Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 11.djvu/195

 184 C. L. MORGAN : inapplicable in practice, I venture to contend that the prac- tical objections outweigh the theoretical advantages, and that (in accordance with the principle above maintained, that the ejective element should be as far as possible eliminated) we shall do well to endeavour to frame definitions in which the element of consciousness shall be disregarded. 18. I therefore propose the following definitions as suffi- cient for practical purposes : Intelligent actions are those which are performed by the individual, in virtue of his individuality, in special adaptation to special circumstances. I/mfi/irfivc actions are those which are performed, through the influence of inherited habit, by the individual in common with all the members of the same more or less restricted group, in adaptation to certain oft-recurring circumstances. Reflex actions are those which are of the nature of organic responses to more or less definite stimuli, and which involve rather the organs of an organism than the organism as a whole. Such difficulties as may arise in the application of these definitions are objective and surmountable, not ejective, and therefore, in my opinion, insurmountable. 19. Since it maybe objected by some that, by eliminating, so far as is practicable, the ejective element in the study of Animal Intelligence, we rob that branch of science of all vitality, I will here set down some of the problems that offer themselves as subjects of research. (a) The origin and mode of development of intelligent, tli.it is, specially adaptive actions and individual habits ; the number of intermediate steps between prompting stimulus and answering response and the amount of their complexity ; their careful study in the light of the principles of heredity and evolution ; the influence that they have had in the evolution of any given species. (b) The origin and mode of development of instinctive habits ; the age at which they manifest themselves ; if there is any learning in the case ; their occasional liability to error ; how far they are due to lapsed intelligence ; how far to natural selection ; how far to the direct influence of sur- rounding conditions. (c) The physiology of organisms, that is, the function of each organism in the economy of nature ; the relation of the habits of this organism to that organism and to all other organisms. (d) The nature, limits, and ratio of the senses ; their