PDF - Wallace Online

ON INSTINCT IN MAN AND ANIMALScontinued study in the same direction only render theerroneous conclusions more ingrained and more irremovable.Definition of InstinctBefore going further into this subject we must determinewhat we mean by the term instinct. It has been variously"defined as disposition operating without the aid of instruc-"tion or experience," a mental power totally independent oforganisation," or "a power enabling an animal to do thatwhich, in those things man can do, results from a chain ofreasoning, and in things which man cannot do, is not to beexplained by any efforts of the intellectual faculties." Wefind, too, that the word instinct is very frequently applied toacts which are evidently the result either of organisation orof habit. The colt or calf is said to walk instinctively, almostas soon as it is born ;but this is solely due to its organisation,which renders walking both possible and pleasurable to it.So we are said instinctively to hold out our hands to saveourselves from falling, but this is an acquired habit, whichthe infant does not possess. It appears to me that instinctshould be defined as "the performance by an animal ofcomplex acts, absolutely without instruction or previouslyacquired knowledge." Thus, acts are said to be performedby birds in building their nests, by bees in constructing theircells, and by many insects in providing for the future wantsof themselves or their progeny, without ever having seen suchacts performed by others, and without any knowledge of whythey perform them themselves. This is expressed by thevery common term "blind instinct." But we have here anumber of assertions of matters of fact, which, strange to say,have never been proved to be facts at all.They are thoughtto be so self-evident that they may be taken for granted.No one has ever yet obtained the eggs of some bird whichbuilds an elaborate nest, hatched these eggs by steam orunder a quite distinct parent, placed them afterwards in anextensive aviary or covered garden, where the situation andthe materials of a nest similar to that of the parent birds maybe found, and then seen what kind of nest these birds wouldbuild. If under these rigorous conditions they choose thesame materials, the same situation, and construct the nest in