-i>j.->jr, > a ''3> _ ^~ ^- ^ -^. -, P.'^'^j-^,-%.'^,-*^,.-^j._.".^^, '!' 1 ■*••■& ?S,Wl .5))«i3..7>j; LlBrtAPtY OF CONCriESS. f) ^ ^ S UNITED STATES OP AMERICA #5 y I <^ I c i ^ -J > JS> "" > > >,> > 9> i> ■ j^>-:jg>. '^^i)' ^^r^Oi ■S2 *» "^^ \ir):>)i>:> 'imj3- 1.S ">>:>7».":»^)3": ) 3 >\iiX»>'.'3 ; j>y^-. ^^^ ^i^ n\^ ««^2S^^' r^i 05 a:>&>^:>- ^^^ .C> 3J> 5».2> ,:> ^^ .f^> >> l»i3- a>^ ~5 ^ -» ^"»^ >:b i^' jS) j1D)>^ 1 > ^J®3?^ J9i» 1 - ■) ?j "»T) ""^S^H^t. ^Jl^i> ^^S/, .-^rs .T&rg» -O j3 .■»)>a>;^ '■> 3> > ^^ • ^» 5 • ?^ I'vsy ~^ 'i^ ^'ISP o 5 I'jf^f :> ^D: yglK .;3: -!>■ rvTi^Sy o ' i^*.- f^i •«'' / i *^ '^ 3 -^f TIKHMUITS ()\ THE COiN N HCTlnX LIFE. MIND, AND MATTE 11; lu'OiJctt 10 ^Ltiuatioii, Uy .i. P. BATL'llJ'J>l>i;i;, i\i. D. .i-r;-, ^; JIAWLEV, IT.ANiU.l.N . nl'AKii. VV^ Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, By J. P. BiTCIIELDER, M. D. In the Clerk's Office of Ihe Northern District of New York. 's, C\ --jiu, r~ FH F,F AC !■: The design of the uuthoj', in writing' ;ui(l puhlishiiip; ihc liillinv. ing pages, is lo direct the atteiitidii ol'iJiihlie teacliers ami others, wiioso duties connect them witli the education of youth, and of the public in general, siiould he h(! so fortunate as to reaeli tiie public nnnd, to tliose physiological principles, wliicdi, according to his view, constitute the very starting point at vvhii-h all edu- cational movements should originate, and to conlriliuie sujne- Ihing towards supplying a delect, whicii, it appears to him, ex- ists in our systems of education. If lie iias lailccl in Iho e\(n-u- tionof that design, he imiulges the hope, ihat his lunnbh' hdmrs will put some abler jien in motion, and cnnsciiui'nllv, be nui wholly lost. Early in his jirofessional career, he «as i!(t|i|\ inipri'ssid with the conviction, that a knowledge of jdiysiology was as necessary to a correct understanding of the phenomena of dis- ease, as Ihose of health ; and therefore, that all medical theories should be closely connected with, if not absolutely based on that science; which conviction induced him to study it with more than ordinary attention, and caused its principles not only to pervade most of his pathological reasonings, but inllueiuc, un- duly perhaps, his metaphysical researches. This circumstance led him in the first instance, to conleni- plate mental cultivation in the light of [ihysiology, and finally induced him to connect its principles with those of education ; tiie beneficial eft'ects experienced in the education of himself, (for he is self-educated,) and others have fully satisfied him of the utility and importance of that connection ; and as the culture of the intellect should commence in the nursery, and be carried on in the parlor as well as in the school or college, the sidijecl commends itself to the consideration ol' pai'enls, as well ;is pi(]- fcssed teachers. Prrl'itcf. In considering lliis subject, lie has tVoni time to time, availed himself of information derived from various writers on physiolo- gy, botli ancient and modern, and endeavored to make such use of it, as seemed best calculated to subserve the objects in view ; but from his habits of reading and thinking, by which he has constantly essayed to make others thoughts and reflections his own, and to give them a tinge of originality in their passage through his mind, without regarding the sources whence they were derived, he is unable to make those acknowledgements of indebtedness, which may be due to particular authors; believ- ing, however, that no writer on physiology of any note, whether ancient or modern, has been overlooked in his study of that science, he cheerfully acknowledges his obligations to all, but more particularly to Haller, Blumenbach, Soemmering, Richer- and. Parry, Park, Bichat, Bell, Muller, and Carpenter. He also desires to express his obligation to several literary gentle. men, for their advice and suggestions ; and particularly to the Rev. Professor Mandeville, of Clinton College, for his assistance in correcting his manuscript. Unlearned in philology, and uninstructed in the rules of composition, the writer is forward to acknowledge, that in many instances, he has experienced (partly, lie thinks, from the ab- struseness of the subject,) considerable difficulty in exjjressing his ideas with a clearness, which has been satisfactory even lo himself; but he trusts, that with the help derived, from the sources alluded to, his language has been made so plain, as to enable his readers to apprehend his meaning without much trouble. As a literary production, its pretensions are so few, and withal, so humble, that he supposes no one will open upon it the battery of criticism, by which it might be soon demolished ; nevertheless, as truth is his object, he will not feel hurt, but gratified, if its faults, and especially its errors, be detected and pointed out, in the spirit of philosophic candor. The subject is important, and worthy of more extended discussion, than the author is able to bestow. i'ui;i.is[[i:us' ai)Vi;ktisi;mi;m'. 