144 THE EVOLUTIONIST AT LARGE. 



sucking liquid honey. Subjectively viewed, 

 the butterfly is not a high order of insect ; 

 his nervous system does not show that pro- 

 vision for comparatively spontaneous thought 

 and action which we find in the more intelli- 

 gent orders, like the flies, bees, ants, and 

 wasps. His nerves are all frittered away in 

 little separate ganglia distributed among the 

 various segments of his body, instead of 

 being governed by a single great central 

 organ, or brain, whose business it always is 

 to correlate and co-ordinate complex external 

 impressions. This shows that the butterfly's 

 movements are almost all automatic, or 

 simply dependent upon immediate external 

 stimulants : he has not even that small capa- 

 city for deliberation and spontaneous initia- 

 tive which belongs to his relation the bee. 

 The freedom of the will is nothing to him, 

 or extends at best to the amount claimed on 

 behalf of Buridan's ass : he can just choose 

 which of two equidistant flowers shall first 

 have the benefit of his attention, and nothing 



