142 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PLA Y 



be assigned a place among the latest developments 

 of nature. Our knowledge of the facts of instinct 

 is as yet too ill-assorted for the construction of 

 more than a working hypothesis as to its origin ; 

 and until the question of the inheritance of acquired 

 characteristics is more completely answered than 

 it is at present, the whole structure hangs on a 

 doubtful link. But there is one point on which 

 the theory of instinct which M. Houssay reproduces 

 is eminently satisfactory, though he does not claim 

 it as an argument for its value. It accounts for 

 the uniformity and subordination of individuals in 

 the life of the social animals and social insects, 

 which is almost inexplicable on any other hypothesis. 

 That thousands of beings so intelligent as the 

 bee can live together and exercise an intelligence 

 which is used solely for the good of the community, 

 and never for the personal advantage or aggrandise- 

 ment of an individual, transcends reason, as we 

 understand it. Yet it is just possible to conceive 

 a human community in which the system of caste 

 might become so stereotyped as to eliminate the 

 initial difference between man and man in each class, 

 and produce uniform types of workers, soldiers and 

 the like. But in such a case, what is instinct but 

 a degradation of intelligence, producing perhaps a 

 higher level of work but a lower type of mind? 



