m ^WHENCE, WHAT, WHERE? VIEW OF THE ORIGIN, NATURE, AND DESTINY OF MAN. BY JAMES R. ^flCHOLS, M.D.,A.M., AUTHOR OF "FIRESIDE SCIENCE," "CHEMISTRY OF THE FARM," " THE NEW AGRICULTURE; " EDITOR OF " BOSTON JOURNAL OF CHEMISTRY." THIRD EDITION RE VISED. BOSTON: A. WILLIAMS AND COMPANY, Uti Cornet 33oohstorr. 1883. Copyright, 1883, BY JAMES R. NICHOLS. ELECTROTYPED BY C. C. MORSE AND SON HAVERHILL. MASS. PREFACE. No subjects of thought so earnestly press upon the minds of intelligent readers and thinkers at the present time as those which relate to the genesis of man, his material and spiritual nature, the event of death, and the life hereafter. I have learned from a wide association with active busi- ness men, as well as with scholars and thinkers, that none are too busy or too much engaged in life's affairs to fail to read and converse upon these topics. It is due to conversations with business and scien- tific friends in hours of leisure that this little book appears. In yielding to their solicitations to put in print thoughts often privately expressed, I do an act not un- attended with doubt and hesitation. It contains views well known to many, who, v VI PREFACE. as guests and friends, have by their social and intellectual qualities added much to the pleasures of a rural home. These essays present but the briefest outlines of great themes ; themes which have engaged the attention of cultivated minds in all ages. Whatever may be new in them relates to the independent method of treat- ment of the topics, and to some opinions of the nature of spirit and the conditions of a future life. Facts in science have been arranged so as to present whatever testimony it is capable of affording ; and the teachings of the founder of the Christian faith have been given that prominence and authority to which they are undeniably entitled. It must be admitted that science has its unwarrantable assumptions and dogmas as well as theology, and those of the one should be as cautiously accepted as the other. The testimony and teachings of science upon the topics considered have been plainly presented, and, so far as pos- PREFACE. Vll sible, without its formulas and technical- ities. As it is now well understood, even by ordinary minds, that theology is not religion, and that creeds are the work of men, but little weight has been given to either in this discussion. In a former age, when an exacting ec- clesiasticism dominated over ignorant and servile populations, men were swayed by fear; their minds were filled with images, distorted and diabolical, like the gargoyles which looked down upon them from the copings of the old cathedrals. Now, men think, reason, analyze ; and views are held upon religious and spiritual matters which are formed from independent study of the teachings of the Divine Master. It is probable that some of the views presented, particularly in the four last chapters, will not be in harmony with those of all readers ; but there is good reason for believing that many Christian laymen and ministers will in private thank me for bringing to view the indefensible nature of Vlll PREFACE. the doctrines found in church creeds ; doctrines which they have long wished might be eliminated. Much embarrassment has been felt in endeavoring to make the essays concise and still preserve continuity and complete- ness. They are indeed but outline thoughts which may be extended at a future time, if it should appear desirable. J. R. N. HAVERHILL, MASS., November, 1882. -NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION. THIS little book, privately printed by the author for distribution among business, professional, and family friends, has from force of circumstances fallen into the hands of a publisher. Almost im- mediately upon its distribution, a demand arose for the work which could not well be resisted, and a second edition was published which speedily found purchasers. These editions were printed under unusual disadvantages, and without opportunity .for revision by the author; consequently they con- tained many typographical errors and blemishes. The third edition has been printed from new and larger type, and the work has been carefully revised. Alterations have been made in a few of the pages, which, without changing the sense, add to the clear- ness and perspicuity of the style; also, additions have been made to the title-page. The warm, sincere commendations of the book which have come from a large number of scholars and thinkers, and from clergymen of all denomina- tions, are certainly gratifying, and lead to a willing- ness that it should be more widely known. The fact that in the short period of a few weeks two editions have found purchasers, is significant of the intense interest which centres around the topics which are discussed in the work. The suggestion of many readers that several of the subjects should be enlarged in their scope will receive consideration. FEBRUARY, 1883. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I. THE GENESIS OF MAN .... i II. THE MATERIAL MAN .... 24 III. THE SPIRITUAL MAN .... 58 IV. WHAT is SPIRIT? 78 V. THE RELIGIOUS MAN .... 105 VI. WHAT OF DEATH? 135 VII. AFTER DEATH, WHAT?. ... 157 VIII. WHERE? 179 THE GENESIS OF MAN. HUMAN beings find themselves existing upon a small planetary body whirling through space, but whence they came is a baffling mystery. Save in the Hebrew chronicles, no book, however ancient, affords any account of the genesis of man worthy of consideration ; and no tracings on rocks or metals, no inscriptions or pic- turings in any part of the world, furnish a clue to the solution of the dark problem of the origin of the race. Those strange visitors from the celestial spaces, the me- teorites, which are projected glowing with heat upon the crust of the earth, can give as ready answers to our questionings as the most learned philosophers. Like our- selves, they come out of the unknown, and in studying their history we experience THE GENESIS OF MAN. emotions akin to those which result from the study of the history of our own origin. Leaving the matter of the so-called Mosaic account of the origin of the race for consideration at a point further on, it remains to inquire what science has ac- complished in its researches upon the great problem. In no department of human inquiry has a larger amount of labor been expended or more exalted talents enlisted ; and the outcome, although unsatisfactory, is very interesting. It cannot reasonably be questioned that man has been a resident upon the earth for a long period of time ; a range of centuries, perhaps, which carries us back to the Palaeolithic age. The evi- dence that he lived in Switzerland in the Neolithic or Stone Age is quite conclusive. The clothes, polished stones, and house- hold objects found in the lake dwellings show that he was considerably advanced in civilization and in a knowledge of the ruder arts in that epoch. He cultivated wheat and barley, and made bread ; and, THE GENESIS OF MAN. what is very remarkable, he evinced a taste for the flavoring aromatics by putting cara- way seeds in his bread. He kept domestic animals, cows and pigs, sheep and goats, and lived, probably, somewhat as many of the inhabitants of Ireland live to-day. Several kinds of horses existed in the Neo- lithic period, all small in stature, and there were two breeds of oxen, also small. The sheep had horns, and the goats carried im- mense protuberances of this nature upon their heads. The men varied from four to five feet in height, and their faces were oval, with probably not unpleasant expres- sions of countenance. They were rather weak and inoffensive, not specially prone to war, but living under circumstances which afforded the highest protection from the rapacity of neighbors. These interest- ing facts are learned from researches made in connection with the lake dwellings of Switzerland, and as they are sustained by the most indubitable testimony must be ad- mitted as facts. But as has been intimated, THE GENESIS OF MAN. it is highly probable that the genesis of man extends to an age still more remote. As we recede, however, into the darkness of early geologic times all traces of him are lost, and although the fossil remains of strange reptiles and animals are plentiful, fossil man is missing. No coal seams, or strata of ancient sandstone, reveal in hard- ened lines his noble, upright form. Nothing whatever is known of the time of man's advent. We may speculate and pile hypothesis upon hypothesis, but we are not thereby introduced to any clearer light. The researches of archaeologists, ethnologists, geologists, biologists have been well-nigh exhaustive, and unless new discoveries are made barriers to further knowledge have been reached. If the advent of man was sudden, and he came perfected in physical form, he is certainly not contemporary with the higher forms of other animals ; and the break in the chain of animal life which connects the earlier with the later geologic periods, in THE GENESIS OF MAN. 5 which man fails to appear, is not confined to the space covered by a single link. He has left no traces of