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remarked, that although both of them are necessary for the functions of the most perfect animals, yet we can easily conceive that simple existence may for some time be sustained without the intervention of any of the faculties which originate from the nervous system, but that the nervous system cannot act for the shortest interval without a due supply of blood from the heart, or some analogous organ. Upon the whole therefore, we are to regard the heart as the centre of the animal frame, which seems to unite the various functions, however different in their nature and operations, into one connected vital system." Vol. xv. p. 634.

In the great dispute among physiologists of the last century on the question whether the nerves are necessarily concerned in muscular contraction, "Haller adduced cases of acephalous foetuses, which had yet grown to their full size, and seemed to possess the various vital functions in a perfect state; so that they must have enjoyed muscular contractility, although totally des titute of a brain. He also referred to the fact that the heart is a muscular organ in perpetual motion, and capable of strong contraction, yet scantily furnished with nerves, and almost destitute of feeling. It was also advanced as a strong proof that muscular contraction may be independent of the nerves and brain, that muscular parts remain contractile for a considerable time after they are removed from the body, and of course when their communication with the brain is destroyed: and this is particularly the case with the heart itself, which in many of the amphibia and cold blooded animals, remains susceptible of the impression of stimulants for some hours after its separation from the body." p. 630.

"Dr. W. Philip showed by a series of elaborate experiments that muscular parts, and in particular the heart, can continue to contract for an indefinite period after the complete destruction of both the brain and spinal cord." p. 631.

After viewing the whole discussion, the writer of the article in the Encyclopedia says "We conceive it to be clearly proved by Dr. Philip, that there are a large class of muscular parts which have but little connection with the nervous system, or are only occasionally under its influence. This is the case, with the parts which are not under the control of the will, and especially with the organs which are concerned in those functions, which, in their ordinary healthy action, do not produce perception," i. e., all the organs that are concerned in the formation and circulation of the blood.

The whole of this testimony goes to show that the sanguineous system is primary, and the nervous system secondary; and consequently the spiritual power which moves the first wheel in the whole corporeal machinery, must have its place at the centre of the sanguineous system, i. e., in the middle region of the trunk.

Dr. Hunter came to the borders of this very theory, by a course of reas oning in relation to the coagulation of the blood, the details of which we need not here present. "He supposed that the blood is not merely the substance which gives life to the animal, by carrying to all parts what is necessary for their support and preservation, but that it is itself a living, organized body, and even the peculiar seat in which the vitality of the whole system resides."

We are now prepared to hear the testimony of the Bible on this subject; God is certainly the best of all witnesses, in questions relating to his own workmanship; and we conceive that he has testified on the point under discussion, very distinctly and peremptorily. The doctrine that the blood is the vehicle of life, or in the language of Dr. Hunter, is the peculiar seat of the vitality of the whole system,' is so plainly taught in the following passages, that we cannot but wonder that any difference of opinion should have ever existed among professedly Christian physiologists.

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"Whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his pcople. For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast, or fowl that may be eaten, he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof." Lev. 17: 10-14.

That the life of man is in his blood, and of course that the spiritual centre is not in the brain, but in the middle region of the body, will appear if we consider the process of his original creation. The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.' Gen. 2: 7. We perceive by this account that the original elements of human nature were simply the dust of the ground,' and 'the breath of life;' or, in other words, spirit and matter.— Our question is-Whereabouts in the body of Adam, did these two substances come together? The account clearly points to the answer. The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.' The nostrils are the channel, not to the brain, but to the lungs, and through them to the blood. "The breath of life,' then, first entered the blood; and the point of junction was within the thorax.

