82 TWO NEW WORLDS 



somewhat the same relation to the mighty whole 

 of the autic universe as ... some of the more 

 slowly changing events within the cortex of the 

 brain bears to the enormous totality of motions 

 that are going on objectively throughout the whole 

 of nature. This makes it evident that the part of 

 the autic universe that man can adequately examine 

 is but one drop of an immeasurable ocean, and 

 although that little drop is an actual specimen of 

 the kind of things that auta are, it is very plain 

 that we are not justified in assuming that it is a 

 fair average specimen of them." 



The only path open to us if we want to get at the 

 reality underlying physical appearances is to care- 

 fully note our own thoughts and their physical 

 accompaniments. Once we know the mental pheno- 

 mena which accompany any given physical process 

 in our brain, we may hope to interpret other physi- 

 cal phenomena in terms of mental realities, and 

 thus arrive at their real significance. 



"Working under these disadvantages," proceeds 

 Dr. Stoney, " man (and the same is true of the more 

 intelligent of the lower animals) has constructed the 

 Physical Hypothesis whereby to enable him to form 

 a correct forecast of the changes which will occur in 

 nature. The physical hypothesis is the supposition 

 that the objects of nature can act on one another, 

 either directly (action at a distance) or through in- 

 tervening media (which by many is supposed to be 



