﻿540 
  ON 
  THE 
  BELIEF 
  ATTENDING 
  THE 
  EXERCISE 
  OF 
  THE 
  SENSES. 
  

  

  sources 
  of 
  fallacy, 
  especially 
  by 
  that 
  extraordinary 
  propensity 
  to 
  deception 
  which 
  

   medical 
  men 
  so 
  continually 
  encounter 
  in 
  this 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  studies, 
  — 
  it 
  would 
  be 
  

   wrong 
  in 
  me, 
  not 
  having 
  had 
  sufficient 
  opportunities 
  for 
  making 
  such 
  observa- 
  

   tions, 
  to 
  pronounce 
  any 
  decided 
  opinion 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  think 
  it 
  only 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  memory 
  

   of 
  Dr 
  Reid 
  to 
  point 
  out, 
  that 
  in 
  one 
  part 
  of 
  his 
  writings 
  he 
  has 
  distinctly 
  asserted, 
  

   — 
  and 
  indeed, 
  consistently 
  with 
  his 
  principles, 
  could 
  not 
  fail 
  to 
  perceive, 
  — 
  the 
  

   possibility 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  modification 
  of 
  the 
  exercise 
  of 
  the 
  senses, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  ex- 
  

   pressed 
  by 
  the 
  term 
  Clairvoyance 
  ; 
  and 
  left 
  it, 
  therefore, 
  as 
  a 
  question 
  to 
  be 
  de- 
  

   cided 
  simply 
  by 
  experience, 
  whether 
  or 
  not 
  such 
  modification 
  may 
  occur. 
  

  

  " 
  Our 
  power 
  of 
  perceiving 
  external 
  objects 
  is 
  limited 
  in 
  various 
  ways, 
  and 
  

   particularly 
  in 
  this, 
  that 
  without 
  the 
  organs 
  of 
  the 
  several 
  senses, 
  we 
  perceive 
  no 
  

   external 
  object. 
  We 
  cannot 
  see 
  without 
  eyes, 
  nor 
  hear 
  without 
  ears; 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  

   not 
  only 
  necessary 
  that 
  we 
  should 
  have 
  these 
  organs, 
  but 
  that 
  they 
  should 
  be 
  in 
  

   a 
  sound 
  and 
  natural 
  state. 
  

  

  " 
  All 
  this 
  is 
  so 
  well 
  known 
  from 
  experience, 
  that 
  it 
  needs 
  no 
  proof; 
  but 
  it 
  

   ought 
  to 
  be 
  observed, 
  that 
  we 
  know 
  it 
  from 
  experience 
  only. 
  We 
  can 
  give 
  no 
  

   reason 
  for 
  it, 
  but 
  that 
  such 
  is 
  the 
  will 
  of 
  our 
  Maker. 
  No 
  man 
  can 
  shew 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  

   impossible 
  for 
  the 
  Supreme 
  Being 
  to 
  have 
  given 
  us 
  the 
  power 
  of 
  perceiving 
  exter- 
  

   nal 
  objects 
  without 
  such 
  organs. 
  

  

  " 
  If 
  a 
  man 
  were 
  shut 
  up 
  in 
  a 
  dark 
  room, 
  so 
  that 
  he 
  could 
  see 
  nothing 
  but 
  

   through 
  one 
  small 
  hole 
  in 
  the 
  shutter 
  of 
  a 
  window, 
  would 
  he 
  conclude 
  that 
  the 
  

   hole 
  was 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  his 
  seeing, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  to 
  see 
  in 
  any 
  other 
  

   way 
  ? 
  Perhaps, 
  if 
  he 
  had 
  never 
  in 
  his 
  life 
  seen 
  but 
  in 
  this 
  way, 
  he 
  might 
  be 
  apt 
  

   to 
  think 
  so 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  conclusion 
  is 
  rash 
  and 
  groundless. 
  He 
  sees, 
  because 
  God 
  has 
  

   given 
  him 
  the 
  power 
  of 
  seeing 
  ; 
  and 
  he 
  sees 
  only 
  through 
  this 
  small 
  hole, 
  because 
  

   his 
  power 
  of 
  seeing 
  is 
  circumscribed 
  by 
  impediments 
  on 
  all 
  other 
  hands." 
  — 
  

   (Reid's 
  Collected 
  Works, 
  p. 
  246.) 
  

  

  On 
  this 
  passage 
  we 
  have 
  the 
  following 
  note 
  by 
  Sir 
  William 
  Hamilton 
  : 
  — 
  

   " 
  However 
  astonishing, 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  proved 
  beyond 
  all 
  rational 
  doubt 
  that, 
  in 
  certain 
  

   abnormal 
  states 
  of 
  the 
  nervous 
  organism, 
  perceptions 
  are 
  possible 
  through 
  other 
  

   than 
  the 
  ordinary 
  channels 
  of 
  the 
  senses.'' 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  expressing 
  a 
  decided 
  opinion 
  on 
  the 
  question, 
  on 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  said 
  that 
  

   I 
  do 
  not 
  think 
  myself 
  qualified 
  to 
  judge 
  ; 
  but 
  I 
  beg 
  to 
  express 
  my 
  perfect 
  concur- 
  

   rence 
  with 
  Sir 
  William 
  Hamilton 
  in 
  thinking, 
  that, 
  consistently 
  with 
  the 
  prin- 
  

   ciples 
  of 
  Dr 
  Reid, 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  question 
  on 
  which 
  no 
  a 
  priori 
  opinion 
  is 
  admissible, 
  and 
  

   which 
  observation 
  and 
  experiment 
  alone 
  can 
  decide. 
  

  

  