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can conceive, the medium of psychical force was and will be essentially what it is now, with changes and modifications in that force. The inquiry, then, into the nature of the soul is left in this condition: we have discovered and conceded the existence of a physical force susceptible of great modifications, evolutions, uniformities, varieties, producing in the medium in which it resides and operates all the forms of external nature; we have discovered and conceded also another force which we call psychical force susceptible of great modifications and evolutions, and producing all the effects which arise in consciousness and many other unconscious changes which are embodied in beings possessed of vital functions. Under certain conditions of its medium the psychical force acts so as to produce the intelligence, feeling and faculty of a man; under other conditions it acts so as to produce the instinct, passion and general mental state of the lower animals. The sum of this force is supposed to remain the same in amount--in analogy to what has been discovered relative to physical force. All scientific men can understand the immortality of both forces-how they remain the same in amount and are always persistent, simply changing their place, effects, manifestations. The immortality of psychical force, or of the soul, is quite universally conceded, and in fact it is an irresistible conclusion, in some form or other. The question is narrowed down to the continuance of the individuality or personality of the soul. Inasmuch as the physical forces change their places and forms, and things themselves lose their identity to an observer, and are destroyed, so it might be inferred that psychical force might change its place and form, and persons themselves might lose their identity and individuality and be destroyed, while the force which manifests itself in the person has simply relapsed into an impersonal state, without losing any of its amount or persistence. There would be, then, a simple conversion of force, personality and consciousness being only the result of organism.

To all appearances this is the case when death takes place; and to many scientists the analogical argument here pursued is conclusive. But without commenting upon the soundness

of the argumentation against a personal existence, after death, of the so-called soul, we shall assume that such would be the inference were it not for the intervention of a hypothesis of the nature of the soul, which has occurred to the writer and, we presume, to others, and which we shall denominate the "Material Hypothesis of the Soul." The hypothesis, in brief, is that there is in man a refined subsensible substance in which the psychical force resides, and which is separated from the grosser and sensible portions of the body at death.* The writer does not intend to commit himself to the theory, at present, but simply to set it forth and to consider its claims to acceptance, its advantages, disadvantages and consequences. The existence of a subsensible medium filling all space and possessing, in an initial condition, all the wondrous powers which mind manifests while combined with the body will not appear at all incredible after the establishment, through a long and laborious series of experiments, of the wave-theory of light and of the existence of a subsensible medium extending through

*Since the theory of a subsensible soul medium suggested itself to us, we have seen a work by Sergeant E. W. Cox, of England, entitled "What am I?" in which we find the following observations: "Another scarcely less ingenious theory is, that the material universe is encompassed with spirit pervading it everywhere, not individualized but in aggregation, as the atmosphere enwraps the earth. That this spirit substance (if so seeming a contradiction in terms may be permitted) penetrates all matter, and moulds it to all shapes. That in organized beings it becomes a distinct individuality, and operates through the vital force that moves all organized structure. That this spirit possesses the germ, grows with it to maturity, and is released from it in the ceasing of organic life. That precisely as the material atoms pass from mineral to vegetable and from vegetable to animal structure, so the spirit advances from being a mere protoplasm of spirit (if the metaphor will be allowed) by the same process of expansion and progression, to have first a separate being, then a development in one stage of existence, then advancement to another stage, and so onward. Thus it is conjectured that the portion of spirit which becomes a man is born with him, grows with him, is in fact himself-in a condition in which he is perceptible to the senses of other men, and therefore is to them a material being. The spirit thus matured does not return into the mass, but, when the body falls off from it, preserves its individuality, and is that soul to the contemplation of which the previous chapters have been devoted." (Vol. 1, chap. xliv, p. 362.)

out space, denominated ether. This eternal substance is not susceptible to the senses, and cannot be made known except by the intervention of obstacles-by combination, as it were, with grosser substances. The existence of a similar substance, a subsensible medium, in which psychical force resides is not impossible; and in view of the fact that it might be true that when it is combined with grosser substances all the manifestations of mind become evident, the subsensible soul-medium. seems to be no more improbable than the subsensible light medium.t

No chemist or biologist can fail to understand how the supposed substance could be combined with the other substances known to be contained in the human body. The

