iv MODERN E VOL UTION 1 39 



my business lately to inquire into the mental condi- 

 tion of some of the individuals who have reported 

 the most remarkable occurrences. I cannot it 

 would not be fair say all I could with regard to 

 that mental condition ; but I can only say this, that 

 it all fits in perfectly well with the result of my pre- 

 vious studies upon the subject, viz. that there is 

 nothing too strange to be believed by those who 

 have once surrendered their judgment to the extent 

 of accepting as credible things which common sense 

 tells us are entirely incredible.' 



The fact abides that the great mass of super- 

 natural beliefs which have persisted from the lower 

 culture till now, and which are still held by an 

 overwhelming majority of civilised mankind, are re- 

 ferable to causes concomitant with man's mental 

 development : causes operative throughout his his- 

 tory. The low intellectual environment of his 

 barbaric past was constant for thousands of years, 

 and his adaptation thereto was complete. The in- 

 trusion of the scientific method in its application to 

 man disturbed that equilibrium. But this, as yet, 

 only superficially. Like the foraminifera that persist 

 in the ocean depths, the great majority of mankind 

 have remained, but slightly, if at all, modified ; thus 

 illustrating the truth of the doctrine of evolution in 

 their psychical history. (For that doctrine does not 

 imply all-round continuous advance. * Let us never 

 forget,' Mr. Spencer says in Social Statics, 'that the 

 law is adaptation to circumstances, be they what 

 they may.') Therefore the superstitions that still 

 dominate the life of man, even in so-called civilised 

 centres, are no stumbling-blocks to us. They are 



