more especially when we are considering the probable mental states
of the lower animals. An habitual or reflex action may have all the
outward appearance of deliberate adjustment. We cannot tell in any
particular case how far the mental comes in, or whether it comes in at
all. Seeing that in our own case consciousness does not enter
into our commonest and most necessary actions, into breathing and
digestion, for instance, and scarcely at all in the details of such acts
as walking and talking we might infer that nature was economical in
its use, and that in the case of such an animal as the Rabbit, which
follows a very limited routine, and in which scarcely any versatility in
emergencies is evident, it must be relatively inconsiderable. Perhaps
after all, pain is not scattered so needlessly and lavishly throughout
the world as the enemies of the vivisectionist would have us believe.
7. _The Nervous System_