8 4 
NATURE NOTES 
cases a label with place and date of collecting, written in thick 
lead pencil, should be put inside the tube. Specimens should be 
sent to Mr. Webb at Odstock, Hanwell, W. 
INSTINCT v. REASON. 
ilE have received the following letter from a correspondent 
| in London : — 
“ Many (or perhaps I should say most) people persist in denying 
to animals the faculty of reason, ascribing all their actions to 
‘ instinct.’ Now instinct may be defined as ‘ natural impulse,’ which doubtless 
predominates in all animals, whereas man’s instincts are, or should be, sub- 
ordinate to his reasoning powers. To say, however, that every action of the dog 
(generally considered to be the most intelligent of quadrupeds) is governed by 
instinct, is simply absurd. The following instance of what I should most certainly 
describe as reasoning power was afforded by a short-haired black cat (a male) 
about six months old. Some little time ago my sister, standing at her bedroom 
window (on the top floor) and seeing this cat below, clapped her hands to attract 
his attention. ‘ Sambo ’ immediately looked up, and running into the house, in less 
than two seconds was at my sister’s side. As the animal had to mount four 
flights of stairs (in as many different directions) and pass half-a-dozen doors, of 
which two or three were probably open, on the way, it must have known how 
to reach its mistress. Instinct could not have possibly been the cat s guide, 
especially as it had not been born in the house. I have related this little 
incident, not as anything remarkable in itself, but simply to show the ordinary 
intellectual powers of even our feline friends. We allow a varying amount of 
intelligence to the higher animals, but how this is to be distinguished from 
intellectual power I fail to understand. 
“ Again, pigeon-fanciers, I believe, are accustomed to talk of the ‘ homing 
instinct of the carrier ’ ; but is not this faculty of ‘ homing ’ due to the bird’s 
remarkable powers of vision, which enable it to recognise landmarks immense 
distances away ? Otherwise, why has it to be trained, and moreover, why, 
when first thrown up, does the bird fly round in ever-widening circles before 
darting off in a certain direction ? ” 
We have always thought that much of the difference of 
opinion in this perennial controversy is due merely to a want of 
precision in the use of terms. By “ reason ” some writers mean 
the power of generalising, or — what is, perhaps, implied therein 
— that of forming a syllogism ; whilst others mean the power of 
abstraction. “ Instinct,” again, is applied alike to the chicks 
seeking refuge on their first sight of a hawk, which may be 
inherited experience, and to the automatic way in which we 
wind up our watches when undressing for the night, which is 
certainly an acquired not an inherited habit. The mental pro- 
cesses which lead a dog to bark at all shabby persons and not 
at the well dressed, or to express pleasurable anticipation of 
a walk when we take our hat down from its peg, seem to 
involve generalisation or syllogism, but not the formation of 
abstract ideas. We had just read the above letter when we 
came upon the following passage in a sermon by an eminent 
Jesuit : — 
