32 INTRODUCTION. 



title ; while on the other hand, that which is called reason in? 

 man is the exact counterpart of that which is called instinct 

 in animals, and ought so to be described. Little is known of 

 human instincts ; and indeed it is an expression which, 

 whether it be said of animals or of man, has hitherto served 

 rather as an asylum ignorantice, or a harbor of refuge for 

 ignorance, and a real hindrance to investigation." 



" Do not let us speak of blind instinct," says Michelet 

 (" The Life of Birds," p. 3) ; " we shall see how this clear- 

 sighted instinct modifies itself to suit circumstances ; in- 

 other words, how these beginnings of reason are very- 

 little different in nature from reason in man." 



E. H. Morgan, in his well-known book on the " American 

 Beaver and his works," (p. 275) puts the matter yet more 

 forcibly: " The expression ' instinct' should be quite turren- 

 dered as an explanation of the intelligent action of animals. 

 It is a metaphysical invention to make an essential difference 

 between human and animal understanding, and it is quite 

 impossible to explain thus the phenomena of animal intelli- 

 gence Animals possess an intellectual principle 



which does them the same service as that of men to 



men And as we are not able to make a difference 



in kind between the phenomena of emotion, will, thought 

 and reason in men and in animals, we therefore come to the 

 conclusion that the difference is one of degree and not of 



kind Healthy human thought which represents 



far more than is generally admitted, the highest kind of human 

 understanding has never cordially accepted the speculations 

 of metaphysicians as to the intellectual capabilities of 

 animals. On the contrary, it has always been inclined to 

 recognise in animals the existence of a rational thinking 

 principle, analogous to that of man." 



Many strong proofs of the existence of instinct in man 

 may be brought forward, using the word in the narrow sense 

 defined above. Only take, for instance, the instinctive lust 

 of murdering and destroying his own kind, developed in 

 individuals through the endless and bloody wars in the early 

 ages of humanity, and by the struggle for existence, and 

 continued indeed almost in its original strength in rough 

 or half civilised people, while among civilised nations it 

 has been brought within definite limits by law, custom and 

 reason. But that in spite of these it exists in its old power 



