1m fe) INSTINCTIVE BEHAVIOUR 
Andrew Knight says that it is impossible to give them what 
is called “a mouth.” No details are given, and Romanes does 
not further discuss the evidence. Secondly, Mr. Lawson Tait 
had a cat which was taught to beg for food like a terrier. 
All her kittens adopted the same habit under circumstances 
which precluded the possibility of imitation. Supposing the 
facts to be correctly reported, and granting that the owners 
of the kittens, presumably aware of the maternal propensity, 
did not take some pains to teach the offspring of such a parent 
to beg (and this does not present much difficulty), one can 
hardly found a scientific conclusion on so slight an anecdotal 
basis. ‘Thirdly, instinctive fear is said to be an inherited 
acquisition ; which, fourthly, is lost by disuse. But, as we 
have already seen, modern investigation has placed this matter 
of so-called hereditary fear of natural enemies on a different 
footing. Pheasants, partridges, moor-hens, and wild duck show 
no fear of a quiet dog. If approached gently, in the absence 
of their parents, callow wild birds in their nest exhibit little 
alarm at the slow and gentle approach of man. Mr. Hudson’s 
opinion has already been quoted, but will bear repetition ; it 
is, “that fear of particular enemies is in nearly all cases the 
result of experience.” And there is no evidence to show that, 
in those cases in which it is truly instinctive and not the result 
of experience, the instinctive behaviour is necessarily due to 
inherited habit and not to natural selection. 
It cannot be said that the evidence for the supposed mode 
of origin of secondary instincts is sufficiently varied and cogent 
to carry conviction. On the other hand, there does seem 
some evidence which points to a different conclusion. When 
instinctive behaviour follows on a sensory impression, not only 
is the co-ordination hereditary, but there is an inherited link- 
age of stimulus and response. Thus in the solitary wasps the 
sight of the natural prey is followed by the appropriate modes 
of attack. The J/eloé larva springs upon anything hairy. In 
chicks the sight of a small object at a certain distance initiates 
the act of pecking. In moor-hens and ducklings the stimulus 
of water produces the movements concerned in swimming. 
