233 

 INSTINCT OF ANIMALS. 



BY 0. S. ROUND, ESQ. 



In a former paper, (ante vol. ii. page 203,) I took occasion to advert to 

 an extraordinary instance of sagacity in a pet Dog, whose intelligence was 

 remarkable; and to observe generally how very nearly, what we commonly terra 

 ^'Instinct" approaches to reason. I have always studied the manners and 

 habits of all wild animals with great attention, and I think it will not be 

 denied by those who have turned their minds to the subject, that although 

 in the great majority of instances, they obey a natural impulse blindly, yet, 

 that an all-wise Creator has likewise endowed them with a limited reasoning 

 faculty to the extent of being enabled to obviate a difficulty occurring to 

 mar the performance of the function to which the instinct excites, or to pre- 

 serve or further the maintenance or performance of a natural endowment; 

 nay more, I would further advance that this is not confined to wild animals 

 alone, but to man in a wild state. The most familiar instances of instinct, 

 with this additional superadded power, occur in the preservation of the individual. 

 Thus a hunted Deer will by every possible shift conceal himself to the last 

 moment from the sight of the pursuing pack, because scent, however keen, will 

 never enable them to run with the swiftness of sight; it may be said that the 

 mere natural timidity of the creature prompts to this; however it may be, I 

 need not remind those who are acquainted with the chase, with what extra- 

 ordinary address hunted animals endeavour to elude pursuit. Look at a 

 Uabbit, which by fair running, is easily caught by an ordinary dog, but this he 

 never resorts to, although for a short distance his powers of speed are, per- 

 haps, unequalled, but he likewise possesses a qualification far more valuable — 

 he can, when in full speed, stop in a moment, and dodge his pursuer; and 

 in this way, where there is the least cover, he scarcely ever needs to resort 

 to his burrow. 



This reminds me of an extraordinary instance of adaptation to circumstances, 

 of which my brother was a witness. I was walking in our grounds with my 

 gun in my hand, when suddenly, as our little dog was hunting in the Fern, 

 what I took to be a black Cat ran before me, but on looking again, I per- 

 ceived it was a Rabbit quite black. By this time I suppose he was fifty 

 yards or more from me, however I fired, but I believe did not harm him. 

 Of course he was a prominent object in the bright green herbage, and we 

 gave chase, but having a long start, our dog could not overtake him, but 

 ran him by scent into a hedge. I then handed the gun to my brother, and 

 watched for his exit, when suddenly he cautiously emerged from the hedge 

 upon some ground which had been lately cleaned, and upon which blackened 

 heaps of burned weeds still remained, and to my astonishment, and no less 

 amusement, proceeded at once to the nearest black mass and curled himself 

 up beside it. I beckoned to my brother, and we walked up and shot him, 

 and I kept the skin for some years. Now this was assuredly going far beyond 



VOL. III. 2 n 



