OF NATURAL HISTORY. 171 



Hearing enables us to perceive all the agreeable fenfations con- 

 veyed to our minds by the melody and harmony of founds. This, 

 to man at lead, is a great fource of pleafure and of innocent amufe- 

 ment. But fome men are almoft totally deftitute of the faculty of 

 diftinguifhing mufical founds, and of perceiving thofe delightful and 

 diverfified feelings excited by the various combinations of mufical 

 tones. Moft men derive pleafure from particular fpecies of mufic. 

 But a mufical ear, in a reftrided fenfe, is by no means a general 

 qualification. An ear for mufic, however, though not to be acquired 

 by ftudy, when the faculty itfelf is wanting, may be highly impro- 

 ved by habit and culture. BufFon, after examining a number of 

 perfons who had no ear for mufic, fays, that every one of them 

 heard worfe in one ear than in the other ; and afcribes their inabi- 

 lity of diftinguifhing mufical expreffion to that defe£t. But a mufi- 

 cal ear feems to have no dependence on acutenefs or bluntnefs of 

 hearing, whether in one or in both ears. There are many examples 

 of people who may be faid to be half deaf, and yet are both fond of 

 mufic, and Ikilful practitioners. An ear for mufic, like a genius 

 for painting or poetry, is a gift of Nature, and is born with the pof- 

 feffor. 



Befide the innumerable pleafures we derive from mufic and agree- 

 able founds, the extenfion and improvement of anific'ial language 

 muft be confidered as objects of the greateft importance to the hu- 

 man race. Without the fenfe of hearing, mankind would forever 

 have remained mute. I mention artificial, or improved language, 

 becaufe, from a thoufand obfervations which every perfon muft have 

 made, it is perfectly apparent, that, if deftitute of a natural language, 

 neither man nor the brute creation * could pofFibly have exifted and 

 I Y 2 continued 



• Concerning the language of beafts, I ihall, perhaps, be more explicit in a future 

 work. 



