cation of the points at issue was given by making the question turn not upon origin, but upon validity.

The first topic developed was what is commonly meant by Epistemology, as being the prime origin of knowledge, regarded as either individual or general. A still more extensive discussion had to be expended upon the Uniformity of Nature, taken, of course, in regard to the source of its validity.

The great Perception question is disposed of in the manner already adopted in previous handlings of the difficulty. The antithesis of Thought and Reality expressed under a variety of synonyms is minutely overhauled. The propriety of the different contrasting designations is successively canvassed, and the conclusion reached is that there is but one genuine issue traceable,—namely, what is signified under the couplings, Relative-Absolute, Knowable-Unknowable, when these are brought within the limits of actual human interest.

The chief point omitted, as passing the limits of the paper, is the building up of the Subject, otherwise expressed as" Personality," from a posteriori elements, as with the notions of Space, Time, and Cause. An attempt of this nature was subsequently made in a paper on the “Definition and Problems of Consciousness" (Mind, July, 1894).

On

I left for London on the 22nd of April. the 17th of May, I paid a visit to Dr. Tylor at Oxford, and saw through his museum, dining at his house with a large party of Oxford men. I remained in London for five weeks.

During these five weeks, I attended two meetings of the Aristotelian Society; one being occupied with a paper on "The Psychology of Sport and Play," by A. M. Ogilvie (May 13),

THE ARISTOTELIAN SOCIETY: VARIOUS CONTRIBUTIONS. 397

and the other by G. F. Stout (May 27), on "The development of the Distinction between the Physical and the Mental, considered from the Psychological point of view". In regard to the first paper, I endeavoured to widen the scope of the illustration by adducing various elements not recognized in the paper.

Dr. G. J. Stoney had given notice to the Society of a paper entitled "The Nature of Force," to be made the subject of a symposium, in which he desired me to take a part. Unfortunately, the date that suited his convenience (June 17) did not suit mine, as I was then absent from London. However, having been provided with a copy of his paper, I wrote my own observations upon it, and these were read at the meeting. I was now suffering from very great nervous exhaustion, and the composition of the paper was accomplished with no small difficulty.

On the 30th of May, we left London for Paris, on the way to Vichy, for the sake of the waters. Here we stayed for three weeks, within constant sight of the Puy-de-Dôme, celebrated in Science as well as in Geography. For my own part, I had no choice in the matter of treatment but to take the baths regularly provided, which were all tepid, as well as impregnated with saline constituents. I had little reason to suppose that such treatment

would give me the bracing that I required; but we made the most of the place, driving about in the surrounding country. On the way home, we stayed at Paris some days, and saw the huge exhibition of that year. Arriving in London on the 25th of June, I consulted Dr. James Anderson, and was assured that there was nothing seriously the matter with me, and that the nervous symptoms were merely want of tone. It was after this assurance that I gave my consent to Hunter and Bryce to be nominated as one of the Commission to be appointed in the Universities Bill then going through Committee in the House of Commons.

The following insertion was made in the two local papers :—

"Dr. Bain desires us to state, with reference to the discussion in the House of Commons on the propriety of including him in the Universities Commission, that he has been for some time pressed by both the city members to allow his name to be proposed, but held back from dread of the fatigue of so many Edinburgh journeys, with his advanced years and not strong health. Only when Government's seemingly final list was submitted, without a single man that could, by possibility, have the means of knowing our system, past and present, was his reluctance overcome. It was not merely that such a Commission could hardly help being unjust to Aberdeen in the scramble of interests, but because the misunderstandings that would arise, with no one to correct on the spot, must lead to a waste of time in correspondence and deputations, and be otherwise injurious."

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399

It was on the 17th and 25th of July that the debates and divisions on the Commission took place; Mr. Hunter's motion being defeated by large majorities. It was a fortunate circumstance that the appointment was not made, as, from what happened afterwards, I could not have regularly acted.

On the 3rd of July, we reached Aberdeen. In August, we had a week's excursion to Strathpeffer, Loch Maree, and Gareloch.

At the meeting of the General Council, in October, three new Assessors fell to be elected under the Universities Act. This gave rise to a good many meetings; and consultations wherein I was more or less involved lasted for several weeks.

On the 15th of October, I went to Crieff Hydropathic. Early in November, I was attacked by whooping-cough and laid up for nearly two months, after which, my convalescence was protracted.

SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER.

1890-1903.

THE preceding.chapter concludes Professor Bain's Autobiography. The supplementary chapter can be only a brief record of the last thirteen years of his life from 1890 till his death in September, 1903. The period divides naturally into two epochs, -which are distinguished as before and after a temporary breakdown in his health in the summer of 1896. On recovering from the illness to which he refers in the closing words of the Autobiography, his health remained normal until the month of July, 1896, and he was able to continue the course of life which he had maintained since his retirement from the Chair of Logic. In his daily walks, for many years, he had almost invariably covered a distance of not less than twelve miles; but, by this time, his walking exercise was curtailed, although still amounting to nine miles a day. He had ceased to take part in public gatherings of a social character, but he enjoyed the visits and the society of his friends; while his