270 THE PEECEPTION OF SIGHT. 



The scattered 



Fragments into the void we carry, 



DeyJoring 



The beauty perished beyond restoring.* 



and may feel determined to stick fast to the ' sound com- 

 mon sense ' of mankind, and believe his own senses more 

 than physiology. 



But there is still a part of our investigation which we 

 have not touched — that into our conceptions of space. 

 Let us see whether, after all, our natural reliance upon tlie 

 accuracy of what our senses teach us, will not be justified 

 even before the tribunal of Science. 



III. The Pehception of Sight. 



The colours which have been the subject of the last 

 chapter are not only an ornament we sliould be sorry to 

 lose, but are also a means of assisting us in the distinction 

 and recognition of external objects. But the importance 

 of colour for this purpose is far less than the means which 

 the rapid and far-reaching power of the eye gives us of 

 distinguishing the various relations of locality, No other 

 sense can be compared with the eye in this respect. The 

 sense of touch, it is true, can distinguish relations of 

 space, and has the special power of judging of all matter 



* Bayard Taylor's translation of the passage in Faust : — 



Du hast sie zerstort 



Die schone Welt 



Mit machtiger Faust ; 



Sie stiirzt, sie zerfallt, 



Ein Halbgott hat sie zerschlagen. 



Wir tragen 



Die Triimmern ins Nichts hiniiber, 



Und klagen 



Ueber die verlorne Schone. 



