﻿396 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1927 
  

  

  the 
  other, 
  allowing 
  of 
  individual 
  modifications 
  and 
  adjustments 
  to 
  

   varying 
  conditions, 
  has 
  made 
  possible 
  the 
  development 
  of 
  those 
  fac- 
  

   ulties 
  we 
  call 
  mental. 
  Experimental 
  studies 
  of 
  animal 
  behavior 
  have 
  

   shown 
  that 
  the 
  faculty 
  of 
  making 
  individual 
  adjustments 
  to 
  environ- 
  

   mental 
  changes 
  runs 
  down 
  through 
  the 
  whole 
  animal 
  series, 
  though 
  

   in 
  decreasing 
  degree, 
  and 
  can 
  be 
  demonstrated 
  to 
  exist 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  

   Protozoa. 
  

  

  When 
  a 
  sense 
  organ 
  stimulates 
  a 
  nerve 
  center, 
  and 
  the 
  nerve 
  center 
  

   stimulates 
  a 
  muscle, 
  what 
  is 
  it 
  that 
  goes 
  through 
  the 
  connecting 
  

   nerves? 
  The 
  answer 
  to 
  this 
  question 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  given 
  at 
  present, 
  

   though 
  studies 
  have 
  been 
  made 
  and 
  are 
  still 
  being 
  carried 
  on 
  to 
  

   determine 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  nerve 
  force 
  " 
  or 
  " 
  nerve 
  impulse." 
  It 
  

   is 
  undoubtedly 
  a 
  form 
  of 
  physical 
  energy, 
  but 
  whether 
  it 
  is 
  of 
  the 
  

   nature 
  of 
  a 
  chemical 
  reaction 
  propagated 
  through 
  the 
  nerve 
  fiber 
  

   or 
  something 
  akin 
  to 
  an 
  electrical 
  current 
  involving 
  an 
  actual 
  flow 
  

   of 
  electrons 
  is 
  not 
  known. 
  In 
  any 
  case, 
  there 
  is 
  no 
  reason 
  for 
  regard- 
  

   ing 
  it 
  as 
  a 
  supernatural 
  " 
  vital 
  force," 
  since 
  a 
  current 
  of 
  electricity 
  

   sent 
  through 
  the 
  nerve 
  will 
  accomplish 
  identical 
  results 
  in 
  the 
  motor 
  

   apparatus. 
  

  

  All 
  efforts, 
  then, 
  to 
  discover 
  anything 
  but 
  known 
  forms 
  of 
  energy 
  

   in 
  the 
  working 
  of 
  the 
  nervous 
  system 
  fail. 
  Yet 
  the 
  reality 
  of 
  con- 
  

   sciousness 
  caii 
  not 
  be 
  questioned. 
  The 
  nature 
  of 
  consciousness, 
  how 
  

   ever, 
  baffles 
  the 
  understanding. 
  All 
  the 
  known 
  forms 
  of 
  energy 
  may 
  

   be 
  conceived 
  as 
  motion; 
  the 
  ph3^sicists 
  can 
  account 
  for 
  the 
  proper- 
  

   ties 
  of 
  light 
  and 
  its 
  effects 
  as 
  some 
  kind 
  of 
  movement 
  in 
  a 
  hypo- 
  

   thetical 
  ether; 
  heat 
  can 
  be 
  explained 
  as 
  molecular 
  activity, 
  sound 
  as 
  

   wave 
  motion, 
  and 
  chemical 
  reactions 
  are 
  easily 
  visualized 
  as 
  read- 
  

   justments 
  of 
  electrons. 
  If 
  we 
  say, 
  however, 
  as 
  some 
  would 
  do, 
  that 
  

   consciousness 
  also 
  is 
  a 
  form 
  of 
  motion, 
  a 
  special 
  kind 
  of 
  vibration 
  

   in 
  the 
  electrons 
  of 
  nerve 
  cells, 
  we 
  do 
  nothing 
  more 
  than 
  put 
  words 
  

   together, 
  for 
  the 
  idea 
  supposed 
  to 
  be 
  expressed 
  neither 
  explains 
  the 
  

   activities 
  of 
  consciousness 
  nor 
  presents 
  a 
  conception 
  that 
  can 
  possibly 
  

   be 
  accepted 
  as 
  a 
  picture 
  of 
  awareness. 
  

  

  Consciousness, 
  though 
  real 
  in 
  itself, 
  gives 
  us 
  no 
  true 
  information 
  

   of 
  our 
  surroundings. 
  From 
  our 
  sensation 
  of 
  light 
  we 
  should 
  never 
  

   guess 
  that 
  luminosity 
  in 
  nature 
  is 
  vibration 
  in 
  an 
  ether 
  medium 
  ; 
  our 
  

   auditory 
  interpretation 
  of 
  sound 
  is 
  not 
  that 
  of 
  atmospheric 
  waves; 
  

   heat 
  causes 
  no 
  suggestion 
  of 
  molecular 
  motion, 
  and 
  so 
  on 
  with 
  every 
  

   other 
  sense 
  by 
  which 
  we 
  perceive 
  some 
  phase 
  of 
  the 
  material 
  en- 
  

   vironment. 
  Most 
  of 
  our 
  senses, 
  then, 
  are 
  illusions, 
  and 
  in 
  our 
  senses 
  

   we 
  inhabit 
  an 
  unreal 
  world, 
  perhaps 
  one 
  all 
  the 
  better 
  for 
  being 
  so, 
  

   but 
  unreal 
  nevertheless, 
  except 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  we 
  learn 
  to 
  interpret 
  the 
  

   truth 
  by 
  our 
  reason 
  or 
  discover 
  it 
  by 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  invented 
  instruments. 
  

   Consciousness, 
  therefore, 
  did 
  not 
  originate 
  for 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  giving 
  

  

  