would dictate for the purpose of keeping out a foe. 
 The motion of the threads running down the tube warns 
 its inmate of approaching danger, and instantly the 
 spider rushes up to her door, in order to keep possession 
 of the advantage the closed lid gives it. Having seized 
 the silken lining with some of its feet, and the walls 
 with the rest, the artful little defender, turning upon its 
 back, pulls at it with all its might. This mode of de- 
 fence has its analogy in the common conduct of human 
 beings under similar circumstances. 
 
 But, perhaps, more wonderful still, are the habits of 
 the water-spider, or Argroreta. This species constructs 
 an habitation of winter retreat beneath the liquid element. 
 The spider fabricates a chamber in the form of a diving- 
 bell, which she fastens by webs to the leaves of water- 
 r jplants, and its size is about half that of a pigeon's egg. 
 It is like an oval cocoon, and open at the bottom. Here 
 she sits watching for her prey, and stores up a plentiful 
 supply for the season, and then the bottom is closed. 
 But before doing so, it is necessary that the structure be 
 filled with air, and the little insect performs this duty 
 in a very remarkable and mysterious manner; for, 
 swimming upon her back along the surface of the water, 
 she continues to attach or attract to her abdomen a 
 bubble of air, something like a soap-bubble, which closely 
 adheres to her body as she descends down the stems of 
 plants, and entering the dwelling below, the bubble of 
 air she carries in displaces an equal mass of water ; and
 
 234 MARVELS OF EfSTIXCT. 
 
 she ascends for a second lading, repeating the process 
 until her apartment is filled with the atmospheric ele- 
 ment. All is then shut in, and her "work is finished. 
 
 " How these little animals can envelop their abdomen 
 with an air-bubble, and retain it till they enter their 
 cells, is still one of Nature's mysteries that have not been 
 explained. We cannot help, however, admiring and 
 adoring the wisdom, power, and goodness manifested in 
 this singular provision, enabling an animal that breathes 
 the atmospheric air to fill her house with it under the 
 water, and which has instructed her in a secret art, by 
 which she can clothe part of her body with air, as with 
 a garment, which she can put off when it answers her 
 purpose. This is a kind of attraction and repulsion that 
 mocks all our inquiries." How does she know that air 
 will be necessary ? And, what is more surprising, how 
 should she know how to handle such an unmanageable 
 substance as is air ? 
 
 Here our marvels must be brought to a conclusion, 
 since all the space allotted to them is exhausted, and we 
 have already trespassed too far. To tell all the wonders 
 of Instinct that are to be found in the animal creation, 
 would fill a volume so large and costly, that but few 
 readers would be disposed to peruse, and a still less 
 number induced to purchase. It is, therefore, useless to 
 write what will neither be bought nor read. We only 
 hope that what we have written may be read with in- 
 terest to the heart, as well as with profit to the under- 
 standing, and that none may put it down without feeling 
 that the knowledge of the facts described ought to urge 
 all that are endowed with the powers of reason to see 
 that they fulfil in like manner the mission such powers 
 impose upon them.
 
 235 
 
 CHAP. XVII. 
 
 Eeason and Instinct. Reason and Folly. Creator's Design. 
 Wisdom. Man's free Agency. Reason better than Instinct. 
 Man's Responsibility. Animal incapable of Devotion. 
 
 BY way of conclusion, we ask, first, can anything be 
 said as to instituting a comparison between Keason and 
 Instinct? If, strictly and critically speaking, a com- 
 parison cannot be introduced, it can be made between 
 certain aspects of the two powers ; but both may be 
 resolved into one power, since, when perfect, they pro- 
 duce the same results precisely. And here is the illus- 
 tration, that Instinct is Reason put into operation by the 
 Creator; while what we understand by Reason is the 
 same thins;, only put into the hands of man, who works 
 it much less perfectly. Reason in man can never be- 
 come perfect, and its progress towards maturity is only 
 by a slow growth ; but Instinct has no progressive stages, 
 for we see that the young kitten acts as warily in the 
 attempt to catch the birds and mice it has the ability to 
 conquer, and the duckling swims and dives after its food 
 as expertly, as their respective and experienced mothers. 
 A remarkable instance of the instinct of the young 
 alligator is mentioned by Mr. Davy, in his account ot 
 Ceylon, where he witnessed the curious phenomenon. 
 Coming across an egg of one of these reptiles, not tar 
 from a river, and seeing the egg ready to crack, he brok 
 it open with his stick, and the newly-born animal h 
 no sooner made its escape from the shell than it struck 
 off direct for the stream, as if it had been there many 
 times before, and as if perfectly acquainted with the 
 locality. Mr. Davy then put up his stick before the younj 
 reptile, in order to impede its progress to the Y^f'/^ 
 instantly the pugnacious little creature showed right, Dy 
 putting itself in a posture of defence, jus after t 
 manner of an old one. Now this was cvidenUy the 
 first time this youn^ inexperienced alligator had found 
 the necessity of resistance, and its action was 
 perfect as it ever afterwards could be. The most fitting
 
 236 MARVELS OF IXSTINCT. 
 
 attitude of defence was hit upon without having a master 
 to teach it the rules of the art. 
 
 Instinct is founded upon Omniscience, while Reason 
 rests upon imperfect, limited, and accidental knowledge ; 
 and in the fallen race of Adam it has, moreover, to 
 struggle against the eruptions of Folly, which presents 
 a force totally antagonistic in its tendency. These two 
 rival powers are always contesting the right to sit on 
 the throne of man's intellect, and there are many cases 
 in which their forces so exactly balance, and the number 
 of their triumphs so equal, that it is almost impossible 
 to say which reigns the most ; while thero are others 
 in which it is easy to distinguish which of the two con- 
 tending monarchs governs most in the kingdom of in- 
 tellect. In some, Reason sits supreme, and if she falls 
 at all, or is dethroned, it is only by an accident or a 
 surprise, which forces her to give way for the moment ; 
 but it is only for a moment, for the solidity of her rule 
 cannot be demolished by any assault, however furious, 
 that the enemy can make upon it ; she soon puts on the 
 armour of her strength, repels the attack, and resumes 
 her sway. But we fear this is a state of things the 
 deeds, the dispositions, and characters of few men only 
 illustrate ; and that the lives of the great majority of man- 
 kind illustrate the other rule, and permit Folly to reign 
 invariably and undisturbed over their conduct ; so that 
 she likewise is only occasionally put off by an accident. 
 
