134 HEREDITY. 



well said that they who try to prove spontaneous 

 generation to be a fact usually perform their experi- 

 ments in an atmosphere saturated with the germs 

 which they wish to develop. 



Darwin calls to his aid, in explaining the origin of 

 the moral sense, a great number of floating moral 

 germs. I have singled out twelve of these, and hard- 

 ly need do more than name them in his language : — 



(1) " Highly developed mental faculties." That 

 word mental is very vague. If by mind you mean 

 the whole spiritual equipment of man, as you some- 

 times do, it includes moral perception ; and so surrep- 

 titious^, or at least unobserved, comes in the very 

 idea of which Darwin would explain the origin. 



(2) " The feeling of dissatisfaction." That is an- 

 other vague phrase. It might mean moral dissatis- 

 faction. 



(3) " The power of language." 



(4) " The idea of the good of the community." 

 A very vague phrase that never would pass without 

 being challenged under the microscope of metaphysi- 

 cal research. 



(5) " The power of public opinion." 



(6) " Obedience to the wishes and judgments of 

 the community." 



(7) " Feelings of love and sympathy." These 

 often mean much more than merely social instincts. 



(8) " Power of self-command." Of course there 

 inheres in the very idea of self-command the idea 

 of a distinction between motives. A clear choice 

 among motives involves moral perception of the dif- 



