316 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



INSTINCTS. 



The order may not be very obvious by which I 

 place instincts next to relations. But I consider 

 them as a species of relation. They contribute, 

 along with the animal organization, to a joint ef- 

 fect, in which view they are related to that orga- 

 nization. In many cases they refer from one ani- 

 mal to another animal; and, when this is the case, 

 become strictly relations in a second point of view. 



An INSTINCT is a propensity prior to experience 

 and independent of instruction. We contend that 

 it is by instinct that the sexes of animals seek 

 each other ; that animals cherish their offspring ; 

 that the young quadruped is directed to the teat 

 of its dam ; that birds build their nests and brood 

 with so much patience upon their eggs ; that in- 

 sects which do not sit upon their eggs deposit 

 them in those particular situations in which the 

 young when hatched find their appropriate food : 

 that it is instinct which carries the salmon, and 

 some other fish, out of the sea into rivers, for the 

 purpose of shedding their spawn in fresh water. 



We may select out of this catalogue the incu- 

 bation of eggs. I entertain no doubt but that a 



