138 SALMONIA. [FIFTH DAT. 



few days old, with a child of as many months : he 

 flies, runs, seeks his food, avoids danger, and obeys 

 the call of his mother; whilst a child is perfectly 

 helpless, and can perform few voluntary motions; 

 has barely learnt to grasp, and can neither stand nor 

 walk. But to see the most perfect instance of instinct, 

 as contrasted with acquired knowledge, look at 

 common domestic poultry: as soon as they are 

 excluded from the egg, they run round their mother, 

 nestle in her feathers, and obey her call, without educa- 

 tion : she leads them to some spot where there is soft 

 earth or dung, and instantly begins scratching with 

 her feet ; the chickens watch her motions with the 

 utmost attention ; if an earth-worm or larva is turned 

 up, they instantly seize and devour it, but they avoid 

 eating sticks, grass, or straws : and though the hen 

 shows them the example of picking up grain, they do 

 not imitate her in this respect, but for some days 

 prefer ants, or the larvae of ants, to a barley-corn. 

 They may have heard the cluck of their mother in the 

 egg, and having felt the warmth of her feathers agree- 

 able, so you may consider, Physicus, their collecting 

 under her wings, and obeying her call, as an acquired 

 habit. But I will mention another circumstance, 

 where habit or education is entirely out of the 

 question. Does the mother see the shadow of a kite 

 on the ground, or hear his scream in the air, she 



