OF CONS CIO US STA TES. 1 5 3 



confusion in the discussion of the nature of mental phe- 

 nomena. Now there are too distinct classes of " automatic 

 actions" which have very little in common with one another, 

 but which are nevertheless confused together under one 

 head. The so-called " automatic actions " of man and the 

 higher animals are very complex, and for their performance 

 a highly elaborate and complex nervo-muscular mechanism 

 is essential ; very different, however, is the other class of 

 automatic actions, of which the movement of the bioplasm 

 of the amoeba when it is touched, is an example. No 

 nerves, no muscles, no tissue having any kind of definite 

 structure, can be demonstrated. All that can be discerned, 

 even with the aid of the highest magnifying powers, is clear, 

 transparent, structureless material, which moves away from 

 a foreign body the moment it is touched. This alone is 

 concerned in the " automatic action." 



As regards feeling, there is, I must remark, that "feeling," 

 the necessary condition of which is a highly complex arrange- 

 ment of nerve tissue ; and 2, " feeling," which is manifested 

 by living bioplasm, which is destitute of any indication of 

 tissue or structural peculiarity. Again, it may be observed, 

 that of the first form of feeling, every one has had experience 

 in his own organism, but concerning the last we are unable 

 to form a judgment from experience, and what we know 

 about it results from observation alone. We may say an 

 amoeba a white blood corpuscle a living pus or mucus- 

 corpuscle an animal a man feels, but we must never- 

 theless admit that we have not yet succeeded in forming an 

 accurate conception of feeling, nor have we determined with 

 anything approaching accuracy the exact meaning that ought 

 to be attached to the word. 



