Impulses Independent of Organization. 175 



is in harmony with his physical constitution, — to 

 the true end of his being, — or if they lead the indi- 

 vidual to injury, it is for the benefit of the species. 



But although Instinct gives great uniformity of 

 results, it is not perfect ; that is, it is not infallible. 

 It may. be deceived, and so deceived as to cause 

 the destruction of its possessor. The impression 

 often prevails, that Instinct is, in some cases at least, 

 an impulse that leads to the right action directly ; 

 without the secondary aid of the senses. The im- 

 pulses that lead animals to perform certain opera- 

 tions, as migrating, and the storing of food for winter, 

 are perhaps of this nature ; though a more careful 

 examination of the subject may enable us to trace, 

 even here, some direct relation between changes in 

 nature and the act of the animal. But so far as 

 our present knowledge goes, the action of birds in 

 migration, and, especially, the action of fishes, like 

 the Salmon, that pass from the ocean to fresh water 

 to spawn ; and also the action of animals which lay up 

 stores of food for winter, — all these, and like action 

 of animals, seem to originate from some impulse 

 arising from their organization, independently of 

 the senses. And if we say that the impulse is pro- 

 duced by some relation of the external world to the 

 animal's organism, still, we have this fact remaining, 

 — his always doing a specific thing involving con- 

 trivance, — to be accounted for. Even if we grant 

 that the Salmon remember that they were hatched 

 in the river, we have still to account for their going 

 back there to deposit their eggs ; and for their de- 



