THE ORIGIN OF THE WILL. 447 



processes. It is probable tliat the organization of mental functions 

 was at the first identical with the so-called organic functions,* so 

 far as they consist of mechanical movements ; and that the latter 

 early became reflex and devoid of consciousness, developing sub- 

 sequent forms through mechanical causes. The organization of 

 mental functions, on the other hand, was by continued education, 

 which requires the presence of consciousness at every stejj. 



The well-known fact of the inheritance of mental qualities 

 shows that the evolution of mind has advanced by a continued 

 process of accumulation as the product of animal experiences. 

 The new generation has inherited the organization of the old, and 

 all the reflex and automatic activities entailed by it, and has pro- 

 ceeded in proportion to its activity to acquire new experiences, 

 habits, and organization. 



V. THE BEGINNINGS OF DEVELOPMENT. 



(a) The Feelings. 



The intellectual faculties of every animal thus belong to two 

 classes : first, those which have been inherited ; and second, those 

 which it has acquired by its own experiences. Of course progress 

 consists in accessions to the latter class, since inheritance without 

 addition is mere repetition. If no acquisitions were made, or to 

 be made, the mental, i. e., the cerebral organization inherited by 

 animals would continually repeat the form of their actions as un- 

 erringly as the nature of a machine gives the character to the 

 movements propagated through its wheels and cranks. That 

 much the larger proportion of animal acts are of this class, that 

 is, are automatic, there can be no room to doubt. With an im- 

 petus to movement given, the strongest liking or disliking selects 

 the object or direction, and the reason furnishes the mode of ac- 

 quisition or avoidance. The known past teaches of the unknown 

 future, and the established circle of the functions of life is ful- 

 filled. But without acquisitions, development is impossible. 



Acquisitions to experience are gained by movements of the 

 body, and hence by the mental activity to which the latter are 

 due. But it is evident that the primary movement has preced- 

 ence in the order of time over the feeling Avhich deflects it, or 

 the experience which directs later actions. In the lowest animal 



* See "On Consciousness in Evolution, " "Pcnn Monthly," 1875, Aug., where 

 this view is held. 



