Evolution of Mind. 261 



and the mechanism which is supposed to constitute 

 our " mind." 



It has been calculated that from sixty to seventy 

 distinct thoughts pass through our brain in a minute ; 

 thoughts not called up by our will, but often against 

 our will, forcing themselves upon our notice, and 

 distracting our attention when we wish it riveted on 

 something else. Far, therefore, from cur will regula- 

 ting our thoughts, our thought mechanism is virtually 

 as little under our control as that of digestion. 

 Further, the persistence with which our brain works 

 night and day, and our utter helplessness in stopping 

 it, shows that far from having an all-powerful will, we 

 are but a spinning-top at the mercy of a remorseless 

 whipper, a mental locomotive driven full steam by 

 reckless and irresponsible drivers swayed by ever- 

 conflicting emotions. And the drivers are in myriads, 

 knocking incessantly at all the gates of the senses. 



This incessant action of our bodily machine and 

 the consequent incessant flow of our consciousness are 

 thus free from the dominion of any supposed will, 

 and result solely from the automatic constitution of 

 our machinery. We only require to shovel in food, 

 the machine itself does all the rest. Even in starving 

 ourselves, our will, or some stimulus which causes us 

 to refuse food, cannot long maintain itself against 

 hunger. 



Finally, when our body is momently affected by 

 thousands if not millions of stimuli through all our 

 senses, internally and externally, all sending a 



