250 THE SPECIAL SENSES. 



we distinguish certain subqualities. In vision we have many dif- 

 ferent qualities which we designate by special names, the series 

 of different colors, for example. In sound sensations we distinguish 

 different tones and different qualities of tones. But here, again, 

 the subjective mark is often so indistinct in consciousness 

 that it cannot be used satisfactorily for purposes of classifica- 

 tion. In the odor sensations we distinguish many different quali- 

 ties, each recognizable at the time that it is experienced, but their 

 characteristics are so fugitive that heretofore it has not been 

 possible to name them or group them in any satisfactory way. 

 In studying the qualities of the various sensations so far as 

 they are recognizable the effort of physiology has been to connect 

 them with some definite anatomical or physiological peculiarity in 

 the sense organs concerned. The final explanation of the differences 

 in quality involves a study of the nature and properties of con- 

 sciousness itself, a subject which as yet has not been undertaken 

 by physiology. At present w T e accept the fact of consciousness 

 and the fact that there are different kinds or qualities of conscious- 

 ness, and our investigations are directed only toward ascertaining 

 the anatomical, physical, and chemical properties of the organs in- 

 volved in the production of these subjective changes. 



In former times it was customary to divide the sensations into 

 two different groups, the special and the common senses, the 

 former including the so-called five senses of man, namely, sight, 

 hearing, touch, taste, and smell, while under the latter were 

 grouped all other sensations of less distinctive qualities. In physi- 

 ology the belief that man has only five special senses has, however, 

 long been abandoned. The sense of touch as ordinarily understood 

 has been shown to consist of two or rather three distinct senses: 

 pressure, heat and cold, and the sense of pain exhibited by the 

 skin is in all essential respects as special and characteristic as those 

 just named. There is, however, no certain standard as to what 

 shall constitute a special in contradistinction to a common sense; 

 so that a classification based on this nomenclature is unsatis- 

 factory. In one respect, however, our senses show a difference 

 which may be used as a basis for dividing them into two general 

 groups. This difference lies in the manner of projection. We may 

 assume that all of our sensations are aroused directly in the brain. 

 In that organ take place the final changes which react in con- 

 sciousness. But in no case are we conscious that this is the case. 

 On the contrary, we project our sensations either to the exterior 

 of the body or to some peripheral organ in the body, the 

 effort being apparently to project it to the place where experi- 

 ence has taught us that the acting stimulus arises. We may 

 divide the senses, therefore, into two great groups: (1) The external 



