48 MAMMALIA— MAN. 



sense — that it is in effect the principal organ of feeling; on the contrary. 

 we can say, that there are parts more sensible, and where the sense of feel- 

 ing is more delicate, as the eyes, the tongue, &c. ; hut it is merely because 

 the hand is divided into many parts, all moveable, all flexible, all acting at 

 one and the same time, and all obedient to the will ; it is because the hand 

 is the only organ which gives us distinct ideas of the form of bodies. Ani- 

 mals which have hands, appear to be the most acute : apes do things so 

 resembling the mechanical actions of man, that it seems as if they had the 

 same succession of corporeal sensation for the cause of them. Animals which 

 are deprived of this organ, cannot have any knowledge distinct enough 

 of the form of things ; as they cannot grasp any object, and as they have 

 not any part divided and flexible enough to be able to adjust itself upon the 

 superficies of bodies, they certainly have not any precise notion of the 

 form, any more than of the size of them. It is for this reason that we often 

 see them in suspense, or frightened, at the aspect of objects with which they 

 ought to be the best acquainted, and which are the most familiar to them. 

 The principal organ of their feeling is the muzzle, because this part is 

 divided in two by the mouth, and because the tongue is another part, that 

 serves them at the same time to touch bodies, which we see them turn and 

 turn again, before they take them between their teeth. 



It is, therefore, to the sense of feeling, that we are indebted for the power 

 of usefully exercising all our other faculties. One man does not, perhaps, 

 possess more ingenuity or capacity than another ; but because in his earliest 

 infancy he made a greater and a readier use of this sense. As soon as 

 children are indulged with the liberty of their hands, they presently bring 

 them into action, and are fond of touching whatever is presented to them. 

 They are seen to amuse themselves, and take pleasure in handling every 

 thing they are capable of grasping : they seem as if they were endeavoring 

 to find out the form of bodies, by touching them on every side ; and, for a 

 considerable time, they amuse themselves in this manner, or rather they 

 inform themselves of new objects. In the rest of our life, we ourselves, if 

 we reflect upon it, amuse ourselves in a different method, in doing, or in 

 seeking to do, any thing that is new. 



Of the senses of smelling and tasting, there is little to be said worthy 

 of observation. It is evident, that, with respect to the first of these, there 

 are animals which are infinitely superior to man ; and perhaps there may 

 exist creatures which, in delicacy of taste, may as much surpass the volup- 

 tuary, as the beagle does in acuteness of scent. 



Of the numerous varieties of the human race, Cuvier mentions three only, 

 as eminently distin it, viz : the white, or Caucasian ; the yellow, or Mongo- 

 lian; and the negro, or Ethiopian. Blumenbach conceives they may be 

 divided into five distinct varieties, viz: the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethio- 

 pian, American, and Malayan ; and other writers have farther subdivided 

 these as their family characteristics were more or less marked. 



