390 TRANSMISSION 



with its neighbor's ear, the baby with its own fist, or the young 

 lamb with a lock of wool, which, if the mother be young and 

 inexperienced, it may suck until it starves. Young chicks will 

 pick up and swallow at first whatever attracts their attention, 

 bits of colored yarn, or "nasty" caterpillars, as readily as 

 " good " worms ; but they rapidly learn by experience. 1 



The instinct of the young chick is to strike at any small 

 object that attracts its attention either by its color or its move- 

 ments ; yet the first attempts are extremely awkward and sel- 

 dom result in a catch, the bill going some distance to one side 

 of the object. Gradually, however, it learns by experience to 

 strike accurately. 2 



Walking, flying, swimming, and talking are instinctive acts 

 with species possessing the requisite mechanism; yet the first 

 attempts are exceedingly crude, and much experience and prac- 

 tice are required before effective proficiency is developed. 



A fair study of the subject can but convince the student that 

 instinct is at first but little more than an impulse to action in 

 general, which, however, rapidly shapes up into well-ordered 

 performance under the corrective influence of experience. 



Instinctive acts are not performed in the same way either by 

 all individuals or by the same individual at successive perform- 

 ances. To watch the complicated acts of the egg-laying instinct 

 in many insects is at first to become convinced that this marvel- 

 ous sequence of events is assured only by the highest intelli- 

 gence or by an instinct that is unerring in its directive power ; 

 yet a little further study will convince the student that these 

 complicated instinctive acts are not always carried forward on 

 the typical plan, nor are they always successfully executed. On 

 the contrary, important, ev^n significant, steps are often omitted 

 from the series, and different individuals differ greatly in the 

 degree of thoroughness and the rapidity with which the work is 

 carried forward. 



For example, Crandall endeavored to note accurately all the 

 steps in the process of making the puncture and laying the egg 

 of the plum curculio working upon the apple. 3 



1 Morgan, Habit and Instinct, pp. 40-44, 50. 2 Ibid. pp. 37, 47. 



3 Bulletin No. 98, Illinois Experiment Station, pp. 500-504. 



