AND THEIE FUNCTIONS. 179 



animal which had been cooked, or on the brain of some 

 reptile or fish. 



It has been mentioned already, in this chapter, that only 

 in his Malakia (cephalopods) did he find, among his Anaima, 

 anything corresponding with a brain. His knowledge of 

 the cephalopods was extensive and he is quite right in his 

 statement about the brain of these animals, which have a 

 part of their nervous system concentrated into a mass 

 protected by a cartilaginous case, the whole appearing like 

 a rudimentary brain and skull. The cartilaginous case is 

 referred to by him m H. A. iv. c. 1, s, 9. 



H. — The Senses and Sensoey Organs, 



Aristotle argues that there are not more than five senses, 

 viz., sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, and says that 

 some animals have all these but others have only some of 

 them, among those which have all the senses being Man 

 and viviparous animals with blood, with some possible 

 exceptions, such as, for example, the Aspalax or mole,* 



He distinguished between sight, hearing, and smell, 

 acting through some medium, e.g., air, between the subject 

 and the object of sensation, and taste and touch, which are 

 less dependent on the presence of such a medium. It will 

 be convenient, in discussing his views, to deal with touch and 

 taste first, and then smell, hearing, and sight. 



According to Aristotle, touch is the primary sense, 

 apparently because it is present in all animals and enables 

 us to appreciate differences in the elementary qualities of 

 matter, such as solidity and temperature.! Although he 

 considers it to be the primary sense, he discusses whether it 

 is not several senses rather than one, being the least simple 

 of the senses, for, unlike the eye, which distinguishes 

 differences in colour, or the ear, which distinguishes differ- 

 ences in tone, the tactile organ, whatever it may be, 

 distinguishes differences in many qualities, and he suggests 

 that, while sight and hearing seem to be distinct senses 

 because their media are distinct, touch may be made up of 

 several senses blended, as it were, in consequence of their 

 having a common medium. I 



" Be Anima, iii. c. 1, 4246 and 425(t, ii. c. 2, 4136 and 414fi; H. A. 

 iv. c. 8, 8, 1. 



f P, A. ii. c. 8, 65.36 ; De Anima, ii. c. 2, 4136, ii. c. 11, 4226, 

 \ P. A. ii. c. 1, G47a; De Anima, ii. c, 11, 4226, 



