plying new tissue to take its place by various methods of food supply.

In all ages of the world the use of physical organs by the mind and spirit has been recognized, not only by the philosophers, but also by the common people. The ancient Hebrews put the seat of the emotions in the bowels; hence the phrase, “bowels of mercies," as used in Scripture. This was probably because strong emotion affects the bowels. Later, for an analogous reason, because of the effect of strong feeling on the heart and circulating system, common language fixed upon the heart as the seat of the emotions. This notion still lingers in such phrases as "a warm-hearted friend," "a good-hearted fellow." But it is now well established that the real seat of both the affections and the intellect is in the brain. By this is not meant that they are located in the brain. They have no location; they are omnipresent in the body, as God is omnipresent in the universe, equally controlling all its parts. It is more accurate, therefore, to say that it is now well established that the material or physical organ of all thought and feeling is in the brain; that every mental and emotional activity employs some part of the brain; that every such activity uses up some brain tissue, requiring, therefore, a new supply; and that, therefore, the healthful action of the mind requires a good brain, and the best action of the mind requires good digestion and good circulation, since on these depend the renewal and replenishing of the brain.

There are various grounds for this now well-established conviction. They are all summed up in the general statement that any disease of the brain produces mental and moral disease, while, on the other hand, no disease which does not directly or indirectly affect the brain, has any power to affect the mental and moral sanity of the patient. Thus a blow on the knee which will produce excruciating pain will leave the mind clear, while a blow on the brain will produce un

consciousness. A gastric fever does not materially alter the apparent moral condition of the sick man, at least not more than might be expected from the effect on the brain of so serious a disease in the organ on which it depends for its supply. But a brain fever makes the patient delirious, and sometimes changes entirely his apparent intelligent and moral character. Thus I have known of the case of a young man, of most exemplary character, who was almost morbidly sensitive to any word or phrase of an indelicate or coarse description, who, being taken with brain fever, was so blasphemous and obscene that it was impossible for any female attendant to remain in the room with him. It was clear that the disease was physical, not moral; it was a disease, not in the mind or spirit, but in the organ which they employed. The difference may be compared to that which would occur if a Rubinstein should sit down to play upon an old and out-of-tune piano. The discords would be due to the instrument, not to the player.

If the brain is impaired the mind is invariably affected; if, on the other hand, the brain is uninjured, the mental and moral powers will remain unaffected, though the rest of the body may be to all intents and purposes well-nigh dead. It is true that the brain is so closely connected with the nervous system, which pervades the whole body, that any thing which impairs the nerves of the body impairs the brain, and therefore affects the mind; but the general principle, that every other part of the body may be weakened and the mind be left comparatively unimpaired, provided the brain is uninjured, has had many striking illustrations in the history of great mental work achieved by chronic invalids. A very striking illustration of this is afforded by the extraordinary story of John Carter. At the age of twenty-one he fell from the branch of a tree, forty feet in height, and was taken up unconscious. Examination showed a severe injury to the spinal column, effectually disconnecting the brain from the rest of

20

A STUDY IN HUMAN NATURE.

the nervous system, and depriving the body of all power of motion from the neck downward. He soon recovered consciousness, but never moved a limb again. But his brain, and with it the powers of his mind and spirit, were unimpaired. From being ungodly and ignorant, he became both devout and intelligent, a great reader, and soon learned to write, to draw, and even to paint, holding the pencil or the camel's hair brush between his teeth, enlarging or reducing the copies before him with great artistic skill and perfect success. He lived in this condition for fourteen years, his whole body from the neck downward being paralyzed and helpless, while his mind and spirit were not only uninjured, but grew brighter and clearer to the end. It was evident that the accident which had left only the head uninjured had left all the organs of thought and feeling uninjured.*

It is now, then, well established as an undoubted scientific fact that the mind or soul acts through organs; that these organs are in and form a part of the brain; that their healthy action depends upon the healthy condition of the organ, that is, of the brain; that any thing which impairs the health of the brain impairs the healthful action of the mind or soul, though how it affects the mind or soul itself we cannot say; that what we call mental diseases are often diseases of the organ; that the remedy for what appears to be an imperfect or evil action of the mind or soul must sometimes be applied to the organ, that is, it must be physical rather than mental or moral; and that whoever has to do with the training, education, or development of men, has a need to study the relations of the mind to its organs, and to ascertain, as far as possible, what diseases and what hinderances to development are mental and moral, and what are material or physical; and, finally, that he who would attain the highest degree of manhood must study, not only to improve his soul and spirit by

* See an interesting monograph, "The Life of John Carter," by F. J. Mills. Hurd & Houghton, 1868.

intellectual and spiritual processes, but also to care for and nourish properly his brain, that is, the organ of his mind, soul, and spirit. A healthy man is sana mens in sana corpore, a healthy mind in a healthy body. Well-being requires healthy organs as well as a healthy mind to use them. The physician needs often to inquire into the condition of the mind in order to prescribe intelligently for the body. The minister needs often to inquire into the condition of the body in order to prescribe intelligently for the mind and the spirit. A sleepy congregation is oftener the sexton's fault than the preacher's. Depression of spirits may be due to remorse; it may be due to a poor digestion or a diseased. liver. Remedy for apparent sin may be Bible and prayer; it may be less food and a run in the open air. The teacher, the parent, the preacher, needs to study with care the condition of the body in order to deal wisely and well with the intellectual and the moral condition of those intrusted to their charge. Moral reformation and material reformation must go together. It is almost hopeless to promote temperance and godliness in our great cities so long as the population live in some wards with more persons to the square foot than are allowed in the average cemetery. The best prevention of crime is often a change of air, food, and other physical conditions. The great majority of street boys, if left in New York city, grow up to swell the number of the criminal classes. But last year the "Christian Union" sent out to Minnesota, through the Children's Aid Society, some one hundred and twenty-five children. Of these, all but five are doing well; that is, they are making good, industrious citizens. Much is due to a change in moral and intellectual circumstances, but something is also due to a change in physical circumstances.

Modern science has gone further in its investigation. It is beginning to learn that different parts of the brain perform different functions. It is now well settled that the organs of

sense, of intellect, of feeling or emotion, and of will, are not the same. But these investigations are not yet completed, and it is not necessary for our purpose in this little treatise to enter upon this branch of the subject.

It is necessary, however, before closing this chapter, to note the difference between the doctrine that the mind acts through organs, and is therefore dependent for its practical results upon the health of the organ, and the doctrine that there is no mind, but that which we call mental and moral action-thought, feeling, and will-are the effects of material changes taking place within the body. This doctrine goes. by the name of materialism. Among the ancients there was a class of philosophers who taught that God did not create the world, but the world created God; that is, they held that matter is eternal, and that spirit was evolved out of matter. Analogous to this is the doctrine of modern materialism; the doctrine that the body is not the instrument which the mind or soul uses, but the machine whose action produces the mind or soul, somewhat as the friction between the grindstone and the scythe produces sparks. It is unquestionably true that every mental and moral action is accompanied with a change in the brain. The materialist, observing this, has jumped to the conclusion that the change in the brain produces the mental and moral activity. This is a long jump.

1. In the first place there is no evidence whatever to warrant this conclusion. It is as if a boy seeing an organist playing on an organ should conclude that the keys of the organ moved the fingers of the player. We do know that the mental and the brain actions are contemporaneous and concomitant; but this gives us no reason to suppose that the brain action produces the mental action, or that the mental action produces the brain action. Which is the cause and which the effect we must learn in another way.

2. If the organist were an automaton, the boy would be left