of the instinctive theory maintain, that man has
instincts exactly of the same nature as those of animals, but more or
less liable to be obscured by his reasoning powers; and as this is a
case more open to our observation than any other, I will devote a few
pages to its consideration. Infants are said to suck by instinct, and
afterwards to walk by the same power, while in adult man the most
prominent case of instinct is supposed to be, the powers possessed by
savage races to find their way across a trackless and previously unknown
wilderness. Let us take first the case of the infant's sucking. It is
sometimes absurdly stated that the new-born infant "seeks the breast,"
and this is held to be a wonderful proof of instinct. No doubt it would
be if true, but unfortunately for the theory it is totally false, as
every nurse and medical man can testify. Still, the child undoubtedly
sucks without teaching, but this is one of those _simple_ acts dependent
upon organization, which cannot properly be termed instinct, any more
than breathing or muscular motion. Any object of suitable size in the
mouth of an infant excites the nerves and muscles so as to produce the
act of suction, and when at a little later period, the will comes into
play, the pleasurable sensations consequent on the act lead to its
continuance. So, walking is evidently dependent on the arrangement of
the bones and joints, and the pleasurable exertion of the muscles, which
lead to the vertical posture becoming gradually the most agreeable one;
and there can be little doubt that an infant would learn of itself to
walk, even if suckled by a wild beast.

_How Indians travel through unknown and trackless Forests._

Let us now consider the fact, of Indians finding their way through
forests they have never traversed before. This is much misunderstood,
for I believe it is only performed under such special conditions, as at
once to show that instinct has nothing to do with it. A savage, it is
true, can find his way through his native forests in a direction in
which he has never traversed them before; but this is because from
infancy he has been used to wander in them, and to find his way by
indications which he has observed himself or learnt from others. Savages
make long journeys in many directions, and, their whole faculties being
directed to the subject, they gain a wide and accurate knowledge of the
topography, not only of their own district, but of all the region