148 HUMBLE CREATUEES. 



or less degree we find it in nearly all the Vertebrata, 

 beginning with the higher reptiles, and ending with 

 the most iateUigent human being. This suscepti- 

 bility of improvement is exhibited iu various ways, 

 such as the mode in which the parent teaches its ofi"- 

 spring to perform certain acts ; or the readiness with 

 which it conforms itself to the habits of man, and 

 casting off its savage propensities, yields to his civil- 

 izing influences. 



To quote illustrations in proof of the presence of 

 this quality woijld be quite superfluous, for whoever 

 has watched the habits of the higher animals in a 

 wild state, or has kept any domesticated ones, cannot 

 fail to have "sritnessed examples of their educabUity, 

 and reserving this attribute for subsequent considera- 

 tion, we shall now pass on to another characteristic 

 of intelligence, namely, design. By this we mean a 

 distinct consciousness on the part of the creature that 

 it is adapting a means to an end, however humble 

 may be the object to be attained. 



That the Fly does not know wherefore it deposits 

 its ova upon certain substances suitable for the nou- 

 rishment of its offspring, no one will doubt; for, as 

 before stated, it may in aU probability be dead before 

 the eggs are hatched; and it is at least very ques- 

 tionable whether even in performing the most com- 

 plicated instinctive actions, these creatures are con- 

 scious of the end to be attained. Reminding you of 

 Vogt's anecdote of the Bee and the Wasp*, in which 

 * Page 128. 



