64 REASONING FACULTY IN 



was an absence also of that nourishment, the 

 pressure of which makes the suckling their young 

 so delightful to animals, and which perhaps is the 

 primary cause of the great affection they have for 

 them. To what then shall we attribute the ex- 

 traordinary care and affection shewn by one poor 

 animal for the offspring of another. Surely the 

 usually defined bounds of instinct were exceeded, 

 and a reasoning faculty was evidently demon- 

 strated. 



When we examine the habits of 



the pretty choristers of flight, 

 That chaunt their music notes on ev'ry bush, 



we shall generally find, that instinct guides them 

 to conceal their nests, or to cover them with sub- 

 stances closely assimilating to surrounding objects. 

 When, however, we see these general habits de- 

 parted from, when we see the external ap- 

 pearance of a nest completely altered after it has 

 been discovered, or curious devices resorted to in 

 order to conceal it, a certain degree of reason may 

 be perceived to have guided the birds in these 

 operations. Nor is the reasoning faculty of some 

 insects less wonderful. I do not refer to those, 

 extraordinary as is the fact, who thrust a caterpillar 

 into a cell previously made, and then deposit an 

 egg upon it, which serves from its moisture not 

 only to bring the egg to maturity, but for the 

 future wasp to feed upon ; or to the curious eco- 



