 |
vol. title: vol. period: 1881 pages in vol.: 439 |
< A Philosophy of Materialisation (continued from page 11-348) >
body would be otherwise deprived (as available power), of the equivalent of the mechanical energy exerted, so that on the restoration to the initial state, we might believe that, on the whole, the rate of total expenditure within the body had not been seriously interfered with.
A physiological change would be here supposed to take place, whereby a less evident expenditure of energy would be required to keep the animal economy with the limits of stable equilibrium; the energy thus deducted being, for the time, used in providing an instrument for the irreversible expenditure of energy in work, otherwise impossible, in obedience to some mode of Will, the borrowed potential energy being made good to the system which it extended but did not have; the rhythm alone of bodily changes being interfered with. It is however allowable to consider the case in which certain energy bearing material is permitted to be extended from the body through interruption of the ordinary chemical changes between the tissues and the blood, in which case there might exist a very alight resistance to extension with a great force of restitution on the re-establishment of the normal chemical affinities. Such a case is of course completely illustrative of my view of materialisation.
This supposed limb having so far served as an illustration, the principle we have had suggested to us by its aid, can be applied with the pregnant idea which it suggests in relation to abnormal occurrences. This idea is that of Physiological Conservation.
Thus we see in the case of an elastic arm pushed out half across the room and after its part is played allowed to return to its original configuration, the change of form may be simply the means to a certain end, the doing of work through the exaggeration of ordinary channels for the expenditure of energy; for the extended limb simply enables that to be done by the voluntary activity of the limb which would otherwise require a change of position of the whole body.
The source of energy and this new externalizing instrument, no matter what or how extensive if it is to return to the body, form one conservative system and involve the principle of physiological reversibility. This principle may now be applied to the case of the imaginary limb. As soon as the external work is done at a distance, if the arm be supposed to return to its original shape, by the action of internal forces, there is restored to the body as a whole in the form of heat, or otherwise, the equivalent of the energy expended in producing the distortion, and if, during the time that that distortion has obtained, we suppose that the natural body as a part of the new whole has been robbed or deprived of a certain amount of energy, as indicated by loss of temperature or other physiological abnormality, the return to the initial configuration of the system may be logically regarded as the condition for the return to its standard physiological indications.
To make this clearer I shall quote a passage from the late Professor Clerk Maxwell's Theory of Heat. “There are several processes by which the temperature of a body may be lowered without removing heat from it, such as expansion, and evaporation, and liquefaction and certain chemical and electrical processes. Every one of them, however, is a reversible process, so that when the body is brought back by any series of operations to its original state, without any heat being allowed to enter or escape during the process, the temperature will be the same as before, in virtue of the reversal of the processes by which the temperature was lowered. But if, during the operations, heat has passed from hot parts of the system to cold by conduction, or if anything of the nature of friction has taken place, then to bring the system to its original state will require the expenditure of work, and the removal of heat.”
It will be thus seen that all real work must be paid for from the food store in the blood. I claim, however, the loan of certain energy for the construction of the instrumental means of externalization, and as in duty bound, I am willing to pay a moderate interest for its use, if called upon to do so.
But, why, it may be asked, do I insist so strongly on the return to the body of the pseudo-matter which assists the intelligence in manifesting its directive co-operation? First, because some classes of manifestations would altogether rob the human body engaged of any chance of return to the standard condition should such reabsorption not take place. Secondly, because the return cuts two ways, i.e., either may return into the other, and all the manifestations relating to freeing from bonds, translation from one place to another, &c., would be covered by the assumption. We must not stick at trifles in such a subject as this. To the Idealist there is no difficulty in the matter, for once we grant that the reality beyond consciousness has undergone a modification (the human body is to itself and to its fellows only phenomenon) it is not for us to impose conditions. A simple mechanical illustration will help to show the meaning and the consequence of this aspect of my assumption—A piece of india rubber pulled out has work done against its elastic forces and these again do work against the pressure of the hands once they are permitted to overcome the tension exerted by the hands. But it is a matter of indifference as far as the elastic forces of the india rubber are concerned, which hand relaxes its tension, so that there may or may not be a translation in space of the india rubber, depending on causes which bear no relation to the elastic forces as such.
The final and paramount reason for the assumption of reabsorption to a greater or lesser extent is, however, the impossibility of handling the subject without the principle of reversibility, for through it I have continuity of thought in my view of the subject and I can grasp minor details as consequences of the more general case; for once it is established to our satisfaction that the extruded mass is possessed of intrinsic energy, which enables it to return to the body for the purpose of making good the temporary loss, physiologically speaking it is a matter of indifference into what body it enters, whether that of its own generator or that of another animal body adapted to receive it either as a food or as a vital stimulant.
The generalising mind will perceive that the symbol of the physical basis assumed in this line of speculation can be equated to those representing the operating influence during, say, the secretion and distribution of milk, or so-called mesmeric healing in the one case, and to those of the reabsorption of an abscess or restoration after varied mediumistic gymnastic performance in the other, according as the process of outcome or income is kept more prominently in view.
What the physiological changes may be that take place during physical manifestations, we cannot be prepared to say at the present state of our science, but judging by analogy from the fact that after a short time the medium revives from the most profound collapse, apparently little the worse for the exhaustion he has undergone, so long as he is not interfered with, we may not be very far from the truth in suspecting that there has not been very much more irreversible expenditure than if he had been engaged in hard physical or mental work, such irreversible expenditure being effected by the establishment of what I may call a vital leverage, from the advantage <... continues on page 11-350 >