Origin of certain instincts.

"THE writer of the interesting article in NATURE of March 20 doubts whether my belief “that many of the most wonderful instincts have been acquired, independently of habit, through the preservation of useful variations of pre existing instincts,” means more than “that in a great many instances we cannot conceive how the instincts originated.” This in one sense is perfectly true, but what I wished to bring prominently forward was simply that in certain cases instincts had not been acquired through the experience of their utility, with continued practice during successive generations. I had in my mind the case of neuter insects, which never leave offspring to inherit the teachings of experience, and which are themselves the offspring of parents which possess quite different instincts. The Hive-bee is the best known instance, as neither the queen nor the drones construct cells, secrete wax, collect honey, &c." (From the present paper).

Freeman 1760.