Animal Morphology. 101 



The senses of touch, and of force, or weight, give informa- 

 tion of the surfaces of bodies, and also, in the sense of force, 

 their Degree of resistance and proportions of weight. 



The weight of bodies and degrees of resistance to muscular 

 force are measured, as is here supposed, by one sense, com- 

 monly known as Sir C. Bell's muscular sense, but it has 

 "been also maintained to reside in and about joints ; but not 

 solely here, as it appears to have a partial distribution on 

 particular parts of the integument, as at the bend of joints, 

 the palms of the hand, and the soles of the feet in fact, to 

 all those parts of the integument which, when wetted, feel 

 the cold from evaporation or cold liquids the most. The 

 sense of touch is more adapted to recognise the roughness 

 or smoothness of bodies and their equable warmth, both 

 senses embracing, as part of their function, states of tempera- 

 ture. The sense of diffused touch recognises heat the most 

 quickly, and the sense of force, when distributed to the in- 

 tegument, recognises cold the most quickly ; in this country 

 between 56 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit being about neutral 

 ground, but above this point the back of the hand quickly re- 

 cognises increasing heat in water, and below this point 

 that is, below 56 degrees the palm of the hand most easily 

 detects falling temperature. 



Mention scarcely could be made, in so brief a sketch, of 

 such matters as heat and cold, or even of pain, as having 

 special senses for each ; but as there is a growing tendency to 

 increase the number of our senses among physiologists, and 

 those of the highest cultivation in this branch of medical 

 knowledge, a reference to it appears necessary, the more 

 so because a careful examination of details leads to a 

 supposition that special senses carry with them certain 

 collateral elements, that appear to be possessed in different 

 degrees by all the senses ; as, for instance, that of pain and 

 also of heat or cold, each having a certain higher, or lower, 