'I'liis irciUi.se is presented to tlie public, under tiie lull tonvic- (iun, that tlic subject, although one of the utmost importance to persons engaged in the education of children and youtli, eitlier as parents or teachers, is yet one, of which comparatively noth- ing is known. The Author has long sustained a high reputation for extensive reading, and scientific research, and for the practical application of their results to the affairs of every day life. The views here presented, are the fruits of long and mature reflection, thorough investigation, and much practical experience as a teacher, and it is believed, that although sonic of them may be considered bold and original, they will be found to bear the test of rigorous ex- amination, and the closest scrutiny. If we mistake not, many of the physiological views, will likewise be interesting to the medical man, as well as the general I'eader. Utica, .September, 1H45. THOUGHTS ON THE ('ONNEt:TIOi\ OF LIFE, MIND AND MATTER. I HAVE been long convinced, that iho legitimate object of education, is not to give tlie pupil knowledge; but to teach him liiiw to ar(|iiii(' it, how tii enii>li)y tlie faculties with wtiich he has been endowed. To do this, the inslructor himself should lie conversant with the laws by which the iiiculties are governed ; which implies a knowledge of physi- ology, not possessed by many who liave not been led by their professional jiursuits to acquire it. Having l>een con- siderably employed in early life as a, teacher in the public schools in New England, and for thirty-five years past, almost daily engaged eilher as a, public nr j)rivate instructor in liMchinir the science to which 1 am devoted, I have been induced to bestow some thoughts on the connection of life, mind and matter, and the laws by \vhich they are governed in thai conni'ctinii, relalivcly t" i'(hii-;iii(in. 1 am aware that the union < atiempt to lill the veil. But the man 'd science, liowevm' humble his pretensions, need not be deter- red in his reach alter kiiowiedn'e, uulil he ha> arrived at that boundary upon wliicli has beiai legibly inscribed the inhibi- tion, " thus far shall th(ju come and no farther." God crc- u (j Tliouglils OH the Conncctiuu iitcd iii:ilier lor the inanilbstalion ol' his own glorious attri- liiitos, and, that this manilestation might never cease, he has stamped it with the impress of perpetuity. Its existence de- pi lids npon his will alone ; and in order to make it capable ci|' such maniiestalion, it was necessary to endow it witli certain pro])erLies wiiich should rise in tlic scale ot' impor- tajice in proportion to the number of his attributes that he designed to illustrate. To display his power and wisdom only, it was merely requisite to invest it with those proper- ties uj)on which the jihenomena of mere matter depend, :iud fri.ini the exertion of whose energies may be interred the physical laws by which those phenomena arc governed. These jiropertics and the laws to which they give rise, ru'c no less permanent than matter itself The properties to which we now allude, arc two only, viz: attractability a.nd repulsability ; and the endless forms and varieties wliich the phenomena of inanimate matter present are the result of 1 wo functions only : attraction and repulsion, which spring from the properties above mentioned. We arc totally ignmanl of the essences of these properties, because wc are destitute ol' oi'gans by which we can take cognizance of ihem. For the manifestation of God's goodness, it was necessary to (;onncct the vital principle with matter. Whether vitahty exists, distinct i'rom, and independent of matter, is beyond c:ur power to determine : nor is it at all necessarv that we should, bec;'.use it is manifested to us in no other way than through the medium of matter. Connected with a substance whose projicrties, functions and laws are ever the same, the |ii'(ipcrtic::-, tuuctions, and laws of life as manilcsted through the instrumentality of this connection, are no less permanent and immutable than the connection itself God's plan in regard to lite, is no less simple than it is in respect to in- iinimate matter. The jirojterties essential to vitality, are sensibility and mobility ; and the essential functions growing ■ •ut of these projierties, are sensation and motion; by the modilications of which all the operations and phenomena of (jf Lijc. Mind diul Mallei-. 