ON ZOOLOGY. 



185 



forth relief; and has no reference to those pas- 

 sions where the mind is more directly concerned, 

 and in which, in other instances, the act of crying 

 is one of the certain indications. But when the 

 child begins to notice and discriminate the sur- 

 rounding objects, and more especially when by 

 its actions, it evinces a desire to come in contact 

 with them, and shews disappointment in its at- 

 tempts being opposed ; here instinct begins to 

 lose ground, and reason to assume its place; 

 since there can be no discrimination without 

 perception, and no desire to act, but through the 

 medium of the will. 



Adverting again to the brute species, there 

 is a train of actions peculiar to animals, which 

 though not powerfully bespeaking intellect, 

 have, in my opinion, erroneously been attributed 

 to instinct. Thus, when we see an animal which 

 has frequently been conducted to a particular 

 spot at some distance from home, and through 

 intricate roads, after a certain period of practice, 

 of itself find its way back ; or when we observe 

 that animals shall uniformly return three or 

 four times a day at the accustomary hours to 

 be fed ; or as in the case of cows, at fixed 

 periods to be milked ; we should not call this 

 instinct, but habit, from the exercise of the me- 

 mory; an intermediate state between instinct and 

 reason; since the practice depends upon acci- 

 dental contingences, in which a small proportion 



