i6 The Period from 1861 to 1870 



the dignity of humanity. The business of the philosopher is to follow on the trace of 

 truth wherever it may lead. He must not suffer feeling, or preference, or preposses- 

 sion, or prejudice, for a moment to bias his judgment. If the law of the conservation 

 of force, rightly interpreted, conducts us of necessity to materialism, we must accept 

 the conclusion, however humiliating we may find it to our pride or however ruinous to 

 our hopes. To my mind no such necessity exists. 



In proof of this position it is of course no argument, and I do not present it as one, 

 to allege the utter incongruity which every mind uninfluenced, I was about to say 

 unperverted, by favorite philosophical preconceptions, feels to exist between mental 

 and physical phenomena. Consciousness, to any mind, is a mystery sufficiently pro- 

 found ; but to suggest that it may be only a mode of motion, is to an ordinary mind 

 little less than a self evident absurdity. But, as just remarked, this is no argument. 



It is an argument, however, to say that thought cannot be a physical force, because 

 thought admits of no measure. I think it will be conceded without controversy that 

 there is no form of material substance, and no known force of a physical nature (and 

 there are no other forces) of which we cannot in some form definitely express the 

 quantity, by reference to some conventional measuring unit. Even while heat and light 

 and electricity continued to be regarded as independent and unconvertible forces, they 

 were still subjected to measurement, each after a manner peculiar to itself; and the 

 ratio between the amount of latent heat of a pound of water and that of a pound of 

 steam was as well known as it is now. The minutest quantities of electricity were de- 

 termined by the most delicate of balances, and the intensities of different lights were 

 numerically expressed by means of experimental and instrumental comparisons. Now 

 no such means of measuring mental action has been suggested. No such means can be 

 conceived. 



Benjamin Apthorp Gould (astronomy), who was president at the meet- 

 ing of the Association held at Chicago in August, 1868, delivered his presi- 

 dential address at the meeting held at Salem, Mass., in August, 1869. Gould 

 devoted considerable attention to the principal theme of his predecessor, 

 but, in contrast to -earlier presidents of the Association, he sharply warned 

 his fellow members against overestimating American achievements in 

 science (vol. 18, pp. 1-37) : 



We are accustomed to regard ourselves as belonging to a new country, and to palliate 

 in our own hearts, even if not openly, our intellectual short-comings and our deficiences 

 in learning or culture, by this plea. And just as men who have attained eminence, not- 

 withstanding an absence of early opportunities, are often accustomed to glory in this 

 want of advantages, as though it had been a merit rather than a misfortune, — judging 

 themselves always by a relative, instead of an absolute, standard, — so we American 

 lovers of science are too much inclined to take note of the difficulties against which we 

 have struggled or are struggling, rather than of the actual level which we have attained 

 by the effort. Of course there is much to extenuate in this proclivity; how much, you 

 all know. The want, until a recent date, of books of reference; the want of access to 

 such implements of research as are beyond the reach of most private men; the want of 

 time and energy to spare from the grand "struggle for existence" ; and above all, the 

 want of competent scientific counselers and guides for the beginner in scientific re- 

 search ; all these are well known to those of you who have attained an age at all ap- 



