232 EVOLUTION AND MAN*S PLACE IN NATURE 



denial of self-consciousness, it is admitted that the 

 animal does not reflect on his prior existence, does not 

 deal with the problem of life, nor with expectations 

 of a future existence. Reflection concerned with such 

 matters belongs to a superior intellect. Accordingly, 

 Darwin has remarked that man, from the activity of 

 his mental faculties, cannot avoid reflection. l In one 

 of his references to human Imagination, connected 

 with our experience in dreaming, he says, The 

 value of the products of our imagination depends, of 

 course, on the number, accuracy, and clearness of our 

 impressions, on our judgment and taste in selecting 

 or rejecting the involuntary combinations, and, to a 

 certain extent, on our power of voluntarily combining 

 them. 2 Strictly accurate all this is. Can we, then, 

 attribute to the old dog judgment and taste in 

 selecting or rejecting the involuntary combinations ? 

 Does such reflection belong to the higher mammals ? 

 Denial of self-consciousness is the exclusion of all 

 this. We here touch something quite distinctive, 

 something which cannot be attributed to the old 

 dog s dreams. We are already moving on some of 

 the nearer altitudes, unapproached by our best dogs. 

 Yet, we are only coming in sight of the more familiar 

 exercises of human intelligence, such as lead Dr. 

 Romanes to speak of the many and immense 

 differences that unquestionably do obtain between 

 the mind of the highest ape and the mind of the 

 lowest savage. 3 



Granting, then, the many and immense differences 

 between these two orders of Intelligence, the theoretic 

 difficulty for the evolutionist is proportionally great. 



1 Descent, p. 112- ~ Ib. p. 74. 3 Mental Evolution in Man, p. 20. 



