Abstract
THIS book on the mental processes of animals is the fruit of much original observation, and in many cases this observation has been supplemented by experiment; but, unfortunately, all the author's results are vitiated by his uncritical and biased attitude in favour of an extreme view of the mental life of animals, and there are few of his facts which the comparative psychologist would be justified in using without ample corroboration by other observers. Instinct is regarded as the great bane of psychology, and it almost seems as if the author believed it to be a special invention of those whom he calls “creationists.” He poses as an ardent evolutionist, but is so blind to the most elementary principles of the evolution of mind that when a water-louse frightens some rhizopods, he can only conclude either that the latter have eyes and ears so small that lenses of the highest power cannot make them visible, or that these creatures are the possessors of senses utterly unknown to and incapable of being appreciated by man. He makes observations on spiders which show that they are differently affected by loud and soft vibrations of an organ—observations which do not even demonstrate the existence of hearing—and concludes that these animals have attained a very high degree of æsthetic musical discrimination. He has also seen a spider “intentionally beautifying” its web with flakes of logwood, and he has watched rhizopods employing their time in “simple amusement” resembling a game of tag. Nevertheless, among these extravagances, one meets with observations which would be of distinct value and interest if one had confidence in the observer.
The Dawn of Reason.
By James Weir jun. Pp. xiii + 234. (New York: The Macmillan Company, London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1899.)
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The Dawn of Reason. Nature 60, 100 (1899). https://doi.org/10.1038/060100a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/060100a0