324 CRITICAL NOTICES OP NEW PUBLICATIONS. 



men and brutes resemble each other in their minds almost as closely 

 as they do in the structure of their bodies, and soul must be held 

 utterly distinct from, and dissimilar to, mind. 



Now, he continues, neither of these opinions appears to admit of full 

 demonstration : whichever is adopted as affording the better explana- 

 tion of observed phenomena, the connexion between mind and body 

 is still left a distinct and unsettled question. Respecting this ques- 

 tion, two widely different views have prevailed : the one regards 

 mind as a being or essence connected with the body, though capa- 

 ble of having a distinct existence ; and, in this view, mind is said to 

 use the material organs composing the body as so many instruments 

 for fulfilling its wishes or commands. The other view considers 

 mind as having no distinct existence, but as being the mere condi- 

 tion or manifestation of functional activity in the brain, and there- 

 fore inseparable from it. In the same manner, says Mr. W. (and 

 he might have said more), sensation may be called a condition or 

 manifestation of functional activity in the nerves, and motion may 

 be said to bear the same relation to the muscles. We are further 

 informed, that neither phrenologists nor others, taken collectively, 

 adopt any of the preceding views ; they are always individual opi- 

 nions. There are phrenologists who regard mind as a mere aggre- 

 gate of faculties ; which faculties are the functions, or proceed from 

 the functional activity, of the brain : and there are many other 

 phrenologists who believe mind* to be a distinct and individual 

 existence communicating with the material world through the me- 

 dium of the brain and nerves, as so many instruments for manifes- 

 tation. The same diversity of opinion exists among those who have 

 not studied Phrenology; and consequently, in Mr. W.'s judgment, 

 the preceding definitions are to be taken as metaphysical and opi- 

 nionative, and such as can in no wise interfere with the observed 

 facts of his favourite science. Nevertheless, he concludes, it is a 

 very important point to determine whethe mind is, or merely has, 

 the faculties, and whether it is a beintr or a function. 



Phrenologists are quite agreed that all manifestations of mind di- 

 rectly depend upon the brain ; and this whether the brain be 

 regarded as the origin or the instrument of mind : hence the brain 

 is said to be the organ of mind, and the manifestation of mind to be 

 the function of the brain. This, we are told, is the first principle 

 of Phrenology, according to the usual acceptation of their science by 

 phrenologists : but it is a proposition not at all peculiar to them, for 



* Man is a three-fold being, composed of body, life, and mind. Without 

 life the body would be inert matter devoid of sensation and nutrition, and 

 mind could not be known to exist ; and without mind the living body would 

 be a mere vegetating formation, incapable of perceiving, thinking, willing, or 

 moving, and, at the same time, undesirous of immortality. Now, all this 

 being true, mind evidently is a distinct active essence, co-existent, co-rela- 

 tive, and co-efficient withthe body ; and, as is the case with light and heat, 

 its existence is discernible by man only in the results of its actions and their 

 manifestations. 



