402 ANIMAL STUDIES 



were forced to do the fur-seal does to perfection. Its in- 

 stincts are perfect as clockwork, and the necessities of 

 migration must keep them so. But if brought into new 

 conditions it is dazed and stupid. It can not choose when 

 different lines of action are presented. 



The Bering Sea Commission once made an experiment' 

 on the possibility of separating the young male fur-seals, 

 or " killables," from the old ones in the same band. The 

 method was to drive them through a wooden chute or run- 

 way with two valve-like doors at the end. These animals can 

 be driven like sheep, but to sort them in the way proposed 

 proved impossible. The most experienced males would 

 beat their noses against a closed door, if they had seen a 

 seal before them pass through it. That this door had been 

 shut and another opened beside it passed their comprehen- 

 sion. They could not choose the new direction. In like 

 manner a male fur-seal will watch the killing and skinning 

 of his mates with perfect composure. He will sniff at their 

 blood with languid curiosity ; so long as it is not his own 

 it does not matter. That his own blood may flow out on 

 the ground in a minute or two he can not foresee. 



Reason arises from the necessity for a choice among ac- 

 tions. It may arise as a clash among instincts which forces 

 on the animal the necessity of choosing. A doe, for ex- 

 ample, in a rich pasture has the instinct to feed. It hears 

 the hounds and has the instinct to flee. Its fawn may be 

 with her and it is her instinct to remain and protect it. 

 This may be done in one of several ways. In proportion as 

 the mother chooses wisely will be the fawn's chance of sur- 

 vival. Thus under difficult conditions, reason or choice 

 among actions rises to the aid of the lower animals as well 

 as man. 



314. Mind. The word mind is popularly used in two 

 different senses. In the biological sense the mind is the 

 collective name for the functions of the sensorium in men 

 and animals. It is the sum total of all psychic changes, 



