ABSTRACT
The rudiments of the mental life lie in the organic reactions of the unborn child. At first merely vegetative, later physiological, or functional, there finally occurs in the developing embryo a gradual unification of the scattered elements within the organism, representing a synthesis of function which we might call the primary, organic, mental life. Into this original, simple, unitary, homogeneous matrix of organic consciousness there now begin those gradual depositions of extraneous experiences, caused by the organism's enforced adaptation to the external world, and these experiences constitute the nuclei of adult social consciousness. The fluid, current continuity and fulfilment, which characterised the life of the organism during the months of its repose within the protecting membranes of the maternal womb, no longer exist. The child has now entered a world of stubborn solidarity, and can maintain life in consistent comfort and security only upon a basis of relative adaptation to outer circumstance.
