Psychology proved by physical science / abstracted from a paper by James Croll ; read to the Psychological Society of Great Britain, Thursday, March 15, 1877, by the President.

  • Croll, James, 1821-1890.
Date:
[1877]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Psychology proved by physical science / abstracted from a paper by James Croll ; read to the Psychological Society of Great Britain, Thursday, March 15, 1877, by the President. 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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    force, what is it ? But if this something is not a force, it follows that there is something else to be known than mere force before wc can penetrate the mystery of nature. Endeavour to conceive of a force directed by a force, and you will find the determination of tbe force to result, not from the supposed force, but from the way in which the actual force acts. Apply this to the structure of organic form, and what is the result ? Says Mr. Croll : We have been accustomed to speak of organic forms being built up particle by particle by the play of molecular forces; aud probably most of those who know little about science imagine that scientific men attach some clear and definite idea to such a statement. They naturally conclude that the scientific physicist understands in some way or other how, and in what way, these forces may be conceived to build up the structure; and they_no doubt would feel surprised were they told, what in reality is the plain truth, that the physicist who uses those terms knowB just as little about how the play of forces can build up an organic structure as he does himself. The idea has gained a footing that the thing is done in some way or other by forces: and although in the mean time we cannot com- pr eh end the manner in which it is done, yet we imagine that at some future day all will be plain. His third proposition is “ That all the Energies and Forces of Nature are notably the same, and differ only in regard to their modes of operation.” This proposition he illustrates thus : This follows as a consequence from the principle of the Con- servation of Energy, viz., that the sum total of the energies in nature remains constant, the amount neither being increased nor diminished. Suppose now that two substances (say, oxygen and hydrogen) combine chemically. Heat is evolved as a consequence. The energy in the form of heat is derived from the energy in the form of chemical combination. The energy which disappears in chemical combination reappears as heat. We have first chemical energy [182]