Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 14.djvu/231

Rh So that we thus see how animal instincts may arise in either of two different ways: for, on the one hand, they may arise from the performance of actions which were originally intelligent, but which by frequent repetition have become automatic; and, on the other hand, they may arise from survival of the fittest, preserving actions which, although never intelligent, yet happen to have been of benefit to the animals which first chanced to perform them. But now let it be observed that, although there is a great difference between these two kinds of instincts if regarded psychologically, there is no difference between them if regarded physiologically; for, regarded physiologically, both kinds of instincts are merely expressions of the fact that particular nerve-cells and fibres have been set apart to perform their reflexes automatically—that is, without being accompanied by intelligence.

So much, then, for what I have called the physiological basis of mind; and, in now taking leave of this part of my subject, I should like to point out that, in recognizing the indisputable fact of mind having such a basis, we are not necessarily committing ourselves to the doctrine of materialism. That psychical phenomena are very intimately associated with physical phenomena is a fact which does not admit of one moment's dispute; but concerning the nature of this association Science must declare, not merely that it is at present unknown, but that, so far as she is at present able to discern, it must forever remain unknowable. The restless tide of intellect for centuries has onward rolled, submerging in its every arm those strong and rugged shores whose name is Why; but at the line where mind and matter meet there rises, like a frowning cliff, a mighty mystery, and in the darkness of the place we hear the voice of true Philosophy proclaim, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed."

Passing on now to our review of comparative psychology, the first animals in which, so far as I can ascertain, we may be quite sure that reflex action is accompanied by ideation, are the insects. For Mr. Darwin has observed that bees remember the position of flowers which they have only several times visited, even though the flowers be concealed by intervening houses, etc. Sir John Lubbock also has shown that, after a very few individual experiences, bees are able to establish a definite association between particular colors on paper and food; and further that, after a very few lessons, a bee may be taught to find its way out of a glass jar. These observations would seem to prove that the grade of intelligence is higher in some Articulata than it is among the lower Vertebrata. For many of you will probably remember the experiment of Prof. Möbius, which proved that a pike requires three months to establish an association of ideas between particular kinds of prey and the fact of their being protected by an invisible wall. This fact was proved by the pike repeatedly dashing its nose against a glass partition in its tank in fruitless efforts to catch minnows which were