We might liken the mind to the boiler in which steam is generated, and
the body to the engine which the steam runs. If the boiler bursts, the
engine stops; but it may not be otherwise damaged. It simply cannot
carry out its main function of motion any longer. The fires under the
boiler are still burning and can be kept burning so long as fuel is
provided, but the connection is broken and the great bulk of iron is a
useless thing in that it can no longer fulfil its purpose.
In just such a way may the mind be paralyzed; but the spark of life,
which has through all the years kindled the now lost mind to action, may
still remain--a useless thing, which would die away if not tended from
without by other bodies whose minds are still intact.
But in the demented mind consciousness still remains, the awareness of
the young child or baby stage of life. The connection between the upper
or conscious brain centers and the body has been tampered with; it no
longer is direct, but breaks off into switch-lines. But the contact
still holds between the lower or unconscious mind and the body; so the
automatic body functions go on, directed as they were in babyhood before
the independent mind assumed control.
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