EVOLUTIONARY SIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN CHARACTER. 379 



or it may be a result of experience of the laws of pure necessity, 

 without regard to questions of taste ; then it is a process of rea- 

 son. The will, properly so called, is the spontaneous power of 

 the mind by which the other processes are originated, directed 

 or restrained. The range of the will, and even its existence, are 

 questions of dispute. 



Below and behind these mental activities lies sensibility or 

 consciousness, in its forms of general and special sensation ; that 

 is, touch and hearing, taste, smell, sight, and the muscular sense, 

 with many others, concomitants of both health and disease. It is 

 well understood that these primitive mental qualities are more or 

 less developed in animals in which the more purely mental func- 

 tions are rudimental. The doctrine of evolution teaches that 

 from this class the higher activities of the mind have been devel- 

 oped, during long ages, through the agency of memory. The 

 nature of the present essay only permits a casual reference to the 

 astonishing character of memory, and the remark that its phe- 

 nomena demonstrate most clearly, of all others, that mind is an 

 attribute of some kind of matter. 



If we now consider these natural divisions of the mind as they 

 present themselves in the combinations which we call human 

 character, we shall observe a variety in the mode of their action 

 which pervades all divisions alike. These variations fall under 

 two heads, those of quantity and of quality. 



Thus as to quantity ; one human mind may present a greater 

 amount of intellectual than emotional activity ; of imaginative 

 than rational intellection ; of affectionate than irascible emotion ; 

 of gastronomic than musical taste, etc., etc. The quantity here 

 indicated is probably an index of the proportion of brain tissue 

 devoted to the functions mentioned. The intensity or force of the 

 action is a matter of quality. 



Of qualities the variety is much larger. They are often paral- 

 lel to those of inorganic force, and suggest the same kind of modi- 

 fications of the material bases as those which affect the latter. 

 Two prominent qualities are fineness and coarseness. Fineness 

 observes and uses detail in both rational and emotive acts, and is 

 essential to the precision of finish. Coarseness neglects detail, 

 but deals with the gross of things, and is sometimes accompanied 

 by largeness of quantity. When it is not, the result is not good. 

 Fineness is, on the other hand, often associated with smallness. It 

 is a more feminine attribute, while coarseness is more masculine. 



