CONSCIOUSNESS LIKENED TO A FIELD.--The consciousness of any moment has
been less happily likened to a field, in the center of which there is an
elevation higher than the surrounding level. This center is where
consciousness is piled up on the object which is for the moment foremost
in our thought. The other objects of our consciousness are on the margin
of the field for the time being, but any of them may the next moment
claim the center and drive the former object to the margin, or it may
drop entirely out of consciousness. This moment a noble resolve may
occupy the center of the field, while a troublesome tooth begets
sensations of discomfort which linger dimly on the outskirts of our
consciousness; but a shooting pain from the tooth or a random thought
crossing the mind, and lo! the tooth holds sway, and the resolve dimly
fades to the margin of our consciousness and is gone.
