PHYSIOLOGICAL PARADOXES. 



it is, still the process in the mind is a separate 

 and distinct one from the process in the sense of 

 hearing, and according as the other conditions 

 vary, it can lead to different conclusions from 

 the premises which, so far as the ear has sup- 

 plied them, are identical. 



It is of this principle that the ventriloquist 

 takes advantage in producing his illusions. 



If there were a person outside on the top 

 of a building, going along the roof-ridge, his 

 voice would come to the floor, or the inside of 

 the building, muffled and faint. As he went 

 further along towards the end of the building 

 his voice would get fainter and fainter. We, 

 sitting inside the building, could only hear of 

 the voice that it was muffled and faint, and 

 getting fainter. Of its direction and distance 

 our ears could tell us nothing themselves. But 

 our minds would judge, from its muffled nature 

 and increasing faintness, that its owner was 

 outside the building and going further off ; 

 and if the voice itself told us that its owner 

 was moving along the roof-ridge, that sugges- 

 tion would readily take root in our minds. If 

 someone were calling to him in that position 

 and getting rational answers back, the sugges- 

 tion would gain imperative force. 



This is the state of affairs which the ven- 

 triloquist brings about. When it is the turn for 

 the man on the roof, the ventriloquist produces 

 muffled and faint sounds such as we should 



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