184 COMPARATIVE ZOOLOGY. 
therefore, being elective and conditional, are in a measure 
the result of calculation. 
The mistakes and variations of instinct are indications 
that animals have something more —a limited range of 
that principle of Intelligence so luminous in Man. No 
precise line can be drawn between instinctive and intel- 
ligent acts; all we can say is, there is more freedom of 
choice in the latter than the former; and that some ani- 
mals are most instinctive, others most intelligent. Thus, 
we speak of the instinct of the Ant, Bee, and Beaver, 
and the intelligence of the Elephant, Dog, and Mon- 
key. Instinct loses its peculiar character as intelligence 
becomes developed. Ascending from the Worm and 
Oyster to the Bee, we see the movements become more 
complex in character and more special in their objects; 
but instinct is supreme. Still ascending, we observe a 
gradual fading-away of the instincts, till they become 
subordinate to higher faculties—will and reason. We 
can predict with considerable certainty the actions of ani- 
mals guided by pure instinct; but in proportion as they 
possess the power of adapting means to ends, the more 
variable their actions. Thus, the architecture of Birds is 
not so uniform as that of Insects. 
We must credit brutes with a certain amount of obser- 
vation and imitation, curiosity and cunning, memory and 
reason. Animals have been seen to pause, deliberate, or 
experiment, and resolve. The Elephant and Horse, Dog 
and Monkey, particularly, participate in the rational nat- 
ure of Man, up to a certain point. Thinking begins wher- 
ever there is an intentional adaptation of means to ends; 
for that involves the comparison and combination of ideas. 
Animals have self-consciousness: a Cat never mistakes an- 
other Cat for itself. They interchange ideas: the whine 
of a Dog at the door on a cold night certainly implies 
that he wants to be let in. Even Bees and Ants, it is well 
