THE SKIN. 211 



and bilious temperaments, and in those enfeebled by dis- 

 ease, than in the sound and robust." * 



503. The facility, with which cutaneous sensations are 

 received, depends upon the condition of the outer skin. 

 When it is thick, as on the palm of the hand or the sole of 

 the foot, sensation is somewhat interrupted. The seamstress 

 finds it more difficult to feel and distinguish minute differ- 

 ences of objects with the fingers with which she uses the 

 needle than with the others. The difficulty is, not that the 

 sensibilities in these fingers, as in the palm or the sole, are 

 more blunted than in the others, but that a thicker shield 

 of cuticle stands between the nerves in the inner skin, and 

 the object which is to be examined. 



594. The sense of touch differs very widely, not only in 

 various parts, but in various persons. .Beside the natural 

 and original differences of sensibility from organization, 

 there is a very great difference owing to education ; for 

 this sense can be educated to a very high degree, so that one 

 person may be able to perceive objects and characters which 

 another, whose sense of touch is less cultivated, could not 

 recognize. 



505. It is a remarkable provision of a benevolent Provi- 

 dence that, when one sense is lost or impaired, the others 

 become more acute, so as to compensate in a good degree for 

 the defect. Thus the blind have or acquire a niceness of 

 touch which the seeing never possess. Their method of 

 reading is a singular proof of the extent to which the culti- 

 vation of the sense of touch may be carried. Their books, 

 instead of being printed on soft paper, and with colored let- 

 ters, are printed on stiff paper, and with raised letters. Their 

 pages are perfectly white, but the surface is not smooth. Their 

 letters stand out as if carved in wood. The blind move their 

 fingers over these, and, by the sense of touch, they recognize 

 the shape and kind of each letter almost as readily as others, 

 who see, recognize letters that are printed with ink. It 



* Wilson on the Skin. 



