76. Let us here call in the aid of a comparison. When we desire to act physically
upon a given point at a distance, it is our thought which determines the action ; but
thought cannot of itself strike the blow : it must have an intermediary which it directs,
such as a stick, a projectile, a current of air, etc. Observe, too, that thought does not act
directly upon the stick; for, if the stick is not touched, it will not act. The source of
thought, which is nothing else than the spirit incarnated within us, is united to the body
by the perispirit ; but the thought can no more act upon the body without the perispirit,
than it can act upon the stick without the body. Thought acts upon the perispirit,
because the perispirit is the substance with which it has most affinity; the perispirit acts
upon the muscles, the muscles seize the stick, and the stick strikes the mark. When the
spirit is not incarnated, he requires an extraneous auxiliary; this auxiliary is the vital
fluid, by the aid of which he renders the object apt to obey the impulsion of his will.
