s,
for in swelling their length is reduced, and the tendons which are
interwoven among the particles of the limbs shrink, and as they extend
to the tips of the fingers they transmit to the brain the cause of the
sense of touch which they feel. The tendons with their muscles obey
the nerves as soldiers obey their officers, and the nerves obey the
brain as the officers obey their captain; thus the joint of the bones
obeys the tendon, and the tendons obey the muscles, and the muscles
obey the nerves, and the nerves obey the brain, and the brain is the
dwelling of the soul, and the memory is its ammunition and the
perception is its refundary.

[Sidenote: Of Sensation]

70.

The brain is that which perceives what is transmitted to it by the
other senses. The brain moves by means of that which is transmitted to
it by the five senses. Motion is transmitted to the senses by objects,
and these objects, transmitting their images to the five senses, are
transferred by them to the perception, and by the perception to the
brain; and there they are comprehended and committed to the memory, in
which, according to their intensity, they are more or less firmly
retained.

The thinkers of ancient times concluded that the part of man which
constitutes his intellect is caused by an instrument to which the other
five {28} senses refer everything by means of the perception, and this
instrument they have named the "common sense" or brain, and they say
that this sense is situated in the centre of the head. And they have
given it this name "common sense" solely because it is the common judge
of the five other senses, that is to say, sight, hearing, touch, taste
and smell. The "common sense" is stirred by means of the perception
which is placed between it and the senses. The perception is stirred
by means of the images of things conveyed to it by the external
instruments to the senses, and these are placed in the centre between
the external things and the perception, and the senses likewise are
stirred by objects. Surrounding objects transmit their images to the
senses, and the senses transfer them to the perception, and the
perception transfers them to the "common sense" (brain), and by it they
are stamped upon the memory, and are there retained in a greater or
lesser degree according to the importance and intensity of the
impression. The sense which is most closely connected with the
perception is the most rapid in action, and t