RELATION OF SIGHT TO TOUCH 147 



(page 138) in the eye muscles. Whenever an object is so 

 far away that the eyes are not sensibly converged in look- 

 ing straight at it, this method of judging distance fails, 

 and such estimations as are made are consequently less 

 accurate. They depend, in fact, upon a judgment as to 

 how far away the object must be in order to appear as 

 small as it does. In other words, judgment of distance 

 is based on knowledge of size. If the object is of known 

 size, as a man, the distance can be estimated quite accu- 

 rately ; but if the size must be guessed at, the distance is 

 likely to be seriously mis-estimated. 



The Relation of Sight to Touch. — A fact of in- 

 terest in connection with the conclusions human beings 

 draw from the sense impressions they receive is that sen- 

 sations of sight are generally interpreted in terms of 

 touch. That is to say, the idea one really forms when he 

 looks at any object is how it would feel if he could get his 

 hands on it. We are told that this is because touch is a 

 primitive sense while sight is of much later development. 

 Hence, the tendency to form judgments in terms of the 

 sense which has functioned longer. Whatever the history 

 of the relationship may be, the fact is undeniable that 

 no comprehensive idea of any object is to be had except 

 as the mind deals with it from the standpoint of how it 

 would reveal itself if it were handled. 



