268 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



tions as these, it might be well to ask 

 who stands sponsor for the theory 

 that man is a soul with a power of 

 " picking up plastic material," and 

 by what series of observations it is 

 claimed that the theory has been 

 proved. To such an inquii-y we 

 hardly think any very satisfactory 

 answer could be returned. The the- 

 ory is certainly not entertained by 

 another writer who contributes an 

 article on The Brain in the Light of 

 Science to the same magazine in 

 which we find the article now com- 

 mented on. and who pointedly re- 

 jects the idea that there is '* some- 

 thing called 'intelligence' inhabit- 

 ing the brain, but apart and entirely 

 distinct from its structure." 



That such views are fraught with 

 practical danger is evident on further 

 examination. The writer to whom 

 we ai'e referring will not allow that 

 a draught can cause one to take cold. 

 It can only be the occasion of taking 

 cold; the real cause is the individu- 

 al's " susceptibility." Continuing, he 

 says: "A dozen persons are equally 

 exix)sed to a contagion or malaria. 

 Only half of them take it. Subjec- 

 tive conditions made the -wide dif- 

 ference between opposite results." 

 Again we are disposed to ask for the 

 authority for such a statement. It is 

 very positively made, but that it ad- 

 mits of any kind of proof we doubt. 

 What we do know is that physical 

 conditions affect the result in such a 

 case. The various forms of inocula- 

 tion that are constantly being prac- 

 ticed afford pi'oof that, independently 

 of all subjective conditions, diseases 

 can, with a large measure of certain- 

 ty, be either communicated to, or 

 warded off from, a given individual 

 by the infusion of some suitable prep- 

 aration into the blood. That subjec- 

 tive conditions have no more to do 

 with the case than " the flowers that 

 bloom in the spring " is shown by the 

 fact that the most precise results can 



be obtained from operations on infe- 

 rior animals such as rabbits and mice. 

 Diphtheria is being controlled in the 

 most remarkable manner by the an- 

 titoxine treatment; and it has lately 

 been shown that a transfusion of 

 serum from an individual who has 

 shown a lack of susceptibility to a 

 given disease will tend to produce 

 immunity to that disease in another. 

 The writer we have quoted states in 

 an offhand manner that susceptibil- 

 ity is a matter of " subjective condi- 

 tions," but these experiments prove 

 that it is a matter of physical consti- 

 tution ; for it will hardly be contend- 

 ed that ' subjective conditions " are 

 transferred from one individual to 

 another with a little serum. 



The writer, it is true, does not ad- 

 vise people to sit in a draught and " I'e- 

 solve not to take cold." He says that 

 " temporary surface thinking, though 

 good, if in the right direction, can 

 hardly transform one to a percepti- 

 ble degree; that radical invigoralion 

 can only come from a sustained and 

 focalized attitude of mind, which is 

 attained through the firm holding of 

 positive ideals." Then, if we firmly 

 hold positive ideals, and so get a sus- 

 tained and focalized attitude of mind, 

 we can sit in as many draughts as we 

 choose with perfect impunity. This 

 or nothing is the teaching of these 

 sentences. But how are we to know 

 whether our mental attitude is suffi.- 

 ciently sustained and focalized to jus- 

 tify us in sitting in draughts ? Is there 

 not danger lest experiments should 

 be prematurely made ? An old 

 Scotchman in the last century, when 

 hard drinking was the rule, said that 

 he had never known f any man dy- 

 ing of drink, but that he had known 

 a good many who had died in train- 

 ing for it. So it might be in this 

 matter of training for sitting in 

 draughts. The supreme adepts might 

 be immune, but those whose minds 

 were not yet adequately focalized 



