16 
have every reason to believe that no other ani- 
mal can reflect on the possession of power in 
the abstract, or indulge in the imagination of 
scenes in which it is to be exerted, or rejoice 
in the acquisition of wealth of any kind, as 
the means of exercising power and procuring 
pleasure, independently of the actual enjoy- 
ment of them; but many of the practical 
exemplifications of this desire come into direct 
comparison with, and probably involve feelings 
very similar to, the instincts of animals. Thus 
the pleasure which men feel in exerting power 
over the elements around them may be seen, in 
the case of children, to be prior to the expe- 
rience of any practical advantage from the arts 
of architecture, of mechanics, or of navigation ; 
and it may be confidently asserted, that but for 
this pleasure attending the exercise of those arts 
(and which may be supposed to be very similar 
to that which animates the beaver, the bird, or 
the ant in their respective labours,) they could 
never have been prosecuted with success. So 
also the pleasure which man in all ages has felt 
both in hunting and destroying animals, and 
also in acquiring dominion over them and sub- 
jecting them to his power, is clearly quite 
different from the anticipation of the useful 
purposes to which, whether dead or living, they 
may be applied, and appears precisely similar, 
both in its nature and in its object or final 
cause, to some of the instincts of animals. 
Indeed, in conformity to what has been 
already said of the essential peculiarities of the 
human intellect, it is only those motives to 
action which imply the previous formation of 
general notions or abstract ideas, that we can 
regard as liar to man ; and we may accord- 
ingly state that the desire of knowledge (we 
may even say more specifically, of scientific 
knowledge, ‘ rerum cognoscere causas’ ) and the 
sense of obligation religious and moral, are 
the motives to action which we believe to be 
_— peculiar to the human race. 
he most important instinct of animals refer- 
able to this head, clearly and strongly felt like- 
wise by man, (although combined in his case 
with many other feelings,) is the instinct of 
congregation. More or less of the desire of 
society is seen in a great majority of animals; 
but we may refer to this head many actions of 
animals, wherein many individuals of the same 
species cooperate, of which the object is in 
many instances still obscure, -but to which the 
animals are impelled with an energy, and fre- 
quently a self-devotion, attesting the strength 
of the mental feeling, and completely super- 
seding their usual habits. Messrs. Spence and 
Kirby enumerate not less than five kinds of 
association of insects to form what they term 
imperfect societies. 
“ The first of these associations (for the sake 
of company only) consists chiefly of insects in 
their perfect state. The little beetles called 
whirlwigs,—which may be seen clustering in 
groups under warm banks in every river and 
every pool, wheeling round and round with 
great velocity, at your approach dispersing 
and diving under water, but as soon as you 
retire resuming their accustomed movements,— 
INSTINCT. 
Am 
= 
seem to be under the influence of the sociai 
principle, and to form their assemblies for no 
other purpose than to enjoy together in the sun- 
beam the mazy dance. Impelled by the same 
feeling, in the very depth of winter, even whe: 
the earth is covered with snow, the tribes of 
Tipulide (usually but improperly called | mats) 
assemble in sheltered situations at mid- 
where the sun shines, and form themselves into 
choirs that alternately rise and fall with rap 
evolutions. , - ~f 
“ Another association is that of males during 
the season of pairing. Of this nature seems 
to be that of the cockchafer and 
which, at certain periods of the year and hours 
of the day, hover over the summits of the trees 
and hedges like swarms of bees. > al 
“ The males of another rogt-devouring beetle 
( Hoplia argentea, F.) assemble by myriad: 
before noon in the meadows, when in th se 
infinite hosts you will not find a single female. 
** The next description of insect associations - 
is of those that congregate for the purpose of 
travelling or emigrating together. De Geer has 
given an account of the larve of certain gnats” 
(Tipule, L.) which assemble in considerable 
numbers for this purpose, so as to form a band 
of a finger’s breadth, and of one or two yards 
in length. And what is remarkable, while 
upon their march, which is very slow, they 
adhere to each other by a kind of glutine 
secretion. 
“ Kuhn mentions another of the 
the larve of which live in society and emigrate 
in files. 1 
“ But of insect emigrants none are 
celebrated than the locusts, which, when arrived 
at their perfect state, assemble in such numbers” 
as in their flight to intercept the sun-beams and — 
to darken whole countries, passing from one 
region to another, and laying waste kingdom 
after kingdom. 
their quarters 
indigenous: 
fernch 
“ The same tendency to shift 
has been observed in our little 
devourers, the Aphides. Pe 
“ It is the general opinion in Norfolk, — 
Mr. Marshall informs us, that the saw-fly 
( Tenthredo ) comes from over sea. A farmer 
declared he saw them arrive in clouds so as to 
darken the air; the fishermen asserted that 
they had repeatedly seen flights of them pass — 
over their heads when they were at a distance — 
from land, and on the beach and cliffs they 
were in such quantities that they might have 
been taken up by shovels full. Three miles in- 
land they were described as resembling swarms 
of bees. 
“ It is remarkable that of the emigratin 
insects here enumerated, the majority, for in- 
stance the Libellule, the Coccinelle, Carabi, 
Cicade, &c. are not usually social insects, but 
seem to congregate, like swallows, merely for 
the purpose of emigration. 7 
“ The next order of imperfect associations - 
is that of those insects which feed together. 
“« Two populous tribes, the great devastators _ 
of the vegetable world, the one in warm and 
the other in cold climates, to which I have 
already alluded under the head of emigrations, — 
Pa 
