tment；　but　we　may　safely　say　that　until　now　there　is　no　science　which　in　so　short　a　time　has　brought　order　out　of　such　a　chaos；　ascertained；　checked　and　classified　such　a　quantity　of　facts；　or　more　rapidly　awakened；　cultivated　and　trained　in　man　certain　faculties　which　he　had　never　seriously　been　believed　to　possess；　and　furthermore　none　which　has　caused　to　be　recognized　as　incontestable　and　thus　introduced　into　the　circle　of　the　realities　whereon　we　base　our　lives　a　number　of　unlikely　phenomena　which　had　hitherto　been　contemptuously　passed　over。　We　are　still；　it　is　true；　waiting　for　the　domestication　of　the　new　force；　its　practical　application　to　daily　use。　We　are　waiting　for　the　all…revealing；　decisive　manifestation　which　will　remove　our　last　doubts　and　throw　light　upon　the　problem　down　to　its　very　source。　But　let　us　admit　that　we　are　likewise　waiting　for　this　manifestation　in　the　great　majority　of　sciences。　In　my　case；　we　are　already　in　the　presence　of　an　astonishing　mass　of　well…weighed　and　verified　materials　which；　until　now；　had　been　taken　for　the　refuse　of　dreams；　fragments　of　wild　legends；　meaningless　and　unimportant。　For　more　than　three　centuries；　the　science　of　electricity　remained　at　very　much　the　same　point　at　which　our　psychical　sciences　stand　to…day。　Men　were　recording；　accumulating；　trying　to　interpret　a　host　of　odd　and　futile　phenomena；　toying　with　Ramsden's　machine；　with　Leyden　jars；　with　Volta's　rough　battery。　They　thought　that　they　had　discovered　an　agreeable　pastime；　an　ingenious　plaything　for　the　laboratory　or　study；　and　they　had　not　the　slightest　suspicion　that　they　were　touching　the　sources　of　an　universal；　irresistible；　inexhaustible　power；　invisibly　present　and　active　in　all　things；　that　would　soon　invade　the　surface　of　our　globe。　Nothing　tells　us　that　the　psychic　forces　of　which　we　are　beginning　to　catch　a　glimpse　have　not　similar　surprises　in　store　for　us；　with　this　difference；　that　we　are　here　concerned　with　energies　and　mysteries　which　are　loftier；　grander　and　doubtless　fraught　with　graver　consequences；　since　they　affect　our　eternal　destinies；　traverse　alike　our　life　and　our　death　and　extend　beyond　our　planet。
  15
  It　is　not　true　therefore　that　the　psychical　sciences　have　said　their　last　word　and　that　we　have　nothing　more　to　expect　from　them。　They　have　but　just　awakened　or　reawakened；　and；　to　postdate　Guyau's　prediction　by　a　hundred　years；　we　might　say；　with　them　in　our　minds；　that　the　twentieth　century　〃will　end　with　discoveries　as　ill…formulated　but　perhaps　as　important　in　the　moral　world　as　those　of　Newton　and　Laplace　in　the　astronomical　world。〃　But；　though　we　have　much　to　hope　from　them；　that　is　no　reason　why　we　should　look　to　them　for　everything　and　abandon　in　their　favour　that　which　has　brought　us　where　we　are。　The　choice　of　which　we　spoke；　between　the　brain　and　the　subconsciousness；　has　been　made　long　ago；　and　it　is　not　our　part　to　make　it　over　again。　We　are　carried　along　by　a　force　acquired　in　the　course　of　two　or　three　thousand　years；　and　our　methods；　like　our　intellectual　habits；　have　of　themselves　become　transformed　into　sort　of　minor　subconsciousness　superposed　upon　the　major　subconsciousness　and　sometimes　mingling　with　it。　Henri　Bergson；　in　his　very　fine　presidential　address　to　the　Society　for　Psychical　Research　on　the　28th　of　May；　1913；　said　that　he　had　sometimes　wondered　what　would　have　happened　if　modern　science；　instead　of　setting　out　from　mathematics；　instead　of　bringing　all　its　forces　to　converge　on　the　study　of　matter；　had　begun　by　the　consideration　of　mind；　if　Kepler；　Galileo　and　Newton；　for　instance；　had　been　psychologists：