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It does not necessarily follow from what has been said, that the fleshly organ on the left side of the body, commonly called the heart, is the seat of the spirit. That organ is only one among several agents that are employed in the preparation and distribution of the blood. All the great viscera as truly belong to the sanguineous system, as the heart. The stomach, the liver, the pancreas, and the lungs, are the real generators of the blood. The office of the heart is chiefly mechanical. In determining the location of the spirit, we should naturally have regard to the whole apparatus over which it specially presides. As it is the vital energy that moves the internal organs and impregnates the blood, its appropriate seat is at the central point of the lower part of the thorax, in the midst of all the several departments of the sanguineous system.

The correctness of this exact result, is established not only, as we have insisted, by the testimony of universal consciousness, but by the plain intimations of scripture. It may be seen by consulting a concordance, that the word heart, as used in the Bible, almost universally refers to the spiritual centre, not to the fleshly organ on the left side. We find but three instances in which the several writers apply the word to any part of the body, viz., Ex. 28: 29, 30, 2 Sam. 18: 14, and 2 Kings, 9: 24. In the two latter instances, neither the language or circumstances absolutely determine the exact part of the body referred to. But all the probable evidence that can be found in either, leads to the conclusion that the writers use the word heart to designate the middle of the person, in the same manner as it designates the middle of the earth, heaven, and sea, in Matt. 12: 40, Deut. 4: 11, Ex. 15: 8, &c. But the first of the three instances happily furnishes conclusive evidence, and that directly from God himself, in regard to the corporeal location of the heart, as that word is used in the Bible. We will quote the passage.

"Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breast-plate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth into the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. And thou shalt put in the breast-plate of judg ment the Urim and Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart when he goeth in before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually." Ex. 28: 29, 30.

To satisfy any one who may doubt about the actual position of the breastplate on the person of Aaron, we quote the following passage from Josephus' account of the priest's vestments: The High Priest put on a garment called the Ephod. Its make was after this manner: it was woven to the depth of a cubit, of several colors, with gold intermixed, and embroidered; but it left THE MIDDLE OF THE BREAST uncovered. It was made with sleeves also; nor did it appear at all differently made from a short coat. But in the void place of this garment, there was inserted a piece, of the bigness of a span, embroidered with gold and the other colors of the Ephod, and called THE BREAST-PLATE. This piece exactly filled up the void place in the Ephod." Ant. b. iii., chap. viii., §5.

Thus, in obedience to God's command that Aaron should put the breastplate on his heart, he put it on the middle of his breast. The Urim and the Thummim, the instruments by which God revealed his will, the symbols of his spiritual manifestation, stood over the spot which true physiology and universal consciousness point out as the special dwelling place of the soul.— (For other Bible hints on this subject, see Dan. 7: 15, John 7: 38.)

The heart, being the centre-point of all the faculties of body and soul, is the special seat of personal consciousness-the thing commonly signified by the pronoun I.' It is the collecting and distributing office of the whole man. As we have seen that the powers of perceiving, feeling and willing pertain to the whole life, so they are especially concentrated in this radiating point. In fact it is from this point that all the growth and manifestations of life originally proceed, as the stalk and branches of a plant proceed from

the germ. Of course all the powers that manifest themselves in the senses, nerves, brain, muscles, &c., were first in the heart. Accordingly the Bible applies to the heart almost every form of language commonly appropriated to the senses, and other specific faculties. It is represented as seeing, hearing, understanding, reasoning, believing, speaking, &c.

The heart, then, is distinguished from the soul, thus: The soul is the whole life of man, as it exists in combination with the whole body. The heart is the centre-point of that life, situated in the middle of the body, having no material organ of manifestation, but acting upon the other departments of life as the mainspring on the wheels and hands of a watch, or as the Executive on his subordinate officers in a national government. Mark 7: 21, 22.

§ 11. ANIMAL MAGNETISM.

