1881.] The Reasoning Faculty of Animals. 611 
and seeing the three other shells near the edge of his burrow, and 
apparently thinking that they too might roll in, he carried them 
off one by one, and deposited them with the other. Did not this 
animal reason on the subject in the same manner as a man 
would? Most decidely so. Hermit crabs have been seen to rob 
one another of their shells. A big one was once seen to give 
chase to a little crab with a shell much larger than his own. 
“The little one, apparently quite alive to the sinister intentions of 
his pursuer, took to flight as quickly as possible, and his attempts 
to escape were continued with the utmost vigor until further 
effort was hopeless, * * * At length he was overtaken, and 
then a regular pitched battle ensued. The little one resisted 
manfully, but was finally overcome, the more bulky opponent 
having, after the most strenuous exertions, succeeded in forcing 
his claws between the body of his weaker opponent, and his shell, 
and with the most frantic exertion turning him out.’ They then, 
apparently as a matter of course, exchanged shells, the ousted 
tenant yielding submissively to his fate, and quietly adapting 
himself to. his reduced circumstances.”! Suppose a man with 
boots too small for him, saw a little man with boots much larger 
than his own. Suppose society in such a state as to allow the big 
man to rob the little one of his boots, and leave his own for the 
use of the other. Would the man act by reason or by instinct ? 
The answer is obvious. : 
Insects are higher than crabs in the animal creation, and 
among them we find the best developed instincts with a high 
degree of reasoning. Take for instance the ants. They live in 
communities, and some obey while others command; some work 
while others direct, so they must have a method of communi- 
cating ideas; they recognize their comrades after being separated 
from them for months,’ and therefore have memory ; and language 
and memory are two of the highest gifts of man’s mental. nature. 
Bees can distinguish one kind of flower from another ;* they bite 
holes in the base of the corolla to get at the honey when it is too 
* Wood's “ Man and Beast.” N. Y., 8vo ed, p- 95. 
io 4 sbagltee in AM. Nat., X, 156, et seq. Also note in Pop. Sci. Mon., 1X, P. 
od rticle on “ Habits of Ants”? in Pop. Science, X1, 39- 
ia Recherches sur les Fourmes,” quoted in Kirby and Spence, l. ¢., 11, 66. 
» ibid, x, 154. 
* Darwin, “ Cross and Self Fertilization in Vegetable Kingdom,” p. 416, 
