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AN 


STUDYOPMAN 


1ATT  *R\      FH=? 


m.       il.njiJJaf 


:-  '  7     iiifii.]'] 


alOCK 


A  STUDY  OF  MAN 


THE  WAY  TO   HEALTH 


J.  D.  BUCK.M.  D. 


Selfishness  is  the  father  of  vice; 
Altruism,  the  mother  of  virtue. 


New  Edition,   Revised  and  Enlarged 


CHICAGO 

INDO-AMERICAN  BOOK  CO. 

5705  W.  Lake  St. 

1914 


COPYRIGHT,   1889, 
By  J.  D.  BUCK. 


DEDICATION. 

To  the  pure  Light  of  Love 
That  beams  on  the  altar  of  my  home 
And  to  the  inspiring  Soul  of  Unselfishness 
That  radiates  from  the  life  of  my  sister 
These  pages  are  affectionately  inscribed. 


FOREWORD. 

The  following  volume  was  designed  to  lead  up  to  a  systematic, 
and ,  therefore,  a  scientific  and  philosophical  study  of  man.  With 
Religion  on  the  one  side,  and  materialistic  Science  on  the  other, 
with  the  average  individual  no  provision  was  made  in  current 
beliefs  or  the  annals  of  science  for  a  rational  conception  of  the 
human  soul. 

Between  faith  without  reason,  and  reason,  under  the  garb  of 
science,  without  faiith,  agnosticism  was  being  insidiously  trans- 
formed into  a  soulless  and  Godless  materialism.  Problems  the 
most  vital  to  man  were  labeled  "Unknowable."  So-called  science 
virtually  declared  the  quest  for  the  soul  altogether  visionary  and 
did  its  best  and  its  utmost  to  discourage  the  search  altogether. 

The  Study  of  Man  was  designed  to  show  the  Modulus  that 
underlies  the  whole  nature  of  man.  Emphasizing  the  facts  of  com- 
mon experiences,  and  avoiding  all  theorizing  as  far  as  possible, 
the  facts  cognizant  to  all  were  allowed  to  tell  their  own  story, 
and  thus  reveal  the  obvious  and  necessary  inferences.  Conscious- 
ness was  thus  shown  as  compassing  equally,  a  natural  and  a 
spiritual  world,  in  the  common  experience  of  man.  No  effort 
whatever  was  made  to  construct  a  theory  of  the  soul,  but  it 
was  designed  to  lessen  the  force  of  agnosticism  by  suggestions 
of  a  possible  Gnosis,  and  to  counteract  the  blighting  curse  of 
materialism  by  showing  man  to  be  essentially  a  spiritual  being. 

Moreover ,  the  inference  is  very  general ,  and  everywhere  upheld 
by  the  language  and  theories  of  modern  science,  that  the  higher 
evolution  of  man  consists  in  and  is  determined  by  intellectual 
development,  and  the  ethical  or  moral  element  is  included  by  cour- 
tesy. Then  by  making  all  intellectual  processes  adhere  strictly  as  a 
function  of  the  physical  brain,  this  Physio- psychology,  synony- 
mous with  all  mental  processes,  again  closed  the  cycle  of  material- 
ism. It  was  attempted,  without  direct  reference  to  these  ma- 
terialistic theories,  to  so  present  the  facts  of  common  experience, 
aa  to  make  these  materialistic  theories  forever  more  imj 

(v) 


vi  Foreword  to  the  Third  Edition. 

by  showing  the  modulus  of  man  to  involve  a  two-fold  life  in  the 
form  of  a  universal  and  exact  equation. 

Thus  the  outer  world  of  things,  and  the  inner  world  of  ideas: 
the  objective  and  the  subjective,  the  Natural  and  the  Spiritual, 
were  shown  to  adhere  equally  in  all  human  experience,  and  to  be 
the  modulus  of  Nature,  everywhere  manifest  in  the  life  of  man. 

The  working  hypothesis  of  modern  physical  science  undertakes 
to  reduce  all  problems  in  the  life  of  man,  as  in  physical  nature 
at  large,  to  terms  of  mass  and  motion. 

In  the  Kinetics  of  the  physical  brain  and  nervous  mechanism 
Science  finds  its  psychical  theorem.  The  phenomena  of  thought 
and  the  relation  between  structure  and  function  may  be  observed, 
studied,  classified,  ad  infinitum,  and  yet,  if  the  fact  of  conscious- 
ness is  belittled  or  ignored,  man  will  never  grasp  the  real  problem 
of  the  soul,  or  arrive  at  any  adequate  theorem  of  the  higher 
evolution. 

The  human  is  essentially  the  humane.  All  intellectual  processes 
that  overlook  or  ignore  simple  kindness  or  compassion  are 
inhuman,  to  say  the  least,  and  can  alone  never  determine  the 
higher  evolution  of  man.  Hence  the  principle  of  altruism  is  shown 
to  underlie  all  problems  in  the  life  of  man.  This  adheres  from  the 
modulus  of  Nature,  and  the  overshadowing  of  the  Divine  from 
which  the  life  of  man  proceeds. 

During  the  past  decade  these  altruistic  principles  and  concepts 
have  gained  immeasurably  in  the  attention  and  conscience  of  our 
fellowmen.  Scientific  Materialism  so-called  has  proportionately 
loosened  its  hold.  Wireless  telegraphy  has  suggested  new  concepts 
in  nature's  finer  forces.  The  trend  of  thought  and  the  lines  of 
interest  have,  in  many  directions,  moved  to  higher  planes.  The 
two  planes  of  consciousness  in  man  everywhere  recognized  in  this 
book  and  continually  appealed  to  as  basic  in  all  phenomena  of 
conscious  life,  are  now  quite  generally  recognized;  whereas,  when 
this  book  first  appeared  they  were  more  often  scouted  or  ridiculed 
by  so-called  scientists.  Prof.  William  James  of  Harvard  declares 
"the  Subconscious  Self  to  be,  nowadays,  a  toell-accredited  physoko- 
logical  entity."  It  will  presently  be  recognized  that  it  is  the  supra- 
conscious  Self,  natlier  than  the  sub-conscious,  that  must  be 
recognized  in  all  the  higher  groups  of  psychic  phenomena.  In  this 
book  the  term  Higher  Self  was  used  to  designate  the  ego  as  the 
adjunct  in  these  higher  phenomena.  Hence  we  have  the  CYmscious 


Foreword  to  the  Third  Edition.  vii 

Self,  the  Sub-conscious  Self,  the  Supra-conscious  Self,  three 
aspects  of  the  Ego  representing  three  well-marked  planes  of  con- 
sciousness. 

In  the  chapter  on  Planes  of  Life  it  was  undertaken  to  illustrate 
these  planes  of  consciousness  without  formulating  the  philosophy 
upon  which  the  conception  rests,  except  by  the  broadest  generaliza- 
tions. 

It  is  thus  easy  to  show  that  great  progress  is  being  made,  and 
along  what  lines. 

The  text  of  the  book  remains  as  first  written.  The  author 
has  no  alterations  to  make. 

It  may  here  be  said  in  passing,  however,  that  the  terms  "dead 
matter"  and  "living  matter"  were  used  at  the  time  in  the  con- 
ventional sense  of  modern  physiology,  while  in  the  chapters  on 
Life  and  Living  Forms,  Life  is  regarded  as  potential  or  latent 
in  all  matter.  As  a  quality  Life  is  an  Ultimate,  like  Conscious- 
ness, Law,  etc. 

In  the  process  of  nutrition  and  assimilation,  so-called  "dead 
matter"  is  constantly  being  converted  into  living  tissue,  and  this 
is  inconceivable  if  a  radical  difference  between  them  really  exists. 
It  is  evidently  the  same  substance  under  different  conditions,  what 
we  call  Life  being  latent  in  the  one  case  and  manifest  or  active  in 
the  other. 

With  the  Higher  Criticism  in  religious  matters,  and  the  recog- 
nition of  the  Finer  Farces  in  scientific  research,  there  is  a  very 
evident  up-lift  toward  spiritual  discernment.  Materialism  in 
science  and  creed  and  dogma  in  religion  are  thus  giving  place  to 
the  New  Psychology.  This  Science  of  the  Soul  recognizes  the  innate 
spiritual  intuitions  as  the  true  illuminator  of  man,  which  all  true 
science  confirms,  and  all  true  .religion  fosters  and  assists. 

The  Study  of  Man  was  originally  designed  to  lead  up  to,  and 
facilitate  just  this  spiritual  enlightenment  by  those  general  con- 
siderations that  make  it  both  logical  and  unavoidable. 

All  our  conclusions  regarding  the  nature,  the  mission,  and  the 
destiny  of  man,  depend  on  the  point  from  which  we  view  him.  If 
we  regard  him  as  simply  an  "improved  animal"  we  shall  strive  in 
vain  to  account  for  or  to  apprehend  his  higher  faculties  and  tran- 
scendent powers. 

But  if  we  regard  man  as  essentially  a  spiritual  being  from 
our  'higher  vantage-ground  his  lower  nature  and  all  the  intervening 


viii  Foreword  to  the  Third  Edition. 

planes  of  consciousness  may  be  clearly  apprehended.  Hence  the 
Natural  and  the  Spiritual  are  herein  shown  to  be  basic  in  our 
theorem  of  Life,  the  process  of  evolution  and  involution  to  be  an 
underlying  vital  equation,  and  the  Perfect  Man  alike  the  Ideal  of 
Universal  Nature  and  Divine  Intelligence. 

December,  1903. 


PREFACE. 


scan- 


*Know  then  thyself,    presume  not  God  to 
The  proper  study  of  mankind  is  man. 
Placed  on  this  isthmus  of  a  middle  state, 
A  being  darkly  wise,   and  rudely  great; 
With  too  much  knowledge  for  the  skeptic  side, 
With  too  much  weakness  for  the  Stoic's  pride, 
He  hangs  between;  in  doubt  to  act,   or  rest; 
In  doubt  to  deem  himself  a  god,   or  beast; 
In  doubt  his  mind  or  body  to  prefer; 
Born  but  to  die,   and  reasoning  but  to  err; 
Alike  in  ignorance,  his  reasoning  such, 
Whether  he  thinks  too  little  or  too  much; 
Chaos  of  thought   and  passion,  all  confused; 
Still  by  himself  abused  or  disabused; 
Created  half  to  rise,   or  half  to  fall; 
Great  lord  of  all  things,   yet  a  prey  to  all; 
Sole  judge  of  truth,  in  endless  error  hurl'd, 
The  glory,    jest  and  riddle  of  the  world!" 

Such  was  man  as  viewed  through  the  eyes  of  Alexander 
Pope.  But  few  of  the  present  generation  read  Pope,  and  yet 
mankind  is  much  the  same  now  as  two  hundred  years  ago, 
and  for  the  average  individual  these  famous  lines  are  as  true 
now  as   when  they  were  first   penned. 

There  have  been  those  in  all  ages  who  have  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  study  of  man,  and  these  have  at  least  apprehended 
the  nature  of  the  problems  involved  in  its  origin,  nature,  and 
destiny,  though  they  may  have  been  unable  to  solve  them. 
Most    wonderful    progress    has    indeed    been    made    in    material 

fix) 


x  Preface. 

things  during  the  past  two  hundred  years,  and  more  especially 
during  the  last  half  century;  yet  man  is  still 

"The  glory,  jest  and  riddle  of  the  world!" 

There  never  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  letters  when  so 
great  facilities  and  so  few  barriers  were  presented  to  the  study 
of  man  as  now.  Investigation  is  to-day  practically  free. 
There  are  no  barriers  to  any  study  that  does  not  interfere 
directly  with  the  life,  liberty  and  happiness  of  another.  There 
may,  indeed,  be  found  a  lurking  remnant  of  the  old  persecu- 
tion, but  fortunately  it  is  seldom  marshaled  in  the  name  of 
religion.  It  rather  issues  from  the  camp  of  the  nihilist  as  a 
rather  mild  form  of  ridicule  of  him  who  ventures  to  question 
the  realm  scientifically  dubbed  the  unknowable.  Yet  even  here 
the  progress  of  science  in  the  realm  of  nature's  finer  forces 
has  been  so  great  that  the  majority  of  really  earnest  and 
intelligent  persons  declare  that  they  are  not  prepared  to  say 
what  is  possible  and  what  not,  and  that  they  would  hardly  be 
surprised  at  anything.  Among  the  really  devout  and  earnest 
souls  it  is  usually  enough  that  one  earnestly  seeks  the  truth 
for  the  benefit  of  man  in  order  to  enlist  attention  and  courteous 
examination.  The  motto  of  these  is  anything  that  is  right  and 
true  for  the  benefit  of  humanity.  It  is  true  that  there  does  not 
appear  on  the  surface  of  things  nowadays  so  great  solicitude 
for  the  glory  of  God,  for  the  reason  that  it  has  been  discerned 
in  these  later  times  that  the  glory  of  God  depends  on  the 
elevation  of  man;  for  only  as  man's  thoughts  are  purified  and 
his  life  elevated  can  he  seek  and  adore  the  source  of  all  life, 
the  bestower  of  a-31  good,  and  the  fountain  of  all  truth. 

Opportunities  for  observing  human  nature  in  all  its  modes 
of  life,  in  every  degree  of  development,  and  in  every  clime, 
were  never  so  great  as  they  are  to-day.  One  may  now  cir- 
cumnavigate   the    globe    with    less    expenditure    of    time    and 


Preface.  xi 

money    than    would    have    been    required    a    few    years    ago    to 
cross   a   continent   or   a   principality 

Railroads  and  telegraphs  have  consolidated  humanity.  If  a 
flood  occurs  in  the  Celestial  Empire,  a  cyclone  in  Ceylon,  or 
if  two  emperors  meet  on  neutral  ground  to  discuss  the  fate  of 
empires,  and  to  consider  the  propriety  of  allowing  a  few  thou- 
sands of  their  subjects  to  slaughter  each  other,  we  read  of  all 
these  things  in  the  daily  press  over  our  coffee  the  next  morn- 
ing. We  are  almost  able  to  feel  the  pulse  and  note  the  daily 
temperature  of  a  sick  and  bedoctored  emperor  on  the  other 
side  of  the  globe,  and  we  are  apprised  of  his  demise  before 
the  services  of  the  wrangling  physicians  have  given  place  to 
those   of   the  Royal   undertaker. 

From  the  wonderful  advancement  in  the  art  of  printing  have 
come  the  .multiplication  of  books,  the  reproduction  of  ancient 
manuscripts,  the  progress  of  science  and  the  arts  and  the  gen- 
eral diffusion  of  learning,  thus  placing  these  treasures  within 
reach  of  the  poorest,  giving  them  facilities  once  the  birthright 
of  kings  only.  Priceless  volumes  are  stored  in  public  libraries, 
accessible  to  any  who  will  use  and  not  destroy;  while  to  the 
halls  of  learning  the  price  of  admission  is  learning  itself, 
rather  than  the  favor  of   princes. 

We  have  seen  doctrines,  as  evolution,  which  were  at  first 
supposed  to  be  subversive  of  all  truth  and  righteousness,  make 
such  rapid  progress  that  a  single  decade  was  sufficient  to 
make  them  popular  wherever  comprehended,  and  where  an- 
other decade  found  them  involved  in  pulpit  utterance  as  the 
criterion  of  intelligence.  Religion  is  no  longer  afraid  of  her 
altars  in  the  presence  of  anything  that  can  be  shown  to  be 
true  and  beneficent,  while  the  dark  shadow  that  once  glowered 
over  her  altars  and  quenched  her  sacred  fires  has  fled  at  the 
approach  of  the  illuminating  angel  of  humanity.  Just  in 
proportion  as  superstition  recedes,   does  peace  and  good  will  to 


xii  Preface. 

man  advance.  No  odium  theologicum  attaches  to  any  depart- 
ment of  learning,  and  no  utterance  made  by  a  thoughtful 
mind  and  set  forth  with  candor  and  decency  excites  either 
surprise  or  alarm.  A  stronger  weapon  than  even  persecution 
is  now  recognized,  namely,  intelligent  criticism  and  disproof. 
Modern  science  has  pushed  its  investigations  into  every  de- 
partment of  nature.  It  has  dredged  the  deepest  seas,  scaled 
the  highest  mountains,  analyzed  the  sunbeam,  and  resolved 
the  distant  nebula.  Science  has  rendered  the  hardest  metals 
incandescent,  and  seems  only  to  be  gathering  breath)  and 
strength  before  it  dissolves  the  elements.  Science  has  thus 
pushed  experiment  and  analysis,  instituted  comparisons,  weighed, 
measured,    tabulated,   systematized  and  recorded  facts. 

In  all  this  investigation  no  external  kingdom  of  nature  has 
been  overlooked,  nor  escaped  the  argus-eyed  explorer.  The 
habits,  modes  of  origin  and  cycles  of  life  of  plants  and  animals 
have  been  observed  over  a  large  part  of  the  habitable  globe, 
while  organisms  whose  theater  of  life  is  invisible  to  the  naked 
eye  have  been  studied  under  the  microscope  until  they  are  as 
familiar  to  the  biologist  as  household  words;  and  while  the 
brave  Stanley,  worthy  successor  to  Livingston,  is  lost  in  the 
jungles  of  Africa  the  ambitious  Arctic  explorer  dreams  of  an 
open  polar  sea. 

Comparative  anatomy  and  comparative  physiology  have 
greatly  enlarged  our  knowledge  of  the  theater,  the  mechan- 
ism and  the  phenomena  of  life,  while  these,  together  with  the 
study  of  the  zoophite  and  the  amoeba,  have  added  greatly  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  structure  and  functions  of  life  in  man. 
The  study  of  sociology  has  been  undertaken  with  zeal  and 
intelligence,  thus  furnishing  future  students  valuable  material, 
if  not  final  results. 

The  last  stronghold  of  superstition  and  ignorance  is  the  psy- 
chical nature  of  man.  While  the  problems  in  psychology  ate 
the  last  and  the  most  difficult  to  be  investigated,  they  give  at 


Preface.  xiii 

the  same  time  the  most  curious  interest  to  the  ignorant,  and 
excite  in  the  intelligent  the  greatest  diversity  of  opinion. 
It  might  therefore  be  said  of  psychology,  and  might  be  ap- 
plied to  most  of  toe  discussions  thereon,  as  it  was  once  said  of 
philosophy:  they  are  treatises  on  a  subject  that  no  one  knows 
any  thing  about,  conducted  in  a  language  that  no  one  under- 
stands. The  reason  for  this  condition  of  things  may,  perhaps, 
be  shown  in  the  following  pages.  There  is  certainly  no  lack  of 
facts,  no  dearth  of  materials,  upon  which  to  build  the  foun- 
dations, at  least,  of  a  science  of  psychology.  The  author  of 
this  work  trusts  that  it  may  appear  in  the  sequel  that  only  better 
methods  are  needed  to  bring  about  the  desired  result.  All  such 
investigations  may  indeed  proceed  from  a  physical  basis,  though 
they  all  transcend  physics.  They  may  also  be  conducted  sci- 
entifically, but  must  also  be  supplemented  by  synthetic  proc- 
esses to  be  derived  only  from  a  sound  and  far-reaching  philos- 
ophy. All  higher  knowledge  is  a  consensus  of  all  experience; 
for  man,  therefore,  in  any  true  sense  to  know  his  higher  na- 
ture he  must  have  reached  that  plane  first  by  experience. 
The  experience  of  man  has  reached,  at  least  in  many  oases, 
the  threshold  01  the  higher  knowledge.  Recorded  and  oft- 
verified  observations  and  experiments  are  not  wanting;  while 
to  rare  psychological  phenomena  may  also  be  added  almost 
universal  individual  experience — incidents  which  seem  to  tran- 
scend the  known  laws  of  physics,  and  which  have  rot  been 
properly  assigned  and  apprehended  for  lack  of  a  knowledge  of 
any  law  governing  them.  Science  has  all  along  attempted  to 
convert  subjective  experience  into  terms  of  phenomenal  exist- 
ence, and  it  could  not  be  otherwise  than  that  such  experience 
thus  dragged  out  of  place  should  appear  distorted  and  fantas- 
tic, and  should  refuse  to  yield  definite  results.  Moreover, 
that  which  is  at  best  a  method  of  procedure  has  been  mis- 
taken for  a  result,  and  the  dictum  of  science,  prejudging  events 
and  preventing  equitable  measure  of  facts,   bids  fair  to  accom- 


xiv  Preface. 

plish  for  science  what  superstition  has  done  for  religion,  namely, 
to  place  authority  over  truth. 

With  this  condition  of  things  thus  briefly  outlined  what 
more  important  and  interesting  field  for  investigation  presents 
itself  to  the  earnest  student  than  the  entire  nature  of  man? 
The  great  social  problems  that  vex  mankind  await  these  inves- 
tigations. The  principles  of  capital  and  labor,  the  social  evil, 
the  enfranchisement  of  woman,  and  the  great  principles  of  al- 
truism and  egotism  that  underlie  all  others,  clamor  for  solu- 
tion, and  these  can  never  be  fully  determined  except  on  a 
strict  basis  of  law  that  takes  cognizance  of  every  fact  in  phys- 
iology and  every  principle  of  a  true  psychology;  and  to  arrive 
at  these  man  requires  more  real  knowledge  of  himself.  The 
author  of  these  pages  hopes  to  be  able  to  show  that  a  better 
method  in  the  use  of  the  materials  already  on  hand  will  lead 
up  to  just  this  knowledge,  and  at  least  will  outline  those  prin- 
ciples that  underlie  the  entire  nature  of  man. 

It  is  often  asserted  that  the  study  of  medicine  leads  to  athe- 
ism, and  that  a  very  large  number  of  physicians  are  therefore 
atheists.  The  study  of  medicine  is  in  its  broadest  sense  the 
study  of  man  in  all  his  relations  and  manifestations.  It  might 
easily  be  shown  that  the  proportion  of  atheists  and  material- 
ists among  physicians  is  by  no  means  greater  than  among  any 
other  class  of  persons  of  equal  culture  and  education.  If, 
however,  it  be  really  true  that  the  study  of  man  necessarily 
leads  to  atheism,  then  it  follows  that  ignorance  of  one's  own 
nature  is  but  another  name  for  theism,  and  that  only  the  ig- 
norant can  believe  in  God.  If  there  be  danger  in  the  direc- 
tion indicated,  it  is  the  little  learning  that  is  the  dangerous 
thing.  If  the  study  of  man  extends  only  to  surface  problems, 
as  is  too  often  the  case,  and  is  concerned  only  with  sufficient 
learning  to  enable  one  to  write  a  prescription  and  collect  a  fee, 
then  the  result  here  as  elsewhere  may  be  atheism,  as  the  pur- 
suit ia  measured  by  self-interest.     Strictly  speaking,  the  study 


Preface.  xv 

of  man  has  no  more  to  do  with  the  question  of  theism  proper 
than  has  the  study  of  nature.  Theism  is  an  element  in  pan- 
theism; for,  as  shown  in  the  following  pages,  man's  idea  of  God 
is  drawn  equally  from  nature,  and  from  human  nature. 

The  object  of  this  work  is  to  show  that  there  is  a  modulus 
in  nature  and  a  divinity  in  man,  and  that  these  two  are  in 
essence  one,  and  that  therefore  God  and  nature  are  not  at 
cross-purposes . 

In  pursuing  the  subject  from  its  physical  side  only  the 
barest  outlines  of  physics  and  physiology  have  been  attempted, 
sufficient,  however,  to  show  the  method  suggested  and  the  line 
of  investigation  to  be  pursued. 

The  writer  of  this  book  has  been  for  many  years  deeply  in- 
terested in  all  that  relates  to  human  nature,  or  that  promises  in 
any  way  to  mitigate  human  suffering  and  increase  the  sum  of 
human  happiness.  He  has  no  peculiar  views  that  he  desires 
to  impress  on  any  one,  but  he  believes  that  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent use  of  facts  and  materials  already  in  our  possession  will 
give  a  deeper  insight  into  human  nature,  and  will  secure 
far  more  satisfactory  results  than  are  usually  attained.  He 
believes  that  while  traversing  old  ground,  he  has  herein  sug- 
gested the  exploration  of  it  in  a  neAv  way,  though  by  no 
means  original  with  himself;  and  he  is  not  aware  of  any 
previous  attempt  at  the  reconciliation  of  Science  and  Religion 
on  the  basis  herein  proposed.  This  reconciliation  lies  in  the 
logical  application  of  one  universal  law  that  is  coincident  with 
all  nature  and  commensurate  with  all  life.  This  law  does  not 
subvert,  but  supplements  the  theory  of  evolution,  by  involu- 
tion, and  recognizes  all  processes  of  creation,  or  of  being,  as 
equations,    the    modulus    of    which    is    the    underlying    cosmic 

duality . 

This  treatise  may  be  epitomized  as  follows: 

The    cosmic    form    in    which    all    things    are    created,    and   in 

which   all  things   exist,  is   a  universal   duality. 


xvi  Preface. 

Involution  and  evolution  express  the  twofold  process  of  the 
one  law  of  development,  corresponding  to  the  two  planes  of 
being,  the  subjective  and  the  objective.  Consciousness  is  the 
central  fact  of  being. 

Experience  is  the  only  method  of  knowing;  therefore  to  know 
is  to  become. 

The  Modulus  of  Nature,  that  is,  the  pattern  after  which 
she  everywhere  builds,  and  the  method  to  which  she  contin- 
ually  conforms,   is   an    Ideal   or   Archetypal   Man. 

The  Perfect  Man  is  the  anthropomorphic  God,  a  living, 
present  Christ  in  every  human   soul. 

Two  natures  meet  on  the  human  plane  and  are  focalized  in 
Man.  These  are  the  animal  ego,  and  the  higher  self;  the 
one,  an  inheritance  from  lower  life,  the  other  an  overshadow- 
ing from  the  next  higher  plane. 

The  animal  principle  is  selfishness;  the  divine  principle  is 
altruism . 

However  defective  in  other  respects  human  nature  may  be, 
all  human  endeavor  must  finally  be  measured  by  the  principle 
of  altruism,  and  must  stand  or  fall  by  the  measure  in  which 
it  inspires  and   uplifts  humanity. 

Literary  criticism,  however  justifiable  and  however  valu- 
able, is  not  the  highest  tribunal;  were  it  so,  the  following 
pages  would  never  have  seen  the  light.  The  highest  tribunal 
is  the  criterion  of  truth,  and  the  test  of  truth  is  by  its  use 
and  beneficence. 

Superstition  is  not  religion;  speculation  is  not  philosophy; 
materialism  is  not  science;  but  true  religion,  true  philosophy, 
and  true  science  are  ever  the  handmaids  of  truth. 

The  study  of  man  by  himself  should,  first  of  all,  point  out 
the  possibility  of  improvement,  and  so  far  as  possible  suggest 
the  methods  and  indicate  the  means  by  which  improvement 
may   be   realized.      This   is   the   motive   which   has   brought   out 


Preface.  xvii 

this  work,  and  no  one  can  be  more  sensible  of  its  many  defects 
than  its  author.  If,  however,  this  book  should  encourage  an 
abler  pen  to  more  competent  endeavor  in  the  same  direction, 
the  most  sanguine  expectations  of  its  author  will  have  been 
realized . 

The  writer's  most  sincere  acknowledgments  are  due  to  his 
friend  and  co-laborer,  Dr.  J.  M.  Crawford,  whose  ripe  scholar- 
ship, now  so  widely  recognized  in  his  translation  of  the  Kale- 
vala,  has  greatly  improved  these  pages.  The  conscientious- 
ness with  which  he  has  sought  to  preserve  the  exact  meaning 
of  the  author,  while  critically  reviewing  these  pages,  is  as 
creditable  as  his  scholarship  is  commendable. 

With  this  introduction,  this  book  is  given  to  the  reader  in 
the  hope  that  it  may  encourage  and  uplift,  though  it  be  but  a 
little,  that  great  orphan,  Humanity. 

J.   D.   B. 
Cincinnati,  0.,  November  20,  1888. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


Foreword,    

The  synthetic  whole:  neither  modern  science  nor  cur- 
rent religions  offeir  any  rational  theory  of  the  soul: 
the  "unknowable"  of  science:  faith  without  reason, 
and  reason  without  faith:  consciousness  includes  both 
the  natural  and  the  spiritual  world :  the  Gnosis :  evolu- 
tion means  far  more  than  merely  intellectual  develop- 
ment: the  outer  world  of  things  and  the  inner  world 
of  ideas :  the  kinetics  of  the  physical  brain :  tihe  princi- 
ple of  altruism  is  basic:  the  decay  of  scientific  ma- 
terialism: the  trend  of  thought  has  moved  to  higher 
planes:  the  subconscious  self:  dead  matter  meally  a. 
misnomer,   

Preface,   • 

General  introduction ,  thesis :  the  cosmic  form  a  universal 
duality :  involution  and  evolution  the  two- fold  process  of 
one  law  of  development,  corresponding  to  the  two  planes 
of  being,  the  objective  and  the  subjective :  consciousness 
the  central  fact  of  being:  experience  the  only  method 
of  knowing:  the  modulus  of  nature:  the  anthropomor- 
phic God, : 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Criterion  of  Truth 

Personality:  self-interest:  the  misuse  of  words:  traditional 
authority:  individual  bias,  hereditary  and  educational : 
the  questioning  of  authority :  jurisdietionof  religion  and 
science:  religious  truth:  scientific  truth:  philosophic 
truth :  the  unity  and  saoredness  of  all  truth :  the  mean- 
ing of  orthodoxy:  the  opinions  of  men  and  the  truth 
of  revelation :  the  dicta  of  science :  truth  in  one  depart- 
ment as  sacred  as  in  any  other :  the  responsibility  of  the 

(xix) 


29 


xx  Tabic  of  Contents. 

The  Criterion  of  Truth— Continued. 

investigator:  Christian  science:  the  testimony  of 
science:  absolute  truth:  the  evidence  of  the  senses: 
consciousness  ignored :  the  unity  of  nature  and  of  man : 
outline  of  the  problem  involved:  the  relation  of  con- 
sciousness to  the  objective  and  subjective  worlds,  and 
to  experience:  man's  intellectual  kingdom:  conditions 
of  man's   progress, 41 

CHAPTER  II. 

Matter  and  Force, 42 

Primordial  atoms:  hypothetical  atoms:  the  vortices  of 
Descartes:  the  monads  of  Leibnitz:  the  test  of  theory: 
the  discovery  of  law:  the  eternity  of  matter  and  force 
and  the  persistence  of  motion:  correlation  and  con- 
servation of  force:  Mr.  Keely's  vibratory  energy:  Mr. 
Crook's  radiant  matter:  laws  against  hypnotism:  the 
force  of  scientific  dicta:  Plato  and  the  Hindoo  philos- 
ophies :  experiments  on  sound  waves :  consonant  rhythm : 
the  form  of  crystals:  every  atom  of  matter  set  to 
music:  polarization:  magnetism  the  substratum  of  both 
matter  and  force:  compounds:  the  idea  of  space: 
unparticled  matter  and  the  universal  ether:  the  evi- 
dence of  analogy:  the  natural  and  the  spiritual, 
so-called,    53 

CHAPTER  HE 

The  Phenomenal  World, 54 

Man's  relations  to  physics:  universal  motion  implies 
ceaseless  change:  nothing  is  what  it  seems:  the  rela- 
tion of  experience  to  consciousness:  creation  divides 
into  halves:  matter  external  body,  spirit  internal 
essence:  the  loves  of  the  atoms:  positive  and  negative 
poles:  attraction  and  repulsion:  the  phenomenal  char- 
acter of  the  senses :  ideas  of  space  and  time :  Sensorium 
Dei:  the  consciousness  of  nature:  invisible  worlds  the 
counterpart  of  the  visible:  involution  and  evolution: 
the  human  equation :  every  subject  may  be  vieAved  from 
two  sides:  self-preservation  the  alpha  and  omega  of  ego- 
tism: altruism  the  highest  law  of  nature:  tihe  key:  the 
phenomenal  and  the  noumenal  made  one, 59 


Table  of  Contents.  xxi 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Philosophy  and  Science, 60 

The  basis  of  all  knowledge:  learning  and  knowing:  the 
relation  of  thought  to  consciousness:  thought  builds 
tand  perfects  the  brain:  precipitated  results  of  thought 
in  consciousness:  analysis  and  synthesis:  experience, 
reason,  intuition,  and  consciousness:  the  experience  of 
others,  the  dicta  of  science,  and  the  dogmas  of  re- 
ligion: universal  methods:  materialist,  theorist,  and 
philosopher:   knowledge  of  self  and  knowledge  of  God,     64 


CHAPTER  V. 


65 


Life,     

The  all-pervading  life:  concrete  degrees  and  innumerable 
forms  of  life:  knowledge  of  relations  only:  the  trans- 
mission of  life:  the  cycle  of  life:  spontaneous  genera- 
tion: the  germ  theoiy:  living  matter  and  germs: 
Proteus :  definition  of  an  organism :  comparison  of  pro- 
toplasm and  organism:  amoebae:  nutrition  the  basic 
function  of  organisms :  the  cycle  of  life :  effect  of  chlo- 
roform on  living  matter:  irritability,  sensibility,  and 
consciousness:  the  unity  of  consciousness:  the  law  of 
development :  all  lower  nature  climbs  toward  man; 
and  man  climbs  toward  divinity:  natural  selection  and 
divine  selection,   72 


CHAPTER  VI. 


73 


POLABITY,    

Polarity  characteristic  of  magnetism:  its  sign  manual: 
the  voltaic  battery:  magnetism  elongates  a  bar  of  iron: 
the  law  of  magnetic  attraction:  the  theories  of  Des- 
cartes and  Ampere:  pure  force  separate  from  matter 
is  unthinkable:  the  matrix  of  matter  and  the  potency 
of  force:  special  modes  of  motion  as  related  to  mag- 
netism: diamagnetism:  the  positing  of  a  center  of  life: 
concentric  and  eccentric  waves  of  motion:  the  cosmic 
duality:  sex:  polarity  as  related  to  the  human  body: 
disturbed  polarity:  a  corpse  is  a  de- polarized  mass: 
the  phenomena  of  fear:  no  unity  without  duality:  the 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Motherhood  of  Nature, .  .      80 


xxii  Table  of  Contents. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Living  Forms, 81 

The  cosmic  form  a  universal  duality:  male  and  female: 
Adam  Cadman:  involution  and  evolution:  every  form 
tin  nature  is  a  duality:  every  perfect  unity  a  harmo- 
nious duality:  cosmos  evolved  out  of  chaos:  ideal  forma 
evolved  from  earthly  shapes:  spirit  broods  over  matter: 
nature  builds  by  law  through  pure  mathematics:  man 
is  taught  by  suffering,  and  suffers  that  he  may  teach: 
creeds  and  fossils :  man  the  epitome  of  all :  the  human 
embryo  and  the  law  of  development:  community  of 
function  in  lower  forms:  differentiation  in  higher 
forms  the  principle  of  development:  the  cerebral  lobes: 
how  they  are  to  be  regarded:  evolution  alone  insuffi- 
cient: life  tendency  diffused  throughout  all  matter:  all 
lower  forms  of  life  are  fragments  of  the  human:  the 
higher  animals  rudimentary  human  beings:  inheritance 
and  environment:  the  ideal  form  an  overshadowing 
presence:  selfishness  and  charity:  egotism andiailtruism: 
tissue,  cell,  germ,  ovum*,  fertilization:  the  process  of 
reproduction:  aggregation  and  segregation:  the  origin 
of  form:  fertilization  a  double  process  the  positing 
of  a  center  of  life  and  the  unfolding  of  a  still  interior 
center   of   coosciousness, 94 


CHAPTER  VIII. 
Planes  of  Life, 

Magnetism  and  life:  the  life  principle  pervades  all  mat- 
ter: differentiation  and  the  ebb  and  flow  of  life:  no  fast 
lines  between  living  and  non-living  matter:  succes- 
sive planes  of  life  from  lowest  to  highest :  vain  efforts  to 
discover  the  missing  links  in  the  chain  of  bumiam  forms: 
one  plane  of  life  overlaps  or  overshadows  another: 
every  human  personality  is  a  composite  body:  man'a 
relation  to  all  surrounding  life:  the  meaning  of  man'a 
birthright:  the  predominance  of  one  plane:  physical, 
vital,  sensuous,  intellectual  and  spiritual  personalities: 
the  animal  in  rags  and  the  animal  in  broadcloth: 
human  tigers  and  hyenas:  every  individual  possesses  a 
definite   amount   of    energy :    gymnastic    escercise   and 


95 


Table  of  Contents.  xxiii 

Planes  of  Life — Continued. 

ideal  development:  the  ideal  is  not  reached  without  a 
etruggle:  the  way  to  reach  the  highest  phune, 103 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Human  Life,    104 

Universality  of  the  principles  of  development:  difficult 
problems  become  easy  of  solution  when  once  we  have 
the  key:  from  the  physico-vital  plane  man  appears  as 
a  highly-developed  animal :  viewed  from  the  higher 
plane  man  appears  as  an  undeveloped  god:  the  lower 
nature  cannot  comprehend  the  higher:  the  soul 
recognizes  its  kindred  by  sympathy,  which  means 
equality :  how  to  view  subjective  experiences  :  the  prin- 
ciple of  equations :  man's  life  now  exists  in  two  worlds, 
the  natural  and  the  spiritual:  the  work  of  modern  bi- 
ology :  hysterical  epidemics  of  the  middle  ages :  the  in- 
fluence of  sex:  <the  case  of  Angeli.que  Cottin:  the 
chamber  of  birth  often  a  chamber  of  torture :  the  sor- 
rows of  childhood:  unwelcome  children:  the  uncertain 
tenure  of  life:  the  testimony  of  anatomy:  the  mani- 
festation of  life  phenomenal:  evolution  of  the  germ 
and  embryo:  the  elixir  of  life:  itihe  miracle  of  birth: 
the  tragedy  of  inheritance:  antenatal  conditions:  the 
nutritive  changes  in  development  from  germ  to 
earth :  senso-geuesis,  couscio-genesis,  and  the  bio-genesis : 
the  body  of  man  a  magnet:  disturbed  equilibrium: 
evil  passions  promote  physical  disease:  the  common 
multiple  and  the  keynote  of  life:  respiratory  motion: 
every  vital  problem  is  an  equation  to  be  solved :  age  is 
youth  reversed :  the  phenomena  of  function :  the  intimate 
relations  of  aill  paints  of  the  body:  the  phenomena  of 
disease:  consciousness  an  alembic  of  the  life  experience,  137 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Nervous  System, 

The  development  of  nerve  tissue:  reserved  areas:  the  ef- 
fect of  repeated  transmission  in  perfecting  tissue  and 
function:  the  physical  basis  of  education:  sensibility, 
sensation,  and  consciousness:  the  nerve  arc:  transmis- 
sion and  registration  of  impressions :  the  physical  basis 


138 


xxiv  Table  of  Contents. 

The  Nervous  System — Continued. 

of  memory:  centers  of  life  and  centers  of  conscious- 
ness: development  of  the  sense  of  feeling:  the  world 
•epitomized  in  the  consciousness  of  man:  the  motive  of 
action:  good  and  evil  as  related  to  heredity:  no 
builder  like  Dame  Nature:  the  common  multiple  of 
nature:  the  reasoning  faculty:  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience: real  knowledge  and  exact  equation:  self -con- 
quest :  true  magic :  will  and  imagination :  the  place 
where  two  ways  meet: the  race  for  riches:  the  discovery 
of  printing,  and  inductive  philosophy:  society  at  war 
with  itself :  capital  and  labor :  the  masses  and  the 
classes :  communism :  no  permanent  endowment  of 
life  in  matter:  rejuvenescence:  the  colloidal  body  and 
the  psychic  sense:  clairvoyance  and  clair- audience : 
little  Helen  Keller  and  other  psychics:  zest  in  life: 
senile  imbecility:  the  laws  of  habit:  automatism: 
imagination  and  will:  lust  and  love:  the  enfranchise- 
ment of  woman, 166 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Consciousness,    167 

Consciousness  the  prime  factor  in  all  individual  experi- 
ence: subjective  consciousness  :  complete  self-conscious- 
ness impossible  unless  the  lower  faculties  are  con- 
trolled by  the  higher  :  complete  self-consciousness  im- 
plies complete  self  control:  (Sleep-walking,  double  con- 
consciousness:  disturbed  consciousness  in  the  insane: 
delirium  produced  by  alcohol  and  opium:  subjective 
prototypes  :  imagination  and  the  ideal  world :  the  su- 
preme folly  of  trying  to  deduce  consciousness  from 
matter:  thimble-rigging  psychology:  dealing  with  the 
dead:  mediumship  and  unconscious  cerebration:  the 
undiscovered  country :  the  subjective  world  is  the  coun- 
terpart of  the  objective"  consciousness  remains  even  in 
senile  imbecility  long  after  memory  has  departed :  the 
rounding  up  of  experience  in  the  two  worlds:  re-in- 
carnation and  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments: the  wicked  obey  the  law  through  fear,  the  wise 
keep  the  law  through  knowledge:  he  that  is  dead  to 
the  world  is  alive  to  God:  education  cannot  repair  the 


Tabic  of  Contents.  xxv 

Consciousness — Continued. 

defects  of  birth:  three  states  of  consciousness  known 
to  everyone:  spiritualism  a  psychological  babel:  the 
unholy  trinity:  the  subjective  plane  of  being  must  be 
subjectively  discerned:  man  here  and  now  is  a 
materialized  spirit  if  there  is  one  anywhere, 183 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Health  and  Disease, 184 

Magnetism  and  life:  the  creator  and  destroyer  are  one: 
magnetism  the  source  of  vitality :  life  is  something  be- 
yond all  matter  and  force:  life  every-where  diffused 
and  one  in  kind :  health  as  harmony :  the  relation  and 
the  dependence  of  structure  and  function:  the  relation 
of  mind  and  body:  prevailing  methods  of  regarding 
health  and  disease  are  faulty:  hysteria  and  hypochon- 
dria: all  evil  passions  vitiate  the  bodily  secretions 
and  destroy  health:  mind  is  the  immediate  agent  of 
the  conscious  ego:  mind  and  body  the  servants  of  the 
real  man :  the  order  and  the  design  of  nature :  the  real 
meaning  of  health  and  harmony:  the  ego  sits  a  king 
upon  his  throne :  there  is  no  tyrant  like  disease :  crime 
but  another  name  for  disease:  the  rule  of  nature  the 
greatest  good  to  all:  the  laws  of  health  are  few  and 
simple:  inherited  disease  how  cured:  incurable  cases: 
quacks  and  patent  medicines:  training-schools  for 
nurses:  mental  states  both  the  cause  and  the  cure  of 
disease:  mental  exaltation:  imperfect  man  is  no  ma- 
gician: cheerfulness  promotes  health:  ante-natal  con- 
ditions: too  little  attention  paid  to  the  promotion  and 
preservation  of  health:  reforms  in  medicine:  knowl- 
edge of  man's  nature  -will  banish  the  fear  of  death: 
all  disease  arises  as  disturbed  function:  acute  and 
chronic  diseases:  all  cures  claimed  by  the  doctor,  all 
deaths  charged  to  Providence :  the  result  of  a  diffusion 
of  a  knowledge  of  man:  mind-cure  and  other  crazes: 
self-limiting  and  functional  diseases  often  arise  and 
are  cured  through  the  imagination :  the  outcome  of  the 
new  craze:  the  ideal  life:  no  royal  road  to  health  or 
to     learning     among     the    devices   of    man:     nature's 


xxvi  Table  of  Contents. 

Health  and  Disease — Continued. 

ideals :  mental,  moral  and  spiritual  diseases :  the  per- 
perfection    of    man, 206 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Sanity  and  Insanity,  207 

Health  of  body  and  health  of  mind  inseparably  con- 
nected: whole  nations  as  well  as  individuals  revert  to 
barbarism:  the  rage  of  the  insane  like  that  of  wild 
beasts:  increase  of  insanity:  perversion  of  religious 
ideals :  the  ideal  life,  how  attained :  how  body  and  mind 
are  deformed:  the  influence  of  greed  in  promoting  in- 
sanity: influence  of  false  ideas  on  the  masses:  the 
identity  of  the  ideals  of  health  and  religion:  health 
must  finally  echo  the  harmony  of  nature,  and  sanity 
reflect   the    Divine   Intelligence, 214 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Involution  and  Evolution  of  Man, 215 

The  theatre  of  evolution:  evolution  alone  insufficient:  all 
processes  in  nature  are  equations  of  which  evolution 
constitutes  one  member:  duality  and  manifestation 
are  synonymous:  evolution  promotes  progress  but  does 
not  account  for  ideal  forms :  involution  supplements 
evolution:  nature  not  soul-less  nor  God-less:  the 
lower  forms  of  life  prophesy  of  man  while  man  is  a 
prophecy  of  still  higher  farms:  mine  and  thine:  the 
selfish  and  the  devout  are  often  equally  time-serving: 
the  sequence  of  evolution  and  the  sequence  of  inspira- 
tion arrive  at  the  same  result,  namely,  the  perfect  man,  226 

CHAPTER  XV. 
The   Higher   Self, 227 

The  Archetypal  Man:  the  lost  and  the  saved  hereafter: 
modern  life  and  ancient  creeds:  materialists,  agnostics 
and  enthusiasts :  soul  and  spirit :  the  change  called 
death:  man's  idea  of  God,  of  Nature,  and  of  himself: 
immaculate  conception :  Christ  the  ideal  man :  the  ac- 
complishment of  the  Divine  Will:  the  selfish  ego  and 
the  altruistic  self:  the  mystery  of  self  consciousness: 
double  consciousness  and  double  life:   Margrave  com- 


Table  of  Contents.  xxvii 

The  Higher  Self — Continued 

pelled  to  speak  the  truth:  the  name  of  the  Lord:  self- 
consciousness  and  divine  consciousness:  the  necessary 
conditions  of  a  final  philosophy:  the  era  and  the  mis- 
sion of  woman,    243 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
The  Outposts  of  Science, 244 

The  trend  of  thought,  no  one  knows  what  may  come  next : 
the  inductive  method  of  Aristotle  and  Bacon:  "the 
struggle  for  existence  in  the  midst  of  a  hostile  en- 
vironment": renewed  interest  in  the  ether  of  space: 
the  latest  concept  of  the  atom:  Huxley  repudiates 
materialism  and  renounces  the  "unknowable":  all  as- 
cending evolution  depends  on  mind,  or  consciousness: 
thought  a  mode  of  motion  of  the  ether:  matter  is  di- 
vine: space  a  "conditioned  fullness":  the  later  con- 
cept of  the  human  soul, 250 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
The  New  Psychology, 251 

The  searchlight  of  science:  psychology  the  latest  field  to 
be  explored:  the  "'higher  criticism":  the  value  of 
actual  experience:  empiricism  of  the  "New  Psychol- 
ogy": validity  of  facts  in  mind  cure,  etc.:  law  back 
of  all  these  facts:  the  subconscious  self  and  the  supra- 
conscious  self:  both  hypnosis  and  mediumship  per- 
nicious and  leading  to  degeneracy:  what  philosophy  is 
and  What  it  is  not:  ancient  in jtialtions :  the  secret  doc- 
trine of  H.  P.  Blavatsky:  the  problem  of  the  "Search 
for  the  Soul"  outlined:   the  "New  Psychology"  barely 

the  True  Psychology, 260 


A  STUDY  OF   MAN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CRITERION    OF   TRUTH. 

Personality  is  the  most  patent  fact,  and  the  most  potent 
factor  in  the  life  of  man ;  it  tinges  all  he  touches,  and  is  the 
colored  glass  through  which  he  views  the  world.  The  aver- 
age individual  finds  it  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  avoid  an  inherent  tendency  to  convert  all  problems  that 
present  themselves  in  thought  or  life  into  terms  of  self- 
interest.  So  true  is  this  principle,  and  so  general  its  opera- 
tion, that  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  if  an>  word  in  any  lan- 
gauge  conveys  precisely  the  same  meaning  to  any  two  per- 
sons; hence  arise  the  misuse  and  misinterpretation  of  words 
as  the  most  prolific  source  of  the  disagreements  of  men. 
Both  candor  and  charity  compel  the  affirmation,  that  truth, 
in  its  larger  sense,  has  suffered  more  from  those  who  have 
misconceived  and  misinterpreted  it,  than  from  those  who 
have  knowingly  or  willfully  opposed  it. 

For  the  great  majority  of  mankind  the  sole  criterion  of 
truth  is  traditional  authority.  Not  only  does  this  hold  in 
matters  of  religion,  codes  of  ethics,  and  civil  rights,  but  the 
whole  tenor  of  individual  life  is  determined  by  birth  and 
geographical  location.  So  also  in  matters  of  science,  the 
authority  of  a  great  name  is  considered  sufficient  evidence 
for  most  persons  who  cultivate  this  department  of  knowl- 
edge; while  only  a  small  minority  undertake  to  examine  the 

(29) 


30  A  Study  of  Man. 

evidence  on  which  a  verdict  in  any  case  is  supposed  to  have 
been  based.  It  thus  transpires  .that  in  most  departments  of 
human  thought  and  human  endeavor,  a  few  individuals  vir- 
tually do  the  thinking  for  the  masses,  and  by  appealing  to 
the  prejudices  and  self-interests  of  the  many,  they  are  en- 
abled to  hold  in  check  another  minority  over  whom  tradi- 
tional authority  has  but  slight  control;  and  even  where  the 
traditional  dictum  is  taken  with  some  grains  of  allowance, 
it  is  still  considered  as  accepted  unless  openly  repudiated. 
The  great  majority  of  people  adhere  to  the  religious  forms 
into  which  they  happened  to  be  born,  and  upon  the  truth  or 
falsity  of  which  they  have  not  been  called  upon  to  pronounce. 
By  education  these  matters  have  been  so  thoroughly  in- 
grained, and  so  much  pains  has  been  taken  to  render  their 
hold  binding  and  lasting,  that  it  is  really  strange  that  any 
are  able  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of  authority.  Either  fortu- 
nately or  unfortunately,  the  number  of  those  who  are  able 
to  break  away  from  traditional  authority  has  very  largely 
increased  within  the  past  few  decades,  while  within  tradi- 
tional lines  there  is  everywhere  a  questioning  of  authorities, 
a  murmur  of  discontent  presaging  a  warring  of  elements  in 
the  atmosphere  of  religious  belief. 

So-called  religious  truth  a  century  or  two  ago  assumed 
jurisdiction  even  over  secular  matters,  and  finally  relin- 
quished to  science,  though  with  great  reluctance,  the  domain 
of  physics  and  cosmogony,  but  only  on  condition  of  receiving 
absolute  authority  in  its  own  realm.  In  this  age  religious 
truth  and  scientific  truth  are  one,  and  that  the  highest  and 
most  important  of  human  knowledge  and  human  interest. 
In  short,  the  element  of  progress  of  to-day,  pushed  on  by 
the  spirit  of  investigation,  has  entered  every  realm  of  knowl- 
edge, and  subjected  it  to  searching  investigation.  One  of 
the  inevitable  results  of  all  this  questioning  has  been  to  sug- 
gest to  the  less  thoughtful  that  nothing  sacred  in  any  realm 
remains.  A  little  deeper  thought  will  show  that  nothing  in 
the  way  of  real  knowledge  can  be  regarded  as  unclean  or 


The  Criterion  of  Truth.  31 

secular;  it  will  show  that  all  truth  is  given  by  inspiration, 
and  that  every  true  revelation  of  nature  is  a  divine  revela- 
tion to  man.    The  reason  for  all  these  changes  is  not  far  to 
seek.    The  element  of  man's  personality  already  mentioned, 
and  which  colors  all  he  touches,  lies  at  the  root  of  these 
changes  in  individual  belief  and  public  sentiment.     The  bat- 
tle at  this  point  has  been  a  severe  one;  and  the  issues  are 
not  even  yet  decided,  though  they  are  in  no  way  uncertain. 
In  the  ebb  and  flow  of  generation  after  generation,  ancient 
records  and  sacred  traditions  have  been  so  modified  by  spe- 
cial pleading,  and  so  incorporated  with  human  interest,  that 
thousands  of  honest  seekers  after  truth  have  been  sacrificed 
under  the  cloak  of  authority  because  they  dared  to  question 
the  prevailing  interpretation  of  these  writings.     It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  history  that  Michael  Servetus,  the  earlier  discoverer 
of  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  and  one  of  the  brightest  minds 
of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  was  burned  to  death  in  a  slow 
fire  of  green  wood,  not  because  he  denied  or  disbelieved  the 
Bible,  nor  was  in  any  way  lacking  in  religious  devotion,  but 
because  he  dared  to  take  issue  with  an  ignorant,  arrogant 
and  vindictive  priest  in  power,  who  intimidated  his  fellow- 
priests  to  help  execute  his  revenge  on  a  brother  who  had  the 
better  of  him  in  an  argument.   If  so-called  Divine  revelation 
were  everywhere  explicit,  thus  requiring  no  interpreters,  and 
appealing  directly  to  the  conscience  and  understanding  of 
man,  it  would  be  at  once  shorn  of  the  element  of  human 
weakness  and  error.    That  which  in  any  age  is  meant  by  the 
word  orthodox  has  little  reference  to  any  book  or  any  tradi- 
tion claimed  to  be  divine,  but  to  certain  interpretations  which 
men,  weak  and  ignorant  like  ourselves,  have  from  time  to 
time  put  upon  such  records  and  traditions.     It  is  high  time 
that  this  fact  should  be  clearly  apprehended  by  every  one 
who  assumes  the  prerogative  of  thinking  for  himself,  be- 
cause the  knowledge  of  this  fact  will  enable  him  to  discrim- 
inate, and  while  questioning,  as  he  has  the  right  to  do,  the 
opinions  of  others,  he  will  not  be  so  ready  to  deny  and  re- 


32  A   Study  of  Man. 

pudia/te  the  sacred  Word.  No  department  of  human  endeavor 
reveals  more  of  the  weakness,  the  ignorance  and  the  arro- 
gance of  man,  and  his  propensity  to  disagree  and  denounce, 
than  his  efforts  to  interpret  the  Scriptures.  These  records 
have  reached  us  through  the  infirmities  of  speech,  through 
the  imperfections  of  human  language,  and  further  filtered 
through  the  weaknesses  of  human  nature.  Through  these 
avenues  only  has  any  truth  been  transmitted  from  Deity  to 
man. 

The  parables  and  symbols  of. the  great  religions  contain 
more  intrinsic  truth,  and  more  co-ordinate  harmony  .than 
any  verbal  explanation  of  man  has  yet  given  to  the  world; 
and  that  which,  more  than  all  other  causes  combined,  has 
hitherto  prevented  these  grand  truths  from  reaching  the 
masses,  is  the  conceit  and  arrogance  with  which  ignorance 
has  clung  to  her  false  interpretations,  thus  making  it  in 
former  times  well-nigh  impossible,  and  in  later  times  exceed- 
ingly difficult  for  the  earnest  seeker  to  find  the  real  truth. 

Whenever  man  has  attempted  to  explain  the  symbols 
which  so  largely  constitute  the  sacred  records  of  all  reli- 
gions, without  a  full  comprehension  of  the  truth  so  symbol- 
ized, he  has  invariably  made  confusion  more  confounded. 
In  these  later  days,  when  a  larger  and  deeper  apprehension 
of  truth  in  every  direction  is  dawning  on  the  human  race, 
and  when  freedom  to  pursue  truth  into  every  hiding-place, 
has  brought  the  oonviction  that  such  a  pursuit  is  not  only 
man's  highest  prerogative,  but  also  his  binding  duty,  there 
is  reason  to  believe  that  the  truth  underlying  the  outer  form 
of  the  sacred  text  is  slowly  being  apprehended.  As  Carlyle 
puts  it:  "All  visible  things  are  emblems.  What  thou  seest 
is  not  there  on  its  own  account;  strictly  speaking,  is  not  there 
at  all.  Matter  exists  only  spiritually,  and  to  represent  some 
idea  and  body  it  forth." 

What  we  call  the  authority  of  science  is  largely  deter- 
mined by  the  latest  utterances  of  its  most  intelligent  culti- 
vators.   These  utterances  are  generally  guarded  and  usually 


The  Criterion  of  Truth.  33 

just,  setting  forth  the  weak  as  well  as  the  strong  points  of 
any  hypothesis  with  equal  care  and  conscientiousness.  A 
large  majority,  however,  of  so-called  scientists  overlook 
these  qualifications,  and  set  forth  the  new  theory  as  a  fact, 
and  then  quote  the  masters  in  science  as  authority  for  their 
statements.  Thus  we  find  this  burden  of  authority  in  one 
form  or  another  pre-empting  the  fertile  domains  of  human 
knowledge,  so  that  it  is  often  more  difficult  to  get  rid  of  the 
old  squatter  with  his  false  title  than  it  is  to  locate  and  record 
the  newcomer  with  his  fee-simple. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  that  the  approaches  to  knowledge 
are  seriously  obstructed  by  zeal  and  self-interest;  and  that 
great  fortitude  is  necessary  to  scale  the  foothills,  before  be- 
ginning to  ascend  the  delectable  mountains  of  truth. 

So  far  as  the  evidence  of  truth  is  based  on  human  au- 
thority, that  evidence  is,  therefore,  always  open  to  criticism ; 
and  the  truth  itself,  no  matter  where  it  may  be  found  and 
by  whatsoever  <name  it  may  be  designated,  is  a  legitimate 
subject  for  study  and  reinvestigation.  Truth  in  one  depart- 
ment of  knowledge  is  as  divine  as  in  any  other,  when  it  is 
once  seen  that  it  is  the  truth  alone  that  is  sacred,  and  not  the 
departments  man  has  erected,  nor  the  barriers  he  has  laid 
across  her  pathway.  Every  sincere  seeker  for  the  simple 
truth,  therefore,  carries  with  him  his  patent  to  investigate 
for  himself;  this  patent  being  a  part  of  his  direct  inheritance 
from  his  Creator.  He  must  not  forget,  however,  that  this 
unalienable  right  has  coupled  with  it  the  duty  of  honest  serv- 
ice, and  that  this  service  is  to  follow  every  sincere  convic- 
tion. It  is  an  old  doctrine  of  the  church  that  the  repudia- 
tion of  authority  incurs  grave  responsibility.  He  who  would 
shirk  the  responsibility  is  in  no  wise  worthy  of  the  freedom 
to  think  and  act  for  himself,  nor  will  he  long  enjoy  such 
freedom,  for  the  bondage  of  fear  is  always  the  handmaid 
of  superstition,  and  the  service  of  truth  can  alone  make  man 
free. 

Human    knowledge   naturally   divides   into   departments, 


34  A  Study  of  Man. 

as  physics  and  metaphysics,  science  and  art,  while  the  de- 
partment designated  as  religion,  howsoever  mixed  it  may  be 
with  superstition,  is  not  generally  supposed  to  bear  any  rela- 
tion to  other  departments  of  knowledge.  As  religion  is  in 
the  province  of  man,  and  as  it  involves  a  large  part  of  his 
activities  and  largely  determines  his  conduct,  the  sincere 
truth-seeker  will  be  unable  to  avoid  it  if  he  should  so  de- 
sire, for  if  his  purpose  be  sincere,  his  search  warrant  is 
absolute. 

The  various  departments  of  knowledge  are  often  con- 
ceived as  being  at  war  with  each  other.  The  direct  infer- 
ence is,  that  each  being  true,  truth  is  therefore  at  war  with 
itself.  Such  an  inference,  however,  is  absurd;  for  the  most 
patent  sign  of  falsehood  is,  always  and  everywhere,  disa- 
greement. Falsehood  invariably  contradicts  itself;  truth, 
never.  Therefore,  if  discrepancies  arise  between  the  differ- 
ent departments  of  knowledge,  it  places  thereby  suspicion  on 
all ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  suspicion  rests  solely 
on  the  human  side  of  the  equation,  and  in  no  sense  pertains 
to  truth  itself.  The  personal  lens  erf  colored  glass  may  make 
truth  appear  to  one  red  and  to  another  blue,  like  the  two 
sides  of  the  shield  in  the  old  fable ;  but  this  can  only  be  the 
pure  white  light  of  truth  separated  into  its  component  colors 
by  the  personal  lens.  But  if  every  individual  is  to  use  his 
own  lens,  as  indeed  he  must,  he  should  also  remember  that 
his  is  but  one  of  many  colors,  and  that  the  tints  and  shades 
due  to  combinations  are  practically  limitless.  If  he  will  also 
bear  in  mind  that  truth  itself  is  both  tintless  and  taintless, 
he  will  never  insist  that  his  own  is  the  one  true  color. 

It  may  easily  be  seen  that  many  of  the  expressions  in 
common  use  not  only  arise  from  misapprehension  and  inad- 
vertency, but  that  they  are  necessarily  and  directly  the  cause 
of  error.  The  terms  scientific  truth,  philosophic  truth,  reli- 
gious truth,  would  seem  to  imply  that  truth  in  one  of  these  de- 
partments differs  from  truth  in  another.  It  will  presently  be 
shown  that  not  only  is  truth  itself  hereby  misapprehended, 


The  Criterion  of  Truth.  35 

but  that  these  very  de~artments  are  by  no  means  compre- 
hended. Our  investigations,  therefore,  might  begin  with 
the  inquiry,  What  is  philosophy?  What  is  science?  What 
is  religion?  before  we  inquire,  What  is  truth? 

One  of  the  most  popular  errors  of  the  day  is  the  some- 
what notorious  use  of  the  term  "Christian  science,"  in  a 
manner  that  reveals  great  ignorance  of  both  terms  thus  em- 
ployed. The  inference  is  that  Christian  science  is  something 
entirely  different  from  any  other  science.  If  arrogance  in 
statement,  if  contention  and  strife  for  priority  in  promulga- 
tion, and  if  exorbitant  fees  and  concealment  of  so-called 
truth  be  essentially  Christian,  then  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount 
must  be  un-Christian.  Not  only  has  enough  of  these  costly 
secrets  leaked  out  to  show  that  not  a  single  new  secret  is 
therein  contained,  but  that  far  more  and  better  can  be  had 
elsewhere  for  the  asking.  The  only  new  thing  is  the  fencing 
this  old  subject  .in  with  a  new  name  for  purposes  of  exorbi- 
tant revenue,  to  be  derived  by  imposing  on  the  ignorant  and 
credulous.  Many  of  the  principles  contained  are  undeniably 
true,  and  many  of  its  cultivators  are  people  of  high  life  and 
unblemished  character.  Like  so  many  other  cases,  however, 
known  to  all  history,  they  are  better  than  their  creed.  Arro- 
gance, avarice,  and  strife,  even  when  found  under  the  sacred 
name  of  truth,  lead  inevitably  to  but  one  destiny :  confusion 
and  desolation. 

All  scientific  testimony  is  said  by  Huxley  to  depend  on 
"valid  evidence,  and  sound  reasoning."  While  the  rules  of 
logic  are  now  so  well  defined  that  among  educated  people 
there  will  be  little  disagreement  as  to  what  constitutes  "sound 
reasoning,"  different  scholars  will  differ  necessarily  as  to 
what  constitutes  "valid  evidence."  Such,  however,  is  one  of 
the  latest  utterances  of  physical  science,  put  forth  by  one  of 
its  foremost  cultivators,  a  man  as  competent  to  judge  of 
evidence  in  the  domain  he  specially  cultivates  as  any  man 
living.  It  must  be  seen,  if  his  definition  of  what  constitutes 
scientific  evidence  is  to  be  universally  accepted,  that  instead 


36  A   Study  of  Man. 

of  laying  the  foundation  for  real  evidence  and  becoming  a 
criterion  of  truth,  it  can  only  stand  in  the  service  of  author- 
ity, or  disappear  at  the  first  encounter  of  rival  factions  in 
his  own  beloved  field.  Huxley's  whole  life,  however,  has 
been  one  pronounced  and  dignified  protest  against  this  very 
giant,  authority.  Let  us  not  forget  that  falsity  always  and 
everywhere  not  only  contradicts  itself,  but  contradicts  truth 
as  well;  while  truth  contradicts  falsity,  but  always,  and 
everywhere,  it  agrees  with  itself.  Not  only  must  every  fact 
in  physics  agree  with  every  other  fact;  every  theorem  of 
metaphysics  be  capable  of  reconciliation  with  every  other 
theorem;  and  every  truth  in  religion  agree  with  every  other 
truth;  but  every  fact,  theorem,  and  truth  in  all  the  depart- 
ments of  universal  knowledge  must  agree  from  beginning  to 
end.  No  human  mind  has  ever  been  able  to  determine  and 
to  comprehend  this  universal  reconciliation.  Such  a  mind 
would  be  able  to  comprehend  and  formulate  absolute  truth. 
Every  searcher  for  truth  who  realizes  that  he  has  not 
reached  the  goal  where  all  seeking  ends  in  absolute  know- 
ing, may,  nevertheless,  realize  that  these  conditions  and  re- 
lations belong  to  truth,  the  essence  of  which  he  does  not 
oomprehend.  He  may  thence  deduce  the  proposition:  that 
the  apprehension  of  knowledge  consists  quite  as  much  in  re- 
moving discrepancies,  and  irreconcilable  paradoxes,  as  in 
the  study  of  truths  clearly  demonstrated.  Any  knowledge 
that  man  may  acquire  can  come  to  him  only  through  his  own 
personal  investigations.  He  might  as  well  expect  his  body 
to  be  nourished  by  the  food  that  another  has  eaten  as  to 
expect  his  mind  to  be  cultured  by  another's  thoughts  or  ex- 
periences. Blind  intellectual  belief— a  sort  of  self-delusion- 
may  possibly  be  thus  derived;  but  true  knowledge  and  true 
faith,  never.  The  basis  of  all  knowledge  is  experience.  The 
test  of  all  knowledge  is  use.  In  the  pursuit  and  attainment 
of  knowledge  two  processes,  sensation  and  reason,  are  al- 
ways combined,  whether  consciously  or  unconsciously.  These 
processes  concern  "valid  evidence  and  sound  reasoning,"  but 


The  Criterion  of  Truth.  37 

these  are  processes  in  the  acquirement  of  evidence,  not  in 
the  evidence  itself.  These  pertain  solely  to  the  mind  that 
investigates  truth ;  while  truth  itself  is  entirely  another  mat- 
ter. For  instance,  our  senses  toll  us  that  a  certain  thing  is 
hot,  but  they  do  not  tell  us  what  heat  is.  In  this  way  we  learn 
only  our  relations  to  heat,  and  its  effect  upon  us.  To  a 
fabled  race  of  salamanders,  or  to  a  man  clothed  in  asbestos, 
heat  appears  to  be  a  very  different  thing  indeed;  yet  in  this 
case  it  has  not  changed  its  essential  character.  Further- 
more, so  simple  a  sensation  as  that  of  heat  is  under  no^  cir- 
cumstances experienced  in  the  same  degree  by  any  two  indi- 
viduals. 

By  "valid  evidence"  is  undoubtedly  meant  evidence  of 
the  senses ;  and  while  under  certain  general  conditions  there 
is,  no  doubt,  universal  agreement,  this  criterion  can  only  ap- 
proximate or  lead  up  to  real  evidence ;  and  that,  too,  only 
from  the  physical  point  of  view.  In  all  that  pertains  to 
objective  phenomena,  evidence  is  derived  through  the  senses 
by  analysis  and  by  experiment;  and  the  validity  of  such  tes- 
timony is  determined  by  repetition,  by  corroboration,  and  by 
sound  reasoning.  We  have  evidence  of  the  senses  approved 
and  confirmed  by  reason,  and  human  methods  weighed  by 
human  judgment.  The  mind,  which  is  here  said  to  reason 
on  the  evidence  of  the  senses,  is  supposed  to  be  the  result 
of  physical  development,  the  so-called  function  of  the  brain. 
Here  the  thing  examined,  the  senses  by  which  it  is  exam- 
ined, and  the  mind  by  which  the  evidence  is  weighed  and 
measured,  are  all  of  the  same  general  character,  viz.,  phe- 
nomenal. The.  natural  manifestation,  the  evidence,  and  the 
judgment  depend  upon  motion.  Consciousness  as  a  fact, 
and  as  a  factor,  is  either  virtually  left  out  of  the  question, 
or  in  the  dilemma  to  which  its  admission  as  a  factor  gives 
rise  is  classed  with  mind,  and  put  in  the  same  category  with 
the  results  of  physical  evolution.  The  difficulty  to  whicli 
such  action  leads  can  not  be  either  ignored  or  explained 
away.     It     results  in  the  forced  explanation  of  subjective 


38  A  Study  of  Man. 

experience  in  terms  of  objective  phenomena,  and  eventually 
to  the  practical  elimination  of  the  subjective  factor.  If 
such  a  result  were  true  and  found  adequate  to  cover  all  hu- 
man experiences,  nothing  could  be  said  against  it  and  every- 
thing for  it.  We  can  never  solve  an  equation  by  dealing 
only  with  one  of  its  members,  and  the  cosmic  or  human  equa- 
tion is  no  exception.  Whenever  a  really  thoughtful  and  in- 
telligent person  is  willing  to  be  written  down  an  out-and-out 
materialist,  it  is  evidence  that  he  is  vainly  trying  to  solve  the 
equation  of  life  by  dealing  only  with  one  of  its  members. 
He  may  still  imagine  that  the  methods  he  employs,  and  which 
lead  to  unsatisfying  results,  will,  in  the  future,  lead  to  con- 
clusions more  satisfactory.  It  is  part  of  his  nihilism,  how- 
ever, to  conclude  that  no  better  results  are  possible  to  any 
one.  If  he  could  be  led  to  see  that  the  fault  lies  solely  in 
his  methods,  and  that  by  ignoring  one  member  of  his  equa- 
tion he  has  made  logical  and  faultless  solution  impossible, 
he  might  undertake  to  improve  his  methods.  These  better 
methods  may  be  learned  in  the  growth  of  a  blade  of  grass, 
no  less  than  in  the  bloom  and  beauty  of  the  lilies  of  the  field. 
The  process  by  which  we  learn  is  the  one  process  by  which 
nature  builds.  Nature  is  never  at  cross-purposes  with  her- 
self, else  she  could  never  have  evolved  cosmos  out  of  chaos, 
nor  created  the  everlasting  foundations  of  truth. 

The  following  suggestions  are  a  mere  outline  of  the  fac- 
tors and  conditions  involved  in  this  problem. 

Take  man  as  we  find  him.  Let  us  now  suppose  him  to  be 
divided  into  two  equal  parts  for  a  working  hypothesis.  Let 
us  call  one  part  the  objective,  and  the  other  the  subjective. 
Hence  we  would  have  objective  and  subjective  nature;  ob- 
jective and  subjective  man.  Let  us  consider  analogy  the 
bridge,  or  process,  whereby,  in  our  investigations,  we  may 
pass  from  one  condition  to  the  other.  Let  us  call  matter 
and  spirit  the  two  poles  of  one  substance.  The  theater  for 
the  display  of  matter  is  then  the  material,  the  physical,  the 
phenomenal,    the    objective,    or    the    natural    world.      The 


The  Criterion  of  Truth.  39 

theater  for  the  operation  of  spirit  is  the  subjeotive,  spiritual, 
or  noumenal  world.  Man  being  a  part  of  this  dual  world  of 
matter  and  spirit,  his  nature  is  derived  from  both.  It  is  of 
no  consequence  now  in  what  degree,  or  in  what  proportion, 
for  man's  equation  is  not  yet  solved;  at  best,  it  is  only  in 
process  of  solution.  Let  us  further  consider  consciousness 
as  the  central  fact  in  man's  being;  and  let  us  dia- 
grammatically  figure  consciousness  as  a  central  point 
between  his  two  conditions — the  natural  and  the  spir- 
itual. Let  us  remember  that,  while  we  know  nothing  of  the 
real  essence  of  consciousness,  we  may,  nevertheless,  study 
it  as  a  fact,  and  discover  its  relations  to  the  objective  and 
subjective  in  man.  Let  us  think  of  the  origin  of  self-con- 
sciousness in  man  as  the  very  center  and  quintessence  of 
the  germ  from  which  his  bodily  fabric  has  been  evolved ;  and 
that  it  has  grown  and  expanded  with  his  growth,  including 
the  natural  and  spiritual  nature,  adjusting  itself  to  all  con- 
ditions and  relations  of  structure  and  function  within  and 
without.  Let  us  further  consider  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  the  germ  and  all  its  subsequent  unfolding  in  the  life 
of  man,  as  an  evolution  of  form  and  faculty  on  the  outer 
physical  plane;  and,  again,  as  an  involution  of  essence  and 
type  from  the  spiritual  or  subjective  plane — consciousness 
expanding  as  the  body  expands  and  as  function  unfolds,  but 
always  maintaining  the  same  relations  to  structure  and  func- 
tion, and  always  seeking  equilibrium  in  the  eccentric  and 
concentric  life  of  man. 

We  have  here  a  logical  and  wholly  consecutive  unfolding 
of  human  life  on  the  two  planes  of  existence  first  predicated. 
We  have  these  three  factors  concerned  in  all  processes  of 
thinking  or  knowing,  viz.,  objective  being,  consciousness  and 
subjective  being.  It  is  generally  agreed  that  experience  is 
the  basis  and  the  condition  of  all  knowing.  Experience, 
then,  may  pertain  largely  to  either  side  of  the  equation, 
though  it  can  entirely  ignore  neither;  for  to  disregard  one 
member  is  to  annul  the  foundation  and  conditions  of  life 


40  A   Study  of  Man. 

itself.  Now  let  us  conceive  that  life  consists  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  two  worlds,  the  natural,  and  the  spiritual,  into 
terms  of  consciousness,  through  experience  of  both;  and 
that  the  brain-pictures,  or  all  strictly  mental  operations,  con- 
sist of  the  combined  experiences  derived  from  these  two 
sources,  reflected  back  upon  the  super-sensitive  cerebral  con- 
volutions, and  thus  constituting  man's  intellectual  world — 
his  personal  kingdom  created  through  his  individual  expe- 
riences.    We  then  see  the  depth  of  meaning  in  the  verse: 

"My  mind  to  me  a  kingdom  is." 

This  concept  renders  a  spiritual  thinkable  as  the  counter- 
part and  complement  of  the  natural.  There  is  far  more  in 
support  of  this  universal  equation  than  at  first  appears.  The 
physical  world  thus  becomes  but  the  embodiment  and  mani- 
festation of  the  spiritual,  in  terms  of  matter,  space,  time  and 
motion.  In  other  words,  it  becomes  the  concentration  of  the 
ideal,  the  spiritual;  and  the  spiritual  becomes  the  natural 
idealized  or  perfected.  True  progress  for  man  is  a  straight- 
forward climbing,  on  the  rundles  of  experience,  up  the  lad- 
der of  light,  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  being;  while  retro- 
gression is  a  journeying  in  the  opposite  direction,  and  leads 
to  disolution  and  destruction. 

Something  akin  to  this  conception  must  have  been  in  the 
mind  of  Thomas  Carlyle  when  he  wrote :  "Matter  exists  only 
spiritually,  and  to  represent  some  idea  and  body  it  forth." 

