547 



IX. — A short Statement upon the Theory, and the Phenomena of 

 Purpose and Intelligence exhibited by the Protozoa, as 

 illustrated by Selection and Behaviour in the Foraminifera* 



By Edward Heron-Allen, F.L.S, F.Z.S., F.K.M.S. 



(Read October 20, 1915.) 



" Unless we set out with the preconcep- 

 tion that mind is the prerogative of man, the 

 question whether mind is co-extensive with 

 living protoplasm, or is the possession of only 

 the more highly organized animals must at some 

 time suggest itself. But whatever prejudices 

 we may hold, it is incumbent upon us before 

 definitely accepting either view, to ascertain if 

 possible the level at which the first manifesta- 

 tions of mind occur." 



E. M. Smith, Op. cit. post. p. 1. 



In the month of November 1914 I showed, in conjunction with 

 Arthur Earland, at a meeting of the Zoological Society a series of 

 slides of Foraminifera, exhibiting phenomena of life-habit and 

 shell-construction which, in my opinion, revealed the possession 

 by these organisms of faculties akin to Purpose and Intelli- 

 gence, f A discussion ensued, in the course of which certain 

 eminent zoologists combated, and certain others no less eminent 

 supported my views. Since that date the matter has been referred 

 to, explicitly and otherwise, in several articles and reviews and 

 more than one treatise, having for their subjects, '"Mind" and 

 "Behaviour" in the lower animals, and some of the writers have 

 sought to give to my words a far more extended meaning than that 

 which I intended to convey, regard being had to the present state 

 of knowledge and observation upon the subject. I have also been 

 favoured with a considerable amount of correspondence on the 

 subject by prominent zoologists and biologists. 1 therefore sought 

 the opportunity afforded by the meeting of the British Association 

 at Manchester to summarize my published observations upon the 

 matter, and to establish clearly the position beyond which for the 

 present I do not wish to go. J 



* The principal portion of this paper formed the basis of an address which was 

 read before the British Association (Section D, Zoology) at Manchester, Sept. 9, 

 1915, and which was followed by a discussion upon the points at issue. 



t Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1914, p. 1069. Tt must be observed at once that these 

 words are used here in a specialized and restricted sense (see note § on p. 551). 



X For instance, I do not wish to refer further, at present, to the mechanical 

 functions of the Poraminiferal protoplasm, with which I have dealt at length 

 elsewhere (Bibliography 8, pp. 231, et seq.). 



