. Evolution and animal life; an elementary discussion of facts, processes, laws and theories relating to the life and evolution of animals . inds its wayhome at night by thesense of smell, thismay be instinct; whenhe drags a stranger tohis wounded master,that is reason. Whena jack rabbit leapsover a bush to escapea dog, or runs in acircle before a coyote,or when it lies flat inthe grass as a roundball of gray, indistin-guishable from grass,this is instinct. Butthe same animal iscapable of reason-that is, of a distinct choice among lines of action. Not longago a rabbit came bounding across the
. Evolution and animal life; an elementary discussion of facts, processes, laws and theories relating to the life and evolution of animals . inds its wayhome at night by thesense of smell, thismay be instinct; whenhe drags a stranger tohis wounded master,that is reason. Whena jack rabbit leapsover a bush to escapea dog, or runs in acircle before a coyote,or when it lies flat inthe grass as a roundball of gray, indistin-guishable from grass,this is instinct. Butthe same animal iscapable of reason-that is, of a distinct choice among lines of action. Not longago a rabbit came bounding across the university campus atPalo Alto. As it passed a corner it suddenly faced two huntingdogs running side by side toward it. It had the choice of turningback, its first instinct, but a dangerous one; of leaping over thedogs, or of lying flat on the ground. It chose none of these, andits choice was instantaneous. It ceased leaping, ran low, andwent between the dogs just as they were in the act of seizing it,and the surprise of the dogs, as they stopped and tried to hurryaround, was the same feeling that a man would have in FIG. 277.—Tailor bird. Ornithotomus sutorius, and nest. REFLEXES, INSTINCT, AND REASON 445 On the open plains of Merced County, Cal., the jack rabbitis the prey of the bald eagle. Not long since a rabbit pursuedby an eagle was seen to run among the cattle. Leaping fromcow to cow, he used these animals as a shelter from the savagebird. When the pursuit was closer, the rabbit broke coverfor a barbed-wire fence. When the eagle swooped down on it,the rabbit moved a few inches to the right, and the eagle couldnot reach him through the fence. When the eagle came downon the other side, he moved across to the first. And this wascontinued until the eagle gave up the chase. It is instinctthat leads the eagle to swoop on the rabbit. It is instinct againfor the rabbit to run away. But to run along the line of abarbed-wire fence demands some degree of reaso
Size: 1236px × 2022px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorkelloggvernonlvernonl, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900
