92 FUNCTION'S OF THE BRAIN. 



in putrid flesh, or a mite in clieese, to the production of a 

 Newton or a Franklin. 



In opposition to these views, it has been contended that 

 thought is not an act of the brain, but of an immaterial 

 substance, residing in or connected with it. This birge 

 and curious structure, which, in the human subject, re- 

 ceives one fifth of all the blood sent out from tlie heart, 

 which is so peculiarly and delicately organized, nicely en- 

 veloped in successive membranes, and securely lodged in 

 a solid bony case, is left almost without an office, being 

 barely allowed to be capable of sensation. It has, indeed, 

 the easiest lot in the animal economy : it is better fed, 

 clothed, and lodged than any other part, and has less to do. 

 But its office — only one remove above a sinecure — is not a 

 very honourable one : it is a kind of porter, entrusted to 

 open the door, and introduce new comers to the master of 

 the house, who takes on himself the entire charge of receiv- 

 ing, entertaining, and employing them. 



Let us survey the natural history of the human mind — 

 its rise, progress, various fates, and decay ; and then judge 

 whether these accord best with the hypothesis of an imma- 

 terial agent, or with the plain dictates of common sense, and 

 the analogy of every other organ and function throughout 

 tlie boundless extent of living beings. 



You must bring to this physiological question a sincere 

 and earnest love of truth ; dismissing from your minds all 

 the prejudices and alarms which have been so industriously 

 connected with it. If you enter on the inquiry in the spirit 

 of the bigot and partisan, suffering a cloud of fears and 

 hopes, desires and aversions, to hang round your under- 

 standings, you will never discern objects clearly ; their co- 

 lours, shapes, dimensions, will be confused, distorted, and 

 obscured by the intellectual mist. Our business is, to in- 

 quire what is true ; not what is the finest theory ; not 

 what will supply the best topics of pretty composition and 

 eloquent declamation, addressed to the prejudices, the pas- 

 sions, and the ignorance of our hearers. We need not 



