604 THE DISEASES AND DISORDERS OF THE OX. 



listener from out the far-off distance, an irresistible word of 

 command that we should, each and all of us, so far as in us lies, 

 help each other upwards, onwards, and distribute the good 

 things we possess to this man and to that man, and to all men 

 that on earth do dwell. 



Then, indeed, do we see with clearer vision the world with all 

 its manifold wonders standing out in boldest relief. The count- 

 less objects of irresistible beauty which meet our gaze seem to 

 tell us of some central secret and deep reality underlying all that 

 first strikes upon our view, something far deeper, and clearer, 

 and higher, and truer than we can fully grasp. It is only now 

 and again that we can see and hear and think these things; for 

 men's states of mind vary greatly, and just as their lowest powers 

 of perception differ from their highest, so do their lowest differ 

 from those of animals. 



The powers of vision and of hearing which animals possess 

 are probably very dissimilar and wide apart from those of man- 

 kind. They lack many of the mental elements. We remember 

 being struck with a remark of the late Mr. Thring's, in his 

 admirable little work on The Theory and Practice of Teaching. 

 He points out that a specially educated eye is requisite for the 

 seeing of certain objects. For instance, a book-worm, out for his 

 first day's shooting, may probably experience some difficulty in 

 seeing exactly the objects of his search at long distances, the 

 birds of the air as they are flying away from or towards him, 

 and possibly he will fail to observe a hare or a rabbit which his 

 companion, the sportsman, on the contrary, sees so well as to 

 be easily able to take an unerriug aim. 



This is undoubtedly very true, and it is equally indisputable 

 that an educated and trained ear is necessary, in order that cer- 

 tain sounds and combinations of sounds can be heard and 

 properly appreciated ; but there is another still more important 

 point to be carefully noted. Probably it is not so much the 

 actual seeing and hearing, i.e. the actual reception of sights by 

 the eye, or of sounds by the ear, as the correct mental analysis 

 and arrangement and representation by the brain of the things 

 heard or seen, that are most difficult of attainment. In short, it 

 may be urged that there are two distinct aspects both of seeing 

 and of hearing, and even that the two processes are in some 

 measure antagonistic. 



