Feb. 20, 1885.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



157 



ability to penetrate the veil which hides in its mystory the secret 

 of hiimau iutoUigence. 



Dusrnld Stewart's admission that mental decay was an argument 

 against immortality — whatever such admission may bo worth — 

 cannot l>e set asido'by " W. H.Jones's" illustration of the lady and 

 the piano. These were two distinct and separate existences, the 

 one actinir njion and outside of the other; whereas, in the exhibi- 

 tion of mental phenomena, body and mind are not disunited. The 

 essence of the mutter remains, therefore, uncluciiiated ; and, 

 whether mind is one thing and body another, or both together only 

 one manifestation, are points yet unsolved. 



No mind has ever lieen found without a body ; when such a 

 phenomenon occurs, science will have to deal with it by scientilic 

 methods. Whether intelhgence is merely, as some contend, a 

 function of a living orgatised being, or wlietlier it is a jiowor acting 

 bv its own inherent force upon an otiierwise senseless and inert 

 mass, are questions very far fr. m settlement, and the easy assertions 

 of either afTords no proof of their respective believers' knowledge of 

 the matter. In short, until it can be shown by evidence to be 

 intelligently apprehended that mind and matter are not identical, 

 and can. and do, separately exist (all our knowledge up to tlio ])resent 

 time indicates the exact contrary), I think less dogmatism than 

 is so frequently exhibited would be more becoming and appropriate. 

 Surely it is better, totally ignorant as all are of whence we came 

 and whither we go, to confess such ignorance, and to "suspend our 

 jiidgment" instead of rushing to conclusions having no other or 

 better foundation than a nish era hope. Sleantime, there is ample 

 #cope for science, and she may pursue the even tenor of her way 

 undisturbed and undistracted by speculations, which however 

 interesting, or even awful, are still but speculations, probably to 

 our race ever so to remain. Geo. Kobson. 



BODY AXD SPIRIT. 



[15S7] — A correspondent in your number for Feb. 7 likened the 

 soul to a musician playing upon a piano— the body. Without dis- 

 cussing the grounds upon which this comparison is founded, might 

 I ask your correspondent one question — what becomes cf the 

 musician when his piano is destroyed ? In other words, when the 

 body dies ? Does he obtain a new piano ; and, if so, is there no 

 breach of continuity in his consciousness of Jiis own identity ? To 

 this a negative answer is impossible ; for, aa we have lately read in 

 the interesting articles on " Our Two Brains," there is often- 

 times such a breach of continuity when the piano remains the 

 same, but is for a short period out of tune and deranged. 



Perhaps your correspondent will assert that, after the destruc- 

 tion of his piano, he exists without one. Bat, noticing as we pass 

 that the same question as to the breach of continuity must meet 

 with the same answer, even in this case, what scientific grounds 

 ■have we, I ask, for asserting that the musician exists, seeing that 

 our only evidence was that derived from his performance upon liis 

 piano, which is now non-existent ? 



Such inquiries as these into the union of the mind and the body 

 belong to the realm of metaphysics, not that of physics. From a 

 ^cienti6c point of view we must always remain in absolute igno- 

 rance as to the true nature of the soul. Whether metaphysics form 

 a branch of knowledge, or whether they are in reality a snare and 

 a delusion, this is not the place to discuss. All that can be said 

 here is that, judged on scientific principles only, the verdict of the 

 jury in the case of Materialism v. Spiritualism can be given to 

 neither side. Neither the plaintiffs nor the defendants can prove 

 their case. " Xot proven " is the only possible verdict. 



This is one of those numerous questions which fall without tlie 

 sphere of possible human knowledge. It must ever remain a 

 cnystcrj- to us. Strive how hard soever we will, we can never 

 traverse the land which lies " behind the veil." In the times of 

 the IsraeUtes only the high priest might enter into the " Holy of 

 Holies." Let us remember that we men are not hi_'h priests. 

 When shall we learn the truth of the philosophical doctrine of the 

 ~' Kelativity of Human Knowledge " ? A. F. Osborne. 



BEAIX AXD MINI). 



ri598] — "F. W. H.," in letter 1580, asks me where is a man's 

 soal when he is unconscious? I do not suppose " F. W. II." 

 'intended the question as a conundrum, but it reminds me rather of 

 the riddle, *' Where was Moses when the candle went out ? " 

 Moses, I imagine, was where he was before, only in the dark. So 

 a man's soal is very probably where it was before, only in the dark. 

 " F. W. H." seems to take it for granted that consciousness is part 

 ■of the matter of or situated in the matter of the brain. Taking 

 known phenomena into consider.ation. it seems to me more pro- 

 bable that conscionsness is the reflection of the action of the brain 

 •on the surrounding aether, and what is called conscious volition the 



reaction of the aether on the matter of the br.iiu. For it seems to 

 me proved hv the plu'uomcnu of light that aMlior and uiatter do 

 act and react on another. " V. W. II." has himself shown how the 

 imago depends on the condition of the rellcctiiig surface. 

