S Afr. Blindrtefs. 
and extenfion with certain accuracy; yet it doe£ 
not follow that he would be able to diftinguifh 
them, with the fame certainty, by vifion, provided 
that faculty were, immediately, beftowed on him. 
On the contrary, the queftion ftarted by Mr. 
Molineux, * was found to prove exactly as 
that philofopher expedled, in the extraordinary 
cafe of a blind youth, whom Mr. Chefelden had 
the good fortune to bring to fight, by couching, 
at thirteen years of age. This young man, at 
his firft feeling the imprefiions of objedts on the 
organs of vifion, imagined every thing he faw 
touched his eyes ; nor was he able to difcriminate 
one objedt from another, however different their 
forms. When things that were before known 
to him, by touching, were prefented to him* 
he confidered them attentively, in order to 
recognize them j but on a fudden, he felt 
himfelf confuted, from the multitude of objedts 
that crowded for admiffion, and the whole was 
involved in obfcurity. It appears, therefore, 
from the above fadt, as well as from a due 
examination of the fubjedt, that thofe who 
make ufe of their eyes, for the firft time, fee 
only furfaces and colours 5 and have no con¬ 
ception of the vifible effedts of light and pro- 
jedlion, until they learn it from experience. 
In fadt, if we carefully attend to the operas 
tion of our own minds, we fhall find, that the 
* Lock cn the Underftanding, vol. I. p. S07. 
vifible 
