528 DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERS OF INTELLIGENTIAL ACTIONS. 
tioned (§ 717), we find individual animals “learning wisdom 
by experience/ 7 and acquiring the power of performing actions 
which do not correspond with their natural instincts, we 
cannot do otherwise than regard them as possessed of a certain 
degree of Intelligence, by which they are rendered susceptible 
of education. 
695. The amount of Intelligence displayed in such acquire¬ 
ments, can only be judged-of, however, by carefully examining 
the circumstances under which they are made. If the new 
habits are gained—like the talking of a Parrot—by imitation 
simply, no great degree of intelligence is manifested; but if 
it spontaneously result from a reasoning process on the part 
of the animal, our idea of its sagacity is raised. There may 
be a combination of both these conditions; as in the following 
curious circumstance, related to the Author by a friend who 
has repeatedly witnessed it. Some horses kept in a paddock 
were supplied with water by a trough, which was occasionally 
filled from a pump,—not, however, as often as the horses 
seem to have wished; for one of them learned, of his own 
accord, to supply himself and his companions, by taking the 
pump-handle between his teeth, and working it with his 
head. The others, however, appear to have been less clever, 
or more lazy; and finding that this one had the power of sup¬ 
plying their wants, they would teaze him, by biting, kicking, 
&c., until he had pumped for them, and would not allow him 
to drink until they were satisfied. That this was not a mere 
act of imitation , appears from the circumstance that the horse 
did not attempt to imitate the movement of the man, but 
performed the same action in a different manner,—evidently 
because it had associated in its mind the motion of the pump- 
handle with the supply of water. 
696. The Instincts of Animals may be shown to have 
immediate reference, probably in every instance, to the supply 
of the wants of the individual, or to the continuance of the 
race. Thus we have Instincts which guide in the selection 
and acquirement of food ; others which govern the construc¬ 
tion of a habitation for the individual, and of a receptacle for 
the eggs,—and these may influence a number at once, in such 
a manner as to unite them into a society; and others which 
direct their migrations, whether in search of food, for the 
deposit of their eggs, or for other purposes. Of these, some 
examples will now be given. 
