New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-10-09
MR.. TYNDALL'S FRAGMENTS"
CERTAIN WORDS THAT ARE IN DlofCI lie

SON p r. r Nth illustrations. PIP. Aii, $40.
Charlie 5cribncr's sons.
Most people who are familiar with the history
Of contemporary science can recall NNloly N'e '"i
mol that was caused in 1874 ana the years WI
mediatcy following by Professor 1yndah" a''-
dress before the British Association IN Belias' 'r
MOL that was increased rather than nimlniaheh ny
the nnumerablc efforts at attack and defence with
which the press tcemed both in England ana Ill
this country. Perhaps no controversy that ever
arose more clearly demonstrated the paucity OF
ideas and the wealth of words possessed by hihe-
tenths of the persons who have somehow or other
acquired the use of the pen 1t is TO he regretted
that in this new edition of his Fragments MI
Tvndall did not add note giving his estimate oil
the changes in thought that have come over the
world of science and scholarship since the address
was uttered II is to I've suspected that they al
feet rather the definition than The number OF "pih-
ions The doctrine of atoms ana molecules nus
gained much IL the certainty with when II u
maintained II appeals row more than ever h''
merely TO the scientific conviction, nut 10 tue
scientific Imagination. As a natural cor"fhN, 'nr
belief in single substance as the OASIS III All
phenomena has become widespread. On 'he o'''er
hand some of the details in natural science do not
seem TO be as strenuously maintained as they "eie
few years ago. The absurdities inflicted upon
tho doctrine Of heredity sufccd finally TO reduce
il IN n nlacc near where ii belongs one 10
longer hear, if stated by competent persons rs II
H. accounted for all the pcculiarics of the lhdi-
vidual Notifications of animal lie that II was
sometimes said must he due to na'ural selec'"n
are now more temporarily spoken OF as Things tha'
NAV be due to it. Strenuously a. TINS theme Is
orgued bv its partisans and its opponents the
number of those appears to be growing WHO Will
saw with NJ Thomson Until we KNOW muc'i
more about the primary factors mature OF ire OF
oar;sm ;sc and disuse of function, and environ
ment which directly cause variations IL VIII no'
he nossible to decide in regard TO the precise
score of natural selection, and the other sacohu-
arv factors which foster or accumulate, thh OF
nruna which in short establish n new organic
eoui1ibrum The argument has been too much III
regard To possibilities too little In regard 10 op
served facts of variation" The tendency ~
ward the discovery of mind in the phenomena oi
animal life both higher and lower, Is growing 10
an extent that makes one picture TO hlui|'l ho"
IHshop Buffers concession of lmmor'a.nN u
brutes for the sake of his argument would LOOK Ill
the shape of an accredited scientific or theooelcai
hypothesis This tendency does not oeione
wholly to matcrialsm If 1t mas sllinui"'eo
enormouslv the new science of experimental pSy-
chology it has also given contemporary human
interest TO metaphysics which must be disappolnt-
oven 20 Mr. Tyndan TO whom metaphysics is only
noetrv If would be sad day for learning ana
for mankind if the abstract study OF mind and OF
,bo world in accordance with the traditions OF eX-
nerience were wholly abandoned for the concrete
study of experiments guided only by the though'
of a single generation
Now il will be observed that the elements of
study and speculation have not changed much.
The manifest tendency TO solve the two verna!
nroblems matter and mind, by the same formula,
manifest in much thought of the present time,
was at heart the tendency of the Belfast Address.
and the correct formula seems TO be as far from
attainment as ever Mr.. Tndall was careful to
nojnt ont in his essay on Professor Nrchow and
Evolution" that the relation of mental ana
physical facts was not to be explained by the old
analogue about the shield with two sides. what,
/ ask he wrote, is the casual connection be-
tween the objective and the SUBJECTIVE, between
molecular motions and states OF cofscousness'
Nv answer is, do not see the connection, nor
am | acquainted with anybody who does. IL
is no explanation to say that the objective and
subjective are two sides of the same phenomenon.
Why should the phenomenon have two sides
This is the very core of the difficulty. There
are plenty of molecular motions which do not
exhibit this two-sdedness. Does water think
or feel when it runs into frost-ferns window
name? If not, why should the molecular motion
of the brain be yoked 10 this mysterious compan-
ion, CONSCIOUSNESS? We can form a coherent
picture of all the purely physical processes-the
stirring of the brain, the thrilling of the nerves,
the discharging of the muscles, and all the sub
sequent motions of the organism. We are here
dealing with mechanical problems that men
tally presentable. But we can form no picture
of the process whereby consciousness cmerges
either as a necessary link, an accidental
by-product of this series of actions. The reverse
process of the production of motion by conscious
ness is equally unpresentablc to the mind"
At the risk of having cry "panthe-
ism," it may be suggested that if Mr.. Tynda had
put his illustration about the frost ferns in
slightly different form il would have been obvi-
Gus that there also the phenomenon was a two
sided one not to be explained by verbalisms like
" force" and potency Of matter" any more than
the play Of consciousness is explained by the
abused and almost meaningless vorb,lisms
"soul' and spirit In his reply to Mr. Mar
tineau's structures the Belfast Address strict
ures upon which The Tribune remarked 1.-The
afluence Of illustration in which Mr. Martneau
delights often impairs the dstinctncss of his
statements by diverting the attention of the
reader from the essential points of his discussion
Mr. Tyndall called attention to the changes that
convert water into vapor and snow and to the
growth of a tree. and showed that his critics OBJ
jections led directly to the old and exploded the
ory about formative and vegctative souls in mat
ter. Then he added: Il have spoken above as If
the assumption of soul would save Mr.. Martin
from the Inconsistency Of crcditing pure matter
with the astonishing building power displayed
in crystals and trees. This however, would not
be the necessary result; for it would remain to
be proved that the soul assumed is not Itself mat
ter. When a boy | learnt from DR.. Watts that
the souls of conscious brutes are matter
And the man who would claim for matter the
human soul itself would find himself in very
thodox company Here he is referring TO the
opinion strongly held by certain early writers of