288 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE 



more mysterious the more they are thought about, 

 there will remain the one absolute certainty, that we 

 are ever in the presence of an infinite and eternal 

 energy, from which all things proceed.' 



Among those who have devoted their lives to probing 

 the enigma of animal intelligence, none has done so 

 with more scrupulous industry in experiment and 

 vigilant research than the late J. Henri Fabre. His 

 years were prolonged so far beyond the usual span 

 that it was his privilege, through reiterated observation, 

 to check, recast, and, in some cases, to revoke his earlier 

 impressions and conclusions. Focussing all his pene- 

 trating wits upon the insect world, he not only placed 

 on record a detailed description of the routine behaviour 

 of many genera and species, but also submitted to 

 intense scrutiny the actions of individuals when placed 

 in unfamiliar environment and abnormal circumstance. 

 Fabre's opportunity for this study was so favourable 

 and prolonged he turned it to such admirable pur- 

 pose by scientific method and untiring patience, that 

 I am tempted to wind up this vaguely speculative 

 paper by quoting a few sentences from his Mdmoires 

 Entomologiques 



'Facts speak so loudly that I do not hesitate to translate 

 their evidence as I understand it. In insect mentality we 

 have to distinguish two very different domains. One of 

 these is instinct, properly so called, the unconscious impulse 

 that presides over the most wonderful part of what the 

 creature achieves. ... It is instinct alone that makes 

 the mother build for a family which she will never see : 

 that counsels the storing of provisions for the unknown 

 offspring: that directs the sting towards the nerve-centres 



