FACULTIES OF THE MIND. 31 S 



kind. This appears from the circumstance, that what is 

 agreeable to and sought after by one animal, is often disa- 

 greeable to another, and carefully avoided. 



e. From these considerations it appears to be difficult to 

 determine the knowledge of external objects, possessed by 

 any one species, from the developement of the organs of the 

 senses. Nor does it appear that there is any regular con- 

 nected gradation in the relative perfection of the senses, 

 keeping pace with the increasing simplicity of bodily struc- 

 ture. 



f. Although many animals have some of the senses more 

 fully developed than Man, comparative anatomy furnishes 

 a demonstration, that there is no animal in which they all 

 exist in so great a degree of perfection. Hence we are led 

 to conclude, that man is more intimately acquainted with 

 the properties of the material world in general, than any 

 of the inferior animals. 



g. Some of the senses, such as taste, smell and touch, re- 

 quire the existing object to be brought into contact with 

 the organs ; while in others, as sight, heat, and hearing, 

 the sensation is produced by means of media. Touch, 

 which is most universally distributed, appears to be the 

 sense into which the others may be resolved. Thus, light 

 comes in contact with the eye, heat with the skin, and the. 

 vibrating air with the ear, 



CHAP. XL 



FACULTIES OF THE MIND, 



IN treating of the organs of perception, we endeavoured 

 to ascertain the functions of the six senses, and the kind of 

 information concerning the objects around us, which they 



