FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 291 
seen a spaniel exhibit all the ecstacy of joy when he observed 
his master put on any article of dress which he was accus- 
tomed to wear during the hours of sport. These things 
recalled to him the enjoyments of the field, as distinctly as 
the sight of the gun. We see the same animal practising , 
an attempt at recollection, by smelling at a stranger, and 
at last, after many efforts, recognizing him as an old friend. 
We have not the means of determining whether former 
impressions arise spontaneously in the mind of the inferior 
animals, or whether all the acts of memory be brought 
about by the excitements of present sensations. We know 
very imperfectly the nature of those spontaneous efforts of 
the memory, as they take place in our own minds; so that 
our reasonings on this subject, in reference to the brutes, 
must be of a doubtful kind. Indeed it is probable, that 
these spontaneous recollections are not purely mental pro- 
eesses, but have their rise in some of those organical cir- 
cumstances which excite and frequently regulate our trains 
of thought. 
3. Imag ination.— The proper business of imagination is to 
decompose our impressions or ideas; to exhibit a part of any 
one of these, divested of its original associations, or in union 
with a portion of some other impression or idea. In per- 
formmg these analytical and synthetical operations, the 
powers of attention and memory are indispensably requi- 
site. ‘The former fixes the mind on a particular quality, 
the latter recalls our ideas of other qualities with which 
we wish it to be united. The combinations which we thus 
form, influence the mind in a similar manner to an original 
impression. We can fix our attention upon their charac- 
ters, and store them up, so as to be able to recall them at 
a future period. 
