THROUGH THE YEAR 237 



In the intelligence of the body, in unerring physical 

 feats of quick and sure action, wild animals are 

 superbly equipped. They are as much our superiors 

 in this logic of body, as we are theirs in the logic of 

 mind. They are often immensely above us in their 

 senses of sight, sound, scent, touch. These feats 

 and exercises are all written large in the mysterious 

 history of their evolution. They reached their 

 present state and form by these agencies, rather 

 than by the agencies of the understanding or brain. 

 How, then, can we expect birds, beasts, and insects, 

 whose evolution has been almost wholly the evolu- 

 tion of the body, to shine in the realm of reasoning ? 



It seems to me that we should not more expect 

 the wild bird suddenly to solve a problem of the mind 

 which it has never before considered than we should 

 expect a civilized man to migrate as a bird migrates, 

 or with his fingers form the perfect, symmetrical 

 wax-cell of the honey-bee. 



As for this great titmouse that solved the proolem 

 of the string and suet, I can only say it seems to me 

 wiser than the most cunning jackdaw or magpie 

 I have heard of. Nature abhors a leap. But surely 

 she takes a leap in such a case as that. 



Even with plants and trees the intelligence of the 

 body is far more highly developed than with us. 

 Thus, the root of the tree growing in some stony, 

 inhospitable spot will find its way in the dark of the 

 earth to soil or to moisture in a manner we cannot 

 explain. It is as if the tree knew were endowed 

 with something answering to human intelligence. 



