Biosophy 
second with strong, illumination. A light impression 
lasts on the retina from 1/30th to 1/50th second. On 
this depends the possibility of the cinema. The truly 
conscious visual changes seem not to exceed about ten 
to the second, the flicker phenomena between 10 and 50 
to the second being a sort of borderland or semi- 
, consciousness. 
124. As to sound, there seems to be considerable 
difference between individuals; the number of vibrations 
at which distinctly perceived sounds merge into musical 
tones varies from 15 to 30 vibrations per second. Here 
again the distinct consciousness effect appears to be in 
the neighborhood of ten to the second, with a semi- 
consciousness borderland of 15 to 30 vibrations per 
second [I find a reference by Starling, “according to 
Exner, two sounds following one another are perceived 
as distinct if the interval between them is not less than 
0.002 second." This introduces a contradiction which 
needs consideration.] 
125. The vibrations of musical tones (30 per second 
to 30,000 per second) do not cause corresponding “vibra- 
tions" of consciousness, they cause resonance of mechani- 
cal parts of our ear which reaches the consciousness as 
sensation of tone; similarly the much higher frequencies 
of visible light cause resonance in retinal structures 
which reaches the consciousness as color. 
126. The limit of frequency at which we can 
“count” or transmit distinct impulses has been estimated 
above at ten to the second. The vibration frequency of 
insect wings is much higher than this; that of the wasp 
being estimated at 110, and that of the house fly at 330, 
and no doubt that of the smaller gnats may reach 660. 
This implies corresponding vibration frequencies of con- 
sciousness in these insects. As regards the meaning of 
“now” in consciousness I have somewhere seen this esti- 
mated (I think by J. B. S. Haldane) as approximately 
two seconds; about this interval of time represents for 
us the present, as distinguished from past and future. 
127. The conclusion may be drawn that, under the 
damping influence of the great molecular complex asso- 
ciated therewith, human consciousness has a “vibration” 
frequency of 1/10th second; that the corresponding 
“vibration” frequency of small, but still highly organised, 
insects is 1/100 to 1/000 second; and that the “vibra- 
tion” frequency of the rudimentary “consciousness” of 
still more minute organisms may perhaps be exceedingly 
rapid. 
CHAPTER IV.—ELIMINATION OF THE 
SUPERNATURAL. 
128. For this chapter I have chosen as subject the 
erowth of the popular rationalist and anti-clerical move- 
ment from the time of the Renaissance onwards, and | 
illustrate this movement by a somewhat full reference 
to a small number of those writers who, by their im- 
portance and the readableness of their books, still make 
a personal appeal to us. By thus limiting myself I am 
omitting all reference to early Science and Philosophy 
in Greek and Roman times, and the origin and history 
of the Christian and other Religions. I also omit here 
reference to what is perhaps the most important—and 
the most interesting—historic aspect of Rationalism, viz., 
the growth of actual Science and its conflicts with the 
Church, associated with such names as Copernicus, 
Galileo, Vesalius, Harvey, Newton, Hutton, Dalton, Dar- 
win, Huxley, Tyndall, and a host of others down to the 
present day. 
BOCCACCIO. 
129. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375) was not over 
fond of the clerics of his day, and in one of his famous 
stories from the Decameron, the Story of the Three 
Rings, is to be found one of the earliest expressions of 
“Free Thought.” The story may be summarised as 
follows :— 
130. “The Emperor. Saladin, having exhausted his 
treasury by wars and liberality, and needing money, 
bethought him of a rich Jew, by name Melchisedech, a 
money-lender of Alexandria, who had the means to serve 
him, but was notorious for his avarice. Saladin, there- 
fore, sought some means of forcing him to disgorge; so 
he called him, received him familiarly, and said, ‘Worthy 
Sir, I have heard from many people that you are most 
wise in the things of God, and I would know of you 
which of the three religions you consider the true one— 
the Jewish, the Moslem, or the Christian?’ The Jew, 
who was in truth a Wise man, saw that Saladin intended 
to trap him—whichever of the three he chose—and 
replied, ‘My Lord, the question is a fair one, and to 
explain what I feel I will tell you a little story. 
131. “There was once a man—great and rich— 
whose dearest possession was a ring—so precious and 
beautiful, that in order to leave it forever as an heirloom 
io his descendants, he ordained that to whichever of his 
sons this ring should come, he should be the heir and 
be honored and revered by the others. By a like ordi- 
nance the ring descended generation after generation, and 
"at last came to the hands of one who possessed three 
58 
sons—all equally excellent and equally beloved of their 
father; and each asked the father for the ring. The old 
man having privately promised it to each, and being 
unable to come to a choice, and wishing to satisfy all, 
secretly called a jeweller and had two more rings made, 
so exactly like the original that even the jeweller could 
not distinguish them, Before his death the old man 
secretly gave each of his sons a ring; and when he died 
each son came forward claiming the inheritance, and 
producing his ring in evidence. And so alike were the 
rings that it was impossible to decide which was the 
heir, and the question remains unsettled to this day. And 
so I say, my Lord, of the three creeds given by God the 
Father to the three peoples you ask of, each thinks he 
has the true one—but as to who really has it, the ques- 
iion, like that of the three rings, is still unanswered.’ 7 
Saladin, appreciating the Jew’s shrewdness, then 
frankly explained his former intentions, and asked 
Melchisédech’s assistance. The Jew freely served him, 
and was afterwards well repaid, with handsome gifts in 
addition. And Saladin always gave him friendship and 
maintained him near him in great and honorable estate. 
"—————————— — 
ων —— 
tai dinde a ως. 
ουσ 
