Chapter I: Of the Memory of the Principle Called Instinct

ILLUSTRATIONS.--In autumn, says HUBER, honey has been placed in
a window, where the bees resorted to it in multitudes. It was
removed, and the shutters closed during winter; but when opened
again on the return of Spring, the bees came back, though no
honey remained; undoubtedly they remembered it; therefore an
interval of several weeks did not obliterate the impression they
had received.--_Selections from Em. Nat's, but entitled Buffon's
Nat. Hist., Vide V., 137._

A sailor who had been strolling round Wombwell's menagerie,
loitering here and there to identify some of the animals
with those he had seen in far distant climes, was attracted
by the strange noise of a tiger, who seemed irritated beyond
endurance. Jack sought the keeper, to inquire the cause of so
singular a display of feeling, which became more boisterous
the nearer he approached the animal. The keeper replied that
the behavior of the tiger indicated either that he was vastly
pleased, or annoyed; upon this the sailor again approached the
den, and after gazing at the animal a few moments, during which
he became frantic with seeming rage, discovered him to be the
same animal brought to England under the special care of the
weather-beaten tar. Jack was now as delighted as it appeared the
tiger was in recognizing his old friend, and he desired to enter
the den, for the purpose as he said of 'shaking a fist' with
the beautiful animal. The iron door was opened, and Jack was
permitted to enter. The affection of the animal was now shown
by caressing and licking the pleased sailor, whom he seemed to
welcome with the heartiest satisfaction; and when the honest
tar left the den, the anguish of the creature appeared almost
insupportable.--_London Journal. Buff., II., 88, a like case._

A dog one afternoon was passing through a field near Dartmouth,
England, where a washerwoman had hung her linen to dry. He
stopped and surveyed one particular shirt with attention; then
seizing it, he dragged it away through the dirt to his master,
whose shirt it proved to be.--_Buff., I., 290._

Warren Hastings, Governor-General of India, having dismissed the
keeper of one of his elephants, the animal refused obedience
to any other, and finally escaped to the wild herd. Ten years
afterward the old keeper of the elephant found him in a keddah,
and he instantly submitted himself to him.--_Buff., N. H., II.,
190._

We need seek no clearer evidence of memory in its purest sense, than these instances afford. They are the strong arguments of fact, and need but a momentary examination. Instances however can be found, in which the memory of instinct is even more powerful and retentive than the memory of mind. The homeward flight of the carrier-pigeon is a consecutive remembrance of places; and who, unaided, could retrace his steps for hundreds of miles, after one outward passage? Instances of local memory are familiar to all. The fox remembers his burrow; the bird her nest; the bee its hive; for, if they did not recall the fact of having occupied these places before, they would be found as frequently in the burrow or hive of another as their own; whereas common observation teaches the contrary. The parrot also, and the jay, have been noted for their memory. The cat and the pet sheep distinguish their favorite in the family from day to day; while the dog welcomes the return of his master with manifestations of remembrance as conclusive as the remembrance of the child or the wife.

Our knowledge of the qualities of instinct is derived from actions only; of mind, from words and actions. But these qualities can be inferred as legitimately from the latter, under proper restrictions, as from both; and if we should investigate the properties of mind from the actions of men exclusively, we could not arrive at them with any greater certainty than we can at the properties of instinct.

From the above illustrations, (if they were needed,) the conclusion is irresistible, that Instinct remembers; and all the phenomena of this memory are identical, both in analysis and synthesis, with the phenomena of memory in the human mind. No shade of distinction can be taken, except it be in the degree of strength; and on these terms, while the mass of animals would fall below man, some would rise above him.