1893.] Animal Intelligence. | 933 
ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 
By Jas. WErR, Jr., M. D. 
“ Intelligence is a conservative principle, and will always 
direct effort and use into lines which will be beneficial to its 
possessor." This definition of intelligence is peculiarly appli- 
cable to the lower animals, inasmuch as it does not convey 
any idea of a purely intellectual operation of the mind. Every 
instance of ratiocination in the lower animals, has its origin 
in the fundamental principle of benefit to the animal evincing 
this faculty of reason. The words, reason and intelligence, are, 
in a measure, synonymous, for without intelligence, reason can 
not exist and vice versa—without reason there can be no intel- 
ligence. They are both psychic factors, dependent each upon 
the other. The lower animals do not evince a high degree of 
intelligence, yet high enough to lift the mental operation 
above the automatic and spontaneous action generally called 
—instinct. Instinct itself is,in a certain sense, a process of 
intelligence, though its immediate operations may not be due 
to reason. Instinct involves mental operations; if it did not 
it would simply be reflex action. It is heredity under a special 
name. The father transmits his mental peculiarities as well 
as his corporeal individualites to his son. The experiences 
of thousands of years leave their imprint on the succeeding. 
generations until deductions and conclusions drawn from 
these experiences become in man, that psychic essence called 
mind. The lower animals pass through a like experience 
and arrive, each in his own sphere and degree, at a kindred 
mental destination. 
Reflex action is simply muscular adaptation excited by 
appropriate stimulation without mental cognizance. Instinct 
has alwaysa mental element; and the lowest animal that 
lives is no more governed by reflex action than is man him- 
self. The action of a spider spinning her web, is just as vol- 
!Cope: Origin of the Fittest, p. 40. 
