6 



at tliis opportune moinent? I wait foi' a i'0])ly, and am 

 told that my will to do so, is only a, function of these 

 molecules, and can not l)e at any time an initiatory im- 

 pulse. In Some mysterious way they got to know that 

 this movement was recjuired at this ])articular time. 

 In other words, it is necessary in every volition to sup- 

 pose a goading })rimary sensation and consequent reflex 

 action from the power develojied. It is held the same 

 is true of memory and the wildest flights of imagina- 

 tion. My will, imaginings, reminiscences and conscious- 

 ness, are said to l)e the resfdt>< of acts of the brain, 

 Avhich determines in an autocratic way their intensity, 

 kind and variety, being amenal)le to no motive power 

 higher than itself and the law l)y which it operates. 

 Mental activity thus becomes a sequence of antecedent 

 brain manifestation. The wild impossitjiiities of Mil- 

 ton — the creations of Shakespeare — the ^vord pictur- 

 ings of Homer, Tasso, Dante, Scott and Longfellow — 

 the wonderful combinations of Mendelssohn, Handel or 

 Mozart, are only fortuitous presentments of a Molecular 

 Grand Jury kno\ving no master ah extra — receiving no 

 promptings but through sensation, and heeding no 

 dictation indejiendent of themselves. . \ 



The argument adduced by the objectivist seems tovv^iywV^ 

 be, that there is no reason to assume an et/o distinct 

 from the varied functions of nerve molecules. The 

 manifestations of the brain, of the spinal cord, and of 

 the sympathetic system, can all be exjdained on 

 physical grounds, he says ; therefore, there is no need 

 for laying down a spiritual hypothesis to account 

 for that which natural laws explain. It will be my 

 endeavor to prove the existence of a p>iy(^ilcal power 

 resident in nerve tissue — not in the relation of organ 

 and function — but in that of organ and exciting agency, 

 by parallel reasoning based on the phenomena of nat- 



