Bees learn
to use grafting wax instead of propolis to stop the chinks in their
hives, and soon cease to store up honey in a warm climate.
Our knowledge of vertebrate psychology is not yet sufficient to give
a history of the struggle for supremacy between instinct and
intelligence, between inherited tendency and the consciousness of
the individual. But the outcome is evident; intelligence prevails,
instinct wanes. The actions of the young may be purely instinctive;
it is better that they should be. But instinct in the adult is more
and more modified by intelligence gained by experience. There is
perhaps no more characteristic instinct than the habit of
nest-building in birds. And yet there are numerous instances where
the structure and position of nests have been completely changed to
suit new circumstances. And the view that this habit is a pure
instinct, unmodified by intelligence, has been disproved by Mr.
Wallace. But while size of brain, keenness of sense-organs, and
length of life may be rightly emphasized as the most important
elements in the development of vertebrate intelligence, the
importance of the appendages should never be forgotten. Cats seem to
have acquired certain accomplishments--opening doors, ringing
door-bells, etc.--never attained by the more intelligent dog, mainly
because of the greater mobility and better powers of grasping of the
forepaws.
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