184 Journal of Comparative Neurology. 



peculiar and surprisingly new effect which in one word we call 

 the soul of man. If the various feelings that unconsciously 

 ensoul a human organism could be seen, what a glow of light 

 in all the rainbow colors that sentiency is capable of, in all its 

 tints and shades, would appear before our mental eye ! And their 

 combination would produce a picture infinitely more significant 

 than any of its parts. For their harmonious arrangement is 

 comparable to a magic mirror which reflects the great All of 

 which man is a part, not only as it appears in its immediate 

 surroundings, but also in its secret order of rationality and sys- 

 tematic law. 



The realm of consciousness is only a part of the soul of 

 man — a small part, indeed, growing out of a large realm of dim- 

 mer feelings and sub-conscious impulses. 



It appears almost a pity that only the highest top and not 

 our whole psychical existence is illuminated by consciousness. 

 What a grand sight would it be to be able to look down upon 

 the living basis out of which our conscious ego develops ! But 

 we have to bear in mind that the restriction of consciousness to 

 one spot which commands a very limited range is an imperative 

 necessity and the indepensable condition of its proper function- 

 ing. Imagine how bewildering it would be if all the various 

 feelings, the lowest as well as the highest, were constantly illum- 

 ined by self-consciousness. Would it not be as if the President 

 of the United States had to attend to all matters of the admin- 

 istration of the body politic in person? He has his hands full 

 enough if he attends only to the most important affairs, leaving 

 all routine work to his officials. The result of a proper psychical 

 organisation could be attained only by a limitation of conscious- 

 ness to a special sphere. Several most important centres of 

 our nervous activity have remained almost independent, such as 

 the regulation of the heart, the stomach, the bowels, and the 

 lungs. They are interfered with only in extraordinary and 

 anomalous contingencies, and even then interference from the 

 headquarters of consciousness is not always salutary. 



After this psychical excursion let us revert to the physiolo- 

 gical structure of the nervous system. A glance at Prof. Mey- 



