Vie Mind. 981 



as to color, and affects us only by contrast or stoppage of real sensa- 

 tions. 



CHAPTER LXXXIV. 



THE MIND. 



The mind consists of three forms of nervous action; viz., conscious- 

 ness, thought, and reflex action. The nature of all these has been dis- 

 cussed in former chapters. They are all forms of motion' and not 

 things. Reflex is the term applied to nervous action which does not in- 

 volve either consciousness or thought. This action is explained in 

 chapter 59. It was shown in chapter 75 that much of the brain action 

 is performed in unconsciousness, and in chapter 82 it was shown how 

 there can be a suppression of sensibility as to nervous actions which 

 usually give rise to vivid sensation. It was pointed out in chapter 71 

 that emotions, that is, sensations strongly involving the personality, are 

 always dominant elements in the formation of the will. Without them 

 there would be no will, and if they were different the will would be dif- 

 ferent. The processes of thought, reason, &c. , that accompany the 

 emotions in the formation of the will, onty modify and regulate the en- 

 erg} T , but furnish only a small part of the original impulse. Thus sensa- 

 tions are in a measure separated from thoughts and furnish independent 

 nervous stimulations, the result of the movement of their own peculiar 

 tissues. 



These three varieties of motion all belong to the same species and are 

 physiological equivalents of the physical energy expended in their crea- 

 tion. We have no difficulty in perceiving the purely mechanical nature 

 of reflex action, and even of perception, reason, will, and the processes 

 of thought generally. They are all seen to consist of the interactions 

 of the purely physical nervous energies, which as automatically work 

 out a result as leaven does in a batch of dough. Even sensations con- 

 sidered objectively are seen to belong to the same class of phenomena 

 and to be potent and active forms of the same energ3 T , alternately con- 

 sequent and antecedent in many series of movements. It is only 

 the subjective aspect of these that is irreducible, because its reduction 

 must consist in the disintegration and destruction of the inquiring agent 

 itself, namely the sensation, as if a man should dig out his own eyes 

 for the purpose of looking at them. [See last chapter. ] 



It has been pointed out that one-fifth or more of the blood goes to the 

 brain, and the rest goes to the stomach, muscles, &c. The functions 

 of the blood relate to purely physical operations, and the large propor- 

 tion consumed by the brain show its functions to bo physical. It is, 



