Scientific Sophisms. 281 



be interpreted is furnished in the human tongue 

 with an all-accomplished interpreter." But 

 whence came this " one mind which has 

 thoughts to be interpreted " ? 



What is the origin of Mind ? What is the 

 genesis of Thought ? 



1 8. For Thought is no mere "function of the 

 brain " ; nor is it " medullary matter that 

 thinks." " The function of the lung is not un- 

 intelligible ; it can be followed throughout, and 

 understood throughout. Though the peculiar- 

 ity of vitality mingles there, it can still, in a 

 certain aspect, be called a physical function, and 

 its result is of an identical nature. If, and 

 so far as, the function is physical, the result is 

 physical. So with the stomach : function and 

 result are there in the same category of being. 

 The livef is so far a physical organ that it can 

 be seen, it can be touched, it can be handled ; 

 but is it otherwise with the bile, which is the 

 result of its function ? Can it too, not be seen, 

 and touched, and handled ? Is it not essentially 

 of the same nature ? Is it not physical, in the 

 same way and to the same extent as the liver 

 is physical ? But look now to the brain, and 

 the so-called product of its function. Do we 

 any longer find the same identity of the terms ? 

 No ; the terms there are veritable extremes 



