"The brain was [the soul's] study, the heart her state room and the stomach her kitchen."
— Pope, Alexander (1688-1744); Arbuthnot, John (bap. 1677, d. 1735)
Place of Publication
Dublin
Publisher
Printed by and for George Faulkner
Date
1741
Metaphor
"The brain was [the soul's] study, the heart her state room and the stomach her kitchen."
Metaphor in Context
In this design of Martin to investigate the diseases of the mind, he thought nothing so necessary as an enquiry after the seat of the soul; in which at first he laboured under great uncertainties. Sometimes he was of opinion that it lodged in the brain, sometimes in the stomach, and sometimes in the heart. Afterwards he thought it absurd to confine that sovereign lady to one apartment, which made him infer that she shifted it according to the several functions of life. The brain was her study, the heart her state room and the stomach her kitchen. But as he saw several offices of life went on at the same time, he was forced to give up this hypothesis also.
He now conjectured it was more of the dignity of the soul to perform several operations by her little ministers, the animal spirits, from whence it was natural to conclude that she resides in different parts according to different inclinations, sexes, ages, and professions. Thus in epicures he seated her in the brain, soldiers in their hearts, women in their tongues, fiddlers in their fingers, and rope-dancers in their toes.
At length he grew fond of the glandula pinealis, dissecting many subjects to find out the different figure of this gland, from whence he might discover the cause of the different tempers in mankind. He supposed that in factious and restless-spirited people he should find it sharp and pointed, allowing no room for the soul to repose herself; that in quiet tempers it was flat, smooth and soft, affording the soul as it were an easy cushion. He was confirmed in this by observing that calves and philosophers, tigers and statesmen, foxes and sharpers, peacocks and fops, cock sparrows and coquettes, monkeys and players, courtiers and spaniels, moles and misers, exactly resemble one another in the conformation o fthe pineal gland. He did not doubt likewise to find the same resemblance in highwaymen and conquerors. In order to satisfy himself in which, it was that he purchased the body of one of the first species (as hath before related) at Tyburn; hoping in time to have the happiness of one of the latter too, under his anatomical knife
(Chapter XII, pp. 59-60)
He now conjectured it was more of the dignity of the soul to perform several operations by her little ministers, the animal spirits, from whence it was natural to conclude that she resides in different parts according to different inclinations, sexes, ages, and professions. Thus in epicures he seated her in the brain, soldiers in their hearts, women in their tongues, fiddlers in their fingers, and rope-dancers in their toes.
At length he grew fond of the glandula pinealis, dissecting many subjects to find out the different figure of this gland, from whence he might discover the cause of the different tempers in mankind. He supposed that in factious and restless-spirited people he should find it sharp and pointed, allowing no room for the soul to repose herself; that in quiet tempers it was flat, smooth and soft, affording the soul as it were an easy cushion. He was confirmed in this by observing that calves and philosophers, tigers and statesmen, foxes and sharpers, peacocks and fops, cock sparrows and coquettes, monkeys and players, courtiers and spaniels, moles and misers, exactly resemble one another in the conformation o fthe pineal gland. He did not doubt likewise to find the same resemblance in highwaymen and conquerors. In order to satisfy himself in which, it was that he purchased the body of one of the first species (as hath before related) at Tyburn; hoping in time to have the happiness of one of the latter too, under his anatomical knife
(Chapter XII, pp. 59-60)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
At least 16 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1741, 1742, 1752, 1756, 1757, 1758, 1761, 1764, 1766, 1767, 1768, 1772, 1774, 1778, 1779, 1789). Republished in the Works of Pope and of Swift.
See Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus. By Mr. Pope (Dublin: Printed by and for George Faulkner, 1741). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Reading Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus (London: Hesperus Press, 2002). [From which much of my text was originally transcribed.]
See Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus. By Mr. Pope (Dublin: Printed by and for George Faulkner, 1741). <Link to ECCO-TCP>
Reading Memoirs of the Extraordinary Life, Works, and Discoveries of Martinus Scriblerus (London: Hesperus Press, 2002). [From which much of my text was originally transcribed.]
Theme
Soul's Location; Pineal Gland
Date of Entry
05/18/2004
Date of Review
02/25/2009
