THE NERVOUS SYSTEM. 473 



by Cuvier 18 . " The impression of external objects 

 upon the ME, the production of a sensation, of an 

 image, is a mystery impenetrable for our thoughts." 

 And in several places, by the use of this peculiar 

 phrase, "the me" (le moi,) for the sentient and 

 volent faculty, he marks with peculiar appropriate- 

 ness and force that phraseology borrowed from the 

 world of matter will, in this subject, no longer 

 answer our purpose. We have here to go from 

 nouns to pronouns, from things to persons. We 

 pass from the body to the soul, from physics to 

 metaphysics. We are come to the borders of mate- 

 rial philosophy; the next step is into the domain of 

 thought and mind. Here, therefore, we begin to 

 feel that we have reached the boundaries of our 

 present subject. The examination of that which 

 lies beyond them must be reserved for a philosophy 

 of another kind, and for the labours of the future ; 

 if we are ever enabled to make the attempt to 

 extend into that loftier and wider scene, the prin- 

 ciples which we gather on the ground we are now 

 laboriously treading. 



Such speculations as I have quoted respecting 

 the nervous fluid, proceeding from some of the 

 greatest philosophers who ever lived, prove only 

 that hitherto the endeavour to comprehend the 

 mystery of perception and will, of life and thought, 

 have been fruitless and vain. Many anatomical 

 truths have been discovered, but, so far as our 

 18 Regne Animal, Introd. p. 47- 