his presence beyond a period which, in contrast with the length of geological epochs, is indeed recent. If he has been evolved slowly from lower forms, we still have no traces of him in any of the stages of partial development. There is, however, a strong and significant array of analogies, correspondences, and facts which give force to the views of the evolutionists, and these are worthy of con- sideration. The word evolution means the birth or derivation of beings from others through the action of natural laws ; its whole mean- ing is not that man is evolved directly from an anthropoid ape, but that in nature there is a law by the action of which the lower forms of organic life and inorganic sub- stances are slowly changed, until through endless modifications the highest types re- sult. This law of evolution reaches and controls every department of nature, and THE GENESIS OF MAN. to its dominating influence we are in- debted for moral and intellectual as well as for physical qualities. It is evident that there is in nature a constantly recurring relationship among all creatures, and that in heredity we have absolute proof of the fact that like tends to produce like under all circumstances. It is due to two causes that variations occur : one is the law of heredity ; the other, the surrounding in- fluences, or the sum of the physical influ- ences upon the organism. The first tends to preserve uniformity; the second modi- fies the action of the first. Very much importance is attached to what is regarded as a newly-discovered or recognized law, that of natural selection. This law as- serts that some individuals are stronger or better fitted to compete in the struggle of life than are others of the same species : hence they will live and perpetuate their kind, while others die out. No one has successfully combated this plain, palpable provision of nature, or can deny its great in- THE GENESIS OF MAN. fluence in elevating animal existence upon our planet. If the doctrines of evolution and natural selection be accepted, we still wander in darkness as regards the origin of life. If these doctrines are based upon funda- mental laws, it is clear that a law has not yet been found which accounts for the beginning of organic life, or which ex- plains how dead matter became endowed with vital activities. No law has been found which accounts for the origin of the variation in species. When we at- tempt to span the enormous epochs of time which it is conceded must elapse in bringing man up from the lowest organic forms to his present exalted condition, a sense of dissatisfaction is experienced, not only because of the difficulties which beset the way, but because in all our anxious gropings we cannot find the starting-point. One end of the chain we see, but the other end is hidden in thick darkness. If we only knew how ascidian or still lower forms 8 THE GENESIS OF MAN. were evolved from dead rocks, there would be some light thrown upon the foggy end of the chain. Life can only evolve life ; a rock cannot evolve an egg, or supply warmth to hatch it when evolved from life sources. It is possible for man to bring together in accurate measure the chemical constituents of an egg, but by no possi- bility can he supply the mysterious vital principle, or bring life out of his mixture, although he may comply most carefully with all the known conditions under which life is supposed to be produced. In no way is it possible for one to escape from the conviction that the chasm which sep- arates the organic from the inorganic, life from death, is a broad one, and no re- search has penetrated or crossed the ray- less gulf. Compared with the difficulties in assuming that life is spontaneous, a natural result of the continuity- and co- operation of natural energies, the evolution of man from primal forms is easy of be- lief. The views so clearly presented to THE GENESIS OF MAN. the world by the late Mr. Darwin are not to be controverted by ignorant prejudice, or demolished by exhibitions of passion or conceit. He was unquestionably one of the most learned and remarkable men who have lived in any age of the world. His views are not accepted by all naturalists, and if they were it would not remove them from the field of hypothesis to that of fact. The impatience of many, when his views of the origin of man are advocated, savors more of the dogmatism of interested be- lief than of the judicial earnestness and fairness which result from careful and competent investigation. The Darwinian hypothesis is so very easy of application, and so in accord with the wishes of many investigators in science, that it is too readily adopted, often without the prelim- inary caution of rigid analysis of the facts. The great mind of Darwin, while these pages were in preparation, was freed from its material environment, and passed under the new conditions of existence which IO THE GENESIS OF MAN. await all other minds. His mental nature, subjected to the highest culture and the most exacting discipline, enabled him to see clearly many of the intricacies and laws of the universe which are hidden to others. It is probable that the entangle- ment of gross matter with the spiritual man was far less obstructing and obscuring in his case than in that of most others, for greatness to a large extent consists in the facility with which thought rises indepen- dent of its low environment, and frees it- self from its control. Under the new con- ditions of life to which he has passed it is more than probable that the baffling prob- lems which occupied his mind here are now very clearly comprehended. He has not gone outside of the great universe, for no outside is possible ; he has not been re- leased into a realm of endless night, for light and life are everywhere ; he was not buried forever with the separating atoms and molecules of the body, for mind, like matter and energy, is imperishable. THE GENESIS OF MAN. II After a careful study of the views of evolutionists, and a full recognition of the force of the ingenious and wonderful array of facts and theories, we are forced to come back to the more reasonable ground, that man has two natures, clearly defined, and both tending towards distinct ends, one perishable, the other imperishable. There are not insuperable difficulties in the way of understanding how man might be evolved physically from lower forms, but no stretch of the powers of comprehension enables one to conceive of the evolution of mind from primitive forms, and there is no chain of facts which lend reasonable color- ing to such a belief. Mind has come up apparently from a very low condition, how low we do not know ; but this is certain : the mind of man, so far as any traces of its action are discernible, has always exhibited enormous superiority over that of the highest of the animal races. There is, in fact, so far as our powers of analysis guide us, no close 12 THE GENESIS OF MAN. analogy existing between the mind of man and the instinct of animals ; their mental capacities are limited ; man's, in finite matters, has no limit. The mind of man is the great overpowering force in the world, a principle dominating everything. No form of energy acting under law has escaped its control, no physical forces have become its master ; they all combined bow to its behests, and become its servants. It must be a supernatural principle, a dis- tinct creation, a divine essence, a mighty force, standing apart, and designed to stand apart, from all the other forces of nature. Mind in its almost supreme control over matter meets with barriers when it essays to perform creative acts. It has succeeded in evolving out of passive forms of matter energies which are destructive and appall- ing ; it has changed the gentle warmth of our firesides into forms of electrical force, capable of moving ponderous machinery, and it has given it wings and endowed it with mute intelligence, so that it conveys THE GENESIS OF MAN. 13 messages of instruction, congratulation, warning, joy, and love with a rapidity which practically annihilates time and space. Out of the common sand of the sea-shore it has constructed prisms and lenses as clear and beautiful as nature's proudest gems, and so arranged them in tubes of metal that the heavenly bodies are brought as it were into the laboratory for analysis, and the minutest forms of life hidden in the earth and air are revealed to the eye with the utmost distinctness. It has sepa- rated water and solids into gaseous con- ditions, and mingled them with the winds ; has isolated and recombined rays of light so as to form the most gorgeous pictures ; has forced the sun to serve as artist, and paint portraits and landscapes ; has extract- ed from the filthy residuum of the gas manufacturer colors more beautiful than those of the rainbow ; has synthetically combined molecules of inert matter so as to represent organic products of the high- est complexity. All this and much more 14 THE GENESIS OF MAN. has mind accomplished, but it has never been able to create a new element or add a single atom of matter to the primitive mass of earth and air. Whenever