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effects of it, (cessation of voluntary motion, and so 

 on,) but what is the thing itself, the cause of these 

 effects? What is dreaming? By what criterion 

 can we distinguish dreams from waking thoughts 1 

 I mean, by what means may a dreaming person then 

 know that lie is in a dream ? What is (the consan- 

 guineus somni) death? When do we die? You 

 say, " when the soul leaves the body/' This cannot 

 be denied. But my question is, When does the soul 

 leave the body ? When we cease to breathe, ac- 

 cording to the maxim, Nulla Spiritus, nulla vita ? 

 This will not hold ; for many have revived after re- 

 spiration was utterly ceased. When the circulation 

 of the blood stops ? Nay, neither will this hold ; 

 for many have recovered after ,the pulse was quite 

 gone. When the vital warmth ceases, and the juices 

 lose their fluidity 7 Even tins is not a certain mark; 

 for some have revived after the body was quite cold 

 and stiff: a case not uncommon in Sweden. By 

 what token, then, can we surely know 7 It seems, 

 none such can be found. God knows when th6 

 spirit returns to him ; and the spirit itself: but none 

 that dwells in a body. 



What cause have we then to adore the wisdom of 

 God, who has so exactly proportioned our know- 

 ledge to our state? We may know whatever is 

 needful for life, or godliness, whatever is necessary 

 either for our present, or eternal happiness. But 

 bow little beside, can the most penetrating genius 



