THE POWER OF THE SOUL OVER THE BODY. PART III. THE INFLUENCE OF MENTAL DETERMINATION AND EMOTION OVER THE BODY. PART III. THE INFLUENCE OF MENTAL DETERMINATION AND EMOTION OVER THE BODY. THE CHAPTER I. POSITIVE ACTION OF THE SOUL ON THE BODY, IN RELATION ΤΟ LIFE AND WILL, ASSERTED AND EXEMPLIFIED IN THE EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE ATTENTION. PHYSIOLOGY teaches us, by a multitude of undeniable facts, that every atom of the animal structure is subjected to perpetual change; and that every motion, every action of the body, is alike a cause and a consequence of alteration in the vital condition of one or more of its parts. Not a thought, not an idea, not an act of will, not an affection or a feeling of the mind can be excited without positive change in the brain and thence in the blood and the secretions; for every variation in the state of the whole, or any portion, of the nervous system, is of course accompanied by a correspondent change in those organs and functions which it furnishes with energy, so that mind and body are in constant course of action and reaction on each other, as long as life and consciousness continue. The body can be influenced only by four kinds of force,-chemical, mechanical, vital, and mental. Health and enjoyment may be destroyed mechanically, as by a blow. Anything which acts chemically may also injure the body, as fire. The chemical and mechanical forms of force are palpable in their effects. But vital force, as already stated, is in another category. No arguments can be required to show that the life of the body is maintained in spite of a constant tendency to death; that is, the resident and peculiar life of each part is incessantly counteracting the common chemical and mechanical influences which are around it. Decomposition and decay commence the moment life leaves the body. So, then, life appears to be a distinct power. But what is it? We know not. It is neither tangible nor visible. It cannot be weighed nor tested. Like the soul, it is discoverable only by its effects on chemical and mechanical agents. It is not the production of the body, for without it the body itself could not have commenced. It operates on one body, through another, so as to produce a third. It is something capable of being communicated, and, inasmuch as some fluids are imbued with it, probably it exists independently of organisation. In fact, it seems to originate organisms and develop them and to pertain to the soul rather than the body. The purpose of vitality, as regards man, is to bring inert matter into such relation to the mind as that the mind may be developed through it, by making physical organisation subservient to consciousness and volition. is the source of the body's growth, preservation, and reproduction. It exhibits itself in modifying the action of external influences, and by the evolution of new forms under the power of impregnation. But the mind acts as clearly and distinctly on the body as either chemical mechanical, or vital agency; therefore that which exercises mind must possess a distinct existence, action, and force, capable of being superadded to life as life is to matter. Mind, or will in action, alone is power. Our Life idea of force is derived from our consciousness of will as an originating agency. Hence we cannot conceive the universe to be other than an act of Mind and Will. Chemical action is but relative, and the result of some power constantly ready to act on matter, according to circumstances. Sulphuric acid and potash combine, when brought together under ordinary circumstances, because something produces a reciprocal change in their particles when within a certain distance of each other; but this change is prevented altogether by causing a galvanic current to influence these bodies, and sulphuric acid may thus be passed through a solution of potash without their combining. We see, then, that chemical action is dependent on electrical action, and electrical action is dependent on some superior power; the same, it may be, as that which causes gravitation, magnetism, polarity, heat, light, and which pervades all elements; a power which cannot be called material, and which obeys only that Will which evoked the universe and still sustains it. In short, all power may be traced up directly to the Mind that created and manages all things; for all natural forces, correlated or not, whether in spirit or in form, are, so to say, but thoughts produced, or the varied manifestations of Omnipotent Intelligence. He is the ultimate object of thoughtful minds, the Power to our spirits, the Life of our life. There is latent life and active life. In a seed or a germ life lies latent till in a condition to draw supply of matter for its development from surrounding media. Active life is a breathing process, an acting on the air and a producing and maintaining a circulation of fluid within the living body, in connection with aërial or other fluids constituted for breath. The whole universe is thus constructed for the evolution of life. The vast importance of life as a force may well detain our attention while we endeavour to understand the |