Bats and Birds of Jamaica. 



6587 



his impulse to run away ; or by the application of the spur, i. e. by an 

 addition to the impulse to obey his rider. 



Similar to this is the moral character which sometimes appears on 

 the face of the actions of certain animals ; it arises, I believe, entirely 

 from the moral character of the instinctive impulse, and is quite inde- 

 pendent of the animal's will ; and as the fundamental idea of morality 

 is choice, animals having no choice have no moral character. The 

 form of righteous retribution, which the revenge of a dog sometimes 

 takes, is no proof of the individual excellence of the animal ; though 

 it is a proof, and no insignificant one, of the excellence of that instinctive 

 impulse from which it springs, and which thus shows its connexion 

 both in origin and object with those higher manifestations which it 

 simulates. 



If this be so, the line of demarcation between man and the brute 

 comes out clear and distinct, for, in addition to this instinctive impulse 

 and much of this instinctive power, in addition to far higher exercises 

 of the rational faculty of adapting means to a given end than are found 

 in the most intelligent animals, man has yet another power totally 

 distinct from either of these — he has the power of conceiving and of 

 deliberately choosing for his own an end or object of which he has 

 had no experience, and which he may adopt or not according to his 

 own free will. This it is which forms the great gulf between man and 

 the brute ; this it is which is the source of all moral action properly 

 so called, and is, therefore, the foundation of all religion ; this constitutes 

 his claim to be " of kin " to God, and is uttered forth in those won- 

 drous words " The Lord God formed man out of the dust of the ground, 

 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a 

 living soul." 



Thomas Boyd. 



Clapton Square, May 27, 1859. 



Notes on the Bats and Birds of Jamaica. 

 By W. Osburn, Esq.* 



" Freeman's Hall, Trelawny, Jamaica, 

 May 7, 1859. 



" My dear Sir, — It was only on my return here from a journey of 

 unexpected duration in some of the southern parishes that I found 

 your welcome letter awaiting me. It was a great pleasure to me to 



* Communicated by P. H. Gosse, Esq., F.ft.S. 