7 iil'c are pcrlormeJ aiul fxliilntcd. [•^-om llif smds ui iIr'Sc. all its laws may be ileduced. To accomplish the dcsiiin of mauill.'sliug vil.dity tlifoi,it;li tlie instrumentality ol' matter, (jrttanization was necessary : hence, all animated matter is organized. (Jreanizalion, which is the act or process of arranging or forming the particles of matter into instruments of action, hy vvlii<-h some operation is performed, or process carried on. nr hy the agency of which some design is accomplished, implies the existence of mind in the being who organized, but not in the thing organized ; for vegetables are organized bodies, and are consequently endowed with that species of vitality which is connected with, or perhaps springs from organiza- tion ; but they manifest no indications of mind ; and why ? Because God has withheld from the matter of which they arc compo.sed. organs by which it can be produced or mani- fested. Without such organs, organized bodies were capa- ble of showing forth his power and wisdom in a higher de- gree, and in a more jieri'ect manner than were the properties with which he had invested mere inanimate inorganic mat- ter. For the manifestation of His goodness, it was neces- sary that matter should be invested with pro]ierties through which it might be aflcctcd by that goodness : otherwise, it could iiever give any evidence of the existence ot' that attribute. That matter should be capable of manifesting other attributes of God, such as his justice and mercy, it was necessary that mind as well as I;!i\ should in some way or other be connected with it ; and it appears that vitality constitutes the connecting link between mind and matter. In what consists the essence of life or of mind we know not, and probably never shall, because the Creator has withheld from us the organs by which thoy can be recog- nized as separate and distinct existencies. We can take cognizance of them only through the medium of matter, and precisely in the same way as we do of gravitation, ch(>mi- cal aflinify, electricity, etc. Whether llu-y can indeed exist independently of matter, we can not fiir tlif^ rensnn O'^siirned. 8 Thovghh on the Conncclion tell. All analos;y, and ilic immutabilit)' of Deity warrant the belief tiiat they have no such separate existence ; and that a connection of some kind or other with matter will be as necessary for their maniii'stations in a future, as in the present world.* We think tliat inspiration fully maintains this view of the subject; for we are told by the Apostle, ■*hat we shall be changed ; that this corruptible must [Hit on incorruption, and this mortal immortality. When the last trump shall sound, we shall be all chani^ed in the twinkling of an eye, and then our bodies rclined and sublimated by that change, will rise " to be our house immortal and eter- nal." If life and mind do not exist except in connection with matter, and of course subject in a greater or less de- gree to its influence, of what vast conserjuence is it to us, and to all concerned in educating the mind, that we become acquainted with them in this connection, and with the laws jjy which they are governed ! It is this importance of the subject with reference to education, which has prompted ine to trace out and illustrate as far as I maj^ be able, the laws by which life, mind and matter in connection, are governed. Although it might be interesting and instructive to trace the connection of life with matter from the vegeta- ble, (destitutt' of mind) through the ascending series up to man, " creation's lord," yet ps it is not closely connected with our subject we shall forbear, and proceed to remark that the human body is a machine formed by God himself, as an instrument for the manifestation of the phenomena of vitajity and mind. As it is composed of matter connected with life and mind, it has been supposed to be necessarily governed by tlu'ee ditlerent kinds of laws, viz : such as govern inanimate matter, such as govern life, and such as govern mind. Like other matter, it is. to be sure, obedient to the laws of gravitation. &c., but notwithstanding its com- * Dr. Adam Clarke says. " God ilii> imorcaled Spirit manifests Himself by material sulislanccs. Created spirits must lie manifested in the same way ; and though matter may ejyist without spirit, and spirit without matter; y<"<, without the latter, spirit rati not (lecome manil'est.'' (if Llfi; Mind ami Mailer. !l plexily of organs, ami its Iril'old i-.unipdsitioii, wo l)clit'Vi' tliat. no such complication of laws is iioccssary l are iinl\ two properties, scnsihility and moliility ; nnly two fiinctiDns, sensation and motion, which result from the c(jnil)iiiatiiin of life with matter, and that upon the various modilications of these, all the phenomena of life depend.