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Show 'tHE PRiNCIPLE ot~ CuAt•. f. d h tted the ground in an " ca1ne to ask for foo , t ey pa . • • . • • " 19 ~rlus therefore '' 1mpa.twnt aucl rap1d n1anner. . 1 t b l 'dered as their expression of hun- Inay amos e cons . ger. Mr. Bartlett informs me that the Fl~mmgo and the Kao-u (Rhinochetus fubatus) when anxiOus to be fed, be:t the ground with their feet in the same odd manner. So again Kingfishers, when the! catc~1 a fish, always beat it until it is l{illed; and In the Z~ological Gardens they always beat the raw ~ea~, With which they are sometimes fed, before devouring It. \Ve have now, I think, sufficiently shown the truth of our first Principle, namely, that when any sensation, desire, dislike, &c., has led during a long series of generations to some voluntary movement, then a tendency to the performance of a similar n1ovement will almost certainly be excited, whenever the same, or any analogous or associated sensation &c., although very weak, is experienced ; notwithstanding that the moveInent in this case may not be of the least use. Such habitual movements are often, or generally inherited ; and they then differ but little fron1 reflex actions. vVhen we treat of the special expressions of 1nan, the latter part of our first Principle, as given at the con1- lnencement of this chapter, will be seen to hold good; namely, that when movements, associated through habit with certain states of the mind, are partially repressed by the will, the strictly involuntary muscles, as well as those which are least under the separate control of the will, are liable still- to act; and their action is often highly expressive. Conversely, when the will is temporarily or permanently weakened, the voluntary muscles 19 See the account give11 by this excellent observer in • '\'Vild Sports of the Highlands,' 184G, p. 142. CHAP. I. SERVICEABLE ASSOCIATED HABITS. 49 tfahi l 1b ef·o re the involuntary. It is a fact f:ami·l·1 ar t o pa-o ogtsts, as Sir C. Bell remarks 20 "that h d "b'rt . ' w en e- ,, . I 1 Y arises from affection of the brain , the 1· n fl uence ,, JS gr~a~.est on those muscles which are, in their natural conditJon, n1ost under the command of the will " W shall, ~~so, i.n our future c~pters, consider a~othe~ proposition Included in our first Principle · nam 1 r that .t he checking. of one habitual movement s' orne t•1 em e) s' requues other sh.g...., ht movements·, these Iatte r serv1·n cr as a means of expression. t,-, 20 'PIu ' Io soph 1' 0al Transactions,' 182?, p. 182. |