Page:Letters on the Human Body (John Clowes).djvu/175

Rh covered round by a covering of their own, which is called the pleura, and that they also constitute that part of the body which is called the breast. It is further known that the heart and lungs, in this their central situation, operate as intermediates between the cerebrum and cerebellum of the head above, and the other viscera and members of the body beneath; and that in this their intermediate character they exercise the double office of receiving and giving life, by receiving from the head, and by giving, or imparting, what they receive to the rest of the body.

Let us apply now these anatomical facts, respecting the situation and office of the heart and lungs in the human body, in illustration of the situation and office of the will and understanding in the human mind, of which, as hath been already shown, the heart and lungs are material and representative figures, and let us mark the result. Will it not be manifest from such application, that the will and understanding of the mind bear a similar intermediate character with the heart and lungs of the body; and that in this character they are receivers of life from powers above themselves, and conveyers or communicators of life to powers below themselves? Will it not be manifest also, that, in this their intermediate character, they are perfectly distinct both from the powers above them and from those