DISCUSSIONS ON INSTINCT 285 
Now, if we consider the attempt to pick up, from 
observation I conclude that it was by instinct; but if 
we consider the picking-up, I conclude that it was an 
acquired characteristic. 
In conclusion, I might say that at the end of the 
3rd day all of the chicks—about fifty—instinctively 
attempted to pick up, and that at the end of the 5th 
day they were able to pick up and place the food or 
water so that it could be swallowed. 
J. C. HARTZELL, JR. 
ORANGEBURG, 8.C., 25th March 1896. 
To Tue Epiror oF Science.—Prof. Lucas seems to me 
to have advanced this discussion on “ Instinct” by his 
reference to a letter in Nature, which appeared in vol. 
li. p. 30. According to the writer, it is customary 
for the Asamese natives to “teach” the young Jungle 
Fowls to peck. 
If this be true, what then becomes of Prof. Morgan’s 
distinction ? 
As a matter of fact, if one observes a good many 
chicks, he will find that a large proportion of the birds 
never peck without suggestion (the term “teach” seems 
objectionable) from the hen or some substitute. The 
chief value of such facts grows out of their showing 
that instincts are never perfect, and never of that type 
once believed in—the unalterable, inevitable, and un- 
varying—like the rising and setting of the sun; and 
for such rigid notions the reports of some scientists 
are in part responsible. It sometimes happened that 
experimenters in biology, etc., omit the exceptions and 
report only “good experiments,” so that a false view of 
the case must necessarily arise. Prof. Baldwin seems 
to adopt Prof. Morgan’s views, for he refers to the 
