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Probably very few of those who go hunting reaUze 

 how much the animal that is the source of their pleasure 

 learns through the experience of three or four seasons. 

 Although scientific people may affirm that animals are 

 incapable of reason there are many who think other- 

 wise, and amongst them will be found those who have 

 made a life study of animals. The border Une of instinct 

 and reason is difficult to define. 



The young of all animals, man included, begin with 

 instinct, and reason develops later, generations of 

 training in their forbears, combined with greater brain 

 power, enable the children of man to outstrip the 

 animals, but the latter acquire knowledge to a certain 

 extent and reason on what they have learnt. It can 

 be noted, and is undoubtedly a fact, that with the 

 acquisition of knowledge instinct gradually weakens. 

 This can often be observed with horses — or it might 

 have been done when sportsmen rode their horses long 

 distances home. The young horse that may never 

 have been that way before will always turn his head in 

 the direction of his stable, whereas the seasoned veteran 

 seems to lose his sense of direction unless the road is 

 famiHar. The one depends on inherited instinct and 

 the other, having dropped some of that power, is 

 reduced to reason to solve the problem. Wild animals 

 certainly retain their natural instinct longer than those 

 that are domesticated, but the former learn wisdom 

 with age and reason on what they learn, though whether 

 their instinct also weakens it is impossible to say. My 

 own opinion is that inherited instincts handed down 

 through countless ages are implanted in the brain of 

 the animal when born and it is nature's method of 

 protecting the young until the brain is sufficiently 

 developed to store the lessons of experience. My 



G2 



