The Dawn of Reason

CHAPTER I. The Senses in the Lower Animals

THE SENSES IN THE LOWER ANIMALS

The sense of touch--The senses of taste and smell--Actinophryans having taste--The sense of sight--Modification of sight organs by surroundings --Sight in Actinophryans--Blind fish sensitive to light--Blind spiders --Blind man--Primitive eyes in Cymothoe--In the jelly-fish, sea-urchin, Alciope, Myrianida--The sight organs of the snail--Power of vision in the snail--Eyes of crayfish--Compound eyes--Vision in "whirligig beetle"--In Periophthalmus--In Onchidium--In Calotis--Organs of audition--In Lepidoptera--Hymenoptera--Orthoptera--Diptera --Hemiptera--Dyticus marginalis--Corydalus--Ears of grasshopper and cricket--Of the "red-legged locust"--Of flies--Of gnats--Auditory vesicles of horse-fly--Ears of butterflies--Cerambyx beetle--Long-horned beetle--Cicindelidae--Carabidae. 7

CHAPTER II. Conscious Determination

CONSCIOUS DETERMINATION

Definition--How conscious determination is evolved from the senses--The presence of nerve-tissue in Stentor polymorphus--The properties of nerve-tissue--Romanes' experiment with anemone--Action of stimuli on nerve-tissue--Reflection--Origin of consciousness--Time element in consciousness--Conscious determination in Stentor polymorphus--In Actinophrys--In Amoeba--In Medusa--In a water-louse--In a garden snail--In the angle-worm--In oysters--In a ground wasp. 39

CHAPTER III. Memory

MEMORY

Discussed under four heads, viz. Memory of Locality (Surroundings), Memory of Friends (Kin), Memory of Strangers (Other animals not kin), and Memory of Events (Education, Happenings, etc.)--Memory of locality in Actinophrys--In the snail--In the ant--In sand wasps--In beetles--In reptiles--Memory of Friends--In ants --Experiments with ants, Lasius flavus, Lasius niger, and Myrmica ruginodis--Memory of kin in wasps and bees--Experiments --Memory of Strangers (Animals other than kin)--Recognition of enemies--By bumblebees--Memory of individuals not enemies--By the toad--By the spider--By ants--By snakes--By chameleons--By birds --By cattle--By dogs--By monkeys--Memory of Events (Education, etc.) --In the wasp--In fleas--In the toad--In other insects. 60

CHAPTER IV. The Emotions

THE EMOTIONS

The higher animals--Laughter--In monkeys--In the dog--In the chimpanzee --In the orang-utan--Fear, dismay, consternation, grief, fortitude, joy shown by bees--Affection for the individual evinced by house wren --Anger, hate, fear, revenge, in the higher animals--Forgiving disposition in the monkey--Sympathy--In ants--Care of young by ants --Solicitude of butterflies--Of gadfly--Of the ichneumon fly--Of the mason wasp--Of the spider--Of the earwig--Anger and hate evinced by ants, centipedes, tarantulas, weevils. 88

CHAPTER V. Aestheticism

AESTHETICISM

The love of music--In spiders--In quail--In dogs--Origin of love of music in the dog--Dog's knowledge of the echo--Love of music in rats --In mice--Singing mice--Love of music in lizards--In salamanders--In snakes--In pigeons--In the barnyard cock--In the horse--Amusement and pastime--In Actinophrys--In the snail--In Diptera--In ants--In lady-bugs (Coccinellae)--AEsthetic taste in birds--The snakeskin bird--Humming-bird--Bower bird--The love of personal cleanliness--In birds--In insects--In the locust. 107

CHAPTER VI. Parental Affection

PARENTAL AFFECTION

Origin of parental feeling--Evidence of this psychical trait in spiders --In earwigs--In crayfish--In butterflies--In fish--In toads--In snakes--Instance of pride in parents--In the dog--In the cat--Parental affection in birds--Animals seeking the assistance of man when their offspring is in danger--The evolution of parental affection. 134

CHAPTER VII. Reason

REASON

Definition of reason--Origin of instincts--Instances of intelligent ratiocination--In the bee--The wasp--The ant--Mental degeneration in ants occasioned by the habit of keeping slaves--The honey-making ant filling an artificial trench--Other evidences of reason in the insect --Termes--Division of labor--The king and queen--Bravery of soldier ants--Overseer and laborers--Blind impulse and intelligent ideation --Harvester ants--Their habits and intelligence--Their presence in Arkansas believed to be unique--Animals able to count--This faculty present in the mason wasps--Experiments--Certain birds able to count --Also dogs and mules--Cat recognizing the lapse of time--Monkey's ability in computing--Huber's experiment with glass slip and bees --Kirby and Spence's comment--Summary. 147

CHAPTER VIII. Auxiliary Senses

AUXILIARY SENSES

The color-changing sense and "homing instinct" so-called--These faculties not instincts but true senses--The chromatic function --Tinctumutation--Chromatophores and their function--Various theories--Experiments of Paul Bert with axolotls--Semper's contention--The difference between plant coloring and animal coloring--Effects of light--Experiments with newts--Lister's observations--Pouchet's experiments--Sympathetic nerves--Author's experiments with frogs--The sense-centre of tinctumutation--Effects of atropia--Experiments with fish--With katydid--The "homing instinct" a true sense--Evidences of the sense in a water-louse--Author's experiments with snails--Location of sense-centre in snails--Evidences of the homing sense in the limpet--In beetles--In fleas--In ants--In snakes--In birds--In fish. 181