If  to  experience  is  to  know,  then  to  know  is  to  become. 
To  know  the  truth  is  to  become  the  truth.  Hence  the  evi- 
dence of  the  senses  is  partial  testimony  derived  only  from 
one  side  of  being;  and,  no  matter  how  logically  such  evi- 
dence may  be  used  in  reasoning,  so  long  as  it  is  unsupple- 
mented  by  evidence  reaching  consciousness  from  the  other 
side  of  man's  being,  it  may  lead  to  opinions,  and  be  assigned 
a  place  in  the  intellectual  kingdom  of  man;  but  it  can  play 
no  part  in  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  truth.     Science  and 


The  Criterion  of  Truth.  41 

philosophy  are  in  no  sense  formulated  results,  but  simply 
methods,  when  rightly  apprehended  and  correctly  used. 
Neither  process  alone  can  ever  arrive  at  absolute  truth. 
Science  may  discover  facts;  philosophy  may  disclose  prin- 
ciples ;  and  the  co-operation  of  both,  as  methods,  may  aid  the 
understanding-  of  man  in  the  apprehension  of  truth.  Hence 
the  expressions  scientific  truth,  philosophic  truth,  and  meta- 
physic  truth,  are  misnomers.  All  science  is  philosophic;  all 
philosophy  is  scientific;  and  all  true  religion  is  scientific, 
philosophic  and  metaphysic.  Both  science  and  philosophy 
are  religious,  so  far  as  the  natural  province  of  one  touches 
upon  or  overlaps  the  other ;  for  each  is  but  a  method  where- 
by the  consciousness  of  man,  which  is  one,  seeks  truth, 
which  is  also  one.  The  criterion  of  truth  for  man  lies  not 
in  the  estimate  of  the  senses,  nor  in  a  specific  process  of 
reasoning  upon  phenomena  confined  to  one-half  of  his  na- 
ture;  but  in  the  co-ordinate  harmony  which  he  is  able  to 
bring  out  of  the  chaos  of  all  his  varied  experiences.  The 
disharmony  and  jarring  discord  belong  to  man;  the  har- 
mony and  pleasing  concord,  in  all  their  fullness  of  beauty, 
belong  to  truth;  and  when  all  discord  disappears,  and  uni- 
versal concord  appears,  then  truth  will  belong  to  man. 
Then,  and  then  .only,  will  man  and  truth  be  one.  To  know 
is  to  live  the  truth. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MATTER   AND   FORCE. 

Though  scientists  have  hitherto  been  unable  to  agree  as 
to  the  essential  nature  and  constitution  of  matter,  and  though 
they  confess  their  entire  ignorance  of  the  essence  of  force, 
yet  no  one  who  has  given  the  subject  any  serious  considera- 
tion will  for  a  moment  doubt  that  matter,  in  some  form,  has 
always  existed.  Certain  writers  may  attach  arbitrary  mean- 
ings to  such  expressions  as  primordial  atoms,  and  claim  for 
science  itself  that  certainty  and  exactness  for  which  it 
everywhere  seeks  credence.  It  is  well  to  remember  that,  on 
many  occasions,  the  foremost  advocates  of  science  have  con- 
fessed their  entire  ignorance  of  the  final  constitution  of 
things;  and  that,  at  best,  they  only  entertain  hypotheses,  in 
support  of  which  they  have  only  probabilities  to  urge.  Even 
these  may  disappear  tomorrow  in  the  light  of  some  larger 
discovery.  The  highways  of  knowledge  are  everywhere 
strewn  with  the  wrecks  of  old  hypotheses,  though  many  of 
the  fragments  may  still  be  recognized  in  the  newer  struc- 
tures that  have  replaced  them.  Thus  the  vortices  of  Des- 
cartes appear  in  latest  theories  as  the  inter-molecular  spaces 
or  dynaspheres ;  and  the  monads  of  Leibnitz  are  largely  trib- 
utary to  our  idea  of  atoms  and  molecules.  In  chemistry, 
many  of  the  old  ideas  may  still  be  recognized  in  their  new 
dress,  and  in  spite  of  an  entirely  new  nomenclature. 

The  test  of  a  theory  is  its  application  to  fact,  and  to  the 
sequence  of  its  relations  to  other  facts  and  theories.  No 
theory,  applicable  to  very  wide  groups  of  facts,  is  ever  quite 
satisfactory  in  all  cases.  Whenever  it  very  nearly  approaches 

(42) 


Matter  and  Force.  43 

this  condition,  the  theory  gives  place  to  a  recognized  law  of 
nature.  The  student  of  nature  thus  carefully  feels  his  way, 
step  by  step,  from  theory  to  fact;  from  hypothesis  to  law; 
while  the  most  certain  knowledge  possessed  by  science,  re- 
garding the  ultimate  structure  of  things,  is  the  certainty  that 
it  does  not  know.  The  atomic  theory,  now  so  generally  in 
vogue,  offers  no  exception  to  the  above  reflections.  If, 
therefore,  science  is  thus  uncertain  with  regard  to  matter 
and  force,  no  theory  can  be  called  orthodox;  and  any  sug- 
gested modification  of  any  theory  is  legitimate. 

Very  important  discoveries  have  been  made  in  recent 
times,  but  these  discoveries  concern  the  relations,  rather 
than  the  essence  of  things.  The  finer  appliances  of  modern 
art  in  mechanics  and  physics,  together  with  the  higher  un- 
folding of  the  senses  in  man,  have  brought  to  view  large 
groups  of  facts  in  nature's  finer  forces;  while  the  records 
of  all  these  discoveries  are  so  widely  diffused,  that  relations 
are  also  discovered  between  different  groups  of  facts  that  at 
first  seemed  entirely  dissimilar. 

The  mechanical  equivalence  of  heat  with  correlative 
modes  of  motion,  as  now  apprehended,  and  the  general  prin- 
ciple of  the  correlation  of  force,  to  which  the  former  discov- 
ery gave  rise,  led  also  to  the  concept  of  the  conservation  or 
indestructibility  of  force.  It  would  fill  volumes  to  record  the 
advancement  in  physical  science  that  has  followed  these 
great  discoveries. 

Among  the  more  recent  deductions  in  the  realm  of  the 
higher  dynamics  are  two  discoveries  which,  from  a  scientific 
point  of  view,  not  only  seem  to  transcend  all  others,  but 
seem  also  to  open  the  door  to  a  new  world — not  as  dissev- 
ered from  the  old  world  of  crude  matter  and  force,  but  inti- 
mately connected  with  it.  These  are  the  discovery  of  vibra- 
tory energy  by  Mr.  Keely,  and  that  of  radiant  matter  by  Mr. 
Crookes.  The  intrinsic  value  and  wide  range  of  applicabil- 
ity of  these  two  discoveries  will  be  best  apprehended  by  those 
who  are  also  familiar  with  the  rapid  unfolding  of  the  higher 


44  A   Study  of  Man. 

sensibility  of  man,  as  witnessed  by  thousands  of  careful  stu- 
dents and  experimenters  in  the  realm  of  psychology.  So 
rapid,  indeed,  has  been  the  advancement  in  this  last-named 
direction,  and  so  potent  and  dangerous  the  forces  and  power 
revealed,  that  legal  enactments  have  already  been  instituted 
to  control  experiments  and  protect  society  against  the 
threatened  danger.  It  may  thus  readily  be  seen  that  progress 
in  physics  goes  hand  in  hand  with  progress  in  metaphysical 
discovery.  To  appreciate  the  one,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in 
view  also  the  other,  as  together  indicating  the  signs  of  the 
times.  We  are  thus  beginning  to  realize  the  refinement  of 
which  matter  and  force  are  capable ;  and  the  terra  incognita, 
whose  shores  we  have  thus  been  permitted  to  approach,  is 
destined  to  swallow  up  not  only  the  unknown  but  also  the 
hitherto  unknowable  in  both  these  realms. 

The  methods  of  modern  science  are  approximately  exact; 
but  the  results  at  which  it  has  arrived  are  by  no  means  final. 
In  the  use  of  the  term  "exact  science,"  this  important  fact 
is  not  always  kept  clearly  in  view.  The  relative  force  of  any 
scientific  dictum  being  thus  clearly  defined,  it  will  also  ap- 
pear that  all  questions,  here  as  elsewhere,  are  open  ques- 
tions. With  every  important  disoovery  there  is  a  checking 
back  over  all  previous  conclusions,  and  the  inaccuracies, 
thus  made  to  disappear,  become  constantly  less  and  less 
prominent.    A  path  so  often  trodden  in  time  becomes  smooth. 

It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  cast  reproach  upon  any  of 
the  discoveries  of  science,  nor  seriously  to  question  the  re- 
sults at  which  it  has  arrived,  so  long  as  they  are  thus  held 
tentatively.  All  scientists,  by  the  way,  worthy  of  the  name, 
thus  look  upon  the  results  of  their  investigations.  If,  in 
dealing  with  pure  physics,  science  has  achieved  final  results 
in  nothing,  and  can  really  boast  only  of  more  or  less  exact 
methods  of  research,  then  no  one  wearing  the  garb  of  sci- 
ence can  afford  to  ridicule  either  philosophy,  psychology,  or 
religion.  Each  of  these  departments  can  boast  of  methods 
quite  as  exact  as  those  of  science  itself;  for  there  is  a  true 


Matter  and  Force.  45 

psychology,  as  there  is  a  true  science.  Here  again,  as  will 
be  more  fully  shown  elsewhere,  the  truth  lies  in  the  method 
and  not  in  the  partial  results ;  for  inasmuch  as  the  results 
are,  in  all  cases,  tentative  or  provisional,  rather  than  final, 
they  are  not  results,  but  methods. 

The  idea  of  the  eternity  or  indestructibility  of  matter  can 
be  traced  back  to  very  remote  times ;  and,  though  the  theory 
of  the  correlation  and  conservation  of  force,  in  its  present 
form,  is  of  recent  date,  glimpses  of  it  may  be  found  even  be- 
yond our  present  epoch.  Plato  says  that  we  see  by  virtue  of 
the  light  which  is  in  the  eye  commingling  with  that  of  the 
sun;  thus  implying  terms  of  correlation;  while  in  the  San- 
scrit terms  of  the  still  more  ancient  Hindoo  philosophies  the 
principle  is  more  clearly  apprehended. 

We  have,  then,  the  indestructibility  of  matter,  the  hy- 
pothetical atom,  and  the  indestructibility  of  force.  Matter 
is  the  theater  of  motion,  and  offers  resistance  to  force, 
though  not  in  the  sense  of  the  old  idea  of  inertia ;  and  force 
is  that  which  produces  motion  in  matter.  The  conclusion  is, 
therefore,  inevitable:  there  is  no  matter  without  force,  and 
no  force  without  matter.  They  are  indestructible  and  in- 
separable. Therefore,  every  hypothetical  atom,  as  every 
particle  of  mass,  is  in  ceaseless  motion;  for  if  an  atom  cease 
to  move,  it  must  cease  to  be.  With  every  change  in  the  re- 
lations and  combinations  of  atoms,  new  forces,  or  different 
modes  of  motion,  are  manifested.  Even  a  nascent  point  in 
the  breaking  up  of  compounds,  and  in  the  formation  of  new 
ones,  cannot  be  conceived  where  motion  ceases  for  an  in- 
stant; this  would  annihilate  force.  Motion  can  only  be 
transformed  into  other  modes,  like  the  change  of  figures  in 
an  endless  dance,  weaving  new  forms  in  the  dizzy  whirl  of 
life  and  death. 

Certain  experiments,  notably  those  of  Tyndall  on  sound- 
waves, have  shown  that  small  particles  of  matter,  like  grains 
of  sand,  free  to  move,  as  on  a  drumhead,  or  any  vibrating 
disc,  will  arrange  themselves  in  exact  geometrical  figures, 


---   - 

....  .  -:    --    -    -    ;  ;-   indirect!]    ndaccd. 

:-  —  :-\   .-  -    --  -  -"-•'         •  "8        -   H 

o£  air,  there  is  a      -      i  res  _....-..-    Bl   5  i :..-    -       g  :-ole- 

,     .,  -;    =    _r:       -_-    ■-         '-•-    iirectly;  in 

^   ---.-._:.  -     r-=  pr :-:  f.i 

-      .'■-■ -  I       ;     :  :   - 

_::;.«   .::   -      -  --      -  -        '   "        -.--"- 

.:..:-    -.i   Other.     A  large 

.  .     .  reoog  *c  form  aad 

-  -.-         .     -    .     gi    -:  rise      I  ie  lea.    -    - 

-    ,        |     ;;:._;:<  m  fed  -ove  among 

rated  by  the  sand-gi       i  --'---    sfcape    : :'   I  * 

-  _      .      -       -:,r:i    -:  5_:5:--:e 

^^  ;    ;;       r- .'  2.veS  of  mO 

^oc  :  f  ~e  wave  h€rC 

-_.-_.-        -  :   --    -     -  ■  ■ ;  -  -    :  "  B  -;  - 

::—     :  ive  ::  :       T  " 

fee  eq         i-ues- 

-  -         -    -         -    .:    ::      -> 

-         '  I  :  ■  '  -  -      "  :: 

:-   re-  -  -  1     m     accord  -;  tc    it   "  -::;   --   -  -'   --":":;     ~-: 

1   Esnc     -   ::-:-:-     &*■■   --  fc*^" 

.--:-  ase   H 

set  to  a  I  that  the  for     .-      :    :-     '     ;     ---   -::   ** 

Botnc      e  mora  ad  in  1  nd  laws  01 

-  "     -.     3     *■  -         e  saidtos  ag  for  ;:y    o  I   t 

stated  ton     lor  life        essendal  harmony, 

1-  -       " 

I-  the  toraa :  :     —  --   :^?:~--s  "ere  -1     :■« 

—  :ri  oerl  ■   " "    "    ~     '   '    ~~   :"T   "JftiJ"rr 

.  :    ; -    -in:-  -iy. 


Matter  and  Force.  47 

singly  or  together,  enter  into  many  compounds,  the  propor- 
tions and  relations  are,  in  even,-  case,  predetermined  and 
arbitrarily  fixed.  Xo  matter  what  artificial  compounds  man 
may  discover  or  devise,  he  can  only  conform  to  this  fixed  and 
inherent  law  of  proportion;  if  he  strives  to  ignore  it,  nature 
only  laughs  at  his  folly  and  conceit,  and  stubbornly  refuses 
to  combine  in  any  other  way.  A  very  important  part  of 
chemistry  consists  in  the  discovery  of  inherent  laws  of  pro- 
portion. 

We  thus  discern  not  only  force,  but  principles,  underly- 
ing all  phenomena  of  nature.  The  process  of  crystallization 
shows  the  persistence  of  an  underlying  force  even-where 
present,  and  operating  in  a  uniform  manner.  This  force 
must  be  judged  by  its  effects.  We  know  far  less  of  its  own 
mode  of  motion  than  of  the  mode  which  it  induces  in  matter. 
It  is  quite  conceivable  that  the  various  modes  of  motion, 
designated  as  heat,  light,  electricity,  and  the  like,  are  but 
modifications  of  this  one  underlying  force,  or  its  phenomenal 
display  under  varying  conditions  of  vibration.  Thus  are 
determined  the  phenomena  of  organization  no  less  than  those 
of  crystallization.  This  idea  of  a  widely  diffused  and  basic 
force  implies  also  a  basic  substance  with  which  it  is  insepa- 
rably connected;  else  must  we  change  our  previous  concepts 
of  matter  and  force. 

Creative  energy  displays  an  apparent  or  relative  fixation 
of  forms  in  the  midst  of  unceasing  change.  Organizi:.  -.-.. 
like  crystallization,  is,  in  a  crude  sense,  a  temporary  fixa- 
tion of  form.  The  first  step  in  this  fixation  of  form  is  polari- 
zation. Diffused  and  indefinite  waves  or  vibrations  concen- 
trate and  become  definite,  and  follow  given  lines.  We  have 
seen  that  this  polarizing  tendency  subtends  all  phenomena, 
and  all  building  up  of  forms  in  inorganic  nature.  The  same 
principle  will  be  shown  to  obtain  in  morphology,  or  in  or- 
ganic nature.  There  is,  in  every  sense,  a  change  from  the 
formless  to  the  formed,  and  the  more  definite  the  form  the 
greater  its  stabilitv. 


48  A  Study  of  Man. 

If  we  consider  the  so-called  elementary  substances,  such 
as  science  has  hitherto  been  unable  to  analyze,  as  made  up 
of  invisible  atoms,  similar  atoms  being  grouped  to  form  a? 
element,  with  certain  definite  relations  existing  between 
different  groups,  we  shall  be  justified  in  supposing  that  all 
of  the  so-called  elements  have  something  in  common.  Hence, 
from  the  matter-side  of  our  ploblem,  as  from  the  force-side, 
we  can  think  back  to  a  common  substratum.  If  from  the 
force-side  we  discern  a  polarizing  tendency,  and  from  the 
matter-side  a  substratum,  our  superstructure,  which  we 
found  uniting  at  the  apex  as  matter  and  force,  must  be  even 
more  compact  at  its  base.  We  thus  discern  an  underlying 
substance  everywhere  diffused,  of  great  tenuity,  permeating 
all  things,  as  the  common  basis  of  matter  and  force.  This 
substance,  with  its  characteristic  polarizing  tendency,  and 
its  universal  diffusibility,  outwardly  displayed  in  atoms  of 
elements,  and  in  all  objective  phenomenal  nature,  is  mag- 
netism. If  magnetism  be  also  atomic  in  structure,  the  atoms 
may  be  conceived  as  infinitely  smaller  than  those  of  the  ele- 
ments; and  as  this  substratum  may  be  considered  as  either 
matter  or  force,  lying  back  of  both,  it  answers  to  the  dyna- 
spheric  force,  which  at  once  unites  and  separates,  holds  to- 
gether, and  yet  keeps  apart,  the  larger  atoms  of  the  various 
forms  of  matter  designated  as  solid,  fluid  and  gas.  The  so- 
called  "radiant  matter"  would  be  magnetism  itself,  divorced 
from  all  other  matter,  freed  from  the  so-called  elements,  ra- 
diant when  not  beclouded  by  overlying  grosser  atoms,  yet 
matter  still.  If  this  view,  thus  far,  is  warranted  by  such 
facts  as  we  possess,  we  must  go  still  farther  back  in  our 
analysis.  That  which  underlies  both  matter  and  force,  and 
thus  surrounds  both  molecule  and  mass,  and  which  is  recog- 
nized in  all  matter  as  a  polarizing  tendency,  yet  only  a  finer 
grade  of  matter,  must,  therefore,  lie  at  the  center  of,  as  well 
as  diffuse  our  hypothetical  atoms,  and  so  polarize  them.  Ag- 
gregations of  atoms  to  form  elements,  and  aggregations  of 
elements  to  form  compounds,  as  well  as  aggregations  to  form 


Matter  and  Force.  49 

crystals  and  organisms,  can  be  logically  conceived  as  polari- 
zations. Elements  may  thus  be  positive,  and  others  negative 
as  to  each  other,  and  so  give  rise  to  the  locking  of  atoms  to 
form  compounds.  The  atoms  of  substances  like  oxygen  may 
have  complex  poles;  while  others  like  hydrogen  may  have 
simple  poles.  Hence  many  forms  of  attraction  would  rise 
from  polarization.  If  magnetism  itself  is  simply  luminous, 
and  this  luminous  substance  stands  potentially  for  what  we 
call  matter  and  force,  the  motion  which  here,  as  elsewhere, 
is  the  logical  sequence,  can  be  conceived  as  a  quivering  or 
exceedingly  rapid  vibration,  an  infinite  number  of  infinitesi- 
mal atoms  within  an  invisible  area,  vibrating  with  incalcu- 
lable rapidity.  Groups  of  such  atoms  by  transference  of 
this  vibration  into  scintillations  would  appear  luminous;  or 
if  motion  were  transformed  into  waves  in  a  definite  direction 
in  matter,  they  would  polarize  it;  or  in  rarefied  matter, 
would  give  rise  to  light;  or  again  in  more  solid  matter,  to 
heat ;  and  so  on  with  the  round  of  physical  forces. 

We  are  still  in  the  realm  of  matter  and  force,  or  phenom- 
enal nature,  and  we  may  still  go  back  of  all  this  and  dig 
deeper.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  with  every  change  in 
the  mode  of  motion,  or  correlation  of  force,  there  is  in- 
duced a  corresponding  change  in  the  so-called  properties  of 
matter.  If  the  different  forces  arise  from  the  one  force, 
magnetism,  so  must  the  different  elements  arise  from  the 
one  substance,  magnetism.  Thus  we  may  conceive  of  all  at- 
tractions or  affinities.  We  have  so  far  reasoned  back  to  the 
common  basis  of  visible  nature  displayed  as  matter  and  force. 
Magnetism  would  seem  to  be  the  matrix  of  matter,  and  the 
parent  of  force.  This  view  is  immensely  fortified,  at  every 
step,  by  the  phenomena  and  sensations  of  animal  magnetism, 
or  hypnotism. 

The  theater  in  which  are  displayed  the  phenomena  of 
matter  and  force  we  call  space;  but,  unless  we  are  very 
guarded,  our  concept  of  atoms  will  lead  us  to  an  absurd  con- 
cept of  space.    Having  traced  our  atoms  to  minuteness  suffi- 


50  A  Study  of  Man. 

cient  for  our  purposes,  and  having  relinquished  the  idea  of 
dimension  regarding  them,  dimension  thus  merging  in  im- 
mensity, space  remains  as  mere  emptiness — a  boundless 
vacuum,  in  which  the  finer  atoms  float.  This,  however,  is 
altogether  inconsistent  with  the  eternity  of  matter  and  force 
in  any  form,  as  this  would  involve  the  idea  of  both  the  be- 
ginning and  the  end  of  matter  and  force — the  equivalent  of 
saying  that  there  was  a  time  when  there  was  absolutely 
nothing.  Time  cannot  antedate  phenomena,  for  it  belongs 
to  the  succession  of  phenomena ;  and  it  is  inconceivable  apart 
from  motion.  What  then  is  space,  as  logically  related  to 
other  concepts?  In  beginning,  let  us  change  names,  and  so 
get  rid  of  the  dangerous  idea  of  emptiness.  For  space  let 
us  say  ether,  not  ether  in  space,  but  ether  as  space  itself. 
Let  us  think  of  this  ether  as  boundless,  continuous,  therefore 
unparticled,  and  thus  without  qualities  or  attributes,  as  we 
apprehend  them  on  the  physical  side.  While  forming  the 
substratum  for  magnetism,  as  magnetism  forms  the  sub- 
stratum for  matter  and  force,  outwardly  ether  will  be  the 
boundary  between  the  objective  and  the  subjective  worlds. 
If  we  think  of  the  natural  world  as  adhering  to  the  ether 
and  displayed  outwardly,  we  may  think  of  the  spiritual  world 
as  also  adhering  to  the  same  ether  but  displayed  inwardly. 
If  the  sensuous  life  of  man  is  related  to  the  phenomena  of 
outer  nature  displayed  by  atoms  of  matter  and  modes  of  mo- 
tion, so  is  the  supersensuous  life  of  man  related  to  subjec- 
tive nature  displayed  with  basic  continuity  and  essential 
form,  with  consciousness  as  the  middle  term  equally  related 
to  both  worlds — the  objective,  atomic  world  of  matter,  and 
the  subjective,  continuous  world  of  spirit.  Thus,  in  atoms 
and  suns,  in  the  infinitely  small  as  in  the  infinitely  great,  in 
center  and  circumference,  the  natural  and  the  spiritual  are 
still  one.  If  by  analogy  we  seek  to  penetrate  beyond  the 
ether,  we  must  either  abandon  our  idea  of  atoms,  or  con- 
ceive of  matter  now  in  its  upward  ascent  approaching  its 
opposite  pole,  spirit,  as  also  existing  in  another  state.     But 


Matter  and  Force.  51 

we  can  abandon  here  our  atomic  hypothesis  without  aban- 
doning matter  itself.  The  continuity  of  matter  refined  be- 
yond the  purest  ether  is  thinkable,  and  our  concept  of  spirit 
thus  becomes  as  rational  as  our  concept  of  matter,  seeing 
that  we  know  the  essential  nature  of  neither,  and  can  only 
partially  comprehend  relations.  The  basis  of  the  continuity 
on  the  one  side,  and  the  basis  of  the  atoms  on  the  other,  is 
the  ether.  As  on  the  physical  side,  mass  and  so-called  iner- 
tia, or  gross  matter,  appears  to  predominate,  so  on  the  spir- 
itual side,  force  appears  to  predominate  and  matter  seems 
to  be  held  in  abeyance.  This  shifting  of  factors  would  con- 
stitute for  us  the  natural  and  the  spiritual  world — our  idea 
of  the  universe.  In  thus  exchanging  the  idea  of  vacuity  for 
that  of  continuity,  we  do  no  violence  to  any  rational  con- 
cept of  matter  and  force.  It  will  be  no  longer  rational  to 
talk  about  vacuum  or  partial  vacuum.  We  can  well  afford 
to  dispense  with  the  term,  since  it  has  ceased  to  convey  any 
rational  idea. 

If  our  reasoning  thus  far  holds  and  magnetism  be  found 
to  be  the  fourth  state  of  matter,  ether  would  seem  to  be  a 
fifth ;  and  the  series  would  stand  thus :  solid,  liquid,  gas,  mag- 
netism, ether.  With  this  conclusion,  we  shall  have  both  to 
modify  and  to  enlarge  our  idea  of  atoms  and  elementary  sub- 
stances. In  the  case  of  that  of  the  most  active  and  most 
widely  diffused  element,  oxygen,  for  example,  we  may  con- 
ceive of  one  of  its  atoms  as  consisting  of  concentrated  rings 
or  layers,  a  ring  of  magnetism  enclosed  in  an  outer  capsule 
and  inclosing  an  inner  nucleus  of  ether  with  each  of  these 
rings  or  spheres  penetrating  the  others,  the  mere  gross  being 
aggregations  or  concentrations  of  the  more  refined.  We 
may  further  conceive  of  vibrations  intense  enough  and  rapid 
enough  to  disassociate  the  outer  rings  from  the  ether,  though 
unable  to  liberate  pure  force,  yet  competent  to  bring  into 
activity  in  another  form  far  more  refined  and  intense  the 
substance,  magnetism,  which  is  both  matter  and  force;  and 
this    Mr.    Keely    seems    to   have    accomplished.     Something 


$2  A  Study  of  Man. 

like  this  occurs  when  water  is  decomposed  by  a  current  of 
electricity.  If  it  be  once  conceived  that  substances  akin  to 
oxygen,  called  elements,  have  originated  from  magnetic  sub- 
stance, it  may  also  be  seen  how  they  may  return  to  their 
primordial  matrix.  Ozone  may  thus  be  found  to  be  an  in- 
termediate state  between  oxygen  and  magnetism;  one  form 
may  be  polarized  oxygen,  and  the  other  non-polarized  This 
idea  of  the  compound  nature  of  atoms  is  not  new,  nor  is  it 
without  support.  The  magnetism  of  an  iron  bar  may  be 
explained  by  assuming  that  the  atoms  that  compose  it  are 
polarized,  the  property  of  the  bar  representing  the  qualities 
of  the  atoms  combined.  In  all  germs  from  which  living 
forms  arise  the  structure  is  similar  to  that  suggested  for 
an  atom  of  oxygen.  Reasoning  backward  by  analogy,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  magnetic  bar,  there  must  either  be  a  break 
at  some  point  in  the  orderly  sequence  of  nature,  or  every 
atom  that  goes  to  form  the  germ  must  typically  represent 
it. 

Matter  and  force,  inseparable  and  indestructible,  may, 
nevertheless,  disappear  from  view;  they  may  pass  from  the 
active  to  the  passive  plane  and  still  exist  as  invisible,  un- 
particled  matter  and  potential  force.  This  view  is  also  sup- 
ported by  analogy.  Every  process  visible  to  man  consists 
in  a  crude  sense  of  an  appearance  and  a  disappearance,  of 
growth  and  decay,  of  building  up  and  tearing  down,  of 
death  and  rejuvenescence.  The  invisible  becomes  visible ; 
the  visible  becomes  invisible.  In  this  concept  we  have  only 
traced  the  process  further  back,  just  as  we  trace  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  subdivision  of  matter  back  to  the  concept  of 
invisible  atoms.  While  the  quantity  of  matter  and  force  in 
the  universe  may  be  conceived  as  forever  the  same,  unceas- 
ing motion  leads  creative  processes  out  from  the  bosom 
of  the  all-enfolding  ether  only  to  lead  them  back  to  the  source 
from  whence  they  came,  and  so  constitute  and  continue  the 
cycles  of  creation.  Here,  again,  analogy  supports  our  ar- 
gument.    If  suns  and  planets  revolve,  they  must  have  de- 


Matter  and  Force.  53 

rived  the  forces  by  which  they  revolve  from  some  princi- 
ple antedating  their  appearance,  viz.,  the  cyclic  process  of 

creation  itself. 

If  the  foregoing  considerations  seem  transcendental,  let 
it  be  remembered  that  we  are  presently  to  enter  the  realm 
of  vital  dynamics,  there  to  examine  the  processes  of  life 
and  of  thought.  We  shall  find  these  processes  complicated, 
though  made  up  of  the  display  of  matter  and  force,  the  same 
matter  and  the  same  force  that  are  herein  discussed.  There 
can  be  no  essential  difference  between  matter  and  force 
found  in  the  living  structure  and  that  found  outside  of  it; 
otherwise  the  latter  could  not  be  converted  into  the  former. 
Nutrition  brings  about  such  a  conversion.  It  may  thus  be 
seen,  that  to  begin  the  study  of  life  without  at  least  an  out- 
line of  the  principles  of  physics,  would  be  as  fruitless  as  to 
attempt  to  solve  the  most  difficult  problem  of  differential 
calculus  without  a  knowledge  of  the  laws  of  differentiation. 
The  useless  theories  regarding  human  nature  and  human 
life  arise  through  ignorance  or  disregard  of  these  basic 
principles.  Like  plants  that  grow  in  the  air  they  take  no 
root,  and  flourish  only  for  a  brief  season. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   PHENOMENAL   WORLD. 

In  the  preceding  chapter  an  outline  is  given  of  the  gen- 
eral principles  of  physics,  as  pertaining  particularly  to  mat- 
ter and  force,  in  their  basic  relations  and  manifestations  in 
smaller  areas.  We  are  now  briefly  to  consider  those  wider 
displays  regarding  nature  as  a  whole.  If  man  derives  his 
body  and  his  energy  from  matter  and  force  it  follows  that 
he  is  also  a  part  of  the  world  about  him,  an  existence  in 
space  and  time.  To  a  certain  extent  he  is  related  to  all  na- 
ture. If  we  would  clearly  discern  at  what  point  and  to  what 
extent  man  transcends  the  sphere  of  physics,  we  must  first 
definitely  determine  his  relations  to  that  sphere. 

The  persistence  of  motion  as  coincident  with  matter  and 
force  implies  ceaseless  change.  This  change  involves  atom, 
particle,  molecule  and  mass.  It  therefore  involves  all  or- 
ganisms, whether  animal,  vegetable  or  mineral.  Instability 
and  transition  are  indelibly  stamped  on  all  created  things. 
Nothing  is  what  it  seems,  as  all  things  exist  only  by  virtue 
01  change,  ceaseless  change.  All  human  experience,  which 
is  the  basis  of  all  our  knowledge,  is  a  record  of  changes  oc- 
curring in  our  states  of  consciousness. 

Creation  naturally  divides  into  halves  matter  and  spirit. 
Spirit  transcends  matter  as  refinement  transcends  grossness, 
as  light  transcends  darkness,  as  good  transcends  evil.  Mat- 
ter exists  externally  as  body;  spirit,  internally  as  essence. 
If  matter  and  spirit  are  the  opposite  poles  of  cosmos  so  are 
they  the  opposite  poles  of  an  atom,  as  an  atom  typifies  a 
universe.     A  universe  made  up  of  particles  without  affini- 

(54) 


The  Phenomenal  IV or Id.  55 

ties,  with  no  common  basis  upon  which  to  combine,  would 
not  even  be  conceivable  as  chaos;  it  would  be  a  condition 
unthinkable.  There  is  no  more  marvelous  revelation  in  na- 
ture than  the  intimate  relations  everywhere  seen.  Atoms 
and  molecules  flock  together  like  doves  seeking  their  mates. 
A  volume  might  be  written  on  the  Loves  of  the  Atoms,  as 
the  elder  Darwin,  and  Ovid  before  him,  wrote  on  the  Loves 
of  the  Plants.  There  could  be  no  attraction,  no  affinity 
without  duality.  This  principle  is  equally  true  in  atoms  and 
in  man.  Emerson  says:  "Husband  and  wife  must  be  very 
two  before  they  can  be  very  one."  If  attraction  is  universal, 
so  is  duality.  There  can  be  no  attraction  without  something 
to  attract  and  something  to  be  attracted.  Attraction  implies 
both  the  opposite  and  the  similar;  or,  more  accurately,  at- 
traction implies  repulsion.  These  are  related  to  each  other 
as  positive  and  negative  poles;  hence  opposites  attract  and 
repel.  Attraction  and  repulsion  are  either  two  equal  forces, 
or  opposite  poles  of  one  force.  As  motive  powers  they  are 
equal.  Just  as  one  body  moves  toward  another  by  attraction, 
it  moves  from  it  by  repulsion.  Two  atoms  attracted  to  each 
other,  locked  in  a  firm  embrace,  saturate  each  other  and  be- 
come homogeneous.  Repulsion  separates  them  just  as  at- 
traction brought  them  together.  Spirit  thus  impregnates 
matter,  while  matter  embodies  spirit;  and  thus  are  created 
atoms  and  worlds.  The  atomic  stability  of  elementary  sub- 
stances, and  the  comparative  instability  of  compounds,  may 
thus  turn  on  this  problem  of  impregnation  and  repulsion. 
Duality  is  then  both  basic  and  cosmic.  One  principle  leads 
forth  the  busy  atoms  and  swings  in  space  the  teeming  worlds. 
Our  forms  of  thought  and  modes  of  expression  not  only  re- 
veal duality,  but  both  thought  and  expression  originate 
from  duality  and  are  possible  only  as  such.  So-called 
evidence  of  the  senses  concerns  the  external  world  of 
phenomena,  though  beyond  the  five  senses  recognized  there 
are  others  that  undoubtedly  go  deeper  and  penetrate  beyond 
the  objective  plane.    The  senses  by  which  we  apprehend  the 


56  A   Study   of  Man. 

world  of  phenomena  around  us  are  also  phenomenal  in  char- 
acter; change  within,  as  change  without.  To  sense  a  thing 
is  to  appreciate  the  changes  that  characterize  it,  and  the  re- 
lations that  concern  it;  but  to  sense  only  is  not  to  under- 
stand, as  will  be  shown  further  on.  All  phenomena  occur 
in  matter,  space,  time  and  motion.  In  the  preceding  chap- 
ter space  was  conceived  as  the  underlying  ether.  In  the  larger 
display  of  nature  as  related  to  movements  of  mass  occurring 
in  time,  our  ideas  of  space  regard  distance  and  dimension; 
the  magnitude  of  objects  and  the  distance  between  them,  or 
our  ideas  of  height,  depth  and  breadth,  are  conditioned  by 
the  senses.  The  eye  is  thus  our  space-organ,  and  the  ear 
our  time-organ;  while  beyond  the  phenomenal  character  of 
external  nature  and  sensation  there  is  also  the  element  of 
imperfection  in  the  organs  of  sense.  Our  ideas  of  space  and 
time  are  always  relative,  never  absolute;  and  are  further- 
more often  defective,  owing  to  defects  in  us.  If  one  were 
to  imagine  himself  suspended  in  space,  out  of  sight  of  any 
object  upon  which  the  eye  could  rest,  his  ideas  of  distance 
and  of  size  would  soon  disappear ;  and  there  would  also  dis- 
appear his  idea  of  time.  In  place  of  these  ideas  would  come 
the  feeling  of  immensity.  It  may  thus  be  seen  that  our  ideas 
of  space  and  time  are  definitely  related  to  matter  and  motion, 
and  that  our  sensations  and  thoughts  dependent  on  these  are 
phenomenal  also,  ,and  are  of  the  same  general  character. 
Taking  now  this  objective,  phenomenal  world  as  a  whole, 
we  find,  according  to  our  previous  conception,  that  it  con- 
stitutes one-half  of  our  knowable  world,  bodied  forth  from 
the  ether  as  the  senses  are  bodied  forth  from  consciousness. 
Sir  Isaac  Newton  designated  the  ether  Sensorium  Dei;  we 
might  call  it  the  Consciousness  of  Nature.  Thus  the  sen- 
sorium of  God  is  the  consciousness  of  nature ;  while  the  con- 
sciousness of  God  is  the  creator  of  the  world.  Thus  the  In- 
finite center,  the  Divine  Consciousness,  is  impressed  on  the 
sensitive  ether  and  bodied  forth  in  all  created  forms ;  while 
the  same  outward  nature,  through  the  sensorium  and  varied 


The  Phenomenal  World.  57 

experiences  of  man,  is  reproduced  in  his  consciousness. 
Eventually  through  the  unfolding  of  higher  senses  the  sub- 
jective world  may  be  re-created  in  man.  It  has  elsewhere 
been  suggested  that  when  matter  disappears  from  the  vis- 
ible world  beyond  the  gaseous  and  below  the  plane  of  mag- 
netism, thus  becoming  unparticled  and  no  longer  manifest- 
ing as  matter  and  force,  as  we  understand  them,  motion  must 
also  disappear.  Matter  and  force  in  this  hypothesis  have 
changed  places  and  are  differently  related.  To  this  inner 
realm  elsewhere  displayed,  as  the  outer  realm  is  displayed  in 
space  and  time,  we  may  attach  the  idea  of  stability,  and  there 
may  be  as  many  invisible  worlds  for  the  display  of  this  sub- 
jective mode  of  being  as  there  are  visible  worlds  in  the  ob- 
jective. It  would  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that  every  vis- 
ible world  has  its  invisible  counterpart ;  that  there  are  twin 
worlds  of  matter  and  spirit,  as  twin  atoms,  negative  and 
positive— one  modulus  .running  through  cosmos.  We  are 
not  at  present  concerned  with  these  invisible  worlds  further 
than  to  show  a  logical  basis  for  the  concept  that  the  objec- 
tive world  of  matter  as  a  whole,  as  in  every  part,  is  supple- 
mented by  a  subjective  world  of  rest,  where  the  phenomenal 
becomes  the  noumenal.  Thus  is  carried  out  our  idea  of 
duality,  the  ether  being  the  common  medium  of  exchange. 
This  subjective  world  stands  related  to  the  objective  as 
cause  to  effect ;  and  when  the  resulting  cycle  of  change  has 
run  its  course  there  is  a  return  to  the  subjective  world. 
Here  the  terms  cause  and  effect  change  places,  and  on  the 
subjective  plane  are  worked  out  the  effects  of  the  previous 
objective  existence.  Again  the  cycle  is  complete,  and  again 
there  is  an  output  from  the  subjective  to  the  objective  plane. 
Novel  as  may  seem  the  foregoing  statements,  they  are  every- 
where justified  by  analogies  in  nature,  and  are  put  forth  as 
the  logical  sequence  of  the  universal  principle  of  polarity, 
which  again  rests  on  cosmic  duality,  the  modulus  of  nature. 
Though  the  principle  of  polarity  is  everywhere  mani- 
fest, and  though  it  is  a  clue  to  the  labyrinth  of  life,  to  the 


58  A  Study  of  Man. 

process  of  thought  and  to  the  destiny  of  man,  its  most  valu- 
able service  is  in  enabling  us  to  determine  the  true  position 
and   relations   of   consciousness,  thus   making   rational   and 
comprehensible  the  process  of  knowing  through  experience. 
Here  again  involution  and  evolution,  as  general  expressions 
for  the  dual  process,  conform  to  the  general  equation  of  na- 
ture.    Very  few  human  equations  are  complete.     Few  per- 
sons have  an  equal  experience  of  both  objective  and  subjec- 
tive nature,  and  few  are  really  aware  how  largely  experi- 
ence  is  involved   from  (the   subjective  plane.     The   cosmic 
duality  of  which  we  form  a  part  is  so  intimately  blended 
with  our  daily  life  that  it  is  often  entirely  overlooked,  and  is 
only  discerned  when  we  endeavor  to  discover  'the  real  nature  of 
things.     So  mixed  and  blended  are  the  varied  experiences  of 
life,  so  complicated  all  mental  processes,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  separate  any  single  experience  from  its  fellows  in  order 
to  discover  its  basis  and  meaning.     It  is  .true  that  we  can 
hardly  imagine  any  two  experiences  as  occurring  at  the  same 
time;  but  the  memory  of  former  experiences  and  the  antici- 
pation of  those  to  come  lead  inevitably  to  the  very  confusion 
named.     With  memory  on  the  one  side  and  with  hope  and 
fear  on  the  other,  past,  present  and  future  almost  hopelessly 
bewilder  us.     It  thus   transpires   that  such   expressions   as 
experience,  real  and  ideal,  convey  no  very  definite  meaning 
to  most  persons.    All  nature  is,  moreover,  full  of  paradoxes. 
There  are  a  thousand  questions  that  the  thoughtful  and  sin- 
cere can  answer  in  the  affirmative  or  in  the  negative  with 
equal   propriety.     This  is   equivalent   to   saying   that   these 
questions  are  so  involved  that  they  cannot  be  satisfactorily 
answered  by  yea  or  nay.    And  it  signifies  more  than  this :  it 
signifies  that  every  subject  may  be  viewed  from  two  sides, 
from  the  objective,  and  from  the  subjective;  or  from  the 
side  of   self-interest,   and   from  that  of  universal   interest. 
These  last  named  are  often  found  to  clash.     The  personal 
never  gives  way  to  the  universal  without  a  struggle.    Self- 
preservation  is  not  only  the  first  law  of  nature,  it  is  the  first 


The  Phenomenal  World.  59 

and  the  last  lav/,  the  alpha  and  the  omega  of  egotism.  Na- 
ture everywhere  sacrifices  individuals  to  preserve  the  race. 
The  first,  the  highest  law  of  nature,  is  altruism.  And  it  is 
because  man  persists  in  reading  this  law  backwards  that 
humanity  suffers  and  countless  millions  mourn.  Nor  is  the 
cup  of  man's  egotism  yet  full ;  as  egotism  enshrines  itself  in 
a  creed,  overleaps  the  bounds  of  time,  and  dooms  more  than 
half  of  the  human  race  to  everlasting  misery.  With  the  un- 
folding of  the  higher  faculties  of  man  he  will  discern 
a  more  beneficent  purpose  in  nature;  for  just  in  proportion 
as  he  rises  above  self-interest  and  pride  will  he  truly  com- 
prehend the  divine.  He  will  find  not  only  that  the  phenom- 
enal world  of  sense  and  time,  but  that  the  spiritual  world 
is  here  and  now,  and  that  he  has  only  to  open  his  soul  to  its 
divine  influence  to  become  consoious  of  its  presence.  The 
key  to  this  unfolding  is  not  self-interest  nor  egotism,  but 
altruism,  whereby  the  phenomenal  and  the  noumenal  are 
made  one  in  consciousness  and  in  life. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PHILOSOPHY   AND  SCIENCE. 

The  basis  of  all  knowledge  is  experience.  This  has  been 
stated  previously  and  will  more  fully  appear  in  the  sequel. 
To  experience  is  to  know.  To  learn  and  to  know  are  not 
synonymous  though  they  are  kindred  terms.  So  far  as  learn- 
ing is  a  mere  mental  process  and  related  to  memory  it  is  to 
the  individual  an  alien ;  only  as  learning  enters  consciousness 
and  molds  the  individual  life,  only  as  experience  thus  co- 
ordinates truth,  does  learning  become  real  knowledge.  For 
the  present  we  need  only  say  that  consciousness  bears  a  dif- 
ferent relation  to  the  brain  from  thought.  One  learns  as 
he  apprehends,  and  this  is  a  mental  process;  one  knows  as 
he  comprehends,  and  this  concerns  conscious  experience  of 
truth.  All  knowledge  is  derived  through  two  factors,  the 
subjective  and  the  objective.  Valid  evidence  and  correct 
reasoning  are  processes  that  lead  to  knowledge,  but  they  are 
not  the  only  ones.  Thinking  is  that  peculiar  process  of  the 
brain  resulting  from  sensation;  it  is  the  experience  of  sen- 
sation. Thought  and  consciousness  are  inter-related  and 
mutually  dependent  in  man  as  now  constituted,  but  they  are 
related  as  sense  and  sensorium,  as  surface  and  center. 
Reasoning  is  thought  proceeding  in  an  orderly  manner,  by 
which  we  discern  the  relations  of  things.  The  structure  of 
the  brain  and  its  functions  exist  by  virtue  of  the  very  prin- 
ciples which  by  reason  we  everywhere  discover  in  nature. 
We  might  say  that  these  principles  have  created  the  brain 
and  mind  of  man,  and  that  in  the  very  process  of  knowing 
man  re-creates  these  principles.  If  then  thought,  as  a  re- 
(60) 


Philosophy  and  Science.  61 

sultant  of  sensation  and  feeling,  builds  the  brain,  only 
logical  and  rational  thought  can  perfect  its  structure  and 
fully  develop  its  function.  Logical  thought  is  the  orderly 
procession  of  those  principles  or  processes  of  which  reason 
apprehends  the  normal  relation.  Thought  like  sensation  is 
phenomenal.  It  depends  upon  change  or  motion,  and  is  de- 
rived through  the  senses  from  the  phenomenal  world  with- 
out. Thought  is,  therefore,  the  moving  panorama  of  the 
brain,  reproducing  the  world  to  consciousness.  Evidence  of 
the  senses,  passed  upon  by  reason  and  approved  by  experi- 
ence, becomes  knowledge;  but  for  this  knowledge  to  be  in 
any  sense  complete,  the  thing  or  the  principle  must  have 
been  reproduced  in  miniature  in  man.  Thus  to  know  a 
thing  is  to  be  the  thing  known.  Thought  and  feeling,  there- 
fore, reproduce  the  world  in  consciousness.  The  thought- 
pictures  are  fleeting,  but  consciousness  records  and  pre- 
serves them,  not  in  detail,  but  in  essence  as  precipitated  re- 
sults. We  thus  have  the  thing  known,  the  knower,  and  the 
process  of  knowing.  In  real  knowledge  the  thing  known 
and  the  knower  are  merged  into  one.  Man  has  become  the 
thing  he  sought  to  know,  hence  the  process  of  knowing  dis- 
appears;  it  is  consummated.  We  have  seen  that  knowledge 
considers  facts  and  relations  as  they  have  been  transmitted 
to  consciousness  by  thought  and  feeling.  Facts  relate  to 
single  things ;  relations,  to  one  or  many  things.  A  fact  once 
determined  reveals  other  relations,  and  every  new  relation 
brings  to  light  other  facts.  To  obtain  facts  we  must  tear 
things  apart.  To  discover  relations  we  must  put  them  to- 
gether. We  obtain  facts  by  analysis.  We  discover  rela- 
tions by  synthesis.  These  two  methods  enter,  whether  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  into  all  our  processes  of  knowing. 
Science  deals  more  especially  with  the  world  of  phenomena 
which  includes  sensation  and  thought,  leading  up  to  con- 
sciousness. The  method  of  science  is  analysis.  Philosophy 
deals  especially   with   the   world   of   reason,   principles   and 


62  A  Study  of  Man. 

laws,  and  its  method  is  synthesis;  but  as  both  the  results 
of  analysis  and  the  results  of  synthesis  combine  in  conscious- 
ness continually,  we  are  seldom  able  to  separate  them  in  con- 
sciousness. Reason  discovers  these  two  processes  of  an- 
alysis and  of  synthesis ;  and  as  thought  presents  the  world  to 
man.  so  reason  presents  man  to  himself.  Man  tastes  of  the 
world  by  experience,  assimilates  it  by  thought,  compre- 
hends it  by  reason  and  intuition,  and  becomes  it  by  con- 
sciousness. 

Thus  it  may  be  seen  that  philosophy  includes  and  tran- 
scends science,  as  a  law  of  nature  transcends  a  fact,  and 
yet  one  process  cannot  dispense  with  the  other,  for  each  has 
continual  need  of  the  other.  Each,  however,  has  a  field  and 
a  method  of  its  own.  Science  deals  with  matter  in  the  realm 
of  physics;  philosophy,  with  mind  in  the  realm  of  meta- 
physics. As  working  methods  in  the  process  of  knowing, 
science  and  philosophy  cannot  be  separated,  while  in  the 
analysis  of  all  processes  by  reason,  even  the  analysis  of 
reason  itself,  science  and  philosophy  are  separate  methods 
covering  different  realms,  pursued  by  a  single  mind  to  ar- 
rive at  one  truth. 

In  all  our  investigations  into  the  nature  of  man  we 
should  seek  for  valid  evidence  and  employ  sound  reasoning, 
if  we  would  arrive  at  the  truth.  Observation  must  go  hand 
in  hand  with  experience,  and  we  may  fortify  our  own  ex- 
perience at  every  step  by  the  experience  of  others.  In  this 
way  we  may  gain  a  very  wide  experience  equivalent  to  our 
own.  Having  learned  a  fact,  we  do  not  need  to  verify  it 
daily.  If  we  taste,  it  is  not  essential  that  we  devour;  but 
without  experience  in  some  form,  or  in  some  degree,  it  is 
impossible  to  know  or  to  become.  The  value  of  what  we 
call  experience  depends  entirely  on  the  use  we  make  of  it, 
and  the  wisdom  of  the  methods  by  which  we  obtain  it.  If 
experience  be  our  stock  in  trade  from  which  is  derived  not 


Philosophy  and  Science.  63 

only  the  pleasure  of  life  but  the  fruit  of  knowledge,  it  is 
also  well  to  remember  that  what  we  experience  we  know, 
and  whatsoever  we  know  we  become.  Experience  and 
knowledge  lead  up  to  being.  The  dicta  of  science,  like  the 
dogmas  of  religion,  are  never  final.  These  are  to  the  flight 
of  the  soul  in  pursuit  of"  truth  as  the  sheltering  rock  is  tc 
the  weary  wings  of  the  eagle,  a  rest  on  its  journey.  The 
souls  of  men  are  weighted  down  by  creeds  and  dogmas,  as 
though  they  were  final  truths.  This  is  like  clipping  the  wings 
of  the  eagle  and  chaining  him  to  the  rock.  We  have  already 
shown  that  philosophy  and  science  are  processes,  not  re- 
sults; hence  any  conclusions  arrived  at  by  these  processes, 
whether  by  deduction  or  induction,  are  in  no  sense  final. 
No  result  is  valid  even  for  a  day  that  is  not  derived  through 
these  two  processes  combined.  The  fact  derived  by  induc- 
tive analysis  of  the  phenomena  in  which  it  is  involved  must 
be  fortified  through  synthetic  deduction  by  the  world  of 
which  it  is  a  part.  This  involves  sufficient  evidence  and  cor- 
rect reasoning.  Man  constantly  employs  the  processes  which 
constitute  these  methods  designated  as  science  and  philos- 
ophy, and  the  magnitude  of  the  experience  does  not  change 
the  process,  nor  convert  a  process  into  a  result.  These  uni- 
versal methods  lead  to  similar  but  not  to  uniform  results; 
for  personal  experience,  which  is  everywhere  the  basis  of 
these  methods,  varies  continually.  One  who  is  in  any  sense 
a  scientist  and  in  no  sense  a  philosopher  is  by  no  means  a 
knower.  He  has  facts  and  opinions  rather  than  knowledge. 
One  who  is  in  any  sense  a  philosopher  and  in  no  sense  a 
scientist  ignores  facts  and  is  a  mere  speculator.  The  first 
is  usually  a  materialist;  the  second  a  theorist,  and  these 
always  cast  reproach  on  both  science  and  philosophy.  So 
also  in  the  name  of  religion  one  may  be  a  ritualist,  may  ig- 
nore both  science  and  philosophy,  may  deny  facts,  refuse  to 
reason,  and  so  become  a  servant  of  superstition.     None  of 


64  A   Study   of  Man. 

these  false  methods  can  ever  lead  to  a  knowledge  of  nature, 
a  knowledge  of  man,  or  a  knowledge  of  God. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  that  a  correct  apprehension  of  sci- 
ence and  philosophy  as  methods,  and  that  a  correct  and  in- 
telligent use  of  these  processes  lead  man  to  a  knowledge  of 
himself,  and  as  this  knowledge  unfolds  through  experience 
it  includes  all  the  rest.  Man  will  know  God  when  he  be- 
comes God-like. 


CHAPTER  V. 


We  behold  around  us  everywhere  one  all-pervading  life. 
To  inquire  into  the  nature  and  origin  of  this  life  is  the 
province  of  the  highest  reason,  as  it  is  the  basis  for  the 
manifestation  of  consciousness  and  that  which  makes  any 
experience  possible.  What  consciousness  may  be  apart  from 
life  we  do  not  know.  It  is,  however,  quite  probable  that 
life  and  consciousness,  so  far  as  we  are  concerned,  are  in- 
separable forms  of  being.  Life  everywhere  exists  in  con- 
crete degrees,  and  qualifies  in  innumerable  forms.  So  also 
with  consciousness;  it  appears  in  the  lower  forms  of  life, 
unfolds  into  self-consciousness  in  man,  and  is  already 
prophetic  of  higher  states  and  conditions  on  superior  planes 
of  being.  It  has  already  been  shown  in  the  chapter  on  mat- 
ter and  force  that  we  do  not  know  the  real  essence  of  either. 
Our  knowledge  of  these  is  solely  concerning  relations  and 
manifestations.  If  in  regard  to  these  simpler  forms  of  exist- 
ing things  the  essence  eludes  our  knowledge,  we  cannot  ex- 
pect to  grasp  it  on  the  topmost  round  of  phenomenal  na- 
ture. A  thorough  and  comprehensive  knowledge  of  the  re- 
lations and  manifestations  of  life  and  consciousness  will  go 
very  far  toward  solving  the  riddle  of  the  Sphynx.  This  rid- 
dle is  propounded  to  every  man,  if  he  has  intelligence  enough 
to  inquire  of  life  its  meaning,  and  of  fate  his  own  destiny. 
It  would  be  entirely  beyond  the  scope  of  the  present  work 
to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  life  on  this  planet.  The  trans- 
mission of  life  from  one  organism  to  another,  by  which  liv- 
ing forms  are  preserved;  the  conditions  of  matter,  of  force 

(65) 


66  A  Study  of  Man. 

and  of  structure  in  which  life  adheres;  and  the  relations  of 
all  these  to  each  other  are,  however,  matters  that  may  be 
known.  The  last  word  of  science  as  to  the  origin  of  life  is 
biogenesis.  Organisms  manifest  life;  germs  develop  into  or- 
ganisms; and  mature  organisms  produce  germs  which  again 
under  certain  definite  conditions  develop  other  organisms, 
and  so  complete  the  cycle  of  life.  This  is  biogenesis,  life 
created  or  transmitted  from  previous  life.  This  is  the  pro- 
cess now  going  on,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  has  been 
going  on  from  the  dawn  of  creation  on  this  planet.  Perhaps 
no  problem  has  in  modern  times  been  more  ably  discussed 
and  more  thoroughly  investigated  than  that  of  spontaneous 
generation.  This  discussion  only  a  few  years  ago  became 
very  animated,  and  involved  many  of  the  ablest  minds  and 
the  best  appliances  of  the  day.  In  this  discussion  the  en- 
deavor to  show  that  life  arises  from  anything  but  organisms 
previously  endowed  with  life  failed,  and  the  theory  of  spon- 
taneous generation  was  abandoned.  Since  that  time  what 
is  called  the  germ  theory  has  not  only  become  widespread, 
but  it  has  been  introduced  into  other  departments,  and  now 
a  very  large  class  of  diseases  are  known  to  originate  from 
and  to  be  transmitted  by  germs.  In  another  chapter  we 
shall  more  fully  discuss  the  forms  of  life,  but  it  may  here 
be  stated  that  in  a  general  sense  all  germs  have  an  outer 
physical  body,  an  inner  nucleated  body,  and  a  still  more  cen- 
tral germinal  area  in  which  life  is  first  manifested,  and  from 
which  it  proceeds  outwardly  to  evolve  specific  forms  or 
types.  Not  only  does  every  living  organism  manifest  life 
and  give  rise  to  germs  that  evolve  into  organisms,  but  aside 
from  the  manifestation  of  life  by  an  organism  as  a  whole, 
and  aside  from  the  production  of  germs,  every  organism 
transforms  other  matter  into  living  matter;  and  this  living 
matter  may  be  readily  distinguished  from  both  the  organism 
and  the  germ.  There  are  very  definite  relations  between  all 
three.  Here,  then,  are  three  conditions  in  which  to  study 
the  manifestations  of  life.     As  the  germ  may  be  conceived 


Life.  67 

as  containing  potentially  the  organism,  or  the  organism  may 
be  conceived  to  be  an  expanded  germ,  we  are  more  directly 
concerned  with  living  matter  and  organisms.     We  may  say, 
in  a  crude  sense,  that  organisms  manifest  life  and  produce 
germs.     They  are  thus  considered  merely   on  the  plane  of 
life  above  which  lie  the  planes  of  sensation,  feeling,  thought, 
will,   imagination   and   the   like.      Divested   of   all   these,   or 
rather  ignoring  all  these,  what  is  an  organism  in  relation  to 
the  mere  quality,   life?     This   reduces   the  problem  to   the 
simplest  substance,  and  the  lowest  or  basic  function  of  life. 
The    simplest     substance    manifesting     life    is    formless,    or 
structureless  living  matter.     This  matter  is  relatively  homo- 
geneous ;  one  part  is  like  every  other  part,  without  differen- 
tiation.    The  lowest  or  initial  function  of  this  simple  living 
substance   is  innate,   or  spontaneous   irritability.     This  sub- 
stance so  endowed  is  variously  named  as  biogen,  germinal 
matter,  protoplasm,  and  the  like.     For  our  present  purpose 
we  sh,all  use  the  term  protoplasm.    It  is  indeed  Proteus.     It 
changes  continually,  responds  to  the  slightest  impression,  is 
mobile  to  the  last  degree,  and  is  converted  into  innumerable 
living  forms.     The  fabled  god  Proteus,  therefore,  is  its  fit 
representative.     This  substance,  protoplasm,  however,  is  not 
an  organism.     It  cannot  reproduce  itself.     Neither  is  it  in 
any  sense  a  germ,  though  it  doubtless  constitutes  a  part  of 
all  germs  and  all  organisms.     Both   germs   and  organisms 
have  a  definite  structure  and  exist  as  definite  forms,  while 
protoplasm  is  formless.     If  protoplasm  .seems  to  occupy  an 
inferior  position,  it  is,  nevertheless,  the  matrix  in  which  ad- 
heres the  very  life  of  both  germ  and  organism.     Protoplasm 
is  to  organism  what  the  ether  is  to  the  phenomenal  world: 
namely,  the  basis  of  its  manifestations,   the  theater  of  its 
displav.     The   manifestation,   or   functional   display   of   this 
simple  living  substance  may  be  summed  up  in  one  word,  ir- 
ritability.    If  this  substance  so  endowed  is  the  basis  of  the 
life  of  the  organism,  the  basic  function  of  the  organism  is 
to  produce  it,  and  so  maintain  its  own  life.    This  is  the  proc- 


68  A  Study  of  Man. 

ess  known  as  nutrition.  We  are  therefore  ready  to  define 
an  organism  as  a  body  having  such  a  cellular,  or  cellulo- 
vascular  structure,  that  it  can  take  up  substances  from  with- 
out, inorganic  materials,  change  their  character  and  convert 
them  into  its  own  structure.  The  organism  thereby  nourishes 
its  own  structure,  and  maintains  its  own  life.  Nutrition  is 
therefore  the  basic  function  of  organisms.  This  is  the  only 
definite m  of  an  organista  that  has  been  found  to  apply 
equally  to  the  lowest  as  to  the  highest  forms  of  life.  An 
orgauism  defined  according  to  its  higher  manifestations,  as 
sensation,  feeling  and  the  like,  would  seem  to  exclude 
the  lower  forms  of  life,  though  the  innate  quality  of 
irritability  doubtless  forms  the  basis  of  all  higher  manifes- 
tations. All  organisms,  whether  high  or  low,  must  eat  and 
be  nourished  and  reproduce  their  kind,  or  become  extinct. 

It  will  now  be  found  exceedingly  profitable  to  institute 
comparisons  between  living  protoplasm  and  the  simplest  liv- 
ing organisms.  If  we  institute  comparisons  between  simple 
living  substance  and  a  complex  organism  like  that  of  man, 
little  resemblance  could  be  traced;  the  differentiation  is  too 
great.  There  is  a  group  of  living  structures  known  as 
amoebae.  Some  of  these  amoebae  have  been  described  as 
structureless;  there  are  no  visible  organs,  and  apparently 
little  differentiation;  placed  side  by  side  with  a  drop  of  liv- 
ing protoplasm  on  the  slide  of  a  microscope  the  resemblance 
is  very  close  indeed,  yet  are  there  very  marked  differences. 
The  amoeba  propels  itself  without  organs  of  locomotion, 
and  swims  about  in  its  drop  of  water  like  a  fish  in  some 
land-locked  sea.  It  does  not  materially  change  its  form  ex- 
cept in  the  act  of  ingestion  of  food  or  reproduction.  It 
literally  gets  outside  of  its  food,  flows  around  it,  encloses  it 
and  so  assimilates  it.  In  the  act  of  reproduction  it  becomes 
quiescent,  contracts  in  the  center,  divides,  and  two  amoebae 
thus  result  from  segmentation  of  the  original  structure. 
The  drop  of  protoplasm,  as,  for  example,  the  white  corpuscle 
of  the  blood,  has  no  such  independent  locomotion,  though, 


Life.  69 

as  it  is  impelled  onward  in  the  current  of  the  circulation,  it 
appears  to  creep  along  the  sides  of  the  blood-vessel,  and  may 
be  seen  to  pass  through  its  wall.  It  changes  its  form  con- 
tinually, elongates  to  pass  into  a  smaller  vessel,  and  becomes 
again  spherical  as  it  emerges.  It  throws  out  prolongations 
which  become  blended  with  adjacent  tissues;  and  finally,  as 
it  is  seen  to  pass  through  the  wall  of  the  vessel,  it  becomes 
assimilated.  One  may  thus  come  very  near  witnessing  the 
very  act  of  nutrition,  as  we  previously  witnessed  the  act  of 
reproduction  with  the  amoebae. 

In  dealing  only  with  outlines  we  must  pass  by  a  great 
deal  of  interest  to  the  student  of  biology.  The  progressive 
transformation  of  living  substance  into  tissue,  with  progres- 
sive change  of  function  that  accompanies  all  such  change 
of  substance,  is  called  differentiation.  Tissue  is  therefore 
differentiated  protoplasm.  All  tissues  are  composed  of  cells. 
A  cell  is  a  living  structure  composed  of  an  outer  body,  an 
inner  nucleated  body,  and  within  this  a  germinal  point  or 
area.  Nutrition  consists,  first,  in  the  production  of  living 
matter  from  inorganic,  the  food;  and  second,  in  the  trans- 
formation of  this  living  matter  into  tissue.  The  food  is  rela- 
tively heterogeneous;  the  protoplasm,  relatively  homogene- 
ous ;  and  the  tissue  again  heterogeneous. 

Bearing  in  mind  now  the  fact  of  ceaseless  change  as 
pertaining  to  the  very  existence  of  all  matter  on  the  visible 
plane,  this  change  being  the  necessary  result  of  the  per- 
sistence of  motion,  we  shall  find  that  change  belongs  both 
to  what  we  call  dead  and  living  matter.  In  fact,  mobility 
is  greatest  in  living  mater.  All  stability,  therefore,  apparent 
in  living  forms  is  unreal.  No  matter  with  which  we  are  ac- 
quainted is  ever  permanently  endowed  with  life;  for,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  mobility  and  instability,  more  than  any 
other  qualities,  distinguish  living  matter.  In  regard  to  or- 
ganisms like  those  of  man,  we  cannot  say  that  they  are  com- 
posed of  both  dead  and  living  matter,  but  rather  of  matter 
that  is  becoming  alive,  and  of  matter  that  is  becoming  dead. 


/o  A   Study  of  Man. 

thus  .revealing  the  underlying  potency  of  life  diffused 
throughout  nature.  The  body  of  man,  as  of  other  organisms, 
is  the  theater  of  chemical,  of  vital,  and  of  organic  changes. 
These  processes  cannot  be  entirely  separated;  they  inter- 
blend,  though  here  and  there  one  or  the  odier  may  be  seen 
to  predominate.  All  organic  processes  are  therefore  chem- 
ico-vital,  and  the  body  of  all  living  organisms  is  therefore 
the  seat  of  continuous  correlations  of  force.  If,  then,  life 
qualifies  in  numberless  concrete  forms,  called  organisms,  it 
also  manifests  in  varying  degrees  in  living  substance.  Liv- 
ing substance  outwardly,  so  far  as  we  can  observe,  is  form- 
less, though  its  internal  molecular  structure  is  undoubtedly 
very  complex.  The  process  by  which  protoplasm  is  trans- 
formed into  tissue  with  concomitant  function,  and  which  is 
called  differentiation,  is  from  the  very  beginning  a  necrosis. 
The  ascending  grade  is  from  non-living  matter  to  protoplasm, 
or  the  endowment  with  life;  the  descending  grade  is  from 
protoplasm  through  the  tissue  again  back  to  non-living  mat- 
ter. Thus  do  the  molecules  and  the  mass  of  living  matter, 
like  all  living  forms,  run  through  the  cycle  of  life.  The  one 
typifies  the  other,  just  as  it  was  shown  that  an  atom  typi- 
fies a  world.  The  formation  of  tissue  from  protoplasm  is 
similar  to  the  formation  of  a  crystal  from  amorphous  mass, 
namely,  a  fixation  of  form  through  polarization.  The  older 
the  tissue,  the  older  the  organism,  the  more  angular  are  the 
outlines;  hence  the  deep  lines  and  sharp  angles  of  age,  as 
compared  with  the  rounded  form  of  youth.  The  relation  of 
protoplasm  to  structures  like  cells,  tissues,  germs  and  or- 
ganisms is  thus  apparent.  It  is  the  living  matter  out  of 
which  they  are  built,  and  whose  presence,  first  and  last,  con- 
stitutes their  matter  of  life,  but  it  does  not  alone  constitute 
the  entire  conditions  of  life.  It  is  the  basis,  not  the  crown, 
the  subject,  not  the  object.  Tissue  cells  are  differentiated 
protoplasm,  and  at  the  center  of  every  living  cell  is  a  bit 
of  untransformed  protoplasm  on  which  are  impressed  the 
germinal  force  and  the  typical  form  of  tissue  or  organism. 


Life.  J  i 

In  the  body  of  man  this  living  matter  is  found  float- 
ing in  the  blood-vessels  and  lymphatics,  and  as  constituting 
the  center  of  tissue  cells.  In  the  presence  of  chloroform, 
for  example,  both  protoplasm  and  the  amoeba  lose  their  mo- 
bility and  irritability,  which  are  again  restored  in  the  pres- 
ence of  oxygen  gas. 

We  have  thus  witnessed  the  display  of  life  in  the  sim- 
plest substance  and  its  least  complicated  form.  We  have 
found  it  herein  to  consist  of  complicated  matter  without 
fixed  form,  manifesting  great  sensitiveness  and  mobility 
whereby  it  readily  undergoes  transformation,  and  that  it  is 
endowed  with  irritability  which  later  on  develops  into  sen- 
sibility in  association  with  consciousness.  We  have  no  evi- 
dence of  the  existence  of  consciousness  outside  of  a  living 
organism.  Aside  from  the  living  substance  from  which  or- 
ganisms are  built,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  .that 
the  germ  that  develops  into  an  organism,  and  has  originated 
from  it,  is  a  definite  structure.  The  conditions  under  which 
the  germ  unfolds  are  .the  same  in  kind  as  those  under  which 
the  organism  itself  exists,  namely,  by  out-flowing  and  in- 
flowing currents  or  waves  of  motion,  determining  contin- 
uously equilibrium  or  adjustment  of  external  and  internal 
conditions.  The  very  center  of  this  adjustment,  the  center 
of  the  germ,  and  the  central  fact  in  organisms  is  conscious- 
ness. Therefore  protoplasm  which  is  endowed  with  life 
manifests  consciousness,  but  cannot  be  said  in  any  sense  to 
originate  it.  Life  and  consciousness  are  associated  together 
like  matter  and  force,  and  if  it  be  conceived  that  on  the  phys- 
ical plane,  in  the  objective  world,  consciousness  is  depend- 
ent on  life  for  its  manifestation,  it  may  also  be  conceived 
that  on  the  spiritual  plane,  elsewhere  considered,  life  may  de- 
pend on  consciousness  for  its  manifestation.  It  is  not  illog- 
ical to  conceive  that  while  they  may  be  always  and  every- 
where related,  they  may  change  places  like  matter  and  force 
in  passing  from  the  objective  .to  the  subjective  plane,  from 
particled  to  unparticled  matter.     Life  may  thus  pertain  to 


72  A  Study  of  Man. 

atomic  structure,  and  consciousness  to  unparticled  matter. 
The  absolute  unity  of  the  basis  of  consciousness  in  man  as 
related  to  the  senses,  and  the  individual  facts  of  experience 
strongly  support  this  view.  It  should  be  clearly  apprehended 
that  neither  the  fact  of  life  nor  the  forms  of  life  can  ever  be 
rationally  explained  from  the  objective  side  only,  and  that 
as  a  matter  of  fact  the  subjective  is  as  real  as  the  objective. 
The  development  of  man  from  germ  to  birth  passes  through 
all  lower  forms.  Embryo  man  is  first  germ,  then  mollusk, 
fish,  bird,  reptile,  mammal,  and  finally  human.  So  on  the 
other  hand,  the  whole  sentiment  life  of  the  globe  builds  up- 
ward, climbs  continuously  toward  man,  and  it  is  this  ideal 
human  type,  everywhere  prophesied  in  nature,  that  is  de- 
rived from  the  subjective  world,  and  which  overshadows  all 
life.  The  substance,  the  fact,  the  quality  of  life,  therefore, 
cannot  be  separated  from  the  organisms  that  manifest  it; 
and  if  these  are  displayed  on  the  objective  plane  in  a  mate- 
rial world,  it  is  illogical  to  deny  that  they  are  also  displayed 
on  the  subjective  plane  in  a  spiritual  world.  One  concept 
is  as  natural  as  the  other,  though  the  consciousness  of  man 
may  as  yet  concern  largely  the  objective.  Natural  selection 
may  presently  give  place  to  divine  selection,  and  man  be- 
come more  fully  conscious  of  the  subjective  world.  Indeed 
we  may  thus  read  the  signs  of  the  times. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


By  experiment  and  observation  facts  have  been  discov- 
ered in  regard  to  that  something,  be  it  force  or  substance, 
that  is  called  magnetism.  The  most  constant  and  uniform 
characteristic  of  magnetism  hitherto  discovered  is  polarity. 
If  we  test  for  magnetism,  polarity  reveals  its  presence,  and 
the  deflection  of  the  magnetic  needle  determines  also  the 
quality  of  the  magnetism  present,  according  as  the  positive 
or  negative  pole  of  the  needle  is  attracted  or  repelled.  Po- 
larity, therefore,  may  be  called  the  sign  manual  of  mag- 
netism. In  a  simple  voltaic  battery  where  magnetism  re- 
veals its  presence,  very  definite  changes  also  occur,  coinci- 
dent with  the  appearance  of  magnetism.  If  a  piece  of  zinc 
and  a  piece  of  platinum  be  immersed  in  acidulated  water  and 
allowed  to  touch  each  other,  or  if  they  be  connected  outside 
by  a  copper  wire,  magnetism  appears,  and  the  zinc  and  the 
water  are  decomposed;  and  while  the  platinum  appears  to 
remain  unchanged,  bubbles  of  hydrogen  gas  rise  from  its 
surface,  showing  the  decomposition  of  water  there  taking 
place.  When  a  needle  or  bar  of  iron  is  rendered  magnetic 
it  perceptibly  elongates,  and  this  has  been  explained  as  due 
to  the  arrangement  of  the  particles  of  iron  or  steel,  so  that 
their  long  diameters  coincide  with  that  of  the  bar.  In  the 
magnetic  bar  or  needle,  the  magnetic  power  appears  to  be 
concentrated  at  the  ends.  Having  determined  the  presence 
of  magnetism  in  a  needle,  the  needle  becomes  a  test  for  the 
presence  of  magnetism  in  another  body.  If  one  end  of  the 
needle  is  attracted,  the  other  is  repelled.     Like  poles  repel 

(73) 


74  A  Study  of  Man. 

each  other,  and  unlike  poles  attract.  In  the  center  of  the 
needle  there  is  neither  attraction  nor  repulsion,  and  this  cen- 
ter is  called  the  magnetic  equator.  Many  theories  have  been 
advanced  in  the  effort  to  determine  the  nature  of  magnetism 
from  its  phenomena.  Among  these,  Descarte's  theory  of 
vortices,  in  which  he  embraced  magnetic  phenomena,  and 
Ampere's  idea  of  minute  electrical  currents  circulating 
around  the  atoms  of  the  magnetized  body,  seem  to  be  in- 
cluded in  the  latest  theories  of  dynaspheric  force.  Whatever 
may  be  the  nature  of  magnetism,  we  know  that  it  manifests 
itself  to  us  through  matter,  and  in  no  other  way;  and  this 
manifestation  consists  essentially  in  the  establishment  of 
poles.  Magnetism,  therefore,  as  pure  force  disconnected 
from  matter,  is  to  us  unthinkable.  Magnetism  as  the  sub- 
stance lying  back  of  both  matter  and  force,  as  the  potency 
of  each,  and  the  matrix  of  all  things,  existing  in  the  bosom 
of  the  ether,  is  not  only  thinkable  but  rational. 

