Wellington Philosophical Society. 695 



cially to tho nesting habits in confinement of the magpie and house- 

 sparrow, wliicli sliowed that inlicrifced memory, or instinct, though very 

 potent, could be overruled by individual effort. 



Mr. Harding called attention to what he said at the last meeting on 

 Mr. Carlile's paper. He did not think we could have both reason and 

 instinct. He related how a beaver in captivity showed instinct, but very 

 little reason. There was a communal instinct which enabled savages to 

 construct bridges, and such things, without the aid of architects or sur- 

 veyors. Mr. Hudson's paper, as a clue to the mystery of nature, was 

 worthless, but it was a good working theory for a naturalist. It was a 

 mistake to put forward such statements as Mr. Hudson had done as if 

 they were actual facts. 



Mr. Travers described how the gull carried the shell to a height, and 

 then dropped it, when it broke, and disclosed the fish inside, which the 

 gull fed upon. This was probably the result of an accident in the first 

 instance, followed by reason in repeating the action. The bird could not 

 acquire this from any created habit. Mr. Wallace is inclined to abandon 

 the idea of instinct. Dr. Giinther's example of the magpie is remarkable. 

 He did not think Mr. Hudson intended, as Mr. Maskell inferred, to dog- 

 matize. The paper was valuable, and contained most interesting facts. 

 We must inquire into all facts of this kind if we wished to add to our 

 knowledge in natural history. 



Sir Walter Buller said he wished to supplement ]\Ir. Travers's account 

 of the instinct displayed by Larus dominicamis in breaking shell-fish. 

 Daring his travels he had thousands of times watched tho operation — 

 the bird ascending obliquely to a certain height, then dropping the shell 

 and coming down to feast on the contents. But what had specially 

 struck him was this : The sagacious bird never dropped the shell on 

 soft sand or ooze, but always selected the hard portion of the beach, where 

 the impact of the falling shell would produce the desired result. That 

 fact alone exhibited a certain amount of intelligence on the part of the 

 bird. But there was this curious fact also : The young sea-gull never re- 

 sorted to this mode of breaking shells. It took from two to three years for 

 the bird to attain its full livery of black and white plumage ; it was easy, 

 therefore, to distinguish the young bird in its spotted grey dress, and he 

 could not remember having once seen it rise in the manner described. 

 This would seem to tell against the theory of hereditary instinct, because 

 the habit was evidently an acquired one, and the result of imitation. 



Mr. Hudson, in reply, was gratified at the interest taken in his paper. 

 He was sorry that the title had been misleading. He merely offered it 

 as a supplement to Mr. Carlile's paper, and did not pretend that it was 

 exhaustive. With reference to Mr. Phillips's remarks on the " vital 

 force," he was not aware that the existence of any such power had been 

 demonstrated. In connection with Mr. IMaskell's remarks, he wished to 

 direct attention to the extensive modifications which man had produced 

 in many domestic productions by exercising selection in certain direc- 

 tions. Natural selection having so much wider a scope, and so much 

 more time to act, it must have produced far greater results than man's 

 selection. With regard to tho term "natural selection," he was aware 

 that there were certain objections to its use, but it was shorter than the 

 more accurate one, " survival of the fittest." In stating that the instincts 

 of insects were inherited in the same manner as their structure and 

 colouring, he was only following the almost universal opinion of entomo- 

 logists. In fact, it appeared to him impossible to explain the phenomena 

 of the insect-world in any othei; way. How, for example, would it benefit 

 an insect to inherit a resemblance to some inanimate object, unless it 

 also inherited the instinct to assume the peculiar position neces- 

 sary to complete the deception ? He could not understand Mr. Harding's 

 statement as to the superiority of the savage over the civilised man in 



