EEYIEW OF THE MODERN" DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION. 231 



It is true that unconsciousness does not imply absence of life 

 as generally understood. A majority of the processes of life are 

 performed unconsciously by living creatures ; mind itself being 

 no exception to this rule. There is another class of acts whose 

 performance produces sensation, but consciousness is not con- 

 cerned in them as an immediate cause. Therefore, it is a com- 

 mon endeavor to associate reflex and unconscious acts Avith the 

 molecular movements of inorganic and non-living substances. 

 But the one great difficulty in making this identification has 

 never been surmounted. This is the different nature of the 

 movements in the two cases. In non-living matter they are sim- 

 ply polar, nothing more. In living beings they display design. 

 Perhaps I use the word "design " in a new sense, but the expres- 

 sion is nevertheless appropriate. "What I mean is, that the move- 

 ments of li\nng things have direct reference to consciousness, to 

 the satisfaction of pleasures, and to the avoidance of pains. The 

 molecular movements within animals of the simplest class are the 

 digestion of food and the elaboration of the materials of repro- 

 duction. The molar movements of the simplest animals are to 

 enable them to escape the pains of hunger and celibacy. More- 

 over there is reason why the movements of living beings display 

 design. AYe all know the nature of habits ; how they are per- 

 formed unconsciously, and as automatically as digestion itself. 

 But did any one ever know of a habit in an animal, whose origin 

 he could trace, which has been formed in unconsciousness ? Ac- 

 cording to our knowledge, habits are always the result of stimuli 

 which are consciously felt, and which cause by repetition or 

 through reminiscence a repetition of the resulting movement. 

 After a sufficient number of repetitions such an act becomes a 

 habit, i. e., is performed automatically, or without the interven- 

 tion of effort, and frequently without consciousness. It thus be- 

 comes a part of the character of the individual or species. This 

 common jiJienomenon is explained by the hy]3othesis that an or- 

 ganization of the centers controlling action is caused by the efforts 

 of the animal under the stimulus, and that finally a machine is 

 constructed which determines the nature of the force expended, 

 without further mental exertion of the individual. Such a pro- 

 cess is education, and the result is an addition to the stock of 

 faculties already on hand. Thus is explained the vast number of 

 automatic and unconscious activities displayed by animals ; to the 

 same source, I believe, the common reflex acts may be traced ; it 



