156 An Inquiry respecting the true Nature of Instinct. 



that man might be Man, and that brute might be brute : thus 

 man's imperfection at his nativity is his perfection, while the perfec- 

 tion of brutes at their nativity is their imperfection. For man is 

 born absolutely without the knowledge of any thing, in order that 

 he may be capable of receiving the knowledge of all things ; and 

 may freely appropriate it, by means of his proper faculty of 

 intelligence. Were knowledge infused into him at birth, as is 

 the case with brutes, it would no longer be knowledge, but mere 

 perception ; though the most surprisingly intelligent effects might 

 result from it, as we behold exemplified in brute instinct. As 

 the love of truth is peculiar to man; so also is knowledge. 



The ground of these facts, so comprehensive in its nature, and 

 involving a final cause so important, so dignified, so sublime, as 

 the Immortality of Man, is rendered inexplicable, if we admit that 

 brutes possess a nature formed upon a similar plan : which ad- 

 mission we are however compelled by facts to make ; unless we 

 subscribe to the doctrine, that a contingent or varying principle of 

 instinct, furnishes perception in the minds of brutes, for specific 

 ends, — and more particulary in those among them whose natures 

 adapt them to be influenced by Man ; — similar to that which is 

 observed to actuate them in a more uniform manner, when placed 

 without the sphere of his influence. 



Dr. Fleming observes, under the head of Intellectual Powers, 

 u that the lower animals possess some notion of power and of 

 cause and effect, may be inferred from various actions which th«y 

 perform ;" — and he then adduces, in proof of this assertion, the 

 process employed by the Corvas Comix or Hooded Crow, for 

 breaking the shell of the Buckie (Buccinum undatum). " Seiz- 

 ing the shell with its claws, it mounts up into the air, and then 

 loosing its hold, causes the shell to fall among stones, (in pre- 

 ference to the sand, the water, or the soil on the ground,) that it 

 may be broken and give easier access to the. contained animal. 

 Should the first attempt fail, a second or a third are tried, with 

 this difference, that the crow rises higher in the air in order to 

 increase the power of the fall, and more effectually remove the 

 barrier to the contained morsel."* 



* Philosophy of Zoology, Vol. i. p. 231. 