* These properties and fnnetions arc common to every organ of the hody, and of course the hrain, the organ of mind, is as much under their control in the jieribrmance of its function, the jiroduc- tion of thought, as the liver in the production of bile; and tile laws by which the operations of the fi.ii"nier. the br:iin_ are governed are precisely the same as those by which the actions of the latter are regulated. The secretion of bih^ is performeil by the cnpillaries of the liver ; llie jmiduclion of ideas by those of the brain. The structure or organiza- tion of the liver is such, that if a certain portion of its capillaries act at all, they must secrete bile ; in like maimer. the structure or organization of the Ijrain is such, that if a certain ])ortion of its capillaries act at all, they must produce ideas, and can do nothing else, hence the uninterrupted How of thought during our waking hours : witli this difference. however, that we can (as will be seen) acquire an inlluence over the actions of the capillaries of the brain so as to make them produce such trains of thought as we please, wdiile those of the liver go on forming bile indejiendently of the will. [See Ajipendix.] The reason of this might be ex- plained if required, by the drift of our subject. The doc- trine we mean to promulgate is, that the pniduction of thought and the operations of the mind, ns fnnction of the brain, are originated by the same causes, inliuenced in tlu' same way. regulated by the same prinei|iles, nnd gov(>i-ne(l * To carry out the analogy ami simplicity ol' ilie design, we sliould say, mela- physically speaking, that the properties of llic mind are two only, perceptibility and reflectibility ; and that its functions were only two, perception and reflec- tion ; and that all the plienomena of thonglit depended upon the nindilleationsof those two properlies and these two lunclions. 10 Thouglils 1,11 thr Connectiiin hy ihc sninr laws, as are all tlio dlher operations and Ibnc- lions of tile liotiy. In order to estahiish and olueidate this ■doctrine, it will be proper anl all ri'a.sons, hccnuseil iiiiisl Ad that or nothing. The ey(\ lor instanri.', i?; aeknowledged hy all to lie the oi'U'an adapted to prixhice or (>\'perieiiec the sensaliou ot" light, and this might lie inferred ahnost a priori, by any one aeipuiiiited with its anatomical structure, and the laws of linlil. lor it is a j)erfect optical instrument. A cintain soine- ihing emenating I'roiii a luminous body, and entering into this organ, produces a luminous appearance, which is term- ed the sensation of light.* Tliis emeiiatioa is called light, and is the true physical irause of the sensation above men- tioned ; but it is a well known fact, that this luminous aj>- pcarance in tlic eye can be jiroduced by mauy (-ausesothcv than the true physical cause, and indeed in its total absence, as by the galvanic shock : a blow on the eye, or even on the back of the head, by a I'all on the ice, as most people can probably testify. This sameness of sensation from so many ditierent causes, must arise from tlie peculiar structure of I he organ, and is, therefore, a proof of the modification of property and function by structure. The ear is the organ destined to produce or exjtcrience the sensation of sound, the physical cause of which, is the undula- tions of air impinging against the niemiirana iNinpani, ov drum of the ear, as it is commonly called; but how often do we hear j.aticnts complaining of noises in the ear, which arc jiroduced by mere (dianges of circulation in some part of I he auditory apparatus, in the entire absence of the appro- |>riale jihysical cause, the undulations of air. These noises ;irc freipiently described by patients, saying that they re- semble the rolling of carriages ; the roarinc; of the wind ; * This emanation tVoiu the luminous body penetrates the eye, and falling upon the iclina. causes a change in the circulation of that pari, or, as some suppofee, m the action of the vessels of the chorid coal, which change is perceived by the retina, and it is this perception of change, which, being uiojificd by the struciure of the part, constitutes the sensation of lighi. 12 lluiaiihls on ihr ('onneiiion the i-Lishiiig nl" ininlity waters, or the whizzing ol steam from the tea-kettle. We ol'ten liear jicojile complain of ilitigue, a sensation peculiar to the naiscles and experience it our- selves, when no exertion, the physical cause of that sensa- tion, has been made. We might go on autl uiulliply Jjroofs ; but it is presumed that enough have been adduced to convince every one, that when the identical sensation has been produced in the absence of its legitimate physical cause, and by anotiier altogether different in its physical properties, it must be ascribed to the fact that the structure of the organ, or part experiencing it, can so modify its actions, as to give the same result. If it be true, that sensation is modified by structure, then it will iollow that each structure should have a sensa- tion of its own, and that instead of five senses, we may have twenty or fifty.