174 Human Personality. 



giving that surest of physiological evidence that intellect 

 has its source in the cells, shines forth from them, and 

 disappears as these founts of life grow dry. 



From out the well-nigh infinite atomicity of matter, 

 swift tides of ions, or electrons flash and flow through the 

 combined mass of the neurons ; and it is conjectured that 

 this etheric medium forms the base of mentation. This 

 is not j^et science, but surmise, not • yet demonstrable. 

 There is reason to theorize, however, as to such a " spiritual 

 body " within the " natural body " of the human organism ; 

 a subliminal emanation or etheric eddy in which the neurons 

 and other cells lie saturated or surcharged. There are 

 many evidences, physical, electro-magnetic, actinic, that 

 go to render the surmise a probable one. It falls in line 

 with what we know otherwise of the marvelous attenua- 

 tion of matter, its fluidity and almost inconceivably rapid 

 motions. Something of this sort must exist, just what it 

 is biological science does not yet undertake to prove; 

 whether the residual ions and electrons of the universe 

 form the " luminiferous ether" of the older physicists; or 

 whether, as is most probable, there are particles of lesser 

 mass, having far more subtle and approximately instan- 

 taneous motions; a descending series of such particles 

 dropping into profound depths of atomicity which the 

 human plummet has not yet sounded, and where science, 

 perhaps, never will find bottom. For matter is the one 

 great mystery of the universe. 



