8 12 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



scores of others. There is Just one thought in conclusion. It is 

 that the funeral customs of the world, although not a conclusive, 

 are yet a very strong argument in favor of the belief in the im- 

 mortality of the soul. For the impelling motive in all these cus- 

 toms has been that death does not end all, that there is a life 

 beyond the grave. This it is which has prompted the savage to 

 lay offerings on the grave, that the spirit may return and accept 

 them. This it is which prompted the Egyptians to embalm their 

 dead, that the earthly form might one day be reclaimed by its for- 

 mer possessor. This it is which has prompted the preservation of 

 the body by secure burial, that it may not be consumed by wasting 

 time. This it is which has inspired the burning of the body, that 

 the soul may be free from its earthly fetters. Now, how are we 

 to account for this worldwide belief ? I mean, unless there under- 

 lies it a basis of fact. To have implanted this belief unless it 

 has a fact as a basis would seem to be but mockery on the part 

 of an all-wise, an all-good God. 



-- 



POETRY AND SCIENCE. 



By WILLIAM H. HUDSON, 



ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH LITERATURE IN TUE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITT. 



IN his able and suggestive essay on Cosmic Emotion, the late 

 Prof. Clifford pointed out the significant fact that in the de- 

 velopment of thought the feelings never quite keep pace with the 

 intellect. It is not hard to see why this must be so. Every new 

 achievement of science, every fresh acquisition of knowledge, 

 makes its appeal directly to the intelligence ; and the judgment 

 so far as it is clear and unbiased, decides all questions at issue 

 purely on the merits of the evidence laid before it. Any revision 

 of old formulas, any restatement of old theories cause no friction, 

 and are made as a matter of course. But meanwhile each such 

 fresh achievement or acquisition enters at first as a disturbing fac- 

 tor into the emotional conditions of the time. Every generation 

 finds itself in possession of a certain body of knowledge concern- 

 ing the universe, and a certain philosophy of life based upon that 

 knowledge ; and between such knowledge and philosophy upon 

 the one hand, and its average emotions upon the other, there is, 

 as the result of long action and interaction, an adjustment or 

 equilibrium Avhich at the outset is relatively complete. The doc- 

 trines of Nature and human life in the midst of which men have 

 grown up have become so familiar to the common mind that the 

 feelings have had ample time to play round them, to saturate 

 them, to make them their own. Presently a sudden discovery. 



