Translation from Von Hartmann 107 



whether among the lower animals or with mankind — 

 that is to say, that they are acquired by apprenticeship 

 or instruction and perfected by practice ; so that the say- 

 ing, " Age brings wisdom," holds good with the brutes 

 as much as with ourselves. Instinctive actions, on the 

 contrary, have a special and distinct character, in that 

 they are performed with no less proficiency by animals 

 that have been reared in solitude than by those that have 

 been instructed by their parents, the first essays of a 

 hitherto unpractised animal being as successful as its 

 later ones. There is a difference in principle here which 

 cannot be mistaken. Again, we know by experience that 

 the feebler and more limited an intelligence is, the more 

 slowly do ideas act upon it, that is to say, the slower and 

 more laborious is its conscious thought. So long as in- 

 stinct does not come into play, this holds good both in the 

 case of men of different powers of comprehension and 

 with animals ; but with instinct all is changed, for it is 

 the speciality of instinct never to hesitate or loiter, but 

 to take action instantly upon perceiving that the stimu- 

 lating motive has made its appearance. This rapidity in 

 arriving at a resolution is common to the instinctive actions 

 both of the highest and the lowest animals, and indicates 

 an essential difference between instinct and conscious 

 deliberation. 



Finally, as regards perfection of the power of execu- 

 tion, a glance will suffice to show the disproportion that 

 exists between this and the grade of intellectual activity 

 on which an animal may be standing. Take, for instance, 

 the caterpillar of the emperor moth [Saturnia pavonia 

 minor). It eats the leaves of the bush upon which it was 

 born ; at the utmost has just enough sense to get on to 

 the lower sides of the leaves if it begins to rain, and from 

 time to time changes its skin. This is its whole existence, 

 which certainly does not lead us to expect a display of 

 any, even the most limited, intellectual power. When, 

 however, the time comes for the larva of this moth to 



