CHAPTER IV 



SUBCONSCIOUS PSYCHOLOGY 

 I. CRYPTOPSYCHISM 



IT has been said that * the subconscious is the problem 

 of psychology, rather than a psychological problem.' 



This is profoundly true; every investigation, every 

 theory, every philosophical concept which does not 

 allow to the Unconscious its legitimate part (which is 

 the weightier part), is at once falsified in its essence 

 and in its teaching. Facts immediately rise up against 

 it and nullify it. 



It is only in our own day that subconscious psychology 

 has forced itself on scientific criticism. Entirely dis- 

 regarded till the nineteenth century, it was then con- 

 sidered only as the anomalous outcome of disease or 

 accident; it now asserts its increasing importance, and 

 henceforward all researches and all new discoveries form 

 parts of its domain and extend its reach. 



We are compelled to allow to the Unconscious a 

 primary function in instinct, in inborn character, in 

 latent psychism, and in genius. In every modern work 

 that appears, subconscious psychism takes a larger and 

 larger place and is seen to be infinitely complex and 

 varied. Its functions are shown to be clearly prepon- 

 derant in all the departments of intellectual and affectional 

 life. 



The well-known work of Dr Chabaneix, Le Sub- 

 conscient chez les Artistes, les Savants, et les Ecrivains, 

 gives a certain number of striking examples. Indeed 

 examples are innumerable; it may be said that there is 



