LAW OF NATURE. 



ter, the mere consequents of events immediately ante- 

 cedent, and have not the least connexion with a 

 previous purpose, or mental judgment, in the beings 

 or things in which they are displayed. The rose-bud 

 of this year takes no copy from the rose-bud of the 

 last : the bee is not schooled in wax-making, or cell- 

 building by its parents, for the one parent is a queen, 

 and, as such, exempted from labour, and the other is 

 an idler or drone. Even in the case of those animals 

 which man domesticates, and which he has contrived 

 to make obedient to his command, and which he is 

 consequently the most disposed to endow with memory 

 and reflection similar to his own, there is really no well 

 authenticated proof that they are actuated by any mo* 

 tive beyond the mere circumstances of the moment. 

 On this part of Natural History it has been the prac- 

 tice to appeal to the elephant, as treasuring up affection 

 or revenge for long periods of time ; and the tales of 

 the credulous nations of the East have been repeated 

 as established truths by the writers of the West. The 

 runners by the side of an elephant in India, do indeed 

 continually keep telling him how arid where he is to 

 step, and they believe that he understands and obeys 

 them. The very same people, however, believe that 

 the smearing of a stone or block of wood with red 

 paint invests it with divine power ; and therefore their 

 belief is not of very much value. If an elephant were 

 endowed with a reasoning memory, there is no case in 

 which that memory would be more likely to be had 

 recourse to, than in avoiding the trap in which it had 

 formerly been deprived of its freedom. The process is 