 Such will this state of matters continue so long as this 
 world is what it is. Human nature must be entirely 
 transformed by the wisdom that cometh from above, 
 before Folly ceases to usurp the throne of man's 
 heart, and to maintain the greater rule of his life. Ig- 
 norance and vice are the two prime ministers of her 
 state, and the principal supporters and promoters of her 
 despotic power. The ignorant and the defiled are equally 
 her slaves, though sometimes with a difference ; for the 
 latter often feel the gall of her abominable yoke, while 
 submitting themselves to it, and the dread of that 
 miserable fatality to which they are conscious of being 
 irresistibly hurried in the firm grasp of her iron chains ; 
 but the former, since ignorance is bliss, have a more 
 quiet, and a less compunctuous course. Folly reigns in
 
 FOLLY AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 237 
 
 ; man's heart by the help of all the vices. Pride, am- 
 bition, lust, envy, covetousness, haughtiness, ungovern- 
 able temper, are her generals of division ; and each 
 contributes its respective share to an inglorious victory, 
 
 ! since the person in whom the battle rages is victimised, 
 
 1 and, like a town that is sacked by a furious foe, suffers in 
 proportion to the desperation of the strife, and the great- 
 ness of the triumph. 
 
 It may be asked, what is Folly ? What the attributes 
 of her monarchy ? What the results of her government ? 
 One sentence will express the legitimacy of her functions : 
 it is to make a fool of the man whom she rules. It is to 
 bring upon him, either upon his body or his mind, in 
 one form or another, some unnecessary inconvenience or 
 suffering. Her rule is despotic, and when fully carried 
 out, makes slaves of all her subjects, and fills her kingdom 
 with irremediable ruin and wretchedness. Did ever 
 human being give the reins to pride, ambition, lust, envy, 
 covetousness, haughtiness, and not fall or suffer from 
 their natural consequences ? The results follow by an 
 established law of the moral world, nor can the man of 
 mightiest rule avert them. There was a time when 
 Napoleon the Great, " the foremost man of the world," 
 might have made peace with Europe, and have reigned 
 as the greatest monarch the earth ever supported ; but 
 he sacrificed to Folly upon the high altar of his ambition, 
 and all the world knows how great was his fall, and how 
 wretchedly were the dregs of his subsequent life wrung 
 out. Such, in a greater or less degree, are all the ends 
 of Folly. But these are results and consequences that 
 form no part of the designs of the Creator ; indeed, they 
 
 i are quite opposed to them, for His plans exhibit His 
 benevolence as well as His wisdom. He has impressed 
 laws upon the animal creation, which operate not only 
 wisely, but in a manner so as to be productive of the 
 greatest amount of happiness to His creatures. Hence 
 the manifest pleasure they all take in the execution of 
 the tasks their instincts direct them to accomplish. 
 
 But Folly triumphs most when she turns man in oppo- 
 sition to the revealed will of his Maker, and engages him 
 to wage a war with Omnipotence. How vain, how fruit- 
 less the struggle ! To see a man affect to disbelieve and
 
 238 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 to despise the truths of the Bible, is the most pitiable 
 sight upon earth. The argument everywhere overwhelms 
 him, and the power of the Most High crushes him. Let 
 him give attention, and the heavens will testify of the 
 Almighty's awful greatness and glory ; the firmament 
 above and the ocean beneath will show the works of 
 Him who divided the one from the other, and set bounds 
 to the swellings of the mighty deep ; all the various in- 
 habitants of the fathomless waters, all the fowls of the 
 air, and all living and creeping things upon the face of 
 the earth, from the massy elephant to those tiny existences 
 that people a single drop of water, declare the designs of 
 their Creator ; and not one, so far as philosophy has gone, 
 will be found but what will exhibit a principle of con- 
 struction that is founded upon as much benevolence as of 
 wisdom and power. The perfect obedience that animals 
 yield to the multitude of wise laws impressed upon their 
 constitution, secures to them that enjoyment of life 
 which the Divine Being intended should be theirs ; and 
 thus may be read the will of God concerning these tribes 
 of animated being. 
 
 And has not the Deity been as provident of man's 
 happiness as that of animals' ? If not, why is that world 
 of wonders, the human frame, what it is ? Why is it 
 productive of such a vast variety of pleasures instead of 
 so many pains ? Why pleasures the rule, and pains the 
 exception ? Those of our readers that may be unac- 
 quainted with these matters would do well to look into 
 them, and reflect upon the evidences they give. It will 
 then be seen that the Great Author of our being was 
 not unconcerned as to the manner in which even this life 
 was to be spent. And with regard to the life to come, 
 has not He been concerned about that also ? Let the 
 Bible be opened ; and with that before him, who, look- 
 ing from Genesis to Revelations, can describe how much 
 is made manifest ? The concern of the Father of mercies 
 is plain, and deeper than what man's conception can 
 fathom. Did God require some unreasonable service at 
 his hand, and that for the purpose of making him de- 
 graded and miserable in the end, man would then have a 
 show of reason, at least, for his rebellion. In God's 
 government under the Gospel dispensation, there is
 
 WISDOM AND REASON. 239 
 
 nothing repulsive, but everything to induce man to adopt 
 it, and to endear him to it. His rule consists of love, 
 which animates with delight, and not like the spirit of 
 despotism, which paralyses with fear. The Most High 
 will not have His servants to be slaves, like the serfs of 
 a despot. His service is perfect freedom, which has ever 
 been realised and appreciated in the strongest manner 
 by the most eminent of Christians. And who can speak 
 upon this point with so much authority as those who, 
 after having spent a long period in the service of sin, 
 tasting every sweet and pleasure she had to offer, have 
 been arrested by God's grace and converted to the faith 
 of His Son ? Stronger testimony than this cannot be had, 
 and wise and happy is the man who receives it and acts 
 upon it. 
 
 Even the Christian, however, may not always be wise 
 with respect to the things of time, but he is most as- 
 suredly pre-eminently so for eternity. And what is this 
 mortal when put against the immortal? Nevertheless, 
 the All-wise has designed that man's conduct should 
 always be controlled by Wisdom, and He has accord- 
 ingly provided him with the means of obtaining wisdom, 
 which is a legitimate product of the powers of Reason. 
 Wisdom is the making the best use of knowledge and 
 power. If judgment is the comparison of ideas, and the 
 comparison of judgments Reason, then Wisdom consists in 
 putting that result into practice. It therefore follows 
 that the degree of Wisdom must depend in some manner 
 upon the extent of knowledge and the efficiency of the 
 reasoning faculty ; or, in other words, that the most con- 
 summate Wisdom must be accompanied by the most per- 
 fect and unlimited knowledge. These two things are 
 < brought together in the instinctive faculty of animals. 
 And the thing itself is wielded by the Divine hand 
 itself. The animal has no power in either has neither 
 will nor choice in the matter. And here it must be ob- 
 served that the Creator has intrusted to man a faculty 
 that He has not committed to the animal. What does 
 this prove, but that man was intended to be the nobler, 
 the more important, and the superior being ? 
 
