CIV. But granting to father Malebranche, and the rest of the Cartesians, that the representation of objects to the mind, is made by means of these material traces, which, in their course, the spirits impress on the brain; what follows from it is, that the brains of women being softer than those of men, the marks, on account of the pliability of the matter, will be larger and more distinct in the first, than in the last; and what can be inferred from this? Why, by the doctrine of father Malebranche, you may make whichever of the two following inferences you like best, either that the women comprehend better than the men, or that they do not comprehend so well. The first, may be inferred from the place we a little before cited; and the second, because where he explains himself with regard to what he has said against the women, he maintains, that the excessive lively imaginations, which result from these large images or impressions, are unfavourable to the right comprehension of objects. _Cum enim tenuiora objecta ingentes in delicatis cerebri fibris excitent motus, in mente protinus etiam excitant sensationes ita vividas, ut ijs tota occupetur._ Lib. 2. part ii. cap. 1. CV. But this second is contrary to all reason, for it does not follow from this doctrine of large images, that small ones do not represent objects well, for in some cases they rather conduce to represent them best; atoms, for example, being better seen through a microscope than larger bodies; and liveliness of imagination, if it does not extend to madness, contributes much to a perspicuous understanding of things. CVI. But, in reality, from this greater softness of the brain, it cannot be deduced, that the understandings of women are either larger or smaller, because you cannot infer from it, that the impressions made by the spirits on the organ, are bigger or less; which is the principle, from whence you must conclude both the one and the other; the reason is, because it seems most probable, that the impulse of the spirits is proportioned to the docility of the matter, and thus, that spirits feebly impelled, do not make a larger impression on a soft brain, than that which is made on a more firm and tense one, by spirits which move with greater force and impetuosity; in the same manner, that by regulating the force of your hand, you may make as superficial a mark with a tool on wax, as you may on lead. My opinion of the matter is, that from this system of the brains of women, all you can infer is, that the corporeal movements in them, are less vigorous than they are in men; on which account, the nerves which have their origin in the fibres of the brain, and the spinal marrow, have less power in women, or move with more feeble impulses in them than they do in men; but not that their mental operations are more or less perfect. SECT. XVI.