DEVIATIONS FROM PURE INSTINCT. 165 



When regularly fed^ he ate freely, without being dis- 

 turbed by the attention of the spectators ; but if he 

 had been long deprived of food, he would never touch 

 the most delicious morsel that was set before him 

 whilst any person was present. This strange conduct 

 was supposed to arise from an apprehension of being 

 deprived of the food of which he stood in so gi'eat need ; 

 and therefore he always kept himself in a posture of 

 defence and vigilance to guard it when of such value ; 

 but when it was of less importance, he gratified his 

 appetite without any precaution. From this account, 

 it appears that these birds possess a degree of reflec- 

 tion that enables them to adapt their conduct to cir- 

 cumstances. 



There seems a mixture of reason and instinct, which 

 differs widely from that pure instinct that never devi- 

 ates from its rule, and is chiefly observed in the infe- 

 rior orders of animals, such as insects, reptiles, and 

 zoophites. The elephant, the horse, and the dog, are 

 peculiarly intelligent : instinct in them, on many oc- 

 casions, is subordinate to a mental capacity, approach- 

 ing to the reasoning powers of man. Could the habits 

 of all creatures be intimately known, it might be 

 easy to trace the gradations from reason to pure in- 

 stinct; but the fierce inhabitants of the forest, and 

 those that dwell in the depths of the ocean, besides 

 numerous tribes that are driven by fear into the re- 



