The Dawn of Reason, by James Weir pot

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dawn of Reason, by James WeirThis eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever.. You may copy it, give

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Dawn of Reason, by James Weir

This eBook is for the use of anyone

anywhere at no cost and with

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Title: The Dawn of Reason

or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals Author: James Weir

Release Date: May 25, 2007 [EBook #21608] Language: English

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THE

DAWN OF REASON

OR

MENTAL TRAITS IN

THE LOWER ANIMALS

BY

JAMES WEIR, JR.,

M.D.

New YorkTHE MACMILLAN COMPANYLONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., Ltd

1899

All rights reserved

Copyright, 1899,

By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

Norwood Press

J S Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith

Norwood Mass U.S.A

To My Father

WHO, WHILE NOT A SCIENTIST, HAS

YET TAKEN

AN INTELLIGENT ANDAPPRECIATIVE

INTEREST IN MY WORKTHIS BOOK IS RESPECTFULLY

DEDICATED

Most works on mind in the lower animalsare large and ponderous volumes, repletewith technicalities, and unfit for thegeneral reader; therefore the author of thisbook has endeavored to present theevidences of mental action, in creatureslower than man, in a clear, simple, andbrief form He has avoided alltechnicalities, and has used the utmostbrevity consistent with clearness andaccuracy He also believes thatmetaphysics has no place in a discussion

of psychology, and has carefully refrainedfrom using this once powerful weapon ofpsychologists

Many of the data used by the authors ofmore pretentious works are second-hand

or hearsay; the author of this treatise,however, has no confidence in theaccuracy of such material, therefore he hasnot made use of any such data Hismaterial has been thoroughly sifted, andthe reader may depend upon the absolutetruth of the evidence here presented

The author does not claim infallibility;some of his conclusions may beerroneous; he believes, however, that

future investigation will prove the verity

of every proposition that is advanced inthis book These propositions have beenformulated only after a twenty-years study

of biology in all of its phases

Some of the data used in this volume have

appeared in Appleton's Popular Science

Monthly, Lippincott's Magazine, Worthington's Magazine , New York Medical Record, Recreation, Atlantic Monthly, American Naturalist, Scientific American, Home Magazine, Popular Science News, Denver Medical Times,

and North American Review; therefore the

author tenders his thanks to the publishers

of these magazines for their kindness inallowing him to use their property ingetting out this work

"Waveland," Owensboro, Ky.,

January 9, 1899

CONTENTS

CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS

MIND

PAGEDefinition of mind—The correlation of

physiology, morphology, andpsychology—The presence of nerve-

elements in monera—Conscious and

unconscious mind—Unconscious("vegetative") mind in the jelly-fish

—Anatomy, physiology, andpsychology of the jelly-fish—Theorigin of conscious mind

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 marginalis—Corydalus—Ears ofgrasshopper and cricket—Of the

"red-legged locust"—Of flies—Ofgnats—Auditory vesicles of horse-fly

—Ears of butterflies—Cerambyxbeetle—Long-horned beetle

—Cicindelidæ—Carabidæ.

—Action of stimuli on nerve-tissue

consciousness—Time element inconsciousness—Conscious

determination in Stentor

polymorphus— I n Actinophrys—In

Amœba— I n Medusa—In a

water-louse—In a garden snail—In theangle-worm—In oysters—In aground wasp

CHAPTER III

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 sandwasps—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—Bybumblebees—Memory of individualsnot enemies—By the toad—By thespider—By ants—By snakes—Bychameleons—By birds—By cattle—

By dogs—By monkeys—Memory of

Events (Education, etc.)—In the

wasp—In fleas—In the toad—Inother insects

CHAPTER IV

THE EMOTIONS

The higher animals—Laughter—Inmonkeys—In the dog—In thechimpanzee—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—Ofthe earwig—Anger and hate evinced

by ants, centipedes, tarantulas,weevils

CHAPTER V

ÆSTHETICISM

The love of music—In spiders—Inquail—In dogs—Origin of love ofmusic in the dog—Dog's knowledge

of the echo—Love of music in rats—

In mice—Singing mice—Love ofmusic in lizards—In salamanders—

In snakes—In pigeons—In thebarnyard cock—In the horse—Amusement and pastime—In

Actinophrys—In the snail—In

Diptera—In ants—In lady-bugs

(Coccinellæ)—Æsthetic taste in

birds—The snakeskin bird—Humming-bird—Bower bird—Thelove of personal cleanliness—Inbirds—In insects—In the locust.

CHAPTER VI

PARENTAL AFFECTION

Origin of parental feeling—Evidence ofthis psychical trait in spiders—Inearwigs—In crayfish—In butterflies

—In fish—In toads—In snakes—Instance of pride in parents—In thedog—In the cat—Parental affection

in birds—Animals seeking theassistance of man when theiroffspring is in danger—The evolution

of parental affection

CHAPTER VII

REASON

Definition of reason—Origin ofinstincts—Instances of intelligentratiocination—In the bee—The wasp

—The ant—Mental degeneration inants occasioned by the habit ofkeeping slaves—The honey-makingant filling an artificial trench—Otherevidences of reason in the insect

—Termes—Division of labor—The

king and queen—Bravery of soldierants—Overseer and laborers—Blindimpulse and intelligent ideation—

Harvester ants—Their habits andintelligence—Their presence inArkansas believed to be unique—Animals able to count—This facultypresent in the mason wasps—Experiments—Certain birds able tocount—Also dogs and mules—Catrecognizing the lapse of time—Monkey's ability in computing—Huber's experiment with glass slipand bees—Kirby and Spence'scomment—Summary.

