The Evolution of Mind. 221 



their composites. The doubt does not diminish in the 

 process : it is multiplied. 



In inquiring into the nature and reality of this 

 primordial constituent of mind, I would first observe 

 that a nervous shock is not a feeling till it is felt. 

 It is the consciousness of it that constitutes it a 

 feeling. A nervous shock, without consciousness, is a 

 nerve-thrill and nothing more. Two successive waves- 

 of molecular motion may pass through the brain, one 

 of them is felt the other is not ; of the one we are 

 conscious, we are not conscious of the other. The 

 characteristic fact, the consciousness, is not accounted 

 for by the wave of nerve-action. The analysis of 

 mind into nervous shocks, as its elementary consti- 

 tuents, does not avail to bring within the compass 

 of the dynamic theory. the consciousness which is the 

 most distinctive feature in the phenomena. At this 

 point in advancing along the forward movement of 

 the cosmic force, thought is arrested. An invisible^ 

 but very real line of separation divides the self- 

 knowing I from the vast stream moving onward 

 according to dynamic law. Evolutionism is, con- 

 fessedly, for Mr. Spencer repeatedly acknowledges it,, 

 unable to bring consciousness within its sweep. When 

 it touches one of the most vital questions in philosophy, 

 it acknowledges itself unable so much as to to attempt 

 an answer. In the proposed unification, the central 

 factor in knowledge stands out the great exception. 



But, to return to the point immediately before us,. 