In  this  cosmic  matrix  atoms  of  matter  exist,  the  inter- 
vening spaces  bearing  a  definite  relation  to  the  magnetic 
spaces,  and  these  again  .bearing  a  definite  relation  to  the 
pulsations  of  the  ether.  Magnetic  ether  would  therefore 
constitute  the  essence  of  both  the  matter  and  force  of  atoms 
of  all  physical  substances.  From  the  physical  side,  mag- 
netic substance  would  thus  constitute  both  the  matter  and 
force  of  all  material  existences.  Matter  and  force  being  re- 
garded as  inseparable  and  indestructible  might  nevertheless 
be  resolved  back  into  magnetic  substance  from  whence  they 
came.  The  various  special  modes  of  motion  designated  as 
heat,  light,  electricity  and  the  like,  so  widely  manifest  in  all 
forms  of  matter,  would  thus  have  a  common  basis,  and  the 
various  forms  and  ratios  of  motion,  and  the  change  in  den- 
sity, relative  attraction,  and  rearrangement  in  matter  would 
thus  find  a  common  denominator  in  magnetism.  The  prin- 
ciple of  the  correlation  of  force  presupposes  just  this  com- 
mon denominator.  The  polarity  manifest  in  aggregated 
atoms  O'f  substances  like  iron  or  steel,  and  which  can  be  read- 


Polarity.  75 

ily  induced  and  modified,  and  again  removed  by  artificial 
means  would  be  explained  as  definite  relations  assumed  by 
the  atoms  of  iron  or  steel  toward  each  other  the  primal 
atomic  motions  being  now  given  a  definite  form  and  direc- 
tion, like  waves  proceeding  in  the  direction  of  the  long 
diameter  of  the  mass.  The  indestructibility  of  force,  and  its 
inseparability  from  the  atoms  of  matter,  presupposes  cease- 
less motion  of  the  atoms,  and  therefore  the  mode  of  motion 
can  only  change  so  long  as  either  matter  of  force  exists. 
Neither  matter  nor  force  would  be  destroyed  if  resolved  back 
into  the  primal  substance,  magnetism,  though  they  would 
cease  to  be  phenomenal,  and  disappear  from  the  visible 
world.  Polarity  implies  not  only  definite  conditions  and  rela- 
tions of  opposite  points,  like  the  two  ends  of  a  steel  bar, 
but  in  order  to  manifest  this  polarity  a  center  must  also  be 
defined,  and  this  definition  of  a  central  poise  reveals  also 
what  has  been  called  diamagnetism,  or  a  subordinate  second- 
ary polarity  at  right  angles  with  the  primary.  In  all  living 
forms  the  beginning  of  development  is  marked  by  a  positing 
of  a  life  center,  and  the  establishment  of  definite  relations 
between  center  and  surface.  There  also  result  in  these  cases 
both  the  primary  and  secondary  polarizations  above  referred 
to,  so  that  in  this  regard  organization  is  but  a  higher  and 
more  complex  form  of  crystallization,  as  crystallization  is  a 
definite  form  of  polarization. 

Now  it  may  reasonably  be  asked,  What  induces  the  de- 
finite modes  of  motion  from  point  to  point  in  matter  desig- 
nated as  polarity?  We  have  elsewhere  shown  that  polariza- 
tion tends  always  to  the  fixation  of  form.  In  organisms 
mobility  predominates,  and  polarization  is  subordinate.  As 
old  age  advances  the  condition  is  reversed;  mobility  gradu- 
ally ceases,  and  the  form  becomes  fixed,  and  when  mobility 
ceases  beyond  a  certain  point  life  is  no.  longer  possible ;  that 
is,  the  waves  of  motion  from  center  to  surface  and  from  sur- 
face to  center  are  no  longer  possible,  the  center  of  life 
ceases,  and  corporeal  death  ensues.    All  living  forms  no  less 


"/6  A  Study  of  Man. 

than  all  physical  existences  occur  in  space  and  time,  in 
terms  of  matter,  force  and  motion.  This,  however,  has  been 
shown  to  be  but  one  side  of  the  cosmic  equation,  the  univer- 
sal duality.  All  existences  bear  a  definite  relation  through 
the  intervening  ether  to  the  subjective  world,  and  the 
phenomenal  term  of:  the  equation  is  one  member  only.  We 
have  shown  that  the  pattern  after  which  nature  everywhere 
builds,  and  the  laws  which  determine  her  mechanisms, 
though  displayed  in  matter,  are  derived  from  the  subjective 
world.  Nature's  displays  are  transcient,  phenomenal,  but 
her  laws  and  types  are  noumenal,  not  subject  to  change. 
This  relation  of  form  to  substance,  of  law  to  process,  is  a 
continual  striving,  a  tension,  and  this  is  seen  in  every  mani- 
festation of  creative  energy.  On  the  force-side  there  is  at- 
traction and  repulsion;  on  the  matter-side  there  is  the  com- 
ing forth  and  the  receding  back  into  the  unseen  world,  so 
that  manifestation  on  the  phenomenal  plane  is  synonymous 
with  duality.  No  matter  takes  on  form,  nor  changes  its  form, 
except  through  relations  established  between  center  and  ex- 
tremities, or  center  and  surface.  The  cosmic  duality  is 
therefore  the  principle  of  sex  in  nature,  though  it  receives 
that  name  only  in  case  of  organisms.  It  is  the  form  in  which 
nature  builds.  Magnetism  is  everywhere  diffused;  it  mani- 
fests its  presence  as  polarity  in  all  creative  and  constructive 
processes,  and  these  depend  on  definite  relations  of  struc- 
ture, manifested  through  motion,  and  as  motion  proceeds 
with  structure  it  assumes  more  and  more  direct  lines  or 
poles.  Physical  nature  solidifies,  crystallizes,  fossilizes,  and 
holds  in  its  stony  grasp  the  remnants  of  the  life  of  the  globe, 
in  its  tendency  to  fixation  of  form  through  polarization. 
Physical  nature  is  thus  the  fabled  Medusa,  turning  all  liv- 
ing things  to  stone,  and  Perseus  is  still  the  god  of  life  that 
triumphs  over  nature,  the  winged  Hermes  with  his  caduceus 
and  his  cap  of  darkness,  invisible  for  a  season  yet  forever 
renewing  his  life. 

We  have  already  seen  that  underlying  all  processes  for 


Polarity.  "JJ 

the  building  up  of  matter  into  definite  forms  there  is  a 
marked  tendency  to  polarity.  It  has  furthermore  been  sug- 
gested that  .this  tendency  is  due  to  the  underlying  stratum  of 
magnetism,  everywhere  diffused,  and  springing  directly 
from  the  bosom  of  .the  ether.  If  we  regard  magnetism  as 
the  polarizing  tendency,  and  as  everywhere  diffused  in  mat- 
ter, then  polarized  atoms  would  gravitate  either  toward  the 
positive  or  the  negative  pole  of  the  larger  mass  influencing 
them.  All  attractions  and  repulsions,  all  affinities  and  an- 
tipathies in  nature  may  thus  be  explained  on  the  principle 
of  polarity.  The  terms  positive  and  negative  are  .relative, 
not  absolute.  Polarized  atoms,  or  a  polarized  mass,  may 
easily  be  conceived  as  reversing  their  poles.  Hence  the 
term  polarization  describes  only  a  temporary  state  in  regard 
to  definite  relations.  A  body  may  be  positive  .to  one  object 
and  negative  to  another,  for  every  body  is  both  positive  and 
negative  in  itself;  that  is  to  say,  it  contains  magnetism,  and 
has  two  poles.  Magnetism,  per  se,  may  be  conceived  as 
latent  polarity.  An  isolated  atom  may  be  conceived  as  sim- 
ply magnetic,  but  when  related  to  another  it  may  be  said  to 
be  polarized.  Attraction  may  be  conceived  as  a  pulling  force 
exercised  in  a  straight  line.  The  force  thus  operating  be- 
tween two  bodies  of  any  given  dimension,  large  or  small, 
would  be  a  polarization.  If  an  iron  bar  can  be  shown  to  have 
a  positive  and  a  negative  end,  so  must  all  the  atoms  of  which 
the  bar  is  composed  be  conceived  as  polarized  atoms.  These 
atoms  associate  together,  not  as  positive  and  negative  atoms, 
but  as  bipolar  atoms,  so  that  the  positive  pole  of  one  atom  is 
directly  related  to  the  negative  pole  of  another.  This  asso- 
ciation of  atoms  might  be  likened,  in  a  crude  manner,  to  a 
row  of  children  facing  one  way  and  clasping  hands,  the  right 
hand  of  one  clasping  the  left  hand  of  another  throughout  the 
series.  If  now  we  conceive  an  atom  as  globular,  and  as 
polarized,  this  would  establish  a  central  axis  from  opposite 
points  on  the  surface.  If  we  assume  for  this  same  globular 
atom  diamagnetism,  the  atom  will  now  be  four-handed  in- 


yS  A  Study  of  Man. 

stead  of  two-handed.  In  the  various  tissues  of  the  body  we 
have  this  principle  of  polarity  abundantly  illustrated  and 
abundantly  proved.  Man  as  a  whole  may  be  called  a  human 
magnet,  of  which  the  head  is  the  positive  pole  and  the  foot 
the  negative.  The  right  and  left  sides  of  the  body  are  simi- 
larly related,  and  so  with  other  parts,  constituting  a  compli- 
cated series  of  polarized  bodies,  mutually  dependent  and  rela- 
tively independent,  the  lesser  subordinate  to  the  greater. 
In  the  movements  of  the  blood,  in  the  action  of  the  heart,  in 
the  contraction  of  muscles,  in  short,  in  all  vital  processes 
this  principle  of  polarity  is  observed.  In  all  chemical  changes 
acids  and  bases  are  related  to  each  other  and  determined  by 
polarity. 

"Albumin  coagulates  at  the  positive  pole  where  oxygen 
and  a  frothy  acid  liquid  are  set  free;  hydrogen  appears  at 
the  negative  pole  along  with  an  alkaline  liquid." 

Nothing  has  so  much  to  do  with  life,  health,  and  disease 
as  polarity.  Natural  polarity  of  the  entire  body  and  of  sub- 
ordinate parts  constitutes  that  harmonious  condition  called 
health.  A  disturbance  of  this  polarity  in  whole  or  in  part 
constitutes  disease,  and  is  accompanied  by  distress,  result- 
ing finally  in  disintegration  and  death.  A  corpse  is  a  depo- 
larized mass  given  over  to  decomposition.  Chemism  is  no 
longer  subservient  to  vitality  and  therefore  disintegrates 
and  destroys.  In  atom,  molecule,  and  mass,  in  ovum,  em- 
bryo, and  organism,  this  principle  of  polarity  not  only  ob- 
tains, but  it  also  determines  the  activity,  and  secures  the 
harmonious  relations  between  parts.  Polarity  is  the  univer- 
sal principle  that  underlies  all  attractions,  and  is  the  method 
by  which  are  determined  the  various  organic  forms.  This 
principle,  as  already  shown,  determines  attraction  and  re- 
pulsion, acidity  and  alkalinity,  contraction  and  relaxation, 
systole  and  diastole,  the  relations  between  arterial  and  ven- 
ous blood  upon  which  the  movement  of  blood  depends.  In 
the  nervous  mechanism  this  principle  is  involved  in  the 
sensory  and  motor  impulse,  and  determines  the  relations  of 


Polarity.  jq 

thought  to  feeling,  and  of  will  to  desire.    Action  in  any  and 

all  of  these  cases  is  impossible  except  as  the  precursor  of 
reaction,  and  follows  again  as  a  resultant  of  reaction. 
Atomic  polarity  is  the  epitome  of  cosmic  duality.  If  now 
we  consider  the  general  appearance  of  the  body  as  a  whole, 
and  contrast  its  condition  and  appearance  in  health  with 
that  of  one  diseased,  we  shall  find  that  relatively  the  one 
condition  is  positive,  the  other  negative.  In  health  the  in- 
dividual stands  erect,  the  gait  is  firm  and  elastic,  the  eyes 
are  bright,  the  cheeks  flushed,  the  beat  of  the  heart  is  firm 
and  steady,  and  all  the  internal  movements  correspond  in 
vigor  and  vitality.  Now  reverse  all  this  by  shock,  disease, 
or  fear:  the  face  is  pale,  the  eyes  dull,  the  head  droops,  the 
knees  tremble,  the  gait  totters,  the  heart  is  unsteady  and 
respiration  clogged  and  feeble.  The  individual  has  become 
altogether  negative.  The  action  of  all  medicines,  properly 
so-called,  is  upon  this  same  principle;  hence  the  primary  and 
secondary  action  of  drugs,  or  the  action  followed  by  reac- 
tion always  witnessed  where  drugs  are  administered. 
Polarity  is  also  the  basic  factor  in  pathology  no  less  than  in 
physiology  and  therapeutics.  A  chill  precedes  most  fevers, 
local  anaemia  follows  local  hyperemia,  restlessness  and  irri- 
tability follow  coma;  and  while  normal  and  moderate  action 
promotes  health  and  perfects  development,  overaction  or  ab- 
normal action  results  in  paralysis. 

Polarity,  moreover,  not  only  determines  the  relation  of 
the  sexes,  but  determines  sex  itself.  To  vivify  is  to  polarize. 
All  our  appetites  and  passions,  all  experiences  in  life  par- 
take of  this  dual  form.  Zest  is  followed  by  satiety,  enjoy- 
ment by  indifference,  pleasure  by  pain.  One  of  these  con- 
ditions presupposes  the  other;  one  complements  the  other. 
If  one  has  experienced  great  sorrow  he  has  thereby  devel- 
oped capacity  for  greater  joy,  for  only  so  are  the  lines  of  ex- 
perience deepened.  Were  it  not  for  this  principle  deter- 
mining action  and  reaction,  no  single  experience  could  ever 
be  repeated,  even  approximately;  a  single  act  would  end  the 


go  A  Study  of  Man. 

drama  of  life.  It  is  this  principle  of  polarity  that  secures 
approximate  rest  in  the  midst  of  unceasing  change ;  and  in 
the  presence  of  unending  dissimilarity  secures  comparative 
equilibrium.  Observation  and  experience,  fact  and  phenom- 
ena reveal  this  law  as  everywhere  existing  and  everywhere 
operating  from  atom  to  sun,  and  from  monera  to  man.  It 
is  cosmic  and  universal.  It  divides  the  substance  of  the 
whole  creation  into  spirit  and  matter,  the  one  positive,  and 
the  other  negative,  two  poles  of  one  substance.  It  again 
divides  creative  processes  into  two  planes,  the  subjective,  and 
the  objective,  and  places  over  against  the  physical  life  of  the 
body  the  spiritual  life  of  the  soul.  It  shows  man's  nature 
as  equally  adhering  to  the  earthly  life  without  and  to  the 
heavenly  life  within.  We  cannot  even  conceive  of  unity 
without  duality,  of  harmony  without  melody.  The  Father- 
hood of  God  involves  the  Motherhood  of  Nature— unity  in 
diversity  and  diversity  in  unity.    Elohim  is  creative  duality. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


LIVING    FORMS. 


The  cosmic  form  in  which  all  things  are  created  and  in 
which  all  things  exist  is  a  universal  duality.  Both  plants 
and  animals  reveal  this  duality  as  the  basis  upon  which  their 
multiplication  and  diffusion  over  the  earth  depend.  Man 
is  created  male  and  female  and  only  as  such  does  he  create. 
The  modulus  of  nature,  that  is,  the  pattern  and  method  after 
which  she  everywhere  builds,  is  an  ideal  man.  Ideal  man 
is  man  at  his  best  estate,  perfected  in  nature  and  triumphant 
in  spirit,  at  peace  with  himself  and  in  harmony  with  both 
God  and  nature.  In  ancient  writings  this  archetypal  man 
is  called  Adam  Cadman.  Nature  everywhere  strives  after 
this  ideal,  and  builds  after  this  form.  The  simplest  embodi- 
ment of  life  is  prophetic  of  man.  Building  everywhere  after 
this  pattern,  nature  reveals  the  elements  of  man  in  process 
of  adjustment  and  degrees  of  unfolding.  Involution  and 
evolution  express  the  twofold  process  of  the  dual  law  of 
creation,  corresponding  to  the  two  planes  of  existence,  the 
subjective  and  the  objective.  Every  specific  form  in  nature 
is  itself  a  duality  of  matter  and  force,  of  body  and  soul. 
Every  perfect  unity  is  therefore  a  harmonious  duality. 
Every  evolution  on  the  outer  plane  corresponds  to  an  in- 
volution on  the  inner  plane.  In  every  organic  living  form 
consciousness  is  the  central  fact,  toward  and  from  which  in- 
volution and  evolution  proceed.  The  adjustment  of  these 
two  processes  with  consciousness  constitutes  individual  ex- 
perience. The  principle  of  life  and  the  laws  of  development 
are  the  same  in  all  organic  forms.    Development  is,  however 

(81) 


82  A  Study  of  Man. 

by  concrete  degrees  and  progressively  from  plane  to  plane 
of  being.  Each  higher  plane  reveals  completer  form,  the 
elements  of  which  are  derived  from  the  lower  plane  as  to 
function  and  structure,  and  from  the  plane  next  higher  as 
to  type  and  essence;  the  former  are  evolved,  the  latter  in- 
volved. Over  against  the  inheritance  from  below  there  is 
always  the  inspiration  from  above.  Thus  is  cosmos  evolved 
out  of  chaos.  Thus  does  spirit  brood  over  matter.  Thus  are 
wrought  ideal  forms  out  of  earthly  shapes.  There  is  differ- 
entiation from  below  upward,  assimilation  from  above  down- 
ward, with  consciousness  emerging  into  self-consciousness 
and  finally  into  divine  consciousness  in  the  archetypal  man 
through  experience.  That  which  justifies  all  these  conclu- 
sions is  the  law  of  analogy,  proceeding  from  the  facts  of  ex- 
perience and  observation.  Nothing  comes  by  chance;  na- 
ture builds  by  law  through  pure  mathematics.  Grant  for 
once  that  nature  is  at  cross-purposes  with  herself,  that  for  a 
single  moment  she  forgets  her  modulus,  and  creation  ceases 
and  confusion  reigns.  Beyond  the  plane  of  animal  life  the 
archetype  must  be  a  co-worker  with  the  Creator.  He  is  to 
put  away  childish  things.  This  is  the  condition  of  life  on 
the  human-divine  plane.  On  the  animal-human  plane  he  is 
taught  by  suffering;  on  the  higher  plane  he  suffers  that  he 
may  teach.  Thus  man  may  discern  his  nature  and  read  his 
destiny  from  the  experiences  of  his  own  soul.  He  may 
barter  his  birthright  or  claim  his  inheritance  as  he  wills. 
Let  him  cease  his  inhumanity  and  his  divinity  will  draw 
nigh.  He  can  not  serve  two  masters.  The  weary  or  the  be- 
wildered soul  may  take  refuge  in  a  creed,  and  rest  like  a 
fossil  imbedded  in  a  rock,  unmindful  of  the  ceaseless  gene- 
rations of  life  that  go  throbbing  by.  The  stream  never 
ceases.  The  sun  still  shines,  and  the  earth  is  green,  though 
the  fossil  senses  it  not.  We  may  close  our  eyes  to  the  light 
and  call  it  darkness,  but  the  great  rolling  orb  of  day  never 
ceases  to  shine.     The  darkness  only  is  ours,  while  the  sun 


Living  Forms.  83 

sheds  his  light  on  all.    Man,  know  thyself !  for  thou  art  the 
epitome  of  all. 

"Flower   in   the   crannied  wall, 
I  pluck  you  out  of  the  crannies; 
Hold  you  here,  root  and  all  in  my  hand, 
Little  flower — but  if  I  could  understand 
What  you  are,   root  and  all,  and  ail  in  all, 
I  should  know  what  God,  and  man  is." 

The  simple  matter  of  life,  protoplasm,  assumes  various 
forms  in  morphological  processes,  thus  constituting  the  ani- 
mal tissues.  There  is  great  similarity  in  the  tissues  of  all 
animals ;  those  of  the  lower  animals  are  coarser  than  in  man, 
and  the  organs  that  these  tissues  compose  are  often  very 
rudimentary  as  compared  with  the  same  organs  in  man, 
while  in  some  of  the  lower  forms  of  life  the  development  is 
finer  and  more  exquisite  than  in  man.  Differentiation,  as  a 
mere  process  of  complexity,  by  no  means  explains  the  whole 
of  development.  It  may  prove  profitable  to  consider  further 
the  process  of  differentiation  in  order  to  determine  what  it 
does  and  what  it  does  not  accomplish. 

The  human  embryo  in  the  course  of  its  development 
passes  through  the  various  forms  which  in  lower  organisms 
are  relatively  fixed  types.  It  is  in  turn  mollusk,  fish,  reptile, 
bird,  and  mammal,  before  it  assumes  the  distinctly  human 
form.  The  human  therefore  includes  all  lower  forms  of  life. 
In  the  definition  previously  given  it  may  readily  be  seen  that 
an  organism  is  something  more  than  a  body  having  organs. 
Indeed,  some  of  the  lowest  organisms,  like  the  amoeba,  are 
entirely  destitute  of  organs,  and  yet  these  simple  structures 
perform  all  the  so-called  organic  functions,  namely,  those 
necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  organic  life.  They  must 
breathe  without  lungs,  digest  without  stomachs;  circulation 
is  accomplished  without  heart  or  blood-vessels,  and  repro- 
duction without  organs  of  sex.  These  various  functions  are 
performed    by   the   same   structure   and   at    the   same   tima. 


g4  A  Study  of  Man. 

Respiration  consists  simply  in  the  exchange  of  oxygen  fot 
carbon  dioxide.     Digestion   consists  in   the   assimilation  of 
food  to  the  likeness  of  the  living  structure.    Circulation  con- 
sists in  the  concentric  and  eccentric  waves  to  and  from  the 
center,  and  so  on.    All  these  functions  are  performed  simul- 
taneously, thus  constituting  that  condition  called  community 
of  function,  namely,  one  and  the  same  portion  of  matter  en- 
gaged at  the  same  time  in  the  performance  of  many  func- 
tions,  as  distinguished   from   that   condition   where    several 
organs  acting  harmoniously  perform  as  many  separate  func- 
tions.   Herein  may  be  seen  the  contrast  between  community 
of  function  and  widely  differentiated  function.     Whenever 
in  the  development  of  an  organism  a  portion  of  the  growing 
structure  is  set  apart  for  the  performance  of  a  separate  func- 
tion, the  balance  of  the  structure  is  thereby  relieved  from 
performing  that  function.    Each  repetition  of  the  functional 
act  further  develops  the  organ,  and  further  relieves  the  bal- 
ance of  the  structure  from  the  necessity  of  performing  the 
act  as  a  whole.     Exercise  of  a  function  develops  the  organ 
that  performs  it  at  first  in  a  rudimentary  manner,  till  by 
continued  repetition  the  organ  is  perfected  in  structure  and 
function.    In  the  meantime  this  process  of  differentiation  in 
regard  to  any  one  function  induces  differentiation  in  rela- 
tion to  others  on  account  of  the  twofold  process  of  involu- 
tion and  evolution  on  which  all  differentiation  and  develop- 
ment depend,  and  on  account  of  the  constant  tension  toward 
equilibrium.     Differentiation   begets   further   differentiation, 
not  only  in  parts  but  in  the  whole.     We  never  find  in   a 
healthy  individual  one  organ  rudimentary  and  others  well 
developed.     That  would  constitute  an  aborted  development. 
The  lungs  in  man,  for  example,  a  complicated  structure,  are 
not  necessarily  so  on  account  of  the  function  they  have  to 
perform  per  se,  but  on  account  of  the  general  complexity 
of  the  organism  of  which  they  are  a  part,  and  in  order  to 
maintain   the   equilibrium  of   differentiation.     The    twofold 
process  then,  that  is,  the  perfection  of  the  individual  organ 


Living  Forms.  85 

and  function,  and  relief  of  the  organism  as  a  whole,  pushes 
the  development  forward;  the  whole  process  runs  from  com- 
munity of  function  to  specialization  of  function.  A  still  fur- 
ther principle  is  involved.  As  development  from  lower  to 
higher  forms  goes  on,  and  as  assignment  of  territory  of  the 
growing  organism  is  made  to  the  various  organs,  till  all 
organic  functions  are  provided  for,  co-ordinate  centers  are 
established  to  preside  over  the  various  functions  and  the  or- 
gans that  represent  them.  These  centers  preserve  equilib- 
rium and  harmony  between  the  different  parts  and  between 
the  organism  and  its  environment,  and  are  directly  related 
to  the  unfolding  of  consciousness  through  experience.  Thus 
there  arises  a  second  group  of  differentiations,  namely, 
those  occurring  between  the  co-ordinating  centers  and  con- 
sciousness. The  first  group  pertains  to  organic  functions; 
the  second  to  sensory-motor  and  consciousness.  The  first 
group  is  directly  involved  in  the  maintenance  of  individual 
life.  The  second  group  is  indirectly  so  involved,  and  is  di- 
rectly involved  in  sensory  and  intellectual  life.  The  result 
in  the  developing  structure  is  that,  as  the  organic  functions 
are  provided  for,  a  portion  of  tissue  may  be  regarded  as  left 
ov<?r,  and  not  involved  in  the  direct  maintenance  of  the  life 
of  the  structure.  The  amount  of  matter  and  energy  thus  ac- 
cruing represents  the  cerebral  lobes,  and  the  size  and  de- 
velopment of  these  determine  the  plane  of  life,  or  degree 
of  development  in  each  individual.  These  cerebral  lobes  in 
the  lower  animals  are  the  seat  and  center  of  consciousness, 
and  they  are  thus  determined  by  the  range  of  individual  ex- 
perience, differentiation  within,  and  modified  environment. 
Whenever  development  passes  from  lower  to  higher  types, 
culminating  on  the  human  plane,  the  function  of  co-ordi- 
nation moves  one  degree  higher.  The  lower  animal  is  con- 
scious of  separate  sensations  and  of  individual  experiences. 
The  co-ordination  of  these  constitutes  self-consciousness. 
The  difference  between  simple  consciousness  and  self-con- 
sciousness is  this:    in  the  lower  animal,  the  equilibrium  is 


86  A  Study  of  Man. 

established  between  two  groups,  namely,  the  organic  func- 
tions and  the  sensory-motor  functions.  In  man  a  third  group 
is  added  and  co-ordinated,  namely,  the  intellectual  and  reas- 
oning faculties,  constituting  thus  a  triad.  This  last  group 
is  rudimentary  in  animals,  and  therefore  differentiation  is 
below  the  point  where  equilibrium  can  come  in.  Co-ordina- 
tion implies  equal  terms,  uniform  complexity  at  all  points. 
Thus  consciousness  expanded  from  higher  to  higher  planes 
at  last  reaches  the  plane  of  self-consciousness.  There  is  the 
same  difference  here  between  plants  and  animals  as  between 
the  lower  animals  and  man.  Sensation  is  developed  in 
plants,  while  consciousness  is  rudimentary.  Sensation  and 
consciousness  are  developed  in  the  lower  animals,  while 
self-consciousness  is  rudimentary.  Sensation,  consciousness, 
and  self-consciousness  are  developed  in  man  while  divine- 
consciousness  is  still  rudimentary.  Now  this  whole  process 
from  beginning  to  end  is  a  differentiation,  but,  as  previously 
stated,  it  involves  something  more  than  progressive  differ- 
ence of  structure  and  function.  It  includes  the  addition  of 
new  elements,  the  assumption  of  higher  offices,  the  exercise 
of  higher  and  higher  powers.  Progression  on  original  lines 
by  no  means  includes  the  process  or  the  results.  Mere 
facility  gained  by  repetition,  and  complexity  by  differentia- 
tion, can  never  explain  that  upward  pushing  of  all  life 
toward  higher  planes  of  being.  Without  some  other  factor 
differentiation  would  be  as  likely  to  proceed  downward  as 
upward. 

Simple  living  substance,  protoplasm,  is  composed  of  oxy- 
gen, hydrogen,  carbon,  and  nitrogen,  with  sulphur  and  phos- 
phorus occurring  incidentally.  The  comparatively  uniform 
chemical  composition  of  protoplasm,  and  the  fact  that  it  is 
continually  derived  from  non-living  matter,  and  the  further 
fact  that  the  matter  of  life  of  one  organism  is  convertible 
into  the  matter  of  life  of  another  organism,  have  led  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  life  of  the  earth  in  all  its  varied  forms 
is  one  in  kind,  though  widely  differing  in  degree,  and  in 


Living  Forms.  §7 

range  of   manifestation.     There   is   a   life-tendency,   an   un- 
derlying   Potency,   diffused   throughout   all    matter,    though 
the  conditions  of  its  manifestations  are  found  only  in  organ- 
isms, and  these  arise  only  from  germs;  these  only  give  rise 
to  protoplasm,  converting  it  to  life  from  the  non-living  form. 
So  far  as  the  mere  fact  of  life  is  concerned,  organisms  pro- 
duce germs  and  produce  protoplasm,  and  these   again  give 
rise  to  and  maintain  organisms.     Strictly  speaking,  the  only 
really  living  substance  in  organisms  is  the  protoplasm,  and 
while  this  substance  is  endowed  with  life  it  has  no  definite 
form  of  its  own.     It  stands  thus  at  the  apex  of  endowment 
with  life  where  the  ascent  from  non-living  matter  ends  and 
the  descent  toward  dead  matter  begins.     All  other  matter  of 
the  body  is  either  becoming  alive  or  becoming  dead.     This 
has  become  alive,   and  so  remains  alive  till  the  process  of 
differentiation   begins   that   converts   it     into   tissue.      It     is 
slowly    assimilated,    and    slowly   dies.      It   differs    from    the 
amoeba  principally  in  having  no  individual  life  of   its  own 
apart  from  the  organism  which  produced  it.     If  it  already 
had  form  and  individuality  of  its  own  it  could  not  take  on 
the  form  of  the  various  bodily  tissues ;  it  would  not  be  Pro- 
teus.   It  is  formless,  and  hence  reflects  any  image,  and  takes 
on  any  form.     We  have  thus  considered  the  terms  and  out- 
lined the  process  of  growth  and  development  from  the  phys- 
ical side  of  the  equation.     These  processes  are  concerned  in 
the  evolution  of  every  living  body,  but  they  do  not  deter- 
mine the  ideal  form,  or  type.     This,  it  is  true,  is  worked  out 
on  the  physical   plane,   but   it   is   involved  before   it  can  be 
evolved,  or  rather,  evolution  and  involution  proceed  coinci- 
dently  and  simultaneously.     Over  against  this  whole  process 
that  segregates  and  differentiates,  there  is  another  that  ag- 
gregates and  unifies.     The  first  process  concerns  the  world 
of  matter  and  force,  and  deals  with  atoms,  molecules,   and 
the  like.     The  second  process  concerns  the  world  of  power 
and  essential   forms,   and  deals   with   unparticled   substance. 
From  this  subjective  world  are  derived  the  idea  and  essen- 


88  A  Study  of  Man. 

tial  form,  and  this  is  involved,  or  worked  into  the  growing 
germ,  and  the  developing  individual  life.  To  put  the  prob- 
lem in  still  plainer  form  and  simpler  terms,  looking  at  the 
numberless  forms  of  animal  life  on  the  globe  as  embodi- 
ments of  the  one  life  in  varying  degrees  of  unfolding,  we 
inquire,  what  is  the  principle  of  form  and  quality,  what  the 
idea  upon  which  nature  builds,  what  is  she  trying  to  accom- 
plish ?  We  answer,  all  forms  of  life  below  the  mammal  are 
fragments  of  the  human ;  while  all  mammals  are  human  in  a 
rudimentary  form;  hence  all  animal  life  is  either  fragmen- 
tary or  rudimentary  human.  If  now  we  consider  man  as  the 
highest  on  the  list  of  animal  existences,  and  consider  the  fact 
that  with  a  relatively  uniform  physical  shape  there  is  ob- 
served a  very  wide  range  in  the  degree  of  development  in 
the  human  species,  and  if  we  also  consider  the  fact  that  the 
most  highly  developed  human  beings  known  to  us  are  still 
imperfect  and  therefore  destined  to  still  higher  develop- 
ment, we  shall  at  last  arrive  at  the  idea  of  a  far  more 
divinely-human  form  of  life  than  any  now  known  to  us. 

There  are  two  general  classes  of  conditions  concerned 
in  the  growth  and  development  of  individual  life.  These 
may  be  designated  as  conditions  of  inheritance,  and  condi- 
tions of  environment.  There  is,  however,  no  quality  de- 
rived by  heredity  that  is  definite  and  lasting.  Whether  the 
inherited  tendency  be  good  or  bad  it  is  a  lingering  element 
of  a  previous  personality,  and  hence  a  trammel  to  the  indi- 
vidual who  in  the  midst  of  adverse  currents  is  destined  to 
stem  the  tide  of  all  such  trammels,  and  adjust  his  own  ex- 
periences to  his  own  self-consciousness.  In  other  words, 
all  inherited  bias  that  predetermines  individual  character  be- 
longs to  the  receding  wave  flowing  backward  toward  the 
dawn  of  consciousness.  The  whole  tendency  of  individual 
development  is  to  shake  off  trammels  and  stand  alone,  being 
thus  free  to  push  onward  toward  the  grand  ideal.  No  such 
vis  a  tergo  as  inherited  bias  can  account  for  intellectual 
strength  or  spiritual  growth.     These  are  due  to  the  vis  a 


Living  Forms.  °9 

fronte  that  leads  man  upward  and  onward.     They  are  not 
and  cannot  be  trammels  derived  from  previous  personalities, 
but  are  rather  broader  liberties  derived  from  the  universal 
ideal,  and  they  are  apprehended  with  greater  clearness  and 
entered  upon  with  more  certainty  as  the  individual  experi- 
ence gains  breadth  and  depth.     In  other  words,  the  lower 
forms  of  life  do  not  contain  the  ideal  perfect  form;  if  they 
did  they  would  at  once  and  inevitably  express  it.     On  the 
other  hand,  the  unfolding  of  more  perfect  forms  cannot  be 
imagined  as  continually  approaching  an  ideal  that  has  al- 
ready no  existence.     The  ideal  is  not  evolved  from  below, 
where  it  has  no  existence,  but  involved  from  above,  where 
it  eternally  abides.    Hence  all  heredity,  strictly  so-called,  be- 
longs to  the  earthly  and  animal  elements,  and  contains  the 
agencies  of  its  own  destruction.     All  heredity   is  personal 
bias.     Individuality  consists  essentially  in  getting  rid  of  bias, 
and  advancing  from  the  personal  toward  the  universal.    If. 
then,  in  his  advancement  toward  the  ideal  form,  man  must 
cast  off  his  heredity,  so  must  he  also  conquer  his  environ- 
ment.   In  no  respect  does  man  show  in  a  greater  degree  his 
superiority  to  the  animal  life  below  him  than  in  his  ability 
to  conquer,  change,  or  ignore  the  conditions  of  his  environ- 
ment.    Man  readily  adapts  himself  to  changes  of  climate, 
food  and  occupation  that  usually  destroy   animal   life   and 
blot  out  entire  species  of  lower  forms.     The  survival  of  the 
fittest  is  not  so  much  to  be  regarded  as  a  preservation  of  the 
less  imperfect,  as  a  leading  upward  directly  -toward  the  more 
perfect.    It  makes  a  great  difference  which  way  we  face  In 
observing  these  survivals ;  whether  toward  the  ideal  end,  or 
toward  the  crude  beginning.     If  in  what  we  call  heredity 
the  good  only  were  transmitted,  and  if  in  environment  larger 
liberty   and    broader   experience   invariably   tended    toward 
higher    life,  then  indeed  would    heredity  and  environment 
prove   all-sufficient   so   far   as   material   conditions   go.      But 
the  evil  tendency  is  inherited  as  well  as  the  good;  vice  is 
as   easily   transmitted    as   virtue;    and    larger   opportunity 


o0  A  Study  of  Man. 

through  improved  environment  often  means  only  greater 
wickedness.  Heredity  and  environment  are  thus  incidental 
in  the  life  of  man,  rather  than  basic  principles  necessarily 
determining  his  upward  progress  toward  a  high  ideal.  The 
personal  ego  is  determined  by  bias  derived  from  both  hered- 
ity and  environment.  The  ideal  form  of  the  personal  is 
egotism ;  its  expression  is  selfishness.  The  ideal  form  of  the 
individual  is  altruism;  its  expression  is  charity.  The  per- 
sonal is  mortal.  The  individual  is  eternal.  The  personal  is 
evolved  from  below;  it  recedes  and  disappears.  The  indi- 
vidual is  involved  from  above ;  it  advances  and  endures.  The 
lower  self  is  an  evanescent  animal,  rudimentary,  temporal. 
The  higher  self  is  a  universal  ideal,  a  perfect  individual. 

Passing  now  from  the  consideration  of  broad  generaliza- 
tions to  more  specific  applications,  we  have  to  deal  with  the 
tissue  cell,  the  ovum,  seed,  or  germ,  and  the  colloid.  The 
colloid  is  the  protoplasmic  form,  relatively  homogeneous, 
structureless,  and  as  we  have  elsewhere  seen,  is  the  matrix 
out  of  which  all  living  forms  arise.  The  tissue  cell  is  a  more 
or  less  perfect  type  of  the  original  germ;  it  has,  however, 
no  separate  life  of  its  own,  but  is  an  integral  part  of  a  liv- 
ing body.  Coming  now  to  the  most  important  of  these  pri- 
mary forms,  the  germ,  the  vivified  ovum,  we  find  it  passing 
through  the  various  degrees  of  sentient  life  and  vital  activ- 
ity. The  germ  consists  of  an  outer  physical  body  and  an 
inner  nucleated  body.  When  vivified,  the  latent  life  is  con- 
verted into  the  active  form.  Impregnation  is  an  over-shad- 
owing; a  magnetic  picture  is  impressed  upon  the  sensitive 
proteus,  and  it  begins  at  once  to  be  involved  as  the  germ 
evolves  on  the  physical  plane.  As  development  goes  on,  a 
distinct  nucleus  appears  in  the  midst  of  fluidic  cell  contents, 
and  a  cell  wall  or  membrane  forms  around  the  whole.  The 
nucleus  divides  first  into  two  and  afterwards  into  four  parts, 
or  nuclei.  The  form  of  the  first  nucleus  is  that  of  an  oval 
disc.  From  the  first  two  of  these  discs  are  evolved  the  or- 
gans of  animal  life,  the  senso-motor  tract,  the  skin  and  the 


Living  Forms.  91 

like.    From  the  last  two  are  evolved  the  organs  of  vegetation 
or  organic  life,  digestion,  reproduction  and  the  like.     These 
discs  form  in  the  course  of  development  two  leaves,  and  sub- 
sequently four,  known  as  the  developing  membranes.    These 
membranous  layers  form  at  length  a  tube,  or  rather  a  four- 
layered  tube.     The  tube  forms  a  hood-shaped  structure,  and 
again  develops  discs  to  run  through  a  somewhat  similar  proc- 
ess, and  finally  the  developing  germ  reaches  an  embryonic 
form.     The  whole  of  the  early  stage  of  development  before 
the  distinctly  embryonic  form  is  reached  consists  in  a  mul- 
tiplication of  the  essentials  of  the  original  nucleus.     Each  of 
the  several  discs,  or  nuclei,  becomes  a  separate  center  of  de- 
velopment, till  at  last  they  all  unite  under  one  definite  form, 
the  embryonic.   The  principle  of  polarity  determined  the  first 
cleavage  of  the  yelk,  and  the  same  principle  also  determined 
all  subsequent  subdivisions,  and  finally  produced  the  embry- 
onic  form  with   its   polar  extremities   and  rudimentary   or- 
gans.    The  process  thus  far  is  a  differentiation,  but  there  is 
from  the  first  a  limiting  and  form-producing  power  at  work. 
The  endogenous  process  of  cell   formation  resulting  in  the 
mulberry  mass  is  curtailed,  otherwise  it  would  go  on  indefi- 
nitely.    That  which  thus  limits  the  evolution  in  the  line  of 
simple  differentiation   is   the   involution   which   meets   it   at 
every  step.     Over  against  the  segregating  process  above  re- 
ferred to  is  an  aggregating  process  which  hedges  it  about 
and  keeps  it  in  strict  conformity  to  the  species  to  which  the 
germ  belongs.     Whence  arises  this  limiting,  form-producing 
tendency?     It  comes  coincident  with  the  evolutionary  tend- 
ency;  both   result  directly   from   fertilization;   they   are   the 
two  poles  of  the  life  endowment,  and  both  together  constitute 
the  quality  and  the  form  of  life.    The  original  nucleus  is  the 
center  of  the  germ.    The  first  two  discs  are  negative  to  the 
original  nucleus.     In  turn  they  become  the  parents,  or  are 
positive  to  the  second  two  formed.    By  following  the  process 
of  further  development  this  fact  becomes  apparent,  as  from 
the  first  two  discs  are  developed  the  organs  of  animal  life, 


92  A  Study  of  Man. 

the  brain,  nervous  system  and  the  like.  These  maintain 
their  polar  supremacy,  and  continue  as  the  center  from  which 
radiate  all  future  processes  of  co-ordination,  and  toward 
which  concentrate  all  senso-motor  impressions.  They  are 
the  spiritual  end  of  the  polarized  arc,  and  finally  merge  into 
the  cerebral  lobes,  gravitating  toward  the  positive  pole  or 
head  of  the  embryo,  while  the  matter  or  negative  extremity 
gravitates  to  the  feet.  This  process  is  repeated  with  the 
whole  of  the  twenty-two  discs  formed  from  the  first  cleav- 
age of  the  yelk,  each  group  existing  in  subordinate  degree  to 
the  primary;  and  so  also  with  the  four  tubes  till  the  strictly 
embryonic  form  is  reached.  From  this  time  the  development 
within  keeps  pace  with  the  growth  from  without,  equilib- 
rium or  complete  adjustment  being  the  result  of  coincident 
evolution  of  structure  and  involution  of  form.  The  fact  of 
consciousness  is  coincident  with  the  dawn  of  individual  life, 
and  arises  from  fertilization  which  localizes  consciousness 
in  the  same  act  that  establishes  polarity  and  transmits  crea- 
tive energy  to  the  germ.  Impregnation  therefore  locates  a 
center  of  life  in  the  germ,  and  defining  the  relations  of  cen- 
ter to  surface  sets  in  motion  a  series  of  similar  acts  which 
finally  give  rise  to  the  embryo.  It  is  important  to  note  that 
the  initial  point  in  all  these  complex  changes  is  the  nucleus. 
These  changes  begin  at  the  center,  and  are  for  some  time  in- 
visible from  without.  In  the  case  of  birds,  and  in  many 
other  forms,  as  in  the  case  o-f  the  development  of  the  chicken 
from  the  egg,  the  process  is  wholly  endogenous,  showing  that 
the  essential  form  is  impressed  on  the  egg  coincident  with 
fertilization.  The  genesis  of  cells  and  the  formation  of  tis- 
sue begins,  as  in  the  case  with  the  embryo,  with  the  nucleus. 
This  process  consists  in  the  cleavage  of  the  yelk  or  segmen- 
tation of  the  nucleus.  This  division  is  symmetrical,  dividing 
the  nucleus  into  two  equal  parts.  These  parts  are  not  only 
of  equal  size,  but  of  similar  contour  and  of  like  endowment, 
as  they  afterward  pass  through  a  similar  development.  If 
we  say  that  the  molecules  constituting  the  nucleus  are  held 


Living  Forms.  93 

together  by  attraction,  we  must  now  say  they  are  separated 
by  repulsion.  But  this  by  no  means  explains  the  phenome- 
non, for  such  a  simple  repulsion  could  be  imagined  as  scat- 
tering the  molecules  in  all  directions,  and  this  is  not  what 
takes  place.  On  the  other  hand,  if  we  regard  the  molecules 
as  polarized,  and  the  ovum  as  having  thereby  a  positive  and 
a  negative  pole  at  opposite  points  on  the  surface,  the  act  of 
fertilization  fixing  a  center  would  convert  the  waves  of  mo- 
tion flowing  hitherto  from  pole  to  pole  into  waves  flowing 
from  center  to  surface  and  from  .surface  to  center.  As  the 
line  of  the  former  polarity  would  offer  greatest  resistance 
to  these  eccentric  and  concentric  waves,  the  ovum  would  be- 
come elongated  by  this  resistance,  and  this  is  just  what  hap- 
pens. We  should  next  have  a  bipolar  mass  in  place  of  the 
former  unipolar  one.  As  the  hour-glass  contraction  goes  on, 
the  nucleus  divides,  as  does  the  entire  cell,  so  that  when 
separated  each  part  consists  of  half  the  cell  and  half  the  nu- 
cleus, the  latter  lying  as  in  the  original  ovum  toward  one 
side.  Let  it  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  are  only  analyzing  the 
process  as  it  actually  occurs,  applying  the  idea  of  a  substra- 
tum of  magnetism  as  a  tendency  to  polarization;  in  other 
words,  we  are  explaining  these  processes  in  terms  of  polar- 
ity. In  embryology,  where  the  process  of  evolution  begins 
as  above  described,  the  nucleus  divides  into  two  halves; 
these  enlarge,  and  again  each  divides  as  did  the  original, 
forming  four  nuclei;  and  these  four  constitute  the  basis  of 
all  future  growth.  From  this  point  the  process  changes, 
and  henceforth  we  have  to  deal  with  surfaces,  lines,  and 
curves,  rather  than  with  spheroids  and  masses.  The  living 
proteus  constituting  the  original  nucleus,  and  divided  as 
above  indicated,  and  upon  which  were  impressed  the  form 
and  impulse  in  the  fertilizing  act,  has  done  its  work.  New 
protoplasm  is  now  brought  in  from  surrounding  parts;  the 
orbits  pass  from  ellipses  to  more  direct  lines;  that  is,  a 
series  of  polarities  results,  subordinate  to,  but  in  harmony 
with  one  principal  polarization  of  the  whole.    Neither  differ- 


94  ^   Study  of  Man. 

entiation  nor  polarization,  however,  can  account  for  the 
embryonic  form  which  at  last  takes  on  the  human  shape,  nor 
is  there  any  factor  in  evolution  that  can  explain  how  these 
arise.  We  can  say  in  a  vague  way  that  the  type  is  trans- 
mitted from  parent  to  progeny,  and  in  a  general  way  that  it 
is  impressed  on  the  germ  in  the  act  of  fertilization;  but  this 
states  only  a  fact,  and  in  no  sense  enables  us  to  get  one  step 
nearer  its  comprehension.  All  the  above  considerations  re- 
garding the  germ  belong  to  the  evolution  of  form  and  struc- 
ture, but  they  do  not  touch  the  source  or  origin  of  that  form. 
These  processes  of  segregation,  multiplication,  differentia- 
tion and  polarization  are  therefore  incompetent  to  explain 
the  origin  of  form,  nor  do  they  contain  one  element  that  goes 
to  show  how  and  whence  it  originates.  We  must  seek  the 
origin  of  form  therefore  in  some  other  direction.  Bearing 
in  mind  what  has  previously  been  said  of  the  subjective 
plane,  as  that  of  essential  forms,  and  of  the  ether  as  space 
holding  in  its  broad  bosom  unparticled  substance  as  well  as 
particled  matter,  bearing  also  in  mind  the  fact  that  all  things 
belong  equally  to  the  two  planes,  the  objective  and  the  sub- 
jective, we  shall  now  discover  where  we  are  to  look  for  the 
origin  of  form.  It  is  mirrored  on  the  magneto-etheric  basis 
of  the  molecular  germ,  and  is  progressively  involved  toward 
the  center,  from  whence  it  is  evolved  toward  the  surface. 
It  therefore  circumscribes  and  directs  the  differentiation 
going  on.  Fertilization  therefore  is  a  double  process  and  in- 
cludes these  various  factors,  both  objective  and  subjective, 
and  as  on  the  objective  plane  are  found  every  degree  of  em- 
bodiment and  every  conceivable  shape,  so  on  the  subjective 
plane  must  exist  every  conceivable  essential  form.  Co-ordi- 
nation of  the  conditions  of  these  at  a  given  point,  in  an  in- 
stant of  time  through  laws  of  rhythm,  constitutes  the  act  of 
fertilization,  and  therefore  determines  form. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PLANES    OF    LIFE. 


We  sometimes  hear  it  stated  that  magnetism  is  life. 
Such  a  statement,  however,  is  vague  and  indefinite,  and 
therefore  of  no  practical  value.  If  it  be  true,  as  we  have  en- 
deavored to  show,  that  magnetism  subtends  all  matter,  and 
manifests  its  presence  as  the  polarizing  tendency,  seen  alike 
in  the  formation  of  crystals  and  the  vital  manifestation  of 
organisms,  it  may  then  be  said  to  establish  the  basic  condi- 
tions on  which  the  bringing  forth  of  living  forms  depends. 
Magnetism  determines  the  conditions  of  duality  and 
lies  at  the  foundation  of  all  living  forms.  The 
life  principle  may  be  said  to  pervade  all  matter,  ready 
to  spring  forth  at  any  and  all  points  whenever  .the  necessary 
conditions  are  established.  We  have  shown  this  springing 
forth  as  proceeding  from  a  germ,  and  as  depending  on  the 
process  of  fertilization.  The  latent  magnetism  then  begins 
its  work  by  polarizing  the  mass.  Then  differentiation  be- 
gins by  virtue  of  the  ebb  and  flow  established  between  the 
subjective  and  objective  planes.  The  form  is  involved  and 
the  structure  evolved,  with  the  germ  center  of  living  matter 
as  a  nidus  for  these  processes.  Matter  has  been  shown  to 
manifest  life  in  two  conditions,  namely,  with  and  without 
definite  form.  The  first  condition  is  seen  in  protoplasm,  the 
second  in  germs  and  resulting  organism,  and  these  two  forms 
have  already  been  shown  as  inseparable.  Germs  and  organ- 
isms therefore  involve  all  known  manifestations  of  life,  and 
while  the  essence  of  life  still  eludes  us,  the  conditions  of  its 
manifestations,  when  accurately  defined,  are  a  very  great  as- 

(95) 


g6  A  Study  of  Man. 

sistance  toward  the  comprehension  of  all  vital  problems. 
The  word  life  conveys  no  very  definite  meaning  to  most  per- 
sons, as  it  would  seem  to  convey  the  idea  of  an  antithesis 
to  death  and  nothing  more.  If,  however,  one  digs  deep  into 
the  conditions  and  manifestations  of  the  living  and  the  non- 
living, he  will  discover  that  they  approach  each  other  by 
imperceptible  degrees,  and  at  last  he  will  find  that  they  are 
separated  by  no  fast  lines,  but  merge  into  each  other,  and 
that  in  the  larger  aspects  creation  exists  as  an  equation  be- 
tween the  non-living  and  the  living,  and  they  continually 
changing  places. 

Aside  from  the  cosmic  duality  represented  by  the  subjec- 
tive and  the  objective  planes,  the  manifestation  of  life  oc- 
curs on  successive  planes  from  lowest  to  highest  forms. 
From  the  little  zoophyte  two  planes  diverge.  Every  con- 
ceivable form  of  plant  life  gives  beauty  and  diversity  to  the 
earth  on  the  one  hand,  and  every  imaginable  animal  form 
gives  expression  to  sentient  life  on  the  other.  This  first 
separation  into  planes  occurs  at  the  base  of  each  plane, 
where  are  seen  the  simplest  manifestations  of  life.  The 
next  plane  springs  from  the  apex  of  the  animal  series,  where, 
by  almost  imperceptible  degrees,  the  grosser  animal  quali- 
ties recede  and  the  lowest  human  attributes  begin  to  appear. 
All  efforts  to  establish  the  point  of  divergence  by  direct 
parentage  have  signally  failed,  and  are  still  likely  to  fail,  so 
long  as  the  whole  process  of  the  unfolding  of  living  forms 
is  studied  from  the  evolution  side  only.  The  solution  of 
this  problem  awaits  the  knowledge  of  the  nature  and  sequel 
of  that  which  we  call  death,  or  of  that  which  occurs  on  the 
subjective  plane.  For  this  investigation  man  must  bring  to 
bear  faculties  which  as  a  rule  he  now  possesses  only  in  a 
rudimentary  form.  We  have  thus  the  plane  of  plant-life, 
the  plane  of  animal  life  in  the  lower  forms,  and  the  plane  of 
human  life.  While  as  a  whole,  and  in  their  larger  aspects, 
these  several  planes  seem  wide  apart;  as  already  shown, 
they  approach  and  finally  merge  the  one  into  the  other,  not 


Planes  of  Life.  97 

by  direct  derivation,  but  by  the  common  diffusion  of  the  life 
principle  and  related  terms  of  life  substance.     In  the  pro- 
gressive   evolution   of     structure    the     lower   organisms    are 
prophetic  of  the  higher,  while  in  the  specific  involution  of 
higher  and  still  higher  forms  the  human  inherits  from  all 
below.     This  plane   overshadows   the   lower   forms   with   its 
own  likeness,  and  is  itself  prophetic  of  a  diviner  form  which 
overshadows  it.     This  principle  has  previously  been  pointed 
out,  but  it  will  bear  frequent  repetition,  for  if  all  embodiment 
of  life  inevitably  tends  toward  a  divine  ideal,  it  is  the  most 
important     fact   within   the   comprehension   of    man.       The 
planes  of  existence  to  which   man  is  definitely  related  are 
thus  the  following:  the  physical,  the  vegetable,  the  animal, 
the  human,  and  the  divine.    Aside  from  the  general  relation 
existing  between   these  planes,   individual   man  derives  his 
body  and  his  powers  from  these  planes  by  more  or  less  direct 
inheritance,  and  manifests  characteristics  belonging  to  all  of 
them.     He   possesses   a    physical   body,   has   vegetative,   or 
purely  organic  functions,  manifests  animal  instincts  and  at- 
tributes,  shows  human  qualities,   and  reveals  diviner  possi- 
bilities.   Every  human  personality  is  a  composite  body  made 
up  by  various  degrees  of  all  lower  life.     He  reveals  his  deri- 
vation in  the  shape  of  his  head,  in  the  contour  of  his  face, 
in  the  outlines  and  pose  of  his  body,  and  in  all  his  instincts, 
appetites,  passions  and  feelings.     Not  only  so,  but  there  is 
in  every  person  a  tendency  to  predominance  of  derivation, 
first  from  one  of  the  above  planes,  and  second  a  specific  ani- 
mal type  is  manifested  in  disposition  and  facial  expression. 
A   careful  study  of  physiognomy  will  reveal  this  last-named 
resemblance.     The  resemblance  of  certain  human   faces  to 
animals  is  often  very  marked.    It  would  seem  as  though  all 
lower  planes  of  life,  and  every  animal,  had  been  precipitated 
in  the  vital  alembic  from  which  man  is  created.    Herein  may 
be  seen  the  intimate  relation  that  man  bears  to  all  surround- 
ing life.     Possessing  their  forms  and  qualities,  he  stands  as 
their  complete  embodiment  and  representative.     The  value 


98  A  Study  of  Man. 

and  meaning  of  man's  human  birthright  make  him  lord  over 
ail  life  beneath  him,  while  as  already  pointed  out  in  a  pre- 
vious section,  self-consciousness  carries  the  lines  of  his  in- 
heritance to  the  plane  above  him,  and  enables  him  to  reach 
forward  to  a  higher  than  the  human  plane.  Individuals 
might  easily  be  selected  representative  of  types  of  the  phys- 
ical, the  vegetable,  the  lower  animal,  and  the  human  plane. 
That  is  to  say,  in  the  midst  of  a  mixed  inheritance  from  all 
planes,  one  or  another  plane  would  seem  to  predominate.  It 
is  also  very  instructive  to  study  man  from  this  point  of  view, 
as  well  as  from  that  of  animal  physiognomy.  There  are  per- 
sons who  are  mere  physical  bulks,  who  merely  exist,  and 
where  all  other  potencies  are  subsidiary  to  the  mere  phys- 
ical. There  are  again  others  who  vegetate,  and  wherein  the 
organic  functions  predominate.  Neither  of  these  types  have 
any  decided  moral  tone;  they  are  neither  good  nor  bad  in 
any  marked  degree.  They  have  no  zest  in  life  beyond  its 
bare  preservation.  They  are  listless,  impotent  imbeciles. 
There  are  again  personalities  in  whom  the  animal  predomi- 
nates. As  types  they  are  above  the  two  already  named;  they 
not  only  outnumber  the  former  types,  but  have  in  all  ages 
known  to  history  constituted  the  majority  of  mankind.  The 
principle  they  have  involved  is  animal  egotism.  Self  is  su- 
preme. They  lack  neither  zest  in  life  nor  moral  tone,  though 
the  moral  qualities  have  not  a  necessary  innate  coloring.  In 
the  supremacy  of  their  self-seeking  they  are  rather  indiffer- 
ent than  hostile  to  others.  They  have  seldom  reached  the 
point  when  they  love  evil  and  create  suffering  for  pure  love 
of  evil.  They  perform  evil  acts  for  their  own  imagined 
good.  Such  but  represent  the  human  animalized.  They  do 
not  crowd  alone  the  gutters  and  dark  alleys,  and  parade  in 
filth  and  rags,  in  ignorance  and  legal  crime,  but  they  are 
seen  as  oft  in  public  marts,  in  the  halls  of  trade,  in  the  ball- 
room and  in  so-called  "polite  society."  Whenever  and 
wherever  man  lives  in  his  appetites,  and  is  ruled  by  his  pas- 
sions,  wherever  he   is  willing  that  another  should  lose   in 


Planes  of  Life.  99 

order  that  he  may  gain,  at  all  times  and  everywhere  that 
egotism  triumphs  over  altruism  is  man  under  animal  rule 
and  living  on  the  animal  plane.    The  animal  in  .rags  takes 
a  purse,  steals  a  chicken,  or  breaks  into  a  house,  and  revels 
in  rot  and  rum,  herding  with  his  own  degree  of  the  opposite 
sex.    The  animal  in  broadcloth  and  fine  linen  steals  a  rail- 
road, breaks  a  bank,  or  steals  legally,  and  rides  in  his  car- 
riage.   He  sips  the  choicest  wines,  and,  to  indulge  his  appe- 
tites  and  passions,   leads   to   ruin,   desolation,   despair,   and 
finally  to  suicide  every  unsuspecting  girl  upon  whom  he  can 
place  his  unholy  hands.    Who  dare  say  that  the  animal  does 
not  predominate  in  all  these  ?    What  tiger  or  hyena  destroys 
like  one  of  these  ?    The  more  subtle  and  concealed  the  form 
of  animalism  the  more  dangerous  it  is  to  society.     Every 
human  semblance  is  made  to  conceal  vice  and  do  duty  as 
almoner  to  crime,  and  every  garb  of  respectability  is  used 
in  the  masquerade  of  lust  and  animal  appetite.     The  crim- 
inal in  the  dock  is  never  half  so  dangerous  to  society  as  the 
"respectable  gentleman"  who  feeds  his  lusty  soul  upon  un- 
suspecting   virgins.      Whenever    really    humane    men    and 
women  will  agree  to  call  things  by  their  Tight  names,  and 
when  they  shall  agree  to  distinguish  no  longer  between  the 
animal  in  rags  and  the  animal  in  fashionable  dress,  then  will 
the  animal  plane  in  human  affairs  begin  to  be  depopulated. 
If  the  foregoing  reflections  shall  seem  to  anyone  out  of  place, 
let  me  remind  him  that  there  is  a  strictly  physiological  basis 
to  every  moral  principle;  that  things  can  be  ethically  true 
in  human  nature  and  human  life  only  as  they  are  organically 
true.    The  organic  underlies  all  human  processes,  so  must 
the  ethical  and  the  moral  logically  crown  our  highest  deduc- 
tion.   If  nature  everywhere  builds  toward  higher  forms  and 
unfolds  toward  a  diviner  ideal,  every  honest  endeavor  intelli- 
gently put  forth  to   comprehend  nature  must   show  a  like 
tendency.     It   is   therefore   competent   for  everyone  to   in- 
quire to  what  plane  his  life  is  anchored,  for  he  may  weigh 
anchor  at  will  and  move  to  higher  levels,  but  he  will  have 


loo  A  Study  of  Man. 

to  tear  himself  away  from  the  siren  passions  to  taste  the 
ambrosia  of  the  immortal  islands. 

Passing  now  from  the  animal  plane  to  the  next  higher, 
we  come  to  the  human.  The  human  is  essentially  the  hu- 
mane, and  while  this  plane  has  its  root  in  the  plane  of  ani- 
mal life,  and  derives  its  substance  from  a  still  lower 
plane,  its  human  characteristics  are  only  revealed  as  the 
animal  attributes  recede.  The  animal  man  is  a  talking  ani- 
mal, while  the  humane  man  is  a  loving,  reasoning  soul.  It 
is  quite  evident  that  human  beings  may  exist  on  a  very  low 
plane,  or  very  near  the  border  that  divides  the  human  from 
the  animal,  and  this  even  in  the  midst  of  a  high  civilization. 
It  is  also  evident  that  from  a  comparatively  high  level  one 
may  descend  to  this  low  plane,  and  dissipate  there  the  forces 
that  were  formerly  used  on  higher  planes.  To  give  our  sub- 
ject a  still  more  practical  bearing,  we  may  consider  the  fact 
that  the  amount  of  energy  possessed  by  an  individual  is  as 
definite  as  the  actual  weight  of  the  body  at  any  given  time. 
This  energy  is  derived  from  the  same  source  as  the  matter 
of  which  the  body  is  composed,  namely,  the  food.  A  certain 
amount  of  this  energy  is  required  to  maintain  the  body  and 
keep  it  in  repair.  Whenever  this  reserve  energy  is  being 
drawn  upon  there  comes  the  sense  of  fatigue  as  a  reminder 
that  it  should  be  pushed  no  further.  The  entire  body  more 
or  less  participates  in  all  these  results.  A  reasonable  amount 
of  exercise,  either  of  local  organs  or  of  the  entire  body,  pro- 
motes health  and  development.  A  change  in  the  mode  of  ex- 
ercise, or  from  one  sphere  to  another,  is  followed  by  a  sense 
of  rest,  as,  for  example,  when  walking  follows  severe  mental 
labor.  Habitual  exercise  of  one  organ,  to  the  exclusion  of 
general  bodily  exercise,  develops  that  organ  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  rest  of  the  body,  and  thus  in  time  lays  the 
foundation  of  disease  by  permanently  destroying  the  bodily 
equilibrium.  Great  muscular  development  by  gymnastic  ex- 
ercise is,  therefore,  more  often  an  element  of  weakness  than 
of  strength,  and  may  lead  to  disease  rather  than  to  health. 


Planes  of  Life.  101 

All  functional  exercise  of  an  organ,  whether  in  moderation 
or  in  excess,  whether  singly  or  in  combination  with  other 
organs,  exhausts  the  bodily  vitality,  and  draws  on  the  gen- 
eral fund  of  life.     As  a  general  proposition  an  organ  de- 
velops in  size  and  increases  in  power  by  exercise,  but  when- 
ever this  development  transcends  the  law  of  proportion  for 
the  individual  it  becomes  an  element  of  weakness,  as  it  mars 
the   efficiency   of    the  whole.     Ideal  development  therefore 
concerns  just  proportion  in  every  part,  and  whether  this  be 
ignored  through  lack  of  energy,  or  transcended  by  overwork 
in  any  given  direction,  the  result  is  practically  the   same. 
In  the  case  of  an  individual  capable  of  lifting  five  hundred 
pounds  as  the  limit  of  his  muscular  development,  this  repre- 
sents the  sum  of  his  energy  in  any  other  direction,  provided 
he  has  a  healthy  and  well  developed  frame.     The  individual 
may  lift  this  amount  twice,  possibly  three  times,  at  any  given 
trial,  and  the  next  attempt  will  prove  a  failure.     Now  the 
point  we  wish  to  illustrate  is  this :  these  five  hundred  pounds 
of  energy  which  are  available  to  the  individual  may  be  di- 
vided between  the  different  planes  of  the  individual's  life. 
They  may  be  used  in  physical  exercise,  in  sensuous  enjoy- 
ment, in  intellectual  work,  or  in  debauchery;  or  the  whole 
amount  of  energy  may  be  divided  equally  or  unequally  among 
the  different  organs  of  the  body.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  this 
division  is  just  what  every  person  accomplishes,  consciously 
and  designedly,   or  otherwise.     We  might  go   further,   and 
show  that  the  amount  of  energy  possessed  by  any  individual 
in  a  lifetime  is  also  a  definite  and  predetermined  quantity, 
and  that  the  method  of  its  employment  and  the  quality  of 
work  achieved  are  relatively  only  under  the  individual's  con- 
trol.    There  is  a  natural  order  established  by  nature  in  the 
expenditure  of  energy  which  leaves  it  only  partially  under 
the  control  of  the  individual.     First,  nature  at  all  times  re- 
serves a  definite  amount  for  the  maintenance  of  the  bodily 
functions   and   for  natural   wear   and  tear.      Second,   during 
early  life  the  continual  growth  of  the  body  demands  both 


102  A  Study  of  Man. 

matter  and  force,  and  the  great  activity  of  children  and 
young  people  naturally  draws  heavily  on  the  vital  fount. 
When,  however,  adult  life  arrives,  caprice  or  accident  often 
determines  the  method  of  the  dissipation  of  energy,  if,  in- 
deed, there  is  any  method,  and  so  predominance  is  given  to 
the  physical,  the  animal,  or  the  human  attributes,  and  the 
entire  stock  of  energy  is  thus  dissipated,  day  after  day  and 
year  after  year.  According  to  the  evident  design  of  nature 
it  is  as  natural  that  the  intellectual  and  spiritual  faculties 
should  predominate  in  later  life  as  that  the  physical  and 
purely  sensuous  should  have  the  ascendency  in  youth.  There 
are,  however,  few  natural  lives,  and  hence  old  age  is  often 
deformed,  if  not  also  degraded.  There  is  no  more  valuable 
thing  possessed  by  any  individual  than  an  exalted  ideal, 
toward  which  he  continually  aspires,  and  after  which  he 
molds  his  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  forms  as  best  he  may 
his  life.  If  he  thus  strives  to  become,  rather  than  to  seem, 
he  cannot  fail  to  continually  approach  nearer  and  nearer 
his  aim.  He  will  thus  find  himself  above  the  mere  physical, 
animal,  and  sensuous  planes,  and  slowly  entering  on  the 
supra-human.  He  will  not,  however,  reach  this  point  with- 
out a  struggle,  nor  will  the  real  progress  that  he  is  conscious 
of  making  fill  him  with  conceit  or  self-righteousness,  for  if 
his  ideal  be  high,  and  his  progress  toward  it  real,  he  will  be 
the  rather  humiliated  than  puffed  up.  The  possibilities  of 
further  advancement,  and  the  conception  of  still  higher 
planes  of  being  that  open  before  him,  will  not  dampen  h.is 
ardor,  though  they  will  surely  kill  his  conceit.  It  is  just 
this  conception  of  the  vast  possibilities  of  human  life  that 
is  needed  to  kill  out  ennui,  and  to  convert  apathy  into  zest. 
Life  thus  becomes  worth  living  for  its  own  sake  when  its 
mission  becomes  plain,  and  its  splendid  opportunities  are 
once  appreciated.  The  most  direct  and  certain  way  of  reach- 
ing this  higher  plane  is  the  cultivation  of  the  principle  of 
altruism,  both  in  thought  and  in  life.  Narrow  indeed  is  the 
sweep  of  vision  that  is  limited  to  self,  and  that  measures 


Planes  of  Life.  103 

all  things  by  the  principle  of  self-interest,  for  while  the  soul 
is  thus  self-limited  it  is  impossible  for  it  to  conceive  of  any 
high  ideal  or  to  approach  any  higher  plane  of  life.  The  con- 
ditions for  such  advancement  lie  within,  rather  than  without, 
and  are  fortunately  made  independent  of  circumstance  and 
condition  in  life.  The  opportunity,  therefore,  is  offered  to 
everyone  of  advancing  from  height  to  height  of  being,  and 
of  thus  working  with  nature  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
evident  purpose  of  life. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


HUMAN    LIFE. 


In  the  preceding  pages  have  been  considered  some  of 
those  general  principles  to  which  we  must  continually  ap- 
peal in  any  well-directed  attempt  to  understand  the  nature 
of  man.  It  is  impossible  to  study  man  apart  from  that  uni- 
versal nature  in  which  he  is  involved  and  upon  which  he  so 
continually  depends.  In  common  with  all  nature  the  body 
of  man  is  composed  of  matter  and  force;  therefore  an  out- 
line of  physics  seemed  necessary  in  order  that  all  known  re- 
lations in  the  physical  realm  might  contribute  to  an  under- 
standing of  those  more  refined  conditions  that  constitute 
vital  manifestations.  Certain  general  principles  of  biology 
and  morphology  have  also  been  introduced  for  a  like  pur- 
pose, though  in  neither  case  has  more  than  a  mere  outline 
been  attempted,  sufficient  to  show  the  line  of  study  sug- 
gested. The  scope  of  the  present  work  is  suggestive,  rather 
than  in  any  sense  or  in  any  direction  exhaustive.  The  aim 
of  its  author  is  to  suggest  better  methods  in  the  employment 
of  the  large  amount  of  material  already  on  hand,  although 
the  methods  suggested  are  by  no  means  new  or  original,  and 
he  is  firm  in  the  belief  that  this  change  in  our  methods  is  all 
that  is  required  to  give  more  satisfactory  results.  The  ob- 
ject has,  however,  been  rather  to  unfold  than  to  apply  these 
methods  up  to  the  present  time.  To  make  a  detailed  appli- 
cation of  the  basic  principles  of  the  underlying  ether,  the 
diffused  magnetic  substance,  and  the  resulting  principle  of 
polarity,  would  require  far  more  space  than  this  entire  work 
contemplates.     Beyond  the  facts  of  science  and  the  records 

(104) 


Human  Life.  105 

of  universal  experience  the  logical  deductions  of  analogy 
alone  have  aided  us.  The  universality  of  these  principles  is 
at  once  the  plainest  and  the  most  valuable  deduction  pos- 
sible; for  it  at  once  simplifies  our  subject,  amplifies  our 
knowledge,  and  intensifies  our  interest.  When  it  has  once 
been  discovered  that  many  problems  hitherto  almost  hope- 
lessly obscured,  and  which  have  been  regarded  as  impossible 
of  solution,  are  easy  of  solution  by  a  different  procedure  than 
that  generally  employed,  order  springs  out  of  disorder,  and 
discouragement  gives  place  to  interest  and  delight.  Assum- 
ing only  the  fact  of  consciousness,  a  true  knowledge  of  its 
relations  to  the  phenomena  of  life  on  the  one  hand,  and  to 
the  processes  of  thought  and  intuition  on  the  other,  gives  us 
a  working  hypothesis  where  otherwise  no  solution  of  the 
problem  of  existence  would  be  possible.  In  /the  ordinary 
method  employed  in  such  studies  it  is  practically  assumed 
that  man  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  highly  developed 
animal,  as  he  is  viewed  solely  from  the  physico-vital  plane. 
If  it  be  assumed  that  man  has  a  soul,  the  burden  of  proof  is 
shifted  to  the  physical  side  as  though  visible  forms  and  phys- 
ical methods  could  prove  the  existence  of  an  invisible  en- 
tity. In  other  words,  modern  science  denies  a  soul  to  man, 
and  challenges  proof  of  its  existence  in  terms  of  matter, 
force  and  motion  apprehensible  to  the  physical  senses,  for- 
getting that  the  physical  senses  constitute  but  one  side  of 
man's  nature  as  viewed  from  the  center,  consciousness.  It 
would  be  quite  as  logical,  and  far  more  rational,  to  proceed 
on  the  opposite  hypothesis,  assuming  that  man  has  a  soul, 
and  requiring  physical  science  to  disprove  it,  particularly  as 
so  little  real  progress  has  been  made  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. A  better  science,  however,  neither  affirms  nor  denies. 
Admitting  our  utter  ignorance  of  the  essential  nature  of 
anything,  it  endeavors  to  apprehend  laws  and  principles, 
and  to  discover  relations.  In  the  discovery  of  laws  we  pro- 
ceed from  the  special  to  the  universal,  and  we  thence  dis- 
cover  a   universe    epitomized    in    a   molecule.      In   order    to 


I06  A  Study  of  Man. 

rightly  determine  relations  things  must  be  put  in  their  proper 
place,  which  means  that  they  are  to  be  taken  in  their  natural 
order,  very  much  as  we  find  them.  Classification  must  fol- 
low careful  observation;  induction  and  deduction  must  be 
complementary,  and  through  all  there  may  be  discovered  a 
thread  of  analogy  giving  us  a  clue  to  the  labyrinth.  It  is  a 
fact  in  universal  experience  that  the  lower  nature  can  never 
comprehend  the  higher.  The  animal  in  man  can  never  com- 
prehend the  divine  in  man.  It  is  equally  a  matter  of  uni- 
versal experience  that  the  higher  can  comprehend  the  lower. 
When,  therefore,  from  the  plane  of  the  animal  senses,  man 
looks  upward  toward  the  divine,  he  can  aspire;  when,  how- 
ever, from  the  plane  of  the  higher  reason  and  intuition,  man 
views  the  planes  of  life  below,  he  may  comprehend  them  if 
he  will.  In  ordinary  life  a  long  experience,  extending 
through  many  vicissitudes,  is  requisite  in  order  that  we  may 
know  a  person.  In  another  case  the  recognition  is  quick  and 
sure,  a  glance  of  the  eye,  a  pressure  of  the  hand,  and  time 
and  change  are  as  naught.  The  soul  recognizes  its  kin- 
dred by  sympathy  that  is  stronger  than  the  ties  of  blood, 
and  more  enduring  than  time.  Here  is  something  that  tran- 
scends sense-perception ;  and  though  it  exists  among  animals, 
and  to  some  extent  among  men  and  women  of  a  low  type, 
its  real  nature  and  scope  can  only  be  appreciated  through 
the  higher  nature  of  man.  To  call  this  sympathy  is  by  no 
means  to  define  it.  The  most  important  consideration  is  that 
the  fact  reveals  in  man  a  method  of  direct  recognition,  or 
means  of  knowing  beyond  the  routine  of  ordinary  experi- 
ence, or  of  sense-perception,  and  this  direct  method  of  know- 
ing is  not  confined  to  the  recognition  of  persons  and  things, 
but  it  extends  also  to  principles  and  laws,  and  to  abstract 
truth.  It  requires  in  the  knower  the  elements  and  the  ex- 
periences which  compass  the  principle  or  thing  to  be  known, 
as  on  the  physical  plane  we  find  consonant  rhythm  produc- 
ing harmony.  The  recognition  of  the  fact  of  subjective  ex- 
perience,  or  of  the   existence  of  a  subjective  plane,   is  not 


Human  Life.  107 

sufficient.  When  once  it  is  apprehended  that  the  cosmic 
duality  enters  into  the  life  and  nature  of  man,  and  that  man's 
entire  life  is  an  equation  of  which  phenomenal  nature  con- 
stitutes one  member  only,  to  which  sense-perception  is  re- 
lated, the  problem  of  life  is  placed  in  the  way  of  solution. 
Until  this  principle  is  clearly  discerned  the  extent  and  variety 
of  subjective  experiences  cannot  be  accurately  determined. 
It  makes  every  difference  whether  subjective  experiences 
are  regarded  as  incidental,  and  semi-accidental,  or  whether 
they  are  discovered  to  be  universal,  basic,  and  commensurate 
with  all  objective  factors  in  the  life  of  man.  Until  this 
principle  of  equations  is  discerned  it  will  be  useless  to  dis- 
cuss the  question  of  priority  in  the  line  of  cause  and  effect, 
as  to  whether,  for  example,  the  soul  builds  the  body,  or  the 
body  the  soul.  For  with  the  ordinary  procedure  from  the 
physical  to  the  metaphysical  the  whole  investigation  proceeds 
from  a  material  basis.  The  interaction  and  mutual  depend- 
ence of  soul  and  body  in  the  orderly  process  of  daily  expe- 
rience is  thereby  misapprehended,  though  in  general  terms 
it  may  be  admitted.  That  which  in  platonic  language  is 
termed  the  descent  of  the  soul  into  matter  has  little  meaning 
for  the  modern  scientist,  because  evolution  has  set  him  to 
regard  the  processes  of  life  purely  as  an  ascent  from  lower 
to  higher  forms.  The  idea  of  an  equation  is  not  apprehended 
wherein  evolution  is  constantly  supplemented  by  involution, 
and  where  equilibrium  is  established  as  the  outgrowth  of  the 
cosmic  duality. 

