In view of the foregoing facts illustrative of the mental life of
Invertebrates, there remains little ground for denying to creatures
below the backboned phyla a certain modicum of intelligence, well
in accord with their needs. That any Invertebrate is capable of
the process of reasoning is, of course, a debatable question, but
the existence of mental processes in these groups is, apparently,
indisputable, and where there is _mind_ there is _intelligence_,
however limited it may be.
Forel attributes to Insects passions closely akin to those exhibited
by the higher Vertebrates, though these vary considerably with the
diverse species. Wasps, certain species of Ants, and a few Beetles, are
extremely irritable and pugnacious. Among the less intelligent species
no passions are manifest apart from hunger, thirst and sexual appetite.
The memory likewise varies according to the species, and, as might be
expected, is at a minimum in the small-brained forms and most highly
developed in the social Hymenoptera (Bees, Ants and Wasps).
“It must be admitted,” declares Forel, “that Insects are capable
of perceiving, of learning, of recollecting, of associating their
recollections and of utilizing them to accomplish their ends. They have
various emotions and their will is not purely instinctive, but offers
individual plastic modifications, adapted to circumstances.”
Although many authorities are inclined to think that Forel goes too
far in his estimates of Insect Intelligence, Bouvier’s[24] extensive
studies have led him to practically the same conclusions. He rejects
Bethe’s claim that Insects are mere reflex machines, because they
can adapt themselves to circumstances, acquire new habits, learn to
remember, and manifest discernment.
Comparing their organization with ours, McIndoo concludes that Insects
“have perhaps accomplished more than we have.... Furthermore some
Insects, for example Honey Bees and Plant-lice, have evolved methods
for controlling sex; this subject has probably puzzled Man as much as
life itself, yet Man can neither control sex nor knows how to control
it.... Let us cease looking with scorn upon Insects.”
“We prize so highly all our own aptitudes as to believe that they are
unequalled, even when inspired by the least commendable motives,” says
Bouvier. “Though bellicose ourselves, we think it strange that beehives
or ants-nests should engage in warfare. At times we revert to barbarism
by reducing our enemies to slavery, yet we exclaim with surprise at the
habits of slave-making Ants.”
There is nowhere any distinct break in the evolutionary series--no
fundamental distinction between the animal and the human mind.
Protoplasm is protoplasm, wherever found, and mind is mind wherever
it becomes manifest. There can no more be two totally distinct and
fundamentally different kinds of mind than there can be two or more
totally distinct kinds of protoplasm, one human, the other sub-human.
The Amœba and Man are both the product of protoplasmic differentiation,
and the primordial protoplasmic cell embodied in its substance all
potentialities of Life and Mind upon this planet.