SOME RELATIONS OF MIND AND BODY, 153 



movements of matter, whose first inherent quahty is inertia. 

 In the inorganic world mind is called nature with a big N, 

 and its actions are called the " laws of nature." They are 

 surely the laws of mind. 



Briefly, the old couplet is the best summary of the re- 

 lations of mind and ^natter — 



What is matter? Never mind. 

 What is mind ? No matter. 



For to attribute the functions of mind to matter, and ta 

 regard the former as a sort of self-formed secretion of the 

 latter, is to hopelessly and unintelligibly confuse things that 

 essentially differ. Still, if any object to the application of 

 the word " mind " to sub-conscious intelligence and acts, 1 

 do not press it ; all I would urge is that the actions of both 

 are spiritual or mental functions, and not material. 



Regarding, therefore, as I do, mind as the universal 

 directing agent and mover of matter, it appears to me that 

 the conscious mind is a very small part of the whole even 

 in us, while with regard to the unconscious organic creation 

 generally it forms a most minute proportion, A coral island 

 in the South Pacific is a mere ring of rock in the water, of 

 insignificant size to the sailor ; but to the biologist, or 

 geologist, it is the highest peak of a stupendous structure 

 that rises from the bottom of the ocean as a mountain, 

 miles high. Commencing, as it does, in the very smallest 

 beginnings, it remains unrecognised until it rises above the 

 surface of the sea. We only see the top of this structure, and 

 call it an island ; indeed, it is all we are conscious of except 

 by soundings, or occasional glimpses of what is beneath on 

 calm days, or at low tides. In the same way, it seems to me 

 the conscious is but a very small part of the vast sub- 

 conscious mind, on which it rests. 



The conscious mind has its seat, as we know, in the cortex, 

 or surface, of the brain only : the unconscious mind is 

 connected with — or may we not say is the source of? — all 

 life that hes below, down to the purposive, or, if you please, 

 " reflex " or automatic action of each cell. (" Reflex," by the 

 way, is a very misleading word, for an action is never really 

 reflected like a ray of light from a mirror, the process being 

 a far more complicated one, and always involvmg the action 

 of mind, or its equivalent.) 



Consciousness is not, as far as we know, an inherent 

 quality of the cortex nor of the mind by itself, but is the 



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