SEC. 4. THE MUSCULAR SENSE. 



§ 659. Before we go on to deal with some of the psychical 

 aspects of cutaneous sensations it will be desirable to speak of 

 certain sensations accompanying and belonging to the movements 

 of the body which are carried out by means of the skeletal 

 muscles ; for these sensations, often spoken of as constituting a 

 " muscular sense," are in many ways related to or mixed up 

 with cutaneous sensations. 



When we examine our own consciousness we find that we 

 are aware of the position not only of the whole body (this matter 

 we discussed some time back), but also of the several parts of 

 our body. In this we are under ordinary circumstances assisted 

 by sight ; but sight is not necessary. If for instance, with the 

 eyes shut, we place the arm in any attitude, we are aware of the 

 attitude and can describe, or by movements of the other arm im- 

 itate with considerable accuracy the details of the attitude, the 

 relative positions of the upper arm, forearm, hand, fingers and 

 the like. If we change the attitude by moving the arm or part of 

 the arm we can, though the eyes be still shut, tell the amount 

 and characters of the chancre. 



Again, when we examine our own consciousness we find 

 that we possess a measure of the amount of resistance to our 

 movements which we from time to time meet with. When we 

 come into contact with an external object we are conscious not 

 only of the pressure exerted by the object on our skin, but also 

 of the pressure which we exert on the object ; we can appreciate 

 the amount of effort which we make to produce by pressure an 

 effect upon the object. A similar appreciation of our own efforts 

 assists us largely in forming a judgment as to the weight of an 

 object. If we place the hand and arm flat on a table, we can 

 estimate the pressure exerted by a body resting on the palm of 

 the hand, and so come to a conclusion as to its weight ; in 

 this case we are conscious only of the pressure exerted by the 

 body on our skin. If however we hold the body in the hand, 

 we not only feel the pressure of the body, but we are also aware 

 of the exertion required to support and lift it. And we find by 

 experience that when we trust to this appreciation of the amount 



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