and inapplicable." The air[1], moving in currents, was said
to be wind;" and, when at rest, it was supposed, like
all else, when either in excess or deficiency, to be with-
drawn from sentient perception.
CHAPTER XII.
Note 1, p. 125. It is the primal organ, &c.] Philo-
ponus and Simplicius, according to some commentators,
believed that the "mind" was the organ or principle
here alluded to; but Saint Hilaire is disposed to regard
it as "sensibility, irrespective of any thinking principle."
Trendelenburg inquires, what means the term 'primal'
quid hoc πρῶτον? He seems, however, to consider the
mind as the special seat of the faculty in question—"quod
primum dicitur, id tacite mentem spectari videtur, quæ
propria est hujus facultatis sedes; et ea prima quidem,
si ab intimo fonte proficiscaris." It may, however, with
some confidence, be assumed that this primal organ points,
suggestively, to the brain; for it evidently implies a cen-
tral organ connected with each of the senses, and receptive
of all sentient impressions. Thus, such an organ, while
receptive of form, may well be said to be identical with
the object; and yet, seeing how opposed are the manifes-
- ↑ Meteorologica, I. 13. 2.
