MIND AND CONSCIENCE IN OUR POOR RELATIONS. 41 
the nature of atoms; and held, following Yon Gollner, * ' that if 
by means of delicately-formed organs of sensation it were possible 
to observe the molecular motions in a crystal mechanically injured 
in any part, it could not be unconditionally denied that the motions 
thereby excited took place absolutely without any simultaneous 
excitement of sensation." But that astounding speculation seemed 
to be composed of the stuff that dreams were made of, and to be 
utterly unworthy even of association with the name of science. 
They had ample ground in experience for the belief that sensation 
was the exclusive property of living, mental creatures ; and they 
had further the right to assert positively that no increase in the 
power of their vision would enable them to see a sensation even in 
a sensitive creature, much less in a crystal. Suppose that they 
could discern with their eye the atmospheric waves on which 
floated the music of a song ; and suppose that they could see also 
every nervous vibration caused in the auditory nerves by the 
beating of those waves on them, what then ? Would they see a 
sensation ? No ; they would see only the preliminary conditions 
of the sensation, which itself would remain as invisible to the eye 
as the song or the thoughts aroused by it. Sensation could never 
be regarded as an attribute of matter, but must be always thought 
of as a mental property, and as affording proof of the presence of 
mind. In it the consciousness of self, and not self, had birth, and 
by it thought was excited, experience gained, habit formed, and 
wisdom acquired. Only by faithfulness to the reception of this 
" great dualism," this radical contrast between life and death — a 
faithfulness enforced by Comte — did a really scientific and social 
study of nature become possible. After defining and discussing 
the terms mind and conscience, the lecturer said those who denied 
to animals the possession of reason and morality usually entrenched 
themselves behind the word "instinct." The communism of the 
ant, the geometry of the bee, the architecture of the beaver, the 
intelligence, fidelity, sympathy, and devotion of the dog, and the 
wisdom of the elephant, were to such persons merely manifesta- 
tions of a blind instinct. Instinct he regarded, to quote George 
Eliot, as "heritage from treasure stored by generations past in 
widening chambers of receptive sense." All mental action, even 
that which was now automatic, began in mind, and was voluntary 
and intelligent in its inception. They could observe in themselves 
actions grow into unconscious habits, and could see those habits 
