﻿ATTENDING 
  THE 
  EXERCISE 
  OF 
  THE 
  SENSES. 
  539 
  

  

  in 
  the 
  mental 
  act 
  of 
  Sensation 
  ; 
  which 
  term 
  is 
  now 
  habitually 
  used 
  in 
  Physiology, 
  

   in 
  exactly 
  the 
  same 
  sense 
  as 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  understood 
  it.* 
  

  

  Accordingly, 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  confidently 
  asserted, 
  — 
  although 
  many 
  physio- 
  

   logists 
  speak 
  of 
  reflex 
  actions 
  as 
  not 
  necessarily 
  connected 
  with 
  sensation, 
  — 
  that 
  

   the 
  correct 
  expression 
  of 
  these 
  phenomena 
  was 
  truly 
  given 
  by 
  Cuvier, 
  in 
  his 
  Re- 
  

   port 
  to 
  the 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences 
  on 
  the 
  Memoir 
  of 
  Flourens 
  in 
  1822, 
  — 
  that 
  an 
  

   animal 
  of 
  which 
  brain 
  and 
  cerebellum 
  have 
  been 
  destroyed, 
  and 
  the 
  medulla 
  

   oblongata 
  only 
  remains 
  in 
  the 
  cranium, 
  is 
  still 
  capable 
  of 
  feeling 
  Sensation, 
  and 
  

   of 
  performing 
  those 
  acts 
  which 
  are 
  immediately 
  linked 
  with 
  sensation 
  ; 
  and, 
  in- 
  

   deed, 
  is 
  dependent 
  on 
  sensations 
  for 
  the 
  preservation 
  of 
  its 
  life, 
  which, 
  in 
  these 
  cir- 
  

   cumstances 
  has 
  been 
  preserved 
  for 
  many 
  months, 
  — 
  because 
  it 
  still 
  breathes, 
  and 
  

   still 
  swallows 
  what 
  is 
  put 
  into 
  its 
  mouth, 
  &c. 
  ; 
  but 
  that, 
  in 
  these 
  circumstances, 
  it 
  

   has 
  wo 
  recollection 
  of 
  past 
  sensations, 
  shews 
  none 
  of 
  its 
  usual 
  habits, 
  cannot 
  seek 
  for 
  

   food, 
  or 
  even 
  avoid 
  obstacles 
  placed 
  in 
  its 
  way 
  ; 
  in 
  short, 
  is 
  reduced 
  to 
  a 
  state 
  of 
  

   stupor, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  profound. 
  In 
  such 
  an 
  animal, 
  of 
  course, 
  those 
  judgments 
  

   consequent 
  on 
  sensations, 
  to 
  which 
  both 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  and 
  Dr 
  Brown 
  gave 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  

   Perceptions, 
  and 
  all 
  more 
  strictly 
  Mental 
  recollections 
  and 
  acts 
  consequent 
  on 
  

   these, 
  are 
  manifestly 
  suspended 
  ; 
  and 
  thus 
  we 
  acquire 
  the 
  certainty 
  that 
  the 
  dis- 
  

   tinction 
  of 
  Sensations 
  and 
  Perceptions, 
  which 
  we 
  have 
  seen 
  to 
  be 
  of 
  so 
  much 
  im- 
  

   portance 
  when 
  considered 
  metaphysically, 
  is 
  fully 
  confirmed 
  by 
  physiological 
  in- 
  

   quiries, 
  and, 
  I 
  may 
  add, 
  by 
  researches 
  in 
  Comparative 
  Anatomy 
  ; 
  which 
  have 
  

   proved 
  that 
  the 
  Cerebro-Spinal 
  Axis 
  is 
  the 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  structure 
  which 
  fur- 
  

   nishes 
  the 
  conditions, 
  and 
  supplies 
  the 
  instrument, 
  of 
  the 
  ones 
  et 
  of 
  mental 
  phe- 
  

   nomena; 
  and 
  the 
  Brain 
  and 
  Cerebellum, 
  superimposed 
  on 
  that 
  structure 
  within 
  the 
  

   skull, 
  are 
  those 
  which 
  minister 
  in 
  like 
  manner 
  to 
  the 
  other. 
  This 
  is, 
  in 
  fact, 
  the 
  

   only 
  conclusion, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  appropriation 
  of 
  these 
  different 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  masses 
  

   of 
  the 
  nervous 
  system 
  to 
  different 
  acts 
  or 
  states 
  of 
  mind, 
  which 
  has 
  ye 
  tbeen 
  satis- 
  

   factorily 
  established 
  ; 
  and 
  if 
  we 
  regard 
  it, 
  as 
  I 
  think 
  we 
  may, 
  as 
  an 
  important 
  

   guide 
  to 
  farther 
  inquiries 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  the 
  different 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  physical 
  

   instrument 
  concerned 
  in 
  Thought, 
  we 
  ought 
  also 
  to 
  regard 
  it 
  as 
  an 
  important 
  

   indication 
  of 
  the 
  value 
  of 
  the 
  distinctions 
  among 
  the 
  acts 
  of 
  thought, 
  with 
  which 
  

   these 
  different 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  nervous 
  system 
  are 
  connected. 
  

  

  The 
  other 
  question 
  is, 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  degree 
  of 
  modification 
  which 
  the 
  exercise 
  of 
  the 
  

   Senses, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  other 
  mental 
  acts 
  may 
  undergo, 
  in 
  several 
  anomalous 
  conditions 
  

   of 
  the 
  living 
  body, 
  especially 
  in 
  that 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  term 
  Somnambulism, 
  Extase, 
  or 
  

   Clairvoyance, 
  has 
  been 
  applied. 
  On 
  this 
  subject, 
  which 
  can 
  only 
  be 
  elucidated 
  by 
  

   very 
  carefully-conducted 
  observations, 
  — 
  always 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  impeded 
  by 
  peculiar 
  

  

  * 
  See 
  Observations 
  on 
  the 
  Physiological 
  Principles 
  of 
  Sympathy, 
  by 
  the 
  present 
  Author, 
  in 
  

   Edinburgh 
  Medico-Chirurgical 
  Transactions, 
  vol. 
  ii. 
  

  

  