Weekly Trinity journal., 1857-07-25
Man and his Mind.

We are not troubled with the slightest scintil-
lation of a doubt that the greatest interest for
man and his mind is entertained by ladies and
philosophers and If this is the case generally
in America it is unexceptionably so-for here
the ladies belong to the charmed circle of intel
ligeuce which, in the main, is monopolized in Eu-
rope by the nobility and the saUaas 1t is not
material whether MAN is considered at the head
Of the intellectual scale Of entitles-as the only
animal accountable to an HEREAFTER-or as
husband or lover in either and all cases it is
questionable whether he has hitherto been sub
ject Of sufficient interest and in these days Of
oD,nibusss and tromans rights-to say nothing Of
crinoline war-we wish to be heard upon man and
bis mind
"The natural history Of man is yet in its in
fancy so much so that we cannot presume to
give even a complete outline Of the subject.
While the extreme aaUiHtiF Of innumerable natu-
raj productions have been studied and developed
with the exactcst precision in every age Of the
world, the human subject alone has been neglect
ed. Ii is only within the last century that this
science has received its due share Of attention.
D." To describe man as q thinking being or.
as Franklin termed him. a tool making animal
to say that be is beautifully and wonderfully
made that he is being of ten thousand
strings is merely to throw forth an imperfect
shadow Of what he really is. The supposition Of
man being a continuation and perfection Of a
systametic gradatol Of animal life is one of
those hypothetical bubbles that attracts the eye
Of the imagination only until the mind by dis
seyerng and digesting The subject, Joint by Joint
fragment by fragment, discovers its inevitable
absurd.tjes, contradictions impossibilities Man
is uudeniably distinct genius. Man, made in
the image Of his Creator, mere development of
Of the beast, which his natural superiority has
subjected to control and subscrvency Man, the
structure Of whose body has adapted him to stand
erect, and face, with all the congGniality of
semi angel, the high and mighty heavens from
lsf4Ffg hf4l- tra
and bids, by the lightnngs flash, but grade
above the brute whose head is bowed 10 the
earth, as symbolic Of his sensualty and inferior
ity Inconsistent in the extreme
" The striking difference existing between the
Inhabitants of different regions Of the globe both
bodily and mentally, may be accounted for by
the influence OF physical and moral causes in
which case they will only form varieties Of the
same species. Notwithstanding the wonderful
arrangement of mans physical structure. the
agreement Of his solids and fluids the complex
uniformity Of bones, cartilcges, ligaments. mem
brancs, muscles, tcndons, viscera glands, nerves,
etc, there is the human mind, the ethereal man,
the link that connects the terrestrial being with
the uncertain subimties of another world. IT
is the cultivation Of development of this that
mctamorphOsos the pigmes in intellect into Pla-
tos, Arstotes and CceroS--into Lockes and
NeWtons IL Is necessary. in order to form an
idea Of the mind, to divide it into the scnsorium
or organized subsance--and the constious or
precjpjent principle. The senscrium, by whose
motions or other changes without any further
medium, consciousness is excited. is composed of
what may be called the mental organs 1t is not
possible so to explain the prcopient division.
By the whole we understand the mind leaving it
undecided whether consciousness ia property of
/ organized matter and, also, whether the sense
rum be, or be not, the mydullary substance Of
the brain.
" The changes in the mental organs we shall
call sensoral changes. which may lie produced by
the impression Of external objects upon the or
gans Of sense and termed sensible changes 9th
crs are pr0ducible without the presence Of cXtcr-
nal ohicc!s--yiz., ideal changes the relicts Of
sensible changes thirdly, motory changes, which
are followed by muscular action. Each Of these
classes Of scnsoral changes may take place with
out consciousness. AS confrmatory Of notary
changes. DR.. Pcrcival relates strange instance,
which occurred in bis own practice THE Coun-
tess Of - fell into an apoploXy about seven o.
clock in the morning. Among other stimulating
applications directed feather. dipped in harts-
horn, to be frequently introduced into her nos
trils. Her lady,hip, when in health. was much
addicted to the taking Of snuff, and the present
irritation Of the olfactory nerves produced
jancturc Of the torefnger aud thumb Of the right
hand, the elevation Of them to the nose. and the
action Of snufing in the nostrils. When the
snufing ceased. the band and arm dropped down
in torpid state Should this study be 50 dis
tressingly ncglectcdW