Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 10.djvu/761

* INSTINCT. 673 INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. the migrations of birds or the return flight of the carrier pigeon seem to be complicated by memory. '"It seems to be certain that the car- rier pigeon finds its way back by its visual memory of the locality from which it started," and he adds that this is true of wasps, bees, a"nd possibly of ants. TlIEORIKS OF THE ORIGIN OF INSTINCT. Des- tartes denied to animals the power of reason, re- garding thcni as automata, and held that instincts were injplanted in them by the Creator; and this view is still held by Fabre and Wasmann, both distinguished as observers of the instincts of insects. That instincts arc variable and are sometimes at fault was affirmed by Reimaru3 (1773). He says: "Many mechanical instincts are practiced from birth without experience, in- struction, or example, and yet faultlessly. They are thus seen to be certainly inborn and inherit- ed." See In.sect. The first thinker to point out the evolutionary origin of instinct was Lamarck, whose view, briefly stated, is that instincts are the sum of inherited habits. Darwin's view is that instincts were "slowly acquired through natural selection." Do Anim.i..s POS.SESS Intelligence, and Do Thet Reason ? In view of what has been said by physiologists and experimenters, it results that we must proceed cautiously, and not anthro- pomorphize as regards the reasoning powers of the higher animals, and, even if we are compelled to give up cherished opinions as to the intelli- gence and so-called reasoning powers attributed to animals, suspend our judgment and wait for the results of further observation and experi- ment. Meanwhile the reader may adopt the views of so careful and well-trained a student of animal behavior as Lloyd Morgan. In observing that the chick under his observation rapidly profited by experience, after a few practical trials, he concludes that intelligence is founded on experience. One im])ortant test of intelli- gence is the power of making a choice, and this appears to be the basis of intelligent adaptation to circumstances. Intelligence involves the asso- ciation of impressions and ideas, and it implies a power of control over the motor responses. (Introduction to Compaiaihe Psychology, p. 215.) In his last work on the sensations of insects For.'l claims that instincts dei)end on sense-per- ception. An ant which had suffered deantenniza- tion abandoned and neglected its pupa. Instinct, he says, does not constitute all the mentality of an ant. He attributes to them a mind. Be- sides instincts, he sees in them 'small plastic judgments:' they display in their actions new combinations which differ from their usual au- tomatism, aiding them to overcome difficulties, to make a choice between two alternatives. He remarks that the faculty of direction in bees, their astonishing memory for places, proves how far mere instinct and automatism are from con- stituting all the mental life of insects. He thus opposes the new German school, who, with Bethe. would, he says, suppress all psychology, all 'antliropocentrism,' in studies on the behavior of animals. Young animals are taiight by their parents, and what appears to be instinct is the result of early education. We know that young birds are taiight to flv, that foxes and other beasts of prey teach their young to hunt, how to escape from their enemies, or to fear them. We know that young animals are more easily trapped tlian the older and more experienced ones. All this is a proof of an inborn capability of learning by example and by experience; and this carries us back to Erasmus Darwin's idea that instincts are based on imitation. Bibliography. Lamarck, Philosophie zoolo- gique (Paris, 1809) ; Darwin, Origin of H pedes ; Spencer, Principles of Psychology (London, 1855).; Principles of Biology (New York, 1866- 71); Wallace, Darwinism; Murphy, Habit and Intelligence (2 vols., London, 1869) ; Schneider, Der tierische Wille (Leipzig, 1880) ; Preyer, Die tieele des Kindes (1882) ; Romanes. Animal Intelligence (New York, 1883) ; id.. Mental Evo- lution in Animals, with a Posthumous Essay on Instinct hy C. Darwin (New York, 1884) ; Eimer, Organic Evolution (1888; London, trans, by Cun- ningham, 1890) ; Weismann, Papers on Heredity (Eng. trans., London, 1899); Morgan, Animal Life and Intelligence (London, 1890-91) ; id.. Animal Behavior (London, 1900) ; id.. An Intro- duction to Comparative Psychology (New York, 1901) ; Groos, The Play of Animals (New York, 1898) ; Locb. Comparative Physiology of the Brain and Comparative Psychology (New York, 1902) ; Forel, Sensations des insect es (Paris, 1902) ; and the writings of Alix, Aubert-Delage, Bethe, Bantning, Battel-Reepen, Cherechewsky, Delage, Mach, Packard, Rodl, RejTiaud, Verwom, etc. .See Ant; Bee; Evolution; Heredity. INSTITUTE (Lat. institutum, regulation, ordinance, from instituere, to set up, from in. in + statuere, to establish, from stare, to stand). In the land law of Scotland, the person who is designated in the instrument creating an entail (q.v.), and so 'instituted' as the tenant of the entailed estate. The persons in whom the estate thereafter becomes vested by descent are de- scribed as substitutes. See Estate ; Fee Tail. INSTITUTE OF FRANCE. Tlie official name for a group of learned societies in France organized at different times, but having for their object the fostering of some special branch in literature, art, the sciences, or philosophy. At present the Institute comprises five distinct bod- ies known as (1) Acadi'mie Frangaise; (2) Academic des Inscriptions ct BellesLettres; (3) Academic des Sciences; (4) Academic des Beaux- Arts; (3) Academic des Sciences Morales et Politiques. The first three academies, dating as separate institutions fru;;; the seventeenth cen- tury, were abolished by the Convention on August 8, 1793. Two years later, under the title of Institut National des Sciences et des Arts, there was established by the Directory an association for the promotion of arts and sciences, which was divided into the three following classes: ( 1) Phy- sical sciences and mathematics; (2) moral and political sciences; (3) literature and fine arts. In 1803 Napoleon I. reorganized the body, divid- ing it into four classes — mathematical and natu- ral sciences, French language and literature, classical languages and literatiires. and fine arts — and giving it subsequently the name of Impe- rial Institute of France. After the Restoration it was again reorganized (1816) into four acade- mies, comprising the first four bodies enumerated above, to which was added in 1832 the fifth acad-