SENSATION AND THE SENSIFEROUS ORGANS 295 



is removed. In other words, there arises a belief 

 in an external cause of the muskiness, which, in 

 common language, is termed an odorous body. 



But the manner in which this belief is usually 

 put into words is strangely misleading. If we 

 are dealing with a musk-plant, for example, we 

 do not confine ourselves to a simple statement of 

 that which we believe, and say that the musk- 

 plarit is the cause of the sensation called muski- 

 ness ; but we say that the plant has a musky 

 smell, and we speak of the odour as a quality, or 

 property, inherent in the plant. And the inevit- 

 able reaction of words upon thought has in this 

 case become so complete, and has penetrated so 

 deeply, that when an accurate statement of the 

 case namely, that muskiness, inasmuch as the 

 term denotes nothing but a sensation, is a mental 

 state, and has no existence except as a mental 

 phenomenon is first brought under the notice of 

 common-sense folks, it is usually regarded by 

 them as what they are pleased to call a mere 

 metaphysical paradox and a patent example of 

 useless subtlety. Yet the slightest reflection must 

 suffice to convince any one possessed of sound 

 reasoning faculties, that it is as absurd to suppose 

 that muskiness is a quality inherent in one plant, 

 as it would be to imagine that pain is a quality 

 inherent in another, because we feel pain when a 

 thorn pricks the finger. 



Even the common-sense philosopher, par excel- 



