264 Habit and Instinct. 



evidence of choice. They are so constituted as invariably 

 to react in this way in presence of this material. There 

 may be here nothing more than merely organic response. 

 Or if, in accordance with a well-known observation of 

 Eomanes, a sea anemone in a turmoil of water and air- 

 bubbles reacts to the slight mechanical stimulus of a solid 

 body, there is even here no conclusive evidence of choice ; 

 one cannot even regard it as indicating the presence of 

 choice in its physiological aspect. A sensitive plate, again, 

 does as much as this. Amidst the turmoil of the larger 

 ethereal vibrations termed red light, and of the yet larger 

 waves of heat which break upon its surface, it remains 

 unaffected; but it reacts to the relatively slight stimulus 

 afforded by a minute ray of the smaller ethereal vibrations 

 we term violet light. Nor does his interpretation of this 

 observation accord with Eomanes' own criterion,* which is 

 in itself perfectly satisfactory and involves true choice. 

 " The criterion of mind which I propose," says Eomanes,t 

 " is as follows : Does the organism learn to make new 

 adjustments, or to modify old ones, in accordance with the 

 results of its own individual experience ? If it does so, the 

 fact cannot be merely due to reflex action, for it is im- 

 possible that heredity can have provided in advance for 

 innovations upon or alterations of its machinery during 

 the lifetime of the particular individual." I do not 

 quite understand the point of the last part of this 

 quotation. The power of choosing and of exercising 

 control so as to make the choice effectual, is surely 

 hereditary in the higher animals ; and, if so, surely 

 heredity does provide t in advance for innovations upon 



* " Mental Evolution in Animals," p. 48. 

 t Op. cit., pp. 20, 21. 



% Prof. Mark Baldwin lias criticized Eomanes' statement in very similar 

 terms in " Mental Development of the Child and the Eace," p. 220. 



