OF SENSATION, AND THE ORGANS OF THE SENSES. 



frequent use of them. The process of the acquirement of the power of recog- 

 nizing elevated characters by the touch, is a remarkable example of this im- 

 provability. When a blind person first commences learning to read in this 

 manner, it is necessary to use a large type : and every individual letter must 

 be felt for some time, before a distinct idea of its form is acquired. After a 

 short period of diligent application, the individual becomes able to recognize 

 the combination of letters in words without forming a separate idea of each letter ; 

 and can read line after line, by passing the finger over each, with considerable 

 rapidity. When this power is once thoroughly acquired, the size of the type 

 may be gradually diminished ; and thus blind persons may bring themselves, 

 by sufficient practice, to read a type not much larger than that of an ordinary 

 large-print Bible. The case of Saunderson, who, although he lost his sight at 

 two years old, became Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge, is well known ; 

 amongst his most remarkable faculties, was that of distinguishing genuine medals 

 from imitations, which he could do more accurately than many connoisseurs in 

 full possession of their senses. Several instances are recorded of men who be- 

 came eminent as Sculptors after the loss of their sight, and who were particularly 

 successful in modelling portrait-busts : here, it is obvious, not merely the tactile, 

 but the muscular sensibility must be greatly augmented in acuteness by the 

 habit of attention to it. The power of immediate recognition of individuals by 

 the slightest contact of the hands, even after long periods of time, which most 

 blind and deaf persons have displayed, is one of the most curious examples of 

 the mode in which tactual perceptions will impress themselves on the memory, 

 when they are habitually attended to. As an example of the correct notions 

 which may be conveyed to the mind, of the forms and surfaces of a great variety 

 of objects, and of the sufficiency of these notions for accurate comparison, the 

 Author may mention the case of a blind friend of his own, who has acquired a 

 very complete knowledge of Conchology, both recent and fossil; and who is not 

 only able to recognize every one of the numerous specimens in his own cabinet, 

 but to mention the nearest alliances of a shell previously unknown to him, when 

 he has thoroughly examined it by his touch. Many similar instances might be 

 cited, one of the most remarkable being that of John Gough, who, though blind, 

 was a noted botanical collector, and earned his livelihood as a land-surveyor. 

 Several cases are on record, 1 of the acquirement, by the blind, of the power of 

 distinguishing the colors of surfaces, which were similar in other respects; and, 

 however wonderful this may seem, it is by no means incredible. For it is to be 

 remembered that the difference of color depends upon the position and arrange- 

 ment of the particles composing the surface, which render it capable of reflecting 

 one ray whilst it absorbs all the rest ; and it is . quite consistent with what we 

 know from other sources, to believe that the sense of Touch may become so re- 

 fined as to communicate a perception of such differences. 3 



3. Sense of Taste. 



868. The sense of Taste is that by which we distinguish the sapid properties 

 of bodies. The term, as commonly understood, includes much more than this ; 

 being usually employed to designate the whole of that knowledge of the qualities 

 of a body (except such as is purely tactile), which we derive through the sen- 

 sory apparatus situated within the mouth. But it will be hereafter shown that a 



1 Among the best authenticated of these is that of a lady who became blind, and after- 

 wards deaf, in consequence of an attack of confluent smallpox ; cited in Dr. Kitto's "Lost 

 Senses," vol. ii. p. 79, from the "Annual Register" for 1758. Dr. Kitto's treatise may 

 be referred to, as containing a large collection of interesting cases of a similar description. 



2 For some additional details in regard to the sense of Touch, see the Author's article 

 "Touch," in the "Cyclopaedia of Anatomy and Physiology," vol. iv. 



