348 MENTAL FUNCTIONS OF 



playing fine musical talents or an astonishing power of calcu- 

 lation, though in all other respects a child) his pre-eminence cannot 

 be explained by particular habits of study or of business, nor by 

 mere strength of judgment, memory, &c. : That the boy has a 

 strong perception of melody, a strong memory of tunes, a strong 

 musical imagination, a strong musical judgment, or a strong per- 

 ception, memory, and judgment, of numbers ; but may not be 

 clearer-headed or more attentive on any other point: while men of 

 the strongest sense may have no perception, memory, or judgment, 

 of tunes, or may calculate with extreme difficulty. It is the same 

 with regard to instinct. Writers consider instinct a general fa- 

 culty, while it is only the inherent disposition to activity possessed 

 by every faculty ; and there are, therefore, as many instincts as 

 fundamental faculties. By instinct " the spider spreads a web and 

 ensnares flies: the working bee constructs cells, but does not kill 

 flies to support itself; it takes care of the young, but does not 

 copulate. Many male animals copulate, but take no care of their 

 young : the cuckoo, both male and female, abandons the charge 

 of bringing up its young to other birds, although it is compelled 

 to copulation by a very ardent instinct. The castor builds a hut, 

 but neither sings nor hunts ; the dog hunts, but does not build; 

 the butcher-bird sings, builds, and preys ; the quail does not 

 mate, but copulates, takes care of its young, and migrates ; the 

 partridge mates, copulates, and takes care of its young, but does 

 not migrate ; the wolf, fox, roebuck, and rabbit, marry, and take 

 care of their young conjointly with the female : the dog, stag, and 

 hare, copulate with the first female they meet, and never know 

 their offspring. The vigorous wolf, the artful and timid hare, do not 

 burrow like the courageous rabbit and the cunning fox. Rabbits 

 live in republics, and place sentinels, which is done by neither the 

 fox nor the hare. How can these various instincts exist in one 

 species of animals, and not in another ? , How can they be com- 

 bined so differently ? If instinct were a single and general faculty, 

 every instinct should show itself, not only at once, but also in the 

 same degree ; and yet while in the young animal many instincts 

 act with great force, others are still quite inactive : some instincts 

 act at one season, others at another. There is one season for pro- 

 pagation, another for emigration ; one season for living solitarily ; 

 another for assembling in companies, and for collecting provisions. 

 And how can we explain, on the supposition of a general instinct, 

 why the different instincts do not exist merely separate in dif- 



