INSTINCT OF INSECTS. 51.3 



impulse ? These queries, I have already hinted, can- 

 not in my opinion be replied to in the affirmative ; and 

 I now proceed to show, that though instinct is the chief 

 guide of insects, they are endowed also with no incon- 

 siderable portion o^ reason. 



Some share of reason is denied by few philosophers 

 of the present day to the larger animals. But its ex- 

 istence has not generally (except by those who reject 

 instinct altogether) been recognised in insects ; proba- 

 bly on the ground that, as the proportions of reason and 

 of instinct seem to co-exLst in an inverse ratio, the for- 

 mer might be expected to be extinct in a class in which 

 the latter is found in such perfection. This rule, how- 

 ever, though it may hold good in man, whose instincts 

 are so few and imperfect, and whose reason is so pre- 

 eminent, is far from being confirmed by an extended 

 survey of the classes of animals generally. Many qua- 

 drupeds, birds, and fishes, with instincts apparently 

 not very acute, do not seem to have their place sup- 

 j)lied by a proportionably superior share of reason : 

 and insects, as I think the facts I have to adduce will 

 prove, though ranking so low in the scale of creation, 

 8eem to enjoy as great a degree of reason as many ani- 

 mals of the superior classes, yet in combination with 

 instinctsmuch more numerous and exquisite. 



I must premise, however, that in so perplexed and 

 intricate a field, I am sensible how necessary it is to 

 tread with caution. A far greater collection of facts 

 must be made, and the science of metaphysics generally 

 be placed on a more solid foundation than it now can 

 boast, before we can pretend to decide, in numerous 

 eases, which of the actions of insects are to be deemed 



VOL. II. 2 li 



