Chap. VII. CHANGES OF HABIT OR INSTINCT. 205 



softened" with lard. Andrew Knight observed that his bees, 

 instead of laboriously collecting propolis, used a cement of 

 wax and turpentine, with which he had covered decorticated 

 trees. It has lately been shown that bees, instead of search- 

 ing flowers for their pollen, will gladly use a very different 

 substance, namely, oatmeal. Fear of any particular enemy is 

 certainly an instinctive quality, as may be seen in nestling 

 birds, though it is strengthened by experience, and by the 

 sight of fear of the same enemy in other animals. The fear of 

 man is slowly acquired, as I have elsewhere shown, by the 

 various animals which inhabit desert islands ; and we see an 

 instance of this even in England, in the greater wildness of 

 all our large birds in comparison with our small birds; for 

 llie large birds have been most persecuted by man. '\\'e may 

 safely attribute the greater Avildness of our large birds to this 

 cause ; for in iminhabited islands large birds are not more fear- 

 'ful than small ; and the magjDie, so wary in England, is tame 

 in Norwa}', as is the hooded crow in Egypt. 



That the mental qualities of animals of the same kind, 

 bom in a state of nature, vary much, could be shown by 

 many facts. Several cases could also be given of occasional 

 and strange habits in wild animals, which, if advantageous to 

 the species, might give rise, through natural selection, to 

 new instincts. But 1 am well aware that these general state- 

 ments, without the facts in detail, Avill produce but a feeble 

 effect on the reader's mind. I can only repeat my assurance, 

 that I do not speak without good evidence. 



Inherited Chanr/cs of Ilah'it or Instinct in Domesticated Animals. 



The possibilit}', or even probability, of inherited varial ions 

 of instinct in a state of nature Avill be strengthened In' briefly 

 considering a few cases under domestication. Wc shall thus 

 b(; enabled to see the part Avhich habit and the selection of 

 so-called accidental or spontaneous variations have plaj-ed in 

 modifying the mentiil ([ualilies of our domestic animals. It is 

 notorious how much domestic animals vary in their mental 

 qualities. With cats, for instance, one naturally takes to catch- 

 ing rats, and another mice, and these tendencies are known 

 to be inherited. One cat, according to Mr. St. John, alwavs 

 brought home game-birds, another hares or rabbits, and another 

 Inmtcd on marshy ground and almost nightly caught wood- 

 cocks or snipes. A number of curious and authentic instancca 