man has experimented with the view of so arranging matter as to evolve from it life, signal failure has at- tended his labors. The belief which at one time prevailed, that from liquids and sterile infusions, placed under favoring conditions, life is spontaneously produced, has now few supporters among men of research. Dr. Bastian, who experimented over a period of many years, and who persistently maintained that from his infusions bacteria and other forms of life were spontaneously produced, has been confronted with the careful and protracted researches of Tyn- dall and Pasteur, and his alleged successful results have been disproved. Tyndall, to escape from the germ-charged air of cities and populous districts, fled to Switzerland, and on the highest mountain peaks con- ducted his experiments. The results con- THE GENESIS OF MAN. 1 5 clusively proved that the development of life in Bastian's infusions came from germ- inal nuclei in the atmosphere, as absolutely sterile liquids exposed to the pure air of high altitudes remained sterile under the most favoring conditions. Pasteur con- firmed Tyndall's results by a long series of careful and trustworthy experiments. Man is thus shown to possess wonderful capabilities in controlling and changing matter, but the power of creating is a pre- rogative withheld from him. His agency in reproduction is no more direct or exalted than that of the lowest animals and reptiles. The reproductive instinct is given not only to all living forms of animals and insects, but to plants as well. Its exercise requires no training of the intellect, no elevation of the moral faculties ; savage man was as capable of covering the earth with a race of men, ignorant and debased, as is the most civilized and cultivated people with one elevated to a higher plane. Modify or remove the overmastering reproductive 1 6 THE GENESIS OF MAN. instinct in animal and vegetable organisms, and all forms of life would at once cease. It is the strong chain which binds the ani- mate to the inanimate, a chain whose links are of steel, which no power short of that of the Infinite One can break. The embryotic changes resulting in the development of man, research has shown to be in no regard dissimilar to those which result in introducing into the breathing world the lower types of mammals. He is born helpless and absolutely dependent upon those through whose natural agency the spark of life was engendered ; and like all animals is indebted for his preservation to the overpowering maternal instinct be- stowed through a wise controlling power higher than that of man. Every stage of man's progress towards full development from the microscopical cells of the latent germ is marked by a superintending agency which must be divine. It cannot be denied that it is all accomplished under law, but the laws themselves are miracles of wisdom a wisdom not born of earth. THE GENESIS OF MAN. I/ Science does not concern itself with the statements regarding the genesis of man, as found in the sacred books of ancient tribes and nations, only so far as to subject them to the most rigid rules of histori- cal, archaeological, and biological criticism, with the view of ascertaining what plaus- ible grounds they have to rest upon. The ancient Hebrews have preserved records in which is found a circumstantial account or history of man's advent, and the world has for nearly twenty centuries been largely influenced by a belief in this remarkable narrative. Whether it be regarded as a legend of very early times, a story charac- teristic of the East, or as a supernatural revelation of man's genesis, the student or investigator cannot but view it as extraor- dinary. If we are required to accept it after ecclesiastic or scholastic interpreta- tions, which place the occurrences about six thousand years ago, and which insist upon a literal rendering of the text, the way is beset with difficulties. If, on the 1 8 THE GENESIS OF MAN. other hand, the narrative be regarded as a dim shadowing forth of the outlines of a creative act, instituted by divine interfer- ence in some early epoch of the world's history, it at once commands the respect of those who recognize the existence of a Supreme Creator in the universe. There is in the narrative certain internal evidence, which, independent of all other considerations, lends to it a startling sig- nificancy. The prominent incidents of the transaction so briefly presented are wonder- fully in accordance with possibilities, or, there is evidence of a wise adaptation of means to ends. We are told without any show of hesitancy that man was made out of the " dust of the earth ; " that is, he came from the same general mother or source as all organic life. If the statement were that he was formed out of the rocks or out of the trees of the garden, it would be far less significant of his true chemical constitution as made known through modern research. Rocks and trees are not THE GENESIS OF MAN. 1 9 so constituted as to meet fully the neces- sities of his material organization, and the same may be said of quite all the sub- stances or prominent objects which were open to observation in early times. In the " dust of the earth " we have an expression which may fairly be interpreted to mean the soil of the earth, which includes both the organic and inorganic constituents found in the physical organization of man. In this material we have the lime, potash, soda, magnesia, iron, phosphorus, indeed quite all the chemical bodies essential to man's organism. In the humus of the soil we have the materials needed for the for- mation of living tissues, the carbon, hydro- gen, and nitrogen. The source from which man is stated to have been derived is seen to have been fully capable of supplying every needed element without the inter- position of a miracle to summon the rarer molecules from afar. A hnman narrator of such a stupendous transaction would hardly have allowed his excited imagination 2O THE GENESIS OF MAN. to go no further than common dust for his man-material ; he would have selected the clear air about him, the chemical nature of which was to him a mystery, or he would have interwoven the rainbow or the gor- geous hues of the setting sun into the noble form of man. After the completion of the physical structure, a still more important act re- mained to be accomplished, the endow- ment of life. The narrator proceeds to say that "God breathed" into the figure of man "the breath of life." This lan- guage and statement is even more remark- able than that relating to the formation of the body. From what we know of the mind or soul of man, we cannot give it a lower place than is assigned in the nar- rative ; it must be the "breath," or an emanation from the Creator ; it must be the closest, most distinctive representation of the Supreme Intelligence of all prin- ciples in the universe. It is infinitely higher than matter ; it is a part of a Divine originator. THE GENESIS OF MAN. 21 If this were only an Eastern tale, told by an ancient story-teller, he would have given life to his figure by agencies far different ; the statement would be much too tame to meet his own inclination or the wishes of his listeners. He probably would have conferred life by placing the inanimate form in a running brook, in a position so that the clear morning light might afford supplementary aid in wooing the mysterious principle sought. He might have covered it with flowers, and pressed into the open mouth the rarest juices of plants, and fanned the nostrils with air charged with the rich aroma of flowers. Whoever wrote the first chapters of the book of Genesis, it is certain he was no ordinary chronicler ; he was destitute of the gorgeous imagination so common to the authors of the legends and tales of the East, and was clairvoyant in a high degree. He must have had whisperings from unseen sources, and been directed by a wisdom not common to the men of the times in which he lived. 