4 Harry K. Wolfe, 



'rough,' 'smooth,' 'sHmy,' 'greasy,' 'granular,' 'hard,' 'soft,' 

 and ' sharp,' besides many words taken from materials, as 

 'velvety,' 'silky,' 'gummy,' and 'furry.' 'Sour,' 'bitter,' and 

 'sweet' are the most important designations of tastes. Com- 

 parison with the taste of better known substances is the 

 chief expedient adopted to increase the definiteness of these 

 descriptions. Odors are described in terms quite analogous 

 to those employed for tastes. Sounds are 'high,' 'loud,' 

 'low,' 'shrill,' ' deep.' 



It will have been noted that the words for sensations given 

 above are, without exception, adjectives. Nearly all the 

 corresponding abstract nouns are used ; but very few con- 

 crete nouns for these sensations exist. In sound, however, 

 we have such concrete words as 'tone,' 'noise,' 'roar,' 

 and 'splash,' besides many participial nouns, as 'rumbling,' 

 and 'singing.' If a high degree of accuracy is not required, 

 the combination of adjectives with substantives, or of ad- 

 verbs with adjectives, takes the place of new names. In this 

 case there is, of course, a comparison with definite names, 

 as 'a dark pink,' 'less bitter than gall' 



Color is the most elementary mark of distinction between 

 objects. It seems to require less energy for its apprehension 

 than any other quality of bodies. When used in connection 

 with form it affords the most common means of describing 

 any object in nature. If to these, size be added, we prob- 

 ably have the complete method employed by the larger part 

 of the race to describe any unfamiliar object. We are again 

 reminded of Locke's generalization. Although color is so 

 universal and so constantly used in description, it is, n6ver- 

 theless, very indefinite. In describing any object to one un- 

 acquainted with it, we involuntarily attempt to give its 

 color : and we nearly always find difficulty in doing so. It 

 is recognized as a powerful means of vividly bringing the ob- 

 ject before the mind of a listener; yet unless it is a common 

 object, or unless we have decided on the name of the color 

 while it was before our eyes, we are unable to name it satis- 

 factorily. Our own idea of it is indefinite. We experience 



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