80 INSTINCTS 



instinct of cruelty. The impulse of acquisitive- 

 ness is commonly aroused : this shows itself in 

 a desire for exclusive possession of the loved one. 

 But generally they are of an etherializing kind. 

 The beloved may excite admiration, kindliness, 

 sympathy, and even self-sacrifice : in the com- 

 pany of these impulses lust may almost wholly 

 conceal itself. The extent to which its crudeness 

 is softened by alloys varies very greatly amongst 

 individuals and peoples ; and the marriage 

 customs of the different races of mankind show 

 how much or how little refinement it may gather 

 from the association of other feelings. Romantic 

 love may be less imperative than lust ; but it 

 casts a gleam of enchantment across the dull 

 stream of practical life which may change its 

 course or transform it into a torrent. 



PROVIDENT. In this group are brought to- 

 gether those impulses which urge living creatures 

 to contend against their environment instead of 

 accepting it as their inevitable lot. The roots of 

 all these instincts may be traced in an impulse to 

 anticipate in foresight, as it would be termed in 

 conscious life which is a stimulus to make 

 provision against future deficiencies or hardships. 

 Thus many insects store up food for their young, 

 or against the winter ; squirrels make a hoard of 

 nuts ; dogs, of their bones. Throughout the 

 animal kingdom we may find illustrations of the 

 provision of shelter for self or for offspring. In 

 conscious life the effect of this impulse is of 

 supreme importance : we gather from it that 

 there is a future before us : from our sensations 

 and our memories we could learn of nothing but 

 a present and a past. Touched by imagination it 

 breeds hope and despair two of the strongest 

 of human emotions. 