 Feb. 10, 1.S^5. ^^_ 



.Tos. W. Al.E.'CANDEB. 



MlXl), BH.UX, AXD SEX. 



[15()f)]_jli.. X. F. Osborne, in his letter (Xo. HOC)) ask.s " if it 

 be possible to say that with a dilTcrent training a Shakespeare 

 might have become a Napoleon, or a Titian niiglil have developed 

 in a Bismarck." 1 rejilv in the negative; but then 1 niaiutaiu, as 

 suggested in my letter' (Xo. IMl), that Shakes|icare, Xapoleon, 

 Titian, and Bismarck cotild not have been wlj;it they were had not 

 the different parts of their brain been in harmony. It is possible 

 that " the m.an whoso brain had three parts each equal to seven " 

 might " produce a greater effect, bo a greater genius" than the 

 " man all the parts of whose brain marked fivo " ; Init then tlic three 

 parts, each equal to seven, must be in harmony. If one of (lie parts 

 was combativeness, another caution, and the l;iat aniativeness, I 

 question whether aiiv great intellectual result would follow from 

 such a brain. Mr. Uallyards, in his letter (No. 1,505) in reply to 

 mine (No. 1,414), allows that the present "cultivation of vi-omen 

 will probably raise the level of all their children ; but then, the 

 boys improving iniri pn.s.sii with the girls, and having already a 

 gn-at start (ex hyp.), the girls will never get up with thorn." 1 

 will admit this if "Mr. Hallyards can prove tliat man's brain can be 

 developed ad infuiitum ; biit, if there is a limit to the development, 

 then the girls n'light ultin;alely get up to the boys. That there is 

 a potential power in wonmn's brain is proved by what women, 

 under most adverse circumstances, have already done. I name 

 Mrs. M. Souierville, Madanio do Stael, Charlotte Bronti;, Mrs. E. B. 

 Browning, Jlrs. Oliphant, and George Lliot. Women, too, are 

 holding their own in the mathematical and other triposes at Cam- 

 bridge. Several women can now write M.D. after their names. In 

 the Queen, the ladv's newspajier, for Oct. .30, ISIiO, page 3W, we 

 find mention made"" of a decoration given to Mrs. K. Bovell Sturge, 

 M.D., of Paris, Membre do la Societe do Mcilecine Publiquo et 

 d'llygicne Professionelle. It is the custom in Fiance to confer this 

 decoration on persons who have distinguished themselves iu 

 .scientific, literary, or educational work. Hitherto it has rarely 

 been bestowed on a woman, and Mrs. Sturge is, we understand, the 

 first Kiiglishwoman who has received this honour." I still throw 

 out the suggestion that it nirly be, not the size or weight of the 

 brain, but the harmonv of its parts, that causes men and women 

 to produce great inlelfcctual results. Of course, a large harmonious 

 brain will produce greater results than a small harmonions brain ; 

 but there must be iiarnmiiv of the parts. — Yours truly, 



\V. H. .]oN-ES. 



THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INSTINCT. 



[1600]— In your issue for Feb. 0, there was an interesting letter 

 upon the above subject; but it .seems to me that the writer has 

 confused two radically different operations of the n-iud— reflex 

 action and instinct; tlie former of these would, equally with the 

 latter, fall within his definition of instinct. 



Now, reflex action is unconscious nenro-muscular reaction, while 

 iustinct maybe shortly defined as reflex action, into which has been 

 imported an clement of consciousness, or, aa Hartniaun expresses 

 it — in instinct there is a conscious adptatiou to a particular end, 

 without knowledge of what that end is. 



The organic functions, the rhythmic beating of the heart, and pro- 

 cesses of digestion and nutrition are instances of reflex action, but 

 they are not instincts, as would appear to be the case it t-he defini- 

 tion given by your correspondent held good. The action of the 

 new-born chicken, which, on seeing before it a grain of corn, 

 immediately goes thrcugh a series of complicated movements m 

 order to seize upon that grain, is properly an instinct, for an 

 element of consciousness is present in this case which was wanting 

 in the former. 



Such movements as these may be divided into three classes 

 reflex actions, instincts, conscious actions. In the first the element 

 of consciousness is entirely wanting ; in the second it is present, 

 but the movements are gone through rather by reason of inherited 

 habit than from .any exercise of individual volition; while in the 

 third consciousness and individual volition hold full sway. 



But, although there are three classes in theory and by definition, 

 the members cf each class are pcrpetu.ally changing. That which 

 was once merely a reflex action may become an instinct or even a 

 purely conscious action ; or, on the other hand, that which was 

 once a conscious action may have deteriorated into an instil ct or 

 even into a reflex action. Thus there arc two classes of instincts: 

 reflex actions which through the accession of a conscious clement 



