Implications of the Theories of Nerx^e Action 5i()3 



simple elements, material or iininaterlal, arc "IkIiIiuI" the 

 refiex, and since the reflex is an iiuhiliitable reaHty, tliere is 

 no escape from tlie conclusion that sometliing other tlian the 

 original inorganic simples must liave intervened hetweeii 

 these simples and the reflex. And what is that something? 

 Docs common experience and connnon sense hesitate with its 

 answer? If it does its hesitancy is |)r()l)ahlv from surjjrise 

 that so obvious a matter should Ik- made tlie sul>/)i'ct of 

 serious questioning. "The dog is what lias intervened be- 

 tween the chemical simples and the reflex." That is what 

 common experience nmst answer and will unhesitatingly 

 answer once it recovers from its surprise at being (jues- 

 tioned on a subject so open and daylight clear. 



But then science comes forward with its criticism of this 

 common-sense answer. There is no gainsaying, it admits, 

 the truth of the naive answer thus given. Ihit this answer, 

 science says, is a mere truism. It leaves the case just where 

 it was before science began its analysis, so is worthless for 

 scientific purposes, however useful it may be for ordinary 

 purposes. 



This rejoinder by science nuist be looked into caicfully; 

 otherwise its weakness will be missed. It must be exacted 

 of science that she show more explicitly than she has what 

 she means by explaining the dog's scratch-reflex by refer- 

 ring it to the physico-chemical elements at the l)asis of the 

 act. Let us, we must insist, hear you express a dog's 

 scratch-reflex in the terms of oxygen, carbon, et cetera. 



That such expression is possible is freely granted. Hut 

 how can it be done? That is a key (piestion. It can l>e 

 done in one and only one way, namely by adding to the 

 attributes, that is, to the "terms" which inorganic chemistry 

 recoirnizes in the chemical ileim-iits concenied, iust those 

 attributes and terms which the dog's scratch-reflex requires 

 in order that the elements may explain the reflex. We can 

 say that besides the si>ccific gravity, combining weight, and 



