COSMIC PHILOSOPHY 



condensed on the tongue, generates an acrid 

 taste ; while ammonia, applied in solution to a 

 tender part of the skin, makes it burn, as we 

 say." " A vibrating tuning-fork, touched with 

 the fingers, gives them a sense of jar ; held be- 

 tween the teeth, it gives this same sense to the 

 parts in which they are embedded, while by 

 communication through the bones of the skull, 

 its vibrations so affect the auditory apparatus as 

 to awaken a consciousness of sound — a con- 

 sciousness which alone results, if the tuning-fork 

 does not touch the body." " The sun*s rays 

 falling on the hand cause a sensation of heat, 

 but no sensation of light ; and falling on the 

 retina cause a sensation of light, but no sensa- 

 tion of heat." Note that in all these cases the 

 same external cause produces widely different 

 phenomena according to the different avenues 

 through which it affects our consciousness. The 

 external cause cannot resemble all these phe- 

 nomena, its effects ; we do not know which it 

 resembles ; what warrant have we then for as- 

 suming that it resembles any one of them ? 



To these examples, culled from Mr. Spen- 

 cer's " Principles of Psychology," let me add 

 another, which, though less obvious, is equally 

 striking. The compound solar ray, when ana- 

 lyzed, is found to consist of three sets of rela- 

 tively simple rays. First, we have the visible 

 rays of medium refrangibility, ranging froni red 



