22 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



ment of the vibration hypothesis given by Hering and only 

 adopted with the greatest reserve in Unconscious Memory. 



" Our conceptions, then, concerning the nature of any 

 matter depends solely upon its kind and degree of unrest — 

 that is to say, on the characteristics of the vibrations that 

 are going on within it. The exterior object vibrating in a 

 certain way imparts some of its vibrations to our brain, but 

 if the state of the thing itself depends upon its vibrations, it 

 [the thing] must be considered as to all intents and purposes 

 the vibrations themselves, plus, of course, the underlying sub- 

 stance that is vibrating. . . . The same vibrations, therefore, 

 form the substance remembered, introduce an infinitesimal 

 dose of it within the brain, modify the substance remembering 

 and, in the course of time, create and further modify the 

 mechanism of both the sensory and the motor nerves. Thought 

 and thing are one. 



" 1 commend these last two speculations to the reader's 

 charitable consideration, as feeling that I am here travelling 

 beyond the ground on which I can safely venture. ... I 

 believe they are both substantially true." 



In 1885 he had written an abstract of these ideas in his 

 Notebooks (see New Quarterly Review, 1910, p. 116) and as in 

 Lxick, or Cunning? associated them vaguely with the unitary 

 conceptions introduced into chemistry by Newlands and 

 Mendelejeff. 



Judging himself as an outsider, the author of Life and 

 Habit would certainly have considered this mild expression 

 of faith — "I believe they are both substantially true" — 

 equivalent to one of extreme doubt. Thus — 



"The fact of the Archbishop recognising this as among the 

 number of his beliefs is conclusive evidence with those who 

 have devoted attention to the laws of thought that his mind 

 is not yet clear " 



on the matter in question {L. and H. pp. 25-6). To sum up : 

 Butler's fundamental attitude to the vibration hypothesis was 

 all through that taken in Unconscious Memory. He played 

 with it as a pretty pet ; he fancied it more and more as time 

 went on ; but instead of backing it for all he was worth, like 

 the main theses of Life and Habit, he put a big stake on it — 

 and then hedged. 



