incongruity of the two types of mind, and said of himself, that altho quite musical in his youth, he had gradually lost the power to enjoy music. The drunken Bobbie Burns is regarded by many as our greatest English poet. Byron and Poe were certainly not well balanced. It is said that Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner" was the result of an opium dream.

There have been numerous boy calculators whose powers transcend anything attainable by the greatest mathematicians. The writer once heard an "inspirational" speaker rattle off poetry for a quarter of an hour on an impromptu subject. Upon this occasion the writer offered the subject of the " Canalboat," thinking it not one of which the bards had frequently sung. The production may not have been of a high order, but the meter was good and it was about the canal-boat, the words recurring very frequently. The recitation began almost immediately after the subject was assigned, and lasted over ten minutes.

Now all of these facts, which demand explanation, suggest the possibility that they are manifestations of subliminal consciousness, the outpouring of material unconsciously absorbed. It is admitted that little proof is at hand, and that even as a theory it fails to cover all the abnormal manifestations.

There are other psychic phenomena, such as clairvoyance, or the power to see without the eyes, and clairaudience, or the power to hear beyond the

range of the ears, which seem to be well established. Telepathy, or thought transference, is believed by many whose scientific attainments and recognized standing command respect of their opinions.

It is cheerfully admitted that these manifestations are at present abnormal. Moreover, genius and insanity are closely allied, and it is not always easy to differentiate them. The expediency of cultivating these experiences by present methods is perhaps questionable. That the imagination may take control even with a sound mind is often seen in children who want to play bear. As the play goes on, especially if some fur rugs be used, the auto-suggestion may be accepted with so little discrimination, that the child really becomes terribly scared.

History is replete with mental epidemics, crusades, and financial panics, which are thoroly irrational.

Undoubtedly it is safer to keep the conscious at the helm, to challenge all new impulses. But the problem for the future is to develop some rational method of utilizing the vast resources of the subconscious. The possibilities are infinite.

Sensation. Evolution of the special senses. - Doctrine of relativity: noumenon, phenomenon. Limitations of sense perThe greatness and littleness of Special senses, a refinement of tactile

ception. The threshold.

human intellect.

tion of the senses. Visual perceptions. The inverted retinal image, current explanation of erect vision: tactile experience reinverts visual sensation; incorrect, because not analogous to other special senses. First sight of congenitally blind is always erect. Mr. Hanna's experience. - Man ignorant of retinal image. Each mathematical point of object is referred back to its proper place, and we see not the retinal image, but the object itself in space.

EVOLUTION OF SPECIAL SENSES

SENSATION is the means of communication between an organism and the outside world, — the material universe.

When a nutrient particle comes in contact with the periphery of an ameba, there would be no contractility, no ingestion, were it not for the fact that the cell possesses sensation, of which the various properties of protoplasm are manifestations. The organism would remain unconscious of its environment, would starve tho surrounded by an ocean of food. The nervous system is avowedly of the

lowest order, but the point to be here noted is that it is sufficient for the needs of its own organization. However meager the knowledge thus obtained may be, it immensely transcends no knowledge at all.

Without attempting to trace the stages from the ameba to man, it may suffice to say that there is evident all along the line an elevation of the function of sensation. This has followed the general law of evolution "from the simple to the relatively complex," that is, sensation has become specialized. Besides common sensation, man has the so-called five senses: touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.

DOCTRINE OF RELATIVITY

To most people it has never occurred that this beautiful array of talents leaves anything more to be desired. We think we know the material universe because we can touch, taste, smell, hear, and see some of it. But what reason have we to presume that these are the only phases of matter?

The deaf mute has no conception of music. To him it is a sealed book. A race of deaf mutes would be sure that they knew the material universe, because they could touch, taste, smell, and see it. Imagine their idea of a piano or a barking dog.

Is it not thus apparent that we are probably oblivious to many phases of matter? These five senses are like so many doorways, or windows thru which the ego catches glimpses of the outer world.

Instead of saying that we have in matter some

DOCTRINE OF RELATIVITY

37

thing we really know, it may be nearer true to say that we really know more of the attributes of mind, about which we are confessedly ignorant. For example, one may know certain facts about a table, that it is two feet wide and three feet long, that it is harder than his knuckles, but the sum of his knowledge may be so meager, and the special facts so unimportant, when compared with all the facts about it, that he may have an entirely erroneous conception.

Perhaps this can be illustrated by this poem by John G. Saxe.