170 Instinct and Intelligence 



a near object; no sooner, however, does he 

 grasp it than the muscles of his hands and arms 

 contract, and the object is carried to his mouth. 

 Action of this description depends on the 

 stimulation of the tactile sense-organs of the 

 child's fingers and hands when grasping the 

 object. At first the combined action of both 

 visual and tactile impressions is necessary to 

 effect these movements ; but when a system of 

 this kind has been constantly exercised, it is 

 only necessary that the tactile sense-organs 

 should be stimulated to bring the muscles of the 

 child's hands and arms into co-ordinated action, 

 the movement has become a habit. The child 

 is henceforward occupied in attempting to exe- 

 cute new movements, which lay the foundation 

 for processes of selection or choice, and ideas 

 of the greater and the less. 1 The young child 

 as yet cannot distinguish the difference between 

 his woolly ball and his wooden bricks, but he 

 comes by experience to contrast the sensations 

 derived from soft and hard things ; he stretches 

 out his hands, but there is nothing to feel or 



1 Physiological Psychology, by Prof. Ziehen (Third Edition), 

 PP. 58, 273. 