22 THE GENESIS OF MAN. The story of the genesis of woman is held to be even more fanciful than that of man, but it is not difficult to detect in it those points of difference which sep- arate the tale from the wild imaginings of the wisest of the early Hebrew chron- iclers. The relations of the sexes are, by the proceeding of forming the woman out of man, declared to be more direct and intimate than that of any other ; and whatever was desirable and wonderful in man, woman must by her origin be pos- sessed of. The narrator did not regard it as necessary to go again back to the earth for materials from which to form the woman, nor was it necessary for Jeho- vah to inflate the lungs by his breath ; like is assumed to be competent to pro- duce like, and from the physical man woman was formed. What is called the Mosaic account of the genesis of man, taken as a whole, must be regarded even by evolutionists as remarkable. Whether it is designed THE GENESIS OF MAN. 23 to present the details of actual occur- rences, or whether the story has a typical significancy, a figurative meaning, is not clear. If its whole scope and intent is to reveal to races of men in all ages the fact of the supernatural origin of man, con- sidering the circumstances under which the narrative was presented, and its influ- ence upon those who were to people the earth thousands of years after the ignorant Hebrews had been resolved back to dust, it is not easy to see what statement could better serve its purpose. It has no force, viewed as a strictly scientific problem, and finds no place in purely scientific liter- ature, but it does command the respect and enlist the interest of some of the most competent scientific investigators of the age. THE MATERIAL MAN. SCIENCE must be regarded as a dumb oracle when consulted with regard to the genesis of man. Positive knowledge be- gins with the study of the embryo, a prin- ciple brought into existence along with him at the time of his advent. The first sur- prise which startles the investigator is the extreme minuteness of the physical point from which man commences. There is here apparently a marvellous exhibition of inadequacy of means to ends. That man, proud of his physical stature, and of his superiority over the animal kingdom and the forces of nature, should start from ova infinitely smaller than that of the smallest bird, is a consideration well calculated to arrest the attention. The human ovum is 24 THE MATERIAL MAN. 25 so small that it is covered by the point of a common pin, and the microscope must be taken in hand for its study. The calca- reous shell of the egg of a humming-bird has sufficient capacity to hold enough of the human life germs to people a city, and the shell of the egg of the ostrich to cover a continent with inhabitants. It is well to remember in considering the minuteness of man's material beginning, that the egg itself is not the germ, the point where life begins, but the vessel which holds it. The study of the germ brings us face to face with molecules of matter held in a single cell, so minute that the highest powers of the microscope are scarcely adequate to re- veal it. The germinal principle of the egg is only gross matter, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, etc., and left to itself, is as inert as molecules of silex or calcium. It requires the juxta- position of two forces to bring to view the miracle of life. A female barnyard fowl, living apart from those of the opposite sex, 26 THE MATERIAL MAN. will fill her nest with eggs, but the maternal warmth, however zealously conferred, does not result in filling the barnyard with chicks. The eggs of the maiden fowl re- ceive the warmth, but unprotected by the life principle, it only hastens chemical de- composition, with the evolution of disgust- ing gaseous compounds. There is inherent in man the almost divine power of confer- ring upon a few molecules of matter so small as to be entirely beyond the reach of the unaided eye his own living identity. Upon a point infinitesimally small the physical characteristics and mental peculi- arities of two distinct families are indelibly stamped, and this touches so closely upon the border land of miracle that we are scarce able to discern any intervening space. Heredity is so wonderful in all its aspects, and extends to such minute points, that we are indeed bewildered by its study. A dis- tinguished scientific friend, in conversation upon this subject, called my attention to THE MATERIAL MAN. 2/ the raised lines and grooves upon his thumb-nail, and stated that the same lines and grooves were distinguishing marks upon the right thumb-nail of his father, grandfather, and great grandfather, and probably progenitors still more remote. They could not be effaced, for when re- moved by the use of a file, the succeeding growth presented the characteristic marks in strict conformity to the hereditary im- press. Corresponding minuteness is ob- servable in the mental impress, and through- out life we are constantly startled by modes of thought, methods of expression, capaci- ties and incapacities, which closely re- semble those belonging to parents and grandparents. A child with its lungs inflated with air is regarded as a new being, although life began before it was brought in contact with the external world. By a new being is meant a new human machine, which would never have existed had not two adult individuals set in motion a train of vital 28 THE MATERIAL MAN. activities, under the guidance and control of nature's laws. The new being is perhaps the most perfect example of helplessness that can be conceived of, and its first de- mand is for food, which it has no power of obtaining. The atmosphere does its part of necessary work in supplying oxygen, and respiration goes on spontaneously, and the maternal instinct, upheld and supported by love, supplies the needed nutrition. Thus commences the physical career of man, and henceforward the whole work of material life consists in supplying the proper forms of organic matter to promote growth and repair waste. The little mass of organized matter which has newly come into the world grows as an animal or tree grows, by the multiplication of cells, and the cells are formed by the material placed in the organs of digestion and assimilation by the mother. It is necessary that the elements of nutrition should be held in suspension in much water in order that they may be digested by the feeble stomach THE MATERIAL MAN. 29 of the child, and hence a distinct class of organs are supplied in the female by which this food is manufactured. The lacteal secretion consists of common water about eighty-six parts, and the fourteen parts of solids consist of every material in right pro- portion to form the structure of a perfect physical man. The child, until the teeth are formed and the work of mastication commences, is built up wholly from the food supplied to the mother, but if through some defect of organization the maternal food is not fur- nished, the cow, goat, and other animals can supply the want Thus, when resort is had to the lacteal secretion of the cow, it is the food of the animal which builds up the body of the child ; the hay and grain of the cow is transformed over into human flesh, and every molecule of the body of the " precious baby," has passed through the animal organism from hay and grain fields. These considerations bring to view the 3O THE MATERIAL MAN. close relationship we sustain secondarily to animal life and primarily to the vegetable world. In the chemical constitution of tissue, nerve, and bone, there is perfect uniformity in men and animals ; and in the changes which result in metamorphosis of structures no dissimilarity in results can by any possibility be determined. If we could but find a single element in the physical structure of man not found in the organism of domestic animals, it might be regarded as significant of a higher or more complex organization, but this we fail to find. Man in his fleshly nature is indissolubly linked with the lower forms of creation ; even the crimson current of life which warms and sustains the one is almost identical in its chemical and physical nature with that which performs the same office for the other. The mammals as a family, or a great division of animated nature, have peculiar characteristics, not only in material constitution, but in organic and functional development, which link them together as THE MATERIAL MAN. 3! a whole, with man as the highest in the group. In studying the material man we are in- terested to discover if possible the hiding place of that other principle, without which material man could not exist. In vain we search through the organism open to the sense of sight, but the mind does not stamp impressions upon any organ which are dis- tinguishable to any human sense. We can trace nerve action and distinguish mind movements as a form of energy peculiar in all its aspects ; but as we search for its origin or source it becomes like the spot where the rainbow touches the ground, it recedes as we advance, and a weary chase leaves us no nearer the object than when we commenced its pursuit. The brain is usually considered the seat of the mind, the throne from which its commands go forth, and where the court of conscience holds its stormy sessions ; but is satisfactory evidence afforded from the study of the physics of the brain that 32 THE MATERIAL MAN. such is the fact ? There are certain sig- nificant indications that the brain is the seat of what is known as nerve force, and that it is the " central office," so to speak, towards which the telephonic system of nerve conductors all converge, but neither brain or nerve tissue constitute any part of the spiritual man. The human brain in texture, color, and chemical constitution does not essentially differ from that of the dog or horse ; but in amount or mass it fails to correspond, as in man the weight of the brain greatly exceeds that of animals, the comparative weight of the body being considered. The near proximity of the central organs of sense to the brain meets no necessities so far as affording rapidity of communication is involved, for nerve action or transmission is instantaneous. The prick of a pin upon the extreme end of a