Mr Dugald Stewart on Ventriloquism. 245 



of the ventriloquist ; a circumstance which Mr Gough has alto- 

 gether overlooked, but which, in my opinion, is one of the 

 chief principles to be attended to in this discussion. Indeed, 

 I am strongly inclined to think, that the art of the ventrilo- 

 quist, when he produces a deception with respect to direction, 

 consists less in his imitative faculty, than in the address with 

 which he manages the imaginations of his audience. In this 

 respect ventriloquism and painting appear to me to be exact 

 counterparts to each other. The painter can copy, with ma- 

 thematical accuracy, the signs of different direction ; but it is 

 impossible for him to copy all the signs connected with differ- 

 ence of distance, — for this obvious reason, that the objects in 

 his representation are all at the same distance from the eye, 

 and, consequently, are viewed without any change in its con- 

 formation, or in the inclination of the optic axes. The ven- 

 triloquist, on the other hand, can copy the signs of different 

 distances, but not the signs of different directions. We know, 

 however, in the case of the eye, that if all the signs of differ- 

 ent direction be copied, as in a correct perspective drawing, 

 the imagination is able to supply, in a considerable degree, the 

 signs of different distances. The imitation may not be so per- 

 fect as to produce any thing approaching to a deception ; but 

 the effect is powerfully assisted by the imagination of the spec- 

 tator, who, in this, as in all other imitative arts, consults his 

 own pleasure most effectually, when he yields himself up, with- 

 out resistance, to the agreeable delusions practised on him by 

 the artist. In like manner, in the case of the ear, is it not pro- 

 bable, from analogy, that if the ventriloquist can imitate the 

 signs of different distances, the imagination may supply the 

 signs of different directions ? For this purpose, however, it is 

 necessary that the imagination should be under the manage- 

 ment of the ventriloquist ; — a management which a little ex- 

 perience and address will easily enable him to acquire ; and 

 also, that the ear should be deprived of every aid which it is 

 accustomed to receive from the eye, in j udging of the local 

 situations of objects. That both of these things are, to a cer- 

 tain extent, within the reach of his art, will appear from the 

 following slight remarks. 



1st, The ventriloquist, by concealing the motions of his lips, 



