6F NATURAL HISTORY. 2S1 



tonfidered as the original caufe of any particular a(flion j for 

 the experiment muft be made before the animal can difcover 

 whether the refult is to be agreeable or difagreeable. The 

 truth is, that Nature has beftowed on the minds of all ani- 

 mated creatures a number of laws or inftincls perfectly ac- 

 commodated to the fpeciesj and which irrefiftibly compel 

 them to perform certain actions. The effeiSts of thefe laws 

 we perceive : But the caufes, or the modes by which they 

 operate on animal minds, are infcrutable. We may and 

 muft admire, but we can never penetrate the myfterles of 

 Nature. 



Bonnet, and fome other naturalifts, imagine they are ex- 

 hibiting the caufes of that ftrong and mutual attachn^.ent be- 

 tween parents and their offspring, when they tell us, that, in 

 man, and quadrupeds, and birds, the mother is fond of hev 

 young, becaufe their natural actions give rife to agreeable 

 fenfations ; that, from the ftructure of the mammae, a gen- 

 tle, but pleafant fenfation, is excited by the adllon of fuck- 

 ing ; that the mother is often incommoded by too great ^^ 

 quantity of milk, and that fucking relieves her ; that the 

 young love their mother, becaufe fhe feeds, prote(Sls, and com- 

 municates to them a cherifliirig warmth ; that, among the 

 feathered tribes, and particularly thofe which fit upon their 

 young, by the gentle motions of the little ones, an agreeable 

 fenfation is excited in the belly of the mother, which is then 

 frequently deprived of feathers. All thefe fources of recip- 

 rocal pleafure may be true : But ftill they are only effe(fts, and 

 not original caufes, of filial and parental affection ; for that 

 mutual attachment exifts the moment after the young ani- 

 mals come into the world, and, of courfe, previous to all ex- 

 perience of titillation, of heat, of habit, or of any other cir- 

 cumftanccs that may, perhaps, contribute to ftrengthen or 

 prolong the exertion of the primary caufe, which muft re- 

 main forever concealed from human penetration. 



