64 
nothing. It is, however, opposed to general experience that living 
organisms of a higher type should possess a particular sense with- 
out the association of a material organ. But perhaps it is meant 
that this sense is without any material organ ; if so, it only shows 
us how little our knowledge of the use of material organs 
helps us in accounting for incidents like those I have quoted. In 
the case of two of them I vouch for the truth, but they are only 
among hundreds equally well authenticated. 
LOCALISATION OF THE ORGANS OF THE BRAIN. 
Among recent discoveries, one of the most interest to 
psychologists is the confirmation by Ferrier and Althaus of Gall’s 
theory of the localisation of the cerebral faculties. That he failed 
to prove that external bumps on the skull correspond to equivalent 
portions of the brain’s surface, is a matter of minor moment. It is 
now admitted that when we think on a particular subject, we do 
not use the whole of our brain, nor even the half, but a portion of 
the half. Further research will probably carry the departmental 
theory of the brain further ; and, indeed, we can infer that such is 
_the opinion of Dr. Althaus, though we may doubt whether so far as 
psychology is concerned, the careful examination of dead matter is, 
as he suggests, the only true road to knowledge.* 
SPIRITUALISM. 
I cannot bring these desultory remarks to a close without a 
passing allusion to modern spiritualism, and I had better at once 
put myself right with my audience by announcing my belief in the 
reality of the phenomena ; an avowal I am not ashamed to make 
in company with such men as Mr. William Crookes, Mr. Varley, 
Professor Zollner, Mr. Wallace, Lords Lindsay and Rayleigh. If 
asked to define and explain the ultimate cause of the phenomena, 
which I believe to be genuine, I should be obliged to confess my 
inability to do this, a confession which might be much more widely 
made in regard to other beliefs, with the same degree of truth. I 
* The Functions of the Brain, by Julius Althaus, M.D., &c., &c, London; 
Longmans and Co,, Paternoster Row, 
