Owen—Hybrid Parts of Speech. 
139 
by which I mean that, after “I saw,” but before the recogni¬ 
tion of an object thereof, the trio appears as such in detail, 
blending promptly into w T hat is consciously recognized as a re¬ 
lated whole (or whatever else you prefer), which whole (ex¬ 
pressed by P) then takes its place as the missing final term 
required with “I saw.” 
Examining this more awkward and exactly so much more 
implausible operation, I find as before that the P of (b) has 
entered ( a ) ; but no more than before do I find that any other 
element of (6) has entered (a). I conclude accordingly that 
lateral thought cannot become a member of central thought. 
CENTEO-LATEKAL THOUGHT. 
While lateral thought cannot become a member of central 
thought, the two, as already indicated on page 126, may cooper¬ 
ate as a larger mental total, which may conveniently be known 
as a centro-lateral thought. To illustrate, “I have the book 
you wanted,” in which my possession of a book and your de¬ 
sire for it appear as my possession of what you desire—or, say, 
of a particular book. 
The existence of such totals is implied by the existence of 
lateral thought itself. Eor lateral is a relative term, implying, 
as that to which one thought is lateral, another thought which is 
comparatively central, just as the background of a picture im¬ 
plies a foreground. If the background be cut out, it ceases 
to be a background. If the lateral thought be isolated, it 
ceases to be lateral. In some way, it and central thought must 
constitute a mental whole. To use the phraseology of Gram¬ 
mar, the two must be joined. 
As an earnest disbeliever in the joining of thoughts, as com¬ 
monly conceived—and whether conceived as in the nature of 
sticking, stitching, spiking or fiat—I confine the examination 
of joining to the only type which I can imagine to be available 
with thoughts—to what may be known as interlocking. 
To illustrate this objectively, it may be noted that a con¬ 
necting link will make of two chains one, with exactly the 
solidity with which it is itself a part of one chain and the 
10—S. & A. 
