PHYSIOLOGY texi, 



this way, or that way, or the other way jail^eiiGelitijiienorily 

 remaining conceivable explanation must hfe tJ^itette .•edxe.Vi 

 And then ensues some ridiculous theory, al'^aysiSepeToMi^iow 

 a new, mysterious, and invisible agency : it Has/to be ihmibkl 

 of course, since no power of microscope oriaal^naeo can dis*) 

 cover it. Hence we get spirits, animal spifitsj ; seals,! susbtk} 

 fluids, vital forces and other " monstrous prbfluttts begottdn/ 

 by the imagination," as Lamarck himselfeiwelli:)ealfe.tbemi 

 elsewhere. These agencies are in turn re^^ated: tb -titthei 

 sphere of superstition, as science grows. liamax-efoiclsaiiinedx 

 the support of science for the existence o£jsa:hiia invisible: 

 fluids : science has entirely disposed of themlq The nervous; 

 ■ impulse is still not properly explained : andjjiDublttBsa laxtit, 

 it is, it will continue to be regarded as a suitabrfej^laygtsmnd. 

 for spirituahstic fancies and desires. Bufeig^teaa"'!: by uyeari 

 these phantoms find it harder to discover/ ^aayjdarici'attdi 

 unexplored corners of science, where theiyi mayc^obtaintcai 

 momentary respite from the ever-advancing tidi!ftjo£jtniat©!»ialri 

 istic knowledge. iumia-; '">d thb ut 



To do Lamarck justice, his theory was HatlSo; oiutEagedus 

 as is that of the modern vitalists. He irivoked^a; fadtorp 

 which he imagined (wrongly no doubt) to be);©§uallyiiiiistei' 

 mental in the inorganic world. His subtleaflrai.^ W^sfinot 

 invented ad hoc ; it was recognised as a loSil e^si)&eklby 

 many physicists of his time. But the jdnedeafmrviifealistsi 

 invent a factor that is wholly and imutterabljBateTf to, soieEtml ■ 

 and to every branch of knowledge or histofty. .y}TMiis,^!li3!i^i 

 into the unknown is far wilder and more ifmiioiiap ;?flja[n;'.hi^.> 

 Their search for a hypothesis has led them to;theiinost rem^otei 

 regions of primitive superstition ; it has ledifhfem toj inyent 

 a factor out of hand for the purposes of thieiradwn rtheoiSfea^ 

 tion — a factor unknown to any branch offScienceiiiafffacUor 

 unrecorded in any trustworthy history, a factttf Jwhichlbteftfesx 

 down utterly and immediately under analysis, aiqidolastfy id' 

 factor which, so far from explainrag the fsljjts it )ife>s(ia;ppfised:{ 

 to explain, throws over them an impenetBable- e3!Qu4 of; 

 mystery and obscurity .J ^ita srii 'io fiOfiB?^:' ' 



