INTRODUCTION. xiii 



infinite spirit as the source of all finitudes, instead 

 of compelling it to rest on an unfounded imagina- 

 tion that the particles of matter had other than 

 their known properties and that these were sufficient 

 for the evolution of consciousness. 



As to the exact position of the mind in relation 

 to the chain of physical changes in the body, we 

 may in the future learn more about it than we 

 know at present, but, meanwhile, it is quite certain 

 that mental action is not in quantitative relation 

 to the preceding external influences applied to the 

 organs of sense. If a servant whispers in your 

 ear that there are robbers in the house, there will 

 be caused much less vibration of the drum of your 

 ear and consequent action of the auditory nerve 

 than by the loud ringing of a dinner bell ; but there 

 will possibly result very much greater mental dis- 

 turbance. The stimuli in both cases would be 

 applied to the same nerves ; and no physical theory 

 can represent it as possible that the channels 

 taken in the brain by the irritation conveyed along 

 the nerves would vary according to the meaning of 

 the sounds. It is plain therefore that the physical 

 stimulant in sensation does not lie in the same re- 

 lation to the mental changes immediately following, 

 as does the charge exploded in a gun to the flight 

 of the bullet. The vibration in the ear produces 

 change in the nerves proportionate to its amount : 

 and science does not know how the last of these 



