have outlined the way in which the soul or mind operates upon the physical
instrument of its expression, and it resolves itself into this--that the
mental action inaugurates a series of vibrations in the etheric body which,
in their turn, induce corresponding grosser vibrations in the molecular
substance until finally mechanical action is produced on the outside. Now
transferring this idea to Nature as a whole we shall see that if our mental
action is to affect it in any way it can only be by the response of
something at the back of material substance analogous to mind in ourselves;
and that there is such a "something" interior to the merely material side
of Nature is proved by what we may call the Law of Tendency, not only in
animals and plants, but even in inorganic substances, as shown for instance
in Professor Bose's work on the Response of Metals. The universal presence
of this Law of Tendency therefore indicates the working of some
non-material and, so to say, semi-intelligent power in the material world,
a power which works perfectly accurately on its own lines so far as it
goes, that is to say in a generic manner, but which does not possess that
Personal power of _individual selection_ which is necessary to bring out
the infinite possibilities hidden in it. This is what is meant by the Soul
of Nature, and it is for this reason I employ that term instead of saying
the material universe. Which term to employ all depends on the mode of
action we are contemplating. If it is construction from without, then we
are dealing with the purely material universe. If we are seeking to bring
about results by the exercise of our mental power from within, then we are
dealing with the Soul of Nature. It is that control of the lower degree of
intelligence by the higher of which I have spoken in my Edinburgh Lectures.

If we realize what I have endeavored to make clear in the earlier portion
of this book, that the whole creation is produced by the operation of the
Divine Will upon the Soul of Nature, it will be evident that we can set no
limits to the potencies hidden in the latter and capable of being brought