PDF - Wallace Online

94 NATURAL SELECTION ivthe same way and as perfectly as their parents did, instinctwould be proved in their case ;now it is only assumed, andassumed, as I shall show further on, without any sufficientreason. So, no one has ever carefully taken the pupae of ahive of bees out of the comb, removed them from the presenceof other bees, and loosed them in a large conservatory withplenty of flowers and food, and observed what kind of cellsthey would construct. But till this is done, no one can saythat bees build without instruction, no one can say that withevery new swarm there are no bees older than those of thelast brood, who may be the teachers in forming the newcomb. Now, in a scientific inquiry, a point which can beproved should not be assumed, and a totally unknown powershould not be brought in to explain facts, when knownpowers may be sufficient. For both these reasons I decline toaccept the theory of instinct in any case where all otherpossible modes of explanation have not been exhausted.Does Man possess InstinctsMany of the upholders of the instinctive theory maintainthat man has instincts exactly of the same nature as those ofanimals, but more or less liable to be obscured by his reasoningpowers and as this is a case more; open to our observationthan any other, I will devote a few pages to its consideration.Infants are said to suck by instinct, and afterwards to walkby the same power, while in adult man the most prominentcase of instinct is supposed to be the powers possessed bysavage races to find their way across a trackless and previouslyunknown wilderness. Let us take first the case of the infant'ssucking. It is sometimes absurdly stated that the new-borninfant " seeks the breast," and this is held to be a wonderfulproof of instinct. No doubt it would be if true, but Unfortunatelyfor the theory it is totally false, as every nurse andmedical man can testify. Still, the child undoubtedly suckswithout teaching, but this is one of those simple acts dependentupon organisation, which cannot properly be termedinstinct, any more than breathing or muscular motion. Anyobject of suitable size in the mouth of an infant excites thenerves and muscles so as to produce the act of suction, andwhen, at a little later period, the will comes into play, the