INSTINCT OF SOME SUPERIOR ANIMALS. 191 



scope, it will be found to be most exquisitely 

 formed, and to possess all those functions which 

 are necessary to its well-being. I wish to impress 

 this strongly on your minds, that you may be 

 able to view Almighty God in His works, and 

 thus learn to love and admire Him as the Author 

 of all good. Having stated this, I will now 

 proceed to give you some curious instances of 

 instinct amongst what are called the inferior 

 animals, that is, of animals which are supposed 

 to be almost without sense or power of motion. 



You are all of you acquainted with the com- 

 mon sea-hog, or sea-egg. To look at it you 

 would suppose it to be without sense, or the 

 possibility of regarding external objects by sight 

 or hearing ; yet it will travel up the rods of a 

 crab-pot, enter the opening, descend within, 

 mount again to the situation of the bait, and 

 choose the one which pleases it best. 



Again, the star-fishes seem very inactive and 

 without intelligence, yet they display sagacity 

 in the discovery and choice of food, as well as in 

 the manner of seeking it, and also alter their 

 habits in different seasons. 



You might suppose that cuttle-fishes were 

 without any sense, and yet they show some 



