278 



SCIENCE. 



tVoL. II., No. 30. 



sti'icted, it prompts to tlie most energetic displays. 

 -So, you see, it is a matter of necessity that mental 

 phenomena lie at the back of evolution, provided 

 always that the connecting link of tlie argument — 

 that motion has ever affected structure — be true. 

 That is a point which, of course, admits of much 

 discussion. I have placed myself on the aflnrmative 

 side of that question; and, if I live long enough, I 

 expect to see it absolutely demonstrated. 



Of coufse the development of mind becomes pos- 

 sible under such circumstances. It is not like a man 

 lifting himself up by his boots; which it would be if 

 he had no such thing as memory. But with that mem- 

 ory which accumulates, whicli formulates first habits, 

 and then structures, especially in the soft, delicate 

 nervous tissue, the development of the mind as well 

 as the machinery of the mind becomes perfectly pos- 

 sible. We develop our intellect through the accumu- 

 lation of exact facts; through the collation of pure 

 truth, no matter whetlier it be a humble kind of 

 truth, — as the knowledge of the changes of the sea- 

 sons, whicli iniluces some animals to lay up the win- 

 ter's store, — whether it be knowledge of the fact that 

 the sting of the bee is very unpleasant, or knowledge 

 of the fact (of which the ox, no doubt, is thoroughly 

 aware) that the teeth of the wolf are not pleasant 

 to come in contact with; or whetlier it be the com- 

 plex knowledge of man. When the cerebral matter 

 has become larger and more comple.x, it receives and 

 retains a much greater number of impressions, and the 

 animal becomes a more highly educated being. 



As regards the department of emotions or passions, 

 it is also much stimulated by the environment. Ani- 

 mals which live in a state of constant strife, naturally 

 have their antagonistic passions much developed; 

 while amiable, sympathetic sentiments are better and 

 more largely produced by peace-loving animals. Thus 

 it is that the various departments of the mind have 

 the beautiful results which we now find in the human 

 species. 



There are some departments of the mind whicli 

 some of our friends decline to admit having had such 

 an origin. The moral faculty, for instance, is ex- 

 cepted by many from this series. But the reasons 

 why they object to its production in this way are, to 

 my mind, not valid. The development of the moral 

 faculty, which is essentially the sense of justice, ap- 

 pears to them not to fall within the scope of a theory 

 of descent or of evolution. It consists of two parts. 

 Pirst is tlie sentiment of benevolence, or of sympathy 

 with mankind, which gives us tlie desire to treat them 

 as they should be treated. It is not sufficient for jus- 

 tice that it is unmixed mercy, or benevolence, which 

 is sometimes very injurious, and very often mis- 

 placed. It requires, in the second place, the criticism 

 of tlie judgment, of the mature intellect, of the ra- 

 tional faculty, to enable the possessor to dispose of 

 his sentiments in the proper manner. The combina- 

 tion of rational discrimination and true judgment, 

 with benevolence, constitutes the sense of justice, 

 which has been derived, no doubt, as a summary of 

 the development of those two departments of the 

 mind, — the emotions and the intellect. 



It is said, that a sense of justice could not be de- 

 rived from the sense of no justice; that it could not 

 have been derived from tiie state of things which we 

 iind in the animals, because no animal is known to 

 exhibit real justice: and that objection is valid as far 

 as it goes. I susp 'Ct that no animal has been ob- 

 served to show a true sense of justice. That they 

 show sympathy and kindness, there is no question; 

 but when it comes to real justice, tliey do not display 

 it. Butdo all men display justice? Do all men u«(ier- 

 sland justice? I am very sure not. There are a good 

 many men in civilized communities, and there are 

 many tribes, who do not know what justice is. It does 

 not exist as a part of every mental constitution. I 

 never lived among the Bushmen, and do not know 

 exactly what their mental constitution is; but in a 

 general way the justice of savages is restricted to 

 the very smallest possible circle, — that of their tribe 

 or of their own family. There is a class of people who 

 do not understand justice. I do not refer to people 

 who know what right is, and do not do it; hut to 

 tlie primitive state of moral character, in which, as in 

 cliildren, a sense of justice is unknown. I call atten- 

 tion to the fact, because some of our friends have 

 been very niucli afraid that the demonstration of the 

 law of evolution, physical and metaphysical, would 

 result in danger to society. I suspect not. The mode 

 in which I understand tills questiim appears to me to 

 be beneficial to society, rather than injurious; .and I 

 therefore take the liberty of appending this part of 

 the subject to Its more material aspect. 



To refer to another topic, and that is to the origin 

 of life, the physical basis of life. The word 'life' is 

 so complex that it is necessary to define it, and so to 

 define it away that really the word 'life' does not 

 retain its usual defiiiition. Many phenomena of life 

 are cliemical, physical, mechanical. We have to 

 remove all these from consideration, because they 

 come within the ordinary laws of mech.anical forces; 

 but we have a few things left which are of a differ- 

 ent character. One is the law of growth, which is 

 displayed in the processes of embryonic succession; 

 secondly, the wonderful phenomena of sensibility. 

 Those two things we have not yet reduced to any 

 identity with the ordinary laws of force. In the 

 phenomena of embryology the phenomena of evolu- 

 tion are repeated, only concentrated in the early 

 stages througli which animals have to pass. So 

 whatever explains the general phenomena of evolu- 

 tion explains the phenomena of embryology. 



What is the nature of pliysical sensibility? In 

 this planet, it is found residing only in one form of 

 matter, wliicli has a slightly varied chemical consti- 

 tution, namely, protoplasm ; so-called from a physi- 

 cal standpoint. Now, this world, as you all know, 

 has passed through many changes of temperature. 

 Its early periods, it is probable, were so very hot that 

 protoplasm had a very poor chance. The earth has 

 passed through a great many changes of temperature, 

 many of which would not permit the existence of 

 protoplasm. Again, can we assume for a moment 

 that this little speck in the great universe is the only 

 seat of life ? I suppose scarcely any scientific man 



