PERCEIVING & PERCEIVED NATURES 133 



any part of the means and instrument of communication, 

 on any part which we know to be material. There is 

 no likeness between motion and sensation. There is no 

 resemblance between vibration and colour. They have 

 nothing in common. The difference between them may 

 be said to be infinitely great. Of necessity, therefore, 

 the entities to which they belong must be as different as 

 the qualities are different. And as the faculty of per- 

 ceiving matter in so many of its phases is supplemented 

 by powers still higher, and if possible more widely 

 different, we are constrained to conclude that there is in 

 mysterious association with the brain a nature whose 

 substratum is not molecular and material, is not of the 

 nature of the ether, but such as to be denominated 

 mental or spiritual, corresponding to the powers with 

 which it is endowed. This nature is most intimately 

 united to the material form, and through it perceives the 

 ten thousand wonders of the world. 



(1) The union is perfect. They cleave to each other. 

 They work together. They co-operate in all operations 

 as if they were one. The one can do nothing without 

 the other. Their action is uniformly a combined action. 

 In the healthy nothing can surpass the perfection of 

 their harmonious working. They are as a perfect instru- 

 ment and instrumentalist, as a grand organ and hand of 

 matchless skill to sound it, from its lowest note to its full 

 compass, from its simplest tones to its sublimest and 

 sweetest combinations. 



(2) The union is stable. It is not like that of sub- 

 stances which the least blow or rise of temperature can 

 break up. It is as the most stable compounds. It can 

 continue for threescore and ten, or fourscore, or even a 

 hundred years. The conscious perceiving nature does 

 not dart from its place at an unpleasant sight, a harsh 



