498 INTELLECTUAL SYMBOLISM. 
slumbers, but is at all times ready to receive any impressions that are sufficient to stimu- 
late the wearied nerves into action. 
139. Consciousness has been sometimes regarded as only one of many distinct faculties 
of Mind, and an attempt has been made to show that mental operations are often carried 
on without our knowledge.* It has been said, for instance, that when we are absorbed 
in a train of thought, we may hear a clock strike without being conscious of it,—or we 
may read long passages aloud without being conscious either of the matter or meaning of 
the author, or even of the exercise of our vocal organs. ‘There are also authentic cases 
reported of soldiers marching, and of stenographers reporting evidence and debates while 
they were asleep, and therefore, it is said, in a state of entire unconsciousness. 
140. Such instances, however, are evidences only of forgetfulness more or less entire, 
and they tend rather to prove that Consciousness is always active even during the greatest 
physical torpor, than to show that it is ever wholly absent. ‘The mind may be so fully 
absorbed that we do not hear the striking of a clock, but if we do hear it, we must at the 
moment know that we hear it, though it may produce so slight an impression that we 
may forget immediately afterwards whether we heard it or not. So in reading or writing, 
we must know at the time that we recognize the form of every word, though the words 
themselves convey to us no idea of their meaning, and leave no trace upon our memory. ] 
141. As all scientific investigation should exclude from the field of its inquiry every- 
thing that is known to be beyond its reach, and everything that is merely speculative, we 
should, if possible, so limit the terms that we employ, as to confine our researches strictly 
to the territory that we may reasonably hope to explore. In accordance with this princi- 
ple, the Natural Philosopher, because he cannot conceive of matter apart from impenetra- 
bility, mertia, and extension, defines matter as a substance impenetrable, inert, and extended. 
In like manner, as we cannot conceive of mind, either as possessed of any of the attributes 
of matter, or as devoid of consciousness, we may define it as the form of immaterial sub- 
stance, which is manifested in Consciousness.t 
142. The acquisition of isolated facts is the earliest, easiest, and simplest form of pro- 
* For a good presentation of the argument in favor of this view, see Wayland, pp. 110-118. Rauch says, pp. 
110, 115, ‘‘ Yet Consciousness is not annihilated, but continued as dreams indicate, and as the possibility of awak- 
ing at a certain hour sufficiently proves. . . . . . The mind sleeps; it is for a time in a state of unconsciousness, 
while at the same time it has not in the least lost its consciousness; this has only become latent, or is for a time 
veiled.” 
+ “We not only feel, but we know that we feel; we not only act, but we know that we act; we not only 
think, but we know that we think. .... Consciousness is this interior light which illuminates ‘everything that 
takes place in the soul; Consciousness is the accompaniment of all our faculties, and thus to speak, their echo.” 
Cousin : Hist. of Mod. Phil., Vol. I, p. 322. 
