The American Beaver And His Works

Howes M802 "Probably the first study of the behavior of a single animal in the mordern sense and certainly the first American work in comparative psychology."--Gach. "..long regarded as a classic on the subject." DAB, Vol. XIII, 185.

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Howes M802 "Probably the first study of the behavior of a single animal in the mordern sense and certainly the first American work in comparative psychology."--Gach. "..long regarded as a classic on the subject." DAB, Vol. XIII, 185.

Excerpt from The American Beaver and His Works This system of classification is founded exclusively upon the anatomical structure of animals, whence comparative anatomy is the source of its materials. It not only rejects the habits and properties of animals as immaterial and transient, but it also leaves out of consideration their mental endowments, which, how ever important in other respects, were incapable of affording a basis of classification. Under its clear and definite discriminations all the species of each of the four great branches of the animal kingdom are seen in intelligible and harmonious relations, notwithstanding their striking diversities of form. Unity of type runs through the structural organization of all the individuals comprised in each Of these branches. The grandeur of this fourfold plan of creation is not more impressive than the wonderful adaptation of the sur rounding elements to the condition and wants of the multitude of animal organisms which God has made. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1868 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER IX. ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY. Inquiries proposed -- Whether the Mutes possess a Mental Principle-- Whether its Qualities are similar to those manifested by the Human Mind--Whether the Differences are of Degree, or of Kind--Considerations from Structural Organization--The Principle of Life--Memory--Reason --Imagination--The Will--Appetites and Passions--Lunacy of Animals --General Conclusions. The popular mind has always been in advance of the metaphysicians with reference to the mental endowments of animals. For some reason there has been a perpetual hesitation among many of the latter to recognize, in the manifestations of the animal mind, the same characteristics that are displayed by the human intellect: lest the high position of man should be shaken or impaired. Besides this, the connection in man between the intellectual faculties and the moral sense is found to be so intimate, that the concession of the former has seemed, to cautious minds, to draw after it the necessary admission of the latter. In attempting to escape this imaginary dilemma, the metaphysicians have been betrayed, as it would seem, into a false position. This is shown by the invention, in modern times, of a vague, not to say fictitious, principle, with which all animals have been arbitrarily endowed for the government and maintenance of their lives. There can be no objection to the use of this principle, which is termed "instinct," to explain, or rather to leave unexplained, certain mental phenomena exhibited equally by mankind and the inferior animals, so long as it is restricted to those mental processes which are beyond the reach of consciousness. But the attempt to explain all the mental phenomena manifested by the mutes by means of an arbitrary term is an...