142 Chapter III. 



matic character, inasmuch as they are, to a certain 

 degree, predetermined by the natural constitution of 

 the animal. However, inasmuch as they are governed 

 by sensitive cognition and appetite and, therefore, 

 capable of more or less modification within the prede- 

 termined natural limits, they are not of an automatic, 

 but of a spontaneous character. 



In conclusion, let us sum up the results of our 

 comparative discussion on architecture in the animal 

 kingdom. They are: Ants surpass all animals, both 

 lower and higher, by the quasi-intelligent variability, 

 the spontaneous self-determination and the power of 

 suitable adaptation, manifested in their architectural 

 skill. Nevertheless it is as certain of them as of any 

 other animal, that they are not endowed with intelli- 

 gence properly so called. 



This corroborates the views advanced in our dis- 

 cussion on the different forms of learning.^ Ants are 

 able to accommodate their buildings to the most varied 

 conditions ; hence they are able to ''learn'' how to 

 modify their buildings according to given circum- 

 stances. But this learning takes place only in so far as 

 sense-experience gives rise to new combinations of 

 representations ; as soon, however, as the modifica- 

 tion of their activity would require intelligent reflec- 

 tion, or the drawing of conclusions from former con- 

 ditions to the present ones, then both ants and higher 

 animals, without exception, are all at once incapable 

 of further learning. This shows to evidence, that the 

 doctrine of ''animal intelligence" is utterly untenable. 



1) "Die psychischen Faehigkeiten der Ameisen," pp. 82-114; "In- 

 stinct and Intelligence in the Animal Kingdom" (Herder, St. Louis, 

 Mo., 1903), Chap. VIII. 



