INSTINCT. 385 



nite and simj)le point of view, but smotliered everything in 

 vague wonder at the clairvoyant and j^rophetic power of 

 the animals — so superior to anything in man — and at the 

 beneficence of God in endowing them with such a gift. But 

 God's beneficence endows them, first of all, with a nervous 

 system ; and, turning our attention to this, makes instinct 

 immediately appear neither more nor less wonderful than 

 all the other facts of life. 



Every instinct is an impulse. Whether we shall call such 

 impulses as blushing, sneezing, coughing, smiling, or dodg- 

 ing, or keeping time to music, instincts or not, is a mere 

 matter of terminology. The process is the same through- 

 out. In his delightfully fresh and interesting work, Der 

 Thierische Wille, Herr G. H. Schneider subdivides im- 

 pulses (Triebe) into sensation imj^ulses, perception-im- 

 pulses, and idea-impulses. To crouch from cold is a sen- 

 sation-imjjulse ; to turn and follow, if we see people run- 

 ning one way, is a perception-impulse ; to cast about for 

 cover, if it begins to blow and rain, is an imagination-im- 

 pulse. A single complex instinctive action may involve 

 successively the awakening of impulses of all three classes. 

 Thus a hungry lion starts to seek j^rey by the awakening in 

 him of imagination coupled with desire ; he begins to stalk 

 it when, on eye, ear, or nostril, he gets an impression of its 

 presence at a certain distance ; he springs upon it, either 

 when the booty takes alarm and flees, or when the distance 

 is sufiiciently reduced ; he proceeds to tear and devour it 

 the moment he gets a sensation of its contact with his 

 claws and fangs. Seeking, stalking, springing, and devour- 

 ing are just so many difi^erent kinds of muscular contrac- 

 tion, and neither kind is called forth by the stimulus ap- 

 propriate to the other, 



Schneider says of the hamster, which stores corn in its 

 hole : 



" If we analyze the propensity of storing, we find that it consists of 

 three impulses : First, an impulse to pick up the nutritious object, due 

 to perception ; second, an impulse to carry it off into the dwelling-place, 

 due to the idea of this latter ; and third, an impulse to lay it doivn 

 there, due to the sight of the place. It lies in the nature of the ham- 

 ster that it should never see a full ear of corn without feeling a desire 