 Man has the power to do as he pleases with regard to 
 the adoption or rejection of many courses ; while the
 
 240 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 animal, though having a pleasure in what it does, has no 
 such liberty of action. Man is intended to be acquainted 
 both with the motive and the object of all his operations; 
 but the animal lives and works without any knowledge 
 of either. Man is endowed with faculties that render 
 him capable of collecting the facts of history, which 
 furnish him with experience and material for reflection 
 on the past, and the same endowments enable him to 
 contemplate the future ; but the animal does not know 
 that any past has been, or that there will be any future. 
 Man is in no way, or never designed to be, a mechanical 
 agent ; and when he is so, it is either by accident, or by 
 the debasing spirit of despotism. 
 
 With respect to the relationship between himself and 
 his Maker, man is designed to be as much of a free agent 
 as possible. God's rule is not despotic. The laws of his 
 government are such that, if obeyed, will secure to his 
 creatures the greatest possible happiness, and preserve 
 them from degradation and misery ; but He does not 
 coerce the obedience. The Divine Being has given him 
 intelligence that he may judge for himself, and having 
 done that, He then leaves him to a voluntary choice. 
 What can be said to this by those narrow-minded, 
 but widely bigoted people, who affect to believe that 
 there are certain classes among men that ought not 
 to be allowed to exercise an opinion, neither on the 
 matters of this world, nor on those of the next? What 
 say the priests and Pope of Rome to this ? 
 
 When we see men without brains, like animals, we 
 will then believe they are the people that should not be 
 allowed an opinion, but not before. We therefore venture 
 to say, that when one man takes upon himself to suppress 
 by his influence the thoughts and opinions of another, 
 he assumes to himself an unwarrantable and undue au- 
 thority, and one that God himself does not exercise. 
 And when this is done in religious matters, the assump- 
 tion is as wicked as it is monstrous. W T here the Creator 
 has given a mind, he has intended that it should be 
 made use of. 
 
 We gather, then, from all these considerations, as well 
 as from many others unmentioned, that the Almighty has 
 designed that man should occupy a position in the eco-
 
 PLEASURES OF MIND. 24 J 
 
 nomy of His grand Creation, infinitely more noble and 
 exalted than that destined to be filled by those tribes 
 which He governs by Instinct. Of the infinity of objects 
 of desire or attainment which God has placed within 
 man's reach, none are given to him without the motive 
 for seeking them. The motive is, too, of that kind which 
 sustains at once the pleasure and the perseverance in the 
 process. His intelligence puts him in possession of the 
 power to balance the past and the future on the present. 
 In addition to the pleasures imparted by the actual ope- 
 rations of the present, to which Instinct confines the ani- 
 mal, it is a peculiarity of intellectual faculty to be able 
 to extract a pleasure from the reflection on the events of 
 the past, and also from the anticipation on the probabi- 
 lities of the future. Of course we now refer to intelli- 
 gence unabused. This excellent and superior gift puts 
 man, therefore, in a very curious and interesting relation- 
 ship with the past, the present, and the future ; and when 
 properly used, ministers to him the pleasures peculiar to 
 all the three. But the animal is totally ignorant of the 
 past, blind as to the future, and sensible only of the 
 present. 
 
 Intelligence, again, is capable of deriving pleasure from 
 infinite sources, and of infinite variety ; while Instinct 
 limits the animal to pleasures to one kind merely. In- 
 telligence appreciates and delights in beauty in the 
 beauties of form and colour in proportion and sym- 
 metry. Place it in the midst of some beautiful and pic- 
 turesque scenery, or some magnificent prospect, teeming 
 with nature's best variety and greatest grandeur of 
 rugged mountain and fruitful valley; or present it with 
 a view of a flower's delicate ground- work, decorated with 
 those rich and golden tints which the art of the florist dis- 
 plays with so much taste, variety, and perfection ; or let 
 it be conducted to the precincts of the Falls of Niagara, 
 as an exhibition of nature's majesty, and to those of the 
 Pyramids of Egypt, as relics and monuments of the past ; 
 or let the bowels of the earth be opened, to show it the 
 course of the untold ages that was required to lay the 
 foundations of the world ; or accompany it into the la- 
 boratory, and ask the chemist to illustrate the discoveries 
 of nature's marvellous minglings ; or throw open the
 
 242 MARVELS OF INSTIXCT. 
 
 world's library, and allow it to revel among the treasures 
 of the richest lore ; or lay before it some nicely executed 
 plans of the best styles of architecture, and ask its choice ; 
 or give it an excursion to Parson's Town, in order to 
 survey the barren rocks, and deep and dry clefts of the 
 moon ; or put it in possession of the means of measuring 
 the startling magnitude of the sun ; or acquaint it with 
 the law of gravitation which discovers the weight of Ju- 
 piter ; or put on all the powers of the telescope, that it 
 may penetrate the immeasurable and inconceivable depths 
 of space, and then say even that is but a portion of im- 
 mensity, and that the far-off worlds that can be descried 
 are comparatively but few ; and in all these things, as 
 well as in thousands of others that might be named, 
 what power can describe the glowing and transporting 
 inspirations each and all would engender in the God-like 
 faculty? How intense the many, of what thrilling 
 interest the whole ! 
 
 But who ever saw an animal, under an instinctive im- 
 pulse or an intelligent motive, gazing upon the bow in 
 the clouds, imagining to itself the beauty of the picture, 
 and manifestly delighting in the view ? Let, for instance, 
 two kennels be built, the one of the finest porcelain, like 
 the Nankin tower, and in the best and most attractive 
 style of the architect, and the other in a loose and care- 
 less form, and with the material of a mud hut ; and then 
 give a dog, the most intelligent of animals, the choice of 
 the two dwellings, and it would be seen that he would 
 pay his respects to that which had the best inside conve- 
 niences, without having the least regard to the iia/id- 
 someness of the structure. Neither the dog, nor the 
 horse, nor the elephant, the most sagacious of animals, was 
 ever cheered by a splendid prospect of natural scenery, 
 or ever put into a state of admiration from the effects 
 of its beauty. Nature would have been ornamented and 
 decorated in vain, and in vain would have been all her 
 nice symmetries and fine proportions, had there been no 
 beings but animals to look upon them. 
 
 The power to discover is another attribute of Intelli- 
 gence, while Instinct has nothing to invent whatever. 
 This, too, is a source of the most exquisite pleasure 
 to the agent of intellect. The falling of that apple,
 
 ANIMAL INSTINCT NOT DEVOTIONAL. 243 
 
 which threw a light upon the principle which keeps the 
 Universe in order, must have been a source of so much 
 satisfaction to the philosopher, that he could not have 
 grudged it the labours of a lifetime. Even a boy, who 
 has been puzzled by a rule of arithmetic, thinks exceed- 
 ingly light of the difficulty, after he has once found out 
 for himself the nature of the operation, inasmuch as he 
 can appreciate his own discovery. So it is also with re- 
 gard to the acquisition of knowledge, which is the 
 mission of intelligence ; and the pleasure derived from 
 it is always in proportion to the labour bestowed upon 
 it. What rightly enlightened person would choose again 
 to be ignorant ? The devout and cultivated mind feels 
 that it is its great gain to go on, since there is enough in 
 the Almighty's vast and grand Creation to occupy any 
 intellect, however expanded it is destined to become, 
 through an unknown duration ; but the animal knows 
 nothing of such pleasures. Is, then, Instinct better than 
 Reason ? We hesitate not to say, emphatically, No. 
 
