CHAPTER II
On the threshold it is necessary to state certain scientific conclusions which I accept. These are the four great doctrines taught by modern science. I accept the atomic theory that the constitution of bodies is explained as a numerical combination of ultimate smaller particles. I accept the modern doctrine of morphology, that forms in different kinds of bodies exhibit homologies that express degrees of relationship. I accept the modern doctrine of the persistence of motion as the proper explanation of the correlation of forces. I accept the modern doctrine of evolution, that higher bodies are derived from lower. In accepting these doctrines I try to embrace them in all their logical results, some of which may seem strange to my readers. I shall propound the hypothesis that consciousness inheres in the ultimate particle, and attempt to show that it harmonizes the principles of psychology.
The four great doctrines of modern science which I have enumerated were originally guesses, but they have largely been accepted by scientific men because they explain the phenomena of the universe to which they relate. The chaos of scientific phenomena collected in vast catalogues of facts are seen to be explained by these laws.
The chemical theory may be denominated the persistence of units; the morphologic theory the persistence of extensions; the dynamic theory the persistence of speeds; the evolutionary theory the persistence of existence.
There are systems of stars, and every system is a body. The one to which our earth belongs is well known, for the solar system is the theme of the venerable science of astronomy. The earth itself is composed of four grand bodies: an outer envelope of air or atmosphere, a middle envelope of water or hydrosphere, an inner envelope of rock or lithosphere, and the grand central nucleus or centrosphere. Neglecting the two outer envelopes and considering only the stony crust, we find that it is composed of many bodies or formations and these of rocks, while there are many plants and animals, and all again are divided into grains, crystals or cells, and the grains, crystals or cells are divided into molecules, and molecules are composed of other molecules, until at last chemical atoms are reached; so it is discovered that the universe is a hierarchy of bodies.
The universe is a hierarchy of bodies composed of bodies and these again composed of bodies in a vast succession as they are reduced by analysis. When we come to discuss the relations of these bodies to one another it will be convenient and conduce to exact expression if we make a distinction between bodies and particles, and speak of a body when we wish to consider it as a unit and then speak of its particles when we wish to speak of the parts of which it is composed. A body, therefore, is a body of particles which are many in one, the one being a body; the many particles severally may be bodies composed of particles, that is, one composed of many. The solar system is a body of particles, the particles being the stars of which it is composed; the earth, one of these particles, may be considered as a body, when its particles will be the air, the water, the stony crust and the central nucleus; then the air may be considered as a body composed of many particles, the water may be considered as a body composed of particles, the stony crust as a body composed of particles, and finally the nucleus as a body composed of particles. In this sense it will be understood we sometimes speak of something as a body and again of the same thing as a particle. A body and its particles are reciprocal. When we consider a body as composed of particles we consider internal relations, but when we consider the particles severally their relations to one another are external. Thus a body has internal relations and external relations, and every particle of the body also has internal relations and external relations, if it is composed of parts.