toe six feet more or less from the brain is felt simultaneously with a like injury to the lip or ear. There is no appreciable time consumed in transmitting THE MATERIAL MAN. 33 sensations from one part of the body to another. The life principle is everywhere, and injury to the grouped molecules of matter wherever the blood circulates is injury to the spiritual man, who dominates over matter. Man's connection with the external world, independent of his own organism, strikingly corresponds with the possibilities of the human body. He is at present practically everywhere ; as a citizen of one city or municipality, he has but little closer communication with his neighbors, or even the members of his own household, than with those living on the opposite side of the globe. In crowding the air with his electrodes so that great cities have the appearance of being enclosed in a huge spider's web, he only imitates the structural parts and functions of his own body. The relations he sustains to this marvellous work of his hands, corre- spond with the relations of the spiritual man to the mechanism of the human organization. The physical man stands 34 THE MATERIAL MAN. behind, and controls the electrical path- ways and messengers of thought ; so the spiritual man fulfils the same office in con- trolling the nerve forces, which have special duties to perform, to bring the body into communication with others of the race, and with external nature as a whole. At one time thirty years ago there was a belief, more distinctly a popular one, that different parts of the brain or cerebral hemisphere are the organs of the different mental faculties, and that external pro- tuberances on the skull indicate the position of the different faculties. This was the doctrine introduced by Dr. Gall, and under the name of phrenology became very popular. A class of peripatetic lecturers, distinguished for lack of learning, swarmed over the United States and Europe, pre- senting the doctrines to wondering and believing audiences, and illustrating its practical benefits by manipulating the skull and delineating character and proclivities in a very positive way. So general was THE MATERIAL MAN. 35 the belief in the notion that almost every one carried in his pocket a highly orna- mented skull chart on which could be read his own character and capabilities, usually highly flattering. A boy starting out to seek his fortune would no more have thought at that time of leaving without his skull chart than a shipmaster would think of leaving port without his compass or sextant. But this fallacy lost its hold as soon as the vivisectionists pointed out that an animal will bear to have its cerebral hemisphere gradually sliced away ; and the -slicing may be done in any direction with the same result, namely : gradually increas- ing stupidity, but with no change of charac- ter according as one or other phrenological organ is removed. Persons have recovered from wounds from which portions of the brain have protruded and been amputated ; but it makes no difference what part of the hemisphere is injured, no alteration results in the mental constitution of the patient. Beside, the hemispheres are not divided 36 THE MATERIAL MAN. into organs ; but, supposing such organs existed, it would be quite impossible to tell their size by the phrenological method. Extended experiments have been made in freezing the brain of living animals, and it has been shown that when by the use of freezing mixtures the living brain is frozen solid, the animal is not destroyed. Its powers may be retained in an ice-bound condition for hours, with every faculty practically dead ; and yet, set free from cold, they are revived and all come back again as healthful as ever. This is a mar- vellous revealing, and seems to show that the mind is not wholly resident in the brain. The freezing of the body as a whole, results in the prompt separation of mind and mat- ter, and if the whole of mind was resident in the brain, freezing the nervous tissues would cause death. The human brain is largely composed of common water. Anal- ysis shows that on an average eighty-four per cent is water, and only sixteen per cent solid material. Therefore, when the brain THE MATERIAL MAN. is frozen it is but little better than a globe of solid ice. By the employment of highly volatile liquids, in the form of spray, portions of the brain have been frozen temporarily ; that is, the portions which have been sup- posed to be the seat of distinct faculties have been brought under the influence of frost, and sensation thereby locally de- stroyed. When the two lobes of the cere- brum, or larger brain, are frozen, the phenomena produced are those indicating entire loss of volition, of sensation, all that may be considered intelligence ; there is a profound sleep, and surgical operations can be performed upon the animal without pain. When smaller areas of the brain are brought under the influence of cold the resulting phenomena vary in a remarkable manner, but the general effect is partial suspension of sensation. These experiments show how remarkably the mind is under the control of its material environment, as when the matter of the 38 THE MATERIAL MAN. brain is put into abnormal conditions it no longer holds control but remains dormant. The mind, which is uninfluenced in other parts of the body by cold, goes on with its work, the acts of respiration are performed regularly, the heart continues its functions, the blood courses through the veins and arteries as usual. All these acts, which are termed semi-voluntary and involuntary, are performed when the brain mass is frozen. The deduction might be drawn from these experiments that heat is the source of mind,, or indeed is mind, inasmuch as when it is present in the brain its functions are active, when it is withdrawn they are dormant. This conclusion would neces- sitate the belief that mind is co-related with the energies known as heat, electricity, and light, and give color to the views of a class of philosophers who regard mind as a form of energy no more exalted than other forces in nature. It is significant of the erroneous nature of such views, the fact, that impressions THE MATERIAL MAN. 39 made on the brain before heat is withdrawn remain and with the restoration of heat are continued, showing that the mind principle is still present although heat is absent from the brain. The mind, the living principle, is not destroyed, but is so far influenced by abnormal physical conditions that its activities are suspended. It is certain that mind is capable of remaining in a passive or inactive state distinct from the conditions of sleep for long periods of time, how long we do not know. It is believed by some that mind impressions are physical realities, stamped as it were on brain matter when the matter on which it is set is in motion ; everything we remember is thus imprinted on the brain, on infinite points of brain sub- stance each independent and free. This view makes the brain a physical microcosm, a world within mirroring the world with- out. It is indeed not difficult to conceive of such possibities, inasmuch as we know what science has accomplished in the field of 4O THE MATERIAL MAN. microphotography. There are before me a dozen or more pieces of glass, and I take one of them in hand and examine it with the closest scrutiny. Nothing but a minute speck is seen upon the clean surface, but I slide the glass under the lenses of the microscope, and what a revelation ! There is spread out before the eye a full page of that great journal, the London Times, every line and letter distinct and clear. Long editorials can be read with ease by the aid of the lenses ; but remove the slide, and the unaided eye fails to find any spot which cannot be covered with the sharp point of a needle. On such infinitesimal spaces of matter on glass surfaces are recorded the Lord's Prayer, the ten commandments, and other pages of printed matter. If on brain surfaces all the memories of a life-time are photographed, it is conceiv- able how space may be found for such a record, but this purely physical view does not commend itself to the intelligent reason. Mind must be a distinct principle, wholly THE MATERIAL MAN. 4! unlike the material brain through which it acts ; and when it leaves its hiding-place in the physical structure it carries away all there is of man worth preserving, his moral nature. Eight or nine ounces of nervous tissue, held in suspension in forty or more ounces of pure water, do not constitute the mind or soul of man. The gray substance of the brain is un- questionably highly organized material, but it is only matter, and when out of control of mind obeys the laws under which all matter must act. Man as a whole, studied in his material or chemical relationships, presents no special points which distinguish him from other forms of animated nature. He has been described as nothing more than a few pounds of solids diffused in a half-dozen buckets of water, and this empirical state- ment contains the elements of truth. Considered as a machine, man presents the most