220 SCIENCE AND THE HUMAN MIND 



well as of the human organism regarded from without. 

 Now whether a complete knowledge even of the out- 

 ward problem, based on mechanical principles, will 

 ever be reached it is impossible to say. But it is 

 quite certain that as yet it has not been attained, and 

 will not be attained till many more alternations 

 towards and away from mechanical philosophy have 

 passed like waves over the human mind. Indeed, we 

 are already moving out of the particular wave induced 

 by the coalescence of nineteenth-century physics and 

 the coming of evolution. The present tendency is on 

 the whole away from thorough-going materialistic or 

 even mechanical views. Our opinions as to whether 

 this tendency is in the direction of final truth, or 

 whether it is but a passing eddy on the broad current 

 of thought which, with temporary set-backs, moves 

 for ever onwards, will depend on the inborn qualities 

 and predispositions of our minds, as modified by 

 education and environment. Moreover, it must be 

 remembered that the type of mind to be satisfied 

 may alter. The mystic of the Northern race will 

 never rest content with a mechanical universe if it 

 be held to regulate inward consciousness as well as 

 outward phenomena. Minds which rely on law and 

 form will require some ordered and comprehensive 

 scheme to satisfy their mental outlook. But whatever 

 be the outcome, it must be admitted that the pro- 

 blem is too vast to be solved in any finite time. The 

 very principle of evolution itself requires us to look 

 forward to an ever-changing stream of thought, which 

 will develop from age to age, while past experience 

 goes to show that the development will be not steady 

 and secure, but intermittent and oscillatory. 



