plain how it may be done. It has been said, and there is much truth in the saying, "It is both impossible and unnecessary to prove anything." This is especially true in determining the origin of mental powers. Likewise does this apply to the origin of life, which, in the last analysis, is unthinkable. However, by the origin of life, we do not mean the origin of life itself, but rather its origin in the forms in which we see it manifested.

While the origin of material species is a felt-out evolution, the origin of mental species is a thought-out expression. It is with the latter we have to deal in this work. While in this search we will eliminate matter entirely, it will be necessary to refer often to the felt-out mind. Only by eliminating matter from the premises and conclusions in the study of man can we determine his origin. Material man appears and disappears, and we know no more when he has disappeared than when he appeared. Matter changes its form but never alters its value. We have named some of its processes growth, and some of them decay, but a study of nature reveals one to be a growth as much as the other.

The determination of the origin of mental powers will reveal the origin of man. Matter in its multifarious forms manifests life expressing itself, from the minutest microscopical activity to the most powerful animal or the most intelligent man. We call this "man" because it is the highest expression of the activity that enlightens mankind. Man and life are synonymous, and when we have determined the substance of the one we shall have determined the nature of the other.

Looking back we see man commanding respect just in proportion to his mental growth. Retracing the

steps that man has taken we see how he has developed. Not long since, a showman, exhibiting in one of the western United States of America became angry with one of his exhibits and struck it a blow that ended its life. It was an animal type that manifests human traits to the extent that it becomes a curiosity. The question was raised: Did he kill a man or a beast? Man has made a legal code for himself in which he places himself above the animal. If an animal is killed, the owner must be reimbursed in money, or its equivalent. If a man is killed, a life must be forfeited to the state. Unconsciously mankind has recognized the origin of mental species in this law. Reasoning from this viewpoint, mankind becomes man when he is able to defend himself by mental argument. The enslaved races were regarded as animals, and often treated as such. When given their freedom they were regarded in the same way, and only commanded respect as they became able to defend themselves through their developed mental powers.

The question is: What raised mankind from the sluggishness of animalism to the keen alertness and broad comprehension of enlightened man? This reasoning leads to the conclusion that man is born in mind, develops in mind and lives in mind. This is the contention of the theory of the origin of mental species. Moreover, we learn that the process and development of the body, or matter, have nothing to do with man, but on the other hand, the growth of man affects the development of the body. This process and development will cause us to consider many features of evolution, learn the nature of their activities and determine something of the power that impels them.

In tracing the origin of mental activity we will be compelled to give some time and thought to the process and development necessary to the birth of mental species. Besides, we must account for the different degrees of intelligence, why they were arrested and the effect on the forms that have been retarded in this way. Moreover, we must account for the phenomena seen in the tendency of the animal to stand erect in proportion as his mental powers increase. The missing links in the process of the ages must be accounted for and their ultimate development must be anticipated. However, this must not be theoretical, conjectural, or speculative. It must be done by extending the principle that develops mental powers throughout all obvious activities.

At the present time when the whole world is devastated by war, the sufficiency of our institutions is questioned. Even religious people, both lay and professional, are humbled. People are asking in all sincerity wherein we are deficient. The study of nature has uncovered much that is useful in the domain of material activities. Even our marvelous knowledge of chemistry is put to the most monstrous abuses. The question naturally arises: Why do we do this? Not until more attention is given to the development of mental species will this question be answered. Moreover, psychological

1In the Study of the evolution of animal life too much attention has been given to the investigation of anatomy. The origin, growth and variation of functions reveal no missing links in the processes of mental evolution. Moreover, limiting ourselves to obvious anatomy and the microscope has restricted our field of observations and caused us to run off to speculative psychology. Had we extended these investigations along biological lines we would have found that much of what is now classed under the head of psychology is purely physiological and susceptible of exact determination, and much of what has been classed under psychology is merely evanescent phenomena and of no real value whatever.

investigations that begin with human concept and likewise end there, only set up false schools of reasoning to war with each other. Only by going to the bottom, or, correctly speaking, by going beyond evanescent attenuations of matter which have been heretofore regarded as mind, and learning something of the origin of mental powers, will we ever be able to learn their process of development. We must learn where the destructive is born and why it wars with the constructive; by what process it originated, and learn how to overcome it in an intelligent way. Moreover, we must learn the nature and substance of the constructive or good. Since the human concept of good varies with people and conditions, we must find a principle by which this can be done whereby good may take precedence over evil in this life. There must be an Absolute good and when we have determined this, we will have a scientific base on which to build.

We have been taught to love our enemies, and there are millions of men at war today who have not the slightest enmity for one another. The sociologist says it is loving our enemies that is the cause of all of the trouble. In fact, anomalous as it may seem, these men who are killing one another have at times of truce or interposition of human expediency, manifested great love for each other. Viewed in a speculative manner, the exploration of the field of mental powers promises interesting work as well as large rewards.

Unfortunately, and this is a word we will be compelled to repeat often, life cannot be outlined with our language as the words are defined today. There is, however, a language that will enable the student to see what

is meant by life. This language can be acquired by giving each word an immaterial significance as well as a material meaning. The symbol must give way to the immaterial ideal symbolized. This effort will be one of the purposes of our work, and its most difficult feature. To do so, we will be compelled to view life from many angles. These symbols, material images, human concepts and similitudes must serve, by comparison, to suggest the existence of the fundamental idea. This fundamental idea, when understood, dissolves the symbol and thereby man sees the real substance of life, which is unaffected by the transformation of the obvious. An invisible substance which has no positive, no negative and no neutral, is the principle and design of the obvious, and a consciousness of this fact dissolves the obvious. Such a consciousness is possible to us here and now. To develop the consciousness necessary to this realization, is a part of the determination of the Origin of Mental Species.