 Man, therefore, whom the Divine Being has entrusted 
 with the best gift, to do with it as he may think proper, 
 is responsible for the right use of it. The ends of Reason 
 and Instinct are or should be the same ; and as Wisdom 
 is the great attribute of the one, so also should it be of 
 the other. And the abuse of Reason is Folly. The 
 Wisdom of Instinct teaches man the object of his Reason ; 
 and the liberty of his will, or his free agency, teaches 
 him his responsibility; and Revelation, and the con- 
 sciousness of his own immortality, teach him that he is 
 to be wise for eternity, as well as for time, that he is 
 responsible for his soul, as well as for his body. 
 
 Finally, Instinct is destitute of any devotional impulse, 
 while with human intelligence it is universal, and un- 
 mistakeable. Every barbarian, and every savage, is en- 
 dowed with an instinctive consciousness that there is a 
 Supreme Being somewhere, and that he is bound to do 
 Him reverence in some form or other; and from the 
 same faculty he is capable of worshipping the Unknown. 
 Reason discovers the ways of that Being, and the Gospel 
 makes Him known. But the animal, guided by Instinct, 
 or a glimmering of Reason, is totally incapable of de- 
 votion, and cannot, therefore, worship. .No man, how- 
 R 2
 
 244 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 ever stoical, can enter the quiet chamber of death, 
 whether that be solemn from gloomy despair, or peaceful 
 from the strength of faith, and remain unaffected, or 
 retire without some reflection upon the momentousness 
 of the scene he had witnessed ; but were a dog to enter 
 the same abode, though he might discern that there was 
 something unusual, or even manifest some uneasiness, he 
 would yet be unimpressed with any sense of awe, and 
 would go away without a reflection ; nor can the least 
 idea of God be imparted to an animal of any class or 
 order. It can be done, neither by instruction, nor ex- 
 perience, nor language, nor signs. Nor does Instinct 
 impress it. All the means that can be devised are and 
 ever will be inefficient, all powerless for the purpose ; 
 it is an impossible task. Yet in man it is the instinctive 
 idea, the first and ever prevailing one ; it is the foun- 
 dation of man's devotion and worship. God himself has 
 laid it, and left man to build up the structure upon it, 
 so as to make in his body a temple of the Holy Ghost. 
 Here, then, we have the great distinguishing feature be- 
 tween man and the brute, and unmistakeably marked 
 and plain. And he who will not look at this beacon, to 
 receive its admonition, must expect to flounder and 
 wreck upon the quicksands of his own folly. 
 
 Summary. If we have rightly apprehended the nature 
 of Instinct, so far at least as it is not inscrutable, the 
 views we take of it are such as are embodied in the fol- 
 lowing summary ; and since some of them stand opposed 
 to the conclusions which many higher authorities have 
 drawn from it, and through them been put into a sort 
 of stereotype form, it is with much hesitation that we 
 endorse our own opinions, and almost with mistrust that 
 we present them. A diversity, however, of view, of 
 opinion, and of sentiment, is not an unmixed evil, in- 
 asmuch as such a quality of the human mind brings out 
 truth in greater purity than it otherwise would do, were 
 man's reasoning and noblest faculty but a blank uni-
 
 SUMMARY. 245 
 
 formity. It is not, therefore, desirable that all people 
 should be of one mind upon everything ; it is desirable 
 though that all mankind should agree to differ, where a 
 difference is inevitable, from its being a very law of 
 mental constitution, and desirable upon no subject more 
 than upon that which unites the creature to the Creator, 
 and which He wills should unite all people in one grand 
 principle of brotherhood. How little and narrow in 
 conception is that mind, how unlovely that heart, which 
 cannot tolerate a difference without a disagreeableness, or 
 a suspicion, or a hatred ! Let us, then, not be afraid of a 
 little variety, but give the freest scope to the canvass of 
 all opinions, that truth may come out in greater force 
 and beauty. And our interpretation of Reason and 
 Instinct stands thus : 
 
 Firstly. That the Deity, in governing by Instinct, 
 does so through a mysterious and mediate law, and not 
 by His immediate superintendence. 
 
 Secondly. That brain is the only medium of mind, and 
 that its matter, subject to the conditions we have named, 
 is a pretty fair measure of intellectual capacity ; thus 
 giving an index of mental ability as correct as physiog- 
 nomy does that of moral character. 
 
 This matter, composing the brain and nervous system, 
 unlike any other physical organisation, possesses some 
 very peculiar qualities, to wit, that remarkable property 
 of being susceptible of pain ; and where it is not present 
 through a nerve, or where dissevered from the brain 
 itself, there no sensation of suffering can be produced. 
 
 Thirdly. That this curious structure is complete in 
 man, but defective in animals. 
 
 Fourthly. That, as regard animals, the brain is most 
 developed in those of the most intelligence. 
 
 Fifthly. That the largest amount of brain is given to 
 those animals which are brought, and which were de- 
 signed to be brought into man's special employ. 
 
 Sixthly. That Instinct, with the solitary exception of 
 the beaver, opens with greater purity in birds than in 
 mammals, and purest of all in Insects. 
 
 Seventhly. That sensation is no cause of instinctive 
 operations, and will in no way account for them. 
 
 Eighthly. That Instinct is accompanied with a sort of
 
 246 MARVELS OF IXSTINCT. 
 
 latent power, designed to meet those accidents or emer- 
 gencies only to which its work is liable. 
 
 Ninthly. That Instinct is the perfection or the essence 
 of Reason, or Reason put forth in fullest maturity. 
 
 Tenthly. That Reason, as given to man, is superior 
 and more exalted than Instinct, which is given to govern 
 the animal. 
 
 In reference to the fourth summary, we may remark, 
 that here something was wanted that would be more 
 flexible and accommodating than Instinct, and accordingly 
 these animals were endowed, if we may so express it, with 
 a dark shade of the intellectual faculty, which should 
 be capable of receiving instruction within some defined 
 limits, or only so far as it should have relation to some 
 particular department of service. As, for instance, the 
 horse can be educated as a beast of draught or burden ; 
 but we presume there would be some considerable diffi- 
 culty in training him to act the part of a shepherd's dog 
 among sheep. Imagine the shepherd asking a horse to 
 neigh for the bark of his dog, and to run from front to 
 rear of his flock, and the very idea appears ridiculous ; 
 it violates all our received notions of propriety. Should 
 any one be doubtful as to this matter, just let him try 
 the experiment, and we will venture to say that he 
 would not be soliciting a second task for a long time to 
 come. 
 
