52 CEREBRAL FORCES. [i. 



tions, or the imaginations themselves (Baiimgarten, §§ 445, 446), 

 their material ideas are less energetic than those of either (53). 

 Still, the stronger the foreseeings are, the greater the strength 

 of their material ideas (26). 



74. When the material ideas of sensational foreseeings and 

 forebodings excite animal actions, the actions must in part 

 accord with those of the future external sensations, and be 

 regulated according to the strength of the ideas. 



75. Sensational foreseeings and forebodings are often pro- 

 duced in dreaming and in insanity (Baumgarten, § 458). What 

 has been already stated generally with reference to sensational 

 foreseeings (73, 74) is equally applicable to this class, and 

 especially to those of soothsayers, — persons who have skill in 

 foreseeing the future (Baumgarten, § 456). 



Understanding, 



76. The aggregate of the sensational powers of the mind {^Q) 

 is termed the sensational perceptive power ; and the true ex- 

 ternal sensations, as well as the other sensational conceptions, 

 are sensational perceptions [Erkenntnisse] . All conceptions 

 which are only remotely determined by external sensations 

 (65, 66), are termed conceptions of the understanding [the 

 higher perceptive faculty); the faculty of judgment, of intel- 

 lectual memory, of prevision, &c., belong to this class. The 

 material ideas of all these conceptions are not developed directly, 

 either by external impressions, or by the material ideas which 

 they produce; but are impressed on the brain by the most 

 spontaneous action of the mind, and are developed by the very 

 obscure mechanism of the animal-sentient forces (6, 27). 



77. Attention (the directing of the mind to anything) is 

 such an application of the mind, that it retains a certain con- 

 ception, while it neglects the rest. During attention, the 

 material ideas of a certain conception are retained when those 

 of the other conceptions become w^eak, or disappear ; and the 

 greater the attention, the more vigorous are the material ideas 

 and their operations. This turning of the conceptive force from 

 other inferior conceptions, in behalf of that to which the mind 

 attends, is termed abstraction, and a continuous act of attention 

 to the components of an entire conception or perception, is 



