366 THE LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION 
essentially force, and nothing but force; that matter, 
as popularly understood, does not exist, and is, in fact, 
philosophically inconceivable. When we touch matter, 
we only really experience sensations of resistance, im- 
plying repulsive force; and no other sense can give us 
such apparently solid proofs of the reality of matter, as 
touch does. This conclusion, if kept constantly present 
in the mind, will be found to have a most important 
bearing on almost every high scientific and philoso- 
phical problem, and especially on such as relate to our 
own conscious existence. 
All Force is probably Wili-Force.—If we are satis- 
fied that force or forces are all that exist in the ma- 
terial universe, we are next led to enquire what is 
force? We are acquainted with two radically distinct 
or apparently distinct kinds of force—the first consists 
of the primary forces of nature, such as gravitation, 
cohesion, repulsion, heat, electricity, &c. ; the second is 
our own will-force. Many persons will at once deny 
that the latter exists. It will be said, that it is a mere 
transformation of the primary forces before alluded to ; 
that the correlation of forces includes those of animal 
life, and that wll itself is but the result of molecular 
change in the brain. I think, however, that it can 
be shown, that this latter assertion has neither been 
proved, nor even been proved to be possible; and 
that in making it, a great leap in the dark has 
been taken from the known to the unknown. It: 
may be at once admitted that the muscular force 
of animals and men, is merely the transformed energy 
