10 
INTRODUCTION. 
able pattern of the probable facts of insect psychology. 
Just as the theologians tell ns — and logically enough — 
that if there is a Divine Mind, the best, and indeed only, 
conception we can form of it is that which is formed on 
the analogy, however imperfect, supplied by the human 
mind; so with 6 inverted anthropomorphism 5 we must 
apply a similar consideration with a similar conclusion to 
the animal mind. The mental states of an insect may 
be widely different from those of a man, and yet most 
probably the nearest conception that we can form of their 
true nature is that which we form by assimilating them 
to the pattern of the only mental states with which we 
are actually acquainted. And this consideration, it is 
needless to point out, has a special validity to the evo- 
lutionist, inasmuch as upon his theory there must be a 
psychological, no less than a physiological, continuity 
extending throughout the length and breadth of the 
animal kingdom. 
In these preliminary remarks only one other point 
requires brief consideration, and this has reference to the 
distinction between what in popular phraseology is called 
6 Instinct 5 and 6 Reason . 5 I shall not here enter upon 
any elaborate analysis of a distinction which is un- 
doubtedly valid, but shall confine my remarks to ex- 
plaining the sense in which I shall everywhere use these 
terms. 
Few words in our language have been subject to a 
greater variety of meanings than the word instinct. In 
popular phraseology, descended from the Middle Ages, 
all the mental faculties of the animal are termed in- 
stinctive, in contradistinction to those of man, which 
are termed rational. But unless we commit ourselves to 
an obvious reasoning in a circle, we must avoid assuming 
that all actions of animals are instinctive, and then 
arguing that because they are instinctive, therefore they 
differ from the rational actions of man. The question 
really lies in what is here assumed, and we can only 
answer it by examining in what essential respect instinct 
differs from reason. 