 The intellectual endowment of the brute is, therefore, 
 not merely defective and qualified, but it is also greatly 
 circumscribed in its operations. 
 
 Seeing, then, that those animals only which are 
 adapted to serve man's immediate purposes are suffi- 
 ciently intelligent to benefit by instruction, and that 
 within very narrow and uniform limits, what, we ask, 
 is the significance of the adaptation ? Does it open to 
 us any pathway by which we can approach the meaning 
 of the Deity ? If so, it throws a great light upon our 
 road, for we may rest assured that whatever the Divine 
 intention was, so, to all intents and purposes, the thing 
 really is. His design was not surely that the animal
 
 SUMMARY. 247 
 
 should reason, or the power would not have been so de- 
 fective and circumscribed. We see that there is just 
 enough intelligence given for the animal to understand 
 all the signs necessary to facilitate man's government 
 over it, and not enough, as we take it, to produce the 
 ability to reason. It serves all the purposes of the former, 
 but gives several plain indications that the animal was 
 not destined for the latter. 
 
 Furthermore, if it be allowed that animals do really 
 reason, where are we to stop, and where are the limits? 
 for we have never yet been able to discover how an 
 animal can be admitted to reason on one thing without 
 its being able to do so on others, especially on such as 
 are not more difficult or complicated. This surely cannot 
 be granted. 
 
 Then, again, what would be the consequence if even 
 only the more intelligent animals reasoned ? What, 
 under ill-treatment, might not the horse be expected to 
 do, either in harness, in the stable, in the yard, or in 
 the meadow ? What would he sometimes think about 
 his short commons ? He might, on some occasions, very 
 justly reason that his master was his enemy, instead of 
 being his friend and protector. Would he also .suffer so 
 much as he does ? Would he forbear so long as he does ? 
 As much or more might be said of the dog, and of many 
 others as well as he, were it at all necessary, and we did 
 not feel it incumbent to desist from prosecuting the sub- 
 ject at greater length. 
 
 Once more, the human intellectual machinery may be 
 compared to that of a watch with mainspring, click, and 
 ratchet, all complete. The mainspring sets and keeps 
 the whole train of works in motion ; and that singular 
 faculty which enables man to think in an abstract manner, 
 that is, that faculty which has the power to call any- 
 thing to mind without seeing it, or hearing it, or feeling 
 it, or anything else that is or ever has been connected 
 with the thing to be brought up, as previously explained 
 may be called the mainspring of man's mind. Now 
 without going into resemblances of mere fancy, it may 
 be stated, that the mind of the animal is entirely destitute 
 of this faculty or mainspring of thought, the power by 
 which it can abstract itself in thought. The few and
 
 248 MARVELS OF INSTINCT. 
 
 imperfect wheels it has in its machinery must be turned 
 by the power of accidental association, which, in results, 
 bears a resemblance to the fitful and irregular motion 
 that would be produced were the works of a watch kept 
 going by the capricious hand of its manufacturer, instead 
 of that uniform and steady action which is applied by 
 the tension of the mainspring. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 LONOON : 
 
 Printed by SPOTTISWHODE and Co. 
 >'ew. street Square.
 
 
 
 A CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 NEW WORKS 
 
 IN GENERAL LITERATURE, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, 
 
 39, PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON. 
 
 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Agriculture and Rural Aflairs. 
 
 Pages 
 Bavldonon Valuing Rents, etc. . . 5 
 Ca'ird's Letters on Agriculture . 
 
 Pages 
 Southev's Life and Correspondence 21 
 Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography 21 
 Taylor's Loyola .... 21 
 Wesley .... 21 
 
 Cecil's Stud Farm 
 
 Townsend's Eminent Judges . . 23 
 
 London's Encyclopedia of Agriculture . 1 
 Low's Elements of Agriculture . . 1 
 ,, Domesticated Animals . . . 1 
 
 Waterton's Autobiography and Essays 23 
 Wheeler's Life of Herodotus . . 24 
 
 Arts, Manufactures, and 
 
 Books of General Utility. 
 
 Acton's Modern Cookery Book . S 
 
 Architecture. 
 
 Black's Treatise on Brewiug . . 5 
 Cabinet Gazetteer .... 7 
 
 Bourne on the Screw Propeller 
 Brande's Dictionary of Science, etc. . 
 
 Lawyer .... 7 
 Cust's Invalid's Own Book . . 8 
 Gilbart's Logic for the Million . 9 
 
 Chevreul on Colour 
 Cresy's Eucyclo. of Civil Engineering . 
 Eastlake on'Oil Painting .... 
 
 How'oNursVIiek Children ! .' 10 
 Hudson's Executor's Uuide . . 11 
 
 Uwilt's Encyclopedia of Architecture . 
 Jameson's Sacred and Legendary Art . 1 
 Commonplace Book . . 1 
 London's Rural Architecture . . . 14 
 Moselev's Engineering and Architecture 17 
 Hii-iKu-iisiin's Art of Horsemanship . . 19 
 
 On Making Wills . . 11 
 Kesteven's Domestic Medicine . 12 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia . . 13 
 Maunder's Treasury of Knowledge 16 
 Biographical Treasury . 16 
 ,, Scientific Treasury . 15 
 
 Scrivenor on the Iron Trade ... 19 
 Stark's Printing .22 
 
 *'v 'iiu Fn"ine by the Artisan Club . 6 
 
 Treasury of History . 16 
 ,, Natural History . . 16 
 Piscator's Cookery of Fish . . 18 
 
 Tate on Strength of Materials . . 21 
 Ure's Dictionary of Arts, etc. . . 23 
 
 Pocket and the Stud ... 19 
 Pycroft's English Reading . . 18 
 Reece's Medical Guide ... 18 
 
 Biography. 
 
 Rich's Companion to Latin Dictionary IS 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries . . 19 
 
 Arago's Autobiography .... 22 
 ,, Lives of Scientific Men . . 5 
 Bodenstedt and Wagner's Schamyl . 22 
 Hrightwell's Memorials of Opie . 17 
 Buckingham's (J. S.) Memoirs . . 6 
 Uunsen's Hippolytus .... 6 
 Clinton's (Fynes) Autobiography . . 8 
 Cockayne's Marshal Turenne ... 22 
 l>< miistoun's Strange and Lumisden . 8 
 
 Richardson's Art of Horsemanship 19 
 Roget's English Thesaurus . . 19 
 Rowton's Debater .... 19 
 Short Whist 20 
 Thomson's InterestTables . . 23 
 Webster's Domestic Economy . 23 
 West on Children's Diseases . . 24 
 Willich's Popular Tables . . 24 
 Wilmot's Blackstone's Commentaries 24 
 
 Forster's De Foe and Churchill . . 22 
 Haydou's Autobiography, by Tom Taylor 10 
 Hayward's Chesterfield and Selwyn . . 22 
 Holcroft's Memoirs 22 
 
 Botany and Gardening. 
 
