202 The Science of Life. 



can have no trains of thoughts, but only trains of feel- 

 ings, yet have a consciousness which, more or less 

 distinctly, foreshadows our own." In short, the theory 

 of "animal automatism" violates our conception of 

 continuity in evolution. Either the one or the other 

 must be sacrificed. 



Historically, the Cartesian theory had but a limited 

 influence, much less, indeed, than it deserved. Erro- 

 neous though we must believe it to be, it was more in 

 the line of progress than the metaphysical interpre- 

 tations which outlived it. 



While it may be possible for us to appreciate the 

 theological and metaphysical interpretations, and to see 

 The Word them in perspective as complementary, not 

 "instinct", antagonistic, to scientific analysis, the his- 

 torical fact must be recognized that they tended to 

 hinder research. The observer watched the industry 

 of bees, birds, and beavers, pronounced the word 

 "Instinct", and turned away to something which 

 seemed more intelligible. "Instinct" was regarded as 

 an inborn gift defying all analysis. It was cited, even 

 by Hume, as an ultimatum, like life itself. Others 

 compared it to gravitation. 



But this easy-going and in reality quite unprogres- 

 sive way of looking at the facts could not last. On 

 the one hand, the critics began to show that many cases 

 of alleged instinctive activity were really cases of rapid 

 learning. Thus Alfred Russel Wallace pointed out that 

 birds hatched and brought up alone do not build the 

 characteristic nest, nor sing the characteristic song of 

 their kind. He argued justly that imitation, education, 

 and individual intelligence count for much, and that the 

 sphere of instinct had been grossly exaggerated. On 

 the other hand, the critics pointed out that instinctive 

 activities were not so stereotyped or perfect as was 

 generally supposed. In fact, as Biichner, Vogt, and 

 others showed, instincts might sometimes lead the 

 animal astray. For a time, however, verbal discus- 

 sions as to "instinct" seem to have been even more 

 rife than the disputes of economists as to the meaning 

 of "value". 



