184 Habit and Instinct. 



and since his term is in itself unsatisfactory, there seems 

 no valid reason for adopting it. 



Mr. Hudson's term " tradition " is quite in keeping 

 with both etymology and popular usage, and serves to 

 emphasize the fact that the phenomena are not due to 

 heredity. By tradition in this sense, then, the habits of 

 a given species may be handed on from generation to 

 generation; and though inherited in the sense in which 

 we speak of the inheritance of property, and it is thus 

 that Mr. Eitchie uses the phrase "social inheritance," 

 they do not necessarily become hereditary in the biological 

 sense of the term. When the mongrel pup, whose 

 development Dr. Wesley Mills watched and describes, 

 was introduced to the society of other dogs, its progress 

 was, he tells us, extraordinarily rapid. It was subject 

 to the influence of canine tradition, and reacted at once 

 to this influence. The young bird or mammal, especially 

 in the case of gregarious species, is born into a com- 

 munity where certain behaviour is constantly exhibited 

 before its eyes. Through imitation it falls in with the 

 traditional habits, and itself serves as one of the 

 models for those that come after. There can be no 

 question that this tradition is of great importance in 

 animal life. And it is clear that, if this be so, it is 

 necessary, in any study of habit and instinct, to be on our 

 guard, that we may distinguish clearly between heredity 

 and tradition. What we are apt to regard as hereditary 

 instincts may in some cases be shown to be traditional 

 habits. And often we are unable to say, in the present 

 condition of our knowledge, whether the performance of 

 certain activities is due to heredity or to tradition ; whether 

 they are instinctive or due to imitation. Here, as else- 

 where in this field of study, there is need of further 

 observation under experimental conditions. The young 



