inistake for it the buzzing of the bee, which is merely a noise created by the vibration of the wings; nor the grating shriek of the Locust, (grasshopper,) caused by the friction of his legs against his wings; nor the shrill noises of the cricket, or the tell-tale call of the katydid, produced by the friction of the wing covers upon each other, and in numerous similar cases which might be cited.

122. Consequently, were the mammals, the birds, and the frogs to be struck out of existence, the whole Animal King. dom would be dumb. It is difficult for us, living in the midst of the thousand various sounds which strike our ear from all sides, to conceive of such a state. Yet such a state did doubtless prevail for thousands of ages, on the surface of our globe, when the watery world alone was inhabited, and before man, the birds, and the mammals were called into being.

C

d

n

123. In man and the mammals, the voice is formed in an organ called the larynx, situated at the upper part of the windpipe, below the bone of the tongue, (a.) att The human larynx, the part called Adam's apple, is composed of several cartilaginous b pieces, called the thyroid cartilage, (b,) the cricoid cartilage, (c,) and the small arytenoid cartilages. Within these are found two large folds of elastic substance, known by the name of the vocal cords, (m.) Two other analogous folds, the superior ligaments of the glottis, (n,) are situated a little above the preceding. The glottis (o) is the space between these four folds. The arrangement of the vocal cords, and of the interior of the glottis in man, is indicated by dotted lines, in Fig. 22.

Fig. 22.

124. The mechanism of the voice is as follows: the air, o its way to the lungs, passes the vocal cords. So long as these are in repose, no sound is produced; but the mome 11 they are made tense they narrow the aperture, and oppose

an obstacle to the current of air, and it cannot pass without causing them to vibrate. These vibrations produce the voice; and as the vocal cords are susceptible of different degrees of tension, these tensions determine different sounds; giving an acute tone when the tension is great, but a grave and dull one when the tension is feeble.

125. Some mammals have, in addition, large cavities which communicate with the glottis, and into which the air reverberates, as it passes the larynx. This arrangement is especially remarkable in the howling monkeys, which are distinguished above all other animals for their deafening howls.

126. In birds, the proper larynx is very simple, destitute of vocal cords, and incapable of producing sounds; but at the lower end of the windpipe there is a second or inferior larynx, which is very complicated in structure. It is a kind

a

B........

Fig. 23.

of bony drum, (a,) having within it two glottides, formed at the top of the two branches (bb) of the windpipe, (c,) each provided with two vocal cords. The dif ferent pieces of this apparatus are moved by peculiar muscles, the number of which varies in different families. In birds which have a very monotonous cry, such as the gulls, the herons, the cuckoos, and the mergansers

(Fig. 23,) there is but one or two pairs; parrots have three and the birds of song have five.

127. Man alone, of all the animal creation, has the power of giving to the tones he utters a variety of definite or articulate sounds; in other words, he alone has the gift of speech.

CHAPTER FOURTH.

OF INTELLIGENCE AND INSTINCT.

128. BESIDES the material substance of which the body is constructed, there is also an immaterial principle, which, though it eludes detection, is none the less real, and to which we are constantly obliged to recur in considering the phenomena of life. It originates with the body, and is developed with it, while yet it is totally apart from it. The study of this inscrutable principle belongs to one of the highest branches of Philosophy; and we shall here merely allude to some of its phenomena which elucidate the development and rank of animals.

129. The constancy of species is a phenomenon depending on the immaterial nature. Animals, and plants also, produce their kind, generation after generation. We shall hereafter show that all animals may be traced back, in the embryo, to a mere point in the yolk of the egg, bearing no resemblance whatever to the future animal; and no inspection would enable us to declare with certainty what that animal is to be. But even here an immaterial principle is present, which no external influence can essentially modify, and determines the growth of the future being. The egg of the hen, for instance, cannot be made to produce any other animal than a chicken, and the egg of the codfish produces only the cod. It may therefore be said with truth, that the chicken and the cod existed in the egg before their formation as such.

130. PERCEPTION is a faculty springing from this princi ple. The organs of sense are the instruments for receiving

sensations, but they are not the faculty itself, without which they would be useless. We all know that the eye and ear may be open to the sights and sounds about us; but if the mind happens to be preoccupied, we perceive them not. We may even be searching for something which actually lies within the compass of our vision; the light enters the eye as usual, and the image is formed on the retina; but, to use a common expression, we look without seeing, unless the mind that perceives is directed to the object.

131. In addition to the faculty of perceiving sensations, the higher animals have also the faculty of recalling past impressions, or the power of memory. Many animals retain a recollection of the pleasure or pain they have experienced, and seek or avoid the objects which may have produced these sensations; and, in doing so, they give proof of judgment.

132. This fact proves that animals have the faculty of comparing their sensations and of deriving conclusions from them; in other words, that they carry on a process of reasoning.

133. These different faculties, taken together, constitute intelligence. In man, this superior principle, which is an emanation of the divine nature, manifests itself in all its splendor. God "breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul." It is man's prerogative, and his alone, to regulate his conduct by the deductions of reason. he has the faculty of exercising his judgment not only upon the objects which surround him, and of apprehending the many relations which exist between himself and the external world; he may also apply his reason to immaterial things, observe the operations of his own intellect, and, by the analysis of his faculties, may arrive at the consciousness of his own nature, and even conceive of that Infinite Spirit," whom n ne by searching can find out.”

134. Other animals cannot aspire to conceptions of this kind, they perceive only such objects as immediately strike their senses, and are incapable of continuous efforts of the reasoning faculty in regard to them. But the. conduct is frequently regulated by another principle of inferior order still derived from the immaterial principle, called Instinct.

135. Under the guidance of Instinct, animals are enabled to perform certain operations, without instruction, in one undeviating manner. When man chooses wood and stone, as the materials for his dwelling, in preference to straw and leaves, it is because he has learned by experience, or because his associates have informed him, that these materials are more suitable for the purpose. But the bee requires no instructions in building her comb. She selects at once the fittest materials, and employs them with the greatest economy; and the young bee exhibits, in this respect, as much discernment as those who have had the benefit of long experience. She performs her task without previous study, and, to all appearances, without the consciousness of its utility, being in some sense impelled to it by a blind impulse.

136. If, however, we judge of the instinctive acts of animals when compared with acts of intelligence, by the relative perfection of their products, we may be led into gross errors, as a single example will show. No one will deny that the honey-comb is constructed with more art and care than the huts of many tribes of men. And yet, who would presume to conclude from this that the bee is superior in intelligence to the inhabitant of the desert or of the primitive forest? It is evident, on the contrary, that in this particular case we are not to judge of the artisan by his work. As a work of man, a structure as perfect in all respects as the honey-comb would indicate very complicated mental operations, and probably would require numerous preliminary experiments.

137. The instinctive actions of animals relate either to