Chapter 28

[73] Descartes pretends that he does not apply his views to the human body, but only to an imaginary machine which, if it could be constructed, would do all that the human body does; throwing a sop to Cerberus unworthily; and uselessly, because Cerberus was by no means stupid enough to swallow it.

[74] "Traité de l'Homme," p. 427.

[75] Compare "Traité des Passions," Art. XIII. and XVI.

[76] Bouillier, into whose excellent "History of the Cartesian Philosophy" I had not looked when this passage was written, says, very justly, that Descartes "a merité le titre de pére de la physique, aussi bien que celui de pére de la métaphysique moderne" (t. i. p. 197). See also Kuno Fischer's "Geschichte der neuen Philosophie," Bd. i.; and the very remarkable work of Lange, "Geschichte des Materialismus."--A good translation of the latter would be a great service to philosophy in England.

[77] For all the qualifications which need to be made here, I refer the reader to the thorough discussion of the nature of the relation between nerve-action and consciousness in Mr. Herbert Spencer's "Principles of Psychology," p. 115 _et seq._

[78] "And this is she who's put on cross so much, Even by them who ought to give her praise, Giving her wrongly ill repute and blame. But she is blessed, and she hears not this: She, with the other primal creatures, glad Revolves her sphere, and blessed joys herself."

_Inferno_, vii. 90-95 (W.M. Rossetti's Translation).