 Conversations on Botany . . 8 
 Hooker's British Flora ... 10 
 
 Holland's (Lord) Memoirs . .10 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopiedia . . 13 
 Maunder's Biographical Treasury . . 15 
 Memoir of the Duke of Wellington . 22 
 Memoirs of James Montgomery . . 16 
 Merivale's Memoirs of Cicero . . 16 
 
 Guide to Kew Gardens . 10 
 Kew Museum . 10 
 Lindley's Introduction to Botany . 12 
 , Theory of Horticulture . 12 
 London's HortusBritannicus . . 14 
 (Mrs.) Amateur Gardener 14 
 
 Russell's Memoirs of Moore ... 17 
 
 ncyclopxdiaofTrees& Shrubs 14 
 
 Life of Lord William Russell . 19 
 Sonthey's Life of Wesley ... 21 
 
 :; ?""? : K 
 
 1 
 
 London: Printed by M. MASON, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Kow.
 
 2 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Pages 
 Pereira's Materia Medica . . . . 18 
 
 | T IOT , ^ | Page. 
 
 Rivers's Rose Amateur's Guide . . 19 
 Wilson's British Mosses .... 24 
 
 Chronology. 
 
 7 ,, Wesley 21 
 Thirhvall's History of Greece . .21 
 Townsend's State Trial. .... 23 
 
 Bunseu's Ancient Egypt .... 7 
 Haydn's Beatson's Index .... 10 
 
 ',', Sacred mst'ory o'f the World ! 23 
 
 Jacqnemet's Chronology .... 11 Vehse's Austrian Court ' .... 23 
 John, and Nicolas's Calendar of Victory 12 | Whitelocke's Swedish Embassy . .24 
 Nicolas's Chronology of History . . 13 | Young's Christ of History ... 24 
 
 Commerce and Mercantile 
 
 Geography and Atlases. 
 
 Affairs. 
 
 1 Arrowsmith's Geog. Diet, of Bible . . 5 
 
 Francis On Life Assurance ... 9 
 
 ' Butler's Geography and Atlases . . 7 
 Cabinet Gazetteer 
 
 Stock Exchange .... 9 
 Lorimei". Letters to aYoungMister Mariner 12 
 M'Culloch's Commerce and Navigation. . 15 
 
 Durrieu's Morocco . . . . 22 
 Hughes'!) Australian Colonies . . . 22 
 
 MacLeod's Banking 15 
 
 Johnston's General Gazetteer ... 12 
 
 Scrivenor on the Iron Trade . . .19 
 Thomson's Interest Tables ... 23 
 Tooke's History of Prices . . . 23 
 
 M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary . 15 
 Milner's BalticTea "". 1* **. '. '. 16 
 
 Criticism, History, and 
 Memoirs. 
 
 Austin's Germany . . ... 5 
 
 Crimea 16 
 Murray's Encyclopedia of Geography . 17 
 
 Wheeler's Geography of Herodotus , 24 
 
 Blair's Chron. and Historical Tables . 6 
 Bunseu's Ancient Egypt ... 7 
 
 Juvenile Books. 
 
 Hippolytus' .... 6 
 
 Amy Herbert .19 
 Cleve Hall" 20 
 
 Burton's History of Scotland ... 7 
 Convbeare and Howson's St. Paul . . 8 
 Eastlake's History of Oil Painting . 8 
 
 Earl's Daughter (The) .... 20 
 Experience of Life ...... 20 
 
 Erskiue's History of India ... 9 
 Francis's Anuils of Life Assurance . 9 
 
 Gilbart's Logic for the Young ... 9 
 Hewitt's Boy's Country Book . , . 11 
 
 Gurifev^Hi^to ^al'sket 1 hes ' " 9 
 
 (Mary) Children's Year . .11 
 
 Hamilton's Discussions in Philosophy, etc. 10 
 Haydon's Autobiography, by Tom Taylor 10 
 Holland's (Lord) Whig Party ... 10 
 
 Katharine Ashton 20 
 Laneton Parsonage 20 
 Mrs. Marcefs Conversations . . .15 
 
 Jeffrey's (Lord) Contributions . . 11 
 Johns and Nicolas's Calendar of Victory 12 
 Kemble's Anglo-Saxons in England . 12 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia . . 13 
 Macanlay's Crit. and Hist. Essays . . 14 
 History of England . . 14 
 
 Margaret Percival ..... 20 
 Pycroft's English Reading . . 18 
 
 Medicine and Surgery. 
 
 Brodie's Psychological Inquiries . .6 
 Bull's Hints to Mothers . . . .6 
 
 ,, Speeches . . . 14 
 Mackintosh's Miscellaneous Works . 15 
 
 M.Cul!och',GeogrI p Uicar5^i d onary ! !! 
 Martiueau's Church History ... 15 
 Maunder's Treasury of History . . 16 
 Memoir of the Duke of Wellington . 22 
 Merivale's History of Home . . .16 
 ,, Roman 'Republic . 16 
 
 Management of Children . . 6 
 Copland's Dictionary of Medicine . . 8 
 Cust's Invalid's Own Book . . . 8 j 
 Holland's Mental Phvliology . . .10 
 How to Xiirse Sick Children . . .10 
 Kesteveu's Domestic Medicine . . 12 
 Latham On Diseases of the Heart . . 14 
 Moore On Health, Disease, and Remedy . 16 
 Pereira On Food and Diet . . . 18 
 
 Milner's Church History .... 16 
 Moore's (Thomas) Memoirs, etc. . . 17 
 
 Materia Medica .... 18 
 Reece's Medical Guide . . . .18 
 
 Mure's Greek Literature . . . .17 
 
 West on the Diseases of Infancy . . 24 
 
 Raikes's Journal 18 
 Kaiilce's Ferdinand and Maximilian . . 22 
 
 Miscellaneous and General 
 
 Rich's Companion to Latin Dictionary . 18 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries . . . 19 
 
 Literature. 
 
 Rogers's Essays from Edinburgh Review' 19 
 
 Carlisle's Lectures and Addresses . . 2'-' 
 
 Roget's English Thesaurus . . .19 
 Russell's (Lady Rachel) Letters . . U 
 
 Defence of Kclipie of Faith . . . 8j 
 
 Life of Lord William Russell . 19 
 St. John's Indian Archipelago ... 19 
 
 Greg's 6 Essays' 1 on Political and Social 
 Science 9 
 
 Sehmiu'f History of Greecl ... 19 
 
 Hassall on Adulteration of Food . . 10 
 
 Smitli's Sacred Annals .... 20 
 Souther's The Doctor etc. . . .21 
 Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography . 21 
 
 Hnvdn'i. Book of Dignities . .10 
 Holland's Mental Physiology . . .1(1 
 H.."X,.-r's Kew Guide . . . .10 
 
 Sydney Smifh's'wnrki * .^ '. -' 
 
 Hewitt's Rural Life of England . . 11 
 , Visits to Remarkable Places . 
 