wonderful example of superhuman wisdom to be found in the wide universe 42 THE MATERIAL MAN. of matter. In structural design and per- fection of parts, the physical man is indeed a marvel of complexity and simplicity. Organic and functional offices are conducted in the system in health with a precision and perfection which cannot be imitated by art. Every functional movement appears to be guided by a superior wisdom, and every process is directed by a subtle chemistry not understood in college laboratories. Passing by the intricate processes of diges- tion and assimilation, the secretion of the different fluids and the ejection of effete substances from the body, let us look for a moment at the processes by which growth is promoted and the child is raised to the high estate of man. As has been stated, the starting point of a human being is within the limits of a single cell, an object innnitesimally small, but the seat of great activities. The simplicity of Topsy in Mrs. Stowe's famous story of " Uncle Tom " has excited hearty laughter from many a reader, but THE MATERIAL MAN. 43 not all have considered the profound phi- losophy which lurks beneath her intuition in the answer she gives to the inquiry, " who made her ? " The question is a per- plexing one not alone to poor ignorant Topsy, but to all those who put such ques- tions. Not having been born, she must have " growed," and in this answer she evades a question the most learned zoolo- gist is not prepared to solve. She was certain that she "growed," for the careless observation of the simple and ignorant is sufficient to prove that somehow human beings increase in size from year to year, but the beginning- is covered by a cloud without rift or boundary. So far as the microscope reveals the nature of the physical and chemical, activ- ities involved in the process of growth, we learn that it is a play of affinities which corresponds with molecular motion through- out organic nature. The single cell in which life begins as it is excited by the fecundat- ing principle, presents a scene of activities 44 THE MATERIAL MAN. corresponding with those observable in a hive of bees during the season when the highest supply of food is furnished by ex- panding buds and flowers. The vegetable cell affords some distinguishing features in which chlorophyl, the green coloring prin- ciple, plays an important part, but, as a whole, chemical action is the same. Each cell has a nucleus or central point of life, and around it the molecules of matter are in ceaseless motion. The cell material is organized matter in a highly excited state, and the work carried on is confined to building up cell walls and to laying the foundation for new cell structures. One cell organism rises upon another in the solid parts, and in liquids the cells float about and perform' their functions in an unstable condition. Growth in liquids and solids is by the multiplication of infinitesi- mal cells, and the material is supplied by the nutriment received into the digestive organs. When we consider the complexity of the THE MATERIAL MAN. 45 various organs and parts of material man, the nervous and muscular tissues, the blood, the secretions, the brain, the nails, the bones, etc., of the body, and are assured that all comes from similar food material, and from the oxygen of the air, it conveys to the mind profound impressions of mystery. There is in the contents of the hen's egg every material needed to build up the structure of the chick, consisting of bones, feathers, bill, feet, eyes, in short, all the organs and appendages of the little organism. The period of growth, or that during which increase of mass goes forward, in man, is confined to the first fifteen or twenty years of his existence. During this period the necessary waste of tissue continues, and construction and repair go on simultaneously, necessitating a larger supply of material than is needed at other epochs in life. During cell growth, the contour of form is preserved, and uni- formity of increase is maintained. One 46 THE MATERIAL MAN. limb, one ear, or one bone, does not grow faster than another ; the blood is the grand carrier of material and it circulates every- where. The little molecules crowd and push their way into the minutest tubes of every part of the growing child, and bring along the carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, lime, and other material needed, and the cells are built up and they multiply until the mature form of man is perfected. In the process of growth and in the sup- ply of waste material in the body, we have to study the evolutions and chemical changes of matter, and in material man we have nothing but matter to consider and bring into the field of research. At this point the important inquiry arises, what is matter ? The positive manner in which matter is spoken of in scientific discussion leads one to conclude that it is well understood, and that it is easy to define what it is. In looking out upon the world of matter, we see an infinite variety of forms, and THE MATERIAL MAN. 47 to these we have given names, and have learned that each form has its own char- acteristics and is marked by peculiar be- havior. Matter is attended by phenomena of motion and affinity, which two distin- guishing points constitute the whole field of study open to man. There are more than sixty bodies which are distinguish- able by their peculiar physical appear- ance and by their behavior and reactions. These bodies we call elements ; and when they group themselves together they are called molecules ; and when these combine in mass, a body results, which may be solid, liquid, or gaseous, and to which is given a name which distinguishes it from all other bodies. After a careful study of a body, we are still in the dark regarding what it is. Very many of the most active and wonderful forms which have been studied, and which are supposed to be well under- stood, have never been seen by the eye of the investigator. Thes.e forms of matter are exceedingly wonderful and interesting ; 48 THE MATERIAL MAN. the element nitrogen affords a striking example, and its history and affinities are worthy of brief notice. Nitrogen belongs to a class of bodies which are incapable of influencing any of the senses so far as to be recognized by them. It cannot be seen, tasted, nor touched so as to produce tangible impres- sions, and it has no odor. During all the ages, until within little more than a cen- tury, mankind were wholly ignorant of its existence. It is a form of matter found in a permanently aeriform state, or as a gaseous body, which under no ordinary conditions can be made to assume a solid or liquid form. The atmosphere is its home and hiding-place, and therefore it is constantly in close proximity with our bodies, and with everything existing upon the earth. It passes into the cavity of the lungs of all breathing animals at every inspiration, traverses the circuit of the air- cells, and is expelled as nitrogen without diminution of volume or any chemical THE MATERIAL MAN. 49 change whatever. The volume of free nitrogen in the air is immense, and its weight as it rests upon the earth's crust can be understood only by a consideration of the figures which approximately repre- sent it. The whole weight of the nitrogen contained in the gaseous envelope of our planet may approximately be stated to be three quadrillions, nine hundred and ninety- four trillions, five hundred and ninety-two billions, nine hundred and twenty-five mil- lions of tons ! The popular notion of its use in the atmosphere, that it is simply a diluent of oxygen, is probably correct. It must subserve other and important pur- poses, but to ordinary observation it appears to have been supplied by the Supreme Intelligence, for the main purpose of so attenuating oxygen as to keep it within safe bounds as a respiratory agent and supporter of combustion. It is the most stupid, so to speak, and negative of the large family of elements. It resists chemical combinations with remarkable 5O THE MATERIAL MAN. persistency, and when forced into such unions the affinity is slight and disruption is easy. It may be said to be the most unimportant and yet the most important of all the elements, a paradoxical statement easily comprehended by every chemist. It is docile, negative, unaggressive, in its natural state, but when forced into combi- nation with oxygen it gives us acids with teeth sharp enough to gnaw a file. When combined with potash, and the resultant salt mixed with a little sulphur and char- coal, it gives us gunpowder, an agent well known to possess extraordinary properties. When associated with the bland and sweet substance known as glycerine, it forms nitro-glycerine, dynamite, lithofracture, giant-powder, agents so terrible as to appall mankind by their destructiveness. Shreds of cotton picked from the ripened bolls which open to the Southern sun, when placed for a few moments in the acid which is born of nitrogen, suddenly lose their innocent nature, and become giants THE MATERIAL MAN. 51 in power, capable of levelling forests and mountains at the