THE LESSON OF EVOLUTION 33 



Again, it has been often pointed out that the 

 genesis of consciousness is as great a mystery as the 

 genesis of life, and that it seems to be equally opposed 

 to the law of conservation of energy. In the lower 

 animals, and in some of the lowest plants, we see 

 physiological processes producing movements which 

 appear to be intelligent, but which, in reality, are no 

 more so than the movements of the leaves of a 

 sensitive plant. And it is generally allowed that for 

 the exhibition of consciousness a brain-cortex is re- 

 quired ; but how matter in the brain-cortex becomes 

 self-conscious we cannot understand. However, it is 

 possible to suppose that mind is a necessary concomi- 

 tant of life, so that the origin of the two may be one 

 and the same problem. Also, as consciousness may be 

 lost as in habit and regained by attention, it is 

 possible that consciousness may be a constant function 

 of mind, but one that cannot become efficient until a 

 large number of specially formed cells are accumulated 

 in a brain-cortex. I cannot therefore see that the 

 genesis of consciousness in animals necessarily marks 

 a break in continuity, notwithstanding that its origin 

 is quite incomprehensible to us. 



Free-will in man is so contrary to what we know 

 of the laws of nature that some metaphysicians believe 

 there is no such thing. However, I must confess that 

 I am one of those who think that the possession of 

 free-will by man is a truth as fundamental as self- 

 existence. Every one, I think, knows that by means 

 of his imagination he can, at his will, strengthen one 

 set of impulses and weaken another ; and that he can, 

 within limits, control his actions. Consequently, he 

 knows that he is not altogether an automaton. If it 



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