 ,, Select Works . . 22 I Jameson's Commonplace Book . . 11 ' 
 
 Lectures Oil MoralPhiln.nnW "1 J .fTrv'. fln,J\ !?._
 
 TO MESSRS. LONGMAN AND Co.'s CATALOGUE. 
 
 3 
 
 Macaulay's Critical and Historical Essays 14 1 Defence of Ecliplt of Faith ..." 
 
 Speeches 14 Discipline 
 Mackintosh's (Sir J.) Miscellaneous Works 15 i Earl's Daughter (The) . . . . 
 V irtini-'ui'-, Misrellanies . ... 15 Eclipse of Faith . . 
 
 8 
 M 
 
 ,s 
 
 Memoirs of a Maitre d'Armes . . 22 Englishman's Greek Concordance . 
 
 8 
 
 Maitland's Church in the Catacombs . 15 Heb. and Chald. Concord. 
 
 u 
 
 Pascal's Works, bv Pearce . . .18 
 Pycroft's EnglishReading ... 18 
 Rich's Companion to Latin Dictionary . 18 
 Riddle's Latin Dictionaries ... 19 
 
 Experience of Life (The) .... 
 Gertrude 
 Harrison's Light of the Forge . . . 
 Hook's (Dr.! Lectures on Passion Week 
 
 
 ir 
 
 1 Rowton's Debater 19 i Home's Introduction to Scriptures 
 
 in 
 
 Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck .19 Abridgment of ditto . . . 
 Sir Roger De Coverley .... 20 .. Communicant's Companion 
 
 10 
 
 10 
 
 Smith's (Rev. Sydney) Works . . . 20 
 Southey's Common-Place Books . . 21 
 
 Jameson's Sacred Legends 
 Monastic Legends . . . 
 ,, Legends of the Madonna 
 
 ll 
 
 j Souvestre'sAttic Philosopher .' '. 22 
 
 Sisters of Charity . . . 
 
 11 
 
 Confessions of a Working Man 22 
 Spencer's Principles of Psychology . 21 
 
 Jeremy Taylor's Works . . . . 
 Kalisch's Commeulary on Erodul . 
 
 |H 
 
 Stephen's Essays . . . . .21 
 Stow's Training System . . . .21 
 
 Katharine Ashton 
 Kippis's Hymns 
 
 g 
 
 Thomson's Outline of the Laws of Thought 23 
 Townsend's State Trials . . . . 23 
 
 Lyra Germanic* * 
 Maitland's Church in the Catacombs 
 
 S 
 
 Willich's Popular Tables .... 24 
 Yonge's English Greek Lexicon . . 24 
 ,, Latin Gradus .... 24 
 
 Margaret Percival 
 Martiueau's Christian Life 
 Church History . 
 
 5 
 
 u 
 
 Znmpt's Latin Grammar . . . .24 
 
 Milner's Church of Christ .... 
 
 
 Natural History in General. 
 
 Montij.irm-rv'., Uiiginal Hvmns 
 Moore Un the Use of the Body . . . 
 
 iii 
 
 Callow's Popular Conchology ... 7 
 Ephemera and Young on tfce Sejiaea . 9 
 
 ,, Soul and Body . . 
 's Man amHiis Motives . 
 
 i 
 
 Gosse's Natural History of Jamaica . 9 
 Kemp's Natural History of Creation . 22 
 Kirbvand Speiice's Entomology . . 12 
 Lee's Elements of Natural History . 12 
 Mann on Reproduction ... .16 
 Maunder's Treasury of Natural History . 16 
 Turtou's Shellsof t'hetJritishlslands . 23 
 Waterton's Essays on Natural History . 23 
 
 Meele'i Closing Scene' '.'.'.'. 
 Resting Places of the Just . 
 Riches that bring no Sorrow 
 Risen from the Hanks . 
 Newman's (J. H.) Discourses ... 
 llanke's Ferdinand and Maximilian . . 
 Readings for Lent 
 Confirmation . . . 
 
 I 
 
 Y U , a ,"' S The Hoarse '. . '. '. .' 24 
 
 Robinson's Lexicon to Greek Testament 
 
 u 
 
 1-Volume Encyclopaedias and 
 Dictionaries. 
 
 Self Denial 
 Sermon in the Mount .... 
 Sinclair's Journey of Ufa . . . . 
 
 It 
 
 1 
 
 Arrowsmith's Geog. Diet, of the Bible . 5 i Smith's (Sydney) Moral Philosophy 
 
 
 blaine Rural Spoils .."."' (G.) Sacred Annals . . . 
 Brandc'sSrience Literalure,and Art . 6 1 Soulhev's Life of Wesley . . . . 
 
 20 
 J] 
 
 Copland's Dictionary of Medicine . . 8 
 Cresy's Civil Engineering ... 8 
 
 Stephen's I Sir .1 . ) BeeleiteWCal Biography 
 Tayler's (J. J.) Discourses . . . 
 
 SI 
 
 II 
 
 L'l 
 
 Johnslon's Geographical Diclionary . 12 
 Loudou's Agriculture 14 
 ,, Rural Architecture . . 14 
 Gardening 14 
 
 Thcologia Gennanica .... 
 Thumb Bible (The) 
 Turner'sSacred History . 
 
 1 
 
 Plants 14 
 Trees and Shrubs ... 14 
 
 Twining's ISiMc Types . 
 Wh.-cler's Popular Bible Harmony . . 
 
 B 
 M 
 
 M'Culloch's Geographical IHclionarv . 15 
 
 Young's Christ of History 
 
 M 
 
 ,, Dicliouaiy of Commerce" . 15 
 Murray'sEneyirloprcdiaof Geography . 17 
 
 Poetry and the Drama. 
 
 
 Sharp's British Gav.elteer .... 20 
 
 Arnold's Poems 
 
 5 
 
 Ure's Dictionary of Arls, etc. ... 23 
 Webster'sDomestic Economy . .23 
 
 Aikin's (Dr.; Hritis-h Poets 
 Baillie's (Joanna) Poctii-al Works . . 
 
 
 6 
 
 Religious and Moral Works. 
 
 Amy Herbert 19 
 
 Bode's Ballads from Hci-odotus . . 
 Oalverl's Wife's Manual . . . 
 Flowers and llu-ir Kindred Thought* 
 
 I 
 
 Arrowsmith's Geog. Diet, of the Bible . 5 
 'Bloomfield'sGreek Testaments . . 6 
 
 Ooldimith's Poems, illustrated . . 
 
