The psychology of memory and recollection : read to the Psychological Society of Great Britain, June 1st, 1876 / by Mr. Serjeant Cox.
- Edward William Cox
- Date:
- 1876
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: The psychology of memory and recollection : read to the Psychological Society of Great Britain, June 1st, 1876 / by Mr. Serjeant Cox. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![POSTSCRIPT. In the discussion that followed the reading of this paper the question was put to me in what manner I supposed that the Conscious Self was united with the material body, so that the impressions made upon the brain could be conveyed to it. Obviously the answer to this question could be nothing but mere conjecture. It was impossible to do more with so obscure a problem than show any suggested solution of it to be within the limits of the possible and the practicable. It was in substance thus : The body is constructed of molecules, which are the ultimate particles of the matter that alone is perceptible to the human senses. But there can be no reasonable doubt that molecules are not the ultimate particles of created matter, nor that the aggregation of atoms that makes molecules is not the only form of atomic structure. On the contrary, the reasonable- probability is that molecular structure is but one of an infinite number of structures in creation. Yet, inasmuch as our senses are constructed to perceive only that form of matter which is made of molecules, the other infinite varieties of atomic structures must be absolutely imperceptible to us, even though all space about us may be filled with them. Our bodies made of molecules are not solid bodies ; no two of the molecules that form them are in actual contact. There is ample space for them to be interfused, as easily they might be, by any other non-molecular structure. If the Conscious Self be composed of some combination of atoms other than that which makes molecular structure, it might easily permeate and possess the whole body. This is a simple solution of what, on first presentation, appears to bean insoluble problem. I have shown how it might be. Is not the suggestion reasonable and probable ? But my own views of the nature and manner of this relationship were requested. I answered to this effect: “ Conclusions on such a [145]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22443903_0017.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