Enough  perhaps  has  now  been  said  to  show  the  meaning 
and  the  application  of  the  methods  referred  to  in  our  study 
of  man.  Man  has  a  twofold  nature  in  common  with  all 
created  things,  under  the  law  of  cosmic  duality.  Man's  life, 
therefore,  exists  here  and  now  in  two  worlds,  and  he  is 
more  or  less  conscious  of  both.  Man  is  therefore  a  self- 
conscious  soul,  inhabiting  a  physical  and  mortal  body.  What 
man  was  heretofore,  and  what  he  may  be  hereafter,  concerns 
us  not.     What  he  is  now,  and  what  he  may  here  become,  are 


io8  A   Study  of  Man. 

matters  of  the  very  first  importance,  and  by  no  means  be- 
yond his  plane  of  knowing.  The  mechanical  structure  of  the 
physical  body,  the  substances  that  enter  into  the  composi- 
tion of  its  tissues,  and  the  proportions  of  these  substances 
in  any  given  case  are  now  quite  accurately  known.  The 
mechanico-vital  functions  of  the  body  and  its  various  parts 
are  also  known  to  a  considerable  extent.  Modern  biological 
science  has  seized  every  available  opportunity  and  taken  ad- 
vantage of  every  accident  to  push  its  investigations  into  the 
hitherto  unknown  realm  of  human  nature.  Not  only  the 
ordinary  and  constantly  recurring  functions  of  the  human 
body  have  been  carefully  studied,  but  unusual  phenomena 
occurring  under  special  conditions  and  in  exceptional  indi- 
viduals have  been  subjected  to  careful  scrutiny.  In  this  way 
groups  of  phenomena  have  been  gathered  and  classified,  the 
existence  of  which  were  formerly  unknown  and  unsuspected. 
If  a  given  phenomenon  occurs  in  a  single  individual,  and 
but  once  in  a  generation,  its  occurrence  is  thereby  shown  to 
be  possible  to  human  nature,  and  it  may  occur  again,  or  it 
may,  if  desirable,  be  induced  when  once  its  nature  and  the 
conditions  of  its  occurrence  are  understood.  It  required  the 
light  of  science  and  free  inquiry  to  enable  us  to  study  such 
rare  occurrences.  Certain  hysterical  and  hypnotic  epidemics 
of  the  middle  ages  seemed  to  contemporary  physicians  alto- 
gether miraculous,  and  were  supposed  to  be  due  to  diabolical 
possession,  which  are  now  readily  explained  as  hypnotic  sug- 
gestion. The  startling  amount  of  energy  displayed  by  cer- 
tain individuals  in  these  epidemics  seemed  to  indicate  super- 
natural power;  the  poor  victims  were  often  delicate  women, 
yet  they  successfully  resisted  the  force  of  the  strongest  men. 
Making  all  due  allowance  for  excitement,  superstition,  and 
exaggeration,  there  were  beyond  all  reasonable  doubt  un- 
usual manifestations  and  an  inexplicable  amount  of  force 
displayed,  and  both  the  nature  and  the  force  of  these  exhi- 
bitions were  entirely  unaccounted  for.  When,  however,  we 
come  to  understand  the  real  nature  of  sex,  and  its  relation 


Human  Life.  109 

to  what  is  vaguely  termed  magnetism,  the  mystery  begins  to 
disappear.  In  the  case  of  the  girl  Angelique  Cottin,  pre- 
sented to  the  French  Academy  by  Mons.  Arago,  the  nature 
and  strength  of  this  force  was  clearly  demonstrated.  In 
still  more  recent  times  there  have  doubtless  been  many  simi- 
lar occurrences,  but  they  have  often  been  so  mixed  with 
fraud,  and  have  taken  place  under  such  circumstances  as  to 
render  it  exceedingly  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  make  in- 
vestigation. When  to  these  considerations  is  added  the  fact 
that  the  scientific  investigator  proceeds  from  a  purely  mate- 
rialistic basis,  regarding  evolution  as  the  one  process  by 
which  development  can  occur,  it  may  readily  be  seen  how 
inadequate  are  his  methods  to  cope  with  such  phenomena. 
Scientific  conservatism  is  both  necessary  and  commendable, 
but  scientific  nihilism  is  both  unwise  and  unscientific ;  it  is  a 
misnomer.  Until  the  subjective  nature  of  man  is  recognized 
as  co-equal  and  co-extensive  with  the  objective,  and  until  the 
would-be  scientist  is  ready  to  discard  his  prejudices  and  pre- 
conceived notions,  and  allow  facts  to  tell  their  own  story,  he 
had  better  leave  all  such  subjects  alone;  he  can  but  render 
himself  ridiculous,  and  add  nothing  to  the  sum  of  human 
knowledge  in  these  directions. 

These  subjects  are  referred  to  at  this  time  because  the 
day  of  empiricism  is  well  nigh  past  and  the  era  of  real  sci- 
entific investigation  has  begun.  Even  fraud  and  self-decep- 
tion have  had  their  day,  and  the  light  of  a  new  day  has  al- 
ready dawned.  At  no  time  since  written  history  began  have 
there  accumulated  such  a  wealth  of  material  and  such  un- 
limited freedom  to  investigation.  The  discoveries  of  phys- 
ical science  already  impinge  so  closely  on  the  borders  of  the 
unseen  universe  as  to  reveal  glimpses  beyond  the  realm  of 
the  ordinary  senses.  The  veil  has  grown  thin,  and  here  and 
there  it  has  been  lifted,  separating  the  external  world  of 
effects  from  the  internal  world  of  causes.  The  power  of  mind 
over  matter  is  everywhere  being  recognized,  and  the  up- 
lifting of  the  human  race  to  higher  planes  has  already  be- 


II0  A   Study  of  Man. 

gun.  Old  riddles  are  being  solved;  old  traditions  are  pass- 
ing away.  The  nemesis  of  error  and  of  superstition  is  the 
resurrected  genius  of  truth  in  the  age  that  is  dawning. 

The  most  senseless  and  terrible  of  all  superstitions  is  the 
manner  in  which  man  is  in  the  habit  of  regarding  rthe  begin- 
ning and  the  end  of  the  present  life.  Life  begins  often  in 
a  tragedy,  and  is  ushered  in  by  wailing  anguish.  The  cham- 
ber of  birth  is  often  a  chamber  of  torture,  enough  to  daunt 
the  stoutest  heart,  save  only  the  trained  physician  bent  on 
his  mission  of  mercy.  And  yet  the  tragedy  is  soon  forgotten 
amid  rejoicings  and  offerings  of  flowers.  Death  is  peaceful 
and  painless,  a  very  foretaste  of  bliss,  as  though  nature 
sought  to  reward  even  the  weakest  and  poorest  after  the 
lessons  in  life  which  she  sets  us  here  to  learn.  Yet  we  usher 
the  soul  out  of  the  body  with  tears  and  anguish,  and  drape 
in  blackness,  and  mourn  where  we  should  rejoice.  For  this 
perversion  of  the  ways  of  nature  we  are  largely  indebted  to 
the  traditions  of  the  dark  ages,  and  to  the  inherent  selfish- 
ness derived  from  the  animal  plane  of  egoism.  If  we  could 
know  all  the  sorrow  and  suffering  that  await  the  new-born 
soul  even  egotism  would  fail  to  make  us  rejoice  in  its  com- 
ing. If  we  could  know  the  rest  and  peace  of  dying  even 
egotism  could  not  make  us  mourn.  In  the  new  day  that  is 
dawning  an  infinite  pity  will  possess  humanity,  and  death, 
rather  than  birth,  will  have  garlands  of  flowers.  No  wonder 
that  the  little  one  comes  out  of  its  prison-house  with  a  wail 
of  anguish  such  as  only  the  agonized  mother-heart  can  un- 
derstand. How  terribly  is  its  little  life  beset  with  pains  and 
dangers,  and  its  early  youth  with  snares  and  pit-falls !  How 
many  grow  weary  of  the  struggle,  how  many  fall  by  the  way ! 

"Little  lips  that  never  smiled, 

Little  eyes  that  scarce  did  see! 
Alas!    my  little,    dear,  dead  child, 

Death  was  thy  father  and  not  me; 

I  but  embraced  thee  soon  as  he." 


Human  Life,  in 

"0  little  feet  that  such  long  years 

Must  journey  on  through  hopes  and  feaTS, 

Must  ache  and  bleed  beneath  your  load! 
I,   nearer  to  the  way-side  inn, 
Where  toil  shall  cease  and  rest  begin, 

Am  weaxy  thinking  of  your  load." 

If  we  could  know  how  we  trammel  these  little  ones,  how 
we  load  upon  them  our  sins  and  infirmities,  how  we  grudge 
them  the  poor  privilege  of  being  born  after  we  have  made 
birth  a  necessity;  if  we  could  know  how  we  mould  their 
little  lives  and  pre-determine  their  destiny,  we  would  at  least 
stop  and  take  counsel  with  ourselves.  But  a  new  generation 
of  mothers  is  coming  to  the  world  and  the  children  will  be 
redeemed  through  them.  In  the  new  day  that  is  dawning 
there  will  be  no  little  waifs  born  to  disbelief,  to  rebellion, 
and  to  crime;  no  shrinking,  terrified  little  ones,  never  sure 
of  a  welcome  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave,  hungering  for 
love,  yet  shrinking  from  it  as  though  every  fiber  of  their 
lonely  lives  was  steeped  in  distrust  and  self-abnegation! 
What  but  infinite  pity  can  understand  the  sorrows  of  child- 
hood! What  but  infinite  love  can  reassure  these  unwelcome 
children !  Physiologists  talk  learnedly  about  temperaments, 
constitutions,  and  pre-dispositions  to  disease;  and  sociolo- 
gists talk  about  pre-disposition  to  crime ;  and  philanthropists, 
of  reform.  Education  can  never  correct  the  defects  of  birth, 
nor  can  restraint  or  punishment  prevent  crime,  nor  reform 
the  criminal.  Pre-natal  conditions  have  forestalled  all  these 
and  given  to  many  lives  a  bias  that  nothing  can  change,  a 
perversity  that  nothing  can  materially  alter.  When  once 
this  fact  is  realized,  and  when  it  is  also  realized  how  all 
these  lamentable  conditions  can  be  prevented,  then  wdl 
earth's  humanity  be  other  than  it  is  now.  He  who  attempts 
to  study  the  human,  and  is  ignorant  of  this  sad  chapter  in 
the  history  of  human  nature,  or  he  who  imagines  that  he 
can  ignore  it  and  still  arrive  at  any  large  truths,  will  find 


112  A  Study  of  Man. 

himself  mistaken.  An  adequate  knowledge  of  man  takes 
into  account  all  his  faculties,  and  all  his  surroundings,  the 
conditions  of  birth,  of  parentage,  and  of  inheritance,  as  a 
basis  upon  which  to  predicate  his  nature  and  destiny.  These 
are  the  very  elements  of  a  study  of  human  nature,  and  it  is 
because  these  elements  are  so  largely  ignored  that  such 
unsatisfactory  results  are  generally  obtained.  Only  a  bare 
outline  of  these  elements  and  the  method  of  study  herein 
suggested  has  been  attempted,  but  if  these  suggestions  shall 
prove  incentives  to  more  competent  investigators  the  object 
of  the  writer  will  have  been  accomplished. 

The  science  of  anatomy  has  mapped  out  the  human  body 
as  a  whole  and  has  also  given  very  concise  details  of  its 
various  parts,  so  that  a  clear  and  exact  description  of  the 
human  mechanism  may  be  obtained.  Thus  to  comprehend 
the  human  body,  however,  requires  several  years  of  very 
careful  study,  and  to  this  must  be  added  object-lessons  m 
the  way  of  dissections  and  demonstrations.  It  is  found  that 
the  apparent  unity  of  the  physical  body  is  due  to  the  har- 
monious association  of  parts,  and  that  this  association  is  on 
the  principle  of  primordial  centers,  and  subordinate  relations 
of  other  parts  of  these,  and  to  the  whole.  These  various 
parts  are  again  composed  of  microscopic  cells,  while  the  cells 
originate  from  the  simple  living  substance,  protoplasm,  the 
differentiation  of  which  into  specific  shapes  constitutes  the 
cell.  It  may  thus  be  seen  that  the  body  is  a  community  of 
vital  functions,  and  that  these  microscopic  centers  of  life  as- 
sociate under  definite  conditions  to  produce  exact  forms. 
From  this  association  arise  the  vitality  of  the  body  as  a 
whole,  the  special  functions  of  the  different  organs,  and  the 
tissues  of  the  entire  body.  The  vitality  o£  the  entire  body 
depends  on  the  integrity  of  the  individual  cells  and  their 
harmonious  associations.  Disturbance  of  this  integrity  and 
harmony  arises  from  innumerable  causes  operating  from 
within  and  from  without.  The  result  in  any  given  case  can- 
not be  predicted  by  knowing  only  the  cause  of  disturbance, 


Human  Life.  113 

for  not  only  is  the  result  different  in  different  cases,  but  it 
is  seldom  the  same  in  any  individual  at  different  times.  One 
individual  may  meet  with  impunity  a  condition  that  in  an- 
other would  destroy  life,  or  which  the  same  individual  would 
at  another  time  be  unable  to  bear.  One  person  dies  from 
lock-jaw  caused  by  a  prick  of  a  pin.  Another  may  be  muti- 
lated almost  beyond  recognition  and  yet  recover  speedily  and 
suffer  no  great  inconvenience.  Every  case  of  injury  or  of 
disease  becomes,  therefore,  a  problem  by  itself,  more  or  less 
governed  by  general  laws, yet  in  no  case  to  be  pre-determined. 
The  vital  equation  is  constantly  shifting,  and  with  every 
change  a  new  problem  presents  itself.  This  susceptibility  of 
the  organism  to  disease  and  death  is  the  exact  complement 
of  its  adaptability  to  the  conditions  of  life,  to  more  extended 
experience,  and  to  wider  knowledge.  It  is  the  uncertainty 
of  the  tenure  of  life  that  fills  the  minds  of  men  with  super- 
stitious fear,  and  places  the  masses  at  the  mercy  of  the 
mountebank.  It  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  and  often 
of  very  great  difficulty  to  determine  when  life  is  really  in 
jeopardy;  and,  as  this  question  presents  itself  as  a  some- 
what different  problem  in  every  case,  only  a  judgment  cul- 
tivated by  long  study  and  close  observation,  and  fortified  by 
wide  experience,  can  hope  to  solve  it.  Even  the  most  culti- 
vated judgment  is  often  at  fault,  and  caution  is  its 
marked  characteristic.  Lucky  hits,  and  happy  accidents, 
often  give  to  ignorance  and  conceit  the  garb  of  wisdom. 

The  science  of  anatomy  teaches  that  the  body  is  made 
up  of  organs  composed  of  the  living  cells  already  mentioned. 
It  is  furthermore  discovered  that  certain  of  these  organs 
are  of  a  similar  kind,  and  so  the  tissues  are  also  classified 
into  systems  of  organs.  Hence  we  have  the  osseous  system 
comprising  all  the  bones  of  the  body;  the  circulatory  system 
comprising  all  the  blood-vessels  of  the  body  with  the  central 
heart;  the  nervous,  the  glandular,  the  muscular,  the  diges- 
tive, the  lymphatic  systems,  and  so  on.  While  each  of  these 
systems  is  employed  in  some  special  office  they  have  a  great 


H4  A  Study  of  Man. 

deal  in  common.  All  the  tissues  are  composed  of  cells,  and 
every  cell  typifies  the  entire  organism.  The  difference  in 
the  form  of  the  cells  determines  the  tissue  of  the  various 
organs. 

These  various  systems  are  again  grouped  to  form  two 
large  classes,  the  organic  and  the  specific.  To  the  organic 
belong  those  organs  and  functions  that  maintain  the  bodily 
structure.  These  are  digestion,  absorption,  secretion,  respi- 
ration, circulation  and  the  like.  To  the  specific  belong  the 
motor,  the  sentient,  the  intellectual  and  the  like.  Each  cell, 
each  organ,  each  system  contributes  something  to  the  good 
of  the  entire  structure,  and  receives  in  turn  something  from 
each  and  from  the  whole  for  the  maintenance  of  its  own  in- 
tegrity. Health  means  a  perfect  adjustment  of  all  these 
parts  and  of  all  relations  according  to  the  laws  of  equilib- 
rium and  harmony.  We  cannot  conceive  of  a  single  micro- 
scopic cell  being  out  of  tune  without  disturbing  thereby  the 
harmony  of  the  whole.  There  is  moreover  something  more 
than  this  harmonious  association;  there  is  an  inter-penetra- 
tion. The  nerves,  the  blood-vessels  and  the  lymphatics  run 
everywhere  and  penetrate  all  other  tissues.  Every  micro- 
scopic cell  is  a  station  for  export  and  import,  receiving  nu- 
trient supplies,  giving  off  effete  matters.  The  blood-vessels 
are  thus  the  highways  of  a  mighty  commerce,  and  from  them 
is  derived  the  significant  expression,  "the  arteries  of  trade." 
There  is  the  incoming  tide  of  food,  water  and  oxygen,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  effects  of  light,  heat  and  magnetism. 
There  is  also  the  receding  tide  of  carbon  di-oxide,  and  worn 
out  material;  and  so  nicely  is  the  balance  adjusted  that,  with 
the  several  hundred  pounds  of  materials  annually  thus  taken 
in  and  given  out,  the  avoirdupois  of  the  body  often  remains 
for  years  the  same.  Aside  from  the  tissues  proper,  the  more 
permanent  structures  of  the  body,  there  is  thus  a  lange 
amount  of  material  constantly  in  transitu,  and  health  de- 
mands that  there  shall  be  no  collision  between  the  incoming 
tide  of  nutrient  material  and  the  outgoing  tide  of  effete  mat- 


Human  Life.  115 

ter.  Indeed,  the  mechanism  and  relations  are  so  nicely  ad- 
justed that  the  presence  and  movements  of  the  one  facili- 
tate the  progress  of  the  other.  The  body  of  man  is  thus  like 
a  walled  city,  with  innumerable  inhabitants  that  have  dis- 
covered perpetual  motion,  and  that  never  rest  and  never 
sleep.  This  is  an  old  idea,  and  in  mystical  writings  this  city 
is  called  Jerusalem,  Zion,  and  its  nine  avenues  are  called 
"the  gates  of  the  great  city." 

If  we  examine  the  bony  skeleton  of  man  separated  from 
all  other  portions  of  the  body  we  get  but  an  inadequate  idea 
of  the  human  form.  There  are  cavities  like  the  cranium, 
thorax  and  pelvis,  mere  excavations,  with  nothing  to  indi- 
cate their  previous  contents.  There  is  indeed  symmetry  in 
contour  and  an  admirable  adaptation  of  parts.  The  mechan- 
ism of  the  bones  of  the  hands  and  feet,  and  the  various 
joints  whereby  a  great  variety  of  motions  may  be  secured, 
is  wonderful.  The  spinal  column  seems  inadequate  to  sup- 
port the  trunk  and  bear  aloft  the  temple  of  the  soul.  Little 
idea  of  its  great  flexibility  in  life  can  be  derived  from  the 
denuded  spinal  column.  The  skull,  with  its  smooth  contour, 
its  grinning  teeth  and  its  eyeless  sockets  so  little  resembles 
the  head  in  life  that  it  ceases  to  be  a  wonder  that  it  stands 
throughout  all  time  as  the  emblem  of  death.  If  the  entire 
bony  structure  of  man  were  withdrawn  from  the  body  only 
a  mere  pulp,  incapable  of  motion,  would  remain;  the  mus- 
cles, useless  without  fulcrums ;  the  tendons,  helpless  without 
pulleys. 

If  now  we  undertake  to  examine  the  muscular  system 
separated  from  all  other  parts,  we  find  that  it  more  nearly 
conforms  to  the  bodily  outlines  in  life;  but  the  connections 
are  wanting.  The  support  and  connecting  links  furnished  by 
the  bones,  the  stimulus  of  the  nerves,  the  life-giving  currents 
of  the  blood  are  wanting,  and  the  muscles  are  incapable  of 
the  least  motion. 

Considering  next  the  circulatory  system,  and  imagining 
it  to  be  withdrawn  entire  from  the  body,  we  find  it  a  com- 


u6  A  Study  of  Man. 

plicated  system  of  tubes  running  to  and  from  the  heart. 
The  arteries  break  up  or  subdivide  into  arterioles  and  capil- 
laries, and  these  again  unite  to  form  the  venules  and  then 
the  veins,  and  so  return  to  the  heart.  But  that  wonderful 
force-pump,  the  heart,  will  not  work.  It  requires  the  stimu- 
lus of  the  nerves  to  keep  it  in  motion,  hence  the  stream  ol 
life  is  still.  The  system  of  blood-vessels  shows  the  contour 
of  the  body,  so  finely  divided  are  its  capillary  branches, 
ramifying  through  all  the  tissues,  and  covering  the  surface 
of  the  body  so  that  not  a  pin's  point  can  find  it  wanting.  In 
withdrawing  the  blood-vessels  and  their  contents  we  have 
withdrawn  but  a  fraction  of  the  entire  weight  of  the  body, 
yet  none  of  the  changes  incident  to  life  can  go  on. 

Turning  now  to  the  nervous  system,  the  brain  and  spinal- 
cord  and  their  appendages,  together  with  the  sympathetic 
nervous  system,  we  shall  find  that  its  withdrawal  from  the 
body  arrests  all  rhythmic  motion,  all  coordination;  sensa- 
tion, feeling  and  thought  are  no  longer  possible.  In  contour 
the  nervous  mechanism  might  remind  one  of  the  human 
form,  though  it  would  equally  resemble  an  overgrown  and 
distorted  spider. 

The  respiratory  mechanism  does  not  seem  so  extensive 
nor  so  complicated  as  the  other  systems  named,  unless  we 
consider  it  as  part  of  the  circulatory  apparatus,  which  indeed 
it  is.  Nothing  can  be  more  intimate  than  the  relations  ex- 
isting between  these  two  mechanisms  and  their  functions. 
The  blood  and  the  air  meet  and  mingle  in  the  lungs.  Here 
is  the  great  motor  of  life,  mechanical  and  magnetic.  All 
other  functions  may  be  arrested  or  greatly  modified  and  a 
measure  of  life  continue,  but  if  the  functions  of  the  circu- 
latory and  respiratory  systems  are  disturbed  life  at  once  be- 
gins to  wane.  In  all  diseases  where  the  individual  is  liable 
to  sudden  death  these  two  structures  and  their  all-important 
functions  are  involved.  In  all  diseases  tending  directly  to 
death  these  functions  are  first  to  give  signs  of  distress.  So 
long  as  the  action  of  the  heart  and  respiration  are  normal 


Human  Life.  117 

life  is  secure;  whenever  Death  approaches  from  whatever 
cause,  these  show  the  first  signs  of  his  coming. 

The  glandular  system  of  the  human  body  has  very  im- 
portant functions  to  perform.  The  office  of  this  system  is  to 
separate  substances  from  the  blood  and  ailow  time  and  space 
for  both  composition  and  decomposition  to  occur.  The  prod- 
ucts thus  arising  by  separation  are  of  two  general  classes.. 
called  secretions  and  excretions,  the  former  of  use  to  the 
system  in  carrying  on  its  complicated  functions,  the  latter 
not  only  waste  and  worthless,  but  positively  injurious  to  the 
individual  as  well.  In  some  cases  only  the  form  of  noxious 
substances  is  changed  and  there  results  a  useful  secretion. 

Back  of  all  the  systems  and  functions  named,  yet  involv- 
ing them  all,  is  the  nutritive  system.  This  may  be  regarded 
as  the  basic  function  of  all  life.  Nutrition  involves  the 
transformation  of  other  substances  into  living  matter,  and 
the  maintenance  of  the  integrity  of  the  tissues  of  the  body. 
All  processes  of  growth,  development,  repair  and  vitality  are 
largely  questions  of  nutrition.  If  we  regard  nutrition  as  the 
basis  of  life  and  the  central  function  to  which  all  others  are 
tributary,  and  yet  upon  which  all  depend  for  their  mainte- 
nance and  integrity,  we  shall  get  an  idea  of  its  relation  and 
importance.  The  more  direct  factors  in  nutrition  are  diges- 
tion, absorption,  circulation,  and  the  final  act  of  assimila- 
tion. Regarding  the  nutritive  process  as  a  whole,  the  most 
important  consideration  regarding  it  is  the  fact  that  through 
its  agency  nutritive  material  is  converted  into  living  matter. 
This  process  is  one  of  progression,  beginning  in  the  digestive 
tract  and  completed  in  the  glandular  system.  The  substances 
so  formed,  the  lymph  or  chyle  corpuscles,  are  in  mere  en- 
dowment of  life  superior  to  any  other  substances  in  the  body. 
The  nutritive  function,  therefore,  lays  the  physical  founda- 
tions of  life,  replenishing  its  reservoirs  and  vitalizing  its 
streams. 

Having  briefly  outlined  some  of  the  principal  systems 
and  organs  of  which  the  complex  body  of  man  is  composed, 


n8  A  Study  of  Man. 

let  us  regard  then  in  situ,  each  in  its  proper  place  with  due 
relation  to  one  another.  We  have  not  yet  discovered  the 
mainspring  of  life.  What  makes  the  wheels  go  round?  If 
we  now  observe  a  living  man,  what  do  we  see?  First,  he 
breathes;  the  lungs  expand  and  contract,  and  there  is  the 
incoming  and  outgoing  tide  of  air.  The  expansion  and  con- 
traction of  the  heart  is  synchronous  with  the  action  of  the 
lungs,  and  the  blood  starts  on  its  busy  round  supplying  life- 
giving  elements  to  every  part,  and  removing  effete  matter 
to  be  exposed  in  the  lungs  to  the  transforming  power  of  oxy- 
gen. The  muscles  quiver  with  expectancy,  awaiting  the 
thrill  of  life  at  command  of  the  will.  Life  blooms  on  the 
cheek;  intelligence  beams  in  the  eye;  emotion  dances  like  a 
band  of  nymphs  around  the  mobile  mouth,  and  the  conscious 
soul  of  man  beams  in  the  human  face.  What  have  we  here 
not  discernible  from  our  previous  outlines  of  the  systems 
and  organs?  We  have  motion,  visible,  rhythmic  motion. 
The  breath  typifies  and  illustrates  .this  motion.  The 
regularity  with  which  we  breathe  in  and  breathe  out  is 
a  to-and-fro  motion  from  surface  to  center,  and  from  center 
to  surface.  Thus  is  expressed  and  illustrated  man's  relation 
to  the  world  about  him.  He  is  a  self-conscious  center  of 
life,  adjusting  his  relations  to  his  surroundings  at  every 
breath,  and  the  process  of  the  incoming  food  and  the  out- 
going debris  are  upon  the  same  principle.  We  seldom  pause 
to  consider  how  much  motion  has  to  do  with  both  the  main- 
tenance and  the  manifestation  of  life.  If  we  imagine  an  in- 
dividual reclining  in  an  easy  posture,  how  do  we  know 
whether  he  is  alive  or  dead?  His  face  is  calm,  his  eyes 
wide  open.  Is  he  conscious  or  unconscious,  alive  or  dead? 
Let  us  see.  We  address  him,  and  he  makes  no  response; 
still  he  may  be  playing  a  part,  or  he  may  be  in  a  trance. 
Notice  the  eyelids ;  they  move  not,  not  a  quiver  around  the 
sensitive  mouth,  no  visible  sign  of  life,  no  outward  manifes- 
tation. We  seek  the  pulse  to  see  if  the  blood-wave  reaches 
the  wrist.    It  is  not  there ;  we  drop  the  ear  to  the  region  over 


Human  Life.  119 

the  heart,  .no  sound  is  heard.  We  rest  the  hand  over  the 
chest,  but  can  detect  no  rise  or  fall.  We  lift  an  arm,  and 
on  letting  it  go  it  falls  as  a  dead  weight.  The  case  is  now 
desperate.  As  a  last  resort  we  hold  a  mirror  to  the  mouth, 
and  its  brightness  is  not  dimmed  by  a  faint  breath;  or  we 
press  the  blood  from  the  surface  veins,  and  it  returns  not. 
Alas,  he  is  dead !  Trances  have  been  known  so  deep  as  to 
resemble  death,  but  they  are  the  exception  and  need  not  be 
noted  here.  We  thus  see  that  internal  molecular  and  rhyth- 
mic motion,  and  outward  visible  motion,  are  the  conditions 
of  life  and  its  manifestation.  We  have  here  just  the  condi- 
tions that  were  shown  in  a  previous  section  to  belong  to  the 
external  wodd  of  phenomena.  These  same  conditions  also 
concern  the  outward  manifestation  of  consciousness,  but  do 
not  concern  consciousness  per  se;  for  just  the  conditions 
above  described  have  occurred,  and  the  individual  has  pre- 
served the  memory  of  conscious  experience  thus  occurring 
under  altogether  different  surroundings  and  conditions. 

We  have  thus  sought  the  mainspring  of  life  in  a  compli- 
cated mechanism  by  viewing  its  larger  aspects,  and  by  pro- 
ceeding from  without  inward.  Let  us  now  study  man  from 
his  beginning. 

The  body  of  man  in  common  with  all  animals  and  plants 
originates  in  a  germ.  Previous  to  fertilization  the  germ 
resembles  a  tissue  cell.  It  has  no  continuous  life  of  its 
own  apart  from  the  body  that  produced  it.  Fertilization  or 
impregnation  constitutes  it  an  independent  center  of  life, 
which,  under  definite  conditions,  it  can  maintain  and  expand. 
It  begins  to  unfold  or  evolve  as  elsewhere  described  or  out- 
lined. Life  it  had  already  as  endowed  by  the  maternal  life. 
This  pre-existing  life  comprised  exceeding  mobility,  irrita- 
bility and  sensitiveness.  There  was  doubtless  latent  con- 
sciousness, but  now  it  starts  on  its  upward  journey  toward 
self-consciousness.  Definite  relations  are  established  be- 
tween center  and  surface;  and  these  relations  accompany  it 
in  all  its  subsequent  career.    The  struggle  for  existence  from 


120  A  Study  of  Man. 

germ  to  adult  life  of  man  is  a  continual  adjustment  between 
center  and  surface— between  the  individual  and  his  environ- 
ment. The  ideal  center  becomes  self-conscious.  If  this, 
however,  were  all,  man  would  be  a  living  cell,  large  or  small, 
simple  or  complex,  but  no  more.  We  have  similar  organ- 
isms, but  they  are  never  endowed  with  the  human  form  di- 
vine. A  single  act  of  impregnation  starts  the  whole  process. 
From  the  physical  side  of  the  problem  nutrition  and  differ- 
entiation comprise  it.  A  center  of  life  derives  from  these 
two  processes  that  which  enables  the  plant  to  compass  and 
continue  its  cycle  and  maintain  it  perennially;  but  they  do 
not  account  for  the  specific  form  even  of  plants.  Grant  that 
the  unfolding  of  this  form  is  progressive  both  in  individuals 
and  in  species;  but  whence  arises  the  definite  type  toward 
which  progress  is  continually  made?  We  have  already 
shown  that  all  lower  forms  of  life  may  be  regarded  as  frag- 
ments of  the  human,  and  that  the  higher  mammals  are  rudi- 
mentary human  beings.  What  does  the  act  of  impregnation 
do,  aside  from  establishing  an  independent  center  of  life? 
It  impresses  upon  the  germ  the  specific  character  and  limi- 
tations of  the  paternal  form.  This  endowment  meets  the  en- 
dowment of  personality  on  the  physical  side  at  the  very 
center,  and  the  union  of  these  constitutes  the  germ  of  self- 
consciousness,  just  as  the  endowment  of  life  on  the  vegeta- 
tive plane  creates  a  germ  of  consciousness  The  ideal  form 
is  an  overshadowing  presence  progressively  involved  at  every 
stage  of  growth  as  the  outer  structure  is  evolved.  In  the 
human  embryo  this  is  the  Adonai,  the  shining  one.  It  is  an 
endowment  from  the  subjective  world  through  the  spiritual 
side  of  man's  nature,  and  so  maintains  the  duality  of  human 
existence,  and  preserves  and  progressively  perfects  the  hu- 
man form. 

The  germ  when  vivified  begins  then  to  unfold.  It  at 
first  vegetates;  cells  multiply  as  in  the  simplest  plant. 
Membranous  expansions  of  cells  arise ;  then  a  mere  trace  in- 
dicates the  spinal  cord  and  digestive  tract.     One  little  mass 


Human  Life.  121 

indicates  the  location  of  the  brain,  inclosing  two  little  vesi- 
cles, the  rudimentary  eyes.  Little  currents  slightly  branch- 
ing show  where  by  and  by  the  pulses  shall  beat,  ebb  and  flow, 
and  presently  on  one  of  these  appears  a  slight  expansion, 
and  in  this  a  gentle  quivering  motion.  The  elixir  works; 
the  magic  of  life  has  begun  to  show  forth;  the  heart  has 
caught  the  rhythm  of  the  ether  and  is 

"Keeping    time,    time,    time, 
In  a  sort  of  runic  rhyme." 

By  and  by  the  organs  are  all  formed;  the  miniature  man 
or  woman  is  complete ;  the  beating  of  the  little  heart  can  be 
heard  through  the  walls  of  its  dark  prison.  Then  comes  the 
throes  of  anguish,  the  agony  of  motherhood.  Miraculous 
changes  are  rapidly  taking  place,  in  heart,  in  liver,  in  blood- 
vessels; old  channels  are  dried  up,  and  new  ones  formed. 
Little  doors  close  forever.  There  comes  a  gasp,  a  sigh,  a 
faint  wail.  The  little  cheeks  are  crimson,  the  chest  rises  and 
falls ;  the  wheels  of  life  go  round ;  the  miracle  is  accom- 
plished; a  child  is  born.  There  is  little  intelligence  in  the 
eyes  that  shun  the  light,  yet  there  may  be  a  deeper  intelli- 
gence of  the  world  from  whence  the  little  one  comes.  Who 
knows  ? 

"Who  can  tell  what  a  baby  thinks? 
Who  can  follow  the  gossamer  links 
By  which  the  manikin  feels  its  way 
Out  from  the  shore  of  the  great  unknown, 
Weeping  and  wailing  and  all  alone?" 

All  future  growth  is  but  a  continuation  of  processes  al- 
ready begun.  No  principle  can  be  discovered  in  the  life  of 
man  that  has  not  here  its  root  and  rise.  The  dawn  of  con- 
sciousness, the  growth  of  intelligence,  the  manifestation  of 
life  through  co-ordinate  rhythm  establishing  that  equilibrium 
we  call  health,  all  these  have  their  potency  and  prophecy  in 


I22  A  Study  of  Man. 

the  vivified  germ.    Millions  of  times  this  miracle  is  repeated, 
yet  millions  regard  it  with  indifference.     Accident,  caprice, 
or  blind  lust  determines   It  ten  thousand  times  where  love 
and  wise  forethought  provide  for  it  but  once.    Nativities  are 
saturated  with  murder  and  marked  by  paternal  thoughts  that 
are  crimes.     Little  helpless  souls  are  thus  scarred  all  over, 
and  evil  destinies  are  thus  heaped  upon  them  from  their  very 
birth.    O  horrible  reproach  on  the  divine  office  of  parentage  I 
And  yet  we  wonder  at  perversity,  at  wickedness  and  at  crime, 
and  build  almshouses  and  prisons,  asylums  for  the  insane, 
and  homes   for   the   multiplicity   of   our   abominations,   and 
then  credit  ourselves  with  Christian  charity  !     Even  yet  our 
boasted  civilization  has  not  done  with  these  waifs  of  time, 
brought  here  without  their  consent,  denied  the  royal  wel- 
come which  is  theirs  by  divine  right.    Unwelcome,  perverse, 
bearing  the  sins  of  matured  wickedness  in  their  frail  bodies, 
hedged   about,   handicapped   by   the  very    Medusa's   helmet, 
terrified,  bewildered,  it  would  seem  that  the  measure  of  our 
iniquity'  were  full  and  their  damnation  complete.     But  no, 
we  summon  the  sacred  name  and  garb  of  religion  and  follow 
them  into  the  unseen  and  unknown.     Having  perfected  the 
tragedy   called    life,   we   crown    peaceful,    silent,   beneficent 
death  with  fear  and  despair !     If  you  deny  this  portraiture, 
my  brother,  my  sister,  tell  us  whence  this  surging  mass  that 
fill  our  prisons  and  insane  asylums?  Whence  the  larger  mass 
that  scout  the  very  name  of  religion,  that  clamor  for  work, 
for  bread?   Whence  come  the  mobs,  the  anarchists,  the  mur- 
derers, the  suicides?     Count  these  millions   in  our  boasted 
civilization,  and  call  it  Christian  if  you  can.     There  is  but 
one  single  cause  for  all  this  misery  of  human  life,  and  it  can 
be  spoken  in  one  word,  egotism.     It  arises  from  ingrained 
selfishness,  derived  from  the   animal   in  man,   forgetting  all 
good  for  the  sake  of  self.     Selfish  passion,  a  moment's  pleas- 
ure and  an  age  of  pain,  selfish  greed,  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  what  are  these  but  the  shibboleth  of  the  devil,  the 
slogan  of  the  infernal  regions?     It  is  not  a  hell  for  man, 


Human  Life.  123 

but  a  hell  in  man,  created  by  man.  "Human  beings  are  not 
fit  to  be  parents  till  they  are  morally  of  age,  and  as  being  is 
before  knowing  and  doing,  I  affirm  that  education  can  never 
repair  the  defects  of  birth."*  It  has  been  elsewhere  shown 
that  all  inherited  bias  pertains  to  the  temporary  personality 
of  man,  and  that  the  self-conscious  individuality  has  to  get 
rid  of  the  evil  heritage,  and  confirm  and  co-ordinate  the 
virtuous  heritage  by  use  in  order  to  make  it  his  own.  There 
is  no  subject  that  lies  so  near  the  cause  of  all  human  ills, 
and  that  is  so  potent  a  factor  in  the  regeneration  of  the  hu- 
man race  as  the  conditions  of  parentage  and  the  influence  of 
so-called  heredity,  or  natal  and  ante-natal  conditions.  When- 
ever as  much  care  and  forethought  are  bestowed  on  the  be- 
getting of  children  as  upon  the  breeding  of  horses  and  cat- 
tle, a  new  order  of  humanity  will  appear  on  the  earth.  If 
the  reader  is  disposed  to  ridicule  such  plain  speaking,  let 
him  first  ask  himself  whether  these  considerations  are  not 
true.  Having  satisfied  himself  on  this  point,  as  a  mere  mat- 
ter of  intelligence,  he  may  ridicule  or  approve  as  seemeth  to 
him  best. 

Having  briefly  outlined  the  process  by  which  the  fertil- 
ized germ  develops  into  a  child,  by  evolution  of  the  bodily 
structure  and  involution  of  the  human  form,  and  having  ar- 
rived at  the  basis  of  all  subsequent  function,  all  human 
qualities  which  exist  potentially  in  the  child,  we  shall  find 
that  the  conditions  of  further  unfolding  are  the  same  in 
kind  as  in  the  embryo,  though  differing  in  form  and  condi- 
tions. From  germ  to  birth  the  process  is  continuous,  though 
it  seems  to  be  marked  by  distinct  stages.  Between  these 
various  stages  there  are,  however,  no  abrupt  transitions. 
Each  preceding  stage  leads  up  by  imperceptible  degrees  to 
the  one  that  follows.  Take,  for  example,  the  nutritive 
changes.  First  we  have  the  merely  vegetative  form  of  cell 
multiplication     and     cell     nutrition.        As     the     embryonic 

*James   Pierpont   Greaves. 


124  A  Study  of  Man. 

life  advances   this  form  of  nutrition   is   replaced  by  what 
is    known    as    tuft    nutrition.      This   again  gives  place  to 
placental  nutrition,  and  this  again  to  lactation  after  the  birth 
of  the  child.     These  various  changes  or  stages  of  nutrition 
relate  to  the  method  and  mechanism  by  which  the  nutritive 
material  is  elaborated  or  raised   from  non-living  to  living 
matter.     In  plain  terms  the  only  question  is:    Where  does 
the  germ,  the  embryo,  the  foetus  and  the  child  get  its  food? 
In  all  these  cases  the  answer  is:   from  the  maternal  body. 
The  process  called  weaning  is  the  most  abrupt  and  radical 
of  all  these  nutritive  changes.    Henceforth  the  child  manu- 
factures its  own  matter-of-life,  raises  so-called  dead  matter 
to  the  form  called  living-biogen.    The  process  by  which  this 
living  matter  is  differentiated  into  tissues  and  organs  is  from 
first  to  last  the  same.     The  process  by  which  a  tissue,  an 
organ  or  an  entire  organism  is  built,  is  the  same  process  by 
which  when  built  these  all  continue  to  act.    In  other  words., 
the  basic  principle  behind  all  function  is  the  principle  which 
determines  growth  and  development  of  structure.    The  func- 
tion builds  the  organ;  the  organ  exercises  the  function;  the 
principle  of  sound  builds  the  ear ;  the  principle  of  light  builds 
the  eye;  the  principle  upon  which  thought  proceeds  builds 
the  brain,  and  so  on,  else  organ  and  function  would  not  be 
so  definitely  related.    The  act  of  impregnation  sets  in  motion 
the  wheels  of  life.     Evolution  of  the  physical  structure  be- 
gins.    Mobility  and  irritability  of  the  living  matter  at  the 
center  of  the  germ,  the  nucleolus,  or  germinal  spot,  are  pro- 
gressively unfolded  and  differentiated,  evolved  from  center 
to  surface.    These  outgoing  waves  and  impulses  are  met  and 
limited  by  ingoing  waves  that  determine  the  form,  limit  and 
direct  the  unfolding  of  the  germ.    Between  these  two  groups 
of     impulses     there    is    continual    adjustment,    equilibrium. 
Previous  to  impregnation  the  germ  is  a  simple  cell,  detached 
it  is  true  from  the  maternal  body,  conditioned  so  that  it  can 
take  on  an  individual  existenoe  of  its  own;  yet  without  the 
fertilizing  process  it  speedily  dies.     The  genesis  of  individ- 


Human  Life.  125 

ual  life  on  the  physical  side  is  coincident  with  the  endow- 
ment o£  specific  form  on  the  spiritual  side.  There  hence 
arises  a  tension  between  these  processes,  and  at  the  center, 
where  both  unite,  there  is  a  poise.  Irritability  of  living  mat- 
ter reaches  the  sensibility  of  a  growing  organism,  thence 
proceeds  consciousness  in  the  advanced  foetus,  and  finally 
self-consciousness  dawns  in  the  child.  At  birth  the  organs 
are  all  formed.  The  child  is  a  man  or  a  woman  in  minia- 
ture. The  process  continues ;  by  the  same  process  of  differ- 
entiation and  evolution  on  the  one  side,  and  of  progressive 
involution  on  the  other,  the  child  expands  toward  maturity. 
The  most  important  factor  herein  disclosed  is  consciousness. 
Potentially  it  is  transmitted  like  the  quality  of  life  itself  to 
the  germ.  We  may  say  senso-genesis  and  conscio-genesis, 
as  well  as  bio-genesis.  Self-consciousness,  however,  is  a 
condition  that  transcends  and  co-ordinates  all  lower  forms. 
It  is  a  strictly  human  attribute.  It  is  the  result  of  man's 
larger  and  more  complete  relations  to  nature  on  a  superior 
plane.  Man  reaches  this  plane  only  by  passing  through  and 
beyond  all  lower  planes.  As  already  pointed  out,  all  low-r 
forms  of  life,  in  form  and  quality,  are  fragmentary  human. 
The  higher  mammals  are  rudimentarily  human.  Man  only 
embodies  them  all.  Every  human  being  passes  through  these 
forms  in  his  embryonic  and  foetal  journey  toward  self-con- 
sciousness, so  that  the  principle  is  true  in  humanity  at  large 
and  in  every  individual  case.  It  was  previously  stated  that 
all  knowledge  is  derived  through  experience.  Herein  may 
be  seen  man's  journey  of  experience,  his  kinship  with  all 
lower  nature.  His  experience  on  the  human  plane  is  the 
concensus  of  the  experience  of  all  lower  forms  of  life,  not 
theoretically,  but  actually.  The  self-consciousness  of  man 
is  therefore  the  combined  experience  of  the  whole  world  of 
plants  and  animals.  One  might  say  in  all  truth  and  sober- 
ness: "Only  a  few  years  ago  I  was  vegetating;  a  little  later 
I  was  a  mollusk ;  then  a  fish  swimming  in  a  soul-locked  sea ; 
and  a  little  later  I  was  a  reptile,  a  bird,  a  mammal,  and  now 


126  A  Study  of  Man. 

a  man."    Memory  only  is  wanting.    He  has  forgotten  these 
experiences  just  as  he  has  ten  thousand  others  since  he  was 
born.     Every  physiologist  will  say  that  this  is.  true;  that  so 
far  as  conditions  and  relations  are  known  these  are  the  phys- 
iological facts.     But  a  still  further  and  far  more  important 
inference   remains   to  be  drawn.     If    self-consciousness    in 
man  implies  a  concensus  of  all  lower  forms  of  experience, 
is  there  not  a  still  higher  human  plane  ?    Is  there  not  a  state 
in  which  man  rises  to  a  higher  plane,  where  the  individual 
through  sympathy  and  love  may  become  the  concensus  of 
humanity,  and  so  reach  divine  consciousness,  an  all-consoling 
sympathy,  an  all-embracing  love?    In  this  state  may  we  not 
remember  those  who  are  bound  as  though  bound  with  them, 
mourning  with  those  who  mourn,  rejoicing  with  those  that 
rejoice,  the  animal  egotism  giving  place  to  the  divine  altru- 
ism ?    This  is  the  true  meaning  of  Christos.     What  we  call 
the  human  is  an  intermediate  stage  between  the  animal  and 
the  divine.    The  body  of  man  then  is  a  human  form  in  which 
to  unfold  divine  attributes— a  wayside   inn   in  the   upward 
journey  of  the  soul.    We  may  study  man  to  some  purpose  if 
we  will,  and  learn  the  meaning  of  life  and  the  destiny  of 
the  soul.    To  do  this  we  must  honor  every  truth  by  use,  and 
learn  here  as  elsewhere  by  experience.     Blind  superstition 
and  ignorant  credulity  have  had  their  day,  so  has  material- 
istic science.    A  diviner  science  awaits  him  who  places  truth 
above  all  things,  for  all  truth  is  given  by  inspiration,  and  all 
truth  is  divine.    The  true,  the  good,  and  God  are  one.    Man 
learns  these  as  be  learns  to  know  pain  and  pleasure,  by  ex- 
perience. 

The  human  body  does  not  necessarily  imply  human  qual- 
ities. In  a  certain  sense  man  is  only  a  higher  animal.  We 
may  degrade  every  human  attribute  to  the  very  lowest  ani- 
mal plane.  Destruction,  rapacity  and  cruelty,  coupled  with 
the  human  consciousness  and  intelligence,  are  in  no^  sense 
human.  The  essentially  human  is  the  humane;  and  in  this 
regard  many  of  the  lower  animals  in  affection  and  faithful- 


Human  Life.  127 

ness,  even  in  the  face  of    abuse  and  cruelty,  might  cause 
many  a  man  to  blush  for  his  inhumanity.     The  most  fitting 
associates  for  many  persons  would  be  the  tiger,  the  hyena  or 
the  snake.     This  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  develop- 
ment of  the  animal  ego,  and  the  more  common  forms  of  lust 
and  greed  may  be  a  little  less  animal,  but  scarcely  more  hu- 
mane.   Selfishness  is  the  root  of  all  these,  and  this  is  essen- 
tially brutal  and  not  human.     We  have  seen  that  polariza- 
tion implies  a  tension  between  two  points,  ideally  a  straight 
line  having  two  extremities  and  a  wave  of  motion  between 
these.     Aside  from  matter,  force  and  motion,  we  have  the 
idea  of  form,  and  this  again  includes  molecular  motion  and 
differentiation.     All  these  are  concomitants  of  polarity.     A 
magnetic  needle  is  a  piece  of  steel  rhythmically  adjusted  to 
the  polar  magnetic  wave,  and  mechanically  free  to  maintain 
this  relation  in  the  face  of  all  oscillations.     Its  horizontal 
position  presents  the  line  of  least  attraction  to  the  terrestrial 
magnetism.     The  human  body  is  composed  of  an  innumer- 
able number  of  polarized  cells.    The  grouping  of  these  cells 
is  according  to  the  principle  of  polarity.    The  body  of  man 
as  a  whole  is  magnetic,  and  consists  of  a  series  of  magnets, 
the  poles  of  which  are  systematically  yet  subordinately  ar- 
ranged.    The  magnetic  centers  of  the  body  are  many,  and 
the  supremacy  of  any  given  center  may  be  fixed  or  tempo- 
rary.     It  may  be  the  cerebral  center  that    governs  at  one 
time,  the  sexual  center  at  another,  the  gustatory  at  another, 
and  so  on.    There  are  also  centers  of  vitality  proper,  as  the 
heart  and  lungs  connected  with  the  medulla.    The  cerebellum 
is   a  co-ordinating  center   of  muscular  motion.     The  solar 
plexus  and  spleen  are  related  together  as  the  true  magnetic 
center,  while  the  cerebrum  is  a  co-ordinating  center  of  cen- 
ters.    The  relation  of  the  human  body  to  the  earth  is  en- 
tirely different  when  it  is  prone  and  when  it  is  erect.    In  the 
one  case  the  correlative  earth's  magnetism  is  related  to  the 
diamagnetism  of  man;  in  the  other,  to  magnetism  proper. 
In  the  prone  position  we  may  be  said  to  absorb  magnetism; 


I28  A   Study  of  Man. 

in  the  upright  position  we  dissipate  it.  In  Von  Reichen- 
bach's  experiments  a  stream  of  light  was  seen  to  issue  from 
the  eyes,  from  the  hands  and  feet,  from  the  genital  and  gas- 
tric regions.  In  some  cases  this  magnetic  light  has  been  seen 
to  stream  from  the  back  of  the  head  and  fill  the  room.  Of 
the  normal  body  as  a  whole  the  head  is  positive  and  the  feet 
negative;  the  right  hand  is  positive,  the  left  negative,  and 
so  on.  The  arterial  blood  is  positive  and  the  venous  nega- 
tive, and  the  heart  is  an  electro-motor  by  virtue  of  the  pres- 
ence and  tidal  waves  of  red  and  blue  blood.  The  contraction 
and  relaxation  of  muscle  becomes  possible  through  the  cir- 
culation by  which  the  muscular  tension  is  renewed.  Every 
muscle  is  to  some  extent  a  storage-battery.  These  points 
might  be  multiplied  almost  without  end.  Our  object  is  only 
to  demonstrate  the  existence  of  the  principle  of  polarity  and 
to  illustrate  its  mode  of  action. 

Terrestrial  magnetism  separates  the  androgynous  shoot 
in  the  germinating  seed,  and  sends  the  male  element  deep 
into  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  and  the  female  element  up  into 
the  air  with  its  potency  of  leaf  and  flower  and  its  prophecy 
of  fruit  and  seed.  The  tree  is  thus  anchored  to  the  earth, 
and  its  polarity  is  thus  fixed.  Quadrupeds  and  all  other 
lower  animals  maintain  a  comparatively  uniform  magnetic 
relation  to  the  earth  and  their  surroundings.  Man  alone  is 
an  upright  animal,  a  center  of  life,  and  a  law  unto  himself 
commensurate  with  knowledge.  Man's  relation  to  surround- 
ing nature  is  thus  positive  in  a  far  higher  degree  than  that 
of  any  other  animal.  He  commands  the  forces  of  nature, 
adjusts  himself  to  her  varying  moods,  and  thus  conquers 
through  obedience  to  her  laws.  Nature  steadfastly  refuses 
to  be  subordinated  in  any  other  way.  In  a  certain  large 
sense  man  is  therefore  positive  in  his  relations  to  nature, 
and  the  degree  in  which  he  is  able  to  maintain  this  relation 
is,  as  already  stated,  in  direct  proportion  to  his  knowledge 
and  obedience  to  law.  The  degree  of  this  positive  relation 
of  man  to  nature  determines  temperament,  health,  vigor  and 


Human  Life.  129 

his  relation  to  his  fellow-men.  It  is  moreover  the  foundation 
of  sex  and  the  relation  of  the  sexes  to  each  other.  The 
positive  man  triumphs  over  the  negative,  who  is  the  weaker 
element.  Motive  gives  color  to  the  result  of  this  domination, 
but  does  not  determine  the  fact.  As  a  rule  man  is  positive 
and  woman  negative  as  related  to  each  other,  though  notable 
exceptions  can  be  found.  This  is  the  normal  relation,  and 
they  may  be  equal  in  power  notwithstanding  this  relation, 
for  woman  naturally  triumphs  through  the  affectionai  na- 
ture, and  man  through  the  intellectual.  The  higher  the  in- 
dividual in  the  scale  of  being,  the  more  these  two  natures 
are  united  in  him  or  in  her.  The  very  variableness  of  these 
conditions  and  relations  enables  man  to  adjust  himself  to  his 
surroundings  and  to  triumph  over  all  lower  forms  of  life. 
To  illustrate  man's  positive  relations  to  nature,  let  us  imag- 
ine a  well-born,  well-developed  individual  in  health.  Health 
blooms  in  the  cheeks,  intelligence  in  his  eyes;  reason  sits  en- 
throned on  his  brow;  strength  and  elasticity  are  in  his  step, 
and  courage  and  cheerfulness  are  in  his  voice.  He  is  born 
to  command,  to  triumph,  to  endure.  Imagine  now  that  he 
is  suddenly  alarmed,  terrified.  His  cheeks  grow  pale;  his 
eyes,  dull  and  staring,  his  hair  stands  endwise;  a  chill  creeps 
over  his  flesh,  his  knees  tremble,  his  voice  falters  or  fails ; 
his  heart  flutters,  and  his  breath  comes  with  a  gasp  or  a 
shriek.  A  mere  mental  emotion  has  instantly  conquered 
more  swift  and  sure  than  Delilah.  Samson  is  shorn  of  his 
strength.  The  man  has  suddenly  reversed  his  whole  rela- 
tion to  external  nature.  This  negative  condition  is  produced 
in  part  or  in  whole,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  by  a  great 
variety  of  causes.  It  is  more  or  less  approximated  by  the 
scenes  and  influences  of  night  that  succeeds  the  day,  and  by 
the  innumerable  predisposing  causes  of  disease — all  excesses, 
all  forms  of  dissipation,  and  all  previous  disease.  There- 
fore, fear  or  any  other  cause  that  produces  this  negative  con- 
dition invites  disease.  Anything  that  disturbs  the  equilib- 
rium and  harmony  of  the  body  as  a  whole,  or  in  part,  be- 


130  A  Study  of  Man. 

gets  disease  and  tends  toward  dissolution.  Not  only  habits 
of  body,  but  habits  of  thought  may  thus  be  classed  as  con- 
servative or  destructive.  The  habitual  indulgence  of  envy, 
hatred,  avarice  or  lust,  tends  to  the  promotion  of  bodily  dis- 
ease; while  pure  and  noble  thoughts,  and  the  exercise  of  love 
and  kindness,  promote  life  and  health  and  insure  happiness, 
even  in  a  strictly  physiological  sense. 

Through  the  great  dual  law  of  action  and  reaction  man 
is  enabled  to  regain  his  lost  equilibrium,  though  frequent 
repetition  of  disturbing  influences  weakens  resistance  and 
tends  to  the  fixation  of  the  evil  habit.  As  shown  under  the 
law  of  differentiation,  the  complexity  of  any  organ  in  man 
is  not  a  necessity  per  sc,  so  far  as  the  special  function  is 
concerned;  but  is  rendered  necessary  by  the  complexity  of 
the  organism  of  which  it  is  a  part,  on  the  principle  of  equilib- 
rium and  general  harmony  of  the  whole  individual.  These 
relations  of  parts  to  the  whole,  and  of  the  whole  organism 
to  its  environment,  whereby  equilibrium  is  secured  and  har- 
mony maintained  through  primordial  and  subordinate  cen- 
ters, are  bound  to  one  another  by  definite  ratios.  The  prin- 
ciple is  the  same  as  that  which  underlies  the  whole  science 
of  music.  Indeed  every  principle  in  nature  is  epitomized  in 
man,  according  to  the  plane  of  his  ascent  and  development. 
There  is  in  nature  a  unit  of  space,  a  unit  of  time,  a  unit  of 
matter,  of  force  and  of  motion ;  and  there  is  a  common  mul- 
tiple of  all  these  which  justly  contains  them  all.  How  else 
could  harmony  result  anywhere,  and  nature  unfold  on  a  uni- 
form plan?  This  common  multiple  exists  in  man  as  the  key- 
note of  his  life,  determining  the  pitch  and  quality,  the  major 
or  the  minor  character  of  his  being.  This  principle  may  be 
most  readily  illustrated  by  the  functions  of  the  lungs  and 
heart,  and  their  relations  to  each  other  and  to  the  rest  of 
the  organism.  Both  these  functions  vary  in  different  indi- 
viduals. The  beating  of  the  heart  is  modified  by  many 
causes,  as  is  also  the  respiration;  but  in  general  terms  the 
respiration  is  to  the  heart's  action  as  one  to  four.    In  modern 


Human  Life.  131 

life  there  will  generally  be  found  a  fraction  in  favor  of  the 
heart,  but  this  is  due  to  the  immense  strain  that  is  put  upon 
that  organ  by  nervous  excitement  and  unnatural  modes  of 
life.  In  these  two  organs  with  their  complicated  functions 
may  be  centered  many  of  the  essentials  of  life.  These  func- 
tions determine  the  rhythm,  the  pitch  and  the  quality  of  the 
physical  life  of  man.  These  processes,  respiration  and  cir- 
culation, if  rightly  interpreted,  may  furnish  a  coefficient  of 
the  individual  life.  They  are  the  mathematical  basis,  and 
may  lead  to  the  metaphysical  basis,  just  as  we  find  biogen 
the  physical  basis,  giving  rise  to  form  by  differentiation.  In 
health  we  inhale  and  exhale  with  perfect  regularity.  This 
simple  process  illustrates  the  whole  mechanism  of  man  as  a 
complex  being.  If  we  could  witness  the  process  that  occurs 
in  the  pulmonary  capillaries  we  should  see  a  pulsating  mass 
composed  of  tubes,  enlarging  and  contracting  rhythmically, 
and  at  the  climax  of  expansion  instantly  changing  color 
from  a  dull  leaden  blue  to  a  living — nay,  luminous  crimson, 
as  though  the  bellows  were  regularly  applied  to  the  smolder- 
ing embers  of  life.  Sleeping  or  waking  this  process  goes  on, 
from  the  first  faint  gasp  of  the  new-born  child  to  the  last 
breath  of  the  centogenarian.  The  elements  or  equivalents 
of  force  which  maintain  this  wonderful  process  are  derived 
directly  from  the  great  solar  plexus,  while  the  rhythmic 
power,  co-ordinating  these  activities  with  all  other  functions 
of  the  body,  is  derived  from  the  brain  and  spinal  cord 
through  the  pneumo-gastric  and  cerebro-spinal  centers. 
Through  these  last  named  structures  the  chemism  of  the 
body  is  subordinated  to  its  vitality;  and  with  the  control  of 
the  sweat-glands  and  general  excretory  outlets,  and  the  epi- 
thelial tissues  aided  by  the  thermic  nerves,  the  temperature 
is  maintained  with  most  remarkable  uniformity.  This  pro- 
cess that  we  have  imagined  as  witnessed  in  the  lungs  is  con- 
tinued to  the  remotest  elements  of  the  body.  If  we  could 
witness  the  display  of  the  body's  finer  forces  we  should  see 
it  expand   and   contract  at  every  breath,   and   rhythmically 


132 


A  Study  of  Man. 


brighten,  as  if  a  human  glow-worm.  We  know  as  a  matter 
of  fact  that  the  magnetic  power  of  the  body  is  largely  and 
immediately  increased  by  slow,  deep  inspirations,  and  that 
this  accumulative  power  can  thus  be  thrown  from  the  hands 
upon  a  sensitive  person  in  sensible  quantities  producing 
marked  effects. 

This  to-and-fro  respiratory  motion  may  be  taken  as  rep- 
resentative of  the  entire  bodily  functions.     Large  quantities 
of  food  and  drink  are  taken  in  and  an  equivalent  given  off 
continually,  so  that  the  physical  as  well  as  the  physiological 
and  psychical  equilibrium  is  maintained.     Here  then  is  the 
operation  of  a  twofold  law,  attraction  and  repulsion,  inspi- 
ration and  expiration,  oxidation  and    de-oxidation,   expan- 
sion and  contraction,  diastole  and  systole,  sensation  and  mo- 
tion—all these  operations   illustrating  the  law  that  lies   at 
the  very  foundation  of  the  manifestation  of  life.    This  is  the 
principle  of    universal   duality.     Its   operation   is    like   the 
swinging  of  a  pendulum;  just  so  far  as  the  oscillation  pro- 
ceeds in  one  direction,  just  so  far  must  it  go  in  the  opposite 
direction,   and   with  equal   force   and  velocity,  else   all  the 
wheels  of  life  run  down  and  time  for  man  ceases.     This 
principle  of  duality  lies  at  the  foundation  of  every  function 
of  man,  is  the  basis  of  all  pathology,  and  in  every  case  de- 
termines drug  action.     There  is  always  action  and  reaction, 
and  these  are  ideally  but  not  mechanically  equal.     It  is  be- 
cause they  are  unequal,  in  fact,  that  man  sickens  and  dies 
before  his  time.     To  secure  this  exact  equality  is  the  secret 
of    perpetual    youth.      Every   vital    problem,    therefore,    m 
health  or  in  disease,   presents  itself   as   an  equation  to  be 
solved     The  somnolence  produced  by  opium  is  succeeded  by 
insomnia;  stimulation  is  followed  by  depression;  excitement 
is  followed  by  lassitude.     The  manifestation  of  these  effects 
may  sometimes  seem  unequal.     Sometimes  the  reaction  may 
seem  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  primary  action.     This  is 
because  in  one  case  the  effect  is  precipitated  on  a  single  or- 
gan or  a  single  group,  and  in  the  other  case  it  is  diffused 


Human  Life.  133 

over  wider  areas.  It  is  as  though  one  member  of  the  equa- 
tion were  a  unit  and  the  other  member  a  series  of  fractions 
reducible  to  the  same  unit.  Another  apparent  exception  is 
seen  in  youth  and  old  age.  The  recuperative  power  in  the 
one  case  and  the  waning  vitality  in  the  other  do  not  annul 
the  equation,  but  merely  alter  the  form  of  its  members  and 
modify  the  true  method  -of  solution,  the  principle  is  the  same. 
In  youth  these  is  a  reserve  of  physical  power,  the  vital  reser- 
voir is  full.  In  the  decline  of  life  the  physical  forces  fail 
but  the  higher  powers  -ripen.  The  planes  of  life  are  naturally 
reversed  in  youth  and  age,  not  only  as  regards  the  physical 
and  rational  faculties,  but  this  reversal  involves  the  sensuous 
ami  spiritual  powers  as  well.  The  poet  Heine  has  beautifully 
expressed  this  change: 

"Warm  summer  dwells  upon  thy  cheek 

And  in  thy  laughing  eyes; 
While  in  thy  little  heart,  fair  child, 

Cold,  frosty  winter  lies. 

But  these  I  think  as  time  rolls  on 

Will  play  a  different  part; 
Then  winter  on  thy  cheek  shall  be, 

And  summer  in  thy  heart." 

Let  us  now  briefly  examine  some  of  the  functions  of  the 
body.  These  are  divided  into  two  general  groups.  In  the 
first  category  are  placed  those  that  are  directly  concerned 
in  the  maintenance  of  the  bodily  structure;  such  as  diges- 
tion, absorption,  secretion,  circulation,  respiration  and  re- 
production. These  are  called  organic  functions.  In  the 
other  category  are  placed  all  other  functions,  and  these, 
while  indirectly  concerned  in  the  maintenance  of  the  bodily 
life,  are  concerned  with  higher  and  more  special  offices.  To 
these  belong  sensation,  muscular  motion,  thought,  and  all 
the  higher  mental  operations,  and  more  especially  the  co- 
ordinating function  of  the  nerve  centers.  These  last  named 
secure  the  equilibrium  and  harmony  of  the  whole  organism 


134  A   Study  of  Man. 

through  an  equable  distribution  of  energy,  both  as  regards 
dissipation  and  the  conservation  of  force. 

All  function  implies  motion,  and  this  motion  may  be  vis- 
ible, bodily  motion,  or  internal,  perceptible  motion,  like  that 
of  the  heart  and  pulse-wave ;  or  again,  it  may  consist  of  im- 
perceptible molecular  motion,  like  that  present  in  processes 
of  digestion^  oxidation,  nutrition  and  the  like. 

The  manifestation  of  life  and  the  exercise  of  function 
alike  depend  on  motion,  and  are  equally  phenomenal.  Let 
us  suppose  that  we  have  under  observation  an  individual  in 
health,  and  in  a  passive  condition ;  that  is,  with  all  the  organs 
quiescent;  the  bodily  temperature  is  normal,  the  breathing 
quiet  and  regular,  the  heart's  action  rhythmical,  and  the 
circulation  equable.  Now  let  us  introduce  food  into  this  in- 
dividual's stomach;  this  will  be  the  signal  for  very  marked 
changes  to  occur.  The  color  of  the  stomach  changes  from 
a  pale  pinkish  hue  to  a  crimson;  it  becomes  thickened  and 
roughened.  If  a  delicate  thermometer  were  now  applied  to 
the  coat  of  the  stomach  there  would  be  found  a  perceptible 
rise  in  temperature.  If  the  gastric  blood-vessels  are  exam- 
ined they  will  be  found  engorged,  and  the  general  circula- 
tion and  the  heart's  action  will  be  found  to  be  accelerated. 
By  this  time  there  is  a  flow  from  the  mouths  of  the  gastric 
follicles  of  gastric  juice.  This  is  incorporated  with  the  food, 
and  digestion  has  begun.  The  signal  for  all  these  changes  is 
the  mere  presence  of  food  in  the  stomach.  The  presence  of 
an  indigestible  substance,  or  the  irritating  of  the  stomach 
with  a  stick,  would  produce  similar  results.  There  is  a 
change  in  color,  change  in  the  thickness  of  the  coat  of  the 
stomach,  increase  of  blood,  increased  chemical  action,  and 
hence  increased  temperature.  During  this  process  there  is 
a  withdrawal  both  of  blood  and  of  energy  from  the  entire 
organism  to  be  focused  on  the  stomach,  which  is  now  the 
center  of  activity.  Digestion  in  the  stomach  being  com- 
pleted, the  stomach  is  emptied  of  its  contents  and  resumes 
its  normal  quiescent  condition,  while  the  center  of  activity 


Human  Life.  135 

passes  down,  accompanying  the  food  along  the  digestive 
tract,  till  the  resultants  of  digestion  enter  the  blood.  If  this 
activity  of  the  stomach  is  unduly  prolonged,  if  too  much  food 
or  indigestible  food  be  taken,  every  degree  that  the  stomach 
is  rendered  active  beyond  the  normal  point,  as  to  time 
or  quantity  of  activity,  constitutes  functional  disease,  the 
difference  between  normal  and  abnormal  activity  being 
solely  one  of  degree.  In  the  one  case  the  action  is  called 
physiological ;  in  the  other,  unphysiological.  Herein  are 
seen  both  the  conditions  and  phenomena  of  all  physiological 
activity,  no  matter  what  tissues  or  organs  are  involved. 
Even  the  function  of  the  brain  and  the  process  of  thought 
are  no  exception.  Functional  activity  implies  an  increase 
of  blood  to  the  part  acting,  therefore  increased  size  and  in- 
creased color;  increased  activity,  therefore  more  rapid  oxi- 
dation, chemism,  and  this  increased  activity  is  followed  by 
lassitude  or  a  measure  of  exhaustion  calling  for  rest.  Like- 
wise in  all  cases  normal  activity  is  physiological,  abnormal 
activity  is  unphysiological,  constituting  functional  disorder, 
which,  when  oft  repeated  or  long  continued,  extends  to  per- 
manent derangement  of  structure.  Functional  activity 
merges  in  functional  disorder,  and  this  into  chronic  disturb- 
ance of  function  and  finally  into  organic  disease.  Again,  in 
the  functional  changes  observed  in  the  stomach  we  have  all 
the  symptoms  of  inflammation  here  as  elsewhere,  function 
falls  short  of  inflammation  only  in  degree.  In  either  case 
the  tendency  is  for  the  phenomena  to  subside  and  for  the 
equilibrium  to  be  restored.  Whenever  the  restorative  proc- 
ess is  unduly  prolonged  and  unusually  difficult,  and  the  re- 
cuperative energy  of  the  organism  begins  to  fail,  the  result 
is  fever.  The  entire  organism  thus  participates  in  the  dis- 
turbance. The  primary  conditions  are  now  manifest  on  a 
larger  scale.  Inflammation  and  fever  indicate  disturbance, 
but  they  in  no  sense  constitute  disease,  but  rather  should  be 
regarded  as  local  and  general  efforts  to  get  rid  of  disease. 
An  organism  that  is  incapable  of  inflammation  and  fever  is 


136  A   Study   of  Man. 

incapable  of  maintaining  its  own  integrity.  Such  an  organ- 
ism is  not  long  capable  of  life.  Without  inflammation  no 
wound  unites.  The  point  of  perfect  health  is  indicated  when 
the  local  inflammation  is  exactly  sufficient  to  unite  the  wound 
and  no  more.  In  such  cases  the  repair  seems  almost  mirac- 
ulous. Perfect  health  is  however  somewhat  rare.  In  such 
cases,  where  there  is  general  disturbance  and  fever,  from 
whatsoever  cause,  immediately  preceding  the  rise  in  tem- 
perature there  is  an  interval  of  general  depression,  and  in 
very  many  cases  a  chill.  The  fever  is  a  reaction  from  this 
depressed  condition,  and  depression  again  follows  the  fever 
in  its  subsidence.  The  oscillations  become  less  marked  till 
equilibrium  is  restored.  These  oscillations  of  depression  and 
elevation,  of  chill  and  fever,  are  characteristic  of  all  acute 
inflammations  and  of  all  fevers,  though  they  are  sometimes 
so  slight  as  to  elude  observation  depending  in  such  cases  on 
a  large  degree  of  vitality.  The  measure  and  degree  of  dan- 
ger in  all  subsequent  conditions  is  thus  often  indicated  by 
the  severity  of  the  chill,  though  here  again,  if  the  oscilla- 
tions be  extreme  and  the  vitality  be  great,  the  disturbance  all 
the  sooner  subsides.  It  may  thus  be  seen  that  every  case  of 
disturbed  function  or  disease  is  complete  in  itself,  and  to  be 
judged  and  measured  by  itself,  though  occurring  under  the 
form  of  the  general  vital  equation,  the  duality  of  nature. 

Medical  writers  have  found  great  difficulty  in  defining 
fever  just  in  proportion  as  their  theories  have  allowed  them 
to  forget  the  conditions  and  manifestation  of  all  functional 
activity.  Inasmuch  as  both  functional  activity  and  patho- 
logical disturbance  or  inflammation  produce  local  exhaus- 
tion requiring  rest,  removal  of  disintegrated  matter  and  re- 
pair by  nutrition;  so  is  the  chill  that  precedes  fever  an  ap- 
proximate death  of  the  whole  bodily  structure,  and  the  ele- 
vated temperature  that  follows  is  due  to  the  more  rapid 
oxidation  requisite  to  remove  effete  matter,  and  the  loss  of 
strength  and  flesh  so  manifest  in  long-continued  fevers  is 
thus  explained.     Sometimes  the  slowly  waning  tide  of  life 


Human  Life.  137 

is  a  long  time  in  reaching  the  point  where  fever  begins,  but 
the  principle  is  the  same.  Causes  and  conditions  vary,  and 
hence  the  results  vary  in  intensity  and  in  time,  but  the  law 
is  always  the  same.  Action  followed  by  reaction,  reaction 
followed  again  by  action,  till  equilibrium  is  restored,  or  till 
death  results.  Differences  in  age,  in  sex,  in  temperament,  in 
natural  vitality,  in  inherited  or  acquired  pre-disposition, 
differences  in  climate,  in  occupation,  in  modes  of  thought,  in 
aims  of  life,  and,  even  more  than  all  these,  differences  in  the 
intensity  of  the  will  to  live  go  far  toward  determining  re- 
sults, not  only  in  life,  but  in  all  disturbances  of  function  or 
vitality  of  tissues.  Without  a  knowledge  of  these  facts  no 
adequate  conception  of  the  nature  of  man  is  possible.  Even 
a  knowledge  of  the  essential  nature  of  the  soul,  such  as  no 
one  in  modern  life  possesses,  would  still  be  deficient  if  lack- 
ing a  knowledge  of  the  conditions  under  which  the  soul 
lives  and  acts  in  the  human  body,  and  in  relation  to  its  pres- 
ent environment  in  a  world  of  phenomena. 

The  law  of  action  may  readily  be  determined;  the  con- 
ditions and  results  of  action  are  to  be  determined  in  each  in- 
dividual case,  and  in  every  moment  of  time.  These  results 
of  varied  experience  are  precipitated  in  consciousness  as  in 
an  alembic;  the  original  details  o<f  experience  may  be  blotted 
out  forever.  None  know,  and  none  need  care  so  long  as  we 
have  still  their  full  equivalent. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM. 

In  a  previous  section  reference  was  made  to  the  princi- 
ples of  differentiation  and  the  community  of  function  in  the 
evolution  of  organisms  and  of  species.  Through  the  opera- 
tion of  these  principles  it  was  shown  how  reserved  areas 
arise  that  are  not  directly  involved  in  organic  functions,  and 
that  these  areas  constitute  co-ordinating  centers  preserving 
the  harmony  of  the  lower  structures  and  functions,  and  des- 
tined to  still  higher  offices  in  the  special  economy  of  man. 
It  was  further  pointed  out  that  the  complexity  of  an  organ 
and  its  functions  is  not  a  direct  necessity  of  the  function  to 
be  performed  per  se,  but  that  such  complexity  is  rendered 
necessary  by  the  general  complexity  of  the  entire  organism 
of  which  it  forms  a  part.  Only  thus  could  equilibrium  be 
established  and  harmony  result.  This  complexity,  in  whole 
and  in  part,  is  evolved  progressively  from  simple  forms  in 
which  the  given  function  was  still  performed.  Indeed  the 
function  must  have  existed  potentially  in  the  vivified  germ 
prior  to  all  organs  proper. 

