MENTALITY AND SPIRITUALITY 197 



trumpet-vine to wait for a fire to come and burn 

 the bark from the stump, in order to make it a 

 convenient climbing place? Was it blind instinct 

 that showed the plant that the distant stump with 

 its bark on was not a secure foundation for its 

 offspring? And was it blind instinct that, when 

 once the stump was cleared, said to the plant, "Go! 

 Now is the right time!" In human beings we 

 should call that reason! 



Numerous experiments have proved that seeds 

 planted on damp sponges, which are suspended in 

 the air, will, according to habit, send their roots 

 downward. But they do not find nourishment in the 

 dry air, and they immediately turn back to the 

 damp sponge. That shows clearly their instinct of 

 self-preservation. Whether the plant knew that 

 there was no water below, either by seeing, or smell- 

 ing, or the psychic sense, does not matter; the in- 

 stinct of self-preservation warned it that was 

 "passive" mentality. But "active" mentality heeded 

 the warning, guided the return, instigated the 

 forces that produced the backward journey just 

 as the mind of man commands the motion of his 

 arms, through the action of the muscle- forces. 

 There were several distinct mental actions here: a 

 realisation of lack of nourishment in the air, a con- 

 scious desire to return to the moist sponge above, 



