30 



NATURE 



[Majr 13, 1880 



^vhich it is the seat). For where would be the n5e of the elabo- 

 rate mechanism of the brain for directing the movements of the 

 body if we are to have power of carryin;j out this same object 

 by deflecting particle-^ by " volition " (whatever that may mean)? 

 This would be to substitute for the brain, with which the iden- 

 tity is bound up, the empty nothing "volition." In that the 

 brain directs the corporeal movements ; the identity, or that 

 which constitutes the very essence of individuality, thereby 

 directs. What more would we have ? Attempt to supplant the 

 brain by the vague notion " volition," and the individuality 

 ceases to exist ; or that very end is attained which those who 

 support Free \\'ill most wish to avoid. 



From the very fact that the brain is knozun to exist, it there- 

 fore should be perfectly conceivable (if not even (J priori a 

 natural conclusion) that the brain might be a mechanism com- 

 petent to regulate all ■ llie motions of the corporeal system (for 

 a set of dynamical conditions adapted to any effect is conceiv- 

 able). In view of this, does not the assumption of this myste- 

 rious "deflecting power" seem all the more unwarrantable, or 

 even ab:urd ; as if it were imagined that the brain, being already 

 there to direct the corporeal movements, something additional 

 were necessary to direct the brain, or as if it were supposed that 

 [the brain being the seat of the identity] something besides the 

 identity were required to direct the actions of the body? This 

 would seem to be no more than a specimen of the kind of incon- 

 graities which may be expected to present themselves by any 

 attempt to evade physical principles. 



It Could not, however, be said that the opposite party were 

 entirely free fron error. For theie appears to have been a 

 notable oversight on the side of those vvlio uphold strict Causal 

 Sequence in nature (sometimes called "Necessity") in failing to 

 appreciate adequately the important influence (on the question of 

 I'ree Will) of the fact that the brain is the seat of individuality, 

 as above insisted on. For the omission to give due import to 

 this fact has naturally made strict Causal Sequence to appear 

 as a sort of grinding process, v\hereby man's actions are 

 determined indcpindently of his individuality; a view which 

 is no doubt repulsive, and may have served as some excuse for 

 the invention of the curious device of deflecting particles by 

 the "mind" or "will." It will be observed, however, that by 

 simply substituting the word "brain " (which includes " mind ") 

 for the word "mind" in the foregoing sentence, a deflection of 

 particles of matter (represented by the direction of material 

 operations by the brain) then can take place in accordance with 

 and not in oppo.-ition to the laws of nature. For from the very 

 fact of the brain substance forming part of the material universe 

 it must of course influence and direct material operations in con- 

 formity with natural causes. 



Could it be justly said that there is any compulsion in this? 

 Can there be compulsion in being obliged to act in accordance 

 with one's individuality or identity (determined by brain struc- 

 ture), since the only conceivable escape from this would be to 

 act in opf'osition to one's identity (scarcely a desirable end) ? But, 

 it may be argued, there is still some coercion left here, because, 

 although brain structure may be the seat of individuality or 

 " mind," nevertheless, since our brains wer-e originally formed by 

 the operation of causes beyond our control, there is coercion in 

 this a pect of the case. But then do even the most ardent 

 supporters of Free Will ever dream of upholding the ex- 

 pectation that an individual should have a control in the 

 ori.Miial formation of his brain? or do they not concede (and 

 rightly) that the ideal of Free Will is that an individual should 

 act in strict accordance with (and not in opposition to) his own 

 identity ? Yet this is precisely what the believer in strict Causal 

 Sequence, who has a just appreciation of the functions of the 

 brain, will maintain must necessarily occur. Solely in virtue of 

 the fact that there is strict Causal Sequence in nature are the 

 actions brought into strict conformity with individual brain 

 structures (or with identity). If the principle; of dynamics were 

 not rigid, or if the laws of nature were liable to :iiteration, a 

 man's actions might sometimes be in harmony with his brain 

 structure, sometimes in discord v\ith it ; or any number of 



'-Dv 



seem a violation of principle, or a kind of inconsi ,tency, to 

 recognise that the brain does, in fact, direct certain motions i.f the cjrpore il 

 system (and even those of a c jmplex character, such as the digestion of the 

 food, the circulation, &c.), and yet to assume that the brain would be 

 incompetent to d.rcct all tlie motions of the body ! It may be said that a 

 reason. ng process accompanies the direction of some of these motions, but 

 not others. But then is not reasoning itself a brain process, or is it not 

 ally admitted that the reasoning faculty (whatever its exact nature) 

 t least connected itiith the brain, or has a physical side, just as, indeed, 

 mental faculties generally (or "mind ") could not exist without brain? 



persons, though possessing totally different brain structures, 

 might act identically. The questionable expediency of the pro- 

 ceeding of those who are disposed to grumble at what they term 

 the " iron" laws of nature, becomes apparent here. 