Under  the  head  of  Physical  Synthesis,  Herbert  Spencer 
has  shown  very  clearly  the  process  by  which  nervous  tissue 
may  arise  by  the  successive  passage  of  waves  of  motion 
through  a  mass  of  colloids.  These  waves  pursue  a  defi- 
nite direction  following  the  line  of  least  resistance.  Each 
successive  wave  of  motion  meets  with  less  and  less  resist- 
ance, and  hence  a  larger  amount  of  energy  is  continually 
transmitted  through  the  line  of  colloids.  The  polarized 
colloids  are  thus  progressively  wheeled  into  line  of  polar  ar- 

(138) 


The  Nervous  System.  139 

rangement.  A  considerable  amount  of  energy  is  thus  used 
in  bringing  this  about;  but  this  amount  is  constantly  becom- 
ing less  and  less  as  the  amount  of  energy  transmitted  be- 
comes greater,  till  at  last  a  line  of  colloids  is  arranged  in 
polar  agreement ;  resistance  has  ceased  and  the  highest  trans- 
mission of  power  is  attained.  If  we  conceive  that  polarity 
arises  coincident  with  the  development  of  tissue,  and  not 
after  cells  are  formed,  we  shall  realize  ithat  which  undoubt- 
edly occurs  as  above  illustrated.  This  principle  of  polar  ar- 
rangement not  only  obtains  in  the  development  of  the  nerve 
fibers,  in  the  building  up  of  nerve  tissue,  but  in  all  subse- 
quent transmission  of  the  nerve  impulse  after  birth,  where- 
by we  gain  facility  in  muscular  manipulation  and  are  en- 
abled to  cultivate  the  senses;  the  process  may  be  seen  to  be 
the  same.  Repeated  transmission  overcomes  resistance  and 
increases  the  accumulative  result.  Hence  the  process  by 
which  tissue  is  formed  and  by  which  function  originates  is 
that  also  by  which  it  is  afterward  perfected  and  exercised. 
The  function  per  se  builds  the  tissue  and  the  organ;  the 
organ  so  built  exercises  the  function.  Living  matter  in- 
volves the  peculiar  function ;  the  function  so  involved  evolves 
the  tissue  and  the  organ.  The  principle  under  consideration 
may  be  called  the  physical  basis  of  education. 

The  basic  function  of  simple  living  matter  is  irritability. 
Living  matter  responds  to  an  irritant  and  reacts  upon  all 
received  impressions.  It  is  sensitive  in  the  same  sense  but 
in  infinitely  larger  degree  than  the  photographer's  plate. 
Profceus  quivers  with  life  and  mirrors  all  impressions.  Or- 
ganization fixes  these  impressions.  Sensibility  passes  beyond 
mere  sensitiveness  by  the  addition  of  consciousness.  Con- 
sciousness implies  a  center  of  life;  the  universal  with  the 
added  element  of  consciousness  becomes  individual.  Simple 
living  matter  is  an  element  of  an  organism,  and  is  incapable 
of  arising  or  existing  separate  from  it.  The  establishment 
of  a  center  of  life,  as  in  a  germ,  establishes  the  first  requi- 
site of  separate  existence. 


140  A  Study  of  Man. 

Diagrammatically  the  nervous  mechanism  is  a  series  of 
cells   and   protoplasmic   threads— polarities,   whereby   either 
directly  or  indirectly  every  living  cell  of  the  animal  body  is 
connected  with  every  other  cell,  and  every  cell  with  the  body 
as  a  whole.    The  nerve  centers,  or  ganglia,  are  mechanically 
the  most  wonderful  devices  simplifying  the  connection  of  all 
parts  of  the  body  with  each  other.     Large  masses  of  cells 
are  in  communication  with  a  series  of  nerve  fibers;  these 
nerve  fibers  unite  in  a  common  trunk;  this  trunk  communi- 
cates with  a  ganglion ;  other  masses  of  cells  similarly  related 
to  nerves  and  to  trunk  communicate  with  a  ganglion,  and  the 
two  ganglia  are  united  by  a  commissure.    In  this  manner  the 
most  distant  masses  of  cells  are  in  intimate  association,  thus 
securing  a  certain  amount  of  relatively  independent  action, 
yet  at  the  same  time  capable  of  joint  and  harmonious  ac- 
tivity. This  elaboration  of  the  function  of  irritability  through 
the  nervous  mechanism,  whereby  sensibility  is  developed  in 
relation   to  consciousness,  does   not   entirely   withdraw   the 
quality  of  sensitiveness  from  other  tissues.    Both  living  mat- 
ter and  differentiated  tissue  other  than  nerve  tissue  trans- 
mit impressions,  though  in  a  vague  and  indeterminate  man- 
ner.   When,  however,  such  impressions  reach  the  nerve  tis- 
sue, they  are  brought  into  definite  relations  to  nerve  centers 
and  to  consciousness.    The  first  or  diffused  impressions  con- 
cern quantity,  the  second  concern  quality.     The    basic  im- 
pressions caused  by  heat  and  cold  are  very  closely  allied, 
and  the  effect  of  these  on  the  vitality  of  a  part,  when  ex- 
treme, are  the  same,  producing  disintegration  and  sloughing. 
The  impressions  produced  by  what  we  call  pleasure  and  pain 
are  also  very  similar.     It  requires  both  consciousness  and  a 
nervous  system   educated  by  experience  to   distinguish  be- 
tween such  opposite  impressions,  to  say  nothing  of  impres- 
sions more  closely  related.     An  organized  nerve  transmits 
impressions     automatically,     and     directly,    without    lateral 
transmission.     The  ganglia  separate,   combine  and   register 
impressions.    In  the  registry  of  impressions  a  similar  proc- 


The  Nervous  System.  141 

ess  may  be  conceived  as  occurring  as  in  the  formation  of 
nerve  tracts,  with,  however,  this  difference:  in  case  of  nerve 
formation,  polarization  implies  a  direct  line  of  discharge  be- 
tween two  points.  In  the  case  of  ganglionic  formation  and 
function  the  impression  returns  to  the  point  of  beginning,  or 
doubles  on  itself.  These  two  forms  of  impressions  and  struc- 
tures are  related  to  each  other  as  straight  lines  are  related 
to  circles.  There  is,  however,  a  still  further  difference  in  re- 
gard to  the  fixation  of  forms.  In  the  fiber  the  form  is  com- 
paratively fixed,  the  tissue  of  the  nerve  proper  is  firm, 
smooth  and  glistening.  The  soft  gray  matter  of  the  ganglia 
preserves  more  or  less  the  spheroidal  form,  and  is  therefore 
less  permanently  fixed,  and  admits  of  frequent  re-arrange- 
ment of  molecules,  and  re-distribution  of  impressions. 
Hence  registration  of  impressions  by  nerve  centers  is  no 
more  a  final  act  than  is  the  direct  transmission-  of  impres- 
sions by  nerve  fibers.  The  registration  of  an  impression, 
therefore,  involves  its  transmission  to  the  registering  gan- 
glion, as  well  as  the  whole  series  of  changes  by  which  it 
originates,  and  to  which  it  gives  rise.  The  physical  basis 
of  memory  therefore  cannot  be  conceived  as  solely  the  gray 
matter  of  the  nerve  centers,  nor  can  it  be  confined  to  the 
nervous  system,  nor  to  the  entire  physical  body;  for  these, 
in  part  and  in  whole,  in  every  experience  include  conscious- 
ness as  one  term  of  the  equation.  We  could  not  be  conceived 
as  remembering  anything  of  which  we  are  entirely  uncon- 
scious. On  the  other  hand,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  the 
most  painful  or  the  most  pleasurable  experience,  occurring 
with  full  consciousness,  is  not  long  retained;  and  that  the 
most  of  such  experiences  are  in  time  forgotten.  Only  con- 
sciousness preserves  their  equivalence. 

The  nervous  mechanism  may  be  diagrammatically  repre- 
sented by  the  nerve  arc.  This  consists  of  a  peripheral  nerve 
cell  with  an  efferent  nerve  fiber,  a  central  nerve  cell  with  an 
efferent  nerve  fiber  terminating  in  some  of  the  active 
tissues.       This    typical    form    is    the    mechanical     element 


I42  A  Study  of  Man. 

by  the  multiplication  of  which  the  whole  nervous  structure 
is  built.  These  are  multiplied  and  united  to  form  nervous 
systems. 

The  entire  nervous  mechanism  divides  into  two  portions, 
the  ganglionic,  called  also  the  sympathetic,  and  the  cerebro- 
spinal.    These  two  portions  are  brought  into  direct  relation 
through  the  ganglia  at  the  roots  of  the  spinal  nerves.     The 
sympathetic    nervous    system    is   directly    related   to   all    the 
structures  and   functions  of  organic  life,   and  indirectly  re- 
lated   to   the   senso-motor  and    intellectual    functions.     The 
cerebrospinal     nervous    system     is    directly    related    to   the 
senso-motor     and     intellectual      functions,     and     indirectly 
related     to    the     functions    of     organic     life.       These    two 
structures     therefore     supplement    each    other.       The   sym- 
pathetic    system     is     in     a     general     way     a       center     of 
correlation     of     lower     forms     of     energy     into     nervous 
force;    and    the    cerebrospinal     system   is    a    co-ordinating 
mechanism  securing  harmony  and  equilibrium  of  the  entire 
organism.     In  this  harmonious  order  of  complex  structures 
and  diverse   functions  the  cerebrum  presides,   and  not  only 
exercises  final  jurisdiction,  co-ordinating  all  other  centers, 
but  is  also  the  center  of  consciousness,  though  by  no  means 
its  exclusive  seat.     Every  organized  cell  is  a  center  of  life ; 
every  separate  organ  is  relatively  a  center  of  consciousness ; 
only   the   brain   is  the   center   of    self-consciousness.     It   is, 
however,  possible  to  change  the  center  or  seat  of  conscious- 
ness by  concentration  of  the  will  and  the  exercise  of  the 
imagination,  and  so  to  place  it  under  other  than  the  usual 
relations. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  mechanism,  the  seat,  and  the  cen- 
ter of  consciousness,  and  of  the  transmission  of  impressions, 
as  also  of  the  registration  of  impressions  through  a  redis- 
tribution of  matter  and  change  in  form  of  arrangement.  AH 
these  are  but  the  elements  through  which  the  varied  experi- 
ences of  life  reach  consciousness  in  an  orderly  manner  from 
the  physical  side  of  being.     These  different  parts  are  defi- 


The  Nervous  System. 


143 


nitely  related  to  the  various  elements  of  the  phenomenal 
world.  All  phenomena  are  expressed  in  terms  of  matter, 
force  and  motion,  and  occur  in  space  and  in  time.  Each  of 
these  has  a  representative  sphere  and  mechanism  in  the  body 
of  man.  The  eye  through  its  mechanism  and  function  is 
definitely  related  to  space  and  form,  and  endows  the'se  with 
light  and  color.  The  ear  is  a  time  organ,  taking  cognizante 
of  the  succession  of  phenomena,  but  as  there  is  a  point  where 
light  and  sound  co-ordinate,  and  as  they  are  definitely  re- 
lated by  a  common  multiple  in  vibrations,  the  two  organs, 
the  eye  and  the  ear,  have  supplementary  functions.  The 
sense  of  feeling  is  definitely  related  to  impact,  or  weight, 
and  therefore  to  matter  and  mass.  In  the  motor  apparatus 
certain  nerves  and  muscles  are  concerned  with  force  and 
motion.  None  of  these  several  parts,  however,  can  be  disas- 
sociated from  its  fellows  any  more  than  we  can  separate 
space  and  time.  The  various  avenues  of  the  body  through 
which  sensations,  perceptions  and  feelings  reach  conscious- 
ness are  many,  but  consciousness  is  one.  There  is  a  pro- 
visional center  for  each  group  of  impressions,  and  for  each 
combination  of  muscles  in  the  senso-motor  apparatus,  yet 
all  these  provisional  centers  unite  in  the  seat  and  center  of 
consciousness,  the  cerebrum.  It  may  thus  be  seen  that  con- 
sciousness is  definitely  related  on  the  physical  side  to  the 
phenomenal  world  through  a  complicated  mechanism  which 
is  phenomenal  in  structure  and  mode  of  action.  Experience 
expands  this  relation  and  multiplies  its  details.  These  vari- 
ous terms  concern  the  relations  and  manifestations  of  con- 
sciousness, but  they  do  not  account  for  consciousness  itself. 
It  would  be  indeed  foolish  to  indulge  in  any  speculations  as 
to  the  essential  nature  of  consciousness,  when  we  have  al- 
ready acknowledged  our  entire  ignorance  of  the  essence  of 
so  apparently  simple  a  thing  as  an  atom  of  matter.  The 
relations  and  manifestations  of  consciousness,  however,  are 
very  different  things;  these  are  as  legitimate  subjects  for 
study  as  are  the  combinations  of  matter  and  the  manifesta- 


144 


A  Study  of  Man. 


tions  of  force.     Consciousness  is  related  on  the  one  side  to 
the  physical  body,  evolved  in  space  and  time,  and  existing  in 
terms  of  matter,   force  and  motion.     Consciousness  on  the 
other  side  is  related  to  the  ideal  human  form  and  quality, 
involved   from   the    subjective   world    and   existing    in  .the 
boundless   ocean   of   ether.      Consciousness    unites    and   co- 
ordinates these  two  worlds,  epitomized  in  man,  and  repre- 
sented in  terms  of   experience.     The  development  of  man 
through  the  intermediation  of  a  center  of  life  and  conscious- 
ness is  therefore  a  building  up  of  nature  and  a  building  down 
of  spirit.     The  bodily  form  is  evolved  outwardly  from  the 
center,  consciousness.     The  human  type  is  involved  toward 
the  center,  consciousness;  and  coincident  with  this  process 
of  evolution  and  involution  the  area  of  consciousness  in  the 
individual  expands  through  a  twofold  experience  of  the  natu- 
ral and  spiritual  worlds.     Hence  we  derive  an  idea  of  the 
relations  of  individual  consciousness  to  the  two  worlds  of 
being.    Motive  may  be  conceived  as  giving  color  to  all  these 
varied  experiences,  and  motive  determines  our  relations  to 
■truth.     Whenever  consciousness  by  its  co-ordinate  function 
in  relation  to  the  two  worlds  has  thus  created  an  individual 
kingdom  in  man  that  apprehends  a  degree  of  truth,  that  is 
has  created  the  tw.o  worlds  to  some  extent  in  man,  through 
experience  of  both,  the  varied  colored  motives  begin  to  dis- 
appear, and  give  place  to  the  white  light  of  truth.     Ihis  il- 
lumination of  consciousness  is  the  dawn  of  conscience.     In 
the  presence  of  the  light  of  truth  all  other  motives  give  way 
to  the  love  of  truth.    The  animal  ego,  the  selfish  motive,  re~ 
cedes     The  individual  now  does  right  not  through  fear  of 
evil,  nor  from  motives  of  personal  gain  here  or  hereafter, 
but  because  truth  is  in  him.    There  is  consonant  rhythm  in 
his  soul.     He  seeks  truth,  and  truth  seeks  him  by  a  law  of 
attraction  as  direct  and  potent  as  that  which  draws  the  arma- 
ture to  the  magnet,  or  the  needle  to  the  pole.    The  germ  from 
which  man's  bodily  life  is  developed  is  first  a  vehicle  capable 
of  being  endowed  with  a  distinct  personality,  and  so  of  be- 


The  Nervous  System.  145 

coming  a  separate  center  of  life,  and  of  unfolding  higher 
powers.  The  act  of  impregnation  fixes  upon  it  the  human 
likeness  and  sets  the  wheels  of  life  in  motion.  Evolution  and 
involution  now  begin,  and  development  passes  through  the 
various  lower  forms  on  its  way  to  man.  At  birth  conscious- 
ness has  developed  a  center,  and  a  vehicle  for  a  twofold  ex- 
perience, and  the  center,  consciousness,  begins  to  expand 
into  self-consciousness.  By  the  time  the  child  is  weaned 
this  development  of  self-consciousness  is  well  under  way, 
and  personal  self-consciousness  is  complete  about  the  sev- 
enth year.  Then  begins  the  struggle  between  Good  and  Evil. 
The  illumination  of  consciousness,  independent  action  from 
motive,  first  of  fear  and  self-interest,  and  divine  conscious- 
ness begin  to  dawn.  True,  the  child  very  early  shows  a  per- 
ception of  right  and  wrong,  but  such  perception  is  reflected 
from  its  surroundings,  and  not  spontaneous.  It  can  be  led 
to  believe  that  it  is  right  to  lie  and  steal,  or  that  it  is  right 
to  pray  and  to  do  right.  The  child's  early  experience  is 
taken  second-hand  from  its  parents  or  guardians.  It  must 
have  liberty  to  choose,  to  reject  or  to  select,  before  it  can 
feel  responsibility,  and  discern  motive.  All  these  transitions 
are  by  imperceptible  gradations.  Sometimes  these  changes 
come  early  in  life,  sometimes  late,  sometimes  not  at  all. 
Many  adults  are  deficient  in  moral  responsibility.  The  de- 
fects of  birth  are  many.  Heredity  gives  to  personal  bias  an 
atmosphere  of  vice  or  virtue,  in  which  motive  and  responsi- 
bility breathe  and  live.  The  individual,  however,  has  to  try 
all  these  by  experience.  If  the  heredity  is  good  it  may  have 
to  be  adjusted  to  consciousness  through  experience.  If  the 
heredity  is  bad  it  has  to  be  eliminated,  and  the  good  created. 
Many  are  thus  freighted  with  double  loads  requiring  a  life- 
time, nay,  perhaps  many  lives  to  get  a  fair  start.  Never  till 
the  will  to  live  is  subordinated  to  the  will  to  do  good  has  the 
individual  really  begun  to  live  at  all  in  the  higher  or  divine 
nature. 

The  physical   brain   belongs   to   the   phenomenal   life   of 


I46  A  Study  of  Man. 

man  The  brain  is  the  organ  through  which  on  the  one  side 
consciousness  manifests  outwardly;  and  on  the  other  side  it 
is  the  medium  through  which  all  sensations  and  experiences 
of  the  outer  world  are  presented  to  consciousness. 

In  the  objective  world  phenomena  are   wrought   out  on 
the  basis  of  matter  and  force,   and  occur  through  motion. 
But  beyond  all  this  there  are  principles  and  laws  by  which 
nature  builds,  and  certain  forms  or  types  to  which  she  con- 
forms.    Strictly  speaking,  man  invents  nothing;  he  has,  how- 
ever, discovered  many  things,  and  all  his  so-called  inventions 
are  but  the  application  of  his  discoveries  of  principles  and 
laws  in  nature  to  the  conditions  of  the  phenomenal  world 
These  laws  on  the  one  side,  and  every  possible  application  of 
them  on  the  other,  already  exist  in  the  laboratory  of  nature. 
The  discovery  of  laws  and  the  application  of  principles  de- 
pend    on     the     accuracy     and     faithfulness     with     which 
man     observes     and     imitates     nature.        There     can     no- 
where   be    found    a    mechanic,    a    chemist,    or    a    builder 
like    Dame    Nature.      It   is   after  all    the   very   simplicity 
of  her  handiwork  that  eludes  us.    Nature  knows  the  secret  of 
perpetual  motion,   but  only   as  one  member  of  an  equation 
of  which  the  other  is  eternal  rest.     In  every  snow-flake  and 
crystal  nature  has  squared  the  circle  by  absolute  geometry. 
Man  has  never  yet  been  able  to  utilize  more  than  a  fraction 
of  the  force  everywhere  diffused  as  gravity,  heat,  light  and 
magnetism.     Nature's   forms   are   pure  geometry;   her   com- 
pounds are  made  with   absolute  exactness;  her  revolutions 
are  in  obedience  to  immutable  laws.     Nature  alone  possesses 
the  secret  of  the  unit  of  form,  the  unit  of  mass,  the  unit  of 
force,  the  unit  of  space,  and  the  unit  of  time;  and  she  alone 
knows  their  common  multiple.    When  man  has  wrested  these 
secrets  from  nature  then  will  he  indeed  be  a  master-builder. 
If  there  is  a  structure  in  nature  in  which  all  these  principles 
are  involved  it  is  the  human  brain.     These  principles  are 
represented  in,  reflected  upon,  and  may  be  apprehended  by 
the  conscious  intelligence  through  the  agency  of  the  brain 


The  Nervous  System.  147 

and  nervous  mechanism.  But  in  order  that  man  may  appre- 
hend these  principles,  the  brain  must  be  perfect  and  con- 
sciousness complete.  In  other  words,  the  structure  and 
function  of  the  brain  must  reflect  the  ideal  counterpart  of 
the  divine  man,  and  consciousness  must  epitomize  the  two 
as  one.  If  now  we  designate  these  powers  and  principles  by 
which  nature  builds  as  ideas,  thought  is  their  approximate 
reflection  or  representation,  their  partial  duplication.  What 
we  call  human  ideas  are  at  best  but  grotesque  and  distorted 
caricatures  of  divine  ideas.  Our  ideas  are  imperfect,  con- 
tradictory, and  therefore  unstable,  like  shadows  cast  by  a 
flickering  light  upon  an  ever-varying  surface  that  exists 
only  by  virtue  of  ur  ceasing  change.  Thought  is  the  eva- 
nescent picture,  the  moving  panorama  thus  produced  and  pre- 
sented to  a  poly-colored  consciousness  from  the  nature  side 
of  life.  Thought  is  therefore  phenomenal  like  sensation. 
If  we  try  to  control  and  detain  thought,  if  we  endeavor  to 
fix  the  attention  on  any  one  point  or  on  any  one  thing,  we 
shall  realize  that  it  is  indeed  phenomenal  in  character.  In 
the  very  act  of  controlling  it,  when  successful,  we  have 
ceased  to  think;  consciousness  has  withdrawn  to  the  sub- 
jective side  of  being.  Our  thoughts  come  and  go  and  come 
again,  even  against  our  will ;  they  are  never  twice  the  same 
for  a  single  instant,  something  is  lacking,  something  added, 
ceaseless  change,  diversity,  instability,  unreality.  Such  is 
thought.  If  the  external  world  is  thus  represented  to  con- 
sciousness, the  internal  world  may  also  reach  consciousness, 
but  not  through  the  physical  brain.  By  thought,  generic 
principles  and  innate  ideas  are  converted  into  form  by  the 
brain  pictures,  and  thus  are  nature's  laws  embodied  in  a  re- 
creative center.  The  apprehension  of  these  laws  and  prin- 
ciples in  their  relations  and  sequences  is  the  reasoning  fac- 
ulty ;  but  this  also  involves  consciousness.  Logical  thought 
differs  from  illogical  thought  as  a  perfect  circle  differs  from 
an  imperfect  circle.  Thought  concerns  sensations,  ideas,  re- 
lations and  laws,  in  terms  of  matter,   force,   motion,   space 


I4g  A  Study  of  Man. 

and  time,  and  represents  these  to  consciousness  in  terms  of 
experience.     Innate  ideas  are  the  perfect  embodiment  of  a 
law  of  nature  with  its  secondary  principles.     Our  ideas  are 
more  or  less  approximate  principles  that  dimly  discern  the 
underlying  law  of  nature.     The  laws  of  nature  directly  re- 
late to  pure  being  beyond  all  conditions  of  space  and  time. 
Such  principles  as  we  discern  in  nature  are  the  concensus 
of  our  varied  and,  necessarily,  fragmentary  experience,  re- 
produced   in     thought    and    precipitated    in    consciousness. 
These  innate  ideas,  laws  and  principles  are  derived  directly 
from  the  subjective  world;  they  are  embodied  in  the  phenom- 
enal   world;    they   reach   consciousness    in   man   indirectly 
through  experience  and  bodily  feeling,  and  such  experience 
by  a  law  of  attraction  furnishes  the  basis  for  direct  appre- 
hension from  the  subjective  world.    To  apprehend  a  law  of 
nature  is  to  have  embodied  it  in  our  own  nature  through  ex- 
perience.   Hence  are  derived  ideas  which  are  but  reflections 
of  innate  ideas.     Eternity   is   obscured  by  time,   being  be- 
clouded by  existence,  law  producing  phenomena,  ever  pres- 
ent principles  lashed  into  flame  by  feeling.    Man  thus  colors 
all  he  touches  and  creates  an  ideal  world  of  his  own  which 
has  elsewhere  no  existence,  and  bends  every  energy  of  his 
will  to  perpetuate  the  work  of  his  imagination.    Just  in  pro- 
portion as  man  stands  ready  to  relinquish  this  selfish  world 
of  his  imagination  for  the  world  of  truth  and  reality,  does  he 
come  into  possession  of  his  birthright  in  the  real  world  of 
being.     That  which  everywhere   stands   in  the  way  of  this 
realization  is  man's  ingrained  selfishness,  the  habiliment  of 
his  personality  derived  from  the  animal  world. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  that  thought  is  the  moving  panorama 
of  the  physical  brain,  mirroring  the  world  of  phenomena. 
Intuition  bears  the  Same  relation  to  consciousness  on  the 
spiritual  side  of  being  that  thought  bears  to  the  same  con- 
sciousness on  the  material  side  of  existence;  but  intuition 
like  thought  can  have  no  relation  to  consciousness  except 
through  experience.      Consciousness  stands  as    the  common 


The  Nervous  System.  149 

multiple  of  both  thought  and  intuition;  for  consciousness  is 
the  sole  mediator  in  man  between  the  natural  and  spiritual 
worlds — the  bond  of  union  that  unites  his  phenomenal  ex- 
istence in  space  and  time  to  his  real  being  in  the  eternal 
world.  Real  knowledge  is  an  exact  equation  between  the 
world  of  phenomena  and  the  world  of  being.  The  terms  of 
this  equation  are  intellect  and  intuition,  with  consciousness 
as  the  sign  of  equality.  The  result  of  this  solution  is  man's 
ideal  world,  the  basis  of  which  is  his  experience  of  the 
natural  world  of  effects  and  the  spiritual  world  of  causes. 
In  the  genus  homo  man  represents  the  intellect;  woman,  the 
intuition.  Man  reasons,  woman  feels.  Intuition  in  man 
represents  the  female  element ;  reason  in  woman  represents 
the  male  element;  only  the  man-woman  knows. 

Will  is  the  sum  of  all  individual  energies  ;  it  is  that  by  which 
he  is  enabled  to  focalize  these  energies  on  a  given  point. 
Will  is  not  mere  stubbornness  or  contrariness.  Will  wheels 
the  faculties  into  line  and  subordinates  all  minor  tendencies 
to  one  supreme  purpose.  It  is  therefore  the  polarization  of 
the  entire  being.  This  form  of  concentration  of  the  will  is 
true  magic — not  witchcraft,  or  sorcery,  or  necromancy,  but 
the  true  Magus.  It  overcomes  all  obstacles  and  triumphs  in 
the  midst  of  apparent  defeat,  and  thus  accomplishes  that 
which  seems  impossible.  This  exercise  prolongs  life,  over- 
comes disease,  and  thus  triumphs  over  even  death  itself. 
This  exercise  of  the  will  is  impossible  so  long  as  man  is  at 
war  with  nature  or  at  war  with  himself,  for  he  who  exer- 
cises it  must  command  his  passions,  appetites,  faculties  and 
infirmities,  and  must  conquer  even  his  environment  and  ap- 
parent disabilities.  It  means  first  self-conquest,  and  secondly 
such  a  use  of  his  surroundings  as  will  make  them  tributary 
to  success,  where  to  others  without  such  will  they  mean  de- 
feat and  disaster.  This  is  true  magic.  The  handmaid  of 
such  a  will  is  imagination.  To  will  thus,  one  must  be  able 
to  conceive  of  that  which  is  beyond  the  details  of  his  expe- 
rience, but  not  beyond  his  intuitions  or  the  principles  of  his 


jeo  A  Study  of  Man. 

life.    Will  and  imagination  thus  rise  to  the  plane  of  genius. 
The  individual  thus  endowed  is  a  creator.     The  conceptions 
of  his  imagination,  energized  by  his  will,  will  prove  more 
real  and  lasting  than  the  things  of  sense  and  time.     His 
temporal   existence  will   involve   from   the   world  of  being, 
and  evolve  in  knowledge  and  power.     This  is  but  the  appli- 
cation of  the  same  principle  that  has  all  along  enabled  us  to 
apprehend  the  unfolding  of  man's  life  on  the  various  planes 
of  existence.    We  see  it  here  reaching  toward  higher  planes 
and  transcendent  powers.     To  reach  this  plane  requires  a 
strong  will,   a  vivid   imagination,   the   subordination  of   all 
lower^natures  in  man,  and  the  inspiration  derived  from  a  di- 
vine or  a  diabolical  purpose.     Just  here  is  the  place  where 
two  wavs  meet,  and  man  may  become  potent  for  good  or  evil. 
Motive' now  determines  all.     Either  man  will  become  a  co- 
worker with  God  for  the  uplifting  of  mankind,  or  an  em- 
bodied evil  for  man's  destruction.    The  world  has  witnessed 
numerous  examples  of  both  these  types.    Here  again  the  mo- 
tive turns  on  the  principle  of  egotism  or  on  that  of  altruism. 
The  animal  self  of  one's  own  personality  is  the  humane  all, 
through  the  divine  individuality.    The  Holy  Inquisition  and 
the  French  Revolution  illustrate  the  possibility  of  incarnate 
evil;  while  the  list  of  martyrs  rejoicing  amid  flames,  and  the 
unsung  heroes  and  heroines  of  the  cause  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness abundantly  prove  the  possibility  of  the  soul's  tri- 
umph over  all  its  foes.    The  servants  of  evil  and  the  servants 
of  truth  have  often  thus  stood  face  to  face  in  the  world  s 
history    yet  few  historians  have   adequately   comprehended 
the  meaning  of  the  situation  or  the  elements  involved,  be- 
cause  they   have  written   from   the  planes   of   self-interest. 
The  glimpses  thus  revealed  of  human  nature  at  white  heat 
go  to  its  very  foundations,  and  he  who  seeks  to  know  him- 
self may  thus  learn  from  human  kind. 

There  has  been  very  great  progress  in  recent  times,  par- 
ticularly among  western  nations,  in  intellectual  life  and 
scientific  discovery.     Two   causes    have   more    than  others 


The  Nervous  System.  151 

contributed  to  this  result,  namely,  the  discovery  and  ad- 
vancement of  the  art  of  printing,  and  the  inductive  method 
introduced  by  Sir  Francis  Bacon.  Nothing  can  be  gained, 
however,  by  deceiving  ourselves  as  to  the  true  character  of 
this  progress  and  its  bearings  on  the  real  interests  of  man. 
The?**  discoveries  it  is  true  have  multiplied  our  resources 
and  increased  our  power  over  nature,  but  they  have  in  equal 
measure  multiplied  our  wants.  Necessities  have  given  place 
to  luxuries  and  natural  modes  of  living  to  artificiality.  In 
the  meantime,  the  religious  life  of  the  people  has  been  on  the 
wane,  and  a  puritanical  consciousness  has  been  replaced  by 
a  widespread  covetousness.  The  race  for  riches  and  the  lust 
for  political  power  are  fast  trampling  out  the  last  vestiges 
of  religious  obligation.  It  is  true  that  much  of  the  former 
leligious  sentiment  was  often  but  another  name  for  super- 
stition, and  that  in  many  cases  this  has  given  place  to  en- 
lightenment and  reason ;  but  the  whole  tendency  of  the  times 
is  to  do  away  with  all  sacred  things  except  perhaps  human 
life  and  the  rights  of  property;  but  even  here  our  boasted 
civilization  has  generated  another  class,  by  no  means  small 
or  insignificant,  with  whom  the  rights  of  person  and  prop- 
erty are  by  no  means  divine  rights,  but  are  held  as  subser- 
vient to  so-called  communism.  In  a  certain  sense  this  voice 
of  communism  is  a  blind  feeling  after  the  humane  principle 
of  altruism,  engendered  by  helplessness  and  envy,  and  set  on 
fire  by  the  very  material  power  and  prosperity  to  which  we 
have  referred.  Here  again  is  good  and  evil  face  to  face; 
riot  as  heretofore  embodied  in  individuals,  but  as  repre- 
sented by  classes.  Neither  class  is  altogether  good,  nor  al- 
together evil,  but  each  represents  a  principle.  The  evil 
principle  of  selfish  egotism  is  apparently  triumphant,  hence 
its  complacence  in  the  face  of  the  gathering  storm.  Society 
is  thus  at  war  with  itself.  Capital  and  labor,  the  head  and 
the  hands  of  the  body  politic,  are  thus  in  hostile  array.  The 
balance  of  power  is  really  though  unconsciously  with  labor, 
and  it  will  be  a  sad  day  for  humanity  when  the  beast  in  the 


152  A   Study  of  Man. 

great  unwashed,  unfed  masses  realizes  its  power  and  organ- 
izes its  strength.  This  terrible  realization  has  been  thus  far 
prevented  by  the  humane  spirit  which  has  found  lodgment 
and  large  exercise  in  the  middle  class,  who  are  neither  rich 
nor  poor,  and  who  are  as  a  rule  better  read  and  more  char- 
itably inclined  than  any  other  class.  This  middle  class  in- 
clude the  great  bulk  of  the  learned  professions,  those  who 
mingle  intimately  with  men  and  women,  and  who  therefore 
know  more  of  humanity  as  it  is  than  any  other,  for  this  class 
are  taught  by  that  all-potent  instructor,  human  sympathy. 
To  these  must  be  added  artisans  and  the  more  intelligent 
and  better  paid  laborers,  both  men  and  women.  Here  is  the 
balance  of  power,  but  for  which  anarchy  and  desolation 
would  long  ago  have  come  to  reign.  This  class  know  and 
exercise  their  power  continually.  They  are  foremost  in  all 
good  works.  Drawing  their  philosophy  of  life  from  broad 
experience,  possessed  by  a  humane  impulse,  this  class  are  the 
somewhat  blind  agents  of  the  divine  principle  of  altruism. 
Clinging  to  the  ancient  traditions  in  the  face  of  intellectual 
doubt  and  denial,  a  contradiction  to  themselves,  they  never- 
theless feel  blindly  after  the  truth  and  serve  it  with  willing 
hands.  It  is  indeed  true  -that  among  the  more  fortunate  few 
there  are  many  noble  exceptions,  and  the  notable  increase 
of  large  bequests  for  purposes  of  charitable  relief,  and  for 
educational  purposes,  is  an  encouraging  sign  of  the  times. 
Yet  in  the  face  of  all  this,  the  spectacle  of  a  single  individ- 
ual holding  in  his  grasp  a  hundred  millions  of  money,  and 
of  corporations,  and  trusts,  which  are  able  to  control  legis- 
lation and  to  dictate  the  terms  of  trade,  the  price  of  food,  as 
well  as  the  compensation  for  labor,  keeps  alive  the  hatred 
and  envy  of  the  starving  masses,  improvident  as  they  are, 
and  unreasoning  as  they  are  likely  to  remain.  Communism 
will  not  cure  this  widespread  disease  of  our  boasted  civiliza- 
tion, but  the  spirit  of  altruism  will.  Nothing  but  this  spirit 
in  the  middle  class  has  been  able  to  hold  the  disease  in  abey- 
ance.   If  the  wealth  of  the  world  were  equally  divided  among 


The  Nervous  System.  153 

its  inhabitants  today  there  would  arise  tomorrow  the  dis- 
tinction of  rich  and  poor,  as  well  as  the  classes  of  capital 
and  labo1*  The  divine  spirit  of  altruism  lays  a  heavy  hand 
on  greed,  and  at  the  same  time  extends  a  helping  hand  to 
the  needy  and  the  ignorant,  and  even  to  the  slothful  and 
improvident.  In  the  light  of  a  divine  humanity  the  greedy 
no  less  than  the  needy  will  be  benefited  by  this  toueh  of  sym- 
pathy that  makes  the  whole  world  akin.  The  suffering  of 
poverty  may  be  without  crime  and  is  often  without  envy — 
not  so  the  embodiment  of  greed  and  all  uncharitableness. 
1  would  plead  for  these  rather  than  for  the  hungry  poor; 
they  are  more  to  be  pitied  here  and  now  than  any  for  mere 
poverty's  sake;  and  the  fact  that  they  do  not  realize  their 
crime  only  shows  how  deeply  their  higher  nature  has  be- 
come obscured  and  degraded.  Prosperity  often  tries  the 
soul  of  man  far  more  severely  than  adversity.  Opportunities 
to  do  good  employed  for  purposes  of  selfish  pride  and  lust 
of  gain  can  have  but  one  effect,  namely,  to  degrade  and  bru- 
talize. On  the  other  hand,  adversity  is  often  the  alembic 
that  brings  out  the  pure  gold  of  a  more  noble  manhood  and 
womanhood.  These  are  problems  that  no  man  can  afford  to 
disregard.  These  principles  lie  at  the  very  foundation  of 
human  nature,  and  they  cannot  be  ignored  without  annulling 
the  very  foundations  of  life  itself,  and  setting  at  naught 
any  rational  meaning  or  possible  benefit  of  individual  life 
on  earth.  If  human  life  has  no  higher  meaning  than  animal 
greed  and  the  survival  of  the  fittest  on  the  plane  of  the 
senses,  then  indeed  is  man  like  the  beasts  that  perish.  His 
god  is  his  selfishness,  and  he  had  better  curse  it  and  die ! 

To  return  now  from  the  body  politic  to  the  human  body, 
it  has  been  elsewhere  shown  that  the  building  up  of  a  com- 
plex tissue  from  simple  living  matter  occurs  through  a  proc- 
ess of  polarization,  tending  thus  to  a  fixation  of  form  and 
definite  waves  of  motion,  with  ebb  and  flow  of  the  tide  of  life 
from  surface  to  center,  and  from  center  to  surface.  It  was 
also  shown  how  the  center  of  life  thus  posited  becomes  also  a 


I54  A   Study  of  Man. 

center  of  consciousness.     This  universal  tendency  to  polar- 
ization presupposes  a  universal  substance,  magnetism,  lying 
back  of  all  forms  and  beneath  all  matter.    Progressive  differ- 
entiation of  living  substance  tending  to  the  fixation  of  form 
is  from  first  to  last  a  necrosis,  or  progressive  death  of  living 
matter.     Thus   that  relative  fixation  of   form  with  definite 
function,  called  muscle,  nerve,  gland  and  the  like,  slowly  but 
surely  destroys  that  mobility  and  irritability  of  living  matter 
which  specially  characterizes  unformed  protoplasm.    Molec- 
ular death  is  therefore  the  concomitant  of   life.     The  en- 
dowment of  life  as  a  fixed  condition  belongs  to  no  matter. 
Progressive   endowment   of    life    and    progressive   death- 
matter  becoming  alive,  and  matter  becoming  dead— are  the 
conditions  of  all  material  substances  constituting  the  animal 
body  or  the  human  form.     Here  may  be  seen  the  principle 
of  death  and  of  rejuvenescence  pertaining  to  the  tissues  as 
to  the  entire  body  and  life  of  man.    In  this  process  of  trans- 
formation whereby  protoplasm  takes  on  the  form  and  func- 
tion of  tissue  and  organ  there  is  a  reserved  quantity  at  any 
given  time  of  matter  endowed  with  life  not  thus  transformed. 
This  enables  the  individual  to  undergo  long  fasts,  and  to  en- 
dure wasting  diseases  and  still  recuperate.     This  reserve  of 
living  matter  is  moreover  greatly  fortified  by  the  presence 
of  fatty  substances  rich  in  carbon,  by  the  oxidation  of  which 
the   temperature    of    the   body   is   maintained.      This    living 
matter  is  found    in  large  quantities  floating    in  the  blood- 
vessels   and    in    the    lymphatics    in    which    it    is    specially 
elaborated.     All  problems  of  nutrition  relate  directly  to  the 
formation  of  these  living  colloids  and  their  transformation 
into  tissue  in  the  process  of  growth  and  repair.     In  youth 
the  surplus  of  living  matter  is  large  and  its  transformation 
rapid.     In  old  age  the  quantity  is  relatively  small   and  its 
transformation  slow.     In  age  the   form  of  the  tissues  has 
become  more  fixed ;  the  contour  of  the  body  is  more  angular ; 
polarization  pushes  the  entire  bodily  organism  toward  crys- 
tallization.    The    bodily    juices  dry  up,  mobility  gradually 


The  Nervous  System.  155 

ceases  within  and  without,  and  molecular  death  merges  into 
corporeal  death,  and  the  matter  of  life  removes  to  the  lower 
plane  of  chemism  and  decomposition. 

If  now  we  consider  the  untransformed  living  matter  of 
the  body  en  masse,  the  colloids  floating  in  the  blood-vessels, 
lymphatics,  and  the  nuclei  of  all  tissue  cells,  we  shall  get 
the  idea  of  a  colloidal  body  of  living  matter  within  the  body 
of  tissues  and  organs.  We  have  frequently  referred  to  the 
impressibility  of  the  individual  colloids  of  living  matter, 
their  sensitiveness  to  all  impressions  and  their  readiness  to 
take  on  specific  forms,  and  the  ease  with  which  they  are 
transformed  into  tissues  having  relatively  fixed  forms.  This 
aggregation  °f  living  colloids  extending  throughout  the 
physical  or  tissue-body,  and  anchored  in  the  very  center  of 
every  microscopic  tissue  cell,  is  the  only  substance  to  which 
life  directly  adheres,  and  may  be  conceived  as  the  animal 
soul,  the  pure  psychic  body,  the  vehicle  of  sense.  This 
psychic  body  anchored  thus  in  the  center  of  every  living  cell 
constitutes  an  almost  innumerable  series  of  centers  of  life, 
dominated  by  the  larger  polarities  of  the  body,  which  polar- 
ities are  maintained  by  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  the  cir- 
culation being  maintained  by  respiration.  Withdraw  from 
any  tissue  cell  the  nucleus  of  living  matter  and  the  cell  dies. 
Whenever  the  body  as  a  whole  dies  the  life  departs  from  the 
psychic  body,  but  the  tissues  preserve  their  form  for  a  con- 
siderable time,  and  the  form  of  the  tissues  may  be  artificially 
preserved  for  a  long  time,  though  every  vestige  of  their 
function  in  life  departs  at  death.  Even  the  artificial  con- 
traction qf  muscle  under  galvanic  stimulation  is  no  more 
than  an  illustration  of  a  mechanical  principle,  and  a  demon- 
stration at  best  of  the  principle  of  magnetic  polarization  so 
potent  in  life.  This  colloidal  psychic  body  is  thus  seen  as  the 
physical  and  no  less  as  the  vital  basis  of  all  organisms,  the 
\ery  web  and  woof  of  life,  but  it  cannot  of  itself  determine 
any  bodily  form  or  function.  These  are  impressed  upon  It 
from  without,  or  evolved  from  within.     We  must  not  over- 


I56  A  Study  of  Man. 

look  the  fact  that  the  first  changes  in  embryonic  life  begin 
with  this  same  proteus ;  nor  that  the  germ,  the  fertilization 
of  which  is  the  beginning  of  development,  in  positing  a  cen- 
ter of  life,  contains  a  nucleus  of  protoplasm.     We  must  also 
lemember  that  the  earliest  manifestation  of  a  developing  life 
center  is  its  power  to  transform  and  replenish  its  store  of 
protoplasm.     In  a  previous  section  it  has  been  shown  that 
proteus,  with  its  magnetic  endowment,  or  tendency  to  polar- 
ization, lies  nearest  the  ether,  and  that  it  readily  qualifies 
in  all  outward  forms  of  life.    The  colloidal  body  then  U  most 
directly  related  to  the  subjective  world.    It  is  that  substance 
which  most  directly  receives  all  impressions  coming  from  the 
unseen  world  of  causes  and  ideal  forms.     If  this  psychic  or 
colloidal  body  may  be  thus  imagined  to  act  as  a  whole  and 
to  receive  impressions  as  any  nerve  center  or  sensory  area 
receives  them,  such  impressions  have  only  to  be  transmitted 
to   consciousness   in  order  to  constitute   a  valid  experience. 
Let  us  call  this  function  the  psychic  sense,  or  direct  physico- 
magnetic  impression.    All  these  terms  are  often  used,  and  in 
a  very  illogical  and  contradictory  manner,  without  any  at- 
tempt to  locate  or  define  them.    This  psychic  body  is  not  the 
human  soul,  but  the  vehicle  of  the  soul,  as  the  tissue-body 
is  the  vehicle  of  the  psychic  body.    We  are  dealing  with  ma- 
terial  substances   and   psychic   forces,   and   for  the  present 
leaving  out  of  account  that  great  central  fact,  consciousness, 
and  its  next  development,  self-consciousness,   and  the  rela- 
tions of  these  to  all  physiological  and  psychological  activity. 
The  psychic  body  bears  as  definite  relations  to  consciousness 
in  all  its  forms  and  degrees  on  the  subjective  side  of  being 
as  does  the  tissue-body  on  the  objective  side;  for  conscious- 
ness stands  in  the  center  of  these  two  worlds  as  represented 
in  man.  The  psychic  body  is  the  reservoir  of  magnetic  power 
in  man.     This' reservoir  has   a  definite   center  of   its   own. 
This  center  is  manifested  as  sex.     The  great  solar  plexus 
may  be  called  the  sympathetic  brain  of  the  psychic  body, 
fortified  by  the  heart  and  lungs.     So  far  as  the  physical  ele- 


The  Nervous  System.  157 

merits  and  forces  of  creative  power  in  man  are  concerned 
they  are  thus  located  and  centered.  These  furnish  the  ele- 
ments of  life,  but  they  do  not  give  it  ideal  form  and  central 
endowment.  These  endowments  are  subjective,  and  are  in- 
volved from  higher  planes.  Sensibility  and  diffused  con- 
sciousness belong  to  the  psychic  body.  It  is  the  vehicle  of 
desire,  appetite,  lust  and  passion.  Even  the  lower  animals 
possess  in  addition  to  the  psychic  body  a  center  of  life  and 
consciousness,  as  they  are  rudimentarv-human.  Man  pos- 
sesses self-consciousness,  as  he  is  rudimentary-divine.  We 
have  already  shown  how  as  life  progresses  in  concrete  de- 
grees the  higher  nature  overtops  the  lower,  and  the  lower 
nature  still  adheres  in  the  higher  in  the  endless  chain  of 
existence. 

If  now  we  seek  illustrations  of  the  psychic  sense  we  are 
overwhelmed  with  the  magnitude  and  number  of  such  illus- 
trations. They  include  the  whole  body  of  facts  in  animal 
magnetism,  taking  into  account  the  abeyance  and  dominance 
of  will  and  the  shifting  of  consciousness.  Cerebral  uncon- 
sciousness, even  when  memory  is  blotted  out  as  by  chloro- 
form, leaves  the  sex-center  of  the  psychic  body  wide  awake 
and  often  abnormally  active.  So  also  deep  sleep  that  blots 
out  all  outward  consciousness  leaves  the  psychic  center  un- 
affected, and  still  active.  The  whole  record  of  experiments 
in  hypnotism  is  directly  related  to  the  psychic  body,  and  even 
here  memory  may  be  impressed  independent  of  ordinarv  con- 
sciousness. The  psychic  body  has  a  memory  and  conscious- 
ness of  its  own  relatively  independent  of  the  brain  and  self- 
consciousness.  On  the  other  hand  the  phenomena  of  clair- 
voyance and  clair-audience,  which  include  consciousness, 
and  are  related  to  the  subjective  world,  are  also  related  to  the 
psychic  body  and  its  functions.  The  bodily  avenues  of  sense 
are  well  defined  and  impressions  from  the  outer  world  reach 
consciousness  through  these,  but  in  rare  instances,  where 
these  bodily  avenues  are  wanting  or  obstructed,  there  is  in- 


Xc8  A  Study  of  Man. 

disputable  evidence  that  impressions  from  the  outer  world 
reach  consciousness  through  other  channels.  The  psychic 
body  as  the  avenue  for  subjective  impressions  now  acrs  also 
in  conveying  objective  impressions  to  the  sensorium.  Even 
as  I  write  the  case  of  little  Helen  Keller  comes  under  my  no- 
tice, through  an  article  by  Sallie  Joy  White  in  Wide  Awake, 
March  I,  1887:  "Miss  Sullivan  began  her  duties  as  teacher 
to  little  Helen  Keller,  who,  although  blind,  deaf  and  dumb, 
was  destined,  under  her  training,  to  become  so  great  a  won- 
der that  scientific  men  from  Europe,  as  well  as  this  country, 
would  study  her  as  a  real  intellectual  phenomenon. 

"Miss  Sullivan  found  her  pupil  a  bright,  well-grown 
girl  of  nearly  seven  years  of  age,  with  a  clear  complexion 
and  pretty  brown  hair.  She  was  quick  and  graceful,  with 
a  merry  laugh,  and  fond  of  romping  with  other  children. 
You  wonder,  don't  you,  how  she  can  run  about  and  play? 
Well,  she  will  play  tag,  and  have  as  great  a  frolic  about  it 
as  any  child  you  ever  saw.  She  feels  the  vibrations  of  the 
ground  by  her  feet,  and  so  knows  just  which  way  to  go, 
and  what  to  avoid.  Indeed,  her  sense  of  movement  is  acute, 
and  she  tells  often  about  going  to  church  'to  hear  the  organ 
play.'  She  knows  when  it  is  being  played,  in  the  same  way 
that  she  can  tell  which  way  to  run  in  the  game  of  tag.  The 
floor  vibrates  and  thus  conveys  to  her  the  knowledge  of  what 
is  being  done.  It  cannot  be  possible  that  she  gets  any  real 
idea  of  sound  in  this  way,  although  she  must  get  the  rhyth- 
mic flow  of  the  music.  How  much  she  is  able  to  realize  of 
its  beauty  and  harmony  we  never  will  know,  but  there  must 
be  some  charm  about  it,  for  she  is  fond  of  it. 

"Would  you  think  that  without  the  ability  to  hear  the 
music,  or  to  see  the  steps,  she  could  learn  to  dance?  It 
doesn't  seem  possible,  does  it?  And  yet  she  has  learned  the 
art;  she  was  taught  by  one  of  her  little  companions.  She 
likes  always  to  do  what  the  other  children  do,  and  as  they 
were  dancing  one  day  she  wanted  to  join  them.  The  little 
friend  took  her  hand  and  tried  to  make  her  keep  time  with 


The  Nervous  System. 


159 


her  in  the  step;  but  she  could  not  manage  it.  Suddenly,  as 
swift  as  thought,  for  with  this  wonderful  child  to  think  and 
to  act  are  simultaneous,  she  slid  to  the  floor,  and  motioning 
the  little  girl  to  go  on  with  her  dancing,  she  felt  the  motion 
of  her  feet  and  the  bending  of  the  knee.  In  a  moment  she 
was  on  her  feet  again,  dancing  merrily;  she  had  caught  the 
spirit  of  the  motion  through  her  little  fingers.  And  now 
dancing  is  her  favorite  diversion. 

"It  is  doubtful  whether  anyone  in  possession  of  eyesight 
and  hearing  can  arrive  at  little  Helen's  acuteness  of  touch 
and  sensitiveness  to  motion.  We  depend  on  our  eyes  and 
cars,  and  do  not  call  our  other  senses  into  full  activity,  and 
these  other  senses  will  best  be  studied  in  persons  like  little 
Helen  Keller.  She  can  distinguish  between  puppies  of  the 
same  litter;  and  since  she  has  been  taught  to  spell  she  will 
spell  the  name  of  each  one  as  soon  as  she  touches  him.  Her 
sense  of  smell  is  so  keen  that  she  will  recognize  different 
roses  by  their  fragrance,  and  by  the  same  sense  she  can 
separate  her  own  clothes  from  those  which  belong  to  others. 
She  knows  if  anyone  near  her  is  sad.  Seldom  will  physical 
pain  make  her  cry,  but  she  will  discover  quickly  if  a  friend 
is  hurt,  or  ill,  or  grieved  by  her  conduct,  and  this  knowledge 
will  make  her  weep  bitterly. 

"Mr.  Anagnos  says  that  her  wonderful  faculties  are  mat- 
ters beyond  us.  The  ideas  of  death  and  burial  have  never 
been  communicated  to  her;  but,  when  taken  into  a  ceme- 
tery, on  account  of  some  beautiful  flowers  there  she  grew 
pale  and  grave,  and  put  her  little  hands  upon  her  teacher's 
eyes  and  her  mother's,  and  spelled  out,  'cry,  cry,'  and  her 
own  eyes  filled  with  tears. 

"Her  teacher  says  that  one  day  when  her  brother  was 
coming  toward  them  as  they  were  walking,  Helen  knew  it, 
spelled  his  name  repeatedly,  and  started  in  the  right  direction 
to  meet  him.  She  gives  the  names  of  people  she  meets  walk- 
ing or  riding  as  soon  as  their  presence  is  recognized.  Often 
when  she  is  about  to  make  known  some  plan  the  child  will 


T60  A  Study  of  Man. 

anticipate  her  and  spell  out  the  plan  about  to  be  unfolded. 
Whether  this  be  the  action  of  some  sharpened  sense  already 
known  to  us  and  named,  or  the  awaking  and  working  of 
some  sense  not  understood,  it  is  at  least  an  interesting  mat- 
ter for  study." 

Such  cases  are  by  no  means  uncommon,  though  the  prin- 
ciple under  consideration  is  in  the  case  of  Helen  Keller  il- 
lustrated in   an   unusual   degree.     To   this   class   belong  the 
Seeress  of  Prevorst,   Heinrich  Yung-Stilling,  the   friend  of 
Goethe,  the  Drummer  Boy  of  Tedworth,  Angelique  Cottin, 
MollieVancher   of   Brooklyn,   and   thousands  of   others,   all 
differing  in  detail  of  manifestation  but  not  in  general  prin- 
ciple, thus  demonstrating  the  existence  of  the  psychic  sense 
It  is  through  this  psychic   sense  that  animals   are  enabled 
to  follow  a  trail,  and  the  same  power  has  been  witnessed  in 
certain  human  beings,  thus  showing  it  to  partake  of  physical 
qualities  capable  of  transmission  to  both  animate  and  inani- 
mate objects.     Invisible  emanations  preserving  the  distinct 
personal   attributes    are   thus   associated    with    the   psychic 
sense,  helping  to  constitute  the  psychic  body.     This  psychic 
bodv,  composed  of  living  matter,  anchored  in  the  center  of 
every  tissue  cell  of  the  human  body,  and  extending  thus  to 
every  organ  and  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  physical  struc- 
ture   is  the  medium  between  the  physical  structure  and  the 
subjective  world  of  ideal  forms  and  all-pervading  principles. 
In  the  ovum  the  nucleus  of  living  matter  receives  the  im- 
press of  the  human  likeness,  and  the  potential  center  of  lite 
thus  posited  begins  to  involve  the  human  form,  as  it  evolves 
the  physical  body.     The  developing  germ  now  passes  rapidly 
and  in  succession  over  the  various  planes  of  life,  marked  in 
the  outer  world  as  distinct  species.     These  planes  are  spe- 
cially marked  by  the  well-known  stages  of  nutrition   as  cell- 
nutrition,   tuft-nutrition,   placental   nutrition,   and  finally   as 
mammal  nutrition.     All  this  has  been  referred  to  m  other- 
connections.     Here  may  be  noted  the  broader  relations  at 
which  we  have  arrived.    The  severance  of  the  cord  at  birth 


The  Nervous  System.  161 

marks  the  end  of  placental  nutrition,  and  the  wonderful 
changes  in  the  circulation  of  the  blood  that  then  occur, 
and  the  independent  respiratory  process  that  then 
begins,  mark  an  important  era  in  the  individual  life. 
The  human  being  rises  at  once  to  a  higher  plane  of  life.  A 
very  careful  study  of  these  changes  and  the  just  apprehen- 
sion of  their  relation  to  each  other  and  to  conscious  life 
will  go  far  toward  explaining  that  great  subsequent  change 
called  death.  The  physical  body  thereafter  decomposes,  as 
does  the  placenta.  The  incoming  and  outgoing  tide  of  air  is 
cut  off  as  effectually  as  is  the  tide  of  blood  in  the  umbilical 
cord.  If  even  as  great  a  change  occurs  in  the  latter  case  as 
in  the  former,  the  vehicle  of  consciousness  shifting  now  to 
the  subjective  plane  enters  on  a  new  life,  as  definitely  re- 
lated to  the  respiratory  life  as  that  was  to  the  placental,  and 
as  directly  to  be  inferred  from  the  preceding  respiratory  as 
that  from  the  placental.  The  law  of  analogy  is  here  the 
great  interpreter,  discerning  from  the  present  both  that 
which  has  been  and  that  which  will  be.  Consciousness  is 
posited  as  a  center  in  the  center  of  life  of  the  germ.  To  this 
center  of  life  endowed  with  the  fact  of  consciousness,  and 
impressed  with  the  human  form  or  idea,  the  waves  of  in- 
volving or  evolving  force  come  and  go  as  to  a  focus.  All 
experience,  that  is,  all  sensation  and  feeling,  all  motor  im- 
pressions, the  concensus  of  all  bodily  changes,  are  thus 
focused  upon  the  conscious  center  of  life.  This  center 
therefore  expands,  its  channels  deepen,  as  it  epitomizes  the 
whole  of  the  unfolding  life.  The  embryo  when  completely 
developed  is  dissevered  from  its  matrix  and  finally  stands 
alone — a  living,  conscious,  self-centered  organism,  belong- 
ing equally  as  to  fact,  but  not  in  degree,  to  two  worlds,  the 
natural  and  the  spiritual,  the  objective  and  the  subjective. 
The  object  is  not  here  to  establish  or  maintain  the  existence 
of  the  human  soul,  for  that  must  remain  with  every  individ- 
ual a  matter  of  consciousness  to  be  demonstrated  by  experi- 
ence. The  object  is  rather  to  show  the  real  nature  of  man 
as  he  is,  proceeding  from  a  physico-vital  plane,  and  suggest- 


j62  A  Study  of  Man. 

ing  certain  coherent  lines  of  investigation,  and  certain  log- 
ical analogies  that  necessarily  arise  in  our  pursuit  of  truth. 
It  is  true  that  these  methods  point  in  the  opposite  direction 
irom    spiritual   nihilism,    and   necessitate    further   analogies, 
but  these  may  justly  be  left  to  each  individual  to  determine 
for  himself.    What  is  most  urgently  needed  is  a  better  knowl- 
edge of  man  as  he  is,  here  and  now,  in  order  that  he  may 
make  the  very  highest  and  best  use  of  present  opportunities. 
Other-worldliness  often  leads  to  the  neglect  of  these  oppor- 
tunities equally  with  worklliness.     If  men  and  women  could 
be  made  to  realize  that  they  are  here  and  now  living  in  both 
the  natural  and  the  spiritual  worlds,  and  if  they  can  be  made 
to  see  that  through   conscious   experience  they   may   deter- 
mine their  own  position  in  the  scale  of  being  and  the  help- 
fulness that  they  may  extend  to  others,  the  efficiency  of  hu- 
man life  will  be  largely  increased.     The  present  object  is 
therefore    to   point   out    these    possibilities    and    to    suggest 
methods  by  which  they  may  be  realized.     To  most  persons 
interested  in  these  studies  science  is  discouraging,  philosophy 
bewildering,  and  theology  mystifying,  and,  if  they  find  belief 
no  longer  satisfying,  the  .result  is  to  disarm  the  mdividua 
of  that  real  zest  in  life  that  comes  only  from  a  well-defined 
purpose  enthusiastically  pursued.     For  lack  of  this  zest  m 
life    apathy  settles  upon  the  soul  like  mildew  upon  matter, 
and  eats  out  its  crowning  glory.    A  melancholy  pessimist   or 
/a  scoffing  materialist,  is  the  result— conditions  less  desirable 
because  more  demoralizing  than  blind  faith  or  even  ignorant 
superstition.    These  habits  of  thought  are  not  readily  broken 
up      The   mind    may   become   dissipated    and   demoralized 
through  vicious  habits   of  thought,  just  as   the  body  does 
through  vicious  habits  of  life.    In  fact  there  is  no  separating 
body  and  mind  in  this  regard.    The  law  of  habit  equally  gov- 
erns as  it  underlies  both  body  and  mind.     We  have  already 
shown  that  all  transmission  of  energy  in  a  definite  diiection 
tends  to  the  fixation  of  form,  and  again  that  all  fixation  ot 
form  predetermines  the  mode  of  transmission  and  the  form 
of  energy.    All  living  matter  and  all  living  tissue  both  pos- 


The  Nervous  System.  163 

sess  and  transmit  energy.  The  transmission  of  energy  fol- 
lows the  line  of  least  resistance;  that  is,  it  goes  most  readily 
where  it  has  gone  before.  The  ultimatum  is  the  fixation  of 
specific  form,  and  the  transmission  of  energy— waves  of  mo- 
tion—without resistance.  The  brain  is  a  compound  register- 
ing ganglion.  As  age  advances  registration  gradually 
ceases,  and  transmission  of  energy  under  acquired  habit  or 
fixed  forms  only  remains.  The  physical  basis  of  memory 
thus  finally  obliterates  memory  itself,  for  as  the  cerebral 
habit  becomes  fixed  and  precludes  all  further  impression, 
progressive  molecular  death,  or  natural  decay  obliterates 
earlier  impressions,  till  finally  only  the  essence  of  impres- 
sions remains  as  precipitated  by  experience  in  consciousness. 
Finally  even  consciousness  wanes  and  gives  place  to  senile 
imbecility.  The  senso-motor  mechanism  on  the  one  side 
bears  a  definite  relation  to  the  psycho-mental  on  the  other. 
All  motions,  sensations,  feelings  and  thoughts  are  definitely 
related  to  psychic  structure;  and  any  repetition  of  impulse 
in  any  of  these  lines  of  experience  tends  to  diminish  resist- 
ance, and  to  facilitate  very  greatly  a  repetition  of  the  similar 
impulse,  or  in  other  words,  to  establish  the  habit.  The  range 
of  activities  that  may  thus  become  automatic  is  very  great. 
Acts  performed  at  first  with  difficulty,  with  concentration  of 
mind,  and  with  energy  of  will,  are  not  only  finally  performed 
without  effort,  but  are  performed  unconsciously,  and  while 
the  mind  is  concentrated  on  other  things.  What  may  be 
called  natural  organic  volition  is  now  supplemented  by  ac- 
quired or  artificial  volition.  In  the  exercise  of  muscle,  which 
up  to  a  certain  point  promotes  development,  there  is  a  defi- 
nite relation  between  force  and  mass,  between  energy  and 
resistance.  In  the  more  delicate  muscular  manipulations  re- 
quiring a  wide  range  of  activities,  differentiation  still  tends 
to  automatism.  Automatism  is  therefore  directly  related  to 
differentiation,  and  inversely  related  to  mass.  The  cessation 
of  the  process  of  differentiation  is  the  fixation  of  habit.  We 
have  now  derived  the  elements  with  which  to  determine  the 
laws  of  habit  in  regard  to  mental  processes.     The  building 


!64  A   Study  of  Man. 

up  of  the  brain  structure  and  the  exercise  of   its   normal 
function  have  their  root  in  the  general  principles  of  physiol- 
ogy.    The   form  of  tissue,   the   relations  of  parts,   and  the 
method  of  action  are  determined  by  the  laws  of  mathematics, 
thus  determining  both  symmetry  and  harmony.     This  com- 
plex structure,  the  human  brain,  like  all  other  tissues,  is  in 
constant  need  of    rejuvenescence,   and    hence   both   normal 
and  abnormal  forms  are  repeated  and  perpetuated.     A  nor- 
mally-developed healthy  brain  has  within  itself,  and  through 
its  natural  exercise,  a  power  and  perpetuity  but  little  known 
and  seldom  seen.     On  the  other  hand,  just  as  a  bridge  or 
building  erected  in  disregard  of  the  principles  of  mechanics 
—weight,    tension    and   the   strength   of    material— contains 
within  itself  the  elements  of  its  own  destruction  beyond  the 
encroachments  of  time  and  natural  decay,  and  is  liable  to 
fall  at  any  time  by  its  own  weight,  or  by  a  slight  strain  such 
as  a  well-constructed  edifice  could  bear  with  safety;  so  it  is 
with  that  vital  mechanism,  the  human  brain.     Evil  thoughts 
and  all  vicious  mental  states  overcome  resistance,  and  mold 
the  structure  till  it  repeats  automatically  the  evil,  as  it  re- 
peats the  good  impulse.     Every  evil  impulse  thus  repeated 
tends  from  the  first  to  disharmony  and  to  disease  of  the  en- 
tire structure,  and  finally  results  in  ruin.  It  is  physiologically 
true,  that  "the  wages  of  sin  is  death."    The  law  of  habit  has 
its  root  in  the  anatomy  of  the  body,  of  which  the  brain  is  a 
part;  its  motor  power  is  in  the  physiology  of  nutrition  and 
circulation;  its  theater  of  activity  is  in  the  protean  living 
matter;  the  principle  of  its  activity  lies  in  polarization;  its 
forms  and  relations  are  in  the  principles  of  mathematics,  and 
the  key  to  its  interpretation  is  analogy. 

As  we  ascend  frJm  the  general  psychological  plane 
toward  the  center  of  being  we  encounter  two  principles, 
namely,  will  and  desire.  Will  is  to  the  mind  what  vitality  is 
to  the  body,  namely,  the  sum  of  all  its  energy.  Desire  is  the 
directing  agency  of  mind  and  body,  as  appetite  or  hunger  is 
the  directing  agency  of  the  vital  body.  What  we  call  motive 
gives  color  to  will,  desire  and  appetite,  as  it  relates  ah  these 


The  Nervous  System.  165 

to  results  and  to  other  individuals.  Motive  is  therefore  re- 
lated to  self-consciousness,  the  attribute  of  the  reasoning 
mind.  Consider,  for  example,  that  manifestation  of  desire 
known  as  lust.  Desire  through  the  imagination  pictures  to 
the  mind,  and  through  vitality  inflames  the  blood  in  antici- 
pation of  the  coveted  enjoyment.  The  will  is  chained  to 
vitality,  self-consciousness  is  obscured,  and  mere  psychic 
sense  is  centered  in  the  sexual  center  of  life.  Thus  the  ani- 
mal ego  reigns  supreme.  With  every  repetition  of  this  alle- 
giance to  lust  resistance  decreases,  and  the  imagination  re- 
vels in  its  new  creation  till  the  habit  of  both  mind  and  body 
conform  to  the  animal  ideal.  Many  persons  fail  to  distin- 
guish between  this  passion  and  love.  These  two  principles 
have  not  only  nothing  in  common  but  they  are  the  direct 
antipodes  of  each  other.  Lust  seeks  all  for  self,  and  merci- 
lessly devours.  Love  is  beneficent,  and  seeks  another's  good. 
In  seeking  all  for  self,  lust  not  only  destroys  its  victims  and 
destroys  itself,  but  destroys  its  possessor.  There  is  a  road  by 
which  human  beings  may  lose  their  humanity  and  descend, 
body  and  soul,  to  the  plane  of  the  brutes.  Consciousness  de- 
scends from  the  higher  self,  to  the  sex-center  of  the  psychic 
body  or  animal  soul,  and  our  hospitals  and  insane  asylums 
are  filled  with  these  victims  of  lust,  where  insanity,  imbe- 
cility and  drivelling  idiocy  protest  in  the  name  of  humanity 
at  the  disregard  of  nature's  plainest  laws.  Those  who  really 
know  human  nature  through  any  wide  experience  directed 
by  sincere  desire  for  the  truth  know  that,  upon  a  correct 
knowledge  of  the  meaning  of  sex,  and  the  true  relations  of 
the  sexes,  depend  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  the  human 
race,  more  than  upon  anything  else  in  its  present  stage  of 
development.  And  yet  those  who  have  learned  the  truth  in 
these  regards  cannot  reveal  it  because  of  the  predominance 
in  the  great  bulk  of  humanity  of  the  animal  ego  over  the  di- 
vinely human,  the  triumph  of  the  selfish  over  the  humane,  of 
lust  over  love.  The  larger  liberty  and  prophetic  enfranchise- 
ment of  woman  can  only  redeem  the  human  race  and  lift 
even  man  himself  into  his  divine  birthright.    The  pure  love 


±06  A  Study  of  Man. 

nature  is  strong  in  every  true  woman,  and  she  will  thus  ren- 
der good  for  evil  in  measure  altogether  divine.  Here  lies 
the  secret  of  happy  homes,  of  healthy  and  healthful  human 
beings,  of  divinely  inspired  human  souls.  Love  is  but  an- 
other name  for  that  spirit  of  altruism  which  rises  above  the 
animal  plane,  and  enables  human  beings  to  conquer  self  and 
give  place  to  the  divine.  This  is  the  one  principle  that  in  all 
its  varied  applications  elevates  man  above  the  brute.  Ani- 
mal egotism  has  deluged  the  world  with  blood  in  the  name 
of  ambition,  which  is  lust  for  power.  Animal  egotism  has 
trampled  down  the  finer  sensibilities  of  the  soul  in  its  lust 
for  fame.  Animal  egotism  has  filled  the  world  with  poverty 
and  woe  in  its  lust  for  gold;  and  animal  egotism  has  degraded 
woman  in  every  age  under  the  sacred  name  of  love ;  and  die 
great  mass  of  mankind  has  yet  to  learn  this  lesson:  "He 
alone  can  truly  possess  the  pleasure  of  love  who  has  con- 
quered the  love  of  pleasure." 

One  law  underlies  the  entire  nature  of  man;  it  is  the 
universal  law  of  duality,  and  its  final  expression  in  human 
beings  is  sex  in  its  highest  and  purest  relations,  under  the 
divine  inspiration  of  love.  Under  this  law  the  growth  of  al- 
truism, where  the  lower  powers  of  man's  nature  are  subor- 
dinated to  the  higher,  tends  to  self-preservation,  health,  hap- 
piness, and  long  life,  and  beyond  all  this  it  lays  the  founda- 
tion for  the  unfolding  of  still  higher  faculties  in  man,  as 
well  as  for  his  final  supreme  enlightenment  as  a  spiritual 
being  evolved  from  the  human  plane.  The  disobedience  of 
this  higher  law,  where  man's  higher  powers  are  subordi- 
nated to  the  animal  passions,  inevitably  tends  to  disease  and 
death.  We  cannot  fail  from  these  considerations  to  deduce 
a  physical  basis  for  a  natural  code  of  moral  ethics,  justified 
by  every  known  principle  of  physiological  science  and  forti- 
fied by  the  lessons  of  experience.  The  human  body  and  the 
laws  of  life  thus  contain  a  divine  revelation  in  perfect  ac- 
cord with  that  other  revelation  which  declares  that  the 
"wages  of  sin  is  death,"  and  that  righteousness  hath  the 
gift  of  life  forever  more. 


CHAPTER  XL 

CONSCIOUSNESS. 

