CHAPTER II 



Though reflex action and instinct persist in higher 

 animals, yet reason does not merely supplement them ; 

 to a great extent it supplants them, and the extent to 

 which it does so is greater the higher placed the animal 

 is in the scale of life. We are in almost complete 

 darkness as to the mental processes, if I may here use 

 the term, of such low animals as the coelenterates, but 

 it is highly improbable that any of their actions, except 

 to a slight extent in the highest members of the group, 

 are instinctive, and wildly improbable that any of them 

 are rational. The late Professor Romanes, to whose 

 works I am greatly indebted, says — 



" Some species of medusoe — notably Sarsia — seek the 

 light, crowding into the path of a beam, and following 

 it actively if moved. They derive advantage from so 

 doing, because certain small crustacean on which they 

 feed likewise crowd into the light." — Animal Intelligence, 

 p. 23. 



Professor Romanes considers this merely a reflex 



action, but it seems at least debatable whether it is not 



a " reflex action into which there has been imported 



the element of consciousness," whether, in fact, it is not 



an instinctive action. The following, however, is clearly 



a case of instinct. 



149 



