6488 



Benson and Instinct. 



which shelters its young from the fierce beams of the sun by the 

 interposition of its own body and fluttering wings; the fox, which 

 selects the apparently most frequented run at which to lie in ambush 

 for the return of the hares from their feeding ground, — all, as well as 

 every other actor in every conceivable instance of the kind, do what 

 is done in furtherance of an object the pursuit of which is Instinct- 

 prompted.* 



I cannot but think that enough has now been alleged to serve as an 

 additional confirmation of the theory advanced in a former page, that 

 there is a necessary and self-existent connection between Instinct and 

 Reason ; so that where there is apparent Instinct, there is or may be 

 also (in however small a degree) a Reasoning power, whether latent 

 and perhaps undiscoverable in the present state of our knowledge, or 

 brought out and developed. 



I must crave space here, before we pass on to another but allied 

 branch of our enquiry, for a few words in support of a former con- 

 clusion, which, though not prominently put forward in our later 

 remarks, has certainly been implied and perhaps tacitly strengthened 

 by almost all that has been said — I mean the conclusion, that the 

 lower animals are partakers in Mind; intending by that, " that the 

 mental principle in animals is of the same essence as that of human 

 beings." (Zool. 5575). 



* How far what I have advanced in the text holds true in respect of animals, 

 which have been not only domesticated, but are in the habit of constant or considerable 

 association with their master, may be open to question. For my own part I confess to 

 a decided belief that in the clog, — not to mention other animals brought much into 

 contact with man, and especially if purposely taught and kindly treated by him, — 

 Reason ceases in great measure to be subservient to Instinct. The sportsman, who — 

 as many a true sportsman does — makes a friend of his dog, has a thousand instances 

 presented to him in which the creature's Instinct is as clearly made the servant of his 

 Intelligence, as is his own pursuit — Instinct-prompted originally — facilitated by his 

 powers of observation, comparison and reasoning. Certainly the same thing must be 

 conceded in respect of such cases as exhibit one animal interposing in aid of another; 

 e.g. a dog for a dog, a dog for a man, or for a horse, and the like; and there are 

 multitudes of such cases on record. The elephants, two in the Eastern military 

 service, — last mentioned in terms of no slight admiration by the 'Times' special 

 correspondent (' Times,' of January 24th), and often before that by other writers, — in 

 their separate and combined efforts for the extrication of guns sit fast in heavy sand, 

 or other bad roads, afford another and very distinct evidence that their Reason is 

 entirely unfettered by their Instinct. To enumerate other instances will, I fear, be 

 only tedious, and I certainly think unnecessary. It is, at the least, equally unneces- 

 sary to say anything as to the relative positions occupied by Reason and Instinct in 

 the human economy. 



