ndent force like magnetism
or electricity. What he says about it shows him to be a perfect tyro
in psychology. At the end of the section he exclaims, "So much for that
theory"--the materialistic hypothesis; and we are tempted to exclaim,
"So much for Sir G. G. Stokes."

Next comes the "psychic theory," according to which "man consists of
body and soul." Here the Professor shows a lucid interval. He points out
that if the soul is really hampered by the body, it is strange that a
blow on a man's head should "retard the action of his thoughts." He also
remarks that, according to this theory, the "blow has only got to be
somewhat harder till the head is smashed altogether, and the man is
killed, and then the thoughts are rendered more active than ever."
Which, as our old friend Euclid observes, is absurd.

Professor Stokes dismisses the "body and soul" theory as "open to very
grave objections." He admits that it is held by "many persons belonging
to the religious world," nevertheless he does not think it can be
"deduced from Scripture," to which he goes on to appeal.

Now we beg our Christian friends to notice this. Here is the great Sir
G. Gr. Stokes they make so much of actually throwing up the sponge.
Instead of showing _scientifically_ that man has a soul, and thus
cheering their drooping spirits, he leaves the platform, mounts the
pulpit, and plays the part of a theologian. In fact he can tell them no
more than the ordinary parson who sticks his nose between the pages of
his Bible.

With regard to the Scripture, it will afford very little comfort to
the Christians to know that Professor Stokes does not believe that it
teaches the immortality of the soul. He supports this view by citing
the authority of the present Bishop of Durham and "another bishop," who
regard the doctrine of an immortal soul as no part of a Christian faith.
Had Sir G. G. Stokes been better read in the literature of his own
Church, he might have adduced a number of other divines, including
Bishop Courtenay and Archbishop Whately, who took the same position.

"Well, what do we learn from Scripture?" inquires Professor Stokes.
And this is his answer. "In scripture," he says, "man is spoken of
as consisting of body, soul, and spirit." And in Sir G. G. Stokes's
opinion it is the third article which "lies at the very basis of life."
It is _spirit_, "the interaction of which with the material organism
produced a living being" in the Garden of Eden.