232 From Matter to Man. 



of intelligence mid no higher form of mind than can be- 

 constructed out of touch. That whatever is perceived 

 and that whatever is done by any animal is merely 

 the action and re-action of touches. Finally, therefore, 

 we reach the startling conclusion that even conscious- 

 ness is touch and its re-action, and that any animal is 

 conscious of anything and everything, through any 

 one sense or through all its senses, simply because it 

 has been touched; the re-action, whatever form of 

 intelligence it may take, being but a continuation of 

 this consciousness in the manner which each animal 

 through its environments has taught itself. How 

 touch and re-touch are the whole of consciousness in 

 the animal is the great physiological and metaphysical 

 puzzle ; a problem we deal fully with in Human 

 Intelligence. 



Nextly, What does the mechanism of touch consist of? 



In low organisms as it is the epidermis only which 

 is touched, a nervous mechanism springing from it 

 grows and pervades the whole body. 



In higher animals this nervous mechanism forms 

 knots, nerve-centres or ganglia, the incipient animal 

 brains. Thus, in the leech, the nervous system con- 

 sists of fibres ramifying from all parts of its body to a 

 series of nerve-centres down its back, each centre 

 being an automatic switch both for receiving and 

 transmitting external and internal touches or vibra- 

 tions. As we ascend the animal scale the sense 

 organs begin to develop. Thus, where the eye even- 

 tually appears, there is simply a pigment spot. This, 