THIS curious science, (also called Mesmerism,) which was condemned and executed in France fifty or sixty years ago, by a report of Franklin and other scientific commissioners appointed by the government to sit in judgment upon it, has risen from the dead, and is now exciting as much interest in this country, as was excited a few years ago by Phrenology. Nor is it a subject of mere curiosity and ridicule. It claims and compels the attention of sober and learned men, and is evidently fast winning its way to general credence and respectability. Its principles seem to be as yet not fully settled. It. breaks forth from time to time in new forms, each more wonderful than any that have gone before it. Its principal advocates are yet engaged, rather in exploring its mysteries, each in a separate direction, than in bringing together their discoveries into a harmonious system. We believe that its facts (however crude and discordant may be the speculations of its professors) are overcoming materialistic skepticism, and opening a passage from the highest point of physical science, into spiritual philosophy. It is in our view the connecting link between the sciences which treat of those subtler powers of nature, called electricity, galvanism, magnetism, &c., and the science of life, animal and eternal. As such we introduce it to our readers. A view of its facts and elementary principles will help to complete our view of the Spiritual Nature of Man.

The primary idea of the science, in which all its advocates agree, is that there is a subtle fluid in the human body, in some respects like electricity, which may be transmitted in divers ways, from one to another, and under certain circumstances, may produce astonishing and beneficial effects of various kinds. The following is a brief synopsis of the most lucid and satisfactory exhibition of the subject which we have met with. It is an abstract of two lectures given by L. H. Whiting, in Putney, Vt., in connexion with a great variety of illustrative experiments:

1. The agent of motion, sensation, &c., i. e. the substance which is im mediately in communication with the mind, and which conveys its mandates to the muscles and transmits to it the impressions of the senses, is a subtle fluid, resembling electricity or galvanism. This is proved by such facts as that a dead body may be made to perform muscular motions and exhibit various phenomena of life by the application of galvanism.

2. This subtle agent, called the nervous fluid, is evolved by the apparatus of life in all animals, and radiates from them constantly, surrounding them with an atmosphere of greater or less extent, like the atmosphere of animal heat which emanates from them.

3. The developement of nervous fluid is greater in amount and power in some persons than in others, as some electrical machines generate the elec→ tric fluid more abundantly than others.

4. The passage of the nervous fluid from one person to another, takes place under the familiar law of nature by which all fluids tend to an equilibrium. As water seeks the level of the ocean-as clouds, unequally charged with electricity, send forth lightnings to each other-as a warm body imparts its heat to a colder,-so by contact, or under other favorable conditions, the nervous fluid of a person whose vital powers are strong, may pass into and possess, more or less perfectly, the body of one whose vital powers are weaker.

5. The senses and muscular powers of a person thus charged with the ner vous fluid of another, are shut off more or less perfectly from the medium of their ordinary action, viz. their own nervous fluid, and must act, if at all, in and by the nervous fluid of the magnetizer. Hence the subject sleeps, becomes insensible to the causes of sound, smell, taste, and pain, so far as they are applied directly to his own body; and sees, hears, tastes, smells, feels, &c., only as the nervous fluid of the magnetizer is affected by the causes of sensation applied to his body.

6. It is an ultimate indisputable fact that mind does control matter in certain circumstances. Within our own bodies our minds have power to set in motion the nervous fluid, so as to produce the various motions of our limbs. But in the case of magnetic possession, the nervous fluid of the magnetizer comes into a relation to the senses and faculties of another person, similar to that which it ordinarily sustains to his own. Hence his mind can set in motion his nervous fluid so as to produce motions, sensations, and thoughts, in that other person. There is no more mystery in the idea of the mind's operating beyond the limits of the body, than in the idea of its operating in the fingers' ends. The mystery is how mind can operate on matter at all; and this mystery attends not merely the facts of animal magnetism, but every motion of our bodies.

These principles account for all the most common phenomena of the magnetic state, viz. those which result from sympathy between the magnetizer and the subject. Clairvoyance involves other principles, of which we shall Bay something hereafter.

Whether this philosophy is true or not, the facts which it professes to account for are too certain and abundant to be disposed of as the tricks of jug glers. In Mr. Whiting's experiments, (which we ourselves attended,) much

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