Animal Causes. 233 



however, becomes more and more complex, until the 

 perfect eye of the bird or mammal is at last evolved 

 with its millions of fibres and cells. Similarly with 

 the other sense organs. Still, whatever form the 

 senses may eventually assume, inasmuch as they all 

 originated from touch, so also in their most complex 

 forms they are still adapted to receive, and can only 

 be played upon by means of touch, however subtle 

 these touches may be. 



With the evolution and growth of the sense organs 

 and their connections there is also a corresponding 

 centralisation of the nervous system. The animal 

 telegraphic system demands an office. Thus while 

 the nervous centres in different parts of the higher 

 animals are still retained for automatically working 

 various sections of the animal machinery ; there also 

 evolves a chief nerve-centre, sensorium, or brain, for 

 co-operating with all the senses, as well as guiding 

 and controlling the nervous and muscular systems of 

 the body as a whole. The brain, however, in all 

 animals is still an organ of touch, and acts as but an 

 automatic switch in simply receiving and transmitting 

 touches. Hence, we reach the -deduction, startling in 

 its rank materialism, that all intelligence is but matter 

 signalling to matter throughout the length and breadth 

 and infinity of the universe. 



Assuming then, as proved, that all animal intelli- 

 gence is but touch and re-touch, we require to account 

 for the subtlety of these mental touches, and the 

 accuracy with which they act. 