 Kippis's Hvmns . . 
 
 j 
 
 ,, Annotations on ditto . . 6 
 
 L.E.L.'s Poetical Works . . . . 
 
 '- 
 
 Bode's Bampton Lectures .... 6 
 
 Linwood's Anthologia Oxonienili . . 
 
 11 
 
 CHlv.-rt's Wifu\ Manual .... 7 
 
 
 
 CleveHall 20 Macaulay's Lavs of Ancient Rome . . 
 Convbeare's Essavs ..... 8 Mai-Donald's Within and \\ ithout . . 
 
 14 
 
 Conybeare and Howson's St. Paul . . 8 Montgoraery'sPoetical Works . 
 
 K; 
 
 Dale's Domestic Liturgy .... 8 Original Hymns 
 
 16
 
 4 CLASSIFIED INDEX. 
 
 Page. 
 Moore'. Poetical Work. .... 17 
 LallaRookh 17 
 
 Page. [ 
 The Hunting Field 9 
 Idle'. Hints on Shooting . . . . 11 
 
 ,',' Songs and Ballad. " . . .17 
 Shakspeare.bv Bowdler .... 20 
 , '.Sentiment. and Simile. . 11 
 
 Practical Horsemanship . . . . 9 i 
 Puiman'. Fly-Fishing .... 18 
 Richardson's Horsemanship ... 19 
 
 British Poet. .... 21 
 Thomson's Seasons, illustrated . . 23 
 Watts'. Lyric, of the Heart ... 23 
 
 Political Economy & Statistics. 
 
 Stable Talk a"nd Talle Talk ... 10 
 Stonehenge on theGrevhonnd . . . 21 
 The Stud, for PracticalPnrpo.es . .9 
 
 Veterinary Medicine, etc. 
 
 Francis on Life Assurance ... 9 
 Greg's Essays on Political and Social 
 Science 9 
 Laing'. Note, of a Traveller . . 12 & 22 
 M'Culloch's Geograhpical Dictionary . 15 
 ,, Dictionary of Commerce . . 15 
 London 22 
 Statistics of the British Empire 15 
 Marcet's Political Economy ... 15 
 Tegoborski's Russian Statistics . . 21 
 Willich's Popular Tables .... 24 
 
 The Sciences in General and 
 Mathematics. 
 
 Arago's Meteorological Essays . . 5 
 Popular Astronomy ... 5 
 Bourne's on the Screw Propeller . . 6 
 
 Stud Firm 7 
 The Hunting Field 9 
 Miles's Horse Shoeing ... j 16 
 Pocket and the Stud 9 
 Practical Horsemanship .... 9 
 Richardson's Horsemanship ... 19 
 Stable Talk and Table Talk ... 10 
 The Stud for Practical Purpose* . . 9 
 Yoaatt's The Dog 24 
 The Horse 24 
 
 Voyages and Travels. 
 
 Allen's Dead Sea 5 
 Baines's Vaudois of Piedmont ... 22 
 Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon . . 5 
 Barrow's Continental Tour . . .22 
 Burton's Medina and Mecca ... 7 
 Carlisle's Turkey and Greece ... 7 
 
 Lectures on Organic Chemistry 6 
 Cresy's Civil Engineering ... 8 
 DelaBeche's Geology of Cornwall, etc. 8 
 Geological Observer . . 8 
 De la Rive's Electricity .... 8 
 Faraday's Non-Metallic Elements . . 9 
 Herschel's Outlines of Astronomy . . 10 
 Holland's Mental Physiology ... 10 
 Humboldt's Aspects of Nature . .11 
 
 Hunt's Research" on Light .* * '.11 
 Kemp'. Phasis of Matter .... 12 
 Lardner's Cabinet Cyclopaedia ... 13 
 Mann on Reproduction .... 15 
 Marcet's (Mrs.) Conversations . . 15 
 Moseley's Engineering and Architecture 17 
 Owen's Lectures on Comparative Anatomy 18 
 Our Coal Fields and our Coal Pits . . 22 
 Pereira on Polarised Light ... IS 
 Peschel's Elements of Physics . . 18 
 Phillips's Fossils of Cornwall, etc. . . 18 
 Mineralogy .... 18 
 Guide to Geology ... 18 
 Portlock's Geology of Londonderry . 18 
 Powell's Unity of Worlds . . . . 18 
 Smee's Klectro-Metallurgy ... 20 
 Steam Engine, by the Artisan Club . 6 
 Tate on Strength of Materials . .21 
 Wilson's Electricity and the Electric 
 
 Eothen 22 
 Ferguson's Swiss Men and Mountain. . 22 
 Forester's Rambles in Norway . . . 22 
 Gironiere's Philippine. .... 22 
 Gregorovius's Corsica .... 22 
 Hill's Travel, in Siberia . . 10 
 Hope's Brittany and the Bible ... 22 
 Chase in Brittany .... 22 
 Hewitt's Art Student in Mnnich . . .10 
 Victoria 11 
 Hue's Chinese Empire . . . .11 
 Hue and Gabet's Tartary and Thibet . 22 
 Hughes's Australian Colonies ... 22 
 Hnmboldt's Aspects of Nature . .11 
 Jameson's Canada 22 
 Jemnann's Pictures from St. Petersburg 22 
 Laing's Norway 22 
 Notes of a Traveller . . 12 & 22 
 Macintosh's Turkey and Black Sea . . 15 
 Marryat's California 15 
 Mason's Zulu, of Natal .... 22 
 Mayne's AMic Discoveries . . . 22 
 Miles' Rambles in Iceland .. . .22 
 Oldmizon's Piccadilly to Peru . . . 17 
 Osborn's Narrative of Arctic Discovery . 17 
 Pfeiffer 1 . Voyage round the World . . 22 
 Second ditto . . . .18 
 Richardson's Arctic Boat Voyage . . IS * 
 Seaward's Narrative of his Shipwreck . 19 , 
 St. John's (H.) Indian Archipelago . . 19 I 
 (Hon. F.) Rambles . . . 19 j 
 Sutherland's Arctic Voyage . . .21 
 Weld's United States and Canada . . 24 
 Wheeler's Travels of Herodotus . . 24 
 Werne's African Wanderings ... 22 
 
 Works of Fiction. 
 
 Arnold's Oakfield 5 
 Lady Willoughbv's Diary .... 2-1 
 Macdon aid's Villa Veroc'chlo ... 14 
 
 Rural Sports. 
 
 Baker's Rifle and Hound in Ceylon . 5 
 Berkeley'. Reminiscence. . ... 5 
 Blame's Dictionary of Sports . . 6 
 Cecil'. Stable Practice .... 7 
 Record, of the Chase ... 7 
 Cecil's Stud Farm 7 
 The Cricket Field S 
 Davy-. Angling Colloquie. ... 8 
 
 Hawker'. Young Sportsman . .HI 
 
 Sonthey's Doctor 21 
 Trollope's Warden . ... 23
 
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