290 ON LIFE AND ORGANISATION. 



not only by the necessities of the individual system of which 

 it is a part, but also by the unity of the entire scheme of the 

 universe. 



The third group of subjects which at present engages the 

 attention of physiologists, is the connection between the 

 corporeal and psychical elements of organisation. The views 

 of these subjects taken by different physiologists differ 

 according to the philosophical principles which they have 

 severally adopted under the influence of individual intellectual 

 tendency, or of education. Three tendencies characterise 

 present opinions on these subjects. These tendencies may be 

 distinguished as materialistic, idealistic, and spiritualistic. 



That mind is a product, or a function, of the matter of the 

 organism, is a dogma which cannot be considered as at present 

 on the decline. Within the last two years it has been re- 

 asserted and supported with extraordinary dogmatism. " As 

 contraction is the function of the muscle, as the kidney 

 secretes urine, and the liver bile, in like manner the brain 

 produces thoughts, determinations, and feelings." These are 

 the words of Carl Vogt, and they express the opinions of a 

 considerable section of the most accomplished naturalists, 

 physiologists, and physicians in Germany. 



The idealistic opinions on these subjects, based on the 

 assumption of the identity of matter and mind, are now on 

 the decline in that country where the philosophy on which 

 they are based took most extensive root. In Britain this 

 system of philosophy, although nowhere more ably advocated, 

 has never even partially influenced physiology. 



It is remarkable that the recent advance of Physiological 

 Chemistry and Physics, while it has produced increased 

 confidence in the materialistic doctrine, has nevertheless 

 afforded for the first time a physiological confirmation of the 

 essentially spiritual nature of mind. The high probability 

 that the complex structure of the brain consists only of 



