g6 Instinct, 



mal, — and the origin and development of one is just 

 as far beyond our comprehension as the other. 



The taking of food is a prime necessity for every 

 animal. The necessity begins almost at the instant 

 independent life begins. It returns with regularity 

 or at least with absolute certainty so long as the 

 vital functions continue their normal activity. And 

 any failure to meet the demands of the appetite for 

 food and drink prevents all development and ordi- 

 narily brings speedy death. 



The necessity for building nests or homes has no 

 such immediate relation to the organization of the 

 animal. And in the work of building we are intro- 

 duced at once to the higher and more complex acts 

 of Instinct. 



In the case of many animals, the building is sim- 

 ply a contrivance for rearing young ; the home 

 never being used except for the production and 

 care of the young, and therefore not being any thing 

 growing out of the constant necessities of the indi- 

 vidual, as is the taking of food. Some animals 

 never build at all, either for themselves or their 

 young, as is the case with most fishes as well as 

 with many of the larger quadrupeds ; and even 

 some birds lay their eggs upon the bare rocks or 

 grass. There are examples enough from all depart- 

 ments of the animal kingdom, in different parts of 

 the scale of rank, to show that building is by no 

 means a prime necessity even for the care of young. 

 And it is further to be remarked that the skill in 

 building is by no means in proportion to the rank 

 of the animal in the intelligfence of its acts in regard 