* As the brain, (by which term I mean to * Every structure or tissue in thf body has, it is believed, a sensation peculiar lo itself, wliicli especially relates to its function, and conservation. An ache, is the sensation peculiar to bone, and is produced by pressure. The bones are the levers of the organs to which the mechanical powers of the system are applied. Now pressure is the appropriate cause by which a lever or any other mechanical iiistrunu'iit effected is ordinarily put in motion : hence it was necessary that the boni'S should have a sensibility ami sensation, derived no donbt from their [leculiarity of structure, which should at all times inform us of the fact, that they were subjected to an undue degree of that kind of force either from its internal or external application ; internal when it arises from a morbid state of distention of the vessels of the bone, as when inflammation is going on in its structure ; or external, as any one at any time may satisfy himself by making pressure with the thumb upon the shin bone, or indeed any other bone in tlie body which is thinly covered. This ache is the sensation which, when exi)erienccd in a degree that compromises the safety of the part, prompts ns to seek relief ; hence its conservative utility. Fatigue is the sensation peculiar to the muscles, the organs of motion ; and is produced by an excessive exertion of their powers. Its final end is to admonish us of the necessity of suspending further efibrt. If we do not heed the timely admonition, the function, and perhaps indirectly the struc- ture ol ihese organs will be seriously deranged, injured, or even destroyed. So ol' all the other distinctive tissues of the body. It might be amusing and instruc- tive lo all, but it is emphalically interesting and important to the pliysician, to understand this subject ; for it enables liim to ascertain with considerable accu- racy the seat of disease, by attending to and analyzing the jiauis and feelings complained of by palienls. of Life, Mind and Matter. 1 3' include tlie euccphalon and spinal marrow and their appen- dages, the nerves) is composed of a great variety of differ- ent parts, each of which is, I suppose, capable of modifying in its own particular way, perception and reflection, the functions of the mind, it would seem to flow from our doc- trine as a corollary independent of the arguments of the phrenologists, that the brain is made up of a congeries of organs, every one of which has a mode of perception and reflection peculiar to itself. Wc shall proceed to show, that besides this modification of the properties and functions of vitality by structure, sen- sation and motion the two essential functions of life are also modified by physical causes, which may be divided into two species, viz : chemical and mechanical. It is abso- lutely necessary that these llinctiuns should be thus modi- fied, otherwise the same physical cause would not produce the same change : consequently, the same sensation or per- ception could not be expected invariably to iollow. It is owing to this power of physical causes to ni'idify sensation and perception, that aloes is always bittm- ; honey always sweet; vinegar always sour ; &c.. tS;c. The saine may be said of physical causes addressed to the otlier senses, as smelling, tasting, feeling, &c. Now, why is it so ? Tiie rea- son is, that it is an universal and immutable law di nature, that the physical properties essential to each particular kind of matter should always be the same. The same law holds good in regard to changes produced in the mind as well as in the body : and hence it is that objects ot the sarne physical properties, if they produce any change in the mind, always excite the sanie ideas, the same trains of thought, the same intellectual operations, and in- deed, the same emotions : therefore, a transparent body always excites in the mind the idea of transparency, and a disagreeable object always the emotion of disgust, because ihey always produce the same changes of action in the brain, the organ of mind. To this it may be objected that the same impressions, whether piiy>!'Ti| or mentni, alter a time, cease to prorluf-e the same eh;in;z''s, ;inil conr^equentlv B 11 Thoughts on the Connection cease to excite the same sensations and perceptions. This, however, is owing