304 IN THE GUIANA FOREST. 



negro does almost everything instinctively. They 

 cannot give you a reason, for they have none, and 

 when mothers ask their children why they have 

 done so and so, rarely indeed can a rational answer 

 be obtained. Even when reasons are given they 

 are often so absurd that you feel inclined to class 

 those who give them as half-witted rather than as 

 rational beings. The fact is they do not reason, 

 but simply carry on their daily work instinctively, 

 or in imitation of some one else. 



Presuming that the whole body is impressed 

 with the experiences of all past generations, it can 

 be easily understood that acting in unison these 

 sensitive germs will often combine together and 

 produce effects without the conscious exercise of 

 the will. Again, the will may impress them to 

 perform a certain action at a particular time in the 

 future, and the thing will be done. The former 

 case will perhaps help to explain the phenomena 

 of dreams, and the latter the wonderful power 

 possessed by certain persons of waking at a par- 

 ticular time. Then there is forgetfulness ; perhaps 

 you feel uneasy when the time has arrived for 

 doing something and cannot remember what it is. 

 It seems as if there are two memories, one which 

 permeates the whole body and belongs to the 

 continuous line of generations, and the other that 



