The star of the north. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1849-1866, 1857-04-29
From the Public Ledger.
WHAT Is INSTINCT.


I, is no Improbable study in natural his.
tory to trace back the history of an instinct.
Teach a spaniel to beg for food, and you
often trace in its pups tendency 10 the
same habit. Let setter be trained 10 set,
and its progeny will do 80 instinctively,
though they may never even witness the
action performed. The chicken, though
countless generations, pick up crumbs and
insects from the ground, while the wood
pecker, with beak adapted for it, sits "tap.
ping the hollow beech tree"
We may take the eggs Of the duck, snd
the unconscious hen will sit upon them
and hatch them, and guard the progeny a.
her own; but no sooner have these little
ones cracked the shell, than by tho inward
impulse, they seek for the water and swim
of, to the infinite terror of the poor hen
who hatched them, and who vsinly tries
to lure them away from what seems to hss
! to be their certain destruction.
This wisdom OF the web foot, this pro-
ponsity, or instinct, whence comes it!-
Neither by education nor example, that is
clear; neither is it anything communicated
by the hen, nor her life, nor her instincts
in any way transferred; neither is it any po.
culiarity in the matter of the egg, as anaiy-
sis could probably show. Is il then the rs-
salt of organization? And if 30, what does
this mean but the result of.motion1
II we take an egg, and put the wet tip Of
the tongue 10 the large end OF it, we at once
become sensible Of gentle heat, If the egg
is alive. This is then the germ Of all the
after vibrations OF life, stimulated by the
vital warmth Of the hen, and these pulsa-
tons transmit the instructive tendency that
mpels the duck 10 the water, embodying
kind OF memory. or impulse, from former
generations, quite distinct from that Of the
! hen. These vibrations organize the fluid Of
the egg into a form corresponding with tho
idea of which the whole past suggests as the
intended future OF the bird
The uneducated but honest Christian sees
or thinks he sees, in this, however, the i'm.
mediate finger Of God, par of the all per.
vading mind Of Him in whom we live and
move, and nave our being; His wisdom
directly imParting wisdom to each cres,urs
according to It's wants.
! But as We have already seen, more ex.
tended observation will indicate to q reflect
i've mind that instinct is, alter all, part, ss
least the result OF fixed laws, and bu, an in
nate tendency to reproduce actions that are
habiiuai IN the parent And this yery law
SO Tar from allowing Us 10 lose sigh, OF .
designer, viii cooduc, Us back TO 4 precon-
cering mind, comPreLendiag. arranging
and rewarding all actions, 50 that each vio.
laiion shall consolidate into al Lzbi:rsIly
recurring purpose: each purpose into an il
sunct, and each instructive hzbi. shall en-
tfely mould even the physical system n
accordance with the Whole-sharpening the
beaks aud following the bones OF bids. CIV
ing web feet 10 water fowl and clavs 70
beasts Of prey, the inmz,enzl thus forming
the maternal.
! II then the differences Of instinct. are al
merely those Of development OF the iuten-
ions and habits OF the vs-ioas animals.
through the course OF ages and generations,
and |; every exercise Of every hzhii las Il
/; tie tendeor? 10 reproduce itself z-i .
become hereditary and ins:iDcire !. z ID
measure lessons he nzrks c: F-7oss Il
creation. Should /; seen 70 rsuoTs . =
step further from The designer, j, o1ly ;hzs
: enables Is 70 take broade, E.sEs :: His p-o-
found design.