62 THE REASON WHT I 



&quot; One touch of Nature makes the whole world kin.&quot; SHAKSPEIIE. 



visitors have arrived in a carnage, and on such occasions he has never failed to go 

 to the place where the carriage stood, examining the whole of it with much anxiety, 

 and trying innumerable times the elasticity of the springs. When he felt hungry 

 he would approach his mother or sister, touching them in an expressive manner, and 

 rointing to the apartment where the victuals were usually kept. If a dry pair of 

 stockings were wanting, he would point to his legs, and, in short, intimate his 

 various wishes in a similar way. On one occasion a pair of shoes was brought, 

 and on attempting to put them on he found they were too small. His mother took 

 them and locked them in a closet. Soon after a thought seemed to strike him ; he 

 contrived to obtain the key of the closet, opened the door, took out the shoes, and 

 put them on the feet of a yonrg lad who attended him, and whom they fitted 

 &quot;exactly. When he happened i-&amp;gt; be sick and feverish he would point to his head, or 

 take his mother s hand and y:lace it opposite his heart. He never attempted to 

 express his feelings by utterance, except when angry, when he would utter a loud 

 bellow. Satisfaction or complacency he expressed by patting the person or object 

 which had excited that feeling. His smell being wonderfully acute he would be 

 frequently offended through that sense when other persons near to him smelt 

 nothing unpleasant. His elder sister seemed to have a much greater ascendancy 

 over him than any other person. Touching his head with her hand was the 

 principal method she employed in signifying her wishes to him respecting his 

 conduct. This she did with various degrees of force and in different manners, and 

 he seemed readily to understand the intimation intended to be conveyed. 



158. Why is the sense of touch more vivid when the circulation 

 is warm and active than when it is chilled and stagnant? 



Because the papillse are dependent for their life and action on a 

 constant supply of blood, when, therefore, the nerves receive an 

 abundant supply of the stimulating fluid the sense of touch becomes 

 proportionately acute ; and when this supply is stinted or withheld, 

 sensation may in some cases become so blunted, as to allow wounds 

 to be inflicted without exciting pain. 



159. Why is the sense of touch sometimes untrustworthy f 



Because it has its delusions like the other senses, so much so, 

 that a body may be imagined to be felt, and yet have no real 

 existence. 



160. The following illusion of an extraordinary kind, which cannot he corrected 

 e en by the sight, proves that the senses alone unaided by the reasoning powers 

 are not to be trusted ; cannot indeed be believed on all occasions : If we place on 



