The San Francisco call., 1897-04-07
INTELLECT AND INSTINCT
David Starr Jordan Lectures
Before the Second Unita-
rian c ub.
Heredity and the Grand Part 1t
Plays in the Lives of Men
and Other Animals.

Materialism cropped out in big spots in
David Starr Jordan's lecture before the
Second Unitarian Club last night. Fol-
lowing the discoveries and reasoning OF
Darwin, Spencer and Huxley, this was
unavoidable, for they dealt with the pal
pable visible things of life and these
things are of matter.
Few men living can invest an old sub
ject with the interest of newness so we'll
as can Professor Jordan. While handling
his theme with the grace and ease of per-
feet control he finds time to interject at
delie ehtful intervals flashes of dry humor.
These are indeed restful oases in what, to
the masses, would appear a dry desert of
scientific talk.
He spoke of the nervo Gus system of
plants and animals. In the tree the root
tips and tips OF the branches are the sem
sitive portion, the one seeking instinct
iveiy for moisture and the other for sun
shine. The tree is not capable of Iocomo-
ton, and has no need of a brain. Its
brain is its root tips and tips OF its
branches. This sense or instinct is OF the
same nature as mind. But if the tree
could move from one place to another and
had to move, it would be necessary for its
roots and tips to report to central office,
as the various senses report to the brain
of the animal.
The actions of the lower animals are re-
fex or automatic. Their lives depend
upon those actions, ior ii those automa tic
movements were not as regular and as GER
tain as clockwork the animals would die.
Step on cats tail, and you know what
the automatic response will be-" said the
professor. He spoke of the horse auto
matically paving the sand of the desert for
water, and of q mockin bird going into
spasms at the sight of an owl, although
the bird may never have seen an owl be-
fore. 1t is the hereditary dread OF the
enemy OF its race that seiZes the bird. Our
horror of snakes goes back to our ances-
tors, who had to fight them. The monkey
that is not afraid of snakes will be bitten
by them and will die.
1t was said, remarked the professor, tha
the Ego plays upon the brain as a hum an
being plays upon piano, but ne did not
| think SO. The Ego is not a separate in
dividual thing. 1t is a coordination OF
all. Mans consciousness is the sum OF
something of the character of his father,
| his mother, his grandfather and his grand
mother. This due to herediIy. But there
| is what is called the higher heredity, and
that is what man makes out of him self.
Each man with the material which he has
can build temple or pigpen.
Reflex action or instinct rises by de-
grees into intellect. Intellect has choice
of responses; instinct has no choice.
The speaker told about a baby monkey
which, although it had never seen an egg.
cracked hole in the end of one by tap.
ping the egg against its teeth and sucked
the contents. This monkey belonged to q
tree-cllm bing race and its ancestor robbed
birds nests. Another monkey Of a race
which did not go egg hunting used an egg
as If 1t were nut and let the yelk esca pc.
Sensation goes into thought, and
thought into action. To remain abso-
lutely impassive in the presence of an
idea is a difficult thing.
The professor clio Led with a side wine al