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are feasted upon by the deer and the round-horned elk , but are carefully shunned by sheep , cows , and horses , to whom , as well as to man , they are mortally poisonous . Wild animals never eat that which is unwholesome . Man only errs here , and we shall presently show wdiy In disease , as well as in health , instinct dictates the proper diet to animals . Thus dogs will eat grass when they are feverish .
The natural instincts of animals are greatly modified by intercourse with mankind , by domestication , by climate , and by other circumstances . Natural propensities , . which will obtain an unvarying influence for fifty generations , will , as soon as the necessities of the animal require it , become modified with the circumstances in which they are placed .
As examples of these modifications of instinctive impulse , we may mention that rabbits , in the island of Sor , in Senegal , do not burrow in the earth , as they do in cold climates . The Senegal ostrich neglects her eggs during the day , and sits only at nighF ; whereas , at the Cape of G-ood Hope , she sits night and day . Some bees , that were taken to Barbadoes , ceased to lay up honey after the first year ,
content with feasting on the sugar ; but in Jamaica , they continued to make honey , the cold north winds or rainy seasons of that island confining them at home for several weeks together . The wasp of England fixes his habitation under ground , that he may escape the vicissitudes of our ever-varying climate ; whereas , in Jamaica , he
hangs his nest on the bough of a tree . Here , the ants inhabit the ground ; in Siam , which is subject to great inundations , they make their settlements on trees . In countries infested with wild monkeys , birds , which in other countries build in bushes and clefts of trees , suspend their nests on slender twigs , and thus elude their enemies .
Many more facts of this kind might be adduced , to prove that instinct is not that blind , perverse , mechanical impulse which cannot be changed , but is rather a provision for natural wants under all circumstances ; a kind of guardian angel ready to guide , direct , impel , restrain , or check , as the case may require , —a tongue to the dumb , wisdom to the foolish , defence to the unprotected , help to the helpless .
Animals , however , are not destitute of reason : it is a libel to call them irrational creatures . The above examples show a strange intermingling of intelligent design with instinctive impulse . JSTor can we long observe the habits of these dumb creatures , without being struck with their sagacity , cunning , and ingenuity , all of them the indications of a rational faculty .
As the possession of reason by animals is , nevertheless , extensively denied , let the following well authenticated facts be well pondered , and explained , if possible , on any other theory than that animals have the power of drawing conclusions from their knowledge of facts , and acting on those conclusions for definite and intelligible ends .
A medical gentleman in the country had been driving an old and favourite mare for several miles out of her usual beat , w hen she vol . t . 2 XI
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
are feasted upon by the deer and the round-horned elk , but are carefully shunned by sheep , cows , and horses , to whom , as well as to man , they are mortally poisonous . Wild animals never eat that which is unwholesome . Man only errs here , and we shall presently show wdiy In disease , as well as in health , instinct dictates the proper diet to animals . Thus dogs will eat grass when they are feverish .
The natural instincts of animals are greatly modified by intercourse with mankind , by domestication , by climate , and by other circumstances . Natural propensities , . which will obtain an unvarying influence for fifty generations , will , as soon as the necessities of the animal require it , become modified with the circumstances in which they are placed .
As examples of these modifications of instinctive impulse , we may mention that rabbits , in the island of Sor , in Senegal , do not burrow in the earth , as they do in cold climates . The Senegal ostrich neglects her eggs during the day , and sits only at nighF ; whereas , at the Cape of G-ood Hope , she sits night and day . Some bees , that were taken to Barbadoes , ceased to lay up honey after the first year ,
content with feasting on the sugar ; but in Jamaica , they continued to make honey , the cold north winds or rainy seasons of that island confining them at home for several weeks together . The wasp of England fixes his habitation under ground , that he may escape the vicissitudes of our ever-varying climate ; whereas , in Jamaica , he
hangs his nest on the bough of a tree . Here , the ants inhabit the ground ; in Siam , which is subject to great inundations , they make their settlements on trees . In countries infested with wild monkeys , birds , which in other countries build in bushes and clefts of trees , suspend their nests on slender twigs , and thus elude their enemies .
Many more facts of this kind might be adduced , to prove that instinct is not that blind , perverse , mechanical impulse which cannot be changed , but is rather a provision for natural wants under all circumstances ; a kind of guardian angel ready to guide , direct , impel , restrain , or check , as the case may require , —a tongue to the dumb , wisdom to the foolish , defence to the unprotected , help to the helpless .
Animals , however , are not destitute of reason : it is a libel to call them irrational creatures . The above examples show a strange intermingling of intelligent design with instinctive impulse . JSTor can we long observe the habits of these dumb creatures , without being struck with their sagacity , cunning , and ingenuity , all of them the indications of a rational faculty .
As the possession of reason by animals is , nevertheless , extensively denied , let the following well authenticated facts be well pondered , and explained , if possible , on any other theory than that animals have the power of drawing conclusions from their knowledge of facts , and acting on those conclusions for definite and intelligible ends .
A medical gentleman in the country had been driving an old and favourite mare for several miles out of her usual beat , w hen she vol . t . 2 XI