34 Trajisactions. — Miscellaneous. 



significance when we reflect that true instincts are ahnost con- 

 fined to members of the former branch of the animal kingdom, 

 seeing that it is through the nervous system that the mind of 

 the animal finds expression. 



Amongst true instincts I should class such acts of protec- 

 tive mimicry as those performed by the Phasmidse. Here 

 is a description by Professor Drummond of one of these 

 creatures found by him in tropical Africa : " Take two inches 

 of dried yellow grass-stalk, such as one might pluck to run 

 through the stem of a pipe ; then take six other pieces 

 nearly as long and a quarter as thick ; bend each in the 

 middle, at any angle you like ; stick them in three opposite 

 pairs, and again at any angle you like, upon the first grass- 

 stalk, and you have my Chirombo. When you catch him 

 his limbs are twisted about at every angle, as if the whole 

 were made of one long stalk of delicate grass, hinged in a 

 dozen places, and then gently crushed up into a dishevelled 

 heap. Having once assumed a position, by a wonderful 

 instinct he never moves or varies one of his many angles by 

 half a degree. The way this insect keeps up the delusion is 

 indeed almost as wonderful as the mimicry itself ; you may 

 turn him over and over and over, but he is mere dried grass, 

 and nothing will induce him to acknowledge the animal king- 

 dom by the faintest suspicion of spontaneous movement." "We 

 know too little of the life-history of the Phasmidge to assert 

 positively that their practice of shamming death (which is 

 Drummond' s interpretation of their action, or rather inaction) 

 is not taught the young by the adults, but it seems improbable. 

 The insect has inherited its peculiar bodily structure from its 

 ancestors, and this structure readily lends itself to the practice. 

 The instinct seems to be brought into play not only in the 

 presence of actual danger, but also as a precaution against 

 possible danger ; and it may be that it is done unconsciously, 

 like those reflex actions so common amongst the higher ani- 

 mals, many of which seem to be relics of what were manifes- 

 tations of active intelligence in the past, but are now become 

 mechanical responses to outward stimuli. Moreover, we must 

 not forget that some animals of low organization are of an 

 extremely lethargic disposition, and will remain motionless 

 for hours, or even longer periods — our New Zealand tuatara 

 may be taken as an instance — and it is possible that the 

 "mimicry" of Professor Drummond's "Chirombo" may be 

 partly attributable to this cause. 



We may also class as indications of true instincts the fear 

 which young animals, including children, usually manifest 

 towards what is really dangerous to them. Young children, 

 for example, usually show signs of fear on being plunged into 

 the sea. The late Dr. Eomanes once turned loose a ferret into 