to another law of the system, viz : that frequent repetition or constant application of the same causes destroys the susceptibility of the part to which they are applied, to their particular impression ; as the irrita- tion excited in the skin of a person not accusJomed to wearing flannel soon ceases to be perceived. It is ow- ing to the same law that the same dose of medicine re- peated daily, soon ceases to produce its appropriate effect, that the same quantity of alcoliol ceases to intoxicate. This law is universal, and therefore, its influence extends to the mind. For instance, the same object of distress presented daily, would soon cease to excite emotions of pity or compassion. The wisdom and goodness of God are very clearly manifested by the institution of this law of the system ; for by the frequent or constant application of hurtful agents to our bodies, they lose their susceptibility to those impressions ; and hence it is, that persons who have become acclimated, will be exempt from diseases of a particular region, while strangers moving into it are soon aflected.* In like manner the mind ceases to be annoyed by the frequent repetition or constant application of moral causes which are calculated to disturb its equanimity, be- cause that part of the brain, the organ of mind, upon which those causes have so constantly or repeatedly acted, has lost its susceptibility to their particular impression. Again, to carry the analogy a little farther, frequent change of action or derangement of function in an organ, is sooner or later followed by a change of structure in that part, and we have permanent disease, or what medical men term organic disease, which, if in an organ whose function, as that of the heart and lungs, is essential to life, is generally considered » It is owing to the prevalence of this law, that the tobacco chewer and the rum drinker are not epet'dily cut ofi'by the use of those poisone-, and it is owinp to the same cause, that a person by laking daily a quantity of arsenic, would come at length to take with impunity a dose which would destroy the life of r.nother who had not been habituated to its use. In this way, murdrr i" said i( hnv'.' been crmniitted without suspicion. of Life, Mind unJ MuKcr. 15 incurable, because the change of function caused by th.:-; very change of btructure tendi lo give permanency to the morbid state of its organization. So in regard to the mind, which is the function of tiie brain, when any moral cause is frequently repeated or constantly applied, the very struc- ture of the brain becomes altered, and we have incurable madness or mania. Another law b)- which changes of action or function in the body are mndified is this : that when any pyrt has been deprived of its susceptibility tf) a particular stimulus or impression, it may be specially restored by merely chang- ing the physical cause; and it is on this principle that many diseases which are only functional arc cured. So in the mind, when it has lost its susceptibility to any moral cause, lor the same reason it may be restored by simply exchang- ing that for another ; and hence it is, that many are so much relieved, or even cured of insanity by a mere exchange of the moral causes which have deranged the intellect, for those which tend to restore its susceptibility, or for such as arc suited to reeew its healthy operations; and in this consists the grand secret of curing that most terrible of all maladies. Again, the functions of the body are modified by the quan- tity of arterial blood circulating in the particular part to which the altered function belongs. And here the analogy is drawn still closer; for the operations of the mind, like the functions of every other part of the body, are altei-ed or modified by the quantity of blood which lor the time being, is circulating in the brain, the organ of the mind. Jf the physician wishes to increase the I'unction of an organ, he iias only to contrive to throw a Httle more blood intii it. If it be an organ kI' secretion, as the liver oy lachrymal gl^uid, an increased (piantity of bile, or of tears \^'i!l be the result. If it be an organ of motion, increased mobility ivill follow. If it be the mentrd organ, an increased quantity of thought will be produced. Do you ask for proof. Take a glass or two of wine, a cup of tea or coffee, or a pill of opium, which induce the vessels of thf Lryin to relax, an 1 conse- 16 Thoitghls on the Connection quently admit more arterial blood into that organ, and yon will have an increased quantity of function ; the intellectual wheels will move on with more power, as well as rapidity ; or if any one, in these days of te-totalism, should object to these expedients, for increasing the powