504 
REASON AND INSTINCT. 
The difference between man and the dog in the anecdote which 
follows is very evident : — Man, from reason, would not have jumped 
into the water and attempted to swim against the current at all, but 
would at once have gone up the bank of the stream to a higher 
point than the dog did, and thus have lessened the labour of reach- 
ing the boat four or five times in addition. Now the dog acted from 
instinct in his first attempt, from experience in his second, and from 
reason in neither. A dog on one side of a hill and his home on the 
other, would not, probably, go round the foot of it. Man is aware, 
from reason as well as observation, that the shortest length between 
two points is a straight line. The dog is aware of this from experi- 
ence, perhaps, more probably from instinct. The man would reason 
that the road round the hill would be nearly equal to that over it 
(the triangle over it to the summit of the base), minus the labour 
of ascent. 
Dr. Whately justly remarks, the cat rung the bell from observa- 
tion; but observation is not reason. I will suppose a person who 
knew nothing about bells, and who for the first time saw a bell- 
rope hanging from the roof ; do I assert too much when I say he 
would reason it was there to be pulled] Would this cat, if al- 
lowed to fail several times in the attempt to attract attention by the 
noise of the bell, continue the practice ] Would man give it up, 
or reason on the cause of silence 1 A cat shut up continues to 
mew, whether there is anybody to hear or not : a man in such 
circumstances would not do so. You might say if cats do, dogs 
do not ; certainly, but not until experience has shewn them it is of 
no use. The acts should not bear “ a similar name,” because they 
are not done by “ a similar mental process.” Although it cannot 
be said that every cat has an instinct to use the tongue of a bell, 
every cat has to make use of its own. Does it, then, reason why 
it mews I or, if Dr Whately’s cat is to reason on the ringing of 
the bell, why not on the opening of the door when the handle of 
the lock is turned ? An elephant may not lift a cannon from in- 
stinct, but it may from the habit of obedience to its keeper. Habit 
is not reason, for there are many unreasonable habits. It may cer- 
tainly instinctively obey one who has acquired the habit of obe- 
dience from the power of donning reward or punishment, or from 
other means or causes ; besides, an elephant may very instinctively 
beat down a wall which keeps him from something to eat, more 
especially if he be hungry at the time. 
In conclusion, I would say that brutes do that from tuition, in- 
stinct, habit, observation, experience, &c., which man can do with- 
out the aid of any of them, by the use of his noblest and unshared 
gift, reason. Both possess instinct ; one alone possesses reason . 
