4 MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



to exist as an innate function of the intelligence, 

 if not with respect to the substance, which may 

 alter, at any rate in the mode of its acts and pro- 

 ceedings. 



I fear that this opinion will appear at first sight 

 to be paradoxical and chimerical, since it is well 

 known that the mythical conception of the world 

 and its origin is gradually disappearing among civi- 

 lized nations, and it is supposed to be altogether 

 extinct among men of culture and intelligence. Yet 

 I flatter myself, perhaps too rashly, that by the time 

 he reaches the end of this work, the reader will be 

 convinced of the truth of my assertion, since it is 

 proved by so many facts, and the psychical law from 

 which it results is so clear. 



It must not, however, be forgotten that, in addition 

 to the mythical faculty of our minds, there exists 

 the scientific faculty, the other factor of a perfect in- 

 tellectual life ; the latter is most powerful in certain 

 races, and must in time prevail over the former, 

 which in its objective form precedes it ; yet they are 

 subjectively combined in practice and are indissolubly 

 united through life. 



Undoubtedly neither the mythical nor the scientific 

 faculty is equal and identical in all peoples, any more 

 than they are equal and identical in individuals ; but 

 they subsist together, while varying in intensity and 

 degree, since they are both necessary functions of the 

 intelligence. 