  〃We　should　certainly；〃　said　he；　〃have　had　a　psychology　of　which　to…day　we　can　form　no　idea；　any　more　than　before　Galileo　we　could　have　imagined　what　our　physics　would　be；　a　psychology　that　probably　would　have　been　to　our　present　psychology　what　our　physics　is　to　Aristotle's。　Foreign　to　every　mechanistic　idea；　not　even　conceiving　the　possibility　of　an　explanation；　science　would　have　enquired　into；　instead　of　dismissing　a　priori　facts；　such　as　those　which　you　study；　perhaps　'psychical　research'　would　have　stood　out　as　its　principal　preoccupation。　The　most　general　laws　of　mental　activity　once　discovered　（as；　in　fact；　the　fundamental　laws　of　mechanics　were　discovered）；　we　should　have　passed　from　mind；　properly　so…called；　to　life；　biology　would　have　been　constituted；　but　a　vitalist　biology；　quite　different　from　ours；　which　would　have　sought　behind　the　sensible　forms　of　living　beings　the　inward；　invisible　force　of　which　the　sensible　forms　are　the　manifestations。〃
  It　would　therefore　in　the　very　first　days　of　its　activity　have　encountered　all　these　strange　problems：　telepathy；　materializations；　clairvoyance；　miraculous　cures；　knowledge　of　the　future；　the　possibility　of　survival；　interplanetary　intelligence　and　many　others；　which　it　has　neglected　hitherto　and　which；　thanks　to　its　neglect；　are　still　in　their　infancy。　But；　as　the　human　mind　is　not　able　to　follow　two　diametrically　opposite　directions　at　the　same　time；　it　would　necessarily　have　rejected　the　mathematical　sciences。　A　steamship　coming　from　another　hemisphere；　one　in　which　men's　minds　had　taken；　unknown　to　ourselves；　the　road　which　our　own　has　actually　taken；　would　have　seemed　to　us　as　wonderful；　as　incredible　as　the　phenomena　of　our　subconsciousness　seem　to　us　to…day。　We　should　have　gone　very　far　in　what　at　present　we　call　the　unknown　or　the　occult；　but　we　should　have　known　hardly　anything　of　physics；　chemistry　or　mechanics；　unless；　which　is　very　probable；　we　had　come　upon　them　by　another　road　as　we　travelled　round　the　occult。　It　is　true　that　certain　nations；　the　Hindus　particularly；　the　Egyptians　and　perhaps　the　Incas；　as　well　as　others；　in　all　probability；　who　have　not　left　sufficient　traces；　thus　went　to　work　the　other　way　and　obtained　nothing　decisive。　Is　this　again　a　consequence　of　the　hopeless　incompatibility　between　the　faculties　of　the　brain　and　those　of　the　subconsciousness？　Possibly；　but　we　must　not　forget　that　we　are　speaking　of　nations　which　never　possessed　our　intellectual　habits；　our　passion　for　precision；　for　verification；　for　experimental　certainty；　indeed；　this　passion　has　only　been　fully　developed　in　ourselves　within　the　last　two　or　three　centuries。　It　is　to　be　presumed　therefore　that　the　European　would　have　gone　much　farther　in　the　other　direction　than　the　Oriental。　Where　would　he　have　arrived？　Endowed　with　a　different　brain；　naturally　clearer；　more　exacting；　more　logical；　less　credulous；　more　practical；　closer　to　realities；　more　attentive　to　details；　but　with　the　scientific　side　of　his　intelligence　uncultivated；　would　he　have　gone　astray　or　would　he　have　met　the　truths　which　we　are　still　seeking　and　which　may　well　be　more　important　than　all　our　material　conquests。　Ill…prepared；　ill…equipped；　ill…balanced；　lacking　the　necessary　ballast　of　experiments　and　proofs；　would　he　have　been　exposed　to　the　dangers　familiar　to　all　the　too…mystical　nations？　It　is　very　difficult　to　imagine　so。　But　the　hour　has　now　perhaps　come　to　try　without　risk　what　he　could　not　have　done　without　grave　peril。　While　abandoning　no　whit　of　his　understanding；　which　is　small　compared　with　the　boundless　scope　of　the　subconsciousness；　but　which　is　sure；　tried　and　docile；　he　can　now　embark　upon　the　great　adventure　and　try　to　do　that　which　has　not　been　done　before。　It　is　a　matter　of　discovering　the　connecting　link　between　the　two　forces。　We　are　still　ignorant　of　the　means　of　aiding；　encouraging；　developing　and　taming　the　greater　of　the　two　and　of　bringing　it　closer　to　us；　the　quest　will　be　the　most　difficult；　the　most　mysterious　and；　in　certain　respects；　the　most　dangerous　that　mankind　has　ever　undertaken。　But　we　can　say　to　ourselves；　without　fear　of　being　very　far　wrong；　that　it　is　the　best　task　at　the　moment。　In　any　case；　this　is　the　first　time　since　man　has　existed　that　he　will　be　fronting　the　unknown　with　such　good　weapons；　even　as　it　is　also　the　first　time　since　its　awakening　that　his　intelligence；　which　has　reached　a　summit　from　which　it　can　understand　almost　everything；　will　at　last　receive　help　from　outside　and　hear　a　voice　that　is　something　more　than　the　echo　of　its　own。
  End