THE ORGANIC TENDENCY 189 



suggested. The tendency of the Hving substance 

 is apparently self-maintenance. 



Animals with the more intricate nervous proc- 

 esses made possible by synaptic organization of 

 the nervous system still exhibit simple responses 

 in some of their behavior, and the result of these 

 simple responses is still self -maintenance, favorable 

 orientation. In the action of instincts we find an 

 important point in answer to our questions, for 

 here are responses no less fixed than tropisms but 

 often much less favorable in their results. The 

 fixed instinct preserves the species admirably under 

 fixed conditions, but is not always governed by 

 the associated conditions of environment, hence 

 it may be fatal to the species if conditions change. 

 In intelligent behavior we find again responses 

 which are directly and often intricately coordinated 

 with environmental conditions, and because of this 

 coordination their results are, again, a marked 

 tendency to self-preservation, not to self -modifica- 

 tion. The instinct seems to be comparable to the 

 blind alleys of evolution which can lead only to 

 ultimate extinction, while intelligent behavior per- 

 mits adjustment to changing conditions. 



The origin of instincts is obscure, but it presents 

 a few striking features. Although they may be so 

 rigidly fixed, they must obviously have sprung 

 from variable sources for related species, as the 

 wasps, often have very different instinctive be- 



