212 LESSONS FROM NATURE. [CHAP. VII. 



as much evidence of rationality as is afforded by the growl 

 of a dog ; and all that is really necessary to explain such a 

 phenomenon exists in an oyster, or even in the much-talked- 

 of Ascidian. 



Thus, then, it appears that, even in Mr. Darwin s specially- 

 selected instances, there is not a tittle of evidence tending, 

 however slightly, to show that any brute possesses the re 

 presentative reflective faculties. But if, as we assert, brute 

 animals are destitute of such higher faculties, it may well be 

 that those lower faculties which they have (and which we more 

 or less share with them) are highly developed, and their 

 senses possess a degree of keenness and quickness incon 

 ceivable to us. Their minds* being entirely occupied with 

 such lower faculties, and having, so to speak, nothing else to 

 attend to, their sensible impressions become interwoven and 

 connected to a greater extent than in us. Indeed, in the 

 absence of free-will, the laws of the association of ideas 

 obtain supreme command over the minds of brutes: the 

 brute being entirely immersed, as it were, in his presentative 

 faculties. 



There yet remains a matter for consideration, which tends 

 to prove the fundamental difference which exists between 

 the mental powers of man and brutes : I mean the mental 

 equality between animals of very different grades of struc 

 ture, and their non-progress! veness. Considering the vast 

 antiquity of the great animal groups,f it is, indeed, remark 

 able how little advance in mental capacity has been made 

 even by the highest brutes. This is made especially evident 

 by Mr. Darwin s own assertions as to the capacities of lowly 

 animals. Thus he tells us that 



&quot; Mr. Gardner, whilst watching a shore-crab (Gelasimus) making its 

 burrow, threw some shells towards the hole. One rolled in, and three 



* The words &quot; mind,&quot; &quot; mental,&quot; &quot; intelligence,&quot; &c., are here made use of in 

 reference to the highest psychical faculties of brutes, in conformity to popular 

 usage, and not as strictly appropriate. 



f Mr. Darwin (vol. i. p. H60) refers to Dr. Scudder s discovery of &quot; a fossil 

 insect in the Devonian formation of New Brunswick, furnished Avith the 

 well-known tympanum or stridulating apparatus of the male Lucustidro.&quot; 



