f
Mutation. But we cannot thus account for the _elan vital_ itself.

FOOTNOTES:

[11:1] Plato in the dialogue _Timaeus_ tells us that Time was born with
the Heavens, and that Sun, Moon, and Planets were created in order that
Time might be.

[12:1] This might be contrasted with the statement of M. Bergson who
tells us (_Evolution creatrice_, p. 11): "Plus nous approfondirons la
nature du temps plus nous comprendrons que duree signifie invention,
creation de formes, elaboration continue de l'absolument nouveau."

[14:1] Recently, we believe, astronomers have favoured the view that the
day of Venus is equal in length to her year.

II

THE ORIGIN OF PHYSICAL CONCEPTS

"_Penser c'est sentir_," said Condillac. "It is evident," said Bishop
Berkeley, "to one who takes a survey of the _objects_ of Human Knowledge
that they are either ideas actually imprinted on the senses or else such
as are perceived by attending to the passions and operations of the
Mind, or lastly ideas formed by help of memory and imagination either
combining, dividing, or barely representing those originally perceived
in the foresaid ways." J. S. Mill tells us, "The points, lines, circles,
and squares which one has in his mind are, I apprehend, simply copies of
points, lines, circles, and squares which he has known in his
experience," and again, "The character of necessity ascribed to the
truths of Mathematics and even, with some reservations to be hereafter
made, the peculiar certainty attributed to them is an illusion." "In the
case of the definitions of Geometry there exist no real things exactly
conformable to the definitions." Again Taine, "_Les images sont les
exactes reproductions de la sensation._" Again Diderot, "_Pour imaginer
il faut colorer un fond et detacher de ce fait des points en leur
supposant une couleur differente de celle du fond. Restituez a ces
points la meme couleur qu'au fond,--a l'instant ils se confondent avec
lui et la figure disparait_," etc. Again, Dr. Ernest Mach, Vienna,
remarks, "We are aware of but one species of elements of Consciousness:
sensations." "In our perceptions of Space we are dependent on
sensations." Dr. Mach repeatedly refers to "space-sensations," and
indeed affirms that all sensation is spatial in character.[18:1]

According to the view of Knowledge of which we have extracted examples
above, the ideas of the mind are originally furnished to it by
sensation, from which therefore are derive