and stung us, with every demonstration of anger. At any other time we could approach the entrance of the same hive with perfect security, protected only by a sprig of wallflower, and we remained near enough to be enabled to watch the ventilating Bees in their operations inside of the hive. This proves clearly that the anger of the Bees was excited by the interference with their habitual proceedings; but whether they knew who was the disturber of their peace, or simply attacked us as the nearest living object, is a question that must be solved along with the one already mentioned in connexion with the anecdote of the Bee and the Wasp*. That their knowledge or psychical power, under such exceptional circumstances, cannot be very great, is certain from the fact, that, although when about to swarm they send out scouts to a considerable distance, and in their search for honey they will fly several miles from their habitation, yet they will not attack a person who has deranged the economy of their hive as narrated above, if he but remove to the distance of twenty or thirty yards.

And, furthermore, although many of the complicated actions of the Bee and other insects bear evidences of discrimination and emotion, and are

* One may form some conception of the mode in which the Bees apprehend the relation between the stick across the entrance of the hive and the living object standing by, if he secretly abstract some favourite toy with which a very young child is playing, and watch the effect in its actions and countenance.

of a decidedly higher character than those simple movements and operations performed by the creatures placed lower in the animal scale, and though it has hitherto been impossible to distinguish many of the former from truly rational acts, yet we do not consider the whole mental nature of these animated beings entitled to a higher designation than that of instinct. Notwithstanding that it foreshadows those psychical powers and faculties that become developed in the reasoning creatures, yet it wants at least one clearly-defined quality which is now employed, as it appears to us, with great propriety, to stamp the nature of true reason; and that is educability.

Insects never improve in their mode of proceeding, nor excel one another in the ability with which they perform their labours; there never was a Bee wiser than another Bee, nor a generation of Bees that effected improvements in the economy of the hive; and if we were able to suggest to the creatures an improved modus operandi, it is questionable whether any amount of teaching would have a perceptible effect upon them.

A careful consideration of the nature and phenomena of this higher phase of instinct has suggested to us the designation of "rational instinct" as an appropriate one to denote its character; for as soon as the various creatures that are thus endowed attain the imago, or perfect state, they at once instinctively or intuitively perceive the relation between the various organs wherewith they are furnished

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and the materials on which they are intended to operate, and, without any experience or tuition, proceed at once to employ both organs and materials in a perfectly rational manner*.

And now, having drawn attention to two essentially different phases of instinct, the lower one purely mechanical and ministering to the immediate natural wants of the individual, and the higher involving truly rational acts (such as in ourselves necessitate previous tuition and experience) that enable the animal to provide not only for its own wants, but for the necessities and welfare of its congeners; having selected these from amongst many progressive phases of instinct, let us now pass that boundary whereon so many naturalists have wandered life-long, and, entering the province of reason, endeavour to form some idea, however imperfect, of its distinguishing attributes.

We believe it to be the acknowledged theory of physiologists in the present day, that the true reasoning faculty is immediately connected with the possession of a brain; or, to be more precise, that

*The simile of Rogers (page 13) is perhaps more appropriate than even he imagined; and if we could follow the mental as we can the physical development of the Bee through the various stages of larva, pupa, and imago, we should probably derive from the study a valuable lesson bearing upon our own psychical nature. There can be no doubt, that, in its larval condition, the insect is collecting substance in preparation for its higher existence; and, in a figurative sense, the same remark applies to ourselves.

reason or intelligence is only found in such animals (those being the Vertebrata) as possess a cerebrum, that is, the upper portion of the brain, composed of two lobes or imperfect hemispheres. And, furthermore, it is held that the character of the cerebrum in the various animal races is also the measure of intelligence; for it is found that as this part of the brain increases in size (not as compared with the body of the animal, but with the remaining portions of the nervous system), and in accordance, too, with the increasing amount of grey vesicular matter composing its surface, so does the possessor rank in the scale of intelligent creatures.

But although these physiological distinctions serve as indications of intelligence, yet they will not of themselves teach us the difference between that intelligence and the mental qualities of the invertebrate races, and it is necessary that we should look to the actions of the various creatures before we can hope to form anything like a correct estimate of their psychical nature.

In our concluding remarks concerning instinct, we mentioned that this property is not susceptible of development; that, however complicated the actions resulting from it may be, they are, as a general rule, the same under all circumstances; in fact that a negative feature in "instinct" is the absence of educability. What we have, therefore, first to seek in reason or intelligence, as a distinguishing characteristic, is the last-named attribute, and in a greater

or less degree we find it in nearly all the Vertebrata, beginning with the higher reptiles, and ending with the most intelligent human being. This susceptibility of improvement is exhibited in various ways, such as the mode in which the parent teaches its offspring to perform certain acts; or the readiness with which it conforms itself to the habits of man, and casting off its savage propensities, yields to his civilizing influences.

To quote illustrations in proof of the presence of this quality would be quite superfluous, for whoever has watched the habits of the higher animals in a wild state, or has kept any domesticated ones, cannot fail to have witnessed examples of their educability, and reserving this attribute for subsequent consideration, we shall now pass on to another characteristic of intelligence, namely, design. By this we mean a distinct consciousness on the part of the creature that it is adapting a means to an end, however humble may be the object to be attained.

That the Fly does not know wherefore it deposits its ova upon certain substances suitable for the nourishment of its offspring, no one will doubt; for, as before stated, it may in all probability be dead before the eggs are hatched; and it is at least very questionable whether even in performing the most complicated instinctive actions, these creatures are conscious of the end to be attained. Reminding you of Vogt's anecdote of the Bee and the Wasp*, in which * Page 128.