ON INSTINCT. 
423 
effect of nothing else than reason. It is utterly inconsistent with 
the acknowledged properties of instinct. 
We have now arrived at the highest link of Nature’s vast and 
animated chain of beings, 
“ Nature’s ethereal, human angel, man.” 
** Ignorant and uncivilized, he is a ferocious, sensual, and su¬ 
perstitious savage. The world affords some enjoyments to his 
animal feelings, but it confounds his moral and intellectual fa¬ 
culties. External nature exhibits to his mind a mighty chaos of 
events, and a dread display of power. 
Viewed in this respect, he almost resembles a demon, whilst in 
a civilized state he bears the impress of God. Seen in his crimes, 
his wars, and his devastations, he might be mistaken for an in¬ 
carnation of an evil spirit;—contemplated in his schemes of cha¬ 
rity, his discoveries in science, and his vast combinations for the 
benefit of his race, he seems a bright intelligence from heaven*." 
Man as he now exists can only be raised with great care and 
difficulty from the infant to the mature state. All his motions 
are at first automatic, and become voluntary by association. 
He has to learn every thing by slow and difficult processes. 
Many months elapse before he is able to stand, and many years 
before he can provide for the common wants of life. With¬ 
out the mother or the nurse in his infant state, he would die in 
a few hours ; and without the laborious discipline of instruction 
and example, he would remain an idiot, and inferior to most 
other animals. His reason is only acquired gradually, and, 
when in its highest perfection, is often uncertain in its results. 
“It is, therefore, very probable that, in his early or first 
created state, he must have been endowed with instincts that, for 
a long while, supplied the want of reason, and which enabled him, 
from the first moment of his existence, to provide for his wants, 
to gratify his desires, and enjoy the pow'ers and activity of lifei*." 
The instincts of man are but few, and they are immediately 
connected with the preservation of the individual and the propa¬ 
gation of his kind. The sucking of a clrild may be classed 
under this head. A healthy vigorous child, within a short time 
of his birth, gives the most unequivocal evidence of a desire to 
suck, before any thing is brought into actual contact with his 
mouth. If this is not an instance of pure instinct, I know not 
what it is. The Author of nature has united in man every species 
of beauty, and has formed of these a combiriation so wonderful, 
that all animals in their natural state are struck at sight of 
• Combe on the Constitution of Man. 
t Sir Humphry Davy’s Labt Days of a Philosopher. 
