Page:George Archdall Reid 1896 The present evolution of man.djvu/161



reflex action and instinct persist in higher animals, yet reason does not merely supplement them; to a great extent it supplants them, and the extent to which it does so is greater the higher placed the animal is in the scale of life. We are in almost complete darkness as to the mental processes, if I may here use the term, of such low animals as the cœlenterates, but it is highly improbable that any of their actions, except to a slight extent in the highest members of the group, are instinctive, and wildly improbable that any of them are rational. The late Professor Romanes, to whose works I am greatly indebted, says—

"Some species of medusæ—notably Sarsia—seek the light, crowding into the path of a beam, and following it actively if moved. They derive advantage from so doing, because certain small crustaceae on which they feed likewise crowd into the light ."—Animal Intelligence, p. 23.

Professor Romanes considers this merely a reflex action, but it seems at least debatable whether it is not a "reflex action into which there has been imported the element of consciousness," whether, in fact, it is not an instinctive action. The following, however, is clearly a case of instinct.