OUR SUBORDINATE PERSONALITIES. 105 



of distinct centres of sensation and will, each one of 

 which is personal, and has a soul and individual exist- 

 ence, a reproductive system, intelligence, and memory 

 of its own, with probably its hopes and fears, its times 

 of scarcity and repletion, and a strong conviction that 

 it is itself the centre of the universe. 



True, no one is aware of more than one individu- 

 ality in his own person at one time. We are, indeed, 

 often greatly influenced by other people, so much so, 

 that we act on many occasions in accordance with their 

 will rather than our own, making our actions answer 

 to their sensations, and register the conclusions of their 

 cerebral action and not our own ; for the time being, 

 we become so completely part of them, that we are 

 ready to do things most distasteful and dangerous to 

 us, if they think it for their advantage that we should 

 do so. Thus we sometimes see people become mere 

 processes of their wives or nearest relations. Yet 

 there is a something which blinds us, so that we 

 cannot see how completely we are possessed by the 

 souls which influence us upon these occasions. We 

 still think we are ourselves, and ourselves only, and 

 are as certain as we can be of any fact, that we are 

 single sentient beings, uncompounded of other sentient 

 beings, and that our action is determined by the sole 

 operation of a single will. 



But in reality, over and above this possession of 

 our souls by others of our own species, the will of 

 the lower animals often enters into our bodies and 

 possesses them, making us do as they will, and not 

 as we will ; as, for example, when people try to drive 



