Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1902-01-31
THE ABODE OF THE SOUL
The Sage Of ielm Gives Professor Lombard
Mhirl.

The Sage Of YeIm Gives Professor Lombard
ED. STANDARD:
" L see by the press, in general, that
the damphools are not all dead yet,
and that one Prof. Lombard has dis
covered that "the abode of the soul is
in the spinal column" This reminds
me of the definition of Metaphysics by
a very learned man. He said "Met-
aphysics is the science of the I'M
known, the science of guessing. Met
aphysics is when two fools get to-
gether and each one admits that nei.
Their can prove and both say, Hence
We infer" If Mr.. Lombard had
located this unknown quantity 10 the
foot, or the hand, it would have been
just as reasonab { and he would
have found just a many" gullahles"
1t makes no diffei ence how absurd a
theory is, there will always be found
multitude of believers. In fact the
more unreas, nable u theory, especially
if it smacks of the miraculous. the
more readily the superstitiously in
clined will grasp at it and roll it, like
a sweet mOrsel under their tongue.
Webster defines the soul as the spirit
ual. rational and immortal part of
man, but he does not have the temer-
ity to locate it, hence it can only be
inferred and . mere inference amounts
to nothing. In the olden time, peo-
pie inferred that everything that hap
pened was caused by some deity, some
spirit, some devil, some hobgoblin,
some fairy or spook, in fact everything
except nature. They had good spirits
and bad spirits, and their time was
principally spent in keeping on the
good side of the good spirits or ghosts,
or guarding against the bad ones.
They believed that matter was con-
trolled and directed entirely by phan.
toms in the air; they didn't seem to
comprehend that nature, with infinite
aims, embraces everything that exists,
that everything is governed by the
immutable law OF cause and effect.
4hCy WCiC RiCAt VII luICICllCCs
If Mr.. Lombard ever butchered
calf or cow he might have noticed
that the muscles twitched and jerked
long after the head was severed from
the body. Hence he might have in
ferred that the soul was located in the
muscles. / once took the heart of
salmon and placed it under q large
chip and was surprised to see it lift
that chip up and down by contraction
and expansion for fully fifteen min
utes. Hence ! might infer that the
soul was located in the heart, but /
am not in the inferring business. l
l want facts, good, solid aromatic
facts. / am tired of differences and
conjectures. If any man can show
me anything superior to nature l
want to see it. Until he does, wish
to be excused from believing in the
supernatural. Some author speaks OF
the eyes as the windows Of the soul"
If that 10 true all animals have souls
for all have eyes. And it follows that
the soul must be located in the head
and that destroys Mr.. Lombard's the.
ory.
The word soul is often used to ex.
press some qualities Of the mind. As
"those that have the smallest souls
make the most fuss about saving
Them" Now let US be honest for
once and admit that the soul is not
an entity-a something tangible-but
that it exists only in the mind-the
imagination-that it is that principle
in man which, by evolution has placed
him above the dumb animals, and is
capable of infinite expansion. That
it expands in proportion to the de.
crease OF the supernatural or, in other
words, rs the cobwebs Of superstition
are brushed away by the power OF rea-
son and common eense, the soul ex.
pands and we realize the fact that
there can be no force without matter
and that the disembodied spirit is
delusion. J. C. Coo.