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FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 235 
posing testimony will be admitted, as we presume that 
others have not exercised the same degree of caution. But 
if our belief is founded on evidence which appears imper- 
fect, and the belief of others on evidence which would have 
been regarded by us in similar circumstances as complete, 
we are disposed, after exercising the necessary precautions, 
to admit their testimony, even in preference to our own ex- 
perience. Our confidence in all cases in the testimony of 
others, increases with their number. 
Much of the truth, with which we consider ourselves ac- 
quainted, is derived from the experience of others. With- 
out the assistance thus obtained, our opinions would often 
be ill founded for want of a standard of comparison, and 
by neglecting to exercise sufficient caution in attending to 
the evidence of the senses. 
Among the inferior animals, there are some species which, 
during life, are solitary and fixed to the same spot, as the 
common oyster. ‘These can derive no information from the 
testimony of others. Their knowledge of external objects 
must be limited to the results of their own sensations. But 
in the case of all monogamous or polygamous animals, 
whether gregarious or otherwise, a considerable dependence 
is placed on the testimony of others in a variety of cireum- 
stances. Thus, in the case of wild geese or crows feeding 
in a field, the knowledge of approaching danger observed 
by one, is speedily communicated to the whole, who imme- 
diately act upon the mformation. 
Errors in testimony, among the lower animals, are fre- 
quently committed, as the result of erroneous information 
or experience. Thus, a cock will often give warning of 
danger to the hens under his charge, if a pigeon flies rapid- 
ly over his head, mistaking it for a rapacious bird. _ In 
other cases, ‘the sentinel may be deceived by ‘false appear- 
