Reflections upon Insect Psychology 



the course of Its actual work at the moment. 

 Shall we say then that reason directs It? Why 

 should we? The Insect persists In the same 

 psychic course, It continues Its action, It does 

 what It was doing before. It corrects what to 

 it appears but a careless flaw In the work of 

 the moment. 



Here, moreover, is something which would 

 change our estimate entirely, If It ever oc- 

 curred to us to look upon these repaired 

 breaches as a work dictated by reason. Let 

 us turn to the second class of emergency re- 

 ferred to above : let us imagine, first, cells simi- 

 lar to those in the second experiment, that is 

 to say, only half-finished, in the form of a 

 shallow cup, but already containing honey. 

 I make a hole in the bottom, through which 

 the provisions ooze and run to waste. Their 

 owners are harvesting. Let us imagine, on 

 the other hand, cells very nearly finished and 

 almost completely provisioned. I perforate 

 the bottom In the same way and let out the 

 honey, which drips through gradually. The 

 owners of these are building. 



Judging by what has gone before, the 

 reader will perhaps expect to see immediate 

 repairs, urgent repairs, for the safety of the 

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