A REVERSAL 179 



been led to imitate him, than it is to suppose the 

 converse of this. We might expect, however, that 

 as the process became more and more elaborate and 

 intelligent, the chief part in it would, in the majo- 

 rity of instances, be taken by the female, as is the 

 case; for as soon as a nest had come to be con- 

 nected, in the bird's mind, with eggs and young, 

 then her parental affection (the " a-ropyr] " of Gilbert 

 White), by being stronger than that of the male, 

 would have prompted her to take the lead. I can 

 see no reason why acts which were, originally, ner- 

 vous, merely — spasmodic, frenzied — should not have 

 become, gradually, more and more rational. Natural 

 selection would have accomplished this ; for, bene- 

 ficent as actions, blindly performed, might be to 

 an animal, they would, surely, be more so, if such 

 animal were able, by the exercise of its intelligence, 

 to guide and shape them, in however small a degree. 

 Thus, not only would those individuals be selected, 

 who performed an act which was advantageous, but 

 those, also, whose intelligence best enabled them 

 to see to what end this act tended, and, so, to im- 

 prove upon it, would be selected out of these. Such 

 a process of selection would tend to develop, not only 

 the general intelligence, but, in a more especial degree, 

 intelligence directed along certain channels, so that 

 the latter might be out of proportion to the former, 

 and this is what one often seems to see in animals. 



Thus, as it appears to me, instead of instinct 

 having commenced in intelligence, which has sub- 

 sequently lapsed, the latter may often have grown 

 gradually out of the former, blind movements, 

 as we may call them, coming, at length, to have 



