A FINAL WORD 293 



place of emotion. The same knowledge will come, in 

 time, to the brain of mankind, concerning all purely 

 subjective ideas. It is not required, that psychical 

 phenomena should be given a final cause in order to 

 impress their power, beauty, utility, and adaptability 

 upon man. Natural cause and effect are the great facts 

 of life. 



There is now an environment of scientific literature 

 upon these questions which fifty years ago did not 

 exist, and more and more of attention is being given 

 every year, by students, to natural phenomena. While 

 much of former educational influences still lingers, even 

 in the methods and ideas of the ablest scientists, yet 

 the leaven of phenomenism is working. 



THE ESSENTIALS OF KNOWLEDGE. One of the es- 

 sentials of human knowledge mentioned, is, that im- 

 pressions must be made, upon the peripheral sense 

 organs by real objects, as a prerequisite to knowledge. 

 In the mature mind, the idea may be initiated in one 

 of the neural centers ; in which case, it will be some 

 form of a former peripheral sensation, and will take 

 the form of an image, objective to consciousness. In 

 the infant brain the image, other than color, is com- 

 paratively meaningless. But, in the mature mind, it 

 immediately excites a molecular motion, which pro- 

 duces another fainter image, similar to the one pro- 

 duced by the sensation. The whole process, down to 

 the final perception, is so instantaneous, as to be uncon- 

 scious, and therefore impresses the ordinary brain, as 

 being not physiological, and natural. 



Said M. Taine, "Just as the body is a polypus of 

 cells, the mind is a polypus of images." Each sense 

 forms images, on its appropriate brain center, these 

 sensory images being visual, auditory, tactile, and 



