will result. And yet this abysmal creature is not 

 without a comparatively high order of conscious- 

 ness. It can see and feel and not improbably it can 

 hear. Of its three sense-organs, the eyes, tentacles, 

 and otocysts, the last-named are located within the 

 anterior part of the body. These are minute crys- 

 tals of lime contained in a sort of sac; it is to these 

 that some investigators attribute the function of 

 hearing. However, from what is known of their 

 function in higher invertebrates, it is not unlikely 

 that in the flatworm they subserve as geotropir 

 organs as well; that is to say, it is through them 

 that the animal maintains its equilibrium and 

 orientation. 



I have just referred to its order of consciousness. 

 This requires qualification. It does not mean that 

 consciousness in the flatworm involves intelligence 

 such as we define this attribute in the case of higher 

 animals including humans. Plainly, such psychic 

 qualities are not manifest here. Yet regardless of 

 whatever interpretation we make of this property 

 of the mind, or consciousness, or whatever one 

 chooses to call their equivalent, whether this prop- 

 erty be termed instinct, reason, reflex, or free will, 

 there can be no doubt that the flatworm is pos- 



[•74] 



