THE SENSE OF FEELING. 275 



while at the same time an idea is formed of its length. From the circumstance 

 that every eifort to close the fingers is accompanied by an insuperable resist- 

 ance you form the idea of solidity, and it is what we have termed the muscular 

 sense which enables you to do so. The sense of place in each finger-end in- 

 forms you of the shape and size of the bases of this solid object, through the 

 intimations which that sense conveys to you that a certain number of circles of 

 sensation are in contact with the surfaces, and that these circles lie near one 

 another in a triangular position. If you apply one of the bases to the end of 

 your tongue, the base will seem larger, because here a greater number of circles 

 come into contact with the triangular surface, while, if this same surface be 

 applied to the forearm, you no longer distinguish its form, provided the diame- 

 ter be not more than IS lines, because you receive only a single impression, and no 

 idea of geometrical arrangement can result. It is again the muscular sense 

 which ascertains ihe length of the supposed stick, for it is this which gives you 

 notice of the relative distance of the finger-ends, and the same sense would be 

 still available for the same purpose, but in a different manner, if the stick were 

 too long to be held between the fingers. Were it, for instance, an ell long, you 

 might estimate its length by holding it between a finger of one and of the other 

 hand, or by moving a finger along its surface from end to end, and it is to 

 the muscular sense that you would owe the consciousness in the former case 

 of the relative distance between the fingers, and in the second of the 

 extent of the movement executed. By similar means you obtain an idea of the 

 surfaces of the object, as under what angles they meet, whether they be 

 straight or bent, rough or smooth, &c. No further exemplifications are deemed 

 necessary ; the one here given will suffice to place in a right point of view the 

 operations of the sense of touch, especially as applicable to the determination 

 of the relations of place or position, and will serve at the same time strikingly 

 to illustrate the conformity of arrangement and design in the endowment of. 

 the finger with so exquisite a degree of the sense in question. 



So much, respected reader, for the doctrine of the sense of touch. This were 

 the place to bestow a closer consideration on the common feeling which we have 

 contradistinguished as an indirect or imperfect sensation from those of touch, had 

 we not limited our purpose to a discussion of the true perceptions of the sense. 

 Add to this, that the distinction between the two classes of sensations has been 

 already made sufficiently clear, and indeed that one description of the common 

 feeling, that of muscular effort, has, in the foregoing remarks, been the subject 

 of examination with a view to a right appreciation of its action and offices. 



I would fain hope thatjn the attempt to convey to the general reader an in- 

 sight into the natvire of his most important sense, I may not have fallen too far 

 short of my purpose. At the close, even more sensibly than at the outset of my 

 undertaking, do I feel the conviction that it is a more difficult and a more re- 

 sponsible task to open to the novice tlte gates of the temple of a physical science 

 than even to penetrate therein by the laborious process of investigation; more 

 difficult, because we cannot lead the novice by our own path, but only by the 

 common one which alone he can tread; more responsible, because every adul- 

 teration or charlatanical exhibition of the treasures of science seems a profana- 

 tion, calculated to satisfy a childish curiosity, not the intelligent inquiries of a 

 cultivated mind. There are numbers, doubtless, who think that the scope of 

 science, and especially of the physical sciences, consists iu the alchemy of 

 money-making, who hold no discoveries worth the trouble of examination, ex- 

 cept such as can be turned to account iu the kitchen or the workshop ; who wish, 

 therefore, to learn nothing from science but what conduces to these "useful" 

 objects. It is indeed the duty and a grateful duty of science to place its acqui- 

 sitions at the service of industry and art; but he errs who ascribes to science 

 the inferior role of a handmaid to the latter. He who, with the question, cwi 



