METHOD OF INQUIRY, '2l 



It has been very usual in inquiries into the faculties 

 -of mind to refer to the structure and properties of the 

 adult brain, and then to argue from that basis all 

 round the subject. I propose here to consider first 

 the human infant, seeking for physical signs of its 

 mind, or of the faculties of mind actual or potential, 

 and to trace the signs of its mental development 

 upwards towards adult age. The object of my 

 work is to give such description and definition of 

 the conditions of the brain when exercising the 

 faculties of mentation, as may enable us, as observers 

 and experimenters, to note with exactness how 

 certain forces acting upon the man elicit the signs 

 of mentation, and generally to attempt a physical 

 experimental inquiry into the function of mentation. 

 It has often been said by authors that we study 

 mind by recording subjective feelings, their associr- 

 ations, and combinations, but we can only know 

 the subjective feeling of another man by its 

 physical expression in movements, speech, and other 

 results of movements. 



Our method of inquiry is based upon observation 

 and experiment, and is intended to elicit know- 

 ledge as to the action of external forces as factors 

 in the evolution of the faculty " mentation." On 

 account of the nature of this inquiry and its 

 objects, it is necessary to deal with the question 

 purely from a physical point of view, so that 

 we have nothing to do with " feelings " or " con- 

 sciousness" as elements of mind, for they cannot 

 be directly observed or experimented upon, It 

 is also necessary in each portion of such an inquiry, 



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