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n the former are weakened or temporarily suspended？ It has； at any rate； been observed that they are hardly ever exercised simultaneously。 Are we to believe that； at a given moment； mankind or the genius that presides over its destinies had to make an exclusive and awful choice between cerebral energy and the mysterious forces of the subconsciousness and that we still find traces of its hesitations in our organism？ What would have become of a race of man in which the subconsciousness had triumphed over the brain？ Is not this the case with animals； and would not the race have remained purely animal？ Or else would not this preponderance of a subconscious more powerful than that of the animals and almost independent of our body have resulted in the disappearance of life as we know it； and should we not even now be trading the life which we shall probably lead when we are dead？ Here are a number of questions to which there are no answers and which are nevertheless perhaps not so idle as one might at first believe。
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Amidst this antagonism； whose triumph are we to hope for？ Is any alliance between the two opposing forces for ever impossible so long as we are in the flesh？ What are we to do meanwhile？ If a choice be inevitable； which way will our choice incline； and which victim shall we sacrifice？ Shall we listen to those who tell us that there is nothing more to be gained or learnt in those inhospitable regions where all our bewildering phenomena have been known since man first was man？ Is it true that occultismas it is very improperly called； for the knowledge which it seeks is no more occult than any otheris it true that occultism is marking time； that it is becoming hopelessly entangled in the same doubtful facts and that it has not taken a single step forward since its renaissance more than fifty years ago？ One must be entirely ignorant of the wonderful efforts of those fruitful years to venture upon such an assertion。 This is not the place to discuss the question； which would require full and careful treatment； but we may safely say that until now there is no science which in so short a time has brought order out of such a chaos； ascertained； checked and classified such a quantity of facts； or more rapidly awakened； cultivated and trained in man certain faculties which he had never seriously been believed to possess； and furthermore none which has caused to be recognized as incontestable and thus introduced into the circle of the realities whereon we base our lives a number of unlikely phenomena which had hitherto been contemptuously passed over。 We are still； it is true； waiting for the domestication of the new force； its practical application to daily use。 We are waiting for the all…revealing； decisive manifestation which will remove our last doubts and throw light upon the problem down to its very source。 But let us admit that we are likewise waiting for this manifestation in the great majority of sciences。 In my case； we are already in the presence of an astonishing mass of well…weighed and verified materials which； until now； had been taken for the refuse of dreams； fragments of wild legends； meaningless and unimportant。 For more than three centuries； the science of electricity remained at very much the same point at which our psychical sciences stand to…day。 Men were recording； accumulating； trying to interpret a host of odd and futile phenomena； toying with Ramsden's machine； with Leyden jars； with Volta's rough battery。 They thought that they had discovered an agreeable pastime； an ingenious plaything for the laboratory or study； and they had not the slightest suspicion that they were touching the sources of an universal； irresistible； inexhaustible power； invisibly present and active in all things； that would soon invade the surface of our globe。 Nothing tells us that the psychic forces of which we are beginning to catch a glimpse have not similar surprises in store for us； with this difference； that we are here concerned with energies and mysteries which are loftier； grander and doubtless fraught with graver consequences； since they affect our eternal destinies； traverse alike our life and our death and extend beyond our planet。
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It is not true therefore that the psychical sciences have said their last word and that we have nothing more to expect from them。 They have but just awakened or reawakened； and； to postdate Guyau's prediction by a hundred years； we might say； with them in our minds； that the twentieth century 〃will end with discoveries as ill…formulated but perhaps as important in the moral world as those of Newton and Laplace in the astronomical world。〃 But； though we have much to hope from them； that is no reason why we should look to them for everything and abandon in their favour that which has brought us where we are。 The choice of which we spoke； between the brain and the subconsciousness； has been made long ago； and it is not our part to make it over again。 We are carried along by a force acquired in the course of two or three thousand years； and our methods； like our intellectual habits； have of themselves become transformed into sort of minor subconsciousness superposed upon the major subconsciousness and sometimes mingling with it。 Henri Bergson； in his very fine presidential address to the Society for Psychical Research on the 28th of May； 1913； said that he had sometimes wondered what would have happened if modern science； instead of setting out from mathematics； instead of bringing all its forces to converge on the study of matter； had begun by the consideration of mind； if Kepler； Galileo and Newton； for instance； had been psychologists：
〃We should certainly；〃 said he； 〃have had a psychology of which to…day we can form no idea； any more than before Galileo we could have imagined what our physics would be； a psychology that probably would have been to our present psychology what our physics is to Aristotle's。 Foreign to every mechanistic idea； not even conceiving the possibility of an explanation； science would have enquired into； instead of dismissing a priori facts； such as those which you study； perhaps 'psychical research' would have stood out as its principal preoccupation。 The most general laws of mental activity once discovered （as； in fact； the fundamental laws of mechanics were discovered）； we should have passed from mind； properly so…called； to life； biology would have been constituted； but a vitalist biology； quite different from ours； which would have sought behind the sensible forms of living beings the inward； invisible force of which the sensible forms are the manifestations。〃
It would therefore in the very first days of its activity have encountered all these strange problems： telepathy； materializations； clairvoyance； miraculous cures； knowledge of the future； the possibility of survival； interplanetary intelligence and many others； which it has neglected hitherto and which； thanks to its neglect； are still in their infancy。 But； as the human mind is not able to follow two diametrically opposite directions at the same time； it would necessarily have rejected the mathematical sciences。 A steamship coming from another hemisphere； one in which men's minds had take