Feeling and Energy. 
385 
1878.] 
roughly the length of time during which a species has been 
in existence, these fadts go to prove that the nervous wave 
of vegetable life, represented by the blossom, — the most 
sensitive, the most delicate, the most complex, and the most 
vitalised of vegetable organs, is still approaching its climax, 
and has not yet attained to it. They show, also, that visible 
beauty is to 11s the index of approaching climax, and not a 
quality which can be added at any epoch at which a tempo- 
rary utility might seem to demand it. 
In the light of this reasoning, the dodlrine that “ except 
for inserts we should have had no flowers ” cannot be main- 
tained. Inserts have doubtless aided the development of 
the life-wave among the complex resistances through which 
it has to make its way, but the beauty of the world, of which 
flowers form so interesting a part, depends upon laws far 
more profound, more deep-rooted and far-reaching, and which 
would surely have attained in due time their ultimate goal, 
even though the race of inserts had never formed part of 
the same marvellous and admirable Cosmos, 
V. FEELING AND ENERGY; 
ALTERNATE AFFECTIONS OF MATTER, 
By Wo So Duncan. 
S N a former paper I boldly controverted the hypothesis of 
concomitance between the mental and physical states 
attendant on nervous adtion. That hypothesis I en- 
deavoured to show was inimical to a perfedt psychological 
philosophy on a scientific basis, inasmuch as it placed an 
impassable gulf between consciousness and adtion, between 
feeling and energy. It was opposed to universal experience 
and language. It even jarred with the best system of ethics, 
based on the happiness of mankind. 
With equal boldness I ventured to advance a rival hypo- 
thesis, namely, that Feeling and Energy could be regarded 
as stridtly alternate and convertible affedtions of matter — a 
hypothesis which not only agreed with the language of 
mankind, scientific and untaught alike, but bridged the 
VOL. viii. (n.s.) 2 c 
