The Dawn of Reason or, Mental Traits in the Lower Animals

Excerpt

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—Cicindelidæ—Carabidæ. 7

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 Amœba—In Medusa—In a water-louse—In a garden snail—In the angle-worm—In oysters—In a ground wasp. 39

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

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

Æstheticism

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 (Coccinellæ)—Æsthetic taste in birds—The snakeskin bird—Humming-bird—Bower bird—The love of personal cleanliness—In birds—In insects—In the locust....