INSTINCT AND REASON 



by intelligence similar to ours, because they are 

 similar to those which human reason would 

 prompt us to perform in like case. 



Sometimes, indeed, they compel our admiration 

 as being much more clever and wonderful than 

 any that human reason could have dictated. 



Such, for instance, is the action of the little 

 gall-fly which has inherited the habit of deposit- 

 ing some extraordinary irritant so it is sup- 

 posed with the eggs which it lays in the tissues 

 of plants, with the result that a wonderful and 

 beautiful growth takes place round the maggots 

 which emerge from the eggs, supplying them with 

 a comfortable nursery made of solid food which 

 lasts them through the whole of their maggot- 

 life, and afterwards serves them as a dry shelter 

 during their long pupa-sleep. In cases like this 

 the instinctive actions of other animals transcend 

 the limits of human forethought and reasoning 

 power. 



And, inasmuch as we also are animals, many of 

 our most important actions, such as taking food . 

 and going to sleep, are performed by instinctive 

 habit beyond the aid of our intelligence. 



There are many cases, however, in which in- 



