COMMUNAL SOCIETIES. 333 



hereditary transmission of new habits, yet it is possible that a slow im- 

 provement in the habits of these communities may still continue, both 

 by education or observation and by heredity. 



The mental relations of animal communities, as thus reviewed, ap- 

 ply closely to the question of the intellectual development of man. 

 Among the quadrumana socialism is often greatly developed, educa- 

 tional transmission is common, and much intellectual shrewdness is 

 manifested. But, between the intellectuality of these communities 

 and those of the ants and bees, there is a marked difference. We 

 speak of the monkey as marked by incessant curiosity. That is to 

 say, he makes constant mental excursions beyond the range of his 

 hereditary habits. He constantly " wants to know." Hid intellectual 

 acumen is far superior to that of the low animal tribes, which have 

 advanced so far beyond him in habits. In man the same " want to 

 know " has ever been active, and to it are due his rapid gaining of new 

 experiences and increase in knowledge. Yet, so far as social organiza- 

 tion is concerned, he was very long in reaching the level attained by 

 the communal animals. He probably continued for ages in the social 

 state, though it is impossible to sa}^ how early the patriarchal state 

 may have been reached. Three or four thousand years ago we find the 

 ancestors of the present civilized nations everywhere organized under 

 conditions closely analogous to those of ant and bee communities, 

 though in their mental acumen and variety of habits and knowledge 

 they were almost infinitely superior. 



With one further consideration we may close. It is of interest to 

 perceive that in human communities the transmission of intellectual 

 habits is mainly and almost entirely a consequence of education, 

 either direct or indirect. Instinct is almost non-existent, so far as the 

 industrial and intellectual habits of life are concerned. We might 

 destroy an ant city, with the exce^Dtion of a single male and female, 

 yet these would give rise to a new city, with no perceptible difference 

 in powers from the old. Yet were we to destroy a civilized human 

 community, with the exception of a few infants, these, could they give 

 rise to descendants, in isolated localities, would yield a community 

 nearly destitute of knowledge and of the power of dealing with Nature. 

 They would have to begin anew, where their ancestors began ages 

 before. Yet they would possess mental powers and tendencies that 

 would enable them to rapidly gain new experience and habits, and 

 would undoubtedly develop into a new civilization with exceedingly 

 greater rapidity than was shown in the development of primeval man. 



It is the rapidity of progress in human habits and knowledge that 

 prevents any of these habits becoming instinctive. Old conditions are 

 rapidly thrown aside and new ones gained, and no method of action is 

 pursued long enough for it to grow into the force of an instinct. The 

 tendency of human progress is to check instinct, and to more and more 

 constantly employ reason, while with the lower animals the tendency 



