But man, perhaps, has somewhat fewer instincts: than those
possessed by the animals which come next to him in the series. The orang
in the Eastern islands and the chimpanzee in Africa build platforms on
which they sleep; and as both species follow the same habit, it might be
argued that this was due to instinct, but we cannot feel sure that it is
not the result of both animals having similar wants and possessing
similar powers of reasoning. These apes, as we may assume, avoid the
many poisonous fruits of the tropics, and man has no such knowledge; but
as our domestic animals, when taken to foreign lands, and when first
turned out in the spring, often eat poisonous herbs, which they
afterward avoid, we cannot feel sure that the apes do not learn from
their own experience or from that of their parents what fruits to
select. It is, however, certain, as we shall presently see, that apes
have an instinctive dread of serpents, and probably of other dangerous
animals.
The fewness and the comparative simplicity of the instincts in the
higher animals are remarkable in contrast with those of the lower
animals.
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