touch of fire. Nitrogen forms the basis upon which rest the great chemical forces so destructive and yet so useful to the race. It comes out of its chemical unions with a crash, but it at once assumes its usual dead condition, and floats in the air with all the harmlessness of the summer breeze. When introduced into the human or animal organism, it originates and sustains nervous or muscular force. We move our limbs and conduct the physi- cal labors of life through the agency of nitrogen or its compounds. Our animals the oxen and horses which we rear are serviceable in the yoke and harness only through the changes resulting in the combinations and elimination of nitrogen. After it has served its purpose in the body, it does not as a whole escape into the air, as when it is set free by explosions, but it appears in the liquid and solid excrement in certain forms of combination, which to become fixed and serviceable as plant food 52 THE MATERIAL MAN. must receive intelligent care. The prone- ness of nitrogen to disassociate or free itself from its combinations is seen in the changes which excrement undergoes soon after leaving the animal organism. So long as any nitrogenous compound is con- trolled by the vital forces of animal life it is held in check and the equilibrium is preserved, but as soon as the external air is reached it struggles to free itself from its environment. The highly organized compounds take on fermentative changes ; hydrogen is evolved, another gaseous body, and the nitrogen is led into an alliance with this element in such proportions as to form ammonia. Ammonia is dis- tinguished for its volatility or readiness to escape, whether it be free or in the form of carbonate. This statement of what is supposed to be known of nitrogen, its nature, affinities, behavior, etc., may be regarded as applicable to many other simple and compound bodies. The attendant phenomena are not observable, neither are THE MATERIAL MAN. 53 they distinctly understood ; but the facts are deducible from the results of experi- ment with the aid of appliances which science supplies, therefore they are set down as known facts. The study of the behavior of matter has not resulted in throwing satisfactory light upon the problem as to what it is. To the modern experimenter, matter is only known by what it does. It is said to have weight ; but if gravitation is, as seems probable, only a "wave motion" correlated with light, heat, electricity, etc., we are deprived of the most significant method of designating matter in its appar- ent or gross conditions. Matter has form, substance ; but if, as has been proved, the interstices between the molecules, so called, are so great as to allow of ceaseless motion, an unending clashing of forces, our ideas of solidity or substance vanish. If matter is not what it seems to be, in so far as weight and substance are in- volved, there is little left in the universe 54 THE MATERIAL MAN. but what is regarded as force and "ether," and of the nature of these we know noth- ing positively. The ether of space, con- cerning the existence of which there is scarcely room for doubt, is matter, but in such an attenuated form as to approach the supposed condition of spirit. Professor Tyndall thinks this ether to be matter, but not a form of ordinary matter. As we do not understand the form of ordi- nary matter, it is hardly philosophical to assume that an unknown form is like or unlike another no better understood. In discussing the constitution of matter, the existence of atoms and molecules is as- sumed ; but have we any proof of the existence of these bodies, or have we any language in which we can satisfactorily describe them ? We can easily conceive of things we cannot see ; but when we come to atoms, the mind can no more comprehend their minuteness, if they ex- ist at all, than it can the infinity of space in the stellar universe. THE MATERIAL MAN. 55 V Faraday, in speaking of atoms, calls them " lines of force," " centres of force," and does not seem to regard them as little bodies surrounded by forces. He remarks in an interesting paper that "the force of forces constitutes matter ; there is no space between the particles distinct from the particles of matter." This is a confused statement, and serves to show how a great mind will struggle in at- tempts to comprehend the incomprehen- sible. Another distinguished physicist calls atoms " mathematical points," a term which has no meaning in the connection in which it is used. The existence of atoms and molecules as distinct bodies being assumed, attempts to define their minuteness might be ex- pected from those who never shrink from the solution of the most intricate prob- lems. The highest powers of our best modern microscope will enable us to see objects 5^5 of an inch in diameter, and we may inquire what sort of relation this 56 THE MATERIAL MAN. power of microscopically assisted vision bears to the probable size of molecules of matter. The results obtained by Stoney, Thompson, and Clerk-Maxwell, in attempts to calculate from different data the num- ber of ultimate atoms in a given volume of any permanent and perfect gas at zero, and at a pressure of one atmosphere, vary greatly. Thompson assigns as the greatest possible limit 98,320,000,000,000, in 7^3 of an inch cube, which is i >0 oo,^oo,oco of one cubic inch. Clerk-Maxwell made it only 311,000,000,000, Stoney 1,901,000,000,000. Mr. Sorby has stated that he feels justi- fied, for various reasons, in doubling Clerk- Maxwell's figures, and assumes the num- ber of atoms in a cubic 7^5 of an inch of gas to be 6,000,000,000,000. These num- bers are sufficiently astounding, but the enormous difference in results serves to show how little is absolutely known, or can be known, regarding atoms. If there exist such bodies as atoms, they are, as Mr. Sorby suggests, so infinitely minute, THE MATERIAL MAN. 57 that light is too coarse a medium to enable us to see them, even if we could add suffi- ciently to the powers of our microscopes. It is clear, if we do not know what mat- ter is, that the nature of material man is still an unsolved problem. As he stands revealed to the sense of sight, we have impressions of form, of substance, of that which is real, and these impressions an- swer all the purposes of our material con- dition of existence. Life may be a delu- sion, a dream, and there is much to lead to such a view ; but it is nevertheless active, real, and crowded with momentous duties and responsibilities. THE SPIRITUAL MAN. IT is rather more than eighteen cen- turies since a man who made no claim to being a philosopher, metaphysician, or biologist, in writing of the relationships of material man to another state of existence, asserted with all the posiliveness of pro- found conviction, that "there is a natural (or material) body, and there is a spiritual body." This writer is lightly regarded by some critics, and as he was certainly with- out a knowledge of physics, or psychics, as understood by modern investigators, his views are not quoted or held as authori- tative by scientific bodies of the present age. Those who speak of Paul as a mere theologian and enthusiast should remember that he was the interpreter and expounder of the doctrines and moral maxims of one 58 THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 59 infinitely greater than himself, and that his Master had repeatedly asserted the same doctrine of the dual nature of man. It was, indeed, the fundamental ground work upon which his doctrines and claims rested, the pivotal point of all his teach- ings. The term "spiritual body," as used by this writer, was intended to convey the idea that there is associated with structural man an unseen body which corresponds with that which is open to the sense of sight. The design is to show that the spiritual man is the counterpart of material man, in form and physical characteristics ; that one is separable from the other, and that one is as real as the other. The doctrine is taught elsewhere by the writer, that "spiritual things are spiritually dis- cerned," that is, that each human being has spiritual eyes, which, when opened, will enable one to see this spiritual body, in- visible to the material sight The end and design of the argument is to convince 6O THE SPIRITUAL MAN. those who listened and those who read, that the spiritual man is a pervasive prin- ciple throughout the physical organism, a something which is vastly more than shadow, more than essence, more than the misty outlines of a dream, and that it is imperishable. Neither Paul or his master asserted duality in nature, as did some of the ancient philosophers. Plato and Anaxagoras pre- tended to discover in nature a double order of arrangement, a seen and unseen system, which in some aspects corresponded with man's duality. It was reserved for the great teacher of Nazareth to assert the existence and dominating power of the spiritual man. This doctrine, as a strictly scientific problem, receives no attention, and is hardly regarded as a legitimate subject for serious discussion. The "Concepts of Modern Physics " have