*He cannot consider, much less answer, the question, 'What is light?' without transporting himself to a world which underlies the sensible one, and out of which, in accordance with rigid law, all optical phenomena spring. To realize this subsensible world, if I may use the term, the mind must possess a certain pictorial power. It has to visualize the invisible" (Lectures on Light, by Professor John Tyndall, 1872–73, Lect. II). "But, though the region of physical theory lies thus behind the world of senses, the verifications of theory occur in that world" (Ibid). "For the waves of sound we have the air of our atmosphere; but the stretch of imagination which filled all space with a luminiferous ether, trembling with the waves of light, was so bold as to shock cautious minds. In one of my latest conversations with Sir David Brewster he said to me that his chief objection to the undulatory theory of light was that he could not think the Creator guilty of so clumsy a contrivance as the filling of space with ether in order to produce light. This, I may say, is very dangerous ground, and the quarrel of science with Sir David, on this point, as with many other persons on other points, is that they profess to know too much about the mind of the Creator" (Ibid). "Though never seen, the lengths of the waves of light have been determined. There existence is proved by their effects, and from their effects also their lengths may be accurately deduced" (Ibid).

If it be objected that physical and psychical forces reside in the same medium and cannot be separated, but are always in synthesis, it is quite as favorable to the theory we are setting forth to suppose that the subsensible medium contains psychical force in a greater degree than any other medium, and in a greater degree than it contains physical force. Then the expression would be, A subsensible medium in which psychical force predominates.

It was announced some time since by a celebrated chemist that he had discovered a new gas, odyle, in the human body.

human body is a wonderfully complex structure; it comprehends almost all known substances; and it might have among its components a substance of which we know nothing by the senses, and of which we cannot become cognizant except (as in the case of the ether) by the effects of the forces which reside in it. The human body possesses all the essential properties of matter from the grossest earth or hardest rock to the finest nerve and tissue. It is the highest product of nature thus far discovered or evolved, and takes up within itself all the qualities of objects and beings lower than itself. The human body would then probably comprehend all possible substances, including the supposed subsensible substance, as it is the most complex of all things, and seems to fulfil the highest requirements of organism.* If the evolution theory is true, the scparation of the great homogeneous protoplasm into heterogeneous elements took place before the formation of organisms. At this separation the subsensible medium called ether and the subsensible medium which we have supposed to be the residence of the soul were among the elementary heterogeneous substances. By the re-combination of various portions of these elements in certain proportions certain forces were brought into action and organism took place, which was another advance in heterogenity. From all that we have observed man is composed of all the different elementary substances, and it is a reasonable conclusion that he comprehends within his organism the subsensible substance which is the supposed residence of psychical force. When the subsensible substance is held in combination with the sensible substances, all the functions of perceiving by the senses are performed. The sensations of the external world are conveyed directly to the subsensible substance, because it is compounded with the sensible portions of the body. The subsensible substance may be combined only with the brain, or it may be combined with the whole body; but in either case the operation of the sensitive and the

* It is well to state that there appears to be no reason why the hypothesis of a subsensible existence should not apply to the lower animals, or to any being or organism that evinces the possession of mind, or psychical force.

perceptive powers, physical and psychical perception, must be practically simultaneous. The dissolution of this substance from the rest of the body, at death, is easily supposable on the principles which chemistry and biology have discovered; for it is as easy for nature to dissolve as it is for her to compound.

Having established at least the possibility of a subsensible substance in which the psychical force resides, the question arises as to the effect of the hypothesis on the individuality of the soul, after death. And here we shall encounter some difficulty. In the evolution of organisms, from the lowest to the highest orders, there appears to be no break or hiatus-at least none sufficient to make the evolution theory of the origin of species an irrational or improbable supposition in the view of many of the greatest thinkers. But a leap from a sensible order of beings, like man, to a subsensible order of beings, like angels, or persons after death, is totally unparalleled in the development of species. But it must be remembered that in so-called matter we have all grades, from the most gross and compact to the most attenuated and refined; from the rock to the ether there is a gradual transformation, a gradual diminution in consistency and compactness, and a corresponding increase in buoyancy and refinement. This suggestion is in favor of the possible existence of the subsensible soul medium. There is indeed no break in the transformation from rock to air, or gas, or ether; neither need there be any break in going on from ether to the other subsensible medium we have supposed. And yet, so far as the suggestion of a hiatus between sensible and subsensible beings goes, it would be conclusive against the hypothesis in this respect if it had reference to a new species, or to a new order of beings. But the hypothesis in this regard only has reference to man, in another state, his individuality and being remaining essentially the same in a psychical respect. And if it is supposable that organization of this subsensible substance could take place within the body, it is equally supposable that, it being subsensible and volatile, organization need not be destroyed by its dissolution from the sensible body; that, in fact, the great protoplasm of spirit

VOL. XXVII.-NO. LIII.

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