Insects. 1561 



limb or severe wound may speedily heal, and cause, comparatively 

 speaking (even when the creature is awake, and therefore, a fortiori, 

 during sleep) but a small degree of pain ; for that u pain " would not 

 pass throughout the whole system, but would merely be conducted 

 from whatever point at which it might originate, to the small centre 

 especially appropriated as the sensitive nucleus of the proportionally 

 small space in some part or other of which that wounded " point " 

 exists. 



Hence, taking up the animal where we left it, let us proceed in 

 tracing its progress. The animal is asleep, — it has been pierced 

 through by the pin for a considerable length of time, — the healing has 

 been going on (it has just been shown that it may have been going on 

 very rapidly) ; it continues slumbering for hours, and it awakes. Now 

 what is the natural state of things at this point of its history ? — how 

 does it feel ? — and what has gone on since it was first impaled ? Over- 

 whelmed with pain (modified, I grant, by the healing which has taken 

 place) and a natural desire to escape, it flutters violently. It finds it 

 cannot escape, it goes on fluttering. The observer approaches and ex- 

 tracts the pin from the wound ; the poor thing (from the healing 

 which has taken place during sleep, and from the exciting cause be- 

 ing suddenly removed) is, comparatively speaking, out of pain ; it 

 therefore either becomes quiescent, or, finding itself entirely at liberty, 

 it flies away (we may assume if we please that it flies away free from 

 pain, but we have no warrant for doing so). This is precisely the na- 

 tural course which inductive reasoning would trace out for an impaled 

 moth. Let us now compare it with Mr. Turner's instance. He says 

 " impale an insect and wait till it is aroused, and its struggles com- 

 mence. Then, remove the pin, and its struggles will cease." This is 

 identically the same with that we have just shown may be the natural 

 state of things, so far as its progress is concerned. The insect sleeps 

 (not having been aroused for causes already alluded to) ; it awakes 

 and it " commences struggling." All this is natural enough, but 

 here is the point at which Mr. Turner has fallen into error. He makes 

 no comment upon its " struggles commencing." Because it is the 

 proper time for the insect to fly away, he tacitly assumes that it merely 

 struggles to escape, and does not give it the smallest credit for pain 

 and the desire to escape combined. This he entirely passes over, and 

 adds, " this I think must proceed either from the pin-wound causing 

 no pain, or else from the insect finding itself at liberty." Now, what 

 can his " this " refer to ? It evidently does not refer to the struggles 

 while they were going on, but to his second clause, where he says 

 iv 6g 



