180 VOICE. 



ed, and considered it very important, that infants should 

 be allowed the free-use of their hands. 



Dr. B. These views are extremely unphilosophical 

 and have no foundation in truth. 



Emily. Do hrutes possess this sense in any degree? 

 It seems difficult to conceive of the sense of touch, with- 

 out either thumbs or fingers to exercise it. 



Dr. B. Nevertheless, it may and actually does re- 

 side to a certain degree of perfection in other parts. In 

 the racoon, it exists in the toes of the fore feet ; in the 

 opossum, it is evidently exercised by the tail ; in the 

 horse, ass, and ruminant tribe, it is quite acute in the lips 

 and tongue ; in the elephant, it is in the end of the 

 trunk ; and in the pig, the snout is the organ of touch* 

 In the bats, the skin which covers the ears, wings, '&&., 

 possesses such a perfect sense of touch, that when flying 

 along in the air, they can tell by the difference in its reac- 

 tion, when they are approaching any object. 



Emily. And they will fly equally well after they 

 have been entirely blinded, according to some experi- 

 ments that have been tried on them. 



Dr. B. We must now turn our attention to the 

 Fbice, another of the animal functions. Though not in- 

 cluded among the senses, it is of no less importance in 

 enlarging the relations of the animal with the external 

 world, and is possessed by man in common with many 

 of the inferior animals, 



Emily. Do you mean seriously, that voice is pos- 

 sessed by brutes ? If so, I have never been so fortunate 

 as to hear them speak, though 1 am conscious some of 

 their speeches are recorded in Gay's Fables, and sun- 

 dry spelling-books. 



Dr. B. Your pleasantry all happens to be made at 

 your own expense ; for you have mistaken voice for lan- 

 guage two very different things. The latter refers to 

 articulate sounds, expressive of definite ideas, and is in- 

 deed the prerogative of man ; the former includes ill 

 sounds made when the air passes through the wind-pipe, 