But is it not, after all, more satisfactory to look to a definite 

 physical basis for identity or idividuality, as dependent on the 

 magnificent mechani-m of the brain, in preference to the super- 

 ficial view of ignoring all this ? No doubt there have been mis- 

 understandings on both sides of this Free Will v. Necessity 

 question. — The Free Will party, failing to appreciate justly the 

 sequence of cause and effect ; the Necessitarians, on the other 

 hand, omitting to reali-e fully the important bearing of the rela- 

 tion of individuality to brain-stnicture on this question. No 

 logical ground could be given why a complete agreement should 

 not be possible on this subject. For there can evidently be but 

 one correct view on any subject or question whatever. Moreover, 

 fron the very fact of the fundamental character of this question, 

 it w ould follow neces.^arily that the wrong view on this subject 

 must involve a great error, which, therefore, could hardly escape 

 detection under a careful analysis. The divergence of views 

 here is, however, no doubt more apparent than real. For if 

 Free Will may be ju tly regarded as the freedom to act in accord- 

 ance with identity (or as the assertion r/f individuality), then 

 such freedom of will actually exists, and moreover the very con- 

 dition for its existence is seen to be the prevalence of that strict 

 Causal Sequence in nature demanded by the Necessitarians. 

 Thus the two views would show themselves capable of recon- 

 ciliation on a common basis. That this fact should have 

 apparently hitherto escaped appreciation may possibly be to 

 some extent due to that spirit of partisanship which has so 

 largely entered into this question, whereby the judgment may 

 be allowed to be unconsciously biassed, so that in some cases, 

 instead of searching impartially as to what is truth, the inquiry 

 has perhaps rather been as to what ought to be truth. 



Londoa S. Tolver Preston 



Curious Botanical Phenomenon 



About a fortnight ago I noticed a curious phenomenon in a 

 wood near Leyland, Lancashire. The ground was strewn with 

 a layer of about eight to ten inches of old sodden leaves, covered 

 at the surface by dry withered ones. A quantity of hyacinths 

 (not yet in flower) were growing on this ground, and many of the 

 plants bad pierced through the withered leaves to the extent of 

 from half an inch to three inches, carrying them up above the 

 general surface. Some of the hyacinths had in this way pene- 

 trated through more than half a dozen withered leaves, and here 

 and there several plants were gathered together at their tops by a 

 number of old leaves, through h Lich they had conjointly grown. 



The question arises as to whether the hyacinth shoots had 

 pierced through the withered leaves on first issuing from the 

 ground, when the dead leaves were soft and wet, and so lifted 

 the latter to the .surface where they became dried, or whether 

 they had actually pierced through the dry leaves on the surface, 



M. F. 



Carboniferous Forest at Oldham 



It may perhaps be interesting to the readers of Nature to 

 know that here at Oldham we have recently laid bare a fine 

 sa.nple of a carboniferous fore.-t. We are here, as you are 

 aware, situated on the middle coal-measures, Oldham Edge 

 (Soo feet) being the highest outcrop of that series. 



I have been \\ atching with increasing interest during the past 

 eighteen months the progre. s of disinterment. For some time 

 at the commencement the trees occurred at considerable intervals 

 of time, but of late they have turned up more frequently, scarcely 

 a day now passing without one or more being unearthed. They 

 are, I am sorry to say, highly ptrishable, and if the necessities 

 of the works did not require their removal they would all 

 disappear during a single winter if exposed to the weather. 



The result of the combined action of the two great faults that 

 cross Oldham in a direction parallel to each other has been to 

 throw up to the sm-face several seams of coal and beds of shale 

 and sandstone. 



On the eastern escarpment of the " Edge " a quarry has been 

 dug in the argillaceous shale above what is here known as the 

 "Bent Mine," in order to make bricks of the extr.acted mate- 

 rials. In quarrying this bed the trees have been laid bare in 

 considerable numbers. Some of them show the characteristic 



