Soul and Brain.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 122, 23 May 1908, Page 10

Soul and Brain.

• It- is- only in comparatively recent, .times Jwrites Raymond ' 'Blath.w;ayfc .. in tßlackt Black and White) -that people • have,-be-gun to realise the immense importance that the brain exercises in all 'tne func-' tions. of the human life.' Within that' small grey matter hidden Jbeneath V.than coating. , of bone lie the- issues of life and -death, of time and -eterrii'ty^ of - r all the goings ia and going out oijhnnifiiiiiyj the ffis .and sormF'slof 'lifej! -its, irage-, •dies and its transcendent happiness,, the thought of. the ages, -the 'great structures, the stupendous works of mankind. All society depends on the human Dra'inj and no undertaking is" possible 'which has not the brain behind it to guide" and control it. The multitudinous aveiiues of life are opened up 'to" humanity only ,by and through the human brain. 1 ; . Seated at a table, strewn Vith the, photographs of the, most terrible types of degenerates, and with photographs not only of their brains', but also' of, the brains ,of animals, beside which theirs sank into insignificance, Dr. Albert Wil-" 'son — who is shortly publishing the result of his researches," into the brain "which he has been carrying ,on for the last .twenty years — and I discussed the physical basis of character, the, physical'^basis of all this mysterious life of .thought and ,deed, of mentality .conduct, 1 yea, even.;, of the soul of man, and xof the solemn and mysterious 'after-existence of 'th'at'sduL. ' ! '' ' . '•' - ".tou,s,ee,"',saufDr. '.Wilson' as' 'lie took up the. photograph of the bi.aiu of a healthy and normal hunian being '>1> r the, to"p v 'of this brain is the superstructure which has £0 do with instinct and' , intelligence. , The! .active j>ar't of the human brjaih, is a thin 'coating of a quarter of an inch deep.'^ This is the cortex. 'Now,-/ this 1 'is 'made- up' of- rows '^bf' cells' which/ Can' ■ be. • divided . int6>'tliteep principal, portions. ' Of the three layers the deepest is, represented in tho, lower animals as jpstinct, and this'^gua'rds \tfie natural* ißstinpt rf /of- man.i o That instSre- ! tivl& layer4s'\no Tietter in as''tha;n<ifc ig-in 'the, ■rabbit/ whereas our \oute? layer,' which is 'the 1 intellectual layer 1 , 'ik six tjme§ thicker than it is in the rabbit,' and that isHhe strength of man. Upon the healthy activity of the cortical layer^ and its proper number of cells depends our success in "this world "and our happiness in the- next."

, ./"And novv v Dr. Wilsdn," I said, "I .stip.ald like- 'toj-a% yon a^question which, it appears to, me, is of the- very first imEortance. In your researches into the „., vaia^-fqr'aU.theset fearg have you been "aol&f tb'dlscoySr/ranyJ psychical basis for the soul or spirit of man, or any tangible reason w.hy that spirit should go on living after the brain itself, together with the. physical .body, of which- after all it • is, a part, ,has crumbled" intp the dust of ,^he grave?/.' , ->'-, -,-,., „.\. r ~ , ''J. consider it the most hopeful part of. all my researches," replied Dr Wilson, "that they haye helped- to demonstrate both the existence of, tho soul and the possibility and probability of ita continued' existence, after death. ".And I will explain how, I came; £9 this, cpnclusion. . "The soul is a superstructure of the mind, and so, according to, the lawg.oi the conservation of energy, the soul "Is bound to go on living. We must treat' the soul as the highest form of - energy.Gn& begins at the 16west i 6rms of vital, energy, in the shape of muscular movement, which can easily be ' measured^ Then comes nerve-motion, and we can measure its velocity, but we, pave -no, power of estimating what* nerv«-inotfoir is, although we can see the effect of motion in the further changes in: the nerve cells, consisting- 'in the altered appearance,of the stainable granules'. Wethert pass fronKtho nerve-cells which, receive impressions, and from vothe'rs which pniit motion, to a new type of cell, the association cell. This is feebly represented in the lower creation, but it is a special feature of the human brain, and is connected with - , mind, thought^ memory, emotion and. ideation. ' " ".

"The human mind, is a miracle,, but is it the end ? We ' have every reason to believe it is not, because there is no science in which we have reached the ultimate goal of its capacity. There is every reason, then, to bejieve that there is something beyond- the mind, and something built on .the. mind, just as the c - mind is built on the brain. .We haye. such remarkable • psychological experiences ,of what we term spiritual and religious phenomena that there must bo a basis for them. The only hypothesis or basis is what we term the soul as an actuaL vital force. - - j

"The soul means the higher development of man, or the ego. If there^ is no such thing as soul, that means that wo are the finality- of creation, '-\yhich is scientifically untenable, because >ye know that in physical science wo are only on the outec -fiunge r pf- knowledge. -.1 Wye. always held that from the religious point of view we are like a seed of corn. There is nothing in ,the seed to, indicate life, any moi-n than there is in the pyi\i-mi-dql cells of the brain. At the same time there is life in ,the corn if it has^its pioper environment — moisture, light, heat. And in the same way, if the human mind possesses its proper environment the soul breaks forth 'into vitality." • ' "Yes," I replied, "but a corn seed has to be cultivated ; its environment must be kept up to its vital requiiements." "Exactly," replied my host, "and that is the most solemn part of it all. Tha body and mind must bo' fed, nomibhed, warmed and exercised, or atrophy ensues. The same is true of the spirit. If a man neglects the nouiislniient of his soul, how can it possibly li\ef"