XII 

 A BEAVER S REASON 



ONE of our well-known natural historians thinks 

 that there is no difference between a man s 

 reason and a beaver s reason because, he says, when 

 a man builds a dam, he first looks the ground over, 

 and after due deliberation decides upon his plan, and 

 a beaver, he avers, does the same. But the difference 

 is obvious. Beavers, under the same conditions, 

 build the same kind of dams and lodges; and all 

 beavers as a rule do the same. Instinct is uniform 

 in its workings ; it runs in a groove. Reason varies 

 endlessly and makes endless mistakes. Men build 

 various kinds of dams and in various kinds of places, 

 with various kinds of material and for various kinds 

 of uses. They exercise individual judgment, they 

 invent new ways and seek new ends, and of course 

 often fail. 



Every man has his own measure of reason, be it 

 more or less. It is largely personal and original with 

 him, and frequent failure is the penalty he pays for 

 this gift. 



But the individual beaver has only the inherited 

 intelligence of his kind, with such slight addition as 

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