"Thus these three Receptacles were made in the same order which we have describ'd, and these were the first part of that great Mass which was form'd; now they stood in need of one another's assistance; the first wanted the other two as Servants, and they again the assistance and guidance of the first, as their Master and Director; but both these Receptacles, tho' inferior to the first, were nevertheless superior to all those Members which were form'd afterwards."

— Ockley, Simon (bap. 1679, d. 1720)


Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed and Sold by Edm. Powell and J. Morphew
Date
1708
Metaphor
"Thus these three Receptacles were made in the same order which we have describ'd, and these were the first part of that great Mass which was form'd; now they stood in need of one another's assistance; the first wanted the other two as Servants, and they again the assistance and guidance of the first, as their Master and Director; but both these Receptacles, tho' inferior to the first, were nevertheless superior to all those Members which were form'd afterwards."
Metaphor in Context
§ 9. Thus these three Receptacles were made in the same order which we have describ'd, and these were the first part of that great Mass which was form'd; now they stood in need of one another's assistance; the first wanted the other two as Servants, and they again the assistance and guidance of the first, as their Master and Director; but both these Receptacles, tho' inferior to the first, were nevertheless superior to all those Members which were form'd afterwards. The first Receptacle, by the power of that Spirit which was joyn'd to it and its continual flaming Heat, was form'd into a Conical figure, like that of Fire, and by this means that thick Body, which was about it, became of the same figure, being solid Flesh cover'd with a thick Membrane. This is what we call the Heart. Now considering the great expence of Moisture, which must needs be where there is so much Heat, 'twas absolutely necessary, that there should be some part form'd, whose Office it should be continually to supply this defect; Otherwise it would have been impossible to have subsisted long. 'Twas also necessary that [this forming Spirit] should have a Sense both of what was convenient for him, and what was hurtful, and accordingly attract the one and repel the other. For these Services there were two parts form'd, with their respective Faculties, viz. the Brain and the Liver: the first of these presided over all things relating to Sense, the latter over such things as belong'd to Nutrition: both of these depended upon the Heart for a supply of Heat, and the recruiting of their proper Faculties. To establish a good Correspondence between all these, there were Ducts and Passages interwoven, some bigger, some lesser, according as necessity requir'd; and these are the Arteries and Veins.
Provenance
Searching in Project Gutenberg
Citation
At least 3 entries in ESTC (1708, 1711).

Ibn Tufail (Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibn Tufail al-Qasi), trans. Simon Ockley, The Improvement of Human Reason Exhibited in the Life of Hai Ebn Yokdhan: Written in Arabick above 500 Years ago, by Abu Jaafr Ebn Tophail. In which is demonstrated, By what Methods one may, by meer Light of Nature, attain the Knowledg of things Natural and Supernatural; more particularly the Knowledge of God and the Affairs of another Life. Illustrated with proper Figures. Newly Translated from the Original Arabick, A.M. Vicar of Swavesey in Cambridgeshire. With an Appendix, In which the Possibility of Man's attaining the True Knowledg of God, and Things necessary to Salvation, without Instruction, is briefly consider'd. (London: Printed and Sold by Edm. Powell and J. Morphew, 1708). <Link to Google Books><Link to ECCO>

Text from Project Gutenberg edition: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/16831/16831-h/20018-h.htm.
Date of Entry
06/17/2013

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.