results of their experience. These have been comprehended
under a general term, and denominated instinct. By instinct, is meant
the display of contrivance and wisdom by animals, which tends to
preserve them as individuals, and to maintain their succession; an
intellectual exercise so perfect, that human philosophy has not
pretended to improve; so unvaried, that the excellence of its
performance cannot be exceeded, and is never diminished; a clearness of
execution, that "leaves no rubs and botches in the work," but which, it
may be presumed, is not even comprehended by the animal itself, as it
does not possess the organs or capacity to acquire the rudiments of the
science on which its operations proceed. As man, in his healthy state,
is little conscious of his involuntary motions, so I should presume that
animals possess but a feeble consciousness of their instinctive
achievements. This may be a subject for subtle disputants to decide; but
it appears certain, during the exercise of instinct, that their volition
must be suspended. When sufficient observation has collected the
intuitive wisdom displayed by animals, we shall then be able to _define_
what is precisely meant by instinct; and, which is of much greater
importance, to furnish their intellectual history, of which the
definition is an abbreviation. One of the most useful contrivances of
language, is its abbreviation for the purposes of dispatch; and a
definition implies the fewest words into which its history can be
compressed, for perfect discrimination and identity of character.
Without disputing about a term, it may be noticed, that young ducks
hatched by a hen, immediately on their developement, and often with a
part of the shell still attached to them, make directly for the water;
while the hen, who has performed the office of a mother, screams with
alarm for the consequences. A she-cat, the first time she brings forth
her young, proceeds to secure the umbilical cord of each kitten, with
the caution of an experienced midwife. In both these instances,
experience cannot be adduced to account for the performance. When the
admirable texture of a spider's web is contemplated; will it be
contended that this elaboration is the result of mathematical knowledge
_acquired_ by the spider? Have the dwellings of the beaver, and the
construction of the honey-comb, their solution in the geometrical
attainments of the fabricators? The examples which have been enumerated,
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