The  terra  incognita  of  modern  physical  science  is  con- 
sciousness. This  fact  is  often  realized,  but  instead  of  going 
seriously  to  work  to  study  the  relations  and  different  states 
and  conditions  of  consciousness,  the  foolish  attempt  is  re- 
peated again  and  again  of  trying  to  fit  consciousness  to 
phenomena  as  an  attribute  of  matter.  Whenever  the  changes 
arising  in  the  conditions  and  manifestations  of  consciousness 
have  been  carefully  noted  and  critically  compared,  such  ob- 
servation and  comparison  have  led  to  the  conclusion  that 
consciousness  is  the  prime  factor  in  all  individual  experi- 
ence, and  by  no  means  confined  to  the  senso-motor  mechan- 
ism of  the  human  brain.  It  is  true  that  in  one  of  its  modes 
consciousness  bears  a  definite  relation  to  the  brain  and  all 
mental  processes  that  directly  relate  to  the  external  world  of 
phenomena.  In  moments  of  so-called  abstraction,  when,  as 
often  occurs,  the  individual  is  in  a  deep  study,  the  phenom- 
enal world  is  largely  shut  off  from  consciousness;  the  phys- 
ical senses  are  dormant,  and  in  this  condition  the  individual 
enters  the  border-land  of  an  ideal  world.  All  great  artists, 
poets  and  painters  who  possess  real  genius  thus  derive  then- 
inspirations.  These,  however,  usually  get  but  glimpses  cf  the 
real  world  of  ideal  forms  and  all-pervading  principles,  yet 
enough  oftentimes  to  immortalize  their  names.  The  bodily 
avenues  between  the  external  world  and  consciousness  are 
many.  Consciousness  is  one.  Consciousness  therefore  is 
the  vehicle  of  the  ego.  In  its  existence  consciousness  may 
be    independent    of     all     bodily    sense    or    mental    condition, 

fi67) 


168  A  Study  of  Man. 

though  dependent  on  these  for  its  external  manifestation. 
Through  these  avenues  and  relations  the  conscious  ego 
comes  into  definite  relations  to  a  phenomenal  existence,  to 
the  things  of  sense  and  time;  and  by  analogy  something  may 
be  inferred  of  the  nature  of  consciousness  from  its  outward 
manifestation.  When  once  it  is  understood,  however,  that 
through  its  relations  to  the  brain  and  sensory  ganglia  con- 
sciousness manifests  in  but  one  of  numerous  forms,  analo- 
gies drawn  from  this  one  form  alone  will  no  longer  be  re- 
garded as  final,  even  where  they  are  logically  so  drawn. 
Complete  self-consciousness  on  any  plane  is  impossible  ex- 
cept where  the  higher  faculties  in  man  control  the  lower. 
Until  this  condition  is  achieved  the  ego  can  control  neither 
the  thoughts  nor  the  acts  of  its  complex  environment.  In 
other  words,  complete  self-consciousness  implies  complete 
self-control.  The  individual  is  then  enabled  to  concentrate 
the  mind  upon  a  given  object  and  to  exclude  all  others. 
Whenever  this  condition  is  fairly  approximated  the  individ- 
ual has  already  learned  that  there  are  other  states  of  con- 
sciousness, and  can  begin  to  enter  them  at  will.  The  range 
of  individual  experience  which  has  elsewhere  been  shown  to 
be  the  basis  of  all  knowledge  is  thus  broadened  immensely, 
and  even  the  nature  and  value  of  ordinary  experience  on  the 
physical  plane  can  now  for  the  first  time  be  estimated,  be- 
cause it  is  brought  into  relations  of  comparison  with  expe- 
rience on  other  planes.  It  may  thus  be  seen  how  important 
is  the  relation  that  consciousness  bears  to  the  bodily  mechan- 
ism, and  how  unwise  it  is  to  mistake  the  varying  mental 
states  occurring  under  one  form  of  consciousness  for  the 
variation  in  the  modes  of  consciousness  itself,  with  some  of 
which  the  mind,  as  a  function  of  the  physical  brain,  has  lit- 
tle if  anything  to  do.  It  has  more  than  once  been  shown  in 
these  pages  that  consciousness  is  not  only  the  central  fact 
in  man,  but  that  it  is  thus  the  medium  between  the  objective 
and  subjective  worlds.  If  this  be  true,  then  consciousness 
is  on  one  side  related  to  the  universal  ether  from  which  pro- 


Consciousness.  169 

ceed  all  ideal  forms,  and  in  which  are  precipitated  all  created 
things,  the  essence  of  these  thus  returning  to  the  original 
source  whence  they  emanated.  Newton's  phrase,  Sensorium 
Dei,  the  organ  of  divine  consciousness,  as  applied  to  'the 
ether,  thus  becomes  intelligible.  The  importance  of  the 
conception  that  consciousness  on  the  one  side  is  as  defi- 
nitely and  as  naturally  related  to  this  ''organ  of  divine  con- 
sciousness" as  on  the  other  side  it  is  related  to  the  things 
of  sense  and  time  cannot  be  overlooked;  for  such  a  concept 
goes  far  toward  explaining  the  nature  of  man  and  his  true 
relations  to  existence.  There  is  nothing  more  remarkable 
in  the  conceptions  of  man  today  than  the  fact  that  he  gen- 
erally supposes  that  his  life  proceeds  outwardly  only,  on  the 
physical  plane,  and  that  his  thoughts  and  reflections  concern 
only  those  outward  experiences.  It  is  as  though  man  stood 
with  his  back  to  a  blank  wall  and  his  whole  nature  and  life 
proceeded  thence  in  one  direction.  True  it  is  that  he  recog- 
nizes vague  thoughts  and  intense  longings  regarding  the  be- 
yond, and  his  imagination  pictures  the  habitations  of  the 
blessed  with  palm  trees  and  crystal  streams  flowing  from  de- 
lectable mountains,  but  these  are  but  reflections  of  earth-life 
divested  of  sorrow  and  pain  and  yet  conditioned  in  sense  and 
time.  When  once  it  is  clearly  seen  that  the  brain  and  the 
whole  process  of  thought,  together  with  the  avenues  of  sense, 
are  the  relations  of  consciousness  to  the  outer  world  alone, 
and  that  not  thought,  but  consciousness  is  the  prime  factor 
in  individual  life,  then  the  blank  wall  disappears,  and  the 
undiscovered  country  looms  up  before  us,  obscured  by  clouds 
and  mists,  but  no  longer  an  undiscovered  world,  though  still 
unexplored.  If  instead  of  jumping  the  gulf  between  the 
present  and  the  future,  and  discussing  the  immortality  of  the 
soul,  man  would  carefully  consider  the  question  as  to 
whether  he  has  a  soul,  and  its  nature  and  conditions  here 
and  now,  a  great  step  would  be  gained,  not  only  in  knowl- 
edge of  the  soul,  but  as  to  the  conditions  of  its  growth  and 
enlightenment.     This  knowledge  will  dawn  upon  the  human 


j^o  A   Study  of  Man. 

understanding  just  in  proportion  as  man  is  enabled  to  appre- 
hend   the    relations    and    manifestations    of    consciousness. 
Whenever  it  is  clearly  recognized  that  all  our  knowledge 
comes  by  experience,  and  whenever  the  relations  of  the  ex- 
ternal  world    through    these   experiences   are    clearly   dis- 
cerned, it  will  also  be  discovered  that  we  are  conscious  of 
experiences  beyond  the  phenomenal  world  of  sense  and  time, 
and  independent  of    the  sensory  ganglia  and  the  thinking 
brain.     This  line  of  investigation  will  render  clearly  appre- 
hensible the  existence  of  a  supra-sensible  or  subjective  world 
of  being.     Judging  then  by  the  nature  and  relations,  rather 
than  by  the  extent  of  our  subjective  experiences,  we  shall  be 
able  logically  to  arrive  at  the  further  conclusion  that,  from 
the  very  nature  of  things,  this  subjective  world  is  the  very 
counterpart  of  the  objective  world  of  sense  and  time.     We 
shall  next  be  able  to  locate  consciousness  as  related  to  these 
two  worlds,  and  thus  to  locate  our  two  sets  of  experiences, 
and  to  make  one  set  a  test  of  the  other  through  the  laws  of 
analogy  and  correspondence.     By  this  time  we  shall  have 
discovered  that  we  have  actually  begun  the  exploration  of 
the  undiscovered  realm,  and  placed  it  beyond  the  possibility 
of  time  and  sense  to  reconstruct  for  us  the  old  stone  wall  at 
our  backs.     Man  may  thus  begin  to  know  himself.     Suppose 
that  it  be  assumed  that  man  has  an  immortal  soul  that  still 
lives  beyond  the  bounds  of  time ;  that  indeed  is  not  the  all- 
important  question.     Suppose  that  the  soul  lives  hereafter, 
but  that  memory  is  blotted  out,  and  that  we  have  there  no 
recollection  of    anything    that  occurred  to  us  here.     This 
would  practically  be  annihilation.     The  old  ego  in  its  new 
form  would  be  for  us  a  new  creation,  and  we  would  be  blotted 
out.    It  is  a  matter  of  common  experience  that  memory  fails 
us.     The  events  of  yesterday  not  only  are  forgotten  today, 
but  there  comes  a  time  in  the  encroachment  of  age  when  all 
records  of  past  events  are  blotted  out,  and  when  new  impres- 
sions  are   well-nigh    impossible.       Consciousness,    and    not 
memory,  is  the  human  factor  that  remains,  even  in  the  face 


Consciousness. 


171 


of  senile  imbecility.  Again  admitting  the  continuance  of  the 
individual  soul  beyond  the  gates  of  death,  the  prime  ques- 
tion is:  Will  it  preserve  self-consciousness?  Suppose  now 
that  we  have  discovered  the  fact  of  consciousness  on  the 
subjective  plane  while  in  this  present  life,  and  while  inhab- 
iting a  physical  body.  If  we  have  clearly  apprehended  the 
fact  that  consciousness  is  the  immediate  vehicle  of  the  in- 
dividual ego,  and  that  thought  is  only  the  channel  of  com- 
munication between  consciousness  and  the  external  world, 
and  if  we  have  discovered  that  consciousness  depends  on 
thought,  and  brain,  and  sense,  and  muscle,  for  its  external 
manifestation,  but  not  for  its  existence,  we  are  already  in 
the  way  of  determining  both  the  fact  and  the  conditions  of 
manifestation  of  another  form  of  consciousness  from  that  of 
objective  life.  Putting  the  problem  in  this  form  the  unknown 
is  not  necessarily  the  unknowable;  the  undiscovered  is  not 
necessarily  the  undiscoverable.  The  measure  of  man's  ex- 
istence -n  the  earthly  plane  of  life  is  determined  by  his  ex- 
perience on  that  plane ;  but  if  the  conscious  center  of  man's 
life  is  posited  at  the  center  between  two  worlds  and  natu- 
rally open  to  both,  then  it  follows  that  at  any  time  the 
measure  of  his  existence  on  the  subjective  plane  is  also  de- 
termined by  his  experience  on  that  plane.  If  the  cycle  of 
experience  of  the  conscious  ego  be  rounded  up  by  wide  and 
co-ordinate  experience  on  both  planes,  consciousness  may  be 
imagined  to  grasp  not  only  greater  depths,  but  to  approxi- 
mate even  the  details  of  experience,  and  so  to  approximate 
what  we  understand  as  memory.  On  the  other  hand,  if  one's 
experience  here  concerns  almost  exclusively  the  objective 
plane,  if  the  life  of  the  individual  is  immersed  in  sense,  and 
anchored  to  self,  thus  ignoring  divine  altruism  and  the  voice 
of  the  higher  self,  it  must  be  seen  to  pertain  to  the  things 
that  perish,  and  which  do  not  follow  the  ego  after  the  death 
of  the  body  to  the  subjective  plane.  If  again  we  imagine 
the  cycle  of  experience  to  be  rounded  up,  the  ego  would  be 
left  in  darkness,  there  could  be  no  self-consciousness  on  the 


172 


A   Study  of  Man. 


subjective  plane,   self-consciousness  having  displayed  itself 
previously  so  largely  in  the  things  that  no  longer  exist     H 
these   analogies  of   consciousness  he   correctly  drawn,  they 
serve  to  explain  why,  if  the  doctrine  of  re-incarnation  be 
true    no  memory  of  past  lives  i-s  retained  by  the  ego  after 
the  lapse  of  ages  and  repeated  incarnations,  the  ego  having 
shifted  from  plane  to  plane.    The  extent  in  which  this  doc- 
trine of  re-incarnation  has  been  held  in  all  ages  down  to  the 
present  time,  and  even  by  the  fathers  and  later  dignitaries 
of  the  Christian  church  is  generally  overlooked.     We  are  at 
present,  however,  concerned  only  with  the  present  life,  and 
the  logical  analogies  of  present  experience.    These  questions 
are  in  no  sense  transcendental,  but  are  the  most  practical 
and  sensible  that  the  human  mind  can  suggest,  and  more  than 
all  others  concern  the  present  life  and  the  best  interests  of 
man      The  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punishments  is   but  a 
childish   and   superstitious   view  of   the  divine  principle   of 
justice   that  metes  to  every  one  according  to  the  deeds  done 
in  the  body,  according  to  the  thoughts  of  the  mind,  and  the 
ideals  that  inspire  the  individual  life.     Justice  is  that  silent 
but  all-potent  law  that  veins  the  leaf  and  crystallizes  the 
snow-flake  by  exact  measure  and  perfect  equilibrium        Ihe 
wicked  obey  the  law  through  fear;  the  wise  keep  the  law 
through  knowledge."     One  may  be  poor  and  despised  by  the 
world,  without  fame  or  power,  yet  if  his  soul  be  open  to  the 
voice  of  the  needy  and  the  cry  of  distress,  if  his  life  be  un- 
selfish and  he  be  considerate  toward  others,  he  is  rich  indeed. 
He  may  be  indifferent  as  to  either  food  or  raiment  and  yet 
be  clean  both  within  and  without.     He  may  have  little  to 
o-ive    and  yet  be  helpful  and  inspiring,  and  blessings  may 
follow  his  footsteps  like  his  own  shadow  on  a  summer  day. 
Such  an  one  is  in  the  world,  but  not  of  it.    He  is  conscious 
of  the  subjective  plane  of  being,  and  his  experience  extends 
to  the  other  world  even  while  in  the  body.     The  ego  en- 
throned in  his  consciousness  is  lifted  to  serener  heights,  and 
for  him  there  is  no  undiscovered  clime.     Of  old  it  was  writ- 


Consciousness.  l7-* 

ten :  "He  that  is  dead  to  the  world  is  alive  to  God."  Nothing 
so  bars  the  soul  from  the  subjective  world  as  selfishness.  The 
thoroughly  selfish  person  is  like  a  blind  horse  in  a  bark-mill; 
his  experience  and  his  vision  are  hedged  about  by  his  nar- 
row circle,  and  he  wears  continually  the  channels  of  self 
deeper  at  every  round.  This  is  not  a  mere  matter  of  senti- 
ment, nor  is  it  merely  a  matter  of  religion  -which  so  many 
now-a-days  (treat  with  scorn;  it  is  a  matter  as  directly  deter- 
mined by  physiological  law  as  is  the  beating  of  the  heart, 
or  the  development  and  function  of  the  brain. 

Individuals   are  born   with  widely  different  natural  en- 
dowments.   Education  cannot  repair  the  defects  of  birth,  but 
the  determined  effort  of  the  will  of  the  individual  cannot 
only  repair  these  defects,  but  it  can  take  advantage  of  every 
hereditary  trait,  whether  good  or  bad,  and  transform  it  to 
use  and  beneficence.  There  are -three  conditions  of  conscious- 
ness in  ordinary  daily  experience:  that  of  ordinary  wakeful- 
ness, that  of  dreamful  sleep,   and  that  of  dreamless   sleep. 
We  have  already  shown  that  not  memory  but  consciousness 
is  the  all-potent  factor  in  man.     Consciousness  as  a  fact  re- 
turns to  the  individual,  as  well  as  memory,  after  deep  sleep. 
Everyone  will  admit  that  in  sleep,  where  dreams  occur,  con- 
sciousness is  on  a  different  plane,  or  under  different  condi- 
tions  from  the  waking  state,   and  memory  brings   into  the 
waking    state   the   subject   and   the   varied    experiences   of 
dreams.     After  dreamless  sleep  memory  may  bring  nothing 
back  from  the  subjective  world,  but  it  resumes  .the  thread  of 
life  just  where  it  was  dropped  before  unconsciousness  came 
on.     Now  what  becomes  of  consciousness  during  dreamless 
slumber?    Either  it  continues  or  it  does  not.    If  it  continues 
then  it  must  simply  be  on  another  plane  and  under  different 
conditions,  at  least  so  far  as  thought  and  memory  are  con- 
cerned,  for  the  gap  is  between  consciousness  and  memory 
m  relation  to  thought.     If  on  the  other  hand  consciousness 
is  blotted  out  and  re-created  every  time  we  enter  dreamless 
sleep,  it  could  not  be  that  both  consciousness  and  memory, 


'74 


A  Study  of  Man. 


both  new  creations,  at  once  take  up  the  thread  of  life  just 
where  they  dropped  it,  and  resume  the  even  tenor  of  their 
way  as  though   nothing  had  happened.     Nature  never  does 
things  in  that  way.     Her  adjustments  require  time,  her  de- 
velopments  and   all  her  varied   relations   are   slow   growths. 
Both  consciousness  and  memory  have  grown  and  expanded 
from  the  original  germ.     The  true  philosophy  of  dreams  is 
then  a  problem  in  the  conditions  of  consciousness,  while  we 
may  fairly  assume  that  consciousness  still  persists  in  dream- 
less   sleep,   though   under   changed   conditions.     Nothing    is 
more  common  in  ordinary  life  than  the  shifting  of  the  planes 
of  consciousness.     Take  for  example  the  action  of  anesthet- 
ics, chloroform  changes  the  consciousness   of  the  real  ego. 
The  individual  cannot  be  called  strictly  unconscious.     He  is 
not  conscious  in  the  ordinary  way.     He  suffers  no  pain,  and 
retains  no  recollection  of  what  occurs  while  under  the  in- 
fluence of  the  anesthetic,  but  the  organic  consciousness  re- 
mains undisturbed.     Muscular  motion  may  occur,  but  with- 
out co-ordination.     The   cerebrum,   cerebellum   and   sensory 
ganglia  are   unconscious     in   dreamless   sleep;    the  medulla, 
spinal  cord,  solar-plexus  and  the  sexual-area  are  wide  awake 
and  sometimes  these  are  super-sensitive.     The  light  of  self- 
consciousness   is   withdrawn;    it    is   drawn   withm,   but   not 
quenched.     In   syncope   consciousness   is   withdrawn;   but  if 
one  will  watch  carefully  the  first  returning  consciousness  it 
will  generally  be  found  that  it  has  been  by  no  means  dead 
or  idle,  for  by  gently  attracting  the  individual's  attention  in 
the  dawn  of  returning  consciousness,  after  a  faint,  it  will  be 
found  that  a  few  seconds  have  sufficed  for  the  recovery  of  a 
lono--forgotten   experience,   restored   again   from   die   all-sur- 
rounding,  all-pervading  ether.     These   few   seconds   of  sus- 
pended animation  are  often  sufficient  for  the  weaving  of  a 
romance,  or  for  the  enactment  of  a  tragedy,  and  such  expe- 
riences are  not  always  fantastic  and  unreal,  as  experience 
and  observation  prove.     But  perhaps  the  common  instances 
of  somnambulism  or  sleep-walking  offer  the  best  demonstra- 


Consciousness.  iyt 

tions  of  double  consciousness.     Persons  subject  to  these  at- 
tacks really  lead  double  lives.     Individuals  walking  in  their 
sleep  have   been  known   to  appear  among  strangers,  enter 
into  conversation,  and  yet  in  the  ordinary  waking  state  re- 
tain no  recollection  of  the  events  or  persons.     On  the  suc- 
ceeding night,  however,  walking  again,  the  previous  night's 
experience  has  been  recovered  and  continued.  Even  one  such 
case  is  sufficient  to  show  a  natural  division  in  consciousness, 
and  a  gap  occurring  between  them  so  far  as  memory  is  con- 
cerned.   The  experiments  in  magnetism,  and  more  especially 
the  recent  hypnotic  experiments  give   similar  results.      In 
many  of  these  cases  the  knowledge  possessed  by  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  subjective  state  altogether  transcends  that  of 
objective  consciousness.     Such  persons  have  been  known  to 
diagnose  correctly  their  own  diseases  and  to  determine  the 
duration  and  termination  of  the  same.     Until  a  very  recent 
date  the  majority  of  so-called  scientists  have  shown  a  dis- 
position to  ignore  or  ridicule  such  cases,  in  spite  of  their 
overwhelming    authenticity,   and  now  when  they  seem   in- 
clined to  investigate  these  phenomena  they  learn  that  they 
are  not  produced  at  the  will  of  the   subject,  nor  do  they 
readily  come  under  the  will  of  those  who  are  entirely  igno- 
rant of  the  laws  under  which  they  occur.    The  wiser  method 
is  to  ignore  nothing  that  concerns  human  nature  and  to  take 
advantage  of  every  opportunity  to  investigate,  and  particu- 
larly to  examine  unusual  phenomena.     In  the  delirium  of 
fevers,  and  in  the  intoxication  produced  by  alcohol  and  vari- 
ous drugs,  there  is  a  shifting  of  the  planes  of  consciousness 
and  consequent  aberration  of  memory.   With  the  insane  con- 
sciousness is  permanently  disturbed,  and  such  cases  are  best 
studied  as  aberrations  of  consciousness.    It  may  be  doubted 
whether  such   a  thing  as  unconscious  cerebration  ever  oc- 
curs, though  there  may  be  mental  processes  either  above  or 
below  the  plane  of  memory.     To  assign  all  mental  aberra- 
tions to  the  imagination,  as  though  thereby  explained,  is  to 
mistake  the   office  of  both   imagination   and   consciousness. 


l?6  A  Study  of  Man. 

In  the  delirium  caused  by  opium  and  alcohol,  consciousness 
is  shifted  to  a  .subjective  plane,  and  sometimes  to  a  very  low 
plane.   It  is  a  great  mistake  to  assume  that  the  objects  seen 
and  the  events  that  occur  have  no  real  existence.     If  all 
these  are  to  be  regarded  as  the  creations  of  the  imagination, 
we  are  at  a  loss  how  to  explain  the  great  uniformity  of  the 
objects  witnessed  from  the  effect  of  alcohol,  for  example. 
When  we  get  any  rational  idea  of  the  subjective  world  we 
shall  discover  that  -the  snakes  and  dragons  seen  there  are  as 
veritable  on  that  plane,  to  subjective  sense,  as  their  living 
prototypes  are  on  the  phenomenal  plane  to  objective  sense, 
for  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  universal  ether  is  thai 
infinite  ocean  -whence  all  creation  proceeds,  and  into  whose 
all-dissolving  bosom  all  things  return.     Our  relation  to  ob- 
jects here  is  largely  incidental,  determined  by  location,  cir- 
cumstance and  the  like.     On  the  subjective  plane  our  rela- 
tions are  determined  by  attractions  and  intrinsic  conditions 
and  an  individual  full  of  all  evil  passion,  inflamed  by  alcohol, 
will  attract  entities  of  like  degree,  and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the 
list     To  say  that  all  such  cases  result  from  pure  imagina- 
tion is  by  no  means  to  explain  them.     Many  persons  assume 
that  when  they  have  named  a  thing  -they  have  explained  it, 
and  that   further  questions   are   an  impertinence      Perhaps 
the  most  important  consideration  in  regard  to  the  shifting 
states  of  consciousness  from  the  objective  to  the  subjective 
condition  regards  that  vague  and  varying  state  known  as  in- 
sanity.   As  a  rule  with  the  insane  this  transfer  of  conscious- 
ness  is  partial,   seldom  complete.     Consciousness   is   rather 
out  of  joint  than  actually  transferred  from  plane  to  plane. 
There  is  usually  an  organic  lesion,  or  a  functional  obstruc- 
tion that  tends  to  tissue  change  in  some  of  the  nerve  cen- 
ters    The  result  in  many  cases  is  to  break  down  that  sharp 
line'  of    demarkation  between  the  objective  and  subjective 
worlds.     The  individual  becomes  bewildered,  loses  his  bear- 
ings;  his   experiences   are  no   longer   co-ordinate.     The   in- 
strument through  which  consciousness  is  manifested  is  out 


Consciousness.  iyy 

of  tune,  and  the  result  is  discard.     In  regard  to  these  cases 
of  perverted  function  it  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  no  differ- 
entiation is  made  as  to  the  planes  or  states  of  consciousness  : 
practically  but  one  state  of  consciousness  is  recognized.     The 
further  mistake  is  made  of  looking  upon  all  objects  cognized, 
and  upon  all  experiences  outside  of  the  ordinary  plane  of 
consciousness,  as  altogether  non-existent;  that  is,  a  figment 
of  the  imagination.     But  what  is  imagination?     Lei  us  ask 
the  artist,  the  poet,  the  painter,  ask  genius  that  is  so  closely 
allied  to  insanity,  ask  all  who  create  from  ideal  forms,  and 
they  will  tell  us,  one  and  all,  that  imagination  is  the  wings 
of  the  soul  that  bear  up  the  lagging  fancy,  the  slow  and 
plodding  mind,  till  it  enters  the  ideal  world  and  gazes  there 
on  both  beauty  and  deformity  in  all  their  nakedness.     Thev 
will  tell  us  that  what  we  call  the  real  world  is  at  best  but  a 
poor  and  colorless  caricature  as  compared  with  the  ideals 
open  to  the  imagination,  and  that  what  is  generally  termed 
the  work  of  genius,  bears  but  a  touch  of  that  transcendent 
truth  and  reality  that  veils  its   face   from  every   faculty  of 
man  on  the  phenomenal  plane.    Let  us  ask  the  true  scientist 
what  we  know  of  anything,  of  matter,  space,  time,  or  mo- 
tion, of  the  whole  phenomenal  world,  and  he  will  tell  us,  and 
tell  us  truly,  that  we  have  our  own  ideas  of  these,  and  noth- 
ing more.    Finally,  ask  that  greatest  of  modern  philosophers, 
Schopenhauer,   what  imagination  is.     He   will  tell  us  that 
not  only  the  world,  but  ourselves  included,  are  reducible  to 
two  terms,  imagination  and  will.    The  one  is  the  essence  and 
the  creator  of  all  forms  in  nature ;  the  other,  the  motive  and 
creative  .power,  and  these  powers  are  as  potent  on  the  sub- 
jective  as   on   the   objective    plane;    they    are    as    active    in 
drunken  delirium,  and  in  insanity,  as  in  that  other  condition 
of  consciousness  that  we  call  sanity.     If  in  the  phenomenal 
world  we  build  toward  our  ideals,  we  seldom  realize  them. 
All   that   we   thus   build  not   only   fails   to  come   up   to   our 
ideals,  but  they  have  incorporated  into  their  entire  structure 
both  disappointment  and  decay,   from  turret  to   foundation 


I78  A  Study  of  Man. 

stone.     It  may  thus  be  seen  that  imagination  is  a  potent 
factor  on  every  plane  on  which   consciousness  holds  open 
court,  and  that  our  ideas  are  often  less  realities  on  the  phe- 
nomenal plane  of    outer   sense    than  on   any  other.      The 
amount  of  empirical  evidence  demonstrating  the  existence 
of  the  subjective  plane  is  simply  overwhelming,  and  tfiese 
facts  have  been  quite  long  enough  regarded  as  mere  coinci- 
dences.   They  are,  indeed,  often  accidents  of  birth,  tempera- 
ment, disease  and  the  like,  so  far  as  any  human  quality  or 
human  experience  can  be  regarded  as  accidental.     These  ir- 
relevant and  spasmodic  experiences  are  often  a  source  of 
great  distress,  and  even  of  calamity  to  the  individual    dis- 
qualifying him  for  the  life  of  the  world  while  yet  unfitted 
to  realize  and  utilize  these  potent  factors  in  the  subjective 
life.     Whenever   scientists,  .so-called,   are   tired   of   the   su- 
preme folly  of  trying  to  deduce  consciousness  from  matter, 
and  of  ignoring  the  plainest  facts  in  everyday  experience, 
and  whenever  they  will  go  seriously  to  work  by  both  induc- 
tion and  deduction   to   investigate  consciousness   in   all   its 
manifestations  and  relations,  they  will  have  entered  on  a  line 
of  research  that  will  very  soon  astonish  them.    Why,  it  may 
be  asked,  have  scientific  men  as  a  whole  made  so  httle  head- 
way either  in  investigating  that  psychological  babel,  modern 
spiritualism,  or  in  staying  its  progress  even  among  the  edu- 
cated  and    intelligent?      I    answer   unhesitatingly,   because 
they  have  with   few  exceptions  contented  themselves  with 
parrot-like  reiteration  of  a  meaningless  phrase,  unconscious 
cerebration;  and  then  they  have  smiled  in  each  other's  faces 
over  the  humbuggery  of  assuming  that  they  know  what  their 
slogan  means.     They  have  gone  further    than  this.     They 
have  put  forth  this  thimble-rigging  psychology  as  orthodox 
science,  and  done  their  best  to  taboo  everyone  who  dared  to 
question  their  conclusions  and  investigate  for  himself,    ihe 
announcement  has  again  and  again  been  made  that  now  sci- 
ence is  going  to  take  up  the  subject  and  handle  it  as  only 
scientists  can.     But  alas!  for  those  who  have  waited  with 


Consciousness.  179 

great  expectations  for  the  results !  These  wiseacres  have 
like  children  been  frightened  by  their  own  bug-a-boo.  Some 
one  would  impeach  their  orthodoxy  and  it  would  ruin  their 
prospects  as  pure  scientists.  Does  this  all  sound  like  a 
tirade?  Then  examine  the  records,  from  the  times  of  Mes- 
mer  and  Von  Reichenbach  down  to  Hodgeson's  report.  It 
is  no  excuse  to  say  that  the  whole  subject  is  mixed  with 
fraud,  uncanny  and  not  altogether  respectable.  Say  what 
you  please  of  this  psychological  babel,  it  spreads  over  the 
globe.  Noted  mediums  are  invited  to  the  palaces  of  princes, 
and  there  : ;  more  table-tipping  and  spirit-communion  on  the 
sly  than  spirit-drinking  at  .the  tables  of  the  rich.  So-called 
mediumship  is  often  a  disease  with  an  almost  irresistible 
tendency  to  suicide,  and  it  is  often  as  contagious  as  the  epi- 
demic monomania  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Scientific  de- 
nunciation has  been  as  powerless  to  stay  the  spread  of  spir- 
itualism as  unconscious  cerebration  to  explain  it.  True  sci- 
ence apprehends  a  real  cause  behind  every  phenomenon  of 
nature,  and  even  delusion  and  monomania  are  no  excep- 
tions. If  scientific  men  would  but  recognize  the  fact  of  sub- 
jective consciousness  that  is  demonstrated  every  time  they 
sleep,  or  give  chloroform,  or  hypnotize  an  individual,  nay, 
every  time  a  weak  woman  faints  in  a  crowded  room,  and 
then  go  to  work  in  earnest  to  arrange  and  classify  all  facts 
derived  from  this  plane  of  life,  they  would  presently  be  able 
to  offer  such  an  explanation  of  the  powers  and  planes  of  ac- 
tion of  individual  consciousness  as  would  dissipate  the  de- 
lusions and  diminish  the  dangers  of  dealing  with  the  dead. 
That  our  individual  consciousness,  which  in  one  of  its  states 
is  related  to  the  outer  phenomenal  world,  is  on  another  plane 
independent  of  space  and  time,  as  we  understand  these 
ter.ms,  is  a  matter  of  easy  demonstration ;  and  it  offers  an 
explanation,  when  once  clearly  defined  and  understood,  of  a 
great  deal  of  undeniable  human  experience  now  attributed 
to  ghosts  and  goblins  damned.  Having  determined  what  ex- 
periences are  genuine,  which  is  often  exceedingly  difficult, 


180  A  Study  of  Man. 

a  better  knowledge  of  the  powers  of  man  and  of  his  states  of 
consciousness  will  assign  to  the  embodied  soul  on  earth  the 
greater  part  of  the  spiritualistic  phenomena.  If  one  were 
to  point  out  the  dangers  of  these  attempts  to  deal  with  the 
dead,  he  would  be  met  by  anger  and  scorn.  It  is  the  most 
useless  and  dangerous  form  of  other-worldliness.  It  draws 
the  attention  from  present  duty  and  possibilities  in  the  pres- 
ent life,  and  reverses  the  only  method  by  which  either  any 
individual,  or  the  race  as  a  whole,  has  ever  risen  in  the  scale 
of  being.  The  whole  effort  of  spiritualism  would  seem  to  be 
to  determine  and  to  force  the  return  of  a  disembodied  soul 
to  earthly  consciousness,  and  to  drag  it  back  into  matter; 
while  every  thoughtful  person  ought  to  be  aware  that  the 
elevation  of  man  depends  on  the  degree  in  which  he  rises 
toward  the  spiritual  world.  The  time  will  doubtless  come 
when  the  so-called  materializations  will  be  better  under- 
stood, and  every  clean  person  will  avoid  them  then,  as  the 
more  enlightened  among  the  spiritualists  do  now.  Admit- 
ting, for  the  sake  of  the  argument,  the  whole  philosophy  and 
phenomena  of  modern  spiritualism,  these  efforts  to  drag  the 
soul  back  to  earth  and  down  into  matter  can  justly  be  com- 
pared to  criminal  abortion,  where  the  embryo  is  wrenched 
from  its  normal  environment  by  an  impulse  akin  to  mur- 
der, the  fitting  handmaid  of  animal  lust.  These  twin  abomi- 
nations require  a  third  member  to  constitute  an  unholy  trin- 
ity that  shall  be  a  fit  companion  for  Cerberus,  the  three- 
headed  dog  that  guards  the  gates  of  the  infernal  regions, 
and  these  dealings  with  the  dead  may  furnish  the  missing 
member.  This  may  be  strong  language,  but  it  may  be  found 
hereafter  that  the  blood  of  the  slaughtered  innocents  that  so 
continually  cries  to  heaven  in  this  our  boasted  civilization 
will  vie  with  these  dealings  with  the  dead  in  barring  the  gates 
of  paradise  to  those  who  have  so  thwarted  the  will  of  nature 
and  disregarded  her  plainest  laws.  Dynamite  destroys  re- 
gardless of  the  ignorance  of  him  who  unwisely  trifles  with  it. 
One  world  at  a  time  is  quite  enough  for  the  best  of  people 


Consciousness,  181 

to  deal  with,  and  the  best  of  people  have  in  all  time  earned 
that  title  by  their  efforts  to  elevate  the  human  race  on  earth, 
and  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  humanity ;  no  other  world 
can  be  anticipated  without  neglect  of  this. 

What  we  need  is  to  know  more  of  man  as  he  is  here  and 
now,  and  this  knowledge  will  never  be  derived  from  psycho- 
logical jugglery.  Such  explanations  as  are  to  be  derived 
from  psychological  laws  have  now  been  so  long  delayed  that 
otherwise  intelligent  persons  convinced  beyond  all  cavil  of 
the  truth  of  many  experiences  and  phenomena  of  so-called 
spiritualism  are  ready  to  denounce  any  other  than  the  ortho- 
dox explanations  of  the  spiritualists  as  direct  dealings  with 
the  dead.  These  persons  have  come  to  their  present  conclu- 
sions by  long  and  patient  trial,  with  great  hesitancy,  and 
often  only  after  repeated  disappointments  from  so-called 
science;  and  having  at  last  despaired  of  any  other  explana- 
tion than  that  which  spiritualism  offers  they  have  come  to 
the  conclusion  that  none  other  exists.  The  responsibility 
here  lies  at  the  door  of  science.  It  is  her  sin  of  omission, 
and  she  should  hasten  to  correct  it.  The  subjective  plane 
of  being  is  to  be  subjectively  experienced,  and  when  such 
subjective  experience  is  that  of  another,  and  not  our  own, 
it  is  no  more  evidence  for  us  than  any  other  matter  taken 
on  faith  in  the  intergity  and  intelligence  of  an  observer.  In 
cases  where  supposed  materializations  from  the  subjective 
world  occur,  the  most  simple  and  at  the  same  time  the  most 
comprehensive  fact  is  generally  overlooked,  namely,  that  all 
that  appears,  all  that  is  material  and  visible  to  the  objective 
sense,  is  not  spirit,  not  subjective;  and  granting  that  the 
phenomenon  is  genuine,  it  is  no  evidence  of  spirit  life  or 
individual  identity.  What  the  thing  was  before  being  mate- 
rialized, and  what  it  will  be  afterward,  is  as  unknown  to  us 
as  before.  Admitting  all  that  is  claimed  for  the  phenom- 
enon, the  explanation  is  not  conclusive,  nor  is  it  the  only 
one  possible.  The  most  wonderful  materialization  is  man 
himself,  and  our  opportunities  to  investigate  him  are  all  that 


!g2  A   Study  of  Man. 

could  be  desired.  We  are  not  confined  to  dark  seance-rooms, 
a  stifling  atmosphere,  and  doomed  to  have  both  hands  held 
fast  lest  we  should  touch  or  see  our  subject  under  investi- 
gation. We  can  examine  our  subject  at  high  noon,  in  the 
broad  light  of  day,  at  midnight  when  slumber  closes  his  eye- 
lids and  all  external  consciousness  is  withdrawn,  and  when 
the  flitting  pictures  of  dreams  mold  his  outer  life  to  ex- 
pressions of  emotion.  We  can  examine  him  in  the  palace 
and  in  the  hovel,  under  every  stress  of  feeling,  and  rocked 
like  a  frail  vessel  with  surging  passion.  Here  is  a  material- 
ized spirit  if  there  is  one  anywhere,  and  yet  man  turns  from 
him,  from  his  own  embodied  consciousness,  and  hunts  for 
ghosts  and  ghouls.  We  neglect  the  offices  of  kindness  and 
the  words  of  love  and  helpfulness  till  our  friend  is  snatched 
beyond  the  veil,  and  then  devote  the  rest  of  our  lives  to 
knocking  at  the  door  through  which  he  passed  to  inquire 
if  he  still  lives  and  is  happy !  Alas  !  the  irony  of  life  in  the 
presence  of  the  mystery  of  death  !  Alas  !  the  hypocrisy  over 
death  in  the  presence  of  the  mystery  and  the  wasted  oppor- 
tunities of  life ! 

"I  wage  not  any  feud  with  Death 

For  changes  wrought  on  form  and  face; 
No  lower  life,  that  earth's  embrace 
May  breed  with  him,  can  fright  my  faith. 


'Eternal  process  moving  on, 

From   state  to   state  the   spirit  walks; 
And  these  are  but  the  shattered  stalks, 
Or   mined  chrysalis   of   one. 

"How  pure  at  heart  and  sound  in  head, 
With  what  divine  affections  bold, 
Should  be  the  man  whose  thoughts  would  hold 
An  hour's  communion  with  the  dead. 


Consciousness.  183 


"In  vain  shalt  thou,  or  any  call 

The  spirits   from   their  golden  day, 
Except,   like  them,  thou  too   canst 
My  spirit  is  at  peace  with  all." 


CHAPTER  XII. 


HEALTH    AND   DISEASE. 


The  most  earnest  and  the  most  able  students  of  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature  have  often  been  led  to  the  conception  that 
all  the  forces  in  nature  that  manifest  their  presence  as  spe- 
cial modes  of  motion  are  resolvable  into  one  force,  and  that 
this  one  force  is  the  latent  energy  lying  back  of  all  phenom- 
ena. It  has  been  elsewhere  suggested  in  these  pages  that 
what  we  recognize  as  magnetism  answers  more  nearly  to 
this  universal  force  than  any  form  of  energy  known  to  us 
today.  To  say  that  magnetism  is  life  would  be  a  meaning- 
less assertion  in  the  present  condition  of  our  knowledge  of 
either  life  or  magnetism;  and  yet  the  phenomena  of  life  and 
the  phenomena  of  magnetism  are  very  closely  related  to  each 
other.  Life,  like  magnetism,  seems  to  be  everywhere  dif- 
fused. Each  seems  ready  to  manifest  its  presence  on  the 
slightest  provocation,  the  conditions  of  their  manifestation 
so  far  as  we  know  being  very  simple,  yet  the  conditions  are 
very  different  in  the  two  cases.  No  life  dissociated  from  or- 
ganisms is  manifest  to  us.  Magnetism  on  the  other  hand 
manifests  its  presence  in  both  animate  and  inanimate  na- 
ture, and  no  radical  difference  has  yet  been  discovered  be- 
tween animal  and  terrestrial  magnetism.  It  might  logically 
be  conceived  that  magnetism  is  that  latent  energy  every- 
where diffused  in  nature,  which,  under  certain  conditions, 
assumes  the  special  mode  of  motion  designated  as  heat, 
light,  electricity  and  the  like,  and  which  at  the  same  time 
constitutes  the  sum  of  that  energy  of  the  organism  called 
vitality.    The  vital  phenomena  of  organisms  are  manifest  in 

(184) 


Health  and  Disease.  185 

a  great  variety  of  forms,  and  may  be  conceived  as  involving 
and  combining  all  other  modes  of  motion,  and  at  the  same 
time  there  are  still  higher  forms  of  energy  displayed  by  or- 
ganisms that  are  found  nowhere  else  in  nature.  If  magnet- 
ism and  life  cannot  be  conceived  as  synonyms,  magnetism 
and  vitality  may  be  found  more  closely  allied,  though  life  is 
more  than  mere  vitality,  and  vitality  is  more  than  magnet- 
ism. K  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  we  do  not  know  the  es- 
sence of  any  force,  no  matter  how  simple  its  display,  and  it 
should  also  be  remembered  that  the  energy  of  living  beings 
is  directly  related  to  that  which  alone  manifests  life,  namely, 
the  organism.  While  therefore  we  may  consider  life  in  its 
relation  to  mere  vitality  and  to  magnetism  on  the  one  side, 
we  must  not  forget  that  life  bears  a  definite  relation  to  all 
special  modes  of  motion,  and  variations  of  structure  desig- 
nated as  organic  on  the  other  side;  or,  we  must  remember 
the  structure  and  conditions  of  manifestation  while  consid- 
ering the  energy  that  is  displayed.  Again,  it  should  be  re- 
membered that  magnetism  in  organisms  is  the  polarizing 
agency,  and  that  while  it  determines  organization,  facilitates 
movement,  and  co-ordinate  rhythm,  it  tends  also  to  the  fixa- 
tion of  form  which  in  the  end  crystallizes  and  destroys.  In 
other  words,  the  motive  power  of  life  is  at  last  a  consuming 
fire.  So  far  as  dynamics  are  concerned,  the  creator  and  the 
destroyer  are  one. 

"Life  evermore  is  fed  by  death, 

In  earth,  and  sea,   and  sky; 
And,  that  a  rose  may  breathe  its  breath, 

Something  must  die. 

"From  lowly  woe  springs  lordly  joy; 

From  humbler  good,  diviner; 
The  greater  life  must  aye  destroy 

And  drink  the  minor." 


It  may  thus  be  seen  that  both  life  and  vitality 


are  some- 


X86  A  Study  of  Man. 

thing  more  than  magnetism.  The  most  comprehensive  fact 
in  germ  or  organism  is  not  mere  vitality,  not  the  quantity  ot 
force  present,  nor  yet  the  tact  that  this  energy  manifests  a 
great  variety  of  movements.  The  most  comprehensive  fact 
is  the  positing  of  a  center  of  life,  and  the  unfolding  of  a  still 
interior  center  of  consciousness.  The  principle  of  form  and 
order,  the  laws  of  development,  and  the  mode  of  action, 
transcend  the  mere  equivalents  of  energy.  It  is  true  that  no 
life  is  manifest  without  movement  of  matter,  and  that  vital- 
ity represents  both  the  motive  power  and  the  sum  of  all  en- 
ergy, and  magnetism  may  be  the  source  whence  vitality  is 
derived;  but,  if  this  were  all,  then  a  steam  engine  and  a  block 
of  stone  would  be  of  equal  value  as  motors  when  inspired  by 
steam. 

No  adequate  idea  of  the  real  meaning  of  the  word  health 
is  possible  except  in  intimate  relation  with  the  word  life; 
and  no  adequate  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  word  life 
is  possible  dissociated  from  an  organism,  which  alone  mani- 
fests life.  Life  is  something  more  than  any  or  all  force,  and 
health  is  something  beyond  all  energy  or  mere  vitality.  If 
no  amount  of  mere  vitality  alone  constitutes  life,  so  no  mere 
lack  of  energy  can  alone  cause  disease  or  death.  Neither 
life,  nor  health,  nor  disease  can  be  regarded  as  mere  kine- 
matics. 

When  we  regard  life  as  an  endowment  of  matter,  even 
in  the  relatively  formless  matter  called  protoplasm,  we  find 
it  always  associated  with  an  organism,  so  that  die  foregoing 
principles  hold  good  even  here.  Previous  to  the  positing  of 
a  center  of  life,  and  the  building  of  an  organism,  we  cannot 
conceive  of  life  as  being  manifested  in  matter,  or  in  any 
sense  as  an  attribute  of  matter  alone.  If,  therefore,  life  can 
be  said  to  be  in  any  sense  an  attribute  of  matter^  even  of 
protoplasm,  so  in  the  same  sense,  though  perhaps  in  a  less 
degree,  can  life  be  predicated  of  all  matter— latent  in  one 
case,  and  manifest  in  another.  Whenever  so-called  living 
matter  has  been   analyzed  no   element  has  been   found  un- 


Health  and  Disease.  187 

familiar  to  the  chemist.  We  may  regard  the  life  principle. 
or  the  potency  of  life,  as  diffused  everywhere  in  nature,  and 
all  matter  as  waiting  for  the  manifestation  of  life.  A  con- 
siderable portion  of  the  matter  of  the  globe  has  no  doubt 
thus  been  at  one  time  involved  in  the  manifestation  of  life, 
and  these  remains  of  organisms  constitute  alike  the  ocean's 
bed  and  the  mountain's  mass. 

So  far  as  life  can  be  regarded  as  a  quality  of  matter  it  is 
everywhere  one  in  kind.  There  is,  indeed,  one  flesh  of  beasts, 
another  of  fishes,  another  of  birds,  and  another  of  man ;  but 
the  life  principle  in  all  these  is  not  many,  but  one.  The  mat- 
ter of  life  in  all  these  varied  forms  is  convertible,  one 
into  the  other,  and  such  conversion  modifies  the  organ- 
ism that  feeds  on  other  forms  of  life,  though  this  alone  can- 
not change  the  nature  of  beast  or  man. 

If  life  as  a  quality  of  matter  is  everywhere  the  same  in 
kind,  we  may  define  health  in  any  case,  whether  in  plants, 
animals  or  man,  as  the  harmonious  operation  of  the  life  force 
in  an  organism.  This  ideal  harmony  would  include  the  sum 
of  all  energies  and  perfection  in  the  development  of  struc- 
ture. Harmony  between  all  these  would  constitute  health. 
Disease  might  then  arise  through  failure  of  action,  or  over- 
action  of  any  of  these  elements  of  force  or  structure.  Re- 
garding again  the  force  side  of  the  equation  alone,  as  there 
is  but  one  quality  of  life,  viewed  as  an  endowment  of  matter, 
so  would  there  be  but  one  kind  of  disease,  viewed  as  a  dis- 
turbance of  vitality.  While,  then,  life  viewed  as  one  in  kind 
manifests  or  qualifies  in  an  innumerable  number  of  forms  or 
concrete  degrees,  so  disease,  viewed  as  disturbed  harmony 
or  modified  vitality,  and  one  in  kind,  would  be  found  to 
manifest  a  great  variety  of  forms.  The  vitality,  and  the  in- 
tegrity of  the  structure  in  organisms,  are  definitely  related 
to  each  other.  These  are  mutually  dependent.  Not  the 
slightest  disturbance  of  either  function  or  structure  is  pos- 
sible without  the  other  participating  and  suffering  accord- 
ingly.    In   all  matters   of   growth,   repair,   development  and 


188  A  Study  of  Man. 

function,  it  is  physiologically  as  correct  to  say  that  the  func- 
tion builds  or  exercises  the  organ  as  that  the  organ  exer- 
cises the  function.  The  relation  and  the  dependence  are 
mutual. 

If  these  principles  are  true  on  the  organic  plane  of  life, 
in  relation  to  structure  and  function,  and  no  physiologist  can 
successfully  deny  them,  they  will  also  be  found  to  hold  good 
on  the  higher  plane  where  body  and  soul  are  concerned. 
The  relation  between  body  and  mind  will  be  found  to  be  the 
same  as  between  organism  and  function,  or  between  struc- 
ture and  vitality.  If  in  any  sense  the  body  can  be  said  to 
build  and  to  manifest  mind,  in  the  same  sense  can  the  mind 
be  said  to  build  and  exercise  the  body.  The  dependence 
here,  as  in  the  former  case,  is  mutual. 

If  the  foregoing  premise  and  reasoning  be  correct,  then 
the  prevailing  methods  of  regarding  health  and  disease  are 
greatly  at  fault,  for  these  pay  great  attention  to  vitality  and 
structure,  but  almost  wholly  disregard  the  relation  of  body 
and  mind.  If  the  relation  of  vitality  to  structure  on  the  one 
side  is  supplemented  by  the  relation  of  mind  to  body  on  the 
other,  what  reason  can  there  be  for  paying  so  much  atten- 
tion to  vitality  and  so  little  attention  to  mind?  We  hear 
much  about  the  necessary  care  of  the  body,  and  of  its  exer- 
cise to  promote  vitality,  strength  of  life,  and  length  of  days; 
but  we  hear  very  little  in  regard  to  habits  of  thought,  strength 
of  will,  and  dissipation  of  energy  in  the  mental  realm.  Im- 
agination, the  creator  of  forms  and  of  all  ideals,  is  left  to 
run  riot,  or  is  indulged  as  a  mere  luxury,  a  beautiful  or  a 
depraved  supernumerary  of  existence. 

Every  intelligent  student  -of  human  nature  is  aware  that 
any  disturbance  of  bodily  structure  or  function  modifies 
mental  function  and  power,  and  that  whenever  such  disturb- 
ance is  severe,  or  long  continued,  the  mental  alienation  may 
also  become  severe.  No  so-called  diseases  are  more  common 
than  hysteria  and  hypochondria;  they  often  give  color  to  a 
whole  life,  destroy  all  happiness,  and  render  their  possessors 


Health  and  Disease.  189 

the  most  miserable  of  beings,  besides  entailing  untold  misery 
upon  others.  But  slight  physical  disturbance  in  such  cases 
can  be  discovered,  certainly  none  that  necessarily  shortens 
physical  life ;  nor  is  there  great  bodily  pain,  nor  physical  suf- 
fering, -or  inability  for  almost  any  amount  of  sensuous  in- 
dulgence or  dissipation.  There  is  often  in  such  cases  a 
wonderful  ability  to  make  everyone  miserable.  We  are  all 
familiar  with  persons  who  habitually  indulge  in  fits  of  anger, 
jealousy,  enviousness,  greed,  and  all  uncharitableness ;  and 
these  persons  seem  to  be  unaware  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
molding  their  whole  bodily  structure  to  these  vicious  habits, 
so  that  in  time  it  may  refuse  to  express  any  other  sentiment 
or  emotion.  The  connection  between  body  and  mind  seems 
to  be  wholly  lost  sight  of.  All  evil  passions  and  unworthy 
thoughts  vitiate  the  bodily  secretions,  and  in  time  mold  the 
tissues  so  that  the  recurrence  is  automatic.  It  is  by  no  means 
an  uncommon  occurrence  for  a  nursing  infant  to  be  thrown 
into  convulsions  from  nursing  a  mother  that  had  recently  in- 
dulged in  a  fit  of  anger,  or  to  sicken  from  a  mother's  grief 
and  unhappiness.  These  considerations  and  illustrations 
might  be  extended  indefinitely  to  show  the  influence  of  the 
mind  over  the  body,  supplementing  the  influence  of  body  on 
mind.  Enough,  however,  has  been  said  to  show  how  basic 
are  these  relations,  and  that  any  concept  of  health,  and  any 
theory  of  disease  must  regard  the  relations  of  mind  to  body 
no  less  than  of  body  to  vitality. 

Now,  in  die  light  of  these  considerations,  what  is  health  ? 
We  are  not  yet  ready  to  answer  this  important  question.  In 
considering  health  in  relation  to  vitality  and  structure,  we 
have  discovered  that  another  factor  enters  into  the  account, 
namely,  mind.  If  vitality  be  the  motive  power  of  the  body, 
mind  is  its  crowning  glory;  and  just  as  the  vitality  may  be 
weakened,  vitiated  or  destroyed  by  vicious  habits,  so  may 
the  mind  be  deranged  and  demoralized  by  a  similar  process. 
Take  from  man  all  motive  power,  and  all  mental  power,  and 
his  body  becomes  an  inert  mass,  fit  only  as  food  for  worms, 


190  A  Study  of  Man. 

or  to  be  scattered  to  the  elements  from  which  it  carr.e.  If 
health  in  its  broadest  sense  is  harmony,  then  that  harmony 
concerns  body  and  mind  no  less  man  body  and  vitality. 
What  then  is  the  normal  relation  of  body  and  mind  concern- 
ing which  harmony  is  to  be  predicated  and  secure: : 

Mind  is  the  immediate  agent  of  the  conscious  ego  on  the 
one  side,  and  on  the  other  it  stands  as  the  concern  mi  of  all 
bodily  faculties,  sensations  and  feelings;  or,  in  other  words, 
as  the  translator  of  the  outer  physical  world,  through  ex- 
perience, into  terms  of  self-consciousness.  The  body  men, 
with  all  its  functions  and  faculties.,  is  the  servant  of  the  con- 
»go,  the  real  self.  Mind  and  body  therefore  are 
equally  servants  of  the  real  man.  The  sensuous  life  of  man 
-  related  to  the  bodily  structure  and  functions,  and 

;  to  his  mental  life,  while  the  results  of  all 
:  erience  in  these  realms  belong  to  the  conscious  ego,  man's 
real  individual  life.     The  intellectual  life  of  man  is  directly 
related  to  the  con  ego  above,  to  the  sensuous  life  be- 

and  indirectly  related  to  the  physical  structure.    What 
we  call  mind  is  therefore  intermediate  between  the  ego  and 
body.     Naturally  the  mind  is  the  almoner  of  the  rtz.1 
man,  while  the  body  is  its  servant  to  do  its  bidding— the 
;hicle  of  its  will,  and  the  servant  of  its  commands.     Here 
then   is   a  community  of  interests  with  a  centralization  of 
.-r,  but  in  the  natural  order  this  government  is  patri- 
archaL    If  the  head  directs  the  hands  as  to  what  they  shall 
hold  or  not  hold,  and   lirects  the  feet  whither  they  shall  tend, 
reason  of  the  intelligence  which  the  head  possesses  and 
ch  the  hands  and  feet  do  not  possess,  the  head  preserves 
and  protects  both  hands  and  feet  as  its  own,  as  part  of  its 
very  self,   its  trained  and  true  servants   and  best  friends. 
Each  has  need  of  the  other.    Eut  suppose  the  hands  and  feet 
grow  rebellious,  and  say  to  the  head,  we  will  no  longer  fol- 
r  bidding,  we  prefer  our  own  counsels,  and  will  go 
our  own  way;  it  is  easy  to  see  what  will  follow.    The  order 
and  the  design  of    nature  are   apparent.     It  would  be  no 


Health  and  Disease. 


191 


more  absurd  to  allow  the  hands  and  feet  to  dictate  the  policy 
of  government  in  the  life  of  man  than  to  allow  his  sensuous 
life,  hi^  appetites  and  passions,  to  rule  rather  than  serve  the 
real  man.  Harmony  therefore  means  the  rule  of  the  lower 
faculties  by  the  next  higher  in  concrete  degrees,  and  the  su- 
preme rule  of  the  conscious  ego.  Everything  short  of  this 
is  the  harmony  of  death.  Peace  secured  on  any  other  terms 
means  final  dissolution  and  destruction.  In  a  well-ordered 
government,  such  as  the  nature  of  man  is  evidently  designed 
to  be,  the  ego  sits  a  king  upon  his  throne.  The  mental 
faculties  are  his  ministers  of  state;  the  sensory  faculties  are 
his  household  servants,  and  never  his  masters.  The  vital 
powers  are  his  standing  army  to  protect  his  realm,  and  never 
to  invade  that  of  his  neighbors,  but  able,  in  case  of  need,  to 
relieve  distress,  protect  the  innocent,  and  promote  the  reign 
of  peace  and  plenty  throughout  the  world.  When  the  king 
is  thus  enthroned,  Health  blooms  like  a  rose  on  the  outer 
walls  of  his  palace,  and  harmony  dwells  within  his  gates. 
This  is  the  meaning  of  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body;  and 
the  jewel  that  sparkles  in  the  crown  of  the  king  is  a  spark 
of  the  Divine  Intelligence,  and  it  illuminates  the  whole  pal- 
ace as  the  diadem  of  divinity. 

But  alas !  the  king  is  dethroned  and  a  tyrant  sits  in  his 
stead.  He  dons  the  crown  and  boasts  of  its  jewel,  unmind- 
ful that  its  brightness  is  blackened  as  with  fire.  There  is  no 
tyrant  like  disease.  His  minions  lurk  in  every  drop  of  blood, 
and  hold  high  carnival  in  joint  and  sinew;  their  bonfires 
glare  in  every  organ,  and  set  on  fire  even  the  mind,  the  pal- 
ace of  the  king;  they  hoot  at  the  tyrant,  yet  hasten  to  do  his 
evil  bidding.  Crime  is  but  another  name  for  disease,  and 
sickness  and  pain  are  but  the  disorder,  bred  by  ignorance  of 
the  just  laws  of  the  rightful  heir  to  the  throne  of  life.  It 
was  not  so  designed ;  it  ought  not  so  to  be.  Whenever  intel- 
ligent human  beings  shall  take  as  much  pains  to  keep  their 
minds  clean  as  to  keep  their  bodies  clean;  whenever  these 
shall   realize   that   even   perfect   health,   noble   powers,   and 


192  A   Study   of  Man. 

splendid  opportunities  are  but  the  beginning  of  real  life  on 
earth,  then  only  will  man  have  entered  his  birthright,  and 
begun  to  involve  the  divinity  that  is  above  him. 

The  progress  of  science  is  almost  altogether  in  physical 
things,  and  the  practice  of  medicine  has  little  regard  for 
anything  beyond  man's  physical  being.  Insane  asylums  are 
crowded  to  repletion,  and  half  the  energies  of  those  who  are 
not  actually  disabled  by  disease  in  some  form,  or  who  are  not 
classed  and  housed  either  as  criminals  or  unfortunates,  are 
demanded  to  take  care  of  those  who  are  thus  disabled  and 
sequestered.  It  is  as  though  an  army  marching  through  an 
unknown  land  were  kept  busy  caring  for  its  wounded  and 
burying  its  dead,  when  not  in  actual  conflict  with  its  camp- 
followers.  Real  progress  is  retarded  if  not  impossible.  The 
rule  of  nature  is  not  the  greatest  good  to  die  greatest  num- 
ber, but  the  greatest  good  to  all;  and  she  everywhere  and 
at  all  times  places  over  against  the  apparent  progress  of  the 
classes,  the  real  degradation,  suffering  and  despair  of  the 
masses.  If  you  think,  my  reader,  that  this  is  an  altogether 
pessimistic  view  of  things,  I  put  but  one  inquiry:  Is  it  not 
true  ?  He  who  is  clothed  in  the  human  form,  and  who  there- 
fore belongs  to  the  great  body,  humanity;  he  whose  lines 
have  fallen  in  pleasant  places  and  who  is  rich  in  basket  and 
in  store,  yet  who  imagines  that  he  has  progressed  away  from 
the  misfortunes  and  miseries  of  his  kind,  will  find  himself 
woefully  mistaken.  The  miseries  of  humanity  are  indeed 
like  a  great  stone,  crushing  out  its  life.  He  who  will  fall 
upon  this  stone  with  all  his  best  endeavor  shall  break  it ;  but 
upon  whomsoever  this  stone  shall  fall  it  shall  grind  him  to 
powder.  Neither  politics  nor  physic  will  cure  the  ills  with 
which  we  are  afflicted.  More  than  half  our  diseases,  count- 
ing criminals  and  so-called  unfortunates,  are  of  mental  ori- 
gin. Vicious  habits  of  thought,  greed  for  place,  for  power, 
and  for  gold,  selfishness  in  every  devil's  garb,  crush  out  the 
light  of  love  and  disease  all  humanity. 

The  laws  of  health  are  few  and  simple;  the  means  of 


Health  and  Disease.  193 

restor-  tion  to  health,  where  people  are  not  hopelessly  dis- 
eased, are  usually  simple  also;  but  these  laws  and  measures 
have  strict  regard  to  the  mind  as  well  as  to  the  body,  and  no 
less  to  the  body  politic.  We  placard  a  house  against  small- 
pox, and  disinfect  against  contagion,  yet  moral  leprosy  and 
mental  distemper  are  .seldom  regarded  as  contagious.  Every- 
thing possible  is  often  done  to  increase  the  predisposition  to 
disease  in  the  young  by  encouraging  precocity  and  disre- 
garding malformation.  If  a  child  of  tuberculous  parents 
is  born  with  a  naurow  chest  and  a  large  head,  by  the  time 
he  reaches  the  age  of  puberty  these  defects  in  the  structural 
harmony  of  the  body  are  often  greatly  increased,  whereas 
they  might  be  nearly,  if  not  altogether  eliminated  by  out-of- 
door  exercise,  proper  diet,  and  mental  repose.  The  statistics 
of  consumption  are  a  sufficient  commentary.  The  doctors 
are  expected  to  do  with  drugs  what  the  parents  might  have 
accomplished  by  a  little  less  worship  of  society,  or  mam- 
mon, and  a  little  knowledge  of  physiology.  The  druggists 
and  the  venders  of  patent  medicines  manage  to  pick  up  a 
living,  while  the  doctors  waste  a  good  deal  of  valuable  time 
in  collecting  fees  and  gathering  statistics  for  cases  of  tuber- 
cular disease !  By  the  time  these  cases  are  brought  to  the 
doctors  with  cough,  hectic,  nightsweats,  and  emaciation, 
they  are  hopeless,  and  before  this  time  warning  is  disre- 
garded. The  medical  profession  has  been  actively  and  faith- 
fully engaged  for  many  years  in  trying  to  discover  the  cause 
and  prevention  of  disease,  and  the  best  service  of  the  best 
physician  consists  in  teaching  people  how  not  to  be  sick. 
Many  persons  in  every  community  value  the  services  of  a 
physician  according  to  the  length  of  his  countenance  and  the 
size  of  his  doses.  This  offers  a  golden  field  to  patent  medi- 
cines, advertising  quacks,  and  unprincipled  scoundrels,  and 
here  as  elsewhere  the  supply  equals  and  sometimes  exceeds 
the  demand,  and  yet  these  people  wonder  that  they  are  sick. 
The  real  province  of  medicine  in  the  cure  of  disease  is  very 
narrow.     The  true  application  of    physiology  and    hygiene 


194  ^  Study  of  Man. 

in  the  prevention  of  disease  and  in  the  restoration  to  health 
is  very  broad.  There  is  indeed  in  every  community  a  large 
and  increasing  class  of  persons  who  are  beginning  to  realize 
these  facts,  and  though  a  single  generation  will  not  suffice 
to  render  them  longer-lived,  they  have  already  greater  confi- 
dence and  greater  comfort  in  life.  The  organization  of 
schools  for  the  training  of  nurses,  and  the  better  education 
of  students  in  all  respectable  medical  colleges,  added  to  de- 
crease of  drugging  and  better  regard  for  the  laws  of  life 
and  health  in  general,  are  hopeful  signs  for  the  future  of 
humanity.  As  yet  these  are  but  feeble  resources  in  the  face 
of  the  ignorance,  the  superstition,  and  the  degradation  of 
man.  Fraud  and  imposture  are  always  able  to  thrive  on  ig- 
norance, and  disease  will  disappear  only  in  proportion  as 
these  recede. 

The  life  of  the  globe  is  one  in  kind,  so  far  as  life  is  con- 
sidered as  a  force  inherent  in  matter.  It  may  also  be  con- 
ceived that  disease  is  also  reducible  to  a  single  form  as  dis- 
turbed vitality.  A  mental  emotion,  indulgence  of  the  im- 
agination or  mental  friction  is  as  competent  to  disturb  vital- 
ity as  any  physical  cause.  In  a  great  many  cases  of  disease 
recovery  is  retarded  or  rendered  impossible  by  mental  con- 
ditions. Mental  states  are  thus  both  the  cause  and  the  cure 
of  many  diseases,  and  mental  conditions  have  a  great  deal 
to  do  in  all  diseases.  It  likewise  follows  that  mental  states 
ward  off  disease  and  promote  health.  It  is  quite  evident 
from  the  signs  of  the  times  that  these  facts  are  being  better 
understood,  and  that  so-called  mental  cure  is  to  have  a  far 
larger  part  to  play  in  the  future  of  medicine  than  has  been 
assigned  to  it  in  the  past.  Intemperate,  unreasonable,  and 
untrue  assertions,  however,  will  not  promote  progress  in 
this  direction  more  than  in  any  other.  The  mind  is  not  all 
there  is  of  man,  nor  is  mind  the  sole  cause  of  either  life, 
health  or  disease.  We  have  already  indicated  the  relation 
of  mind  to  body,  and  of  the  conscious  ego  to  mind.  There 
are  bodily  functions,  like  respiration,  that  are  largely  under 


Health  and  Disease.  195 

the  control  of  the  will,  and  cases  have  been  known  where 
the  exercise  of  the  will  could  perceptibly  -modify  the  action 
of  the  heart.  In  ordinary  life,  however,  there  is  no  function 
of  man  less  under  the  control  of  the  will  than  the  process  of 
thought;  and  few  individuals  have  any  more  power  to  pre- 
vent or  control  the  surging  billows  of  passion  that  sweep 
over  the  soul  than  they  have  to  ward  off  malaria  or  small- 
pox from  the  physical  body.  There  is  no  greater  predispo- 
nent  to  disease  than  fear,  which  renders  the  body  negative 
and  disarms  the  mind  of  all  resistance  to  all  morbific  agents. 
The  characteristic  phenomena  of  fear,  influencing  both  mind 
and  body,  are  more  or  less  present  in  all  disease,  though 
these  phenomena  may  arise  from  an  innumerable  number  of 
causes.  It  is  true  that  mental  exaltation  may  render  the  in- 
dividual unconscious  of  pain,  and  may  even  remove  func- 
tional disease  under  certain  circumstances.  It  is  equally 
true  that  mental  exaltation  will  result  in  insanity  and  cause 
death.  Mere  mental  exaltation,  therefore,  is  not  necessarily 
a  beneficent  and  curative  process ;  nor  will  any  mental  state 
possible  to  man  in  his  present  condition  of  inherited  disease 
and  partial  development  be  sufficient  to  remove  bis  disabil- 
ity, and  keep  him  well  and  happy  for  any  great  length  of 
time.  Such  a  result  can  only  be  attained  through  processes 
that  fully  recognize  what  man  is,  and  what  it  is  possible  for 
him  to  become,  and  the  philosophy  which  attains  this  re- 
sult will  not  begin  by  ignoring  the  fact  that  man  is  a  divine 
idea  but  partially  realized — imperfect  as  to  mechanism  and 
function,  and  habituated  by  long  practice  and  generations 
of  inherited  bias  to  disease,  to  sin  and  to  death.  This  imper- 
fect man  is  not  in  any  broad  sense  a  magician..  A  true 
magician  is  one  who,  from  intimate  knowledge  of  the  laws 
and  processes  of  nature,  is  able  to  bring  about  results  that 
seem  miraculous  to  those  ignorant  of  nature's  laws.  It  is 
true  that  enthusiasm  and  mental  exaltation  will  sometimes 
accomplish  wonders;  but  when  these  conditions  are  laid  on 
a  foundation  of  ignorance,  and  not  on  any  real  knowledge, 


196  A   Study  of  Man. 

the  results  are  neither  certain  nor  permanent.  The  asser- 
tions of  ignorance  are  not  always  separated  from  the  dicta 
of  knowledge;  the  ignorant  and  superstitious  know  no  dif- 
ference between  them. 

Cheerfulness  is  a  great  promoter  of  health,  and  yet  many 
persons  are  from  temperament  and  inheritance  morbid  and 
melancholy.  Antenatal  conditions  must  be  taken  into  ac- 
count, and  the  load  of  depression  accumulated  generation 
after  generation  sometimes  rests  upon  an  individual  with  a 
crushing  power  that  he  is  unable  to  withstand.  The  educa- 
tion of  an  individual  is  inseparable  from  his  inheritance, 
and  always  commences  long  before  he  is  born.  Whenever 
parents  begin  to  realize  this  fact  they  will  be  able  to  prevent 
many  of  those  calamities  that  now  entail  untold  misery. 

What  man  most  needs  is  a  knowledge  of  his  own  nature, 
and  of  the  laws  of  physiology  that  conduce  to  health  of  body, 
and  health  of  mind.  When  man  is  in  possession  of  this 
knowledge  he  will  value  it  above  rubies,  and  when,  through 
the  exercise  of  this  knowledge,  he  has  been  able  to  remove 
all  vicious  habits,  and  to  overcome  inherited  bias  to  disease 
and  crime,  then  indeed,  will  the  bright  blood  of  health  course 
through  his  veins. 

Even  in  the  face  of  all  these  acquired  habits  and  in- 
herited tendencies  to  disease  restoration  to  the  best  degree 
of  health  possible  under  the  circumstances  depends  far  less 
on  any  drug  action  than  on  the  correction  of  the  vicious 
habit,  be  it  of  body  or  of  mind.  People  often  regard  these 
measures  as  ridiculously  simple,  and  in  other  cases  are  un- 
willing to  forego  the  self-denial  and  take  the  trouble  neces- 
sary to  recovery.  People  often  act  as  though  they  believe 
mat,  when  sick,  it  is  only  necessary  to  consult  a  physician, 
pay  him  a  fee,  take  a  certain  quantity  of  drugs,  and  straight- 
way be  as  though  the  disease  had  never  occurred.  The 
vicious  habit  remaining  unchecked,  the  disease  of  course  re- 
turns, and  so-called  chronic  disease  is  the  result.  Medicine 
'.10   longer    serves    to    arrest    or   modify   the    condition    com- 


Health  and  Disease.  197 

plained  of,  and  the  cure  is  now  rendered  often  impossible. 
The  result  is  a  premature  death  or  a  miserable  old  age;  but 
in  the  meantime  the  vicious  habit  is  generally  transmitted 
to  posterity,  and  the  final  conflict,  rendered  constantly  more 
difficult,  is  relegated  to  the  coming  generations. 

These  are  the  problems  that  are  pressing  for  considera- 
tion. There  is  no  end  of  new  remedies,  and  new  methods 
of  compromise  with  disease;  but  there  is  far  too  little  atten- 
tion paid  to  the  promotion  and  preservation  of  health,  and 
toward  this  end  the  mental  conditions,  habits  of  thought, 
and  ideals  in  life,  have  quite  as  much  to  do  as  any  mere  bod- 
ily function.  We  need  less  of  mind-cure,  and  far  more  of 
mind-health ;  we  need  higher  ideals  in  life,  pursued  with 
more  zeal;  we  need  a  concentration  of  energies  on  more 
noble  purposes;  we  need  mental  exaltation  that  shall  be  able 
to  see  beyond  self,  and  that  shall  be  supported  by  health  of 
body,  and  thus  be  capable  of  unwearied  exercise,  and  not  un- 
settle the  reason,  nor  relax  into  ennui  and  imbecility. 

Reforms  in  medicine,  like  political  reforms,  come  largely 
from  outside  demand  originating  with  the  people.  With 
many  noble  exceptions,  and  in  spite  of  the  progress  and  lib- 
erality of  the  age,  there  is,  nevertheless,  more  of  bigotry, 
more  of  the  spirit  of  intolerance  and  persecution  in  the  so- 
called  medical  profession  of  today  than  among  almost  any 
other  class  of  persons  of  equal  intelligence.  The  reason  for 
this  may  be  found  in  the  innate  selfishness  of  human  na- 
ture, so  often  placed  on  trial  by  self-interest.  Those  igno- 
rant of  the  laws  of  life  are  in  continual  fear  of  death ;  igno- 
rance and  fear  thus  offer  continual  prizes  to  cupidity.  Hu- 
man nature  is  indeed  everywhere  the  same,  but  selfishness 
does  not  everywhere  have  equal  opportunity.  The  growth 
of  selfishness,  like  that  of  any  other  vice,  is  often  impercep- 
tible; it  is  but  another  form  of  animal  egotism,  and  it  thrives 
best  in  an  age  of  ignorance  and  superstition.  Progress  else- 
where in  human  affairs  depends  upon  the  diffusion  of  intel- 
ligence  among  the  people,  and  progress   in   medicine  offers 


198  A  Study  of  Man. 

no  exception  to  the  rule.  Nothing  will  do  so  much  to  banish 
the  fear  of  death  as  diffusion  of  a  knowledge  of  the  laws 
of  life. 

Unprofessional  and  even  unprincipled  persons  have  re- 
cently called  attention  to  the  influence  of  mind  in  promoting 
both  health  and  disease.  Many  persons  in  every  community 
have  caught  the  new  craze,  and  as  a  consequence  there  is 
a  decrease  in  the  sale  of  patent  medicines  and  in  indiscrim- 
inate drugging.  If  physicians  would  encourage  a  liberal 
spirit  of  investigation,  and  would  rely  less  on  denunciation, 
soon  every  honest  student  would  be  convinced  that  drugs  are 
inferior  to  dynamics,  and  that  the  silent,  and  hitherto  unrec- 
ognized forces  of  nature,  are  potent  agents  for  both  good 
and  ill.  Denunciation  not  only  never  promotes  the  cause  of 
truth,  but  it  often  confirms  people  in  error.  There  is,  in- 
deed, both  room  for  improvement  and  need  of  progress  at 
this  point.  Humanity  will  still  offer  a  fruitful  field  for 
speculation,  no  less  from  a  financial  than  from  a  philosoph- 
ical point  of  view,  and  its  only  protection  and  elevation  will 
still  lie  in  the  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  the  masses. 
While  ignorance  remains,  cupidity  will  flourish.  Whenever 
among  the  people  the  real  good  is  placed  above  the  seeming 
profit;  when  health  of  body  and  health  of  mind  are  held  as 
ruperior  to  sensuous  enjoyment;  whenever  character  is  held 
as  superior  to  conventionality,  and  whenever  standards  of 
light  are  valued  above  those  of  so-called  society,  then  will 
the  ideal  become  the  real,  and  health  will  take  the  place  of 
disease. 

The  condition  called  disease  manifests  its  presence,  first, 
through  disturbed  function,  and  even  where  tissue  change 
is  the  first  to  be  observed  no  such  change  has  arisen  without 
previous  disturbance  of  function  in  the  part  involved.  When, 
therefore,  diseases  are  classed  as  functional  and  organic, 
the  former  precede  the  latter.  The  seeming  exceptions  to 
this  rule  where,  for  example,  morbid  growths  arise,  are 
classed  as  disturbances  of  the  function  of  nutrition,  and  later 


Health  and  Disease.  199 

on  in  progress  of  the  disease,  these  morbid  growths  may 
disturb  other  functions  in  many  ways.  The  length  of  time 
required  for  acute  functional  disease  to  become  chronic  or- 
ganic disease  varies  very  greatly.  As  a  rule  this  change  oc- 
curs very  slowly,  owing  to  the  resistance  offered  by  the  vital- 
ity of  the  body.  There  are  exceptional  cases,  however, 
where,  from  age  or  enfeebled  constitution,  the  progress  is 
very  rapid.  In  the  strictest  sense  there  can  be  no  disturb- 
ance of  function  without  disturbance  of  structure,  while 
every  abnormal  modification  of  structure  changes  the  func- 
tion of  the  organ  or  part  involved.  While,  therefore,  the 
most  intelligent  pathologist  often  experiences  difficulty  in 
determining  in  a  given  case  whether  important  tissue 
changes  have  yet  occurred,  those  ignorant  of  these  basic 
principles  of  pathology  often  entirely  overlook  the  differ- 
ence between  incurable  organic  disease  and  simple  func- 
tional disturbance,  and  are  as  ready  to  promise  a  cure  in  the 
one  case  as  in  another.  Just  so  surely  as  disease  results  in 
death,  so  surely  is  there  a  period  during  its  progress  pre- 
vious to  death  when  it  is  incurable.  This  point  is  never 
reached  through  impaired  function  alone.  The  old  saying, 
"as  long  as  there  is  life  there  is  hope,"  is,  therefore,  often  a 
fallacy.  It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  when  an  individ- 
ual recovers  from  any  given  disease,  the  recovery  is  attrib- 
uted to  such  appliances  as  have  been  made  use  of,  no  matter 
what  they  may  have  been,  even  though  they  may  really  have 
permanently  impaired  the  health  of  the  patient.  Let  any 
dozen  similar  cases  of  any  disease  be  treated  by  as  many 
different  methods,  some  of  them  diametrically  opposite,  and 
with  doses  of  drugs  varying  from  the  maximum  to  the  min- 
imum, and  the  practitioner  in  every  case  will  claim  credit 
for  the  cure,  provided  the  patient  does  not  die.  If  the  pa- 
tient dies,  really  from  overdosing  and  malpractice,  or  from 
neglect  of  the  proper  remedies,  or  from  any  other  cause,  it 
is  put  down  as  an  inscrutable  dispensation  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence.   We  thus  rob  Providence  of  all  credit  for  assistance 


200  A   Study  of  Man. 

in  case  of  cure,  and  load  upon  him  all  our  misfortunes  and 
mistakes.     There  is  no  help  for  this  condition  of  things  ex- 
cept in  better  knowledge  on  the  part  of  the  people,  and  more 
and  better  knowledge   on  the  part  of  the  practitioners  of 
medicine.    The  simple  fact  ought  to  be  generally  understood 
that  by   far   the   larger   part  of   simple   functional  disorders 
tends  to  spontaneous  recovery.     It  ought  to  be  generally  un- 
derstood that  such  assistance  as  is  generally  required  to  re- 
store a  simple  functional  disturbance  consists  largely  -in  hy- 
gienic and  dietetic  measures,  such  as  are  dictated  by  intelli- 
gence.    It  ought  to  be  generally  understood,  moreover,  that 
most  of  such  cases  will  recover  if  they  -are  not  prevented 
from  so  doing  by  pernicious  interference ;  and  finally  it  ought 
to  be  understood  that  no  person  is  properly  educated  who 
cannot  in   some   fair  degree  distinguish   between   functional 
and  organic  disease.     The  pursuit  of  this  knowledge  should 
be  encouraged  in  preference  to  much  of  that  which  now 
constitutes  the  course  pursued  in  schools  and  colleges.    The 
first  result  of  the  more  general  diffusion  of  such  knowledge 
would  be  that  the  physician  would  be  less  frequently  con- 
sulted.    The  second  result  would  be  the  more  frequent  de- 
tection and  suppression  of    charlatanry,  and    the  physician 
would  be  consulted  in  serious  cases  before  it  is  too  late.   The 
result  upon  the  medical  profession  would  be  that  the  genu- 
ine physician  would  be  all  the  more  appreciated.    His  occu- 
pation would  indeed  be  skilled  labor  in  the  highest  sense; 
he  would  be  to  his  patrons  at  once  teacher,  counsellor  and 
friend,  and  the  upper  ranks  of  the  profession,  open  then  as 
now  to  all  aspirants,  would  be  measured  by  philanthropy  no 
less  than    by   skill.     Physicians  have   in  recent    times  paid 
great  attention  to  the  accurate  diagnosis  of  disease.     This 
branch  of  professional  work  has  indeed  become  a  fine  art. 
It  was  formerly  believed  that  skill  in  diagnosis  could  only 
come  by  long  experience.     One  year's  hospital  experience 
to  a  young  man  well  read  in  anatomy,  physiology  and  diag- 
nosis, is  now  really  of  more  worth  as  genuine  experience 


Health  and  Disease.  201 

than  a  dozen  years  of  the  happy-go-lucky  experience  of  a 
generation  ago.  The  more  intelligent  individuals  in  any 
community  no  longer  require  that  their  doctors  shall  be 
moldy  like  their  cheese,  as  Dr.  Holmes  wittily  puts  it,  well 
knowing  that  much  of  so-called  experience  serves  only  to 
deepen  error  and  repeat  mistakes. 

