46 
THE DESCENT OF MAN. 
Part I. 
“ character say yes or no — to the devil with him ; he is 
“ only a stupid corpse.” Dreaming gives us the best 
notion of this power ; as J ean Paul again says, “ The 
“ dream is an involuntary art of poetry.” The value of 
the products of our imagination depends of course on 
the number, accuracy, and clearness of our impressions ; 
on our judgment and taste in selecting or rejecting the 
involuntary combinations, and to a certain extent on 
our power of voluntarily combining them. As dogs, 
cats, horses, and probably all the higher animals, even 
birds, as is stated on good authority , 14 have vivid dreams, 
and this is shewn by their movements and voice, we must 
admit that they possess some power of imagination. 
Of all the faculties of the human mind, it will, I 
presume, be admitted that Reason stands at the summit. 
Few persons any longer dispute that animals possess 
some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be 
seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve. It is a significant 
fact, that the more the habits of any particular animal 
are studied by a naturalist, the more he attributes to 
reason and the less to unlearnt instincts . 15 In future 
chapters we shall see that some animals extremely low in 
the scale apparently display a certain amount of reason. 
No doubt it is often difficult to distinguish between the 
power of reason and that of instinct. Thus Dr. Hayes, 
in his work on 6 The Open Polar Sea,’ repeatedly re- 
marks that his dogs, instead of continuing to draw the 
sledges in a compact body, diverged and separated when 
they came to thin ice, so that their weight might be 
more evenly distributed. This was often the first warn- 
14 Dr. Jerdon, 1 Birds of India/ vol. i. 1862, p. xxi. 
15 Mr. L. H. Morgan's work on ‘ The American Beaver/ 1868, offers 
a good illustration of this remark. I cannot, however, avoid thinking 
that he goes too far in underrating the power of Instinct. 
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