MENTAL CONSTITUTION OF ANIMALS. 263 



terms would perhaps be the most suitable for expressing the 

 distinction. 



In the humblest forms of being, we can trace scarcely any- 

 thing besides a definite action in a few of the faculties. 

 Generally speaking, as we ascend in the scale, we see more and 

 more of the faculties in exercise, and these tending more to the 

 indefinite mode of manifestation. And for this there is the 

 obvious reason in providence, that the lowest animals have all 

 of them a very limited sphere of existence, are born only to 

 perform a few functions, and enjoy a brief term of life, and 

 then give way to another generation, so that they do not need 

 much mental power or guidance. At higher points in the 

 scale, the sphere of existence is considerably extended, and the 

 mental operations are less definite accordingly. The horse, 

 dog, and a few other animals, noted for their serviceableness 

 to our race, have the indefinite powers in no small endowment. 

 Man, again, shows very little of the definite mode of operation, 

 and that little chiefly in childhood, or in barbarism, or idiocy. 

 Destined for a wide field of action, and to be applicable to in- 

 finitely varied contingencies, he has all the faculties developed 

 to a high pitch of indefiniteness, that he may be ready to act 

 well in all imaginable cases. His commission, it may be said, 

 gives large discretionary powers, while that of the inferior 

 animals is limited to a few precise directions. But when the 

 human brain is congenitally imperfect or diseased, or when it 

 is in a state of infancy, we see in it an approach towards the 

 character of the brains of some of the inferior animals. Dr. J. G. 

 Davey states that he has frequently witnessed, among his patients 

 at the Han well Lunatic Asylum, indications of a particular ab- 

 normal cerebration, which forcibly reminded him of the specific 

 healthy characteristics of animals lower in the scale of organi- 

 zation j 1 and every one must have observed how often the 



1 Phrenological Journal, xv. 338. 



One of the brightest minds of our age, the Rev. Sidney Smith, held 

 precisely the same views respecting the mental constitution of man 

 which are presented in the text: " Nature," says he, "has not formed 

 man totally different from other animals, but rather added to his brain 

 new organs. She has not, in his case, puUed down the fabric of sen- 

 tient being, and reconstructed it upon a totally different plan. All that 

 she has done has been to add to the original edifice Corinthian capitals 

 and Doric columns ; bestowing reason, not to supersede, but to guide, 

 direct, and perfect his animal nature. We may rest assured, therefore, 

 that whatsoever principles, in the shape of instincts, are given to animals 

 for their preservation and protection, are also instincts in man ; and that 

 what in them is a propensity or desire, is not in him anything else." 