From  the  foregoing  considerations  it  is  easy  to  deter- 
mine what  influence  the  mind  may  have  on  disease  in  gen- 
eral, and  what  class  of  diseases  may  disappear  during  men- 
tal exaltation,  no  matter  how  induced.  These  are  strictly 
functional  disorders.  Unfortunately,  very  few  indeed  of  the 
practitioners  in  the  new  craze  called  "mind-cure,"  "Chris- 
tian Science,"  and  the  like,  are  any  better  able  to  diagnose 
disease  than  their  patients,  and  they  are  as  likely  to  promise 
or  report  a  cure  of  cancer  or  tuberculosis  in  the  last  stage 
as  in  cases  of  hysteria  or  hypochondriasis.  These  people 
seem  unmindful  of  the  fact  that  dangerous  cases  may  be 
criminally  neglected,  and  that  other  cases  will  recover  spon- 
taneously if  not  interfered  with.  There  is,  moreover,  an- 
other principle  of  equal  importance  relating  to  the  function 
of  the  mind.  If  one  were  liable  to  fall  overboard  in  mid- 
ocean,  where  nothing  but  swimming  could  save  him,  it  would 
be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  try  swimming.  If  one  found  him- 
self overboard  with  no  previous  experience  in  swimming,  he 
might  intuitively  catch  the  knack  of  swimming  and  pull  out 
manfully  till  rescued;  but  the  chances  would  be  that  in  the 
excitement,  bewildered  by  fright,  he  would  drown.  It  has 
already  been  shown  that  the  great  majority  of  persons  can 
no  more  control  their  thoughts,  and  concentrate  their  minds 
on  a  given  idea,  than  by  an  effort  of  the  will  they  can  con- 
trol the  beating  of  their  own  hearts.  If,  then,  no  facility  in 
controlling  the  mind  and  concentrating  the  thought  has  pre- 
viously been  acquired  by  an  individual,  and  if  he  makes  his 
first  attempt  at  such  control  when  under  pressure  of  great 
excitement,  or  great  danger,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  any  ap- 
preciable result  would  follow,  though  a  self-limiting  disease, 


202  A  Study  of  Man. 

a  mere  functional  disturbance,  might  coincidently  disappear. 
Such  disturbances  are  always  more  or  less  influenced  by  the 
will,  and  are  sometimes  purely  imaginary.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  is  well  known  that  will  power  may  be  cultivated, 
and  by  practice  the  mental  faculties  may  be  concentrated  to 
the  point  of  abstraction,  or  such  concentration  may  even  re- 
sult in  distraction.  Such  exercises  are,  to  say  the  least,  dan- 
gerous to  those  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  mind ;  as  optical  dis- 
ease and  insanity  have  been  known  to  result  therefrom.  An 
individual  in  whom  the  mental  faculties  have  been  wisely 
exercised  and  concentrated  by  the  will  may  indeed  fix  his 
mind  upon  a  given  subject  to  the  exclusion  of  all  others; 
and  according  to  the  motives  that  actuate  his  life,  and  the 
ideals  that  inspire  his  soul,  he  may  create  blessing  or  ban, 
and  promote  health  or  disease.  The  exercise  of  mental  con- 
centration is  one  in  which  the  poet,  Tennyson,  is  said  to  de- 
light, and  he  plainly  refers  to  it  in  some  of  his  most  ex- 
quisite passages.  For  an  individual  who  habitually  neglects 
the  plainest  laws  of  health,  and  indulges  many  evil  passions, 
to  devote  his  time  to  mental  concentration  for  the  cure  of 
diseases  that  far  safer  and  simpler  measures  would  prevent 
is,  to  say  die  least,  an  unmitigated  folly. 

It  is  not,  therefore,  difficult  to  predict  the  outcome  of  the 
mind-cure  and  the  so-called  Christian  Science  craze.  It 
has  its  good  and  its  evil  side  according  as  its  cultivators  are 
sincere  and  intelligent,  or  the  reverse.  It  has  already  done 
some  good,  and  a  great  deal  of  harm,  and  so  will  it  no  doubt 
continue  to  do  to  the  end  of  the  chapter,  when  some  new 
craze  will  take  its  place. 

To  the  intelligent  student  of  human  nature  all  such  epi- 
sodes present  interesting  psychological  studies,  and  if  he  but 
examines  them  fairly  and  dispassionately  they  will  prove 
valuable  and  instructive.  If,  however,  he  allows  himself  to 
become  a  zealous  partisan  on  either  side,  he  may  follow,  or 
fight  the  craze,  and  be  no  wiser  in  the  one  case  than  in  the 
other. 


Health  and  Disease.  203 

The  true  student  of  human  nature  will  be  as  passionless 
in  the  pursuit  of  truth  as  he  will  be  earnest  in  applying  and 
diffusing  it  for  the  benefit  of  his  fellowmen.  Reformers 
have,  indeed,  often  been  men  of  one  idea,  and  unable  to  con- 
trol the  forces  they  have  raised ;  new  and  often  greater 
abuses  have  followed  closely  upon  reform.  The  student  of 
human  nature  must  be  a  philosopher,  and  he  may  also  be  a 
philanthropist.  He  may  not  rouse  a  nation  to  anger,  but 
he  can  inspire  the  souls  of  men  with  benevolence;  and 
though  he  may  escape  fame,  he  will  be  certain  of  a  peaceful 
life  and  a  contented  mind.  In  the  present  condition  of  so- 
ciety, when  disease  in  some  form  is  more  nearly  the  rule 
than  the  exception,  a  large  part  of  the  resources  and  of  the 
energy  of  mankind  is  necessarily  employed  to  secure  health. 
The  records  of  premature  deaths  and  incurable  diseases 
show  how  inadequate,  after  all,  are  our  efforts  in  this  direc- 
tion. It  is  indeed  a  rare  thing  to  find  an  individual  without 
an  infirmity  of  some  kind.  We  would  soon  become  weary 
of  listening  to  a  musician  who  devoted  the  greater  part  of 
his  time  to  the  tuning  of  his  instrument,  and  who  could  at 
best  give  us  but  snatches  of  harmony  and  mere  glimpses  of 
his  power.  The  human  mechanism  is  a  most  wondrous  in- 
strument, capable  not  only  of  producing  simple  harmony, 
but  of  repeating  the  symphony  of  creation.  Health  of  body 
and  mind,  rare  as  that  condition  may  be,  is  nevertheless  the 
beginning,  and  not  the  end  of  existence.  The  struggle  for 
mere  existence,  wherein  man  is  obliged  to  wage  perpetual 
warfare  against  the  foes  of  health,  can  give  little  conception 
of  the  real  ministry  and  destiny  of  man  on  earth.  So  long 
as  this  battle  must  wage  man  cannot  be  said  really  to  have 
lived  at  all.  In  perfect  health  man  is  no  longer  at  war  with 
nature,  nor  with  the  elements  of  his  own  body.  Health 
means  perfect  peace,  and  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the 
harmony  and  the  blessedness  of  life  proceed.  From  this  foun- 
dation the  real  divinity  in  man  will  go  forth  as  an  image  of 
his  Creator,  and  a  co-worker  with  the  divine.     In  the  pres- 


204  A  Study  °f  Man- 

ent  condition  of  man  this  may  indeed  be  an  ideal  life,  but 
it  is  certainly  foreshadowed  by  all  lower  forms  of  life,  and 
heralded  by  all  coming  events  as  the  earthly  destiny  of  man 
—a  condition  that  is  neither  incomprehensible  nor  unattain- 
able.    Among  the  devices  of  men  there  is  to  be  found  no 
royal  road  to  learning,  and  no  universal  panacea  for  disease. 
In  the  divinely  appointed  ordinances  of  nature  may  be  found 
both   the   royal   road   and   the   exemption   from   disease   and 
suffering.     These  lie  along  the  line  of  discernment  and  obe- 
dience to  law— not  merely  the  laws  governing  the  body,  or 
the  mind  alone,  for  even  these  do  not  constitute  the  entire 
man.    If  man  obeys,  as  far  as  they  are  known,  the  laws  gov- 
erning the  body,  disregards  the  laws  of  the  mind,  and  is  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  the  laws  of  the  soul,  or  the  higher  self,  he 
will  still  be  at  war  with  the  very  elements  of  his  own  na- 
ture, and  he  cannot  possibly  thus  be  in  harmony  with  his 
environment,  or  essential  being.    Health  transcends  the  mere 
physical  conditions  as  man  transcends  mere  matter  and  force* 
as  harmony  transcends  all  musical  instruments.     It   is  in- 
deed true  that,  in  its  highest  sense  as  complete  harmony, 
health  is  an  ideal  condition;  but  nature  never  builds  without 
ideals,  and  no  superstructure  that  man  has  ever  reared  has 
amounted  to  anything  except  as   it  embodied  and  realized 
more  or  less  completely  these  ideals  of  nature*     Man  has 
discovered   many    things,    but     in   reality    invented    nothing. 
The  partial  glimpses  that  man  has  gained  of  the  laws  and 
orderly  processes  of  nature  have  but  enabled  him  to  devise 
feeble  counterparts  of  her  equally  wonderful  appliances  for 
utilizing    force,    overcoming    resistance,    and    transforming 
matter.     He  who  builds  without  ideals,  either  in  the  outer 
world  of  sense  or  in  the  inner  world  of  soul,  is  leading  an 
aimless  life,  and  is  like  a  ship  sailing  a  boundless  ocean  with- 

*The  architectural  principles  of  Vitruvius  have  as  a  foundation 
the  modulus  of  man,  thus  deriving  nature's  law  of  form  and  pro- 
portion from  her  most  perfect  handiwork. 


Health  and  Disease.  205 

out  chart,  compass,  or  destination,  following  the  law  of 
chances  as  to  shipwreck,  and  after  that  as  to  death  or  rescue. 
Nor  is  man  left  in  necessary  ignorance  of  these  ideals.  So 
long  as  man  deliberately  chooses  the  seeming  profit  in  place 
of  the  real  good,  and  prefers  a  moment's  pleasure  and  an 
age  of  pain  to  self-denial,  which  is  but  the  struggle  to  rise, 
or  as  the  stroke  of  the  brave  swimmer  to  reach  the  shore, 
just  so  long  will  man  be  sick  in  mind  and  sick  in  soul,  and 
therefore  sick  in  body.  No  desirable  possession  of  the  mind, 
body  or  soul  is  ever  attained  without  a  struggle.  All  earthly 
possessions  cost  us  dear  either  to  gain  or  to  hold,  and  neither 
health  of  body,  peace  of  mind,  nor  supremacy  of  soul  are 
gained  on  easier  terms,  else  would  they  be  today  the  uni- 
versal possession  of  man,  in  place  of  sickness,  pain  and 
death.  One  man  plants  a  tree,  well  knowing  that  another 
shall  gather  the  fruit.  One  man  lays  the  foundation  of  a 
fortune  that  his  progeny  may  wear  the  crown  of  wealth,  and 
yet  few  labor  to  possess  and  transmit  even  physical  health 
to  posterity.  The  foundations  of  great  fortunes  are  always 
laid  in  labor  and  self-denial,  and  so  are  those  of  health  and 
holiness.  Thousands  of  young  people  set  sail  in  life  really 
bankrupt  in  health  and  in  morals.  Vitality  and  fresh  expe- 
riences in  sensuous  enjoyment  may  for  a  time  tide  over  the 
impending  crisis,  but  it  comes  at  last,  involving  innocent 
souls  in  ruin;  and  so  the  calamities  of  life  are  transmitted 
and  perpetuated  generation  after  generation,  and  then  the 
blame  is  referred  to  the  sin  of  Adam,  or  the  dispensations 
of  Providence !  Every  bankrupt  soul  knows  better,  though 
the  charity  of  friends  may  still  conceal  the  lie. 

The  way  to  health  lies  through  obedience  to  law,  and  the 
discernment  of  laws  determining  health  lies  in  man's  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  he  is  a  complex  being,  a  conscious 
spark  of  divinity  embodied  in  matter,  and  that  no  part  of 
his  nature  can  be  neglected  or  ignored  without  making  the 
whole  man  sick.    Mental,  moral  and  spiritual  diseases  by  far 


go6  A   Study  of  Man. 

outnumber  those  of  the  physical  body,  for  in  these  are  in- 
cluded every  sin  and  every  crime,  and  so  long  as  man  ig- 
nores these,  and  their  relations  to  the  physical,  so  long  wiU 
perfect  health  be  an  ideal  of  some  other  clime,  instead  of 
the  universal  possession  of  humanity  on  earth. 

Man  is  no  more  all  mind  than  he  is  all  body.  The  talk 
now-a-days  about  "mortal  mind,"  and  man  as  being  nothing 
but  God  is  meaningless.  No  man  living,  known  to  us  today, 
is  all  mind,  all  body,  or  all  God,  nor  will  man  become  all 
God  .through  pure  imagination,  more  than  by  gazing  at  the 
tip  of  his  nose  till  he  becomes  cross-eyed.  The  perfection 
of  man  lies  in  his  working  with  and  through  his  conditions 
and  environment  toward  ideal  perfection,  and  that  which 
more  than  all  else  hinders  his  march  to  "the  serener  heights 
where  dwells  repose,"  is  this  ignorance  of  his  own  nature, 
and  innate  selfishness  in  relation  to  his  fellowmen.  Let  him 
work  to  remove  these  and  the  light  of  a  new  day  will  rise 
in  him,  and  the  dawn  of  a  new  era  will  begin  for  all  hu- 
manity. 

"I  trust  I  have  not  wasted  breath ; 
I  think  we  are  not  wholly  brain, 
Magnetic  mockeries. 

****** 
"To  shape  and  use.    Arise  and  fly 

The  reeling  Faun ,  the  sensual  feast ; 
Move   upward,   working   out   the   beast, 
And  let  the  ape  and  tiger  die." 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


SANITY    AND    INSANITY. 


Health  of  body  and  health  of  mind  are  inseparably  con- 
nected. A  diseased  mind  in  a  healthy  body,  or  a  healthy 
mind  in  a  diseased  body,  are  alike  incompatible.  Health 
has  reference  to  perfect  harmony  and  complete  development, 
and  is  therefore  an  ideal  condition  rather  than  a  present 
reality.  Progress  along  the  line  of  normal  development 
leads  continually  to  broader  vision  and  to  a  completer  life. 
The  goal  of  man  is  perfection;  arriving  at  this  goal,  man 
will  find  himself  in  perfect  harmony  with  nature  and  at  one 
with  divinity.  Sickness  and  disease  are  therefore  due  to  in- 
complete and  imperfect  development.  The  life  of  the  ani- 
mal is  circumscribed  by  its  own  appetites,  and  limited  by  the 
necessities  of  its  environment.  The  animal  ego  in  man  nar- 
rows his  vision  and  limits  his  endeavors  to  the  circle  of  self. 
Having  transcended  the  animal  plane  the  nature  of  man  as- 
pires to  the  next  higher;  and  whenever  he  ignores  or  denies 
this  aspiration,  which  is  his  human  birthright,  his  whole  na- 
ture tends  to  revert  to  the  animal  plane.  Whole  races  have 
thus  reverted  to  barbarism,  and  besotted  individuals,  even  in 
communities  of  advanced  civilization,  are  often  thus  bestial- 
ized.  This  condition  often  -results  when  reason  is  first  de- 
throned, and  where  the  human  qualities  gradually  fade  out 
and  give  place  to  the  animal  instincts  and  appetites.  Such 
human  beings  not  only  manifest  the  instincts  of  animals, 
but  they  are  even  more  dangerous  to  society,  for  the  linger- 
ing light  of  reason  converted  to  cunning  intelligence  may 
with  the  semblance  of  beneficence  clothe  treachery  in  the 

(207) 


2o8  A  Study  of  Man. 

garb  of  purity.  When  the  object  of  the  demon's  treachery 
is  accomplished  or  defeated,  nothing  can  so  chill  the  blood 
and  terrify  the  soul  as  the  shriek  of  his  baffled  rage  or  the 
howl  of  his  fiendish  triumph.  The  growl  of  the  tiger  or 
the  roar  of  the  lion  are  tame  in  comparison  to  the  human 
voice  thus  degraded. 

The  numbers  of  the  incurably  insane  in  all  civilized  coun- 
tries are  counted  by  tens  of  thousands,  and  these  cases  are 
largely  on  the  increase.  Like  the  diseases  of  the  physical 
body,  mental  alienation  manifests  every  conceivable  degree, 
and  every  variety  of  form,  from  the  morbid  and  melancholy 
to  the  raving  maniac.  In  recent  cases,  and  in  the  milder 
forms  of  the  disease,  treatment  is  sometimes  followed  by 
satisfactory  results ;  still,  in  spite  of  all  advancement  in  the 
art  of  medicine,  the  number  of  incurable  maniacs  steadily 
increases.  The  number  of  the  insane  thus  steadily  encroaches 
upon  the  number  of  sane  in  every  community,  and  this  ratio 
of  increase  is  likely  to  become  still  greater  unless  preventive 
measures  are  introduced,  or  remedial  agents  are  instituted 
against  this  fearful  tendency  to  insanity. 

The  intellectual  advancement  of  the  human  race  has 
been  very  marked  even  within  the  past  few  decades,  so  that 
within  the  memory  of  those  now  living  the  whole  theater  of 
the  activity  of  man  has  changed.  Culture  in  its  highest 
sense  cannot  be  confined  to  intellectual  advancement;  nor 
can  real  progress  for  man  be  expressed  in  the  race  for 
wealth,  extravagance,  and  selfish  indulgence.  None  of  these 
things  necessarily  elevate  man  beyond  the  sphere  where 
the  animal  ego  reigns  supreme.  Man  may  be  a  highly  intel- 
lectual or  a  highly  sensuous  animal,  but  he  is  animal  stdl, 
so  long  as  self  rules,  and  so  long  as  selfish  greed,  no  matter 
how  expressed,  inspires  his  efforts  and  shapes  his  ends.  In 
his  exultation  over  the  intellectual  progress  and  material 
prosperity  of  the  age  man  has  forgotten  his  birthright  and 
his  immortal  destiny.  In  "free  and  enlightened  America" 
the  struggle  for  life  has  been  transferred  from  the  physical 


Sanity  and  Insanity.  209 

to  the  mental  realm.  When  the  country  was  new  and 
sparsely  settled  the  percentage  of  those  who  were  engaged 
in  manual  labor  or  physical  pursuits  was  large,  and  literary 
pursuits  and  mental  strain  were  the  exception.  The  ruling 
passion  in  America  today  is  to  avoid  manual  labor,  to  secure 
wealth  without  toil,  to  indulge  sensuous  appetites,  and  in 
every  way  to  promote  selfish  interests  and  aims.  Mental 
strain  has  thus  increased  manifold,  and  bodily  disease  has 
given  place  to  mental  alienation  and  to  the  wreck  of  reason. 
The  conservative  and  moderating  influences  of  the  old  re- 
ligions have  been  largely  withdrawn,  and  in  their  place,  to 
add  to  the  mental  strain  and  general  confusion,  have  come 
that  psychological  babel,  modern  spiritualism,  and  that  soul- 
destroying  mildew,  materialism.  These  innovations  serve 
only  to  materialize  all  spiritual  conceptions  or  tend  to  de- 
stroy all  hope  of  better  things,  or  kill  out  every  noble  aspira- 
tion of  the  soul.  To  add  still  further  to  the  mental  strain 
that  the  human  mind  must  endure,  so-called  Christian  sci- 
ence, rich  in  assertion  and  poor  in  lasting  results,  seems  bent 
on  crowding  the  mind,  all  unprepared  as  it  is,  into  the  sub- 
jective realm,  the  very  highway  to  insanity.  If  any  are  dis- 
posed to  regard  this  as  a  doleful  picture  let  them  refer  to 
the  statistics  of  insanity  for  the  past  decade,  and  if  they  will 
then  but  carefully  consider  the  above  bare  outlines  they  will 
be  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  the  half  is  not  told. 

The  perfect  development  of  an  individual  and  the  com- 
plete harmony  that  constitutes  the  ideal  life,  and  which  is 
the  only  complete  health  of  the  human  being,  may  seem  to 
many  an  impossible  attainment,  and  thus  give  rise  to  dis- 
couragement. Every  well-meaning  and  earnestly  striving 
individual  has  only  to  remember  that  this  ideal  of  health  is 
none  other  than  the  ideal  of  religion,  and  that  the  effort  to 
reach  this  ideal  perfection  is  the  effort  to  become  Chrislike. 
That  this  goal  may  be  reached  in  the  present  life  by  but 
very  few  is  no  reason  for  relinquishing  all  efforts  toward 
its  attainment,  for  no  such  struggle  can  ever  be  in  vain,  and 


2I0  A  Study  of  Man. 

if  life  continues  here  or  elsewhere,  under  any  conditions,  it 
must  bear  with  it  the  accumulated  results  of  every  earnest 
endeavor.  . 

The  best  that  can  be  said  of  any  imperfect  individual 
is  that  his  face  is  set  in  the  right  direction,  and  that  he  is 
striving  toward  perfection.  He  whose  cycle  of  life  is  bounded 
by  self,  and  whose  interests  are  all  personal,  no  matter  in 
what  form  or  on  what  plane  these   interests  may   be   ex- 
pressed, is  still  tethered  to  the  animal  plane;  he  has  not  yet 
entered    his   inheritance   nor   claimed    his   birthright.      The 
structure  and  laws  of  action  of  the  human  brain,  and  the 
laws  of  the  human  mind,  all  show  that  narrow  views  ami 
selfish  aims  tend  to  unbalance  and  degrade  the  whole  human 
being.     The  nature  of  man  is  complex  in  both  structure  and 
function,  and  a  wide  range  of  activities  is  therefore  neces- 
sary to  maintain  its  integrity.     Nothing  so  dwarfs  man  as 
selfishness;  nothing  so  broadens  and  elevates  man  as  sym- 
pathy.   If  .one  engages  m  specific  manual  labor  for  any  great 
length  of  time,  the  bodily  mechanism  conforms  to  the  nar- 
row range  of  activities  and  becomes  deformed.     If  one  fol- 
lows a  specific  line  of  thought  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other 
mental  exercise,  the  thoughts  revolve  in  a  circle  that  is  con- 
tinually narrowing,  and    the  channels   of    which   are   con- 
stantly deepening  till  the  entire  process  becomes  automatic. 
Other  organs  atrophy  for  lack  of  use,  and  the  entire  struc- 
ture .thus  becomes  unbalanced.     Many  persons  are  thus  pos- 
sessed; only  a  few  possess  real  knowledge.     This  condition 
of  possession  differs  from  monomania  only  in  degree,  and  it 
is  often  thus  only  a  question  of  time  as  to  when  real  insanity 
will  declare  itself.    There  are  four  things  that  men  most  de- 
sire, namely,  love,  wealth,  fame,  and  power.     Greed  for  these 
narrows  all  individual  life  to  the  horizon  of  self,  and  the  rav- 
ings of  the  insane  might  be  classed  as  due  to  disappointment 
or&even  to  success  in  one  of  these  realms.     Outside  of  the 
thousands  of  the  actually  insane  there  are  other  thousands 
who  are  thus  drifting  toward  the  same  goal,  or  who  are  lay- 


Sanity  and  Insanity.  21 1 

ing  the  foundations  deep  and  strong  for  insanity  in  the  com- 
ing generations  O'f  men  and  women.  If  one  will  but  study 
the  encroachments  of  greed  for  gold  through  all  its  phases 
down  to  the  condition  where  in  the  midst  of  plenty  the  miser 
dies  from  utter  want;  if  one  will  observe  how  slowly  but 
surely  every  noble  impulse  gives  place  to  the  consuming 
passion,  and  how  generosity  shrivels  as  in  a  consuming  fire, 
he  cannot  fail  to  be  convinced  that  selfishness  at  last,  in 
every  form,  overreaches  self,  and  leads  inevitably  to  defeat 
and  ruin.  Selfishness  is  indeed  the  father  of  every  vice,  and 
vice  destroys  its  votaries  like  a  very  moloch. 

The  time  has  now  fully  come  when  our  mental  habits 
and  intellectual  states  are  of  paramount  importance.  If  the 
combined  skill  of  the  medical  fraternity  of  the  world  is  un- 
able in  any  large  degree  to  remove  the  results  of  mental  vice 
and  to  restore  the  insane  to  intellectual  health,  it  is  time  to 
inquire  into  the  real  cause  of  insanity,  and  to  endeavor  to 
find  a  method  for  its  prevention.  We  continually  measure 
what  we  call  success  in  life  by  false  standards.  We  are  in 
urgent  need  of  a  sealer  of  weights  and  measures  in  the  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  .realm,  to  protect  our  own  highest  in- 
terests from  the  worst  of  frauds  perpetrated  by  ourselves. 
This  standard  is  indeed  not  wanting,  but  it  has  been  so  mis- 
interpreted and  so  misapplied  that  it  has  become  of  no  avail. 
This  standard  is  revealed  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and 
it  may  be  summed  up  in  one  word,  altruism.  Rites  and  cere- 
monies, creeds  and  genuflections,  the  devices  of  man,  have 
set  at  naught  this  divine  measure  of  human  conduct  and  hu- 
man motive ;  these  have  indeed  reversed  the  divine  decree, 
and  put  the  commandments  of  man  in  place  of  the  command- 
ments of  God,  and  we  are  now  paying  the  penalty  for  diso- 
bedience. Protests  against  this  view  of  the  cause  of  all  our 
ills  will  come  alike  from  the  bigoted  churchman,  from  the 
selfish  ritualist,  and  from  the  scoffing  materialist.  The  father 
of  lies  has  not  only  usurped  the  throne  of  the  Son  of  Man, 
but  he  has  intrenched  himself  in  the  very  house  of  the  Lord, 


2I2  A   Study  of  Man. 

and  he  has  taken  the  very  bread  of  the  children  and  cast  It 
to  the  dogs.     Zeal  for  proselytes  and  religious  propaganda 
are  often  but  organized  egotism,  selfishness  and  conceit,  mas- 
querading   in  the  holy  name  of  religion.     No  wonder  that 
crime,  disease  and  insanity  run  riot  and  threaten  to  decimate 
the  human  race.     In  the  name  of  the  sacred  altars  of  relig- 
ion corporations  of  selfish  men  gather  tithes  and  amass  mil- 
lions, while  the  poor  go  unhoused  and  the  little  children  cry 
for   Dread.      To  complete    the   sacrilege   and  emphasize   the 
awful  sarcasm  in  the  name  of  Him  with  seamless  garment 
and  with  no  place  to  lay  his  weary  head,  this  corporate  self- 
ishness expresses  surprise  and  sorrow,  and  appoints  seasons 
of  fasting  and  prayer  over  the  fact  that  the  great  hungry, 
surging  masses  of  humanity  turn   away   from  the  churches 
and  scout  with  scorn  the  very  name  of  religion!     This  may 
possibly,  by  misinterpretation  in  certain  quarters,  be  called 
a  tirade   against  religion  and  the   churches;   very  well,   my 
brother,  call  it  what  you  will,  but  first  inquire  of  your  soul 
whether  it  is  not  true,  and  account  to  your  conscience  for 
the  stewardship  assumed  in  the  name  of  the  Christ.    Nothing 
less  than  the  truth  will  lift  humanity  out  of  the  pit  into  which 
it  has  fallen,  and  restore  man  to  health  and  sanity,  and  the 
truth  must  not  only  be  told,  but  it  must  be  lived  by  everyone 
who  assumes  the  name  of  teacher,  and  who  thus  becomes 
his  brother's  keeper.    If  the  sacerdotalism  of  the  world  would 
follow  the  example  of  a  Tolstoi,  and  distribute  its  hoarded 
treasure  among  the  poor,  then  would  suffering  and  want  be 
for  a  time  at  least  unknown,  and  the  sad  face  of  humanity 
would  reflect  the  divine  radiance  of  Him  who  preached  the 
gospel  of  benevolence  to  the  poor.     These  hoarded  millions 
lie  between  the  great  orphan,  Humanity,   and  the   cross  of 
Christ.     If  there  is  selfishness  in  high  places,  what  wonder 
that  the  ignorant  masses  worship  the  golden  calf?     Insanity 
and  imbecility  are  fast  devouring  the  royal  blood  of  the  old 
world  so  that  the  ravings  of  the  maniac  and  the  gibberish 


Sanity  and  Insanity.  213 

of  idiocy  are  heard  from  palace  to  hovel,  and  insanity  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  plague  and  pestilence. 

The  sanity  of  the  human  race  is  impossible  in  the  face 
of  physical  degeneracy.  Whatever  anchors  man  to  the  ani- 
mal plane  tends  to  degenerate  and  bestialize.  The  one  ani- 
mal attribute  that  can  thus  degrade  man  is  animal  egotism 
or  selfishness.  The  prevention  of  insanity  therefore  depends 
largely  on  the  diffusion  and  exercise  of  the  principle  of  un- 
selfishness. The  spiritual  redemption  of  the  human  race  is 
impossible  in  the  face  of  disease  of  body  and  mind.  The 
physical,  intellectual  and  spiritual  elements  in  the  life  of 
man  are  inseparable.  There  was  never  an  individual  who 
was  spiritually  pure  and  perfect,  and  who  at  the  same  time 
was  mentally  unsound  and  physically  diseased,  and  there 
never  will  be  such  an  individual.  We  send  missionaries  to 
the  heathen  while  crime  walks  red-handed  through  our 
streets;  we  build  hospitals  for  the  sick  and  sanitariums  for 
the  insane,  and  mania  and  other  mental  diseases  multiply  in 
the  land.  Large  masses  of  intelligent  men  and  women  vote 
religion  a  fraud,  and  life  a  failure,  and  declare  that  they  do 
not  know  or  do  not  care  what  comes  after  this  life. 

It  is  high  time  that  every  well-wisher  of  the  human  race 
should  turn  his  attention  to  the  nature  of  man  and  his  mis- 
sion on  earth.  The  cause  of  our  ills  is  not  far  to  seek.  All 
efforts  to  pry  into  the  conditions  of  another  state  of  exist- 
ence have  practically  proved  failures,  and  we  may  as  well 
go  to  work  in  earnest  to  see  what  can  be  made  out  of  the 
present  life  and  its  varied  opportunities.  Mental  and  nerv- 
ous diseases  will  recede  and  insanity  will  lessen  just  in  pro- 
portion to  the  broadening  of  our  vision  and  the  extension  of 
our  beneficence.  Our  idols  must  be  dethroned  and  we  must 
move  to  higher  planes  of  life,  and  by  breaking  down  the 
walls  of  selfishness  we  shall  discover  more  exalted  ideals, 
develop  finer  senses,  enter  on  a  new  line  of  experiences,  and 
begin  to  realize  the  life  that  is  divine.  Sanity  will  there  be 
the  handmaid  of  health,  and  disease  and  insanity  will  return 


214  A  Study  of  Man. 

to  the  swine  to  be  choked  by  the  receding  wave  of  animal- 
ism which  will  then  no  longer  degrade  the  human  race  or 
dethrone  human  reason.  The  children  of  men  will  be 
clothed  and  fed ;  they  will  be  healthy  and  sane ;  and  as  the 
agent  of  divine  Providence  a  regenerated  humanity  will  then 
embody  the  Christ.  We  must  pray  with  hands  full  of  bur- 
dens, with  hearts  full  of  sympathy,  and  with  feet  bent  on 
missions  of  charity.  The  leper  and  the  insane  will  then  be 
known  at  sight  as  he  who  is  walled  in  by  self,  and  whose 
little  soul  is  unable  to  scale  the  walls  which  he  has  built  by 
his  own  greed,  and  who  is  unable  to  draw  the  bolts  and  bars 
which  he  has  forged  in  darkness  while  avoiding  the  light  of 
charity  and  love.  Health  will  then  echo  the  harmony  of  na- 
ture, and  sanity  will  reflect  the  Divine  Intelligence. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

INVOLUTION    AND   EVOLUTION    OF   MAN. 

In  a  work  of  this  character  where  it  is  undertaken  to 
handle  familiar  facts  in  an  unfamiliar  manner,  where  rela- 
tions are  traced  that  are  often  overlooked,  and  where  co- 
ordinate results  are  pointed  out  not  generally  supposed  to 
exist,  a  considerable  number  of  repetitions  are  unavoidable. 
More  especially  is  this  the  case  in  the  present  instance, 
where  a  single  modulus  is  discerned  as  underlying  the  whole 
of  nature,  and  therefore  including  man.  It  is  necessary  in 
the  present  case  to  refer  frequently  to  this  modulus,  and  to 
point  out  its  varied  forms  of  application.  Thus  the  same 
principle  will  be  stated  in  various  forms  which  are  reducible 
to  the  same  result,  for  only  in  this  way  can  the  universality 
of  the  modulus  be  made  apparent.  The  principles  of  involu- 
tion and  evolution  have  been  frequently  applied  in  the  way 
of  illustration,  as  also  to  illustrate  special  groups  of  facts. 
If  these  two  principles  are  the  inseparable  poles  of  one  law, 
and  if  that  law  is  basic  and  universal,  it  might  seem  neces- 
sary to  take  a  somewhat  broader  view  of  the  law  itself  than 
is  to  be  derived  from  any  special  application. 

No  intelligent  student  of  nature  at  the  present  time,  at  all 
familiar  with  the  large  groups  of  facts  in  physics  and  biology 
constituting  the  theater  in  which  evolution  is  thought  to  play 
?o  large  a  part,  will  be  found  ignoring  or  entirely  denying 
the  evolutionary  theory.  No  intelligent  biologist  familiar 
with  the  ordinary  facts  of  human  physiology  will  for  a  mo- 
ment deny  that  the  outer  unfolding  of  the  body  of  man  from 
germ  to  prime  is  an  evolution,  according  to  any  fair  inter- 

(215) 


216  A   Study  of  Man. 

pretation  of  facts  and  an  intelligent  comprehension  oi  the 
principle  under  consideration.  Evolution  as  a  fact  is  every- 
where admitted;  the  ground  of  disagreement  is  in  the  appli- 
cation and  interpretation  of  the  law.  In  other  words,  the 
difficulty  is  not  in  regard  to  facts  or  laws,  not  in  science  or 
philosophy  per  se,  but  in  the  minds  of  men  who  variously 
consider  and  diversely  interpret  nature ;  and  were  it  not  for 
the  fact  that  evolution  has  been  supposed  to  explain  the  ori- 
gin of  man  from  lower  forms  of  life,  and  so  apparently  to 
antagonize  divine  revelation,  it  is  doubtful  if  anyone  would 
think  of  questioning  the  law  any  more  than  that  of  gravi- 
tation. 

The  most  pronounced  opponents  of  the  application  of 
evolution  to  the  origin  of  man  seem  to  have  misapprehended 
this  application  as  suggested  by  the  leading  advocates  of  the 
theory  of  evolution.  This  misapprehension  has  been  so  often 
and  even  so  recently  pointed  out  by  leading  scientists,  and 
moreover  made  so  plain  to  every  unbiased  mind  that  it  would 
here  be  out  of  place  to  go  into  details.  It  may  be  here  noted, 
however,  that  opposition  has  been  shown  to  the  various  at- 
tempts that  have  been  made  to  show  the  evolution  of  relig- 
ious belief,  from  the  fact  that  with  most  persons  individual 
belief  is  inseparable  from  original  revelation,  and  this  they 
regard  as  directly  of  divine  origin.  The  idea  that  a  divine 
revelation  may  unfold  under  natural  law  seems  here  to  have 
been  overlooked. 

So  far  as  we  are  now  concerned  with  evolution,  its  ap- 
plication and  interpretation  only  are  involved.  Evolution 
being  everywhere  admitted  as  a  fact,  it  is  applied  to  two 
separate  groups  of  phenomena.  In  the  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  individual  forms  of  life  it  is  generally  admitted  with 
but  slight  qualification.  In  the  progressive  unfolding  of  spe- 
cies, and  in  the  progressive  advancement  of  man  through 
lower  organisms,  it  is  frequently  denied — not  always  denied 
as  a  factor,  but  as  being  sufficient  to  account  for  all  results. 
The  question  then  presents  itself  in  this  wise:   Does  that 


Involution  and  Evolution  of  Man.  217 

law  or  process  which  everywhere  unfolds  or  elaborates  indi- 
vidual organisms,  flowing  outward,  and  expanding  from  cen- 
ter to  surface,  also  push  the  whole  complex  series  of  earth's 
organisms  upward  from  lower  to  higher  forms  ?  To  this  in- 
quiry one  party  answers  unhesitatingly  in  the  negative,  the 
other  answers  in  the  affirmative  with  certain  concomitants 
and  qualifications. 

Here  again  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  go  over  the  ground 
involved  in  the  discussion,  as  many  volumes  have  already 
been  written  on  the  subject  by  leading  advocates  of  either 
side  with  the  result  of  bringing  the  factions  no  nearer  to- 
gether than  before,  as  each  party  in  turn  claims  the  victory 
over  the  other. 

Looking  now  at  the  processes  of  nature  and  of  life  as  a 
whole,  no  one  on  either  side  will  deny  evolution  in  toto,  and 
no  one  will  deny  that  it  has  greatly  aided  in  the  interpreta 
tion  of  natural  processes.  Looking  again  -at  the  processes 
of  nature  and  of  life  as  a  whole,  there  is  another  law  dis- 
cernible, operating  equally  and  consistently  with  that  of  evo- 
lution, and  capable,  when  equally  well  apprehended,  of  recon- 
ciling all  the  above-named  discrepancies  and  disagreements. 
If  evolution  is  indeed  true,  and  is  more  or  less  a  factor  in 
all  processes,  as  is  generally  admitted,  any  other  law  or  proc- 
ess discovered,  or  hereafter  to  be  discovered,  must  be  capable 
of  reconciliation  with  evolution,  and  must  be  shown  to  work 
in  harmony  with  it,  when  the  range  and  application  of  both 
laws  are  understood.  This  concept  and  basis  of  agreement 
is  perfectly  consistent  with  the  sequence  of  all  scientific  dis- 
covery. 

Because  evolution  has  been  the  first  to  receive  recogni- 
tion, it  by  no  means  follows  that  it  has  forever  pre-empted 
all  the  ground,  particularly  as  it  is  not  generally  claimed  for 
it  that  it  explains  all  processes  in  nature.  No  one  claims 
this  much  for  evolution,  therefore  every  sincere  seeker  for 
the  real  truth  ought  to  welcome  any  suggestion  from  what- 
soever quarter  that  promises  a  reconciliation  of  beliefs,  and 


2i8  A   Study  of  Man. 

a  further  and  more  consistent  apprehension  of  nature.  All 
processes  in  nature,  whether  inorganic  or  organic,  present 
themselves  to  the  mind  as  an  equation  to  be  solved.  In  all 
physical  problems,  whether  in  applied  mechanics  or  in  na- 
ture at  large,  there  is  the  problem  of  the  parallelogram  of 
forces,  whereby  the  direction  of  force  or  momentum  is  deter- 
mined, and  whence  equilibrium  results.  Without  this  law 
even  the  apparent  stability  of  forms  in  the  midst  of  unceas- 
ing change  would  be  impossible.  Thus  contentions  result  in 
compromise,  and  discordant  elements  unite  to  produce  har- 
mony. There  are  the  dual  conditions  of  centrifugal  and  cen- 
tripetal forces,  of  cohesion  and  disruption,  of  attraction  and 
repulsion  everywhere  recognized.  There  is  behind  all  ot 
these  the  problem  of  mass  or  inertia  over  against  all  ten- 
dency producing  movement  of  mass,  or  the  inherent  relation 
of  matter  and  force.  This  duality  runs  through  the  whole 
phenomenal  display  of  nature  as  the  basic  idea  of  our  con- 
cept of  atoms,  and  in  the  genesis  and  phenomena  of  all  life. 
Duality  and  manifestation  are  synonymous  terms;  either 
term  suggests  the  other.  All  problems  of  life,  as  all  prob- 
lems in  nature,  present  themselves,  therefore,  under  this 
form  of  duality.  No  principle  is  more  widely  recognized 
than  this,  as  in  one  form  or  another  it  is  the  basis  of  the 
higher  mathematics  which  enter  the  realm  of  nature's  high- 
est display,  and  calculate  not  only  the  application  of  princi- 
ples to  mechanics,  but  determine  the  revolutions  of  suns  and 
planets,  and  the  changes  of  time  and  seasons. 

The  central  idea  in  evolution  is  the  natural  sequence  and 
cc-ordinate  relations  of  all  processes  in  nature.  The  evo- 
lution hypothesis  alone  does  not  satisfactorily  reveal  these 
relations  and  determine  this  sequence.  The  unfolding  c 
germs  in  the  vegetable  and  the  animal  kingdoms  is  ev 
where  recognized  as  the  process  whereby  individual  org 
isms  arise.  Evolution  here  recognizes  the  duality  above  re- 
ferred to,  first,  under  the  terms  heredity  and  environment-, 
and  second,  it  recognizes  the  fact  that  the  individual  at  any 


Ling   ot 
/ery- 

an- 


Involution  and  Evolution  of  Man.  219 

stage  of  development  is  an  adjustment  of  these  two  sets  of 
factors.  The  personality  of  man  is,  at  any  moment  from 
germ  to  death,  the  result  of  all  that  he  has  inherited  and  all 
that  he  has  acquired.  Here,  however,  the  process  by  which 
inheritance  is  derived  is  not  the  same  process  by  which  sub- 
sequent acquirement  is  brought  about.  In  fact,  these  two 
processes  are  exactly  the  opposite  of  the  other.  That  which 
is  derived  is  drawn  in ;  that  which  is  evolved  is  drawn  out. 
These  two  processes  are  to  and  from  the  center  of  life  in 
germ  or  man.  It  is  true  that  evolution  recognizes  the  ele- 
ment of  progress  in  the  presence  of  the  apparent  persistence 
of  forms,  types,  and  species,  and  recognizes  some  element 
that  tends  to  push  forward  all  life  to  higher  planes  and 
toward  more  perfect  ideals,  and  endeavors  to  account  for 
improvement  by  the  principle  of  natural  selection  and  that  of 
the  survival  of  the  fittest ;  and  no  doubt  these  principles  are 
concerned  in  determining  results.  These  principles,  how- 
ever, on  the  one  hand  prove  too  much,  and  on  the  other  are 
inadequate  to  account  for  the  ideal  forms  toward  which  na- 
ture everywhere  and  continually  strives.  In  the  case  of  man 
these  principles  of  variation,  without  an  underlying  modu- 
lus, are  quite  sufficient  to  have  long  ago  modified  him  out  of 
existence.  Natural  selection  and  the  principle  of  the  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  no  doubt  have  a  great  deal  to  do  in  de- 
termining conformity  to  types,  and  may  modify  and  improve 
pre-existing  forms,  but  they  couid  never  have  originated  the 
ideals  which  are  thus  progressively  unfolded. 

In  spite  of  the  ebb  and  flow  of  life,  the  wax  and  wane  of 
civilizations,  the  rise  and  fall  of  empires,  there  is  some  ele- 
ment that  not  only  preserves  the  human  type,  but  pushes  it 
continually  toward  a  higher  ideal,  and  through  all  lower 
forms  of  life  there  is  a  prophesying  of  man;  an  overshadow- 
ing of  the  human  form  descends  to  the  lowest  types  oi  or- 
ganic life,  as  a  still  higher  ideal  overshadows  man  himself. 
The  theory  of  natural  selection  and  that  of  the  survival^  of 
the  fittest    fail  entirely  to  account   for  this  overshadowing 


220  A  Study  of  Man. 

ideal.    Even  the  worm  at  our  feet  is  thus  climbing  the  mount 
of  transfiguration. 

Nature  reveals  in  all  her  processes  one  divine  ideal,  man. 
This  ideal  descends  from  man  to  the  lowest  form  of  life,  and 
ascends  from  man  to  the  perfect  archetype.  It  has  been 
shown  elsewhere  in  these  pages  that  the  lower  forms  of  life 
contain  elements  of  man's  nature  both  in  form  and  function. 
It  is  as  though  the  individual  qualities  of  man  were  sepa- 
rately embodied  in  living  forms.  As  we  approach  higher 
forms  in  the  lower  animals  these  qualities  are  grouped  to- 
gether. Every  quality  therefore  may  be  conceived  as  exist- 
ing separately,  and  every  possible  variation  below  man  may 
be*  conceived  as  resulting  from  combination.  As  the  series 
approaches  man  the  likeness  becomes  more  complete.  Man 
thus  epitomizes  the  organic  life  of  the  earth.  The  lower 
animals  are  fragmentary  human  beings;  the  higher  animals 
are  rudimentary  human  beings.  Unless  the  sequence  of  na- 
ture stops  with  man,  man  is  a  rudimentary  being  of  a  still 
higher  or  more  perfect  form. 

Viewing  now  all  of  Nature's  handiwork  within  the  range 
of  human  ken,  all  physical  processes,  from  the  busy  play  of 
atoms  to  the  revolutions  of  suns  and  worlds,  all  organic 
processes  from  monera  to  man,  the  growth  of  a  single  germ, 
the  modification  of  species,  the  progress  of  the  human  race, 
and  bearing  in  mind  the  duality  of  all  processes  and  the  bi- 
unity  of  all  manifestations,  we  find  the  operation  of  a  two- 
fold law  corresponding  to  the  universal  duality;  this  twofold 
law  is  Involution  and  Evolution. 

In  all  physical  processes  moving  outward  from  center 
to  surface,  in  all  organic  processes,  unfolding  from  germ  to 
organism,  the  process  is  evolution.  This  is  just  one-half  the 
process,  one  member  of  nature's  equation.  Every  play  ot 
forces,  every  display  of  processes,  from  center  to  surface, 
is  met  and  balanced  point  by  point,  in  atom  or  sun,  m  germ 
or  organism,  in  plant,  animal,  or  man,  by  an  opposite  impulse 
from  surface  to  center.    The  overshadowing  ideal  form  thus 


Involution  and  Evolution  of  Man.  221 

reaches  and  is  impressed  upon  the  life-center,  and  furnishes 
thus  the  plan  and  specifications  lor  the  building  that  is 
evolved.  Evolution  is  thus  balanced  by  involution.  This  is 
the  universal  process  in  the  solution  of  the  cosmic  equation. 
The  recognition  of  this  dual  law  is  the  reconciliation  of 
Science  and  Religion.  If  we  call  evolution  materialistic,  we 
may  with  equal  propriety  call  involution  spiritualistic,  and 
neither  term  can  be  construed  into  a  reproach.  We  know 
no  more  of  the  real  essence  of  the  one  than  of  the  other. 
We  recognize  the  manifestation  of  matter  and  spirit  as  the 
two  poles  of  being,  spirit  being  involved  and  matter  evolved; 
these  two  meet  and  blend  in  all  created  forms.  The  one 
gives  power  and  ideal  form,  the  other,  structure. 

From  the  dawn  of  life  on  the  earth  to  the  present  mo- 
ment, from  the  beginning  of  the  unfolding  of  every  germ  to 
the  complete  development  of  the  organism  one  Divine  Idea 
overshadows  and  is  progressively  involved  in  every  living 
thing.  If  evolution  is  seen  in  any  instance  as  a  vis  a  tergo, 
involution  appears  as  a  vis  a  frontc.  In  the  apparent  striv- 
ing of  nature  all  creation  tends  to  the  embodiment  of  the 
Divine  Idea  through  the  evolving  of  the  living  form,  and 
these  forms  strive  continually  toward  the  modulus,  man, 
impelled  thereto  by  the  in-dwelling,  and  overshadowing  of 
the  Divine  Idea. 

Nature  is  not  then  soulless  or  Godless.  Involution  is  as 
rational  and  as  thinkable  as  evolution.  What  Nature  and 
Soul  and  God  are,  in  their  essence,  we  do  not  know.  All 
that  man  knows  is  revealed  through  man  himself.  These 
•things  to  us  are  our  ideas  of  them,  no  more  and  no  less.  The 
thing  in  itself  is  in  every  case  beyond  us,  and  we  know  no 
more  of  the  real  essence  of  an  atom  than  of  the  being  ot  God. 
We  can  comprehend  God  only  as  we  involve  the  divine  idea 
and  evolve  the  divine  life.  The  center  in  us  of  these  two 
groups  of  experiences  is  where  God  and  Nature  meet  in  self- 
consciousness.  The  expansion  of  this  center  is  understand- 
ing; the  illumination  of  this  center  is  conscience;  and  the 


222  A   Study   of  Man. 

harmonious  adjustment  of  God  and  Nature  in  us  is  at-one- 
ment     The  divine  likeness  is  at-one  with  the  Divine. 

The  question  then  for  us  is  not  who  builds,  but  how  is 
cosmos  built?    Our  idea  of  the  Great  Architect  is  no  longer 
extra-cosmic,   but  intra-cosmic.     In  place  of  what   Carlyle 
calls  an  "absentee  God,  doing  nothing  since  the  first  Sab- 
bath  but  sitting  on  the  outside  of  creation  and  seeing  it  go, 
we  have  the  idea  of  the  immanence  of  creative  energy,  crea- 
tive power,  and  creative  design  in  every  blade  of  grass,  no 
less  than  in  animal  and  in  man.     Not  an  infinitesimal  atom 
can  escape  this    divine  immanence  any  more    than  it  can 
transcend  the  bounds  of  nature.     If  in  our  human  idea  God 
is  infinite,  then  nature  is  boundless.    God  is  at  the  center  and 
Nature  at  the  surface.     These  are  the  essence  and  the  sub- 
stance, the  ideal  and  the  real,  unity  in  diversity,  diversity  in 
unity,  and  duality  in  bi-umty.     These  are  Father-God,  and 
Mother-Nature.     "After  His  likeness  created  He  him  male 
and  female.     Male  and  female  created    He   them.       Man- 
Woman  are  then  the  two  poles  of  the  One  Being.     Man  is 
concerned  only  with  the  present  life  and  the  present  time. 
Self-consciousness  is  for  man  the  ever-present  now;  now  is 
his  opportunity;  now,  the  appointed  time.    Man  has  no  more 
present  concern  with  a  world  to  come  than  with  the  worlds 
that  are  past.    Past  and  future  are  related  to  man,  the  self- 
conscious  ego,  but  they  are  not  the  ego  itself.    To  ignore  or 
despise  our  present    opportunities,   either    from  motives   of 
worldliness  or  other-worldliness,  is  equally  subversive  of  the 
highest  and  best  interests  of  man.     For  man  to  ignore  his 
present  interests  on  the  one  hand,  or  to  relegate  them  to  an- 
other state  of  existence  on  the  other,  overshadowed  by  the 
fear  of  death  and  the  terrors  of  superstition,  is  in  either  case 
to  barter  his  birthright  and  to  miss  the  full  meaning  ot  life. 
To  i-nore  our  highest  present  interests  is  to  be  time-serving. 
To  relegate  these  interests  to  another  sphere  of  being  with 
the  expectation  of  greater  gain  is  to  be  self-serving,  and  these 
are  but  different  forms  of  the  same  animal  egotism.     Ihe 


Involution  and  Evolution  of  Mail.  223 

religious  ideals  of  the  earth's  benighted  millions  are  in- 
grained selfishness,  and  these  ideals  reflected  back  in  time 
and  worked  out  in  the  lives  of  men  have  resulted  in  man's 
inhumanity  to  man,  while  the  formulated  motive  of  glory  to 
God  has  disguised  the  ulterior  object  of  glory  to  self.  The 
difficulty  lies  not  with  true  religion  but  in  the  selfishness  of 
man,  and  man  is  as  selfish  in  his  religon  as  in  all  things  else. 
If  all  lower  forms  of  life  prophesy  of  man,  so  is  man  on 
each  successive  plane  of  being  prophetic  of  a  higher  state. 
All  natures  strive  in  man,  because  he  has  reached  the  human 
plane  into  which  the  light  of  that  which  lies  just  beyond 
pours  in  a  never-failing  stream,  while  the  light  from  the  hu- 
man plane  illumines  all  below.  Man  thus  focalizes  the  plane 
below  and  the  plane  above  him,  and  all  antagonisms  thus  re- 
sulting are  but  manifestations  of  the  impulse  already  re- 
ferred to,  pushing  man  in  common  with  all  nature  to  higher 
and  still  higher  planes.  From  the  dregs  of  animal  life  man 
has  derived  the  principle  of  animal  egotism.  From  the  plane 
next  above  him,  man  dimly  discerns  the  divine  principle  of 
altruism.  Man  is  thus  but  one-half  human,  and  by  the  time 
he  has  become  wholly  human,  or  altogether  humane,  he  will 
have  become  half  divine ;  for  so  does  one  nature  overlap  the 
other,  and  he  advances  into  the  higher  nature  only  as  he 
shakes  off  the  lower.  Forever  a  pilgrim,  man  must  drop  the 
load  of  sin  before  he  can  pass  the  golden  gates  that  lead  to 
the  delectable  mountains ;  and  he  drops  the  load  as  he  jour- 
neys on,  while  sorely  pressed,  and  not  during  hours  of  ease 
and  refreshment.  When  he  is  conscious  that  his  load  has 
vanished,  lo!  his  enlightenment  has  already  come.  Life  is 
thus  its  own  elixir,  and  its  office  is  transfiguration. 

All  over  the  world  we  hear  the  word  humanity.  Benevo- 
lent enterprises  are  everywhere  set  on  foot,  and  humani- 
tarian societies  are  everywhere  organized.  This  humane  im- 
pulse, even  when  misdirected,  is  still  the  dawning  of  the  di- 
vine in  man,  the  forgetting  of  self  for  others,  the  advance- 
ment of  altruism  over  egotism.     For  science  and  civilization 


224  A   Study  of  Man. 

on  the  one  hand,  and  for  so-called  religion  on  the  other,  to 
claim  all  the  credit  for  this  dawning  of  the  higher  life,  is 
to  confess  embodied  and  organized  egotism,  nothing  more. 
The  impulse  bringing  about  this  result  is  older  than  all  re- 
ligions, deeper  than  all  sciences,  broader  than  all  civlizations, 
higher  than  all  heavens.  It  is  the  Divine  Spirit  animating 
and  elevating  all  nature. 

The  humane  impulse  in  individuals  is  the  true  sign  of  ad- 
vancement from  egotism  to  altruism,  from  the  animal, 
through  the  human,  toward  the  divine.  This  is  indeed  an 
education  in  the  highest  sense,  but  not  in  the  ordinary  sense 
as  the  term  is  apprehended.  What  we  call  culture  may  be 
as  one-sided  and  selfish  as  any  other  acquirement  of  man. 
Here  as  elsewhere  man  may  have  an  eye  only  to  the  main 
chance,  to  the  best  opportunity  for  himself  in  intellectual 
matters  as  in  money  matters.  Strife  and  competition  here 
as  elsewhere  often  take  unfair  advantage  and  trample  down 
the  weak  as  unmercifully  as  in  the  halls  of  trade,  or  in  the 
public  mart.  Whenever  and  wherever  one  must  lose  in  order 
that  another  may  gain,  all  profit  becomes  plunder,  howso- 
ever protected  by  law  or  glossed  over  by  so-called  usage  and 
respectability.  Popular  education,  mere  intellectual  ac- 
quirement, often  ministers  to  pride  and  self-conceit,  and 
therefore  belongs  to  selfish  egotism.  Intellectual  pride  is  no 
more  altruistic  than  purse-pride.  To  the  selfish  and  time- 
serving, altruism  has  no  other  meaning  than  the  giving  up 
of  the  present  advantage,  with  the  somewhat  uncertain  pros- 
pect of  a  greater  advantage  to  be  derived  hereafter.  The 
idea  of  rewards  and  punishments  is  inseparable-  from  self. 
To  forego  self-indulgence  here  in  order  to  secure  greater 
self-indulgence  and  more  exclusive  privileges  hereafter,  for 
the  poor  and  despised  here  to  change  places  with  the  rich  and 
honored  there,  leaves  the  sum  of  human  misery  the  same, 
and  no  such  philosophy  has  ever  advanced  mankind  one  step 
toward  divine  altruism.  Hence  it  was  shown  a  little  way 
back  that  the  devout  and  the  time-serving  may  be  on  the 


Involution  and  Evolution  of  Man.  22-, 

same  plane.  We  are  not  placed  in  this  world  merely  to  give 
it  up  for  a  better  or  a  worse  one,  just  as  jockeys  trade 
horses.  Life  may  be  likened  to  an  orchard  laden  with  fruit. 
We  enter  it  hungry  and  famishing.  Suppose  that  we  pass 
from  tree  to  tree  and  eating  none,  thinking  that  the  next  tree 
will  produce  more  luscious  fruit  and  repay  us  for  waiting, 
till  we  have  passed  through  the  orchard,  and  the  gates  close 
behind  us,  the  night  comes  on  and  we  fall  famished  in  the 
darkness,  dying,  and  bewailing  our  folly  and  our  wasted  op- 
portunities;  surely  we  would  be  fools  indeed.  Suppose  we 
again  enter  the  orchard  with  the  thought  that  any  of  the 
fruit  is  good  enough  as  we  see  it  bending  every  bough ;  sup- 
pose we  see  all  around  us  children  who  cannot  reach  the 
branches  where  hang  the  choicest  specimens;  suppose  we 
lind  there  the  weak,  the  sick,  the  crippled,  and  the  blind  who 
have  not  power  to  help  themselves,  and  suppose  we  reach 
out  our  strong  arms  in  every  direction  and  gather  all  that 
we  see,  trampling  down  even  the  little  children  in  our  greed, 
and  reaching  the  highest  branches  from  the  broken  bodies 
of  the  sick  and  starving,  and  so  gathering  all  the  choicest 
fruit  into  our  own  garners,  suppose  we  protect  it  by  law, 
and  set  watch-dogs  at  every  avenue  of  approach,  and  finally 
starve  ourselves  at  'last  through  fear  of  decreasing  our  store ; 
surely  again  we  would  be  fools  indeed.  This  is  the  parable 
of  the  quails  and  the  manna  by  which  a  stiff-necked  and  re- 
bellious people  were  taught.  In  these  two  hypotheses  the 
result  is  the  same;  selfishness  defeats  self  and  ends  in  fail- 
ure here  and  everywhere;  and  selfishness  >is  not  altruism, 
even  when  transferred  to  the  celestial  kingdom. 

"Mine  and  thine"  is  an  inheritance  from  animal  egotism. 
"The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fullness  thereof,"  and  there 
is  enough  in  this  fair  earth  for  all  humanity  if  the  strong 
will  only  aid  the  weak.  Altruism  gathers  that  it  may  give, 
and  delights  more  to  give  than  to  gather.  Man  is  the  al- 
moner of  the  divine,  and  he  who  is  permitted  to  give  is  far 
more  blessed  and  more  bound  to  give  thanks  than  he  who 


226  A  Study  of  Man. 

is  compelled  to  receive  charity.  He  who  thus  forge  ttefrh 
self  remembers  God.  Not  a  far  off  "absentee  God,"  but  the 
God  immanent  in  all  his  works,  whose  Altar  is  the  human 
soul,  and  whose  Providence  is  the  human  hand. 

If  religion  was  the  first  to  announce  "Peace  on  earth  and 
good  will  to  man,"  superstition  stood  ready  to  obscure  and 
make  it  of  no  effect.  Wherever  religion  built  her  altars,  su- 
perstition lit  her  fires  of  persecution  equally  in  the  holy 
name  of  Deity,  and  so  the  most  atrocious  cruelties  have  been 
perpetrated  in  the  name  of  God.  Even  today  the  conditions 
are  unchanged.  Christendom  builds  magnificent  churches 
to  save  souls,  and  magnificent  iron-clads  to  destroy  men.  If 
the  money  devoted  to  these  two  purposes  alone  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  poor,  hunger  and  wartt  would  disappear 
from  the  Christian  world.  If  the  rich  and  prosperous  were 
really  altruistic  the  poor  and  oppressed  would  not  be  an- 
archistic. The  rich  and  the  poor,  therefore,  are  arrayed 
against  each  other  because  egotism  is  forever  at  war  with 
altruism,  because  the  animal  is  hostile  to  the  divine  in  man. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  that  in  the  higher  problems  that 
concern  the  well-being  of  man  involution  and  evolution  are 
equal  factors,  and  that  through  this  twofold  law  the  entire 
nature  of  man  is  comprehended.  Science  working  upward, 
and  religion  working  downward,  come  to  the  same  conclu- 
sions, and  are  therefore  reconciled.  The  sequence  of  evolu- 
tion and  the  sequence  of  involution  meet  in  the  conscious 
ego,  revealing  to  man  his  own  nature,  and  the  principles 
upon  which  his  progress  toward  divinity  depends.  Divine 
altruism  is  thus  revealed,  not  as  a  mere  matter  of  senti- 
mentality, nor  as  speculative  philosophy,  but  as  the  one 
principle  in  all  its  bearings  that  elevates  man  above  the 
brute,  and  that  enters  the  conscious  life  of  man  as  the  di- 
vinity that  shapes  his  ends,  inspires  his  life,  and  realizes  his 
destiny. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  HIGHER  SELF. 

The  modulus  of  nature,  or  the  pattern  after  which  she 
everywhere  builds  and  toward  which  she  continually  strives, 
is  an  Ideal  or  Archetypal  Man. 

This  universal  idea  has  been  frequently  referred  to  in 
the  preceding  pages  as  the  key  to  many  mysteries.  Some- 
thing yet  remains  to  be  said  in  regard  to  this  ideal,  for  if 
it  removes  many  obscurities  in  the  work  of  nature,  it  also 
illumines  the  pages  of  revelation,  and  gives  to  religion  a 
meaning  commensurate  with  life  and  time;  nay,  more,  it 
reaches  beyond  the  veil  that  separates  the  world  of  matter 
from  the  world  of  spirit,  and  reveals  the  conditions  of  con- 
sciousness in  a  higher  plane  of  being. 

The  evidence  of  the  truth  of  such  revelations  lies  in  the 
co-ordinate  relations  of  all  human  experience  to  conscious- 
ness. The  futility  of  all  discussion  regarding  the  immortal- 
ity of  the  soul  that  does  not  begin  with  some  definite  idea  as 
to  the  nature  and  origin  of  the  soul  is  everywhere  apparent. 
If  it  be  urged  that  divine  revelation  has  already  settled  this 
question,  it  may  be  answered  that,  with  those  who  accept 
such  revelation  as  divine,  and  therefore  authoritative,  there 
comes  endless  confusion  in  the  application  and  interpretation 
of  revelation  to  individual  belief  and  personal  life.  Over 
against  the  belief  in  immortality,  and  in  supreme  happiness 
awaiting  a  select  few  o>f  the  human  race,  is  the  belief  that  a 
large  proportion  of  human  beings  designated  as  the  wicked 
shall  be  destroyed  or  shall  exist  in  eternal  torment.  Most 
religionists  thus  divide  the  human  race;  but  most  confusing 

(227) 


228  A   Study  of  Man. 

of  all  is  the  estimate  of  the  exact  conditions  that  are  to  de- 
termine the  above  classification.  The  result  has  often  been 
that  one  class  of  religionists  assign  to  the  dark  side  of  the 
equation  all  other  members  of  the  human  race,  while  the 
first  class  are  considered  as  doomed  by  all  the  others.  This 
condition  of  things  is  the  legitimate  outgrowth  of  the  fact 
that  modern  belief  undertakes  to  hold  by  ancient  creeds,  for- 
getting that  both  belief  and  creed  are  the  work  of  man,  and 
while  they  are  claimed  as  derived  from  the  sacred  revela- 
tion, they  are  not  a  necessary  part  of  it.  It  may  thus  be 
seen  that  the  fault  does  not  belong  to  religion  nor  to  revela- 
tion per  se,  but  that  it  belongs  wholly  to  man.  Until  man 
has  learned  to  distinguish  between  revelation  and  his  own  or 
other  men's  interpretations  of  revelation,  he  has  not  taken 
the  first  step  in  the  way  of  understanding  any  religion,  and 
least  of  all,  his  own. 

The  result  of  the  confusion  above  noted  has  been  to 
separate  nominal  Christians  into  three  classes,  namely,  ma- 
terialists, agnostics,  and  enthusiasts.  The  first  class  deny 
the  so-called  immortality  of  the  soul.  The  second  class  say 
they  do  not  know,  and  while  they  are  inclined  to  doubt, 
they  are,  o<r  intend  to  be,  non-committal.  The  third  class 
refuse  to  examine  or  discuss  the  question,  but  take  it  on 
faith,  and  feel  the  assurance  -within  them ;  and  these  are  by 
far  the  most  happy  and  the  most  to  be  envied.  Unfortu- 
nately all  persons  are  not  thus  enthusiasts,  nor  can  all  of 
us  silence  the  voice  of  reason,  nor  suppress  the  interroga- 
tions that  continually  arise.  The  enthusiast  cuts  all  knots 
that  theologians  have  devised,  brushes  aside  all  contradic- 
tions and  mystifications,  and  at  a  single  bound  seizes  hold 
of  the  goodness  of  God.  determined  to  win  heaven  by  sim- 
ple faith  and  obedience.  The  number  of  nominal  Christians 
far  outnumbers  these  real  Christians,  who  are  consistent  so 
far  as  enthusiasm  can  be  consistent  in  anything. 

In  the  face  of  all  these  conditions  there  has  arisen  of  late 
years  an  unusual  interest  in  all  psychological  studies,  and 


The  Higher  Self.  229 

few  nominal  Christians  can  deny  that  at  one  time  or  an- 
other they  have  consulted  one  having  a  familiar  spirit,  in 
the  hope  of  getting  a  few  grains  of  real  knowledge  with 
which  to  fortify  their  waning  faith.  What  man  or  woman 
is  there  above  die  intelligence  of  the  poor  imbecile  who  does 
not  desire  a  completely  satisfactory  answer  to  the  question  ? 
If  a  man  die,  shall  he  live  again,  and  how,  and  where? 
Many  no  doubt  still  take  this  matter  on  faith,  but  few  are 
thus  satisfied.  Few,  indeed,  who  have  strong  ties  of  affec- 
tion, and  who  find  the  pathway  of  life  broken  by  open  graves, 
are  thus  easily  reconciled. 

The  present  writer  would  divert  the  discussion  from  the 
question  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  to  that  of  the  exist- 
ence and  nature  of  the  soul  that  is  to  be  lost  or  saved,  that 
is  to  continue  beyond  the  grave,  or  to  cease  at  the  death  of 
the  body.  If  the  lines  of  study  herein  suggested  shall  re- 
move a  great  deal  of  obscurity,  and  so  lead  up  to  the  other 
question  with  clearer  apprehension  of  the  nature  of  the 
problem,  something  will  be  gained.  The  terms  soul  and 
spirit  have  been  so  long  used  indiscriminately,  and  have 
been  used  to  express  the  most  diverse  and  fantastic  ideas  of 
innumerable  persons,  that  it  would  be  found  exceedingly 
difficult  now  to  attach  any  definite  meaning  to  them.  This 
is  rendered  still  more  difficult  from  the  fact  that  very  many 
persons  now-a-days  deny  the  existence  of  either  a  soul  or 
a  spirit  in  man,  regarding  all  of  man's  powers  as  an  affec- 
tion of  matter  due  to  organization.  But  no  one  will  deny 
the  fact  of  his  own  consciousness.  No  one  can  fail  to  recog- 
nize certain  conditions  of  consciousness  in  relation  to 
thought,  feeling,  emotion,  desire,  and  will.  No  one  will 
claim  to  have  exhausted  the  whole  range  of  human  experi- 
ence, or  to  have  completely  comprehended  any  subject. 
Everyone  can  see  that  while  the  avenues  of  sense  are  many, 
consciousness  is  the  one  center  toward  which  all  sensations 
proceed.  If  consciousness  be  thus  seen  to  be  the  central 
fact  of  man's  being,  and  that  through  which  all  planes  and 


230  A  Study  of  Man. 

conditions  of  life  are  related,  then  if  man  has  a  soul,  or  a 
spirit,  consciousness  must  be  the  central  fact  of  the  soul, 
as  of  the  bodily  life  of  man.     If  the  physical  body  is  thus 
viewed    as  the  vehicle  of    consciousness  on    the   objective 
plane,  the  soul  may  be  considered  as  the  vehicle  of  conscious- 
ness on  the  subjective  or  spiritual  plane.     If  man's  experi- 
ence here  and  now  can  be  shown  to  be  derived  from  both  the 
natural  and  the  spiritual  planes,  then  the  soul  is  within  the 
body,  and  consciousness  within  the  soul.     If  consciousness 
is  within  the  soul,  and  the  soul  is  within  the  body,  then  the 
body  is  the  theater  in  which  to  study  both  soul  and  conscious- 
ness.   If  man's  experience  is  his  sole  method  of  knowing  and 
becoming,  and  if  his  experience  now  is  derived  from  both 
the  natural  and  the  spiritual  worlds,  and  if  consciousness  in 
man  is  thus  open  or  may  become  open  to  the  spiritual  or 
subjective  world,  then  the  present  life  and  the  human  body 
present  the  opportunity  for  study  of  man's  life  and  experi- 
ence in  the  spiritual  world.     If  all  experience  of  the  natural 
world  reaches  consciousness  through  the  bodily  avenues  of 
sense,  and  if  the  body  and  its  avenues  were  destroyed  or  re- 
moved, leaving  the  soul,  so  to  speak,  naked,  then  any  expe- 
rience reaching  consciousness  thereafter  would  pass  through 
the  soul  only,   and   so   reach   consciousness   independent  of 
physical  avenues  of  sense.     It  has  been  shown  herein  that 
the  body  of  man  is  conscious  as  a  whole,  and  that  of  this 
diffused  consciousness,  self-consciousness  is  the  center.     At 
death   both    consciousness    and    self-consciousness    leave    the 
body.  The  soul  then,  the  organ  of  self-consciousness,  in  pass- 
ing to  the  subjective  plane  changes  the  basis  of  experience, 
and  receives  impressions  direct,  instead  of  through  channels 
of  sense.     If  consciousness  now,  while  in  the  body,  receives 
impressions   from  the   subjective  plane    independent  of    the 
avenues  of  sense,  there  is  nothing  to  hinder  it  from  continu- 
ing to  receive  such  impressions,  and  in  larger  measure  after 
the  body  is  thrown  off.    Consciousness  may  be  seen  to  be  re- 


The  Higher  Self.  231 

lated  to  time  and  sense,  and  yet  not  dependent  upon  these 
for  its  existence. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  that  a  knowledge  of  the  planes  and 
conditions  of  consciousness  in  man,  here  and  now,  is  the 
only  way  by  which  man  can  really  know  anything  of  a  fu- 
ture life,  and  that  this  knowledge  of  the  planes  and  condi- 
tions of  consciousness  can  only  be  gained  by  experience.  In 
this  way  only  can  the  gap  between  the  present  and  any  fu- 
ture life  be  bridged.  We  must  experience  the  divine  life  in 
order  to  know  that  it  exists,  just  as  we  must  experience  the 
natural  life  in  order  to  know  that  it  exists,  and  in  either 
case  the  range  of  our  experience  is  the  measure  of  our 
knowledge. 

Man's  real  knowledge  is  thus  limited  by  his  experience, 
and  as  this  in  any  or  all  directions  is  necessarily  limited, 
man  knows  nothing  as  it  is,  but  only  as  revealed  through  his 
own  partial  experience ;  that  is  to  say,  he  has  his  own  partial 
and  limited  ideas  of  things.  Man  has  thus  an  idea  of  God, 
of  nature,  and  of  himself.  Man  has  only  the  least  idea  of 
that  with  which  he  is  most  familiar,  namely,  himself.  If 
man  could  but  know  himself  he  would  speedily  change  his 
idea  of  both  God  and  nature.  The  reason  why  man  knows 
so  little  of  himself  is  because  his  vision  is  circumscribed  by 
the  narrow  bounds  of  his  own  selfishness.  He  is  thus  an- 
chored blindly  to  that  animal  egotism  whence  he  came,  and 
discerns  not  that  divine  altruism  toward  which  he  tends. 
Man  thus  narrows  the  range  of  his  experience,  and  precludes 
the  possibility  of  knowledge,  and  he  will  make  nature's  ideals 
conform  to  his  own  narrow  ideas. 

It  is  thus  that  man  has  an  idea  of  God,  and  this  idea  takes 
on  two  forms,  or  is  derived  from  two  groups  of  experiences. 
Man  views  external  nature,  the  phenomenal  world  of  matter, 
force,  motion  and  shapes  existing  in  space  and  time.  He 
sees  the  mighty  sun  and  all  the  heavenly  orbs  rolling  in 
space,  the  green  earth  putting  forth  blossom  and  fruit,  and 
again  cold  and  barren  in  winter.     He  sees  the  huge  leviathan 


232  A  Study  of  Man. 

sporting  in  ocean  deeps,  and  again  the  organism  whose  thea- 
ter of  life  is  a  drop  of  water,  and  through  all  these  he  dis- 
covers system  and  order.  The  seasons  come  and  go;  nature 
blossoms  and  decays.  Reflecting  in  all  of  these,  the  rolling 
thunder,  the  flashing  lightning,  the  movements  of  life,  the 
order  through  all,  and  the  power  over  all — an  unseen  power 
behind  a  visible  nature — man  derives  thence  an  idea  of  God, 
and  this  idea  thus  derived  is  pure  pantheism. 

