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THE REV. CANON E. JICCLURE, M.A., M.R.I.A., ON 



science. And this is how this principle affects our outlook on 

 the world : " All real process consists in the movement of 

 masses ; all motion is caused by motion only, and all change of 

 motion of any body is caused by impact of some other body 

 upon it." And again, " All physical energy becomes kinetic 

 energy, or the momentum of masses, and the law of the con- 

 servation of energy asserts that the kinetic energy of the 

 universe is a constant quantity." 



This means that every form of physical activity that comes 

 under our notice is an instance of motion caused by other 

 motion only, and the sum total of the energy causing all 

 motion is constant ; it cannot be added to or diminished. 

 Every motion taking place in the universe comes, according 

 to this view, under this law. 



Here we may well ask — in the interest of the contentions of 

 Canon Streeter, who invokes science to his aid : Does the law of 

 the conservation of energy really cover every form of activity 

 in the universe, reducing such activity to physical movements 

 which may be measured ? Is human thought within its 

 compass, including the human will ? Thought cannot be 

 weighed or measured. Is thought, is consciousness a factor 

 in the physical movements of the universe ? The strict 

 upholders of the mechanical concept of the universe deny 

 that consciousness in any form can influence in the slightest 

 degree the course of physical events. That consciousness 

 should be able to move the smallest particle of matter is 

 a concept, it is contended, that would upset the law of the 

 conservation of energy by making it possible to increase by 

 that which is not physical motion the sum total of the kinetic 

 energy of the universe. 



Consciousness, while an attendant phenomenon on certain 

 brain-processes, has, it is contended, no more efficiency in the 

 world of matter than the shadows of a revolving wheel have 

 on the motion of the latter. It is in cerebral changes only — in 

 which consciousness is a kind of by-product — that, according to 

 the mechanistic theory, efficiency lies. It has been proved that 

 the cerebral cortex — the thin surface-layer of grey matter — is 

 the part of the brain immediately concerned with certain 

 mental processes. This cortex has been mapped out into areas, 

 the integrity of which is essential to certain modes of con- 

 sciousness, including the highest actions of thought. This and 

 other parts of the brain, together with the spinal cord, are the 

 seat of all nervous processes — and these processes, it is con- 

 tended, are all of the nature of reflex action under varying 



