78 Teachings of Thomas Huxley 



would be quite difficult for an observer to tell 

 whether the effort were a conscious or a reflex 

 one. Huxley also thinks that dogs have some- 

 thing akin to snobbishness, for they bark at 

 beggars and do not bark at the well dressed ! 

 As a matter of common experience this evi- 

 dence is scarcely trustworthy, for they are 

 known to do exactly the opposite in many in- 

 stances. 



The vagueness of the term "instinct" as com- 

 monly used may signify acts accompanied or 

 unaccompanied by consciousness. With a well 

 organized central nervous system we have a 

 right to assume some higher functions than 

 those concerned with a mere vegetative exist- 

 ence, and the conception of consciousness is 

 merely a step beyond the conception of common 

 sensations as they may be so readily studied 

 in the laboratory. Huxley thinks that all the 

 hereditary mental tendencies may justly be 

 termed instincts, e. g., generosity; and he ad- 

 judges that art, music, sculpture, etc., may be 

 considered nothing more than "innate poten- 

 tialities." The best that we can say is that 

 the boundaries between instinct and reason are 

 very indefinite and obscure, and there seems 

 to be good reason for relegating the entire prob- 

 lem to the realm of the unknowable, since more 

 or less wild speculation is all that can come 

 of any present efforts towards its solution. 



