366 THE LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION 



essentially force, and nothing but force; that matter, 

 as popularly understood, does not exist, and is, in fact, 

 philosophically inconceivable. When we touch matter, 

 we only really experience sensations of resistance, im- 

 plying repulsive force; and no other sense can give us 

 such apparently solid proofs of the reality of matter, as 

 touch does. This conclusion, if kept constantly present 

 in the mind, will be found to have a most important 

 bearing on almost every high scientific and philoso- 

 phical problem, and especially on such as relate to our 

 own conscious existence. 



All Force is probably Will-Force. If we are satis- 

 fied that force or forces are all that exist in the ma- 

 terial universe, we are next led to enquire what is 

 force ? We are acquainted with two radically distinct 

 or apparently distinct kinds of force the first consists 

 of the primary forces of nature, such as gravitation, 

 cohesion, repulsion, heat, electricity, &c. ; the second is 

 our own will-force. Many persons will at once deny 

 that the latter exists. It will be said, that it is a mere 

 transformation of the primary forces before alluded to ; 

 that the correlation of forces includes those of animal 

 life, and that will itself is but the result of molecular 

 change in the brain. I think, however, that it can 

 be shown, that this latter assertion has neither been 

 proved, nor even been proved to be possible; and 

 that in making it, a great leap in the dark has 

 been taken from the known to the unknown. It 

 may be at once admitted that the muscular force 

 of animals and men, is merely the transformed energy 



