﻿538 
  PROFESSOR 
  ALISON 
  ON 
  THE 
  BELIEF 
  

  

  Who 
  hath 
  given 
  to 
  our 
  inward 
  parts, 
  or 
  to 
  our 
  thoughts, 
  the 
  security 
  of 
  knowledge 
  ? 
  

   i. 
  e., 
  What 
  security 
  have 
  we 
  of 
  the 
  truth 
  or 
  reality 
  of 
  knowledge, 
  which 
  we 
  can 
  

   trace 
  no 
  farther 
  than 
  certain 
  impressions 
  made 
  on, 
  and 
  changes 
  excited 
  in, 
  our 
  

   own 
  minds 
  ? 
  and 
  the 
  only 
  answer 
  which 
  the 
  context 
  will 
  admit 
  is, 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  

   no 
  security 
  but 
  the 
  will 
  of 
  our 
  Maker, 
  whereby 
  our 
  minds 
  are 
  so 
  constituted, 
  that 
  

   Belief 
  is 
  an 
  essential 
  component 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  acts 
  which 
  they 
  uniformly 
  perform, 
  

   or 
  the 
  states 
  which 
  they 
  uniformly 
  assume, 
  under 
  certain 
  circumstances 
  ; 
  which 
  in 
  

   this 
  as 
  in 
  other 
  departments 
  of 
  knowledge, 
  we 
  can 
  go 
  no 
  farther 
  than 
  to 
  specif} 
  7, 
  

   and 
  describe. 
  

  

  I 
  may 
  just 
  add, 
  that 
  there 
  are 
  two 
  questions 
  in 
  Physiology, 
  which 
  have 
  at- 
  

   tracted 
  much 
  attention 
  of 
  late 
  years, 
  and 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  think 
  a 
  just 
  view 
  cannot 
  be 
  

   taken, 
  without 
  a 
  previous 
  accurate 
  discrimination 
  of 
  those 
  mental 
  phenomena 
  

   which 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  distinguished 
  as 
  Sensations, 
  Perceptions, 
  Recollections, 
  and 
  Volun- 
  

   tary 
  Efforts. 
  The 
  first 
  regards 
  the 
  appropriation 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  masses 
  of 
  the 
  nervous 
  

   system 
  to 
  their 
  specific 
  uses 
  ; 
  and 
  first, 
  to 
  those 
  muscular 
  movements 
  which 
  are 
  

   generally 
  now 
  described 
  as 
  depending 
  on 
  the 
  Reflex 
  action 
  of 
  the 
  Spinal 
  Cord, 
  e. 
  g., 
  

   those 
  concerned 
  in 
  Respiration, 
  Deglutition, 
  and 
  the 
  various 
  actions 
  associated 
  with 
  

   those, 
  and 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  ascertained, 
  particularly 
  by 
  the 
  experiments 
  of 
  

   Flourens, 
  to 
  have 
  no 
  dependence 
  on 
  the 
  hemispheres 
  of 
  the 
  Brain 
  or 
  Cerebellum 
  ; 
  

   and, 
  accordingly 
  go 
  on, 
  even 
  for 
  months 
  together, 
  in 
  animals 
  of 
  which 
  both 
  the 
  brain 
  

   and 
  cerebellum 
  have 
  been 
  extirpated 
  ; 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  term 
  Reflex 
  Spinal 
  Action 
  may 
  be 
  

   properly 
  applied 
  to 
  them, 
  instead 
  of 
  the 
  older 
  term 
  Sympathetic 
  Action, 
  by 
  which 
  

   they 
  were 
  long 
  previously 
  distinguished. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  equally 
  certain, 
  and 
  was 
  indeed 
  

   established 
  long 
  ago, 
  by 
  Dr 
  Whytt, 
  that 
  another 
  principle 
  is 
  here 
  concerned, 
  

   which 
  goes 
  so 
  far 
  in 
  explanation 
  of 
  the 
  fact, 
  not 
  only 
  that 
  muscular 
  contractions 
  are 
  

   excited 
  by 
  this 
  reflex 
  action 
  in 
  these 
  circumstances, 
  but 
  that 
  those 
  muscles 
  are 
  se- 
  

   lected 
  for 
  this 
  purpose, 
  which 
  are 
  capable 
  of 
  performing 
  the 
  motions, 
  and 
  successions 
  

   of 
  motion, 
  requisite 
  for 
  the 
  particular 
  end 
  to 
  be 
  attained 
  in 
  each 
  case, 
  — 
  one 
  set 
  of 
  

   motions, 
  e. 
  g., 
  for 
  breathing, 
  another 
  for 
  coughing, 
  another 
  for 
  deglutition, 
  another 
  

   for 
  vomiting, 
  &c. 
  That 
  principle 
  is 
  the 
  existence 
  and 
  the 
  peculiarity 
  of 
  the 
  Sen- 
  

   sation, 
  preceding 
  and 
  attending 
  the 
  performance 
  of 
  each 
  of 
  these 
  motions. 
  The 
  proof 
  

   of 
  this 
  is, 
  that 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  these 
  cases, 
  the 
  same 
  sensation 
  may 
  be 
  excited 
  by 
  im- 
  

   pressions 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  sensitive 
  nerves 
  of 
  different 
  parts, 
  in 
  each 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  

   same 
  reflex 
  or 
  sympathetic 
  movement 
  follows 
  ; 
  while 
  in 
  others, 
  different 
  sensa- 
  

   tions 
  result 
  from 
  varied 
  impressions 
  made 
  on 
  the 
  sensitive 
  nerves 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  

   parts, 
  and 
  in 
  these 
  different 
  reflex 
  actions 
  are 
  excited. 
  It 
  appears, 
  therefore, 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  by 
  the 
  sensations 
  preceding 
  and 
  attending 
  them, 
  that 
  the 
  nature 
  and 
  inten- 
  

   sity 
  of 
  these 
  reflex 
  movements 
  are 
  determined, 
  at 
  least 
  in 
  the 
  ordinary 
  exercise 
  of 
  

   these 
  functions 
  ; 
  and 
  that 
  those 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  nervous 
  system, 
  and 
  those 
  only, 
  which 
  

   are 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  essential 
  to 
  those 
  movements, 
  must 
  be 
  those 
  which 
  are 
  concerned 
  

  

  