32 INTERNAL ANATOMY OF INSECTS. 



that instinct is purely intellectual. I have already given 

 you my opinion a , that it is not the effect of any imme- 

 diate agency of the Deity ; nor am I prepared to assent 

 to the doctrine of a writer, who has in some respects 

 written ably on the subject in question, who says, that 

 " the Divine Energy does in reality act not immediately, 

 but mediately, or through the medium of moral and in- 

 tellectual influences upon the nature or consciousness of 

 the creature,- in the production of the various, and in 

 many instances truly wonderful, actions which they per- 

 form 1 *." The same objection applies to this as to so 

 many other metaphysical theories, that it is not adequately 

 supported by facts ; and all theories not so supported 

 are injurious to science in proportion as their plausibi- 

 lity is greater, by leading the student to relax in that 

 observation of nature and attentive study of the instincts 

 of animals, on which alone sound hypothesis on this 

 subject can be ultimately founded. 



I shall conclude these remarks on the nature of in- 

 stinct with a few observations as to the circumstances in 

 which insects may be supposed to be guided by this fa- 

 culty, and those in which intellect seems to direct them. 

 The bee, when it takes its flight to a field where flowers 

 abound, is governed by intellect in the use of its senses ; 

 for these are given to it as guides : and when it arrives 

 there, they direct it to the flowers, and enable it to as- 

 certain which contains the treasures it is in search of; 

 but having made this discovery, its instinct teaches it to 

 imbibe the nectar and load its hind legs with pollen. 

 Again : its senses, aided by memory, enable it to retrace 



a VOL. II. p. 463, 5. b Zoological Journal, ri. i. 5. 