no pages devoted to a consideration of this doctrine, and no treatise or essay received as having weight THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 6 1 brings it to view. There are, however, many striking analogies found in nature, and especially in man's physical organiza- tion, which, studied in the light of his dual nature, are interesting and suggestive ; and there are also many facts in biological science which go far to sustain the view under consideration. We will first point out some analogies found in structural man : The duplication of external organs or parts, as two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two hands, two feet, etc., may not have special significancy, but when we study the hidden structure of man, revelations are made, which, to say the least, are worthy of thought. In the osseous dome which covers the brain we have two plates, and there are two membranous curtains, cov- ering the nervous tissues of the brain ; in this organ, then, we have two great divisions or hemispheres. There are two kinds of blood circulating through the tissues, with two systems of ducts, each conveying its 62 THE SPIRITUAL MAN. appropriate fluid; the blood itself holds two kinds of corpuscles, the white and the red, and two metals, iron and thallium ; phosphorus exists in two forms in the tissues, oxidized and unoxidized ; there are two divisions of nerves, two prominent secretions from membranes, the mucous and serous ; two forms of excreta, liquid and solid ; two processes in digestion, two in assimilation ; we inspire oxygen and expire carbonic acid ; there are two glands for the secretion of saliva, two for tears ; two organs for respiration, and the bones are composed of two forms of matter, tri- calcic phosphate and gelatine. The enum- eration might be carried much further, but enough is pointed out to show that duality exists in man's physical nature, which may be regarded as significant of a crowning act of duality in the bestowal of a spiritual nature in association with the material. The sense of vision in its normal action is like the other senses, adapted only to the necessities of man's organized nature ; THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 63 but there is abundant evidence to show that under unusual conditions the spiritual sight is capable of holding the natural in abeyance, and by its exercise bringing to view the unseen in the natural and spiritual worlds. Beyond the possibility of a doubt there is a condition when the material man is practically dead, dead as when under the influence of cold the brain is frozen solid. In such instances the spiritual does not part from the material. When caloric is absent from the brain, both the spiritual and material functions are inactive ; when the spiritual dominates over the material, the latter is alone inactive, that is, it can- not influence the spiritual and chain it to gross matter, it rises superior to its environment. The human mind is a much more exalted form of energy, if it may be so designated, than it seems to be in its association with matter ; and this exalted state is shown whenever conditions are favorable for its exercise. The psychological peculiarities 64 THE SPIRITUAL MAN. of some individuals permit, apparently, the temporary separation of mind from nervous tissue, and of its exercise when in the freed state. It looks through the universe unhindered by matter indeed it appears to be independent of it. The scope of its vision is broad enough to unfold activities in nature, of which it is impossible for the material man to take cognizance. The speed with which it moves finds an ex- ample only in the electrical force and in the movements of light rays from luminous bodies. Walls of brick or stone which effectually shut out light, and hinder the passage of the electrical force, are trans- parent to the eye of the mind in the freed condition, and they offer no more obstacles to this exalted vision than they do to thought. Thought, which is at all times untram- melled, is indeed but a function of the mind, a manifestation of the mind's capa- bilities when free from the control of matter. It is .easy to think of a distant THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 65 city or country without any appreciable lapse of time, but we cannot see distant cities because sight is a local impression, under ordinary conditions, and is dependent upon the co-operation of matter. Free the sense of sight from its material en- vironment, and it then becomes, like thought, unlimited in its capacities. Difficult of comprehension as is the dual nature of man, it supplies scarcely greater difficulties than are presented in many of the relationships of different forms of matter. The osseous framework of man has a dual nature, and affords a striking illustration of the association of two forms of matter utterly distinct, one belonging to the dead inorganic world, the other to the organic or living. We have here analogies worth noticing. The spirit of man may be likened to the gelatinous portion of bones, and the body to the calcic or earthy portion, the latter com- pletely masking the former, or living principle. Before the discovery of pow- 66 THE SPIRITUAL MAN. erful acids, a century or more ago, no one then living could understand that dry bones contained an organic living principle distinct from the refractory sub- stance open to the eye. Bone material presents a hard, compact surface and texture closely resembling limestone, to which it is allied. It resists for long periods the action of those disintegrating forces which speedily turn to dust and gases the other portions of the body, and, unless the substance is demanded for use in the arts, is a waste and troublesome product. Let us look at the analogies supplied by osseous substances, as illustrating the co-existence of body and spirit. If we take the dry osseous human skeleton and place it in a tank of hydrochloric acid, changing the acid as often as it becomes saturated with the calcic element, we find that in a few weeks, or perhaps months, the inorganic portion has entirely disap- peared, but there remains, occupying the THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 6/ same space and preserving the same form, a skeleton which is no longer bone. The framework of ribs, vertebrae, etc., is no longer opaque and solid, but transparent and yielding to the touch ; the soul or spirit, so to speak, of the bone structure remains, but the earthy portion has been resolved into other forms of matter. This organic form of the osseous structure of man can be preserved in proper liquids for an indefinite period of time, after the bone has been forced into new chemical combinations. If we had an agent capable of dissolving the material body of a living man, leaving untouched the spiritual form, so that our natural eyes could behold it in its dis- severed state, it would be a revelation but little more wonderful than what has been described. The process called death lifts the spiritual body out of the material without the intervention of solvents de- vised by human skill ; and although we cannot see the act of separation with our 68 THE SPIRITUAL MAN. visual organs, it may be open to the spiritual eyes of those who have ex- perienced the change. The remark is often made by educated men that they are entirely unable to en- tertain conceptions of spirit, or form any idea of its nature or capabilities, and therefore they cherish stolid disbelief in its existence. Such should remember that they are as clearly incompetent to under- stand the nature of matter and most of the laws by which it is influenced. A few years ago, before science re- moved the thick veil which hid from view many of the secrets of nature, mankind were walking amid mysteries which met them at every step. As regards respira- tion, they did not know anything of the nature of the air, or why it was so per- fectly adapted to maintain animal life ; they did not know when a fire was kindled upon the hearth what was the cause or what the nature of the phenomena of combustion ; they did not know or believe THE SPIRITUAL MAN. 69 that air was a material substance, having weight like sand or water; they did not believe that water, or one of its elements, was combustible, and that the other was the grand supporter of combustion. These and many other of the secrets of nature were hidden from their eyes and under- standings, but not from ours. We can explain and demonstrate a thousand pro- cesses and movements in nature which cannot be understood ; and if we yield belief to only that which we see and fully comprehend, our field of knowledge is reduced to narrow limits. There is as good ground for agnosticism in physics as in psychics. A considerable number of the movements and changes in the physical world, which are regarded as well-ascertained facts, are still lingering in the domain of hypothesis. Electricity in itself considered, and much of its attendant phenomena, belongs to the realm of the unknown. We call it force, but after bestowing upon it a name it still remains a mystery. 7