AND INSTINCT. 21 



ancestors did before her^, without these mental opera- 

 tions. Many animals store their provisions, that can 

 have no foreknowledge of the change of seasons. Men 

 sow, reap, and gather in the fruits of the earth, from 

 experience and reason, which teach them the necessity 

 of providing, in the abundance of the one, for the 

 sterility of the other. Men act from motives ; animals 

 from their propensities. Reason is more dignified than 

 instinct ; but the latter excels reason in the perfection 

 of its operations. The cells of a bee-hive are con- 

 structed upon geometrical principles ; yet all the cells 

 of every hive, even in different countries and ages, 

 have always been, and still are, of the same shape and 

 proportions. Show me the artist that could form 

 twenty thousand of these minute cells with such ex- 

 actness, let his tools be ever so nicely adapted to the 

 purpose. 



" The complete operations of instinct are greatly 

 promoted by the admirable conformity of the organs of 

 each animal to its modes of life ; which combines with 

 the exquisite perfection of their senses, to enable them 

 to perform their respective tasks, in a manner superior 

 to the most ingenious imitations of men. But some 

 creatures, it must be confessed, display an extraordi- 

 nary sagacity, particularly when domesticated, adapt- 

 ed to circumstances, and seeming to approach to reason. 

 This is consistent with the order of nature, which is 



