180 INSTINCTS. 



— that there are none, to which it can be applied without 

 strong objections, furnished by the circumstances of the 

 case. The attention of the cow to its calf, and of the ewe 

 to its lamb, appear to be prior to their sucking. The at- 

 traction of the calf or lamb to the teat of the dam is not 

 explained by simply referring it to the sense of smell. 

 What made the scent of milk so agreeable to the lamb 

 that it should follow it up with its nose, or seek with its 

 mouth the place from which it proceeded I No observation, 

 no experience, no argument, could teach the new dropped 

 animal, that the substance, from which the scent issued, 

 was the material of its food. It had never tasted milk be- 

 fore its birth. None of the animals, which are not de- 

 signed for that nourishment, ever offer to suck, or to seek 

 out any such food. What is the conclusion, but that the 

 sugescent parts of animals are fitted for their use, and 

 the knowledge of that use put into them? 



We assert, secondly, that, even as to the cases in which 

 the hypothesis has the fairest claim to consideration, it 

 does not at all lessen the force of the argument for inten- 

 tion and design. The doctrine of instinct, is that of ap- 

 petencies, superadded to the constitution of an animal, for 

 the affectuating of a purpose beneficial to the species. The 

 above-stated solution would derive these appetencies from 

 organization ; but then this organization is not less speci- 

 fically, not less precisely, and, therefore, not less evidently 

 adapted to the same ends, than the appetencies themselves 

 W'Ould be upon the old hypothesis. In this way of consid- 

 ering the subject, sensation supplies the place of foresight ; 

 but this is the effect of contrivance on the part of the 

 Creator. Let it be allowed, for example, that the hen is 

 induced to brood upon her eggs by the enjoyment or re- 

 lief, which, in the heated state of her abdomen, she ex- 

 periences from the pressure of round smooth surfaces, or 

 from the application of a temperate warmth. How comes 

 this extraordinary heat or itching, or call it what you will, 

 which you suppose to be the cause of the bird's inclina- 

 tion, to be felt, just at the time when the inclination itself 

 is wanted ; vvhen it tallies so exactly, with the internal 

 constitution of the egg, and with the help which that con- 

 stitution requires in order to bring it to maturity? In my 

 opinion, this solution, if it be accepted as to the fact, ought 

 to increase, rather than otherwise, our admiration of the 

 contrivance. A gardener lighting up his stoves, just when 

 he wants to force his fruit, and when his trees require the 