Man  derives  his  idea  of  God  through  another  source. 
Looking  inward  into  his  own  soul  and  taking  cognizance  of 
his  own  mysterious  nature  filled  with  hopes  and  fears,  with 
joy  and  sorrow,  aspiring,  despairing,  ferocious  in  hate,  yet 
gentle  in  love,  he  thus  realizes  his  own  personality.  Man 
thus  finds  power  without  and  power  within,  mystery  without 
and  mystery  within,  and  he  thus  adds  to  his  pantheistic  idea 
derived  from  external  nature  the  anthropomorphic  idea  de- 
rived from  himself,  and  he  calls  this  idea  a  Personal  God. 
Now  let  us  suppose  that  this  idea  of  personality  were  de- 
rived from  a  perfect  man,  then  the  ideal  man  would  be  the 
Personality  of  God.  We  should  then  have  a  nature-God 
and  a  man-God  derived  from  the  conception  of  a  perfect 
personality.  This  idea  would  be  strengthened  and  elevated, 
if  one  who  had  attained  this  human  perfection  were  known 
to  us,  or  clearly  represented  to  us.  Such  an  one  would  be 
henceforth  our  ideal  man,  God  revealed  to  us  through  hu- 
man perfection.  If  now  the  manner  of  life  of  such  an  one 
were  revealed  to  us,  and  the  means  by  which  he  had 
achieved  perfection,  then  the  possibility  of  our  attaining  to 
such  perfection  would  be  beyond  all  things  inspiring.  No 
personal  God  can  be  revealed  to  us  except  through  man. 

Nature  to  us  seems  wrathful  and  all-devouring,  and  the 
natural  man  outdoes  even  nature  in  cruelty  and  destruction. 
The  Divine  man  is  full  of  all  sweet  charities,  tender,  merci- 
ful, loving  and  approachable.  He  calls  himself  brother;  he 
enters  the  lowest  estate  that  the  poor  and  despised  may 
claim  fellowship  with  him,  and  sickness,  sorrow  and  sin  dis- 


The  Higher  Self.  233 

appear  at  his  approach.  If  these  attributes  reveal  the  per- 
sonality of  God,  as  a  divine  altruism,  a  tender  sympathy  for 
all  human  woe,  and  a  strong  helpfulness  for  all  human  weak- 
ness, then  this  ideal  reflected  back  on  man's  idea  reveals  the 
higher-self  in  man,  and  it  reveals  the  means  by  which  the 
higher-self  may  be  realized. 

We  are  here  dealing  with  man's  idea  of  God.  Here  pro- 
fane history  is  to  be  entirely  ignored  as  having  no  bearing 
on  the  externals  of  either  the  Christ  or  scripture.  Neither 
has  any  discussion  of  the  conception  or  birth  of  the  man 
Jesus  anything  to  do  with  the  matter.  The  immaculate  con- 
ception of  a  human  being  is  something  that  cannot  be  un- 
derstood and  need  not  be  discussed.  The  mystery  of  Christ 
must  be  sought  in  another  direction  if  it  is  ever  to  be  un- 
veiled to  the  human  understanding.  The  mystery  of  Christ 
to  man  is  the  mystery  of  the  perfect  to  the  imperfect.  It 
is  the  mystery  of  the  realized  Divine  Ideal  to  the  imperfect 
human  idea. 

Christ  is  called  "the  only  begotten  Son  of  the  Father." 
Let  us  suppose  that  from  the  bosom  of  nature  in  the  fullness 
of  time  there  was  to  emerge  a  perfect,  ideal  man,  that  the 
Infinite  Power  behind  all  phenomena  had  from  the  begin- 
ning this  archetypal  man  in  view,  and  that  the  purpose  of 
all  life  was  to  realize  this  ideal,  not  once  for  all,  but  every- 
where as  the  ultimate  of  all  forms.  The  ideal  man,  Christ, 
was  thus  with  God  from  the  foundation  of  the  world.  Christ 
being  thus  the  Divine  Idea  realized,  man  is  a  divine  idea  un- 
realized, or  in  process  of  being  realized.  The  only  begotten 
of  the  Father  are  thus  perfect  men,  and  the  perfect  man  is 
embodied  altruism.  This  method  of  viewing  Christos  may 
seem  to  the  reader  heterodox;  but  if  he  will  bear  in  mind 
that  the  only  way  by  which  mankind  has  been  able  to  recon- 
cile the  God-idea  and  the  Christ-idea  is  by  the  interposition 
of  an  incomprehensible  mystery,  he  may  find  that  the  mys- 
tery here  interposed  between  these  two  ideas  is  not  beyond 
comprehension,  namely,  the  mystery  of  the  perfect  ideal  man 


234  <d  Study  of  Man. 

to  the  imperfect  man.  Without  changing  the  facts  this  view 
brings  God,  and  Christ,  and  man  nearer  together.  The  in- 
considerate will  moreover  object  that  this  idea  makes  Christ 
out  to  be  only  a  man.  But  it  cannot  be  said  that  a  perfect 
man  is  only  a  man.  We  have  already  shown  that  one  plane 
of  life  overshadows  another,  and  that  the  perfect  man  in- 
volves the  divine  and  thus  realizes  the  divine  ideal.  It  is 
thus  the  God  in  man  that  perfects  him. 

Let  us  briefly  consider  what  view  this  idea  suggests  of 
the  nature  and  mission  of  man  as  we  find  him  in  the  world 
today.  The  perfect  man,  so  far  as  he  is  related  to  time  and 
phenomenal  existence,  is  of  slow  growth.  He  is  a  man  of 
sorrows,  and  acquainted  with  grief;  he  is  to  be  tried  and 
tempted  at  all  points,  so  that  knowing  all  evil  he  may  con- 
sciously and  deliberately  prefer  all  good;  he  is  through  ex- 
perience thus  to  become  a  conscious  center  of  goodness, 
wisdom  and  power.  Thus  accomplishing  the  divine  will  and 
becoming  the  divine  ideal,  man  arrives  at  perfection.  In 
another  section  it  has  been  shown  that  by  the  time  man  be- 
comes altogether  human,  or  humane,  through  altruism,  he 
has  become  half-divine,  having  eliminated  the  animal  ego- 
tism. The  further  unfolding  of  the  divinely  human  man,  by 
which  he  arrives  at  perfection,  concerns  the  unfolding  of 
consciousness  on  the  subjective  or  spiritual  plane  of  being, 
and  the  assumption  of  those  powers  that  Christ  predicated 
for  them  that  believe. 

The  perfect  man  is  a  co-worker  with  God.  His  mem- 
bers no  longer  war  with  each  other,  and  he  is  thus  at-one 
with  God.  The  attainment  of  perfection  is  thus  the  recon- 
ciliation of  the  human  to  the  divine.  If  this  ideal  perfection 
has  been  even  once  realized,  and  if  the  experiences  of  life 
be  regarded  as  a  journey  toward  it,  the  brotherhood  of  Christ 
to  man  has  a  real  meaning.  But  if  Christ  is  God  in  some 
other,  far-away  and  unapproachable  sense,  then  Christ  can 
be  little  to  us. 

The  scriptures  reveal  an  ideal  man  as  one  who  had  at- 


The  Higher  Self.  235 

tained  to  all  perfection,  in  whom  dwelt  all  the  fullness  of 
the  God-head  embodied.  The  man-Jesus  was  crucified;  the 
God-Christ  was  glorified,  and  so  it  is  everywhere,  and  at  all 
times;  the  crucifixion  of  the  human  is  the  enthronement  of 
the  divine. 

The  whole  aim  and  meaning  of  human  life  thus  becomes 
a  continual  striving  after  ideal  manhood  and  ideal  woman- 
hood. Just  as  all  lower  life  climbs  toward  humanity,  so 
humanity  climbs  toward  divinity.  In  the  scriptures  Christ 
is  the  embodiment  of  altruism,  as  Satan  is  the  embodiment 
of  egoism.  Each  is  an  ideal,  the  one  placed  over  against  the 
other  that  man  may  not  err  in  his  choice  of  methods  or  of 
ends.  Christ  is  lifted  up  and  draws  all  mankind  unto  Him 
through  the  sympathy  and  love  of  his  divine  benevolence. 
Satan  is  cast  down,  and  drags  man  after  him  through  their 
participation  in  his  supreme  selfishness.  These  are  ideals 
of  the  lower  and  the  higher  self  in  man ;  and  these  two  strive 
in  man  for  the  possession  of  his  will,  his  consciousness,  and 
his  life.  The  selfish  ego  belongs,  as  we  have  elsewhere 
shown,  to  the  receding  wave  of  animal  life.  Man  leaves 
this  behind  him  as  he  journeys  toward  perfection.  The  con- 
scious individuality  belongs  to  the  advancing  wave  involved 
from  the  divine  life,  and  this  unfolds  and  is  illumined  as  man 
journeys  toward  perfection.  Nothing  can  be  plainer  than 
this  as  the  real  meaning  of  human  life.  It  is  a  great  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  birth  is  the  beginning  and  death  the  end 
of  man.  An  endless  future  necessarily  implies  a  measure- 
less past.  What  we  call  time  is  a  span  between  two  eterni- 
ties, the  whence  and  the  whither;  and  when  time  drops  out, 
eternity  only  remains.  It  would  be  as  correct  to  say  that  we 
die  into  this  world  and  are  born  out  of  it,  as  to  say  that  we 
are  born  into  it  and  die  out  of  it.  Our  mistake  of  the  mean- 
ing of  life  includes  a  mistaken  idea  regarding  both  birth  and 
death,  and  we  have  previously  shown  the  evidence  of  this 
mistake  in  the  fact  that  we  have  allowed  fear  and  forebod- 
ing of  evil  to  gather  around  the  exit,  which  is  painless  and 


236  A  Study  of  Man. 

beneficent  as  a  baby's  sleep,  and  have  come  with  rejoicings 
to  welcome  the  entrance,  which  is  often  an  inferno  to  both 
mother  and  child.  It  is  thus  that  man's  ignorant  and  super- 
stitious ideas  have  reversed  the  beneficent  will  of  nature, 
and  reduced  divine  ideals  to  grotesque  and  horrible  carica- 
tures.    No  wonder  that  the  despairing  soul  cries: 

"Alone!  alone! 
Forth  out  of  the  darkness, 
Back  into  the  darkness 

We  coane  and  we  go  alone." 

Whence  then  comes  the  light  to  the  despairing  soul  alone 
in  darkness?  It  comes  from  within  as  a  revelation  of  that 
divinity  which  lies  at  the  very  foundation  of  the  self-con- 
scious life  of  man.  Divine-consciousness  in  man  is  illumi- 
nation. This  is  the  mystery  of  self-consciousness,  and  it 
can  be  no  more  comprehended  in  terms  of  sense  and  matter 
than  the  senseless  rook  can  comprehend  the  sympathies  of 
man.  Naught  but  a  spark  of  the  divine  would  be  capable  of 
unfolding  even  to  man's  present  estate,  so  that  by  experi- 
ence he  could  epitomize  all  lower  life;  and  naught  but  the 
divinity  in  man  could  lead  him  even  through  hope  and  de- 
sire to  still  grander  possibilities  of  being. 

The  fact  of  a  double  consciousness  in  man  is  demon- 
strated by  somnambulism.  Man  continually  leads  a  double 
life.  The  subjective  plane  of  experience  is  as  patent  and 
demonstrable  as  the  objective,  and  the  fact  that  man  fails  to 
distinguish  between  these  two  planes  of  consciousness,  and 
is  unable  as  a  rule  to  assign  his  varied  experiences  to  the 
proper  plane,  proves  nothing  to  the  contrary.  This  will  be 
still  more  apparent  when  we  consider  that,  as  consciousness 
is  the  one  center  into  which  flow  both  lines  of  experience, 
and  that  all  experiences  of  one  plane  are  necessarily  mixed 
with  those  of  the  other,  it  therefore  requires  a  wider  range 
of  experience  on  both  planes,  and  a  high  degree  of  conscious- 
ness to  preserve  the  difference  and  trace  the  analogies. 


The  Higher  Self.  237 

There  are  thousands  of  individuals  today  who  are  con- 
scious of  experience  more  or  less  clear  on  the  subjective 
plane  of  being.  Many  of  these  can  enter  this  condition  at 
will.  In  other  cases  it  may  be  readily  induced  by  artificial 
means,  such  as  magnetism,  and  the  use  of  drugs.  Most  of 
these  artificial  methods  of  inducing  subjective  consciousness 
are  attended  with  great  danger  to  the  subject,  and  with  very 
grave  responsibility  to  the  operator,  who  in  depriving  an  in- 
dividual of  his  self-control  and  impressing  upon  such  per- 
sons his  own  personality,  whether  good  or  bad,  must  in  some 
measure  at  least  become  responsible  for  the  future  acts  of 
his  subject. 

In  that  profound  psychological  study,  Bulwer's  Strange 
Story,  when  Margrave  came  under  the  influence  of  the 
magic  wand,  now  in  the  hands  of  his  victim,  he  was  not 
only  helpless,  but  he  was  compelled  to  tell  the  truth.  This 
is  a  universal  fact  in  magnetism.  The  magnetic  subject  may 
be  a  villain  in  his  objective  state,  but  as  soon  as  his  objec- 
tive life  becomes  obscured  and  the  motives  of  egotism  are 
laid  at  rest,  he  comes  under  the  dominion  of  his  higher  self, 
and  confession  of  crime  and  self-condemnation  are  often  the 
result.  The  voice  of  conscience  is  no  longer  silenced  by 
the  senses  and  by  self-interest,  for  consciousness  on  the  sub- 
jective plane  discerns  only  the  real  interest.  The  individual 
while  conscious  on  the  subjective  plane  may  acknowledge 
and  deplore  the  evils  of  his  daily  life,  and  yet  predict  that 
he  will  return  to  and  continue  in  them,  for  he  recognizes  the 
conditions  that  have  woven  these  chains  of  sense  and  self 
about  him,  and  he  knows  that  his  will  is  unequal  to  the  task 
of  overcoming  them.  He  must  work  out  the  evil  Karma 
that  he  has  engendered. 

It  is  such  facts  as  .these  that  reveal  the  existence  of  .the 
higher  self  and  its  relations  to  the  two  planes  of  conscious- 
ness. If  now  the  life  of  the  individual  on  the  lower  physical 
plane  be  inspired  by  the  principle  of  altruism  which  leads 
him  into  all  good  and  to  do  good,  the  nature  of  the  individual 


238  A  Study  of  Man. 

is  no  longer  at  war  with  itself.  The  lower  and  the  higher 
self  are  thus  at-one,  and  the  consciousness  of  man  draws  ex- 
perience from  the  two  worlds.  Intuition,  which  is  the  direct 
apprehension  of  truth,  unconditioned  by  sense  and  time,  and 
which  is  the  organ  of  the  higher  self,  now  supplements  in- 
tellection, which  is  the  organ  of  the  lower  self,  through  the 
function  of  the  human  brain.  This  union  of  man's  higher 
and  lower  nature  is  called  the  true  illumination,  and  it  has 
been  often  achieved  in  all  ages— not  by  the  rich,  the  power- 
ful, and  the  great,  as  men  estimate  greatness,  but  by  the 
lowly,  and  the  humane,  by  die  despised,  the  poor,  and  the 
crucified,  by  those  who  having  become  dead  to  the  world  ex- 
cept as  partakers  in  its  misery,  were  alive  to  God ;  their  Ado- 
nai  had  come. 

If  the  reader  shall  say,  this  is  all  very  beautiful,  but  it 
is  transcendental;  it  may  do  for  a  romance,  or  a  strange 
story,  I  ask  him  then  what  he  can  make  out  of  the  mystery 
of  life  or  the  fear  of  death?  I  ask  him  to  reconcile  nihilism, 
agnosticism  and  spiritualism,  and  give  the  true  meaning  of 
magnetism,  hypnotism,  clair-audience,  clairvoyance,  and  the 
consulting  of  familiar  spirits,  a  meaning  and  a  use  that  is 
not  transcendental.  Is  man  then  hopelessly  bewildered  and 
irretrievably  lost? 

I  hold  that  true  religion  and  true  science  come  to  the 
same  conclusions.  I  hold  that  man's  most  bounden  duty  and 
his  highest  hopes  demand  that  he  shall  know  himself— not 
the  selfish-self  alone,  that  recedes  and  finally  disappears  as 
he  journeys  toward  perfection,  but  also  that  higher-self  that 
expands,  illumines  and  inspires  the  ideal  life.  I  hold  that 
this  higher  self,  this  divine  ideal  is  the  modulus  of  nature, 
and  therefore  the  true  meaning  of  life.  The  Christ-idea 
did  not  originate  eighteen  hundred  years  ago.  Christos  was 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Father  from  the  beginning.  Alan  has 
forgotten  the  civilizations  that  are  past,  but  mother  earth 
remembers  all  her  children.  These  buried  civilizations  have 
tramped  like  mighty  armies  all  round  and  round  the  globe. 


The  Higher  Self.  239 

Every  hillside  is  a  necropolis,  and  every  valley  is  filled  with 
dry  bones.  The  dust  of  ages  covers  the  remains  and  crum- 
bles the  monuments  of  man.  Submerged  continents  bear 
down  to  ocean  beds  the  cities  of  dim  ages  past.  Where  was 
the  Divine  Father  during  all  these  eons  of  time  ?  Think  you 
my  brother  He  was  sitting  on  the  outside  of  creation,  and 
only  waking  a  few  years  ago  to  the  nature  and  necessities 
of  man  ?  Alas  !  our  ingrained  selfishness  is  not  satisfied  with 
degrading  man,  it  must  also  belittle  God.  Is  Nature's  modu- 
lus revealed  today  in  every  breathing  thing,  a  lucky  thought 
of  the  All-Father  for  the  benefit  of  his  peculiar  people  but 
yesterday,  while  in  the  earth's  more  ancient  prime  things 
came  and  went  by  chance?  Is  our  salvation  less  today  be- 
cause those  of  old  were  also  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand? 
Divine  altruism  cried :  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  who  labor  and 
are  heavy  laden,"  and  the  buried  ages  heard,  and  it  echoes 
to  the  ages  yet  to  be.  All  nature  climbs  toward  God  as  suns 
and  worlds  unfold. 

"Yet  I  doubt  not  through  vhe  ages, 
On©  increasing  purpose  runs, 
And  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened 
With  the  process  of  the  suns." 

With  shaded  eyes  and  bended  head  man  dimly  discerns 
the  mystery  of  life.  In  every  clime  God's  altars  rise;  in 
every  land  and  every  age  man  feels  the  touch  of  wings,  and 
dimly  sees  as  through  a  veil  his  overshadowing  Lord.  What 
matters  it  the  name  be  bears?  Who  knows  the  one  true 
name?  The  highest  name  in  every  time  has  been  man's 
highest  ideal,  and  this  has  not  been  derived  from  selfish  beast, 
but  dimly  seen  as  an  overshadowing  presence  to  which  man 
gave  his  highest  thought,  his  choicest  gift.  This  ideal  does 
not  change,  though  it  seems  to  recede  as  man  advances,  and 
apprehends  more  of  the  divine  beneficence.  To  the  highest 
soul  it  is  most  revealed,  as  distant  landscapes  blossom  forth 
on  nearer  view  from  mountain  heights.     Man  has  foolishly 


240  A  Study  of  Man. 

imagined  that  he  could  hedge  divinity  about  and  appropriate 
it  all  to  himself,  and  thus  our  God  has  been  invoiced  with 
our  other  possessions.  Tis  then  we  know  the  least  of  God, 
when  we  make  of  him  a  chattel. 

Symbolize  truth  as  we  may,  the  greater  mystery  is  the 
journey  of  life,  and  the  great  revealer  is  man's  higher  self, 
the  overshadowing  presence  that  draws  him  up  toward  di- 
viner things.     He  who  listens  to  the  voice  within  his  own 
soul  will  learn  his  own  nature;    it  will    be  revealed  from 
within.     Self-consciousness   illuminated  will   become  divine 
consciousness,  and  the  more  the  divine  is  thus  revealed  the 
more  will  man  find  himself  powerless  to  define  it.     It  will 
still  be  his  highest  ideal,  and  every  higher  plane  revealed 
will  show  still  higher  planes  beyond.     The  rude  savage  who 
worships  a  fetich  never  doubts  his  power  to  name  or  even 
to  make  and  to  mar  his  god.    The  illuminated  soul  with  in- 
troverted  vision   is   silent,    for   he   finds   neither   name   nor 
quality  befitting    the  All-Good,   man's   idea  of    God.     The 
higher  self,  when  fully  revealed  and  set  free  from  the  bond- 
age of  sense,  will  be  at-one  with  that  Elder  Brother,  the 
Christ,  a  living  presence  in  every  illumined  soul,  a  co-worker 
with  the  divine  for  the  uplifting  of  humanity. 
******** 
In  these  pages  no  system  of  philosophy  has   been   at- 
tempted, but  a  systematic  use  of  the  knowledge  of  common 
things  has  been  suggested.     Nature  everywhere  reveals  sys- 
tem and  order,  but  no  system  of  philosophy  promulgated  by 
man  has  ever  compassed  the  order  of  nature,  or  embodied 
the  whole  truth.     The  so-called  originators  of  the  world's 
philosophies,    and   their   enthusiastic    followers,   have   often 
imagined  that  they  have  arrived  at  finalities,  when  in  fact 
they  have  but  dimly  discerned  at  best  a  few  great  principles. 
In  the  application  of  a  principle  to  the  processes  of  nature 
man  always  works   from  incomplete,   and,  therefore,  insuffi- 
cient data.     The  conditions  of  a  complete  system  of  philos- 
ophy, such  as  should  stand  through  all  time,  would  demand  a 


The  Higher  Self.  241 

complete  knowledge  of  nature  and  of  man.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  inductive  philosophy  alone  is  insufficient.  If,  how- 
ever, while  pursuing  the  inductive  method  of  research,  as 
heretofore  shown,  proceeding  from  fact  to  law,  we  make 
tentative  deductions,  holding  them  strictly  as  such,  and  view- 
ing them  often  in  the  light  of  experience,  we  shall  thus  hit 
upon  a  method  of  study  and  observation  of  incalculable 
value.  We  may  not.  indeed,  arrive  at  final  truths,  but  we 
may  feel  the  assurance  that  we  are  on  the  way  that  leads  to 
them.  If  man  will  but  apply  the  principles  everywhere  re- 
vealed as  the  foundation  of  human  nature,  to  the  unfolding 
of  his  higher  life,  he  may  accomplish  in  the  journey  of  the 
soul  what  modern  science  has  done  in  the  march  of  me- 
chanics. 

The  dawn  of  a  new  era  in  the  life  of  man  is  heralded  by 
many  signs.  The  apathy  that  arose  from  discouragement 
has  given  place  to  the  humane  impulses  that  have  arisen 
from  even  a  dim  discernment  of  the  needs  and  the  possibili- 
ties of  the  hour.  The  leaven  of  benevolence  is  at  work,  and 
sweet  charity  and  tender  piety  go  forth  as  on  wings  of  an- 
gels to  relieve  distress  and  comfort  the  despairing.  Woman- 
hood, the  new  messenger  of  divinity,  is  thus  trying  her  long- 
pinioned  wings  and  uplifting  the  human  race  through  the 
immeasurable  forces  of  gentleness  and  love.  The  soul  of 
womanhood  will  no  longer  be  chained  to  a  crucifix  and 
hedged  about  by  the  creeds  of  men.  She  will  arise  in  the 
beauty  of  holiness  like  a  true  daughter  of  Zion,  and  open 
the  Gates  of  Peace  that  all  who  will  may  come  in.  Look  at 
her  deeds  of  charity  and  her  missions  of  mercy,  and  read  in 
them  the  signs  of  the  times.  She  has  not  even  yet  fully  en- 
tered her  kingdom,  but  she  already  has  lifted  humanity 
nearer  to  divinity  than  have  the  iron  creeds  of  man  for  ages. 
The  power  is  hers,  but  she  must  banish  the  last  vestige  of 
scorn  for  those  of  her  own  sex  who  have  unfortunately  be- 
come the  victims  of  man's  betrayal;  she  must  realize  that 
sin  and  crime  are  but  the  resultants  of  diseases  that  are  born 


242  A  Study  of  Man. 

of  ignorance  and  innocence,  and  brought  about  by  the  self- 
ishness of  both  man  and  woman;  and  she  must  also  appre- 
ciate the  fact  that  none  need  the  ministry  of  love  and  kind- 
ness more  than  these  sin-sick  souls.  Woman  must  be  true 
to  her  womanhood  before  she  can  inspire  man  to  virtue.  In 
no  age  has  the  degradation  of  woman  been  contemporaneous 
with  the  true  elevation  of  man.  The  fortunate,  the  up- 
right, the  untempted— these  are  not  the  needy.  Only  they 
who  are  sick  are  in  need  of  a  Physician  such  as  Christ  ever 
was,  such  as  woman  is  designed  to  be.  Let  it  be  understood 
that  every  helpless,  ignorant,  orphaned  daughter  is  the  pro- 
tege of  every  pure  and  noble  woman  in  the  land,  let  her  ruin 
be  regarded  as  a  universal  disgrace  to  her  sex,  and  let  jus- 
tice be  meted  out  to  her  betrayer,  and  there  would  be  thrown 
around  the  possible  victims  of  man's  innate  selfishness  a  wall 
of  protection  that  no  man  would  dare  to  scale  or  break  down. 
The  adoption  of  such  a  code  of  moral  ethics  would  elevate 
man  and  woman  alike;  woman  would  be  saved  from  man, 
and  man  saved  from  himself. 

Selfishness  is  the  father  of  vice; 
Altruism,  the  mother  of  virtue. 

There  was  a  time  in  the  history  of  man  when  he  might 
have  been  regarded  as  a  healthy  being.  With  the  progress  of 
so-called  civilization,  and  of  the  intellectual  development  of 
the  race,  nervous  maladies  have  largely  increased.  The 
battlefield  of  disease  has  moved  higher  with  the  unfolding 
of  man's  higher  perceptions,  and  both  mental  and  moral  dis- 
eases are  now  more  often  seen  than  mere  physical  maladies. 
Mankind  begins  dimly  to  discern  this  fact,  though  its  meth- 
ods and  medicines  may  be  likened  to  those  of  the  middle  ages 
in  the  treatment  of  physical  ailments.  The  Way  to  Health 
now  lies  through  co-ordinate  harmony  of  man's  entire  na- 
ture. He  is  a  laggard  in  learning  and  a  blind  student  of  hu- 
man nature  who  believes  that  any  system  of  drugging  or 
any  method  of  mental  exaltation  now  known  is  sufficient  for 


The  Higher  Self.  243 

the  promotion  and  preservation  of  health.  Health  must  flow 
down  into  man's  physical  life  from  the  harmony  of  his  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  nature.  Health  must  flow  up  into 
man's  spiritual  life  from  the  harmony  of  his  natural  and 
physical  existence. 

It  is  said  that,  when  the  first  rays  of  the  rising  sun 
beamed  on  the  statue  of  Memnon,  it  emitted  in  the  midst  of 
its  brazen  splendor  the  confluence  of  harmonious  sounds. 
Even  so  the  physical  life  of  man  awaits  through  the  long, 
dark  ages  of  superstition  the  rising  glory  of  a  brighter  sun 
whose  rays  shall  illumine  his  entire  nature,  till  it  responds 
without  discord  to  the  symphonies  of  creation. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


THE  OUTPOSTS  OF   SCIENCE. 


The  diversity  of  intellectual  pursuits  and  the  multiplicity 
of  scientific  investigations  and  discoveries  at  the  present 
time  are  indeed  bewildering. 

It  is  practically  impossible  for  any  one  mind  to  compass 
or  contain  it  all,  or  even  to  fairly  epitomize  it.  There  are, 
however,  certain  outposts  in  the  general  trend  of  thought, 
and  critical  experiment  along  scientific  lines,  that  may  be 
clearly  discerned,   and,   at  least,   approximately   formulated. 

These  outposts  not  only  clearly  indicate  the  trend  of  the 
times  and  the  lines  of  progress,  but  at  the  same  time  they 
serve  to  indicate  the  quality  of  thought  and  the  measure  of 
intellectual  evolution  at  the  present  time. 

We  are  on  the  eve  of  some  of  the  greatest  discoveries 
known  to  man.  Great  as  is  the  activity  already  referred  to, 
it  is  quite  equalled  by  a  feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  many 
things  hitherto  held  with  great  confidence;  and  over  all 
there  is  an  air  of  expectancy.  No  one  knows,  and  no  wise 
man  would  undertake  to  say,  what  might  or  might  not  hap- 
pen in  the  next  year,  or  the  next  decade. 

The  inductive  method  of  Aristotle,  since  the  time  of 
Sir  Francis  Bacon,  has  given  the  impulse  to  modern  sci- 
ence, and  is  largely  responsible  for  the  activity  and  the  re- 
sults already  referred  to. 

In  the  foregoing  pages  of  the  Study  of  Man  crass 
materialism,  under  the  garb  of  science,  has  been  often  re- 
ferred to.    This  materialism  was  a  tentative,  and  perhaps  a 

(244) 


The  Outposts  of  Science.  245 

necessary  result,    of   the   method   of   investigation  pursued, 
and  of  the  subjects  under  special  consideration. 

Concerning  Cosmology,  and  the  evolution  of  the  human 
race  as  a  whole,  little  was  generally  known  previous  to  the 
writings  of  Charles  Darwin.  The  account  in  Genesis  was 
neither  altogether  admitted  nor  denied ;  though  often  and  di- 
versely "explained,"  it  was  nowhere  understood.  Then  came 
Darwinism,  and  "the  struggle  for  existence  in  the  midst  of 
a  hostile  environment."  The  perpetuation  of  the  species 
was  the  great  burden  of  Nature  and  became  the  slogan  of 
the  evolutionist. 

The  individual  was  apparently  for  the  time  being  ig- 
nored. There  was  indeed  a  forecast,  that  the  race— some  fu- 
ture race  of  human  beings — would  arrive  at  perfection,  but 
as  such  fruition  was  likely  to  occur  some  millions  of  years 
hence,  our  solicitude  for  posterity  gave  little  present  com- 
fort and  less  hope  to  the  individual.  In  the  meantime  Na- 
ture was  represented  as  quite  regardless  of  the  individual, 
and  as  continually  sacrificing  them  in  myriads  to  preserve 
the  species.  If  the  scientist  of  these  earlier  days  were  asked 
about  the  destiny  of  the  individual,  or  the  probable  exist- 
ence of  the  human  soul,  it  was  his  "busy  day,"  and  he  was 
likely  to  reply  that  science  had  nothing  to  do  with  such  a 
sub j  ect ! 

In  the  meantime  other  scientists  were  steadily  pushing 
their  investigations  in  the  realm  of  physics  and  chemistry 
into  the  constitution  of  matter,  and  the  whole  realm  of  dy- 
namics, kinetics,  and  the  like. 

Spectrum  analysis  had  afforded  many  interesting  facts 
and  broad  philosophical  conclusions.  The  wave  theory  of 
light  and  all  previous  concepts  of  the  constitution  of  the 
atom  were  found  erroneous  by  actual  experiment,  or  en- 
tirely inadequate  to  explain  facts  and  phenomeny  often  de- 
monstrated. 

Interest  focalized  in  the  Ether.  Postulated  as  a  neces- 
sity to  account  for  the  phenomena  of  light,  it  was  now  real- 


246  A   Study  of  Man. 

ized  that  in  it  was  to  be  sought  the  origin  o.£  both  the  sub- 
stance and  the  energy  designated  as  matter  and  force  on 
the  physical  plane. 

Lord  Kelvin  is  said  to  have  proved  by  a  series  of  careful 
experiments  that  all  matter  in  the  universe  is,  at  bottom, 
ether. 

This  ether  is  indistinguishable  from  space.  It  is  not 
ether  in  space,  but  ether  as  space. 

The  vortex-ring  theory  of  Helmholtz  gained  credence 
rapidly,  and  thus  a  new  theory  of  the  atom  came  to  the  front. 

"If  a  ring  could  be  produced  in  material  not  subject  to 
friction  none  of  the  motion  could  be  dissipated,  and  we 
should  have  a  permanent  structure  possessing  several  prop- 
erties, such  as  definite  dimension,  volume,  elasticity,  attrac- 
tion, and  so  on,  all  due  to  the  shape  and  the  motion  involved. 
Imagine,  then,  that  vortex  rings  were  in  some  way  formed 
in  the  ether,  constituted  of  ether.  If  the  ether  be,  as  is 
generally  believed,  frictionless,  then  such  a  thing  would 
persist  indefinitely."* 

If  the  grossest  forms  of  matter  are  resolvable  into  ether, 
and  the  primordial  atom  consists  of  a  mere  whirl  in  this  fric- 
tionless, imponderable,  and  continuous  ether,  exit  material- 
ism !  and  enter  spiritism  ! 

"Matter  is  a  mode  of  motion  of  spirit,"  says  Calthrope. 

Now  let  us  for  a  moment  return  to  the  evolutionists, 
and  the  followers  of  Darwin.  Professor  Huxley  had  been 
the  prince  of  agnostics,  and  by  inference  he  had  often  been 
classed  with  materialists.  The  "Unknowable"  was  an  intel- 
lectual  dust-bin    for   troublesome    or    impertinent   questions. 

Note. — It  is  interesting  to  read  in  this  connection  the  theory 
of  Descartes  regarding  vortices,  and  that  of  Leibinz  regarding 
monads  and  atoms.  The  emphasis  laid  upon  the  principle  of 
pre-established  harmony,  and  its  manifestation  through  mathe- 
matical laws  on  the  one  hand,  and  its  foundation  in  universal 
intelligence  on  the  other,  were  insisted  on  by  Leibinz.  (1646- 
1716.) 


The  Outposts  of  Science.  24; 

Within  a  year  of  his  death  Huxley  said:  "I  no  longer  wish 
to  speak  of  anything  as  unknowable;  I  confess  that  I  once 
made  that  mistake  even  to  the  waste  of  a  capital  U." 

In  "Science  and  Morals"  Huxley  says:  "I  understand 
the  main  tenet  of  materialism  to  be  that  there  is  nothing  in 
the  universe  but  matter  and  force.  .  .  .  This  I  heartily 
disbelieve.  ...  In  the  first  place,  as  I  have  already 
hinted,  it  seems  to  me  pretty  plain  that  there  is  a  third  thing 
in  the  universe,  to  wit,  consciousness,  which,  in  the  hard- 
ness of  my  heart  or  head  I  cannot  see  to  be  matter  or  force, 
or  any  conceivable  modification  of  either,  however  inti- 
mately the  manifestations  of  the  phenomena  of  consciousness 
may  be  connected  with  the  phenomena  known  as  matter  and 
force." 

With  matter  in  its  grossest  forms  originating  from  and 
resolvable  back  into  the  ether,  and  with  force  originating  in 
vortex  motion,  Huxley,  had  he  lived  long  enough,  would 
have  found  less  difficulty  in  co-ordinating  matter,  force  and 
consciousness,  and  in  arriving  at  that  divine  and  hence  in- 
telligent unity  from  which  all  diversity  has  emanated. 

We  have  boundless  space;  universal  substance;  univer- 
sal energy;  universal  intelligence,  and  universal  conscious- 
ness. Space  is  thus  the  "all-container";  and  all  these  are 
One.  Boundless:  Infinite,  omnipresent,  etc.  Are  not  these 
the  terms  everywhere  applied  to  Divinity?  In  seeking  the 
key  to  Nature,  science  has  stumbled  upon  the  pathway  to 
God. 

"The  entire  process  of  ascending  evolution  appears  to  be 
dependent  on  the  presence  of  mind;  that  is,  consciousness, 
in  the  successive  stages,  from  the  simple  to  the  complex."— 
Professor  Cope. 

"One  continuous  substance  filling  all  space,  which  can  vi- 
brate as  light,  which  can  be  sheared  into  positive  and  nega- 
tive electricity,  which  in  whirls  constitutes  matter,  and  which 
transmits  by  continuity,  and  not  by  impact,  every  action  and 
reaction   of    which   matter   is   capable— this    is   the   modern 


248  A  Study  of  Man. 

view  of  the  ether  and  its  functions." — Professor  Lodge,  of 
University  College,  Liverpool. 

"Thought  is  a  mode  of  motion  which  is  either  entirely 
of  the  ether,  or  which  affects  the  ether  as  well  as  matter." — 
Prof.  Ames,  of  Johns  Hopkins  University. 

"I  think  we  are  very  near  to  a  discovery  of  a  physical 
basis  for  immortality  that  will  transform  most  all  our 
thinking." — Professor  Dolbear. 

"Matter,  therefore,  is  not  only  divine,  but  it  is  the  crown- 
ing act  of  divine  love  and  self-sacrifice.  It  is  God,  giving 
away  himself  for  man  to  use,  to  enjoy,  to  govern." 

"God  has  nothing  but  his  own  perfect  substance  to  make 
worlds  (and  all  that  they  contain)  out  of."— CalthropE* 

Thus  the  substance  of  the  universe  is  the  garment  of 
God.  A  new  and  far  more  literal  meaning  attaches  to  the 
saying,  "in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being"; 
and  "He  is  in  all,  through  all,  and  over  all." 

Now  the  essential  characteristic  of  man  is  his  persistent, 
conscious  self-identity.  In  the  midst  of  all  his  diverse  ele- 
ments, and  his  warring  passions,  he  is  still  One.  Herein  is 
the  "likeness"  of  God  in  the  face  of  the  diversity  of  nature, 
in  which  man  is  said  to  have  been  made. 

Every  universal  principle  or  potency  that  man  has  con- 
ceived or  apprehended  in  nature  is  epitomized  in  man. 

If  space  is  "a  conditioned  fullness"  out  of  which  all 
things  emanate  and  into  which  they  all  return,  and  from 
which  they  can  never  be  for  an  instant  separated,  even  in 
thought,  then  is  this  source  of  substance  and  energy,  and 
this  fountain  of  life,  an  eternal  fountain,  not  only  the 
source  of  all,  but  eternally  pervading  all. 

Hence  derived,  and  partaking  of  its  attributes,  is  the  con- 
sciousness of  man,  the  noumenon,  the  potency,  of  all  the 
phenomena  of  life. 

*The  foregoing  brief  quotations  are  from  a  very  interesting  lit- 
tle volume  by  C.  J.  Stockwell— "New  Modes  of  Thought." 


The  Outposts  of  Science.  249 

For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  modern  thought,  here 
is  a  basis  for  a  concept  of  the  human  soul  in  perfect  conso- 
nance with  our  concepts  of  Nature  and  Divinity,  and  what 
Professor  Huxley  designated  as  the  aim  of  science,  viz.,  to 
deduce  the  rational  order  that  pervades  the  universe.  Na- 
ture is  no  longer  at  cross-purposes  with  God,  nor  is  man  by 
nature  at  war  with  either  God  or  Nature. 

The  theory  of  the  "Struggle  to  preserve  the  species  in 
the  midst  of  a  hostile  environment"  is  found  to  be  false,  be- 
cause wholly  inadequate  and  self-contradictory.  Science  has 
swung  clear  around  the  circle  and  come  back  to  God. 

In  this  crude  and  imperfect  outline  of  the  outposts  of 
science  enough  has  been  said  perhaps  to  indicate  the  signs 
of  the  times  and  the  line  of  progress. 

In  the  foregoing  Study  of  Man,  written  now  nearly  fif- 
teen years  ago,  the  general  theorem  will  be  found  to  lead 
logically  to  just  these  later  concepts  of  science.  The  two- 
fold process  of  evolution  and  involution;  the  twofold  life  of 
man  as  inhering  in  the  natural  and  the  spiritual,  and  the 
chapter  on  Polarity,  and  the  underlying  Magnetism,  are  all 
consistent  with  these  later  concepts,  and  designed  to  lead  up 
to  them.  These  views,  and  the  whole  general  concept,  were 
derived  from  the  Secret  Doctrine  of  the  Ancient  Masters  of 
Wisdom,  unfolded  to  modern  students  by  H.  P.  Blavatsky, 
to  whose  writings  and  instructions  I  owe  more  than  any 
words  of  mine  can  ever  express.  The  search  for  the  soul 
is  neither  more  nor  less  than  a  problem  in  the  study  of  the 
conditions  and  changes  in  individual  consciousness.  This 
problem  is  unfolded  and  elaborated  in  the  "Secret  Doctrine" 
of  H.  P.  Blavatsky.  Whenever  modern  students  are  done 
with  contempt  prior  to  investigation,  they  will  find  the  Se- 
cret Doctrine  not  only  in  full  accord  with  the  outposts  and 
latest  concepts  of  science,  but  they  will  find  the  whole  prob- 
lem of  individual  and  race  evolution,  the  nature  of  the  soul, 
and  the  way  of  illumination  at  least  fully  outlined.  Then 
will  this  wholly  misunderstood  and  therefore  misinterpreted 


250  A  Study  of  Man. 

messenger  of  those  who  know  be  measured  by  her  mission, 
and  judged  by  her  work.  As  to  what  that  verdict  will  be 
the  present  writer  has  no  shadow  of  doubt,  for  it  is  already 
indicated  in  the  signs  of  the  times,  in  the  recognition  of  the 
wisdom  of  the  ancients,  and  guaranteed  by  that  principle  of 
justice  innate  in  the  soul  of  man. 

In  the  closing  chapter  on  the  New  Psychology  it  should 
be  borne  in  mind  that,  what  the  problems  of  physical  sci- 
ence are  as  related  to  the  concept  of  space,  such  also  are  the 
problems  of  psychology  as  related  to  consciousness. 

The  noumenon  of  the  phenomenal  world,  or  cosmos; 
that  is,  the  no  thing  from  whieh  all  things  emanate,  is 
Space,  in  which  God  and  Nature  meet  as  One. 

The  noumenon  in  the  intelligent  life  and  varied  experi- 
ence of  man  is  consciousness.  This  is  the  source  of  that 
involution,  that  eternal  and  inexhaustible  fountain  of  Life, 
Intelligence  and  Love  so  often  referred  to  in  the  foregoing 
Study  of  Man.  Therefore,  we  shall  comprehend  both  man 
and  Nature  just  so  far  as  we  apprehend  God.  Here  lies 
that  "pre-established  harmony"  conceived  by  Leibinz,  and 
that  "rational  order"  referred  to  by  Huxley.  Here  not  only 
Science  and  Philosophy,  but  also  Theology,  meet  as  One* 

Note;  To  call  the  views  herein  expressed  "pantheism,"  neither 
defines  them  nor  disposes  of  them,  as  many  simple  souls  seem 
to  imagine.  In  the  first  place,  which  pantheism,  for  scarcely  less 
than  a  dozen  different  varieties  might  be  named,  each  depending 
on  the  proportion  in  which  the  idea  of  God  and  the  idea  of 
Nature  enter  into  the  concept.  The  reluctance  experienced  by 
many  good  people  in  extending  their  idea  of  God  from  the  per- 
sonal (anthropomorphic)  to  the  universal  is  well  known.  Yet 
all  we  know  about  "person"  is  essentially  a  limitation,  and  may 
even  be  a  delusion.  Personam— literally,  a  mask.  The  outward 
"person,"  "body,"  "mask"— conceals  the  real  individual.  Now, 
how,  in  this  personal  sense,  can  we  apprehend  God?  Humanity, 
as  a  whole,  personifies  God:  and  as  every  star  in  space  may  con- 
tain other  humanities,  this  is  about  as  near  the  idea  of  an 
infinite  personality  as  the  mind  can  go.  God  personifies  itself 
in  the  aggregate  humanity.     The  whole  humanity  masks  God. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    NEW    PSYCHOLOGY. 

The  searchlight  of  science  is  rapidly  penetrating  many 
hitherto  obscure  fields  of  investigation,  and  presenting  every- 
where problems  to  be  solved,  even  though  the  solution  may 
be  deferred.  That  the  investigator  is  cautious  and  non- 
committal often  shows  that  he  is  altogether  sincere,  so  long 
as  he  really  reserves  judgment  and  does  not  prejudge  either 
way. 

Psychology  is  really  the  latest  field  to  be  thus  explored. 
First,  because  religious  belief  or  blind  faith  had  already  pre- 
empted the  domain ;  and  second,  because  of  the  exceeding 
complexity  of  the  subject  and  the  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
formulated  results. 

The  "higher  criticism"  in  the  realm  of  religion  has  helped 
to  pave  the  way  by  clearing  up  many  historical  problems, 
and  by  dissipating  many  dogmas  in  anthropology  and  cosmo- 
genesis  religion  has  thus  been  driven  back  to  its  legitimate 
domain  in  the  spiritual  life  of  man.  The  real  problem  of  the 
soul  is  thus  faced  by  both  science  and  religion,  in  a  distinct 
form,  as  never  before  perhaps  in  the  life  of  the  race. 

It  is  true,  here  as  elsewhere,  that  a  problem  clearly 
stated  and  well  defined  is  already  in  the  way  of  solution. 

The  question  clearly  stated  is  this:  Is  there  any  way, 
any  method  of  research  by  which  man  may  derive  certain 
knowledge  as  to  the  existence,  powers,  and  destiny  of  his 
own  soul? 

In  previous  chapters  it  has  been  shown  that  all  real 
knowledge  comes  by  individual  experience,  and  can  come  in 

(250 


252  A  Study  of  Man. 

no  other  way.  Religious  knowledge  is  derived  through  re- 
ligious experience.  It  is  not  superstition  generated  by  the 
emotions  of  hope  or  fear,  nor  yet  intellectual  belief  born  of 
tradition  or  dogma,  but  an  actual  spiritual  experience, 
wherein  there  is  a  breaking  through  of  barriers  that  separate 
the  higher  elements  of  man's  nature  from  the  Universal 
Spirit  and  the  Divine  Intelligence  that  is  above  and  beyond 
him.  This  is  abundantly  illustrated  and  demonstrated  for 
all  time  by  Prof.  William  James'  "Varieties  of  Religious  Ex- 
perience." 

So  also  with  Scientific  Knowledge  of  Psychology.  To  be 
real  knowledge  for  anyone  it  must  be  derived  from  psycho- 
logical experience.  Outside  of  this,  science  may  formulate 
theories  or  expound  a  philosophy  of  the  soul,  and  may  derive 
these  from  the  actual  experience  of  certain  individuals,  and 
we  may  even  grant  that  the  theories  are  true  and  the  philos- 
ophy correct,  yet  for  all  this  they  are  not  real  knowledge 
except  for  him  who  actually  had  the  psychological  experi- 
ence, and  forever  must  remain  theoretical  or  conceptual  for 
all  others. 

Psychological  knowledge,  for  me,  must  be  the  result  of 
the  experience  of  my  own  conscious  intelligent  life,  and  can- 
not be  determined  by  what  I  think  or  believe  regarding  such 
experience  in  the  life  of  others. 

Now  the  New  Psychology  may  be  said,  in  a  very  broad 
way,  to  refer  to  and  to  be  the  result  of  a  large  group  of 
psychological  experiences  among  a  large  number  of  indi- 
viduals. As  a  body  of  knowledge,  if  any  such  term  can  by 
courtesy  be  applied  to  it  at  all,  it  is  vague,  empirical,  and 
often  contradictory.  Dealing,  as  it  undoubtedly  does,  with 
actual  experiences,  the  motive  that  incites  it  is  generally 
selfish  or  time-serving,  and  hence  the  result  is  seldom  a  clear 
perception  of  truth  or  a  discernment  of  the  underlying  law. 
The  average  scientist  ridicules  these  experiences,  designates 
them  as  superstitions,  or  attempts  to  explain  them  away,  or 
to  deny  them  altogether.     Prof.  William  James  is  a  notable 


The  New  Psychology.  253 

exception  at  this  point.  The  individual  who  is  convinced 
that  he  has  gotten  rid  of  a  troublesome  or  painful  disease, 
or  whose  life  has  become  serene  and  happy  through  a  psy- 
chological experience,  is  not  disturbed  in  the  slightest  de- 
gree by  this  hostile  or  contemptuous  attitude  of  modern  sci- 
ence, and  he  is  perfectly  right  in  his  position.  However  he 
may  misinterpret  the  phenomena,  or  misspell  his  philosophy, 
his  experience  remains  valid  for  him  for  all  time.  The  fact 
is  bound  by  no  man's  theory,  and  if  fact  and  theory  disagree, 
so  much  the  worse  for  the  theory,  not  for  the  fact. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  that  the  New  Psychology  is  alto- 
gether in  the  formative  stage,  and  that  the  scientist  and  the 
empirical  masses  are  still  wide  of  the  real  philosophy.  Of 
the  two  classes,  however,  the  empiric  who  has  had  actual 
experience  is  far  nearer  the  truth. 

The  way  of  research  that  may  lead  to  certain  knowledge 
of  the  soul  is,  therefore,  solely  along  the  lines  of  actual  ex- 
perience of  the  individual. 

What  then  is  "experience?"  It  is  self-realization — the 
recognition  of  that  which  actually  occurs  to  the  conscious 
self-identity  of  man.  The  character  of  the  experience  must 
depend  upon  the  faculties  or  elements  in  man's  nature  that 
are  involved.  We  experience  pain  and  pleasure,  joy  and 
sorrow,  and  thus  learn  to  recognize  and  to  know  the  condi- 
tions upon  which  they  depend,  and  so  to  avoid  the  one  and 
to  secure  the  other.  This  is  knowledge  derived  from  expe- 
rience. 

The  ordinary  experiences  of  man  are  largely  related  to 
the  world  of  things ;  they  occur  in  space  and  time  through 
the  avenues  of  sense  in  the  physical  body.  But  there  is  an- 
other realm  in  the  conscious  life  of  man  where  the  senses 
are  in  abeyance;  where  the  outer  world  of  things  is  for- 
gotten and  for  the  time  non-existent,  and  where  space  and 
time  are  lost  in  the  realization  of  ihe  immensity  and  the 
blessedness  of  Being.  Prof.  James  declares  such  an  expe- 
rience  to  be   as   valid   and   as  incontrovertible   as   are  ordi- 


254  A  Study  of  Man. 

nary  experiences  in  time,  sense  and  matter  to  ordinary  indi- 
viduals. In  certain  instances  they  have  been  the  result  of 
striving  through  blind  aspiration  or  religious  zeal  and  de- 
votion, with  no  apprehension  of  the  psychical  process  or  law 
involved.  Indeed,  such  instances  as  are  generally  known 
more  often  have  occurred  in  that  way.  A  moment's  reflec- 
tion, however,  will  convince  any  intelligent  student  of  psy- 
chology that  there  must  be  both  a  psychological  process  and 
a  psychological  law  underlying  all  such  experiences. 

The  first  thing  observable  in  all  such  cases  is  the  subor- 
dination of  the  physical  senses  and  the  relinquishment  to 
God  of  the  personal  will.  Self-renunciation  is  the  first  step. 
Thus  has  it  been  with  the  Mystics,  the  Saints,  the  religious 
enthusiasts  of  all  ages. 

Prof.  James  designates  these  experiences  as  related  to 
the  sub-conscious  self.  They  are  rather  supra-conscious, 
They  transcend  the  ordinary  experiences  of  the  conscious- 
self,  instead  of  falling  below  them. 

Without  this  group  of  experiences  no  Soriptures  would 
ever  have  been  written;  no  such  thing  as  Inspiration-  been 
known;  no  religion  ever  have  existed.  Here  lie  the  valid 
spiritual  experiences  of  man — that  union  with  God,  that 
death  to  the  world  realized  by  the  Saints  and  Mystics  of  all 
ages. 

It  may  be  observed  in  passing  that  in  the  annals  of  spir- 
itualism and  hypnotism  may  be  found  many  valid  phenom- 
ena definitely  related  to  those  just  referred  to,  but  generally 
fragmentary  and  incomplete.  As  psychical  phenomena  these 
are  valid,  but  as  experiences  to  the  individual  they  are  not 
only  valueless,  but  positively  pernicious  and  demoralizing. 
In  every  instance  mediumship  and  hypnotism  dominate  the 
will  df  the  subject ;  both  are  obseessions,  just  so  far  or  in 
whatsoever  degree  they  exist.  They  therefore  promote  de- 
generacy and  not  evolution. 

The  dominance  of  the  will  by  any  hypnotist  who  is  either 
wholly   ignorant  or  utterly   regardless   of    the   after-effects 


The  New  Psychology.  255 

upon  his  subject,  and  the  surrender  of  the  will  to  any  pass- 
ing "spirit,"  made  ignorantly  and  voluntarily  by  the  medium, 
differ  radically  from  that  surrender  to  God  oi  the  mystic,  in 
which  there  is  a  conscious  abnegation  of  the  whole  lower 
nature,  and  an  aspiration  for  spiritual  light,  leading,  and 
knowledge  of  God.  No  passing  elemental,  no  earth-bound 
spirit,  no  disembodied  saint  can  for  a  moment  satisfy  the  as- 
piration of  the  true  mystic.  Nothing  but  the  Highest  can 
satisfy  his  aspiring  soul.  Even  here,  if  the  passions  are 
strong,  and  the  lusts  of  the  flesh  unsubdued,  obseession  has 
often  been  the  result.  The  science  of  the  soul,  while  cogni- 
zant of  all  these  facts  and  processes,  avoids  all  these  pitfalls. 
Self-possession  through  self-conquest  is  the  first  step.  The 
student  thus  avoids  that  weakening  of  the  will  seen  in  the 
medium  and  the  hypnotic  subject,  and  equally  avoids  that 
ecstatic  emotion  or  frenzy  of  -religious  zeal  seen  in  the 
fanatic.  All  of  these  .empirical  processes  serve  to  cloud  the 
intelligence  and  obscure  the  vision  of  .the  soul.  The  result 
ks  often  a  relapse  from  ecstatic  vision  into  licentiousness,  to 
be  followed  by  remorse  and  despair,  and  even  suicide.  It 
all  depends  in  these  cases  on  the  previous  life  of  the  ec- 
static and  the  extent  to  which  self-conquest  has  been  car- 
ried. 

The  foregoing  suggestions  may  serv.e  as  illustrations, 
and  at  the  same  time  show  how  a  knowledge  qf  the  soul  in 
its  higher  offices  and  spiritual  planes  ought  not  to  be  sought. 
Spiritualists,  Christian  Scientists,  and  many  other  modern 
cults  talk  and  write  very  glibly  of  "Philosophy."  In  the 
earlier  chapters  of  the  "Study  of  Man"  philosophy  has  been 
shown  to  be  "the  discernment  of  the  rational  order  that  per- 
vades the  universe."  Huxley  placed  this  as  the  ultimate  aim 
of  science,  and  it  is  equally  the  beginning  of  all  true  philos- 
ophy. It  is  an  intelligent  conception  of  the  Synthetic  Whole. 
Such  bare  assertions  as  "All  is  God,"  or  "All  is  Mind,"  con- 
tain not  a  single  element  of  real  philosophy.  They  are  even 
devoid  of  common  sense.    They  ignore  the  facts  of  common 


256  A  Study  oi  Man. 

experience,  confuse  the  mind,  and  obscure  the  perception  of 
truth,  regardless  of  the  fact  that  empirical  effects,  even  in 
the  direction  desired,  viz.,  the  promotion  of  health,  may  and 
often  do  result. 

A  valid  experience  ought  to  promote  the  evolution  of  the 
individual  and  give  understanding  to  the  intelligence  of  man. 
Thus  the  whole  realm  of  man's  conscious  life  will  be  illu- 
mined; thus  the  facts  of  experience  will  lead  to  a  science  of 
life,  and  to  a  philosophy  of  the  soul.  Such  juggling  with 
concepts  as  those  to  which  I  have  referred  lead  precisely  in 
the  opposite  direction,  and  to  designate  them  as  "philosophy" 
is  simply  absurd.  Against  the  facts  or  experiences  involved 
I  have  nothing  to  urge,  but  confusion  and  nescience  can  only 
result. 

It  may  thus  be  seen  in  what  a  chaotic  state  the  New  Psy- 
chology is  involved.  Prof.  Henry  James'  Gifford  Lectures 
offer  the  most  hopeful  outlook  at  the  present  time,  the  most 
fertile  and  promising  oasis  in  this  desert  of  the  human  un- 
derstanding, this  Simoon  of  psychical  phenomena. 

In  the  ancient  mysteries  of  Initiation  the  candidate  was 
first  "worthy  and  well  qualified,"  and  then  "duly  and  truly 
prepared."  Anyone  having  any  adequate  conception  of  what 
genuine  Initiation  or  Illumination  really  means  must  see 
from  the  very  nature  of  the  case  that  these  rules  of  the 
Greater  Mysteries  are  derived  from  a  deep  knowledge  of  the 
nature  of  man,  of  the  laws  that  underlie  the  human  soul, 
and  the  conditions  o.f  its  higher  evolution.  They  are  like  all 
other  laws  of  Nature  or  Divinity,  the  same  yesterday,  today, 
and  forever. 

The  intelligence  of  man  may  clearly  discern  that  these 
laws  exist,  and  at  the  same  time  be  equally  sure  that  his 
knowledge,  though  by  no  means  complete,  nevertheless  dis- 
cerns and  conforms  to  the  synthetic  whole.  That  is  to  say, 
it  is  synthetic  and  in  rational  order  as  far  as  it  goes.  There 
may  be  gaps  in  his  experience,  but  each  new  experience 
will  fall  naturally  and  spontaneously  into  its  proper  place  in 


The  New  Psychology.  257 

that  order  predetermined  by  the  universal  synthesis  or 
rational  order  of  the  universe.  It  is  thus  that  man  may  de- 
rive a  knowledge  of  nature,  a  knowledge  of  God,  and  a 
knowledge  of  his  own  soul.  This  knowledge,  thus  derived, 
is  synonymous  with  the  higher  evolution  of  man.  This  is 
the  true  psychology-a  knowledge  of  the  soul  derived  from 
actual  experience  through  the  spiritual  faculties  and  powers 

of  man.  ,       ,        ... 

In  the  "Secret  Doctrine"  of  H.  P.  Blavatsky  the  philos- 
ophy upon  which  both  cosmic  and  human  evolution  proceed 
is  clearly  defined  and  briefly  epitomized.  Each  principle  and 
plane  of  consciousness  in  man  is  there  related  to  its  corre- 
sponding principle  and  plane  in  cosmos.  A  rational  order 
is  thus  revealed  in  that  synthetic  whole  of  which  man  is  a 
part.  From  first  to  last  the  present  "Study  of  Man"  aims  to 
be  rather  suggestive  than  dogmatic,  and  to  lead  logically  to 
the  real  synthesis,  rather  than  systematically  formulating  it. 

The  problem  may  be  here  suggested,  however.  The  quest 
for  the  higher  knowledge  consists  in  the  recognition  by  the 
individual  of  the  basic  principles  in  his  own  conscious  life, 
and  in  the  dominance,  guidance,  selection  and  use  of  the 
powers  of  his  own  being  toward  a  predetermined  result. 

To  intelligently  discern  his  own  powers  and  possibilities, 
to  discover  the  line  of  least  resistance  and  the  method  of 
highest  use,  and  to  make  these  conform  to  the  attainment  of 
his  highest  ideal  is  the  aim.  In  the  language  of  modern  evo- 
lution this  is :  to  develop  within  the  individual  the  knowl- 
edge and  the  capacity  (derived  from  experience)  to  conform 
to  or  to  control  any  and  every  change  in,  or  condition  of, 
his  environment,  and  so  immediately  to  adjust  the  personal 
to  the  universal,  either  by  acquiescence  or  dominance  of  the 
new  condition.  _ 

This  means,  in  the  strictest  sense,  and  in  the  highest  de- 
gree, knowledge  and  power;  i.  e.,  Evolution. 

The  first  step  in  this  process  is  Introspection,  or  self- 
analysis.     Thus  may  the  individual  come  to  know  himself— 


258  A  Study  of  Man. 

what  he  has  been,  what  he  is,  and  what  he  really  desires  to 
become. 

If  now  he  has  conceived  a  high  ideal,  not  as  to  success 
in  life,  or  the  applause  of  men,  but  as  to  what  he  would  in- 
trinsically become  as  a  rational  intelligence  or  a  living  soul, 
he  may  practically  wipe  off  the  slate  up  to  date.  Henceforth 
Desire  and  Will  in  hini  may  be  supreme,  and  lead  him  in- 
evitably to  the  goal  of  his  ideal.  He  may  indeed  have  to 
struggle  against  old  habits,  but  these  he  may  dominate  in  a 
day  if  he  wills. 

Gradually  he  will  gain  self-control  and  surrender  of  lower 
aims,  lower  appetites  and  passions;  this,  if  he  has  strongly 
desired  and  clearly  conceived  his  ideal.  He  will  find  the 
realm  of  his  own  consciousness  to  be  his  own  kingdom,  and 
that  he  can  transform  it  into  heaven  or  hell,  as  he  wills.  At 
every  step  the  conquest  of  the  lower  will  mean  induction  into 
the  higher  realm  of  conscious  experience.  He  will  find  that 
he  can  exclude  the  lower  and  mount  to  the  higher,  and  that 
the  one  process  includes  the  other;  each  supplements  and 
assists  the  other. 

Consciousness  to  man  is  the  all-container,  and  Will 
is  his  primary  endowment.  Will  and  desire  are  the  two 
poles  of  the  motor  power  in  him.  Aspiration,  discrimina- 
tion, and  the  Ideal  .are  the  very  essence  of  his  intelligence — 
a  "ray"  from  that  Divine  Intelligence  which  is  the  source  of 
his  being  and  the  fountain  of  his  life. 

Having  by  degrees  become  master  of  the  realm  of  his 
own  consciousness,  he  will  find  this  realm,  this  kingdom  of 
the  soul,  expanding.  His  higher,  spiritual  powers,  under  the 
law  of  all  nature,  and  all  life  will  become  synchronous  with 
the  Universal  Intelligence,  and  faculties  hitherto  latent  in 
him  will  begin  to  open  and  function  on  their  own  spiritual 
plane.  The  law  here  is  the  same  as  on  the  lower  physical 
plane,  for  it  is  the  same  on  all  planes.  It  is  the  principle  of 
synchronous  vibration  and  universal  harmony.  It  is  exact, 
mathematical,  absolute.     It  is  the  recognition  of  this  law, 


The  New  Psychology.  259 

and  its  application,  that  progressively  promotes  evolution, 
and  from  apprehension  leads,  at  last,  to  its  comprehension. 
The  result  is  knowledge  and  power  derived  through  experi- 
ence. 

As  the  consciousness  of  man  thus  compasses  the  world 
of  thought  and  the  world  of  things,  and  is  alike  rooted  by 
the  law  of  his  being  in  the  spiritual  and  the  natural,  the 
process  above  suggested  may  be  seen  to  be  a  normal  evolu- 
tion. If  there  are  no  lapses  in  the  will  and  aspiration  of  the 
aspirant  he  will  presently  find  a  new  world  opening  to  him. 
Serene,  steadfast,  master  of  self,  he  will  realize  that  there 
is  no  bar  to  his  progress  other  than  he  himself  imposes,  and 
no  limit  to  the  knowledge  and  power  within  his  grasp.  He 
will  learn  to  know  the  spiritual  world  precisely  as  he  has 
known  and  may  continue  to  know  the  natural. 

It  may  .thus,  perhaps,  be  discerned  that  the  New  Psychol- 
ogy is  barely  the  suggestion  of  the  True  Psychology;  that 
the  constructive  period  in  its  unfoldment  and  realizaton  has 
not  yet  dawned  on  the  average  understanding  of  man. 

If  the  foregoing  brief  and  imperfect  outline  shall  make 
it  seem  rational,  apprehensible,  possible,  it  is  all  that  the 
present  work  contemplates.  Beyond  that  it  has  ever  been, 
and  must  still  be  a  matter  of  individual  effort  and  individ- 
ual experience.  Nothing  can  be  truer,  or  more  philosophical, 
than  the  saying  that  each  must  work  out  his  own  salvation. 
It  requires  but  a  glance  to  show  that  the  highest  types  of 
the  human  race,  those  who  have  combined  spiritual  knowl- 
edge with  spiritual  power,  and  crowned  both  with  divine 
compassion  and  beneficence  to  man,  have  developed  along 
just  these  lines.  These  may  have  followed  an  inner  intuition, 
and  been  indifferent  to,  or  even  incapable  of  formulating  the 
underlying  law,  or  the  clear  philosophy  upon  which  the  whole 
process  proceeds,  just  as  a  natural  musician  may  discern  and 
execute  the  divine  harmonies,  though  ignorant  of  the  laws 
of  consonance  or  harmony;  or,  as  one  like  Colburn  may 


260  A   Study  of  Man. 

perform  the  most  astonishing  feats  with  numbers  before  he 
has  learned  the  rules  of  mathematics. 

The  present  writer  is  acquainted  with  two  individuals, 
one  of  whom  spontaneously,  like  the  natural  musician,  and 
one  by  design,  effort,  and  instruction,  has  attained  to  open 
vision  and  spiritual  illumination.  In  either  case,  the  bounds 
of  the  body,  of  sense  (physical),  of  time,  and  ordinary  con- 
sciousness are  entirely  transcended,  with  the  spiritual  world 
looming  up  like  a  newly  discovered  continent  or  a  New 
World. 

As  object  lessons  these  are  of  great  interest,  for  they  jus- 
tify to  the  last  detail  that  philosophy  of  the  higher  evolu- 
tion of  man  which  is  both  natural  and  obtainable,  and  which 
is  suggested  and  outlined  in  the  foregoing  pages. 

It  would  be  strange  indeed  if  there  were  no  such  royal 
highway  of  the  soul  open  to  man.  If  Divine  Intelligence 
had  "made  man  after  its  image,"  implanted  in  the  soul  the 
longing  for  light  and  certain  knowledge,  and  yet  left  its 
attainment  forever  impossible,  that  were  Tantalus  indeed, 
and  the  handiwork  of  eternal  hatred,  rather  than  of  Infi- 
nite Love  and  Divine  Intelligence. 

May  we  not  hope  that  the  New  Psychology  is  the  prom- 
ise and  the  dawn  of  the  True  Psychology? 


THE  GENIUS  OF  FREEMASONRY  AND 
THE  TWENTIETH  CENTURY  CRUSADE 

By  J.  D.  Buck  33° 
Volume  1.     Supplemental  Harmonic  Series 


This  book  is  at  once  a  sign  and  a  summons  to 
every  Masonic  Brother  who  loves  his  Country,  his  Home, 
his  Family,  and  the  Craft  of  which  he  is  an  honored 
member. 

Every  Brother  Mason  worthy  of  the  name,  however 
exalted  or  humble  he  may  be,  owes  it  to  himself  to  know 
what  this  book  contains. 

Masonry  is  facing  the  most  vital  and  crucial  issue  in  its 
history. 

The  call  is  for  men  of  courage. 

Are  you  willing  to  stand  up  and  be  counted?  If  not,  you 
WILL  be  after  you  have  read  this  splendid  book. 

Price,  cloth,  $1.00;  Morocco,  $2.00.    Postpaid. 


CONSTRUCTIVE  PSYCHOLOGY 

THE  BUILDING  OF   CHARACTER  BY  PERSONAL 
EFFORT 

By  J.  D.  Buck,  M.  D. 
Volume  HI.     Supplemental  Harmonic  Series 

The  Lewiston  Journal  says,  "Dr.  Buck  has  performed  a 
distinct  service  to  humanity  in  giving  this  book  to  the 
world." 

It  is  a  work  of  deep  thought  and  profound  erudition 
which,  as  a  supplement  to  the  Harmonic  Series,  is  invalu- 
able. The  world  is  now  thinking  along  these  lines  as 
never  before,  and  in  the  great  work  of  settling  the  Psychic 
problem  Dr.  Buck  is  doing  his  full  share.  This  little  book 
is  a  mine  of  information  and  the  blazing  of  another  path- 
way to  that  higher  life  that  lies  just  beyond  the  portals 
of  the  tomb. 

The  thoughtful  and  intelligent  student  will  find  no 
necessity  for  consulting  libraries,  philosophies,  authorities, 
or  theologies,  helpful  as  these  may  be;  for  this  little  book 
turns  him  back  upon  himself  and  undertakes  to  make 
exceedingly  plain  those  few  simple  principles  by  which  he 
may  adjust  himself  by  personal  effort  and  establish  har- 
monious relations  to  God,  to  Nature  and  to  his  fellow 
man. 

You  will  make  no  mistake  in  adding  this  to  your  private 
library. 

Beautifully  bound  in  blue  cloth.     Price  $1 .00  Postpaid. 


MYSTIC  MASONRY 

By  J.  D.  Buck,  M.  D.,  33° 

Volume  V.     Supplemental  Harmonic  Series 

"Mystic  masonry"  has  done  much  to  awaken 
interest  in  the  Science  and  Symbolism  of  Freemasonry. 
There  has  long  been,  among  thoughtful  Masons,  a  strong 
impression  that  the  sublime  truths  of  Masonry  do  not  lie 
on  the  surface,  and  that  they  are  rather  concealed  in  the 
ritual  of  the  Lodge  than  openly  disclosed  and  explained. 

Commendations  of  "mystic  masonry*  have  as 
often  come  from  non-Masonic  readers  as  from  members 
of  the  Craft.  There  is  no  reliable  history  as  to  how  and 
when  the  Institution  of  Modern  Freemasonry  came  into 
existence,  nor  who  was  the  author  of  its  ritual  or  its 
philosophy.  From  the  first  it  has  undergone  no  essential 
change,  and  every  Mason  is  pledged  to  preserve  its 
ancient  landmarks  unaltered.  So  perfect,  however,  is 
this  sublime  institution  that,  after  two  hundred  years  of 
progress  in  the  most  fruitful  era  of  human  evolution, 
Masonry  is  still  abreast  of  the  times  and  up  to  the  most 
advanced  spirit  of  the  age.  No  wonder,  then,  it  is  called  a 
"divine  institution*.  The  secrets  of  Freemasonry 
pertain  solely  to  the  ritual  and  the  rights  and  benefits 
of  the  lodge,  while  the  philosophy  is  open  to  the  world  at 
large. 

The  author  of  "mystic  masonry"  has  outlined  the 
philosophy  of  Masonry  in  this  little  book  and  explained 
many  of  the  ancient  symbols. 

The  book  is,  therefore,  quite  apprehensible  to  the 
non-Masonic  reader,  as  nothing  essential  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  philosophy  is  concealed,  and  it  is  designed 
to  be  a  contribution  to  the  knowledge  of  psychology  and 
the  uplift  of  the  human  race. 

Cloth,  260  pages.     Price  $1.00.    Postpaid. 


THE  LOST  WORD  FOUND 

By  J.  D.  Buck,  88° 

Volume  11.    Harmonic  Booklet  Series 

This  is  unquestionably  the  finest,  strongest  and  most 
compelling  bit  of  work  done  by  this  well-known  Physician, 
Mason  and  Philosophic  writer,  Dr.  J.  D.  Buck,  33°. 

Such  a  pronunciamento,  message  and  invitation  as  are 
encompassed  in  these  fifty  pages  rarely  find  their  way 
into  public  print.  Such  "Lectures"  and  such  "Instruc- 
tions" are  rarely  passed  beyond  that  Fraternity  which  is 
founded  upon  the  legend  of  the  Lost  Word. 

To  him  "who  hath  eyes  to  see"  this  is  a  Signal  from 
the  Watch-tower. 

To  him  "who  hath  ears  to  hear"  it  is  a  clarion  call  from 
"refreshment  to  labor". 

For  him  who  has  courage  it  invites  to  Discovery. 

For  him  who  is  seeking  it  is  a  guide  and  a  light. 

For  him  who  is  ready,  who  is  "duly  and  truly  prepared," 
it  is  a  sign  and  a  Summons  that  The  Great  Work  an£^ 
the  Lost  Word  are  at  hand. 

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MODERN  WORLD  MOVEMENTS 

By  J.  D.  Buck,  M.  D.,  F.  T.  S.,  F.  G.  S.,  etc. 
INTRODUCTION 

By  TK 
Volume  VI 1.    Supplemental  Harmonic  Series 

Ever  since  the  time  the  three  Text-Books  of  Natural 
Science  were  presented  to  the  public,  there  has  been  an 
ever  increasing  demand  for  information  concerning  the 
Theosophical  Society  and  the  Great  School,  and  the 
relations  they  sustain  (if  any)  to  each  other,  and  con- 
cerning the  "Masters"  back  of  the  two  movements; 
and  there  has  come  to  us  an  almost  endless  chain  of 
subsidiary  questions  growing  out  of  the  main  subject, 
involving  much  correspondence. 

We  have  done  our  best  to  answer  these  questions; 
but  to  comply  fully  with  these  inquiries  would  require 
more  time  than  we  are  able  to  give  them.  We  have, 
therefore,  requested  Dr.  J.  D.  Buck  to  aid  us  in  satisfying 
these  demands. 

Dr.  Buck  is  doubtless  better  qualified  to  give  this  data 
than  anyone  in  this  country;  for  he  is  one  of  the  oldest 
living  members  of  the  T.  S.;  was  personally  acquainted 
and  intimately  associated  with  the  founders  of  the  Theo- 
sophical Society;  prominent  in  its  councils  and  active 
in  its  service;  and  is,  today,  the  owner  of  the  most 
unique  and  valuable  psychological  library  in  America, 
if  not  in  the  world. 

He  speaks,  therefore,  from  the  viewpoint  of  an  "Inner" 
member  of  the  Theosophical  Society  and  his  words  will 
command  the  respectful  consideration  of  every  Student 
of  this  Subject. 

He  is  also  an  active,  accredited  Student  of  the  School 
of  Natural  Science,  and,  therefore  in  position  to  speak  of 
and  for  the  Great  School  as  well  as  for  the  Theosophical 
Society.     Price    $1.00.     Postpaid. 

The  book  is  now  in  press. 


THE  SOUL  AND  SEX  IN  EDUCATION 

By  J.  D.  Buck,  M.  D.,  33° 

This  book  is  from  the  pen  of  J.  D.  Buck,  author  of 
"Mystic  Masonry",  "Constructive  Psychology",  "A 
Study  of  Man",  and  other  works  with  which  our  readers 
are  familiar. 

This  is  not  one  of  our  publications,  but  it  falls  so  directly 
in  line  with  the  Educational  Work  of  the  Great  School 
in  this  field,  and  the  Literature  of  this  Movement,  that  it 
is  of  special  value  to  every  Student  and  Friend  of  the  Work 
in  America.  We  are  therefore  keeping  it  in  stock  and  are 
glad  to  furnish  it  to  our  patrons  and  Friends. 

Dr.  Buck  has  probably  never  written  a  more  useful 
book,  and  the  many  problems  which  so  often  confront 
and  perplex  us  regarding  "Love,  Marriage,  Celibacy  and 
Divorce"  or  the  problem  of  Sex,  have  never  been  more 
concretely  and  intelligently  discussed  and  elucidated 
than  in  this  volume. 

This  book  should  be  of  special  value  to  every  Friend 
and  Student  of  the  Great  Work  in  America. 

Bound  in  cloth.    Price  $1.25  Postpaid.