The sun., 1901-03-17

ana also from outer 'auses' I'm" "'''" W
! tho brain and stimulation
Instructive. too II the fact that, rs every
| body knows, the new born infant has no
| consciousness Pryor has shown tha' COW
sciousness IL only developed after the child
has begun 10 speak; FOR long ume q chnu
speaks OF itself in the third person In the
important moment when II first pronounoes
the word IL" when the feeling Of self becomes
clear, W. have the beginning OF self-con-
! sciousneSs and OF the nntithesis to the non
ego The rapid and solid progress In knowl-
| edge which tho child makes In It's first ten
| years under the care of parents and teachers'
| and the slower progress OF the second decade
until IL reaches complete maturity OF minu'
| are intimately connected with great al
| yancement in the growth and development
! OF consc BUSINESS and Of its organ. the brain
Even when the pupil has got HIS "cer'lncate
| Of maturity" his consciousness IL stll iar
| from mature. II Is then that his "worid-con-
| sciousness" frat begins 10 develop IN ms
| manifold relations with tho outer worio.
| In the third decade we encounter tho 1uh
maturity Of rational thought and conscious
! ness, which. in cases OF normal developmeht.
| yield their ripe fruits during the next three
decades The slow gradual deeenerat'on
| Of the hi CHER mental powers which character
| lies senlllty usually sets In at the commence
ment OF the seventh decade-sometlmee
earlier sometimes later. Memory. recep-
tiyeness and interest In particular objects
gradually decay: though productivity. ma
ture consciousness and philosophic interest
| in general truths often remain for many years
| longer.
/ From the fact that consciousness. like
! all other psychic functions. Is dependent on
the normal development OF certain organs.
| and that II gradually unfolds In the child In
proportion to the development OF those or
gans Prof Haeckel concludes that 1t has
arisen in the animal kingdom by gradual
| historical evolution He admits neverthe-
| less that, however certain we may be OF
! tho fact OF this natural evolution OF con-
| aciousncss. we are not yet in position TO
enter more deeply into tho question and
construct special hypothesis n eucdatlon
| OF IT. "Paleontology, II Il true gives us
| few facts which are not without significance,
! For instance the cumulative and Qualita-
| tive development OF the brain OF the pln-
csntal mammals during the Tertiary period
Ia very remarkable The cavity o: many Of the
fossil skulls Of the period has been carefully
examined. and has given US a good deal OF
! reliable information as to the size and, to
} some extent, as TO lIe btTuVluTe VI llf Dlhil
! they enclosed We fnd within the limits Of
one and the same group tthe ungulates. the
rodents or the prmates a marked advance
in the lator miocene and phocene s;ecimens
as compared win the earlier eocene and oligo-
Gene representatives OF the same stem; in the
former the brain lin proportion to the size
OF the organisml Is six 10 eight times as large
| as In the latter" Moreover, that higher
Ag,h -. had
by man alone has been evolved. step by step,
by the progress OF civilization from lower
/ condition. as we find illustrated to-day in
the case OF uncvilised races This Is easily
proved by comparison Of their languages.
which IA closely connected with the comparl-
son Of their IDEAS The higher the oonceptual
faculty advances in thoughtful civilized
man. the more qualified he Ia 70 detect COM
| mon fsaturss amid a multitude OF details
and embody them in general concepts. and
go much tho clearer and deeper does his con-
sciousness become
What bearing have the proofs of the evo-
luton Of tho human mind on the belief In
Immortality? The importance OF tho subject
leads Prof Haeckel to undertake a briet
exposition OF the scientific arguments against
the dogma The physiolog gical argument. h
says, shows that the human soul is not an
independent, immaterial substance but,
like the soul Of all the higher animals. merely
A collective tito for the sum total Of man.
cerebral functions These are just ~ much
determined by physical and chemical proc
esses as are any Of the other vital functions
and they are lust as amensble to the law oi
substance The pathological argument Is
based on tho exronsly complicated micro
scopic structure Of the brain Il lays bare II
tho gan glonio cells the true -elementary
organs OF the soul" Tho experimental
argument proves that the various function
OF tho soul are bound up with certain specia
parts OF tho brain. and cannot be exercised
unless these are In n normal condition. 1
a srecifc area IL destroyed. its function u
eKtinguished Especially IL this applicable
TO the organs OF thou chit, tho four central
Instruments 81 mental activity. The patho
logical argument IL the complement of th'
physiological when certain parts Of tE'
brain, as, for example. the centres OF speech
sight or hearing. are destroyed by sickness
their activity, which We denUminats speech
vision or hearing. disappears In this wd'
nature herself makes tbs decisive experiment
The ontog-netic argument puts before u'
the facts of the development OF tho soul II
the individual We see how the chid-spu
gradually unrolds its various powers, tia
youth presents them in full bloom, the matur,
man exhibits their ripe fruit; in old age I
witnessed a gradual decay OF the psychi
powers corresponding to the senile degen
Grafton Of the brain The phylogeneti
argument derives its strength from paleon
tology and the comparative anatomy anC
physiology of the brain cooperating will
and completing each other, these science
prove to the hilt that the human brain tan'
consequently, ia function the SOUL has bcei
evolved. atep by step. from that Of the nam
| nal and still further back. from that OF Tia
: lower vertebrate
IT, Prof Haeckol'S Judgment those argument
which mi ght be- supplemented by many othe
results OF modern science, show tho oil
dogma of the immortality OF the soul TO b
absolutely untenabls lie holds that In tn
l twentieth century that dogma will not be re-
, garded as Il subject Of serious scientific re-
! search but will be- left wholly TO transcendcn
7 ! tai "faith " Moreover, II is our authors iirI
and honest conviction that n definite aban
donment Of "athanltNt illusions" would in
: | yolve no painful loss. hut rather an nest
mable positive gain for mankind We ar
! reminded that mans emotional cravin g
p tends to the hol"r In immortality for Nv
main reason, frat, In" hope OF encounter
Ing better conditions of life beyond the grave
and. second, tho hope of seeing once NOR
the loved ones whom death has torn frOI