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"We have already hinted, that for the same, or similar reasons, none of the ordinary organs of sense are qualified to receive or communicate distinct impressions, till the brain, the common emporium of them all, has acquired those properties which must fit it for its arduous offices; and, as in the case already more particularly investigated, the powers of the mind, gradually unfolding themselves simultaneously with the organs of the body which are to support them, countenance the opinion."

— Couper, Robert (1750-1818)

Author

Couper, Robert (1750-1818)

Work Title

Speculations on the Mode and Appearances of Impregnation in the Human Female: with an Examination of the Present Theories of Generation

Place of Publication

Edinburgh

Publisher

Printed for C. Eliot

Date

1789

Metaphor

"We have already hinted, that for the same, or similar reasons, none of the ordinary organs of sense are qualified to receive or communicate distinct impressions, till the brain, the common emporium of them all, has acquired those properties which must fit it for its arduous offices; and, as in the case already more particularly investigated, the powers of the mind, gradually unfolding themselves simultaneously with the organs of the body which are to support them, countenance the opinion."

Metaphor in Context

As we are of opinion then, sufficiently founded we suppose, that the different organs are completed only as they become requisite and necessary; consequently, we believe the evolution of the generative organs in both sexes must be among the last efforts of the increase and completion of the body. This evolution could not have taken place earlier. If it had, the mind must have been affected by these impulses which announce the maturation of these organs by which we know the mind and body are connected; but this is not the case. In neither of the sexes is there one idea betrayed, before puberty, of that necessary union of the sexes. They think not about it; because, if you will, they know no more about it, than the infant does of right and wrong. Hence we believe, that the propensities and affections which indicate the maturity and power of organs, are simultaneous with these organs, and the contrary. Besides, these organs, and the ideas originating and combined with them, could not, consistently with the wisdom of Nature, have been brought forward before puberty. In the male, the foundation and powers of maturation, of that strength, and of those more rational qualities which belong to him, are laid before puberty: hence communication with the female, before these are finally arranged and secured, is inefficient, and entails upon him debility both of body and mind. The same thing holds, as far as the same ends are concerned, with respect to the female; and we cannot suppose that Nature could be so idly eccentric, as to punish the female with a disposition or propensity to procreate, before the body was capable of undergoing the various disorders and dangers of pregnancy and parturition. We have already hinted, that for the same, or similar reasons, none of the ordinary organs of sense are qualified to receive or communicate distinct impressions, till the brain, the common emporium of them all, has acquired those properties which must fit it for its arduous offices; and, as in the case already more particularly investigated, the powers of the mind, gradually unfolding themselves simultaneously with the organs of the body which are to support them, countenance the opinion. We are disposed to enter at much length into a metaphysical disquisition, concerning the rise, progress, and connection, of the powers of the body and mind, this part of our enquiry almost necessarily demands it. We shall only observe, however, that it is in the manner which we have been describing, that that power of the mind, which the philosophers of modern times call Common sense, seems to originate, and to be completed. This faculty operates to our conviction, though only with what may be called the rationality of maturity, by an instantaneous, instinctive, and irresistible impulse, not by the slow progress of comparison and argumentation. In infancy and youth it is scarcely perceptible, or very imperfect; and, as we have said, it is only when the different organs of sense have been completely evolved, and all their parts sound and just, that this: power of the mind is finally effectuated and established. This faculty, though it seems essentially different from Reason, is no doubt the origin of it; for the extension of common sense, from memory, of rather from comparison, and what may be called the balance of the senses, constitutes what is called Reason and Judgment. We have said, that while the organs are incomplete, from infancy, or from disease, their communication with the understanding is also unjust and incomplete. Those who have been born blind, or whose eyes have been destroyed in infancy, before they were become useful, have none of those ideas which depend upon the eye; it is the same with the deaf, and in all cases of ideas depending upon one sense: and we may add, as perfectly in our way, the early castrated have no comprehension of, or propensity to, the gratifications of love. In disease, something similar happens, which, though it is not precisely to our purpose, seems to confirm our general ideas. The diseased organ transmits partially or incompletely to the sensorium; and the action of the mind is proportionally erroneous and incomplete. When both eyes are found and active, they communicate in the same instant with what are called corresponding points in the sensorium; that is, two sensations perfectly similar are communicated in the same instant; and therefore, in the sensorium, only one perception can be recorded: But if the communication of one of the eyes is retarded by disease, or by any other circumstance, the progress of sensation becomes unequal, the sensorium will receive two impulses from the same object, though the application to the external organs happened at the fame instant, and hence vision will be double. In the same manner the musician, from a temporary defect, or from accidental disease, in the organ of hearing upon one side, was tortured with the repetition of a single sound; and every boy knows, though disease acts not here, that if he rolls a ball in the hollow of his left hand, by the two first fingers of his right, so firmly plaited over one another that the second is in fact compressed by the first, that he cannot scarcely avoid believing he is rolling a couple of balls at the same time.
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