^44 



HARD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SI P. 



by the seeming bustle and activity of life within it. 

 If we watch, for instance, a Paramoecium in search of 

 food, as he hunts amid a fragment of flocculent vege- 



, table matter, we shall note how he systematically and 

 carefully begins at one end and progresses regularly 

 to the other, how he rejects some of his find as un- 



; palatable, how he uses his cilia at one moment for 

 locomotion, and at another for making currents which 

 bring food to his mouth, and how, in his rapid motion, 

 he makes straight from one point to another, yet 

 deviating of his own accord if any obstacle presents 

 itself in his path, and how, if he is hemmed in, he 

 will poke about in all directions for an exit, and, 

 .fioding none, will resolutely force his way through 



-the barrier. Now all these actions may not seem to 

 show any great intelligence, yet what do they imply ? 



One and all show a distinct power of reasoning. 

 When the Paramoecium selects particular spots for 



obtaining food, he reasons that these places will be 



-most productive of what he requires. When he uses 

 his cilia at one time as organs of locomotion, and at 



..another to procure food, in each case he, unconsciously 



• probably, reasons what the effect in each case will be. 

 When he avoids an obstacle in his path, it is from a 

 -direct process of reasoning, which tells him that the 



• result will be unpleasant if he does not do so. 



But, perhaps, it will be urged that these actions are 

 .•due to so-called "instinct." Now, if this be so, one 

 -of two hypotheses is true, the instinct must be either 

 \\) innate, or (2) inherited ; but if it be innate, it was 



• in the first place obtained by reasoning, although by 

 long habit the result only is retained, while the in- 

 ductive steps which led to it are discarded. It is like 

 .a child, wishing to find out what 12 times 12 are, who 

 lias to go through the entire series, beginning 12 

 -times one are 12, 12 times two are 24, and so on ; 

 3«t afterwards he will know instinctively that 12 times 



12 are 144, without repeating the steps which led up 

 4o it. Nevertheless, the reasoning must have been 

 fierformed once, and is instinctively, though not 

 .consciously, employed every time afterwards. 



In the same way the actions of the Paramecium 



.may have become instinctive, but if that instinct be 



-innate, as distinguished from hereditary, the chain of 



.leasoning must, none the less, have been performed 



. .by that individual at some former time. 



The question of heredity instinct is, of course, in 

 .such a case, an impossible one ; as it must imply that 

 there was once an exceptionally wise Paramoecium, 

 V'ho did all the reasoning for himself and his de- 

 ■scendants, and who transmitted his instinct to all 

 succeeding generations. The e.xistence of such an 

 .infusorial Solomon is at least improbable. 



So much for the intelligence of the Infusoria ; it is 

 .not great, but it is something. Now let us go a 

 .whole family higher up, and we find sea-anemones. 

 Xet us go two families higher, and we find the 

 iRotifera, some of which, so to speak, grow on stalks 



• and there remain all their life, for the existence of 



Melicerta is but little removed from this. Do sea- 

 anemones and Melicerta show intelligence in the 

 way the humble Paramoecium does ? We think not. 

 We ought then surely to conclude that mental develop- 

 ment does not necessarily vary directly with physical 

 structure. These creatures are Protozoic, are they 

 necessarily Protopsychic ? Too little is known of them 

 to speak with any certainty ; it is as impossible as it 

 is undesirable to dogmatise on such a subject. We 

 would merely offer as a suggestion, that we must not 

 be too hasty in laying down the law that the mental 

 development in every animal must necessarily be on 

 a strict equality with the physical. 



BOXES FOR SLIDES. 



IN reply to H. M. Cases for the purpose can be 

 obtained from several of the dealers in 

 microscopical appliances, but as they come rather 

 expensive where the number of mounts is large, the 

 following is a good plan. 



Get a carpenter to make a deal box, of which the 

 inside measurements are 7J by 8, and say 3 in. deep 

 (if deeper the box becomes too large to grasp 

 comfortably in the hand). The lid should hinge on 



Fig. 143.— Tray. 



one of the 72 in. sides, and the opposite side of the 

 box should let down flat by means of a pair of hinges 

 at the bottom. Cut a number of squares of card- 

 board for trays, 7J by 7f . Then for each tray cut 

 two half-inch strips of stoutest millboard, 75 in. long ; 

 three strips the same width, 6| in. long. With glue 

 or thick gum affix the two long and two of the short 

 strips to the cardboard close to the edge, and use the 

 remaining short piece to divide the central space 

 equally into two. The size of the spaces will be 

 6J by 3J, and each tray will hold i doz. slides. My 



