1882.] 
Analyses of Books. 
95 
and pathological research, combined with the every-day pheno- 
mena of life and death, prove the material brain to be a source 
of thought, feeling, and volition, beyond which neither reason nor 
experience can enable us to penetrate. Mind must, therefore, be 
considered as a fundtion of matter, and as a result, not a cause, 
of that inherent energy which is manifested in the divers forces 
of organic and inorganic Nature. If what we call “ design,” as 
displayed both in human adtions and in the seemingly azoic 
Cosmos, be regarded as of purely material origin, and not caused , 
though sometimes accompanied, by consciousness, the path is 
open for a theory of Evolution, in which Natural Seledtion and 
the Struggle for Existence would be only subordinate, though very 
powerful fadfors. The fallacy of such “ demonstrations ” as those 
relied upon by “A Student of Nature” consists in the assump- 
tion that matter is essentially passive, while all experience shows 
it to be in a condition of unceasing adtivity. He is of opinion 
that the motion of matter “ must have had a commencement,” 
but forgets to state the ground of his belief. Admitting that “ it 
has not yet been proved that life is a distindt entity,” he yet makes 
this claim for “ mind,” which is only a convenient name under 
which we group certain vital phenomena. 
The usual arguments from “ Personal Identity” are brought 
forward, and may be met by the usual answer. Memory is but 
one among a whole class of phenomena, most of which cannot 
be referred to spiritual unity. Old scars are retained through 
gradual changes of material, and even of form. The plant and 
the animal reproduce themselves in their offspring, which fre° 
quently manifest traits of individual resemblances to diredt or 
remote progenitors. Yet it will scarcely be contended that the 
spirit of an ancestor can be propagated through a long line of 
descendants, perhaps remaining latent for generations, till it 
reveals itself at last in the great-great-grandson ! 
Fadts like these are inexplicable ; but so, indeed, is the universe 
of which they form a part : and we must earnestly deprecate the 
tendency to seize upon a supernatural rationale whenever a na- 
tural one does not immediately present itself. False metaphors 
and misleading illustrations, tending towards the personification 
of the laws and forces of Matter, have doubtless been too often 
employed by men of Science ; and these our author does well to 
expose. His book may be read with pleasure and profit by those 
whose theory of the Cosmos differs most widely from his own.— 
C. N. 
