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Article EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY ON INSTINCT. Page 1 of 3 →
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Extract From An Essay On Instinct.
EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY ON INSTINCT .
Jtead by Mr . WILLIAM S M E L L I E , before the Royal Society of Edinburgh * MANY theories have been invented with a vieAV to explain the in- ; stinctive . actions of animals , but none of them have received the general approbation of p hilosophers . This Avant of success may be ascribed to different causes ; to Avant of attention to the general economy
and manners of animals ; to mistaken notions concerning the dignity of human nature : and above all , to the uniform endeavour of p hilosophers ! to distinguish instinctive from rational motives . Our author endea ^ vours to shew that no such distinction exists ,, and that the reasoning * faculty is a necessary result of instinct . He observes that the . proper method of investigating subjects of this
kind , is to collect and arrange the facts Avhich . have been discovered , and to consider whether these lead to any general conclusion He . then exhibits , examples—of pure instincts—of instincts , that can a . ccommo-r date themselves to particular situations-r-of such as are improvable by experience and observation—and , lastly , he draws his conclusions . By pure instincts are meantsuch as 4 ndependently of all instruction
, , or experience , instantaneously produce certain actions ; as ivhen partis cular objects are presented to animals , or when they are influenced by peculiar feelings . Such are in the human species , the instinct of sucking , which is exerted b y the infant , immediately after it ' s birth ; of-the-retraction of the muscles by any painful stimulus . The love of . li g ht is .
exhibited by infants , even so early as the third day . The passion ofe fear is discoverable in a child at the age of two months . Among inferior animals , there are numberless pure instincts . Caterpillars shaken off a tree , in any direction , turn immediately to . the trunk , and climb up . Young birds open their mouths , not onl y oa hearing their mother ' s voice , but any other noise . Every species , of birds deposits its eggs in the . situation most proper for hatching itsj
young . Some species of animals look not to future wants ; others , as , the bee and beaver , are endoAved with an instinct that has the appearance of foresi ght . They construct and store their magazines . Bees attend and feed their queen ; build cells of three different dimensions , for working bees , for drones , and for females ; and the queen bee puts , each species into its appropriated cell . They destroy all females but
one , lest the hive should be over-stocked . The different instincts of the different species of bees , are also very remarkable . Equally sin * gular are the Avasp and iehneumon flies , which , although they do nofc feed on worms themselves , lay them up for their young . Birds build their nests of the same materials , although they inhabit different climates ; turn their eggs , that they may be equally heated geese and ducks cover up their eggs , when they quit their nests . Spi * tiers , andmany insects , v / henputin terror , counterfeit death , and whea the object of terror is removed , recover immediately .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Extract From An Essay On Instinct.
EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY ON INSTINCT .
Jtead by Mr . WILLIAM S M E L L I E , before the Royal Society of Edinburgh * MANY theories have been invented with a vieAV to explain the in- ; stinctive . actions of animals , but none of them have received the general approbation of p hilosophers . This Avant of success may be ascribed to different causes ; to Avant of attention to the general economy
and manners of animals ; to mistaken notions concerning the dignity of human nature : and above all , to the uniform endeavour of p hilosophers ! to distinguish instinctive from rational motives . Our author endea ^ vours to shew that no such distinction exists ,, and that the reasoning * faculty is a necessary result of instinct . He observes that the . proper method of investigating subjects of this
kind , is to collect and arrange the facts Avhich . have been discovered , and to consider whether these lead to any general conclusion He . then exhibits , examples—of pure instincts—of instincts , that can a . ccommo-r date themselves to particular situations-r-of such as are improvable by experience and observation—and , lastly , he draws his conclusions . By pure instincts are meantsuch as 4 ndependently of all instruction
, , or experience , instantaneously produce certain actions ; as ivhen partis cular objects are presented to animals , or when they are influenced by peculiar feelings . Such are in the human species , the instinct of sucking , which is exerted b y the infant , immediately after it ' s birth ; of-the-retraction of the muscles by any painful stimulus . The love of . li g ht is .
exhibited by infants , even so early as the third day . The passion ofe fear is discoverable in a child at the age of two months . Among inferior animals , there are numberless pure instincts . Caterpillars shaken off a tree , in any direction , turn immediately to . the trunk , and climb up . Young birds open their mouths , not onl y oa hearing their mother ' s voice , but any other noise . Every species , of birds deposits its eggs in the . situation most proper for hatching itsj
young . Some species of animals look not to future wants ; others , as , the bee and beaver , are endoAved with an instinct that has the appearance of foresi ght . They construct and store their magazines . Bees attend and feed their queen ; build cells of three different dimensions , for working bees , for drones , and for females ; and the queen bee puts , each species into its appropriated cell . They destroy all females but
one , lest the hive should be over-stocked . The different instincts of the different species of bees , are also very remarkable . Equally sin * gular are the Avasp and iehneumon flies , which , although they do nofc feed on worms themselves , lay them up for their young . Birds build their nests of the same materials , although they inhabit different climates ; turn their eggs , that they may be equally heated geese and ducks cover up their eggs , when they quit their nests . Spi * tiers , andmany insects , v / henputin terror , counterfeit death , and whea the object of terror is removed , recover immediately .