20 ORGANS OF THE SENSES THE SKIN DIAGRAM 2. 



nerves. "VYe are informed by these wires of everything which 

 acts agreeably or disagreeably on the different parts of the 

 body ; and we send orders to the muscles by the same wires to 

 make the movements which we desire. 



ORGANS OF THE SENSES. 

 [ DIAGRAM 2. ] 



ORGANS OF THE SENSES. There are Five Senses by which we 

 know what is passing around us Touch, Sight, Hearing, Smell, and 

 Taste> By touch, we ascertain if bodies are hard or soft, hot or 

 cold, rough or smooth. In the dark, touch also teaches us the 

 forms of objects. It is thus that the blind can perceive with 

 their fingers all the objects which it is enough for us to see 

 with our syes, to know that they are there. The skin is the 

 organ of touch, as the eye is the organ of sight. 



The eyes perceive the most distant objects, and inform us of 

 their presence, even when we cannot touch them, as the clouds 

 and stars. They also show us the colour of objects. The ear 

 hears the sounds produced by sonorous bodies. Smell informs 

 us of the odour of surrounding bodies, when we breathe through 

 the nostrils the air which has passed over them. Taste is 

 situated on the tongue and in the mouth, and the object which we 

 wish to taste must be laid directly on the tongue itself. 



The Skin. The skin covers the whole 

 body, but it is not everywhere of equal 

 thickness. It is especially thin on the 

 eyelids, and especially thick on the 

 back, under the foot, and on the palm of 

 the hand. It exhibits undulating lines 

 which form elegant patterns at the end 

 Skin (highly magnified). of the fingers. These lines are separate 



