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leased from the prison of the shell, can pick up Its 

 food with its own bill, and therefore it doth not 

 open its mouth to beg food of the hen that hatehed 

 it. Yet the chicken seems to shew its dependance 

 too ; for when the first danger appears, you see it 

 run and fly to the wing of its dam for protection ; 

 as if it knew, that though it could feed itself, yet it 

 was not able to defend itself, but must trust to the 

 better security of a parent's wing. 



We admire these little creatures, and their remark- 

 able sagacity, we are surprised to find that they 

 distinguish so happily, and pursue their proper in- 

 terest ; that they are soon acquainted with their abi- 

 lities and their wants, and come to use their under- 

 standing so very eafly '; for it is evident, that the mere 

 faculty of sense, that is, the passive reception of 

 images or ideas, can never be sufficient to account 

 for these wondrous imitations of reason ; sense has 

 nothing to do but with the present impression, and 

 includes no reflection or prospect of the past or the 

 future, no contrivance of means to an end, nor any 

 action in order to obtain it. 



But what shall we say, or bow shall we account 

 for it, if we are told there are instances almost as ad* 

 niirabie as these to be found in the vegetable world, 

 jwhere we never suspect sense or reason ? The vine, 

 as though it were sensible of its own weakness, 

 thrusts forth his long tendrils, which curl round the 

 branches of any stronger tree 'that stands near, and 

 thus it hangs its weighty clusters upon the arms 

 of the elm that support it. Nay, every cluster has 

 a tendril belonging to it, and if any stronger twig of 

 its own be within its reach, it hangs itself there by 

 this tendril for support. The hop and the lupin, or 

 French bean, as though they knew they could 

 1101 stand by themselves, find another way to raise 

 their heads on high ; they twine the whole length of 

 their booties round the poles or the rods which are 

 planted near then); and thus their growth and their 

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