osophical depth, but
it maybe convenient to summarize his scientific doctrine of
"Correspondences" in this place as it has an important bearing on the
subject in hand. He laid down the principle of the spiritual origin of
force and matter. Matter, he argued, was the ultimate expression of
spirit, as form was that of force. Spirit is to force what matter is to
form--its substratum. Hence for every spiritual force there is a
corresponding material form, and thus the material or natural world
corresponds at all points to the world of spirit, without being
identical. The apparent hiatus between one plane of existence and the
next he called a discrete degree, while the community between different
bodies on the same plane he called a continuous degree. Thus
there is community of sensation between bodies of the same
nature, community of feeling, community of thought, and
community of desire or aspiration, each on its own plane of
existence. But desire is translated into thought, thought into
feeling, and feeling into action. The spirit, soul (rational and
animal in its higher and lower aspects), and the body appear to
have been the principles of the human constitution according to
this authority. All spirits enjoy community, as all souls and all
bodies on their respective planes of existence; but between spirit
and soul, as between soul and body, there is a discrete degree.
In fine, mind is continuous of mind all through the universe, as
matter is continuous of matter; while mind and matter are
separated and need to be translated into terms of one another.

Taking our position from the scientific statement of the atomic
structure of bodies, atomic vibration and molecular arrangement,
we may now consider the action exerted by such bodies upon
the nervous organism of man.

The function of the brain, which may be regarded as the
bulbous root of a plant whose branches grow downwards, is
twofold: to affect, and to be affected. In its active and positive
condition it affects the whole of the vital and muscular
processes in the body, finding expression in vital action. In its
passive and negative state it is affected by impressions coming
to it in different ways through the sense organs, resulting
in nervous and mental action. These two functions are interdependent.
It is the latter or afferent function with which we are now concerned.
The range of our sense-perceptions puts us momentarily in relations
with the material world, or