CHAPTER VIII

AUXILIARY SENSES

The color-changing sense and "hominginstinct" so-called—These facultiesnot instincts but true senses—Thechromatic function—Tinctumutation

—Chromatophores and their function

—Various theories—Experiments ofPaul Bert with axolotls—Semper'scontention—The difference betweenplant coloring and animal coloring—Effects of light—Experiments withnewts—Lister's observations—Pouchet's experiments—Sympathetic

nerves—Author's experiments withfrogs—The sense-centre oftinctumutation—Effects of atropia—Experiments with fish—With katydid

—The "homing instinct" a true sense

—Evidences of the sense in a louse—Author's experiments withsnails—Location of sense-centre insnails—Evidences of the homingsense in the limpet—In beetles—Infleas—In ants—In snakes—In birds

water-—In fish

many of the Coleoptera—The common "tumble bug" (Canthon

Lævis) a gifted letisimulant—The

double defence of the pentatomid,

"stink-bug"—Reason coming to the

aid of instinct—Death-feigning aninstinct—Feigning of death by ants—

By a hound—Not instinctive in thedog and cat—The origin of thisinstinct—Summary

Instinct and reason—Specializedinstincts and "intelligent accidents"—Abstraction in the dog—In theelephant—The kinship of mind inman and the lower animals shown bythe phenomenon of dreaming—By theeffects of drugs—The action ofalcohol on rhizopods—On jelly-fish

—On insects—On mammals—Animals aware of the medicalqualities of certain substances—Recognition of property rights—Animals as tool users—Instinct andreason differentiated—Summary

Index

DAWN OF REASON

This definition of mind is widely differentfrom the definition of those metaphysicalscientists who directed psychologicalinvestigation and observation a decadeago They held that psychology hadnothing in common with physiology and

morphology; that psychos stood upon an

independent pedestal, and was notaffected by, and did not affect, any of thephenomena of life

In these days it is becoming an acceptedfact that morphology, physiology, andpsychology are intimately related andconnected, and that a thorough knowledge

of the one implies an equally thoroughknowledge of the others

Morphology and physiology, until acomparatively recent time, led divergentpaths; 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 biologicalresearch—Morphology and Physiology—have long travelled apart, taking differentpaths This is perfectly natural, for theaims, as well as the methods, of the twodivisions are different Morphology, thescience of forms, aims at a scientificunderstanding of organic structures, oftheir internal and external proportions ofform Physiology, the science of functions,

on the other hand, aims at a knowledge ofthe functions of the organs, or, in other

words, of the manifestations of life."[1]Indeed, physiology has so diverged fromits sister science, morphology, that itcompletely and entirely ignores two of themost important functions of evolution,heredity and adaptation This has beenclearly shown by Haeckel, who has donemuch towards bringing about a change ofopinion in these matters.[2]

Morphology and physiology areinterdependent, correlated, and connectedone with the other; and, as I will endeavor

to point out as my argument developsitself, psychology is, likewise, intimatelyassociated 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 theinternal and external operations of life.Keeping in view the definition of mind asadvanced in the opening paragraph of thischapter, it at once becomes evident thateven the very lowest forms of life possessmind 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 aclose and strict accountability, mydefinition of mind would not embracethese organisms Yet, some small latitudemust be allowed in all definitions ofpsychological phenomena, especially in

those phenomena occurring in organismswhich 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 todirect and control life

Mind makes itself evident in two ways—consciously and unconsciously Theconscious manifestations of mind arevolitional, while the unconscious,

"vegetative," reflex operations of mind arewholly involuntary

Although the unconscious mind plays fully

as prominent a rôle in the economy of life

as does the conscious mind, this treatisewill 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 readermay 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 theoperations of the unconscious mind as it is

to be noticed in its reflex and "vegetative"phases The higher and more evolvedphases of the unconscious mind will not

be discussed in this work, exceptincidentally, perhaps, as they may appear,from time to time, as my propositions areadvanced, and the scheme of mentaldevelopment is elaborated

The medusa (the specimen that I take for

study is a very common fresh-waterindividual) has a well-developed nervoussystem Its transparent, translucentnectocalyx, or swimming-bell, has acentral nervous system which is localized

on the margin of the bell, and which formsthe so-called "nerve-ring" of Romanes.[3]This nerve-ring is separated into an upperand lower nerve-ring by the "veil," anannular sheet of tissue which forms thefloor of the swimming-bell, or "umbrella,"and through a central opening in which themanubrium, or "handle," of the umbrellapasses down and hangs below the margin

of the bell

The nerve-ring is well supplied withepithelial and ganglionic nerve-cells; theirfunction is wholly reflex and involuntary;

they preside over the pulsing or swimmingmovements of the nectocalyx This pulsing

is excited by stimulation, and isanalogous, so far as movement isconcerned, to the peristaltic action of theintestines Situated on the margin of thebell are a number of very minute, roundbodies, the so-called "eyes." These eyesare supplied with nerves, one of whosefunctions is volitional, as I will endeavor

to show in my chapter on ConsciousDetermination

The manubrium, or handle, is also thecentre of a nerve-system Nerves proceedfrom it and are spread out on the innersurface of the bell These nerves presideover digestion, and are involuntary.Certain ganglia in the manubrium appear

to preside over volitional effort I havenever been able, however, to locate theirexact position, nor to determine theirprecise action They will be discussedmore fully in the next chapter.

The nervous system of the nectocalyx isexceedingly sensitive, responding withremarkable quickness to stimulation.When two or three minims of alcohol aredropped into a pint of water in which one

of these creatures is swimming, thepulsing of the nectocalyx is notablyincreased in frequency and volume

Romanes determined that the centresgoverning pulsation were located in thenerve-ring of the swimming-bell, and thateach section of the nectocalyx had its