267
But surely such an event would be remembered, and the
life before and after the breaking of the shell would repre
sent so strong a contrast that the marvellous experience
would not be undergone in vain. It would understand
the mystery of the egg when in due time it became a
parent. In the case of birds which are hatched at an
earlier stage of development, we have evidence to show
that they are keenly observant of what is going on
around them shortly after their emergence from the egg.
“ Birds taken from the nest at two or three weeks old have already
learned the call note of their species ... A goldfinch taken
from the nest at two or three days old acquired the notes of a wren.
. . . This shows that very young birds can both hear and
remember.”—(Wallace. Contributions. pp. 220-2.)
These considerations justify us in asserting that it is not
quite inconceivable—that it is not quite impossible, that
any animal can have kept its eggs warm with the intel
ligent purpose of developing their contents.
(6) In the next place, we have to consider the cases
in which instincts acquired by individuals cannot be in
herited ; because the individuals in which these instincts
are developed are incapable of sexual reproduction. The
social insects are either male, female or neuter ; and in
some cases there are two or even three kinds of neuters.
The difficulty is stated thus by Mr. Darwin :—
“ If a working ant or other neuter insect had been an ordinary ani
mal, I should have unhesitatingly assumed that all its characters had
been slowly acquired through Natural Selection, namely, by individuals
having been born with slight profitable modifications, which were
inherited by the offspring ; and that these again varied and again
were selected and so onwards. But with the working ant we have
an insect differing greatly from its parents yet absolutely sterile ; so
that it could never have transmitted successively acquired modifica
tions of structure or instinct to its progeny.”—(Origin of Species,
p. 229).
