INSTINCT OF INSECtS. 517 



upon the actions of insects, which must be mainly re- 

 garded as instinctive, the existence of this faculty is 

 still more evident in numerous traits of their history 

 where instinct is little if at all concerned. An insect 

 is taught by its instincts the most unerring means to 

 the attainment of certain ends ; but these ends, as I 

 have already had occasion more than once to remark, 

 are limited in number, and such only as are called for 

 by its wants in a state of nature. We cannot reason- 

 ably suppose insects to be gifted with instincts adapted 

 for occasions that are never likely to happen. If there- 

 fore we find them, in these Extraordinary and improba- 

 ble emergencies, stil! availing themselves of the means 

 apparently best calculated for ensuring their object ; 

 — and if in addition they seem in some cases to gain 

 knowledge by experience ; if they can communicate 

 information to each other ; and if they are endowed 

 with memory — it appears impossible to deny that they 

 are possessed of reason. — I shall now produce facts 

 in proof of each of these positions; not by any means 

 all that might be adduced, but a few of the most stri- 

 king that occur to me. 



First, then, insects often in cases not likely to be 

 provided for by instinct, adopt means evidently design- 

 ed for effecting their object. 



A certain degree of warmth is necessary to hatch a 

 hen's eggs, and we give her little credit for reason in 

 sitting upon them for this purpose. But if any one 

 had ever seen a hen make her nest in a heap of fer- 

 menting dung, among the bark of a hot-bed, or in the 

 vicinity of a baker's oven, where, the heat being as well 



