48 CEREBRAL FORCES. [i. 



in another aspect, as follows : when the animal- sentient force 

 of the brain is frequently excited into action by various material 

 external sensations derived from external impressions (which must 

 be very compound movements in the brain, since they consist 

 of so many sub-impressions), it partly renews these material 

 external sensations by means of the inner animal mechanism 

 of the cerebral medulla, in conjunction with the free-will opera- 

 tion of its own conceptive force, although it cannot develope 

 them fully without the aid of the external impressions. These 

 spontaneous conceptions, which are nothing more than incom- 

 plete external sensations, are imaginations ^ so far as they 

 appertain to antecedent external sensations^ and anticipations, 

 so far as they may belong to future external sensations. Con- 

 sequently, so soon as the conceptive force has attained to that 

 degree of perfection by means of external sensations, that it 

 can of itself form imaginations and anticipations, it is led to 

 re-perceive an antecedent external sensation by every new ex- 

 ternal sensation that has something in common with the latter; 

 the material ideas of the antecedent sensation being again, in 

 some degree, excited into activity. It can, however, conceive 

 the antecedent sensation again only so far as is possible with- 

 out the aid of the antecedent external impression; and the 

 animal-sentient force of the brain also co-operates therewith in 

 renewing each material external sensation, but only so far as 

 is possible without the entire antecedent external impression ; 

 there being only some of its sub-impressions in the existing 

 similar impression. Now the spontaneous conceptions which 

 are developed by external sensations in the way just described, 

 whether directly or secondarily, are termed sensational concep- 

 tions in the true sense of the word (32) [sinnliche im eigentlichen 

 Verstande].^ There are also sensational imaginations ^ndi fore- 

 seeing s. When sensational conceptions, acting in the same way 

 as external sensations, excite other spontaneous conceptions, 

 the conceptions thus produced are termed less sensational, 



' The word sinnlich may clearly be used here in the sense of semational, — see 

 ante § 31 note, and § 34 ; but it strictly implies that the class of conceptions or act 

 of thought referred to are sinnlich, because necessarily dependent upon a sinnlich 

 impression. Hence the term " sensational," as used in this work, must be considered 

 to have a double meaning, expressive both of the origin of certain acts of mind (or 

 conceptions), and of their nature. 