CHAPTER IX. Letisimulation

LETISIMULATION

Not confined to any family, order, or species of animals--Death-feigning by rhizopods--By fresh-water annelids--By the larvae of butterflies and beetles--By free-swimming rotifers--By snakes--By the itch insect (Sarcoptes hominis)--By many of the Coleoptera--The common "tumble bug" (Canthon Laevis) a gifted letisimulant--The double defence of the pentatomid, "stink-bug"--Reason coming to the aid of instinct-- Death-feigning an instinct--Feigning of death by ants--By a hound--Not instinctive in the dog and cat--The origin of this instinct--Summary. 202

CONCLUSION

Instinct and reason--Specialized instincts and "intelligent accidents" --Abstraction in the dog--In the elephant--The kinship of mind in man and the lower animals shown by the phenomenon of dreaming--By the effects of drugs--The action of alcohol on rhizopods--On jelly-fish --On insects--On mammals--Animals aware of the medical qualities of certain substances--Recognition of property rights--Animals as tool users--Instinct and reason differentiated--Summary. 215

BIBLIOGRAPHY 225

INDEX 227

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DAWN OF REASON

MENTAL TRAITS IN THE LOWER ANIMALS

INTRODUCTION.--CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS MIND

Mind is a resultant of nerve, in the beginning of life, neuro-plasmic, action, through which and by which animal life in all its phases is consciously and unconsciously, directly and indirectly, maintained, sustained, governed, and directed.

This definition of mind is widely different from the definition of those metaphysical scientists who directed psychological investigation and observation a decade ago. They held that psychology had nothing in common with physiology and morphology; that psychos stood upon an independent pedestal, and was not affected by, and did not affect, any of the phenomena of life.

In these days it is becoming an accepted fact that morphology, physiology, and psychology are intimately related and connected, and that a thorough knowledge of the one implies an equally thorough knowledge of the others.

Morphology and physiology, until a comparatively recent time, led divergent paths; but, thanks to such men as Haeckel, Romanes, Huxley, Wolff, and many others, this erroneous method of investigation, to a great extent, has ceased.

"The two chief divisions of biological research--Morphology and Physiology--have long travelled apart, taking different paths. This is perfectly natural, for the aims, as well as the methods, of the two divisions are different. Morphology, the science of forms, aims at a scientific understanding of organic structures, of their internal and external proportions of form. Physiology, the science of functions, on the other hand, aims at a knowledge of the functions of the organs, or, in other words, of the manifestations of life."

Haeckel, Evolution of Man, Vol. I. p. 20.

Indeed, physiology has so diverged from its sister science, morphology, that it completely and entirely ignores two of the most important functions of evolution, heredity and adaptation. This has been clearly shown by Haeckel, who has done much towards bringing about a change of opinion in these matters.

Ibid., p. 21 et seq.

Morphology and physiology are interdependent, correlated, and connected one with the other; and, as I will endeavor to point out as my argument develops itself, psychology is, likewise, intimately associated with these two manifestations of life.

It will be noticed that as forms take on more complexity, and as organs develop new and more complex functions, psychos becomes less simple in its manifestations, and more complex in its relations to the internal and external operations of life.

Keeping in view the definition of mind as advanced in the opening paragraph of this chapter, it at once becomes evident that even the very lowest forms of life possess mind in some degree. It is true that in the monera, or one-celled organisms, the nerve-cell is not differentiated; consequently, if I were to be held to a close and strict accountability, my definition of mind would not embrace these organisms. Yet, some small latitude must be allowed in all definitions of psychological phenomena, especially in those phenomena occurring in organisms which typify the very beginnings of life.

I am confident that, notwithstanding the fact that the nerve-cell is not differentiated in these primal forms, nerve-elements are, nevertheless, present in them, and serve to direct and control life.

Mind makes itself evident in two ways--consciously and unconsciously. The conscious manifestations of mind are volitional, while the unconscious, "vegetative," reflex operations of mind are wholly involuntary.

Although the unconscious mind plays fully as prominent a role in the economy of life as does the conscious mind, this treatise will not discuss the former, except indirectly. Yet, an outline sketch as to what is meant by the unconscious mind will be necessary, in order that the reader may more fully comprehend my meaning when discussing conscious mind.

A brief investigation of the anatomy, physiology, and psychology of the medusa, or jelly-fish, will serve to illustrate the operations of the unconscious mind as it is to be noticed in its reflex and "vegetative" phases. The higher and more evolved phases of the unconscious mind will not be discussed in this work, except incidentally, perhaps, as they may appear, from time to time, as my propositions are advanced, and the scheme of mental development is elaborated.

The medusa (the specimen that I take for study is a very common fresh-water individual) has a well-developed nervous system. Its transparent, translucent nectocalyx, or swimming-bell, has a central nervous system which is localized on the margin of the bell, and which forms the so-called "nerve-ring" of Romanes. This nerve-ring is separated into an upper and lower nerve-ring by the "veil," an annular sheet of tissue which forms the floor of the swimming-bell, or "umbrella," and through a central opening in which the manubrium, or "handle," of the umbrella passes down and hangs below the margin of the bell.

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