CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Place in Nature. Difference of standpoint occupied by 

 scientific men, and by those devoted to study of Mind. 

 Two modes of Knowing. Impossibility of the one mode of 

 research passing into the field of the other. What we are 

 now seeking is the true conception of the Cosmic System, . 1-25 



CHAPTER II 

 LIFE IN ITS LOWER AND HIGHER FORMS 



NEED for clearing a pathway through Comparative Biology. 

 Relations of vegetable and animal life. The physical basis of 

 life. No mechanical or chemical explanation of life available. 

 Testimony of Nageli, Huxley, Bois-Reymond. History of 

 investigations as to protoplasm. Professor Sir W. Turner s 

 sketch of it. Structure of the cell. How its life is propagated. 

 The germ-cell, or egg, from which organic life springs. Dis 

 tinctions of sex, and introduction of two hereditary principles 

 in the origin of higher forms. Organic apparatus, muscles, 

 nerves, and nerve-centres. Structure accounts for activity. 

 The relations of species. Extending differentiation. Man s 

 place among the varied forms of life, 26-37 



CHAPTER III 

 THE CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN LIFE 



NEED for preliminary statement in order to prepare for more ex 

 tended inquiry. The art of speaking illustrates man s 

 superiority. The comparative method required, in order to set 

 human life in contrast with lower forms. Facts of consciousness 

 are distinct from organic functions. Superiority of human 

 organism. Resemblance of Anthropoid Apes to Man. 

 Primeval man and his place in Nature. Stone implements, and 

 their testimony. Contrast between mechanism and mind. 

 Testimony of Embryology. Testimony of Physiology. 

 Development of human organism from the egg. Dawn of 

 consciousness. Two orders of life combined in one, and two 



