THE HUMAN MIND. 



engrossed we are with these, the less do we 

 experience emotion, properly so called. 



SENSATION. 



This is defined by a reference to the organs 

 termed Senses, which are commonly reckoned 

 five in number Taste, Smell, Touch, Hearing, 

 Sight There is good reason for including with 

 these the sensibility of the body generally, from 

 which results a large amount of pleasure and pain, 

 although not so important as regards the per- 

 ceptions of the external world. We have already 

 excluded the so-called Muscular Sense, as not 

 being homogeneous with those now enumerated. 



We shall take the senses in the order of their 

 subserviency to the intelligence, beginning with 

 those that have this property in the smallest 

 degree. 



Sensations of Organic Life. 



These include the many and often intense feel- 

 ings that have their seat in the different organs 

 and tissues of the body. 



They may be classified as follows, i. Pains 

 arising from injury or disease of Bones or Liga- 

 ments. These are often very excruciating, the 

 periosteum of the bone being the sensitive part. 

 2. Organic Sensations of Nerve. Pains arising 

 from wounds and diseases of the nerve-tissue, 

 such as the well-known neuralgic diseases, tooth- 

 ache and tic, are among the most distressing ail- 

 ments of humanity. Nervous fatigue, arising 

 from too much brain-work, or insufficient nourish- 

 ment, is an extremely trying condition. On the 

 other hand, the exhilaration of fresh and healthy 

 nerves, whether natural or brought on by stimu- 

 lants, is, in itself, a very blissful condition. 3. 

 Feelings arising from the state of the Circula- 

 tion or the Nutrition. Feeble heart-action and 

 deficient nourishment have a powerful effect in 

 depressing the feelings, and -vice -versa. 4. Feel- 

 ings related to Respiration. The sensations of 

 freshness and suffocation depend upon the action 

 of the air on the lungs. 5. Feelings of Heat and 

 Cold very important elements in the comfort of 

 life. Feelings arising from the Digestion. The 

 action of healthy organs on wholesome food is 

 productive of great enjoyment; on the other hand, 

 bad digestion produces a host of pains, some 

 acute, and others massive and depressing. 



Sense of Taste. 



The sensations of Taste may be classified as 

 follows, a complete enumeration of kinds being 

 impossible : (i) relishes the agreeable feelings 

 connected with the mastication of savoury food 

 and their opposites, disgusts which are even 

 more repulsive as pains than the other are attrac- 

 tive as pleasures ; (2) sweet tastes the pleasure 

 proper to taste as a sense in its own right, or in 

 contradistinction to its being a part of the ali- 

 mentary canal and bitter tastes the character- 

 istic pain of taste, strictly so called ; (3) saline 

 tastes ; (4) alkaline tastes ; (5) acid or sour 

 which have a sharp penetrating action, of the 

 nature of a burn ; (6) astringent for example, the 

 taste of alum ; (7) fiery a good designation for 

 alcoholic liquors ; (8) acrid a combination of 

 the fiery with the bitter. 



SmelL 



The sensations of smell may be reduced to such 

 heads as the following : (i) fresh odours those 

 that stimulate the lungs to increased activity, such 

 as eau-de-Cologne and their opposites, close or 

 suffocating odours, and nauseous odours ; (2) sweet 

 or fragrant the proper pleasures of smell, pro- 

 duced solely by action on the organs of smell, 

 without any influence on the stomach and their 

 opposites, stinks represented by sulphuretted 

 hydrogen and asafcetida ; (3) pungent such as 

 snuff, ammonia, &c. ; (4) ethereal alcohol and 

 the ethers ; (5) acrida, mixture of pungency and 

 bad smell, as from gas-tar ; (6) appetising odours 

 which stimulate carnivorous animals to the pur- 

 suit of their food. 



Touch. 



When we come to the higher senses, we have to 

 consider finer and more difficult distinctions. The 

 following are the chief points for consideration 

 under this sense, i. Sensations of Soft Touch. 

 These, which are familiarly exemplified by the 

 contact of the bed-clothes, are not highly acute or 

 intense, but of considerable volume or mass. They 

 resemble the sensations of gentle warmth, but the 

 two, although so apt to go together, are quite dis- 

 tinguishable feelings. There is a certain blank- 

 ness of sensation felt by the naked body, apart 

 altogether from the want of the warmth of the 

 covering. 2. Pungent and Painful Sensations of 

 Touch. When, instead of a diffusive soft contact, 

 we have an intense action on limited spots, mere 

 points, as in the stroke of a whip, a sensation of 

 smartness is produced, in marked contrast to the 

 above. In moderate degree, this gives a pleasur- 

 able pungency ; beyond this, it is acutely painful ; 

 exciting the most decisive acts of avoidance, and 

 leaving behind a strong mental aversion. 3. Im- 

 pressions of Distinguishable Points. It was found 

 by Weber that the skin is very unequally dis- 

 criminative to a plurality of points, as tested by a 

 pair of compasses applied to different parts of the 

 body. In the tip of the tongue, we feel the double 

 touch of the two points a thirtieth of an inch 

 apart ; while on the back, the two will seem one 

 at a stride of about three inches. The tip of the 

 finger is next to the tongue. The hand and foot 

 excel the arm and leg, and the hand the foot, 

 in this comparison. The palms and soles excel 

 the opposite surfaces. 4. Sensations of Touch 

 involving Muscular Perception. The sense of 

 movement is so mixed up with touch that, in most 

 cases, the feeling that results is a compound, and 

 sometimes the tactile part is the least consider- 

 able. Thus weight is, as already seen, an almost 

 purely muscular feeling, although we judge of 

 pressure, to some extent, by the compression of 

 the skin, and the consequent influence on the 

 nerves of touch. Hardness and softness are 

 appreciated by the same combined sensibility ; 

 the one means a great resistance to the compres- 

 sion ; the other, a less. Elasticity is only a par- 

 ticular case of resistance. Roughness and smooth- 

 ness are recognised very much by the sensibility 

 to distinguishable points, and, when the thing is 

 rubbed, by the equality or inequality of the resist- 

 ance. The important attributes of Extension, 

 Size, Form, are impressed upon the mind through 

 the movements they require us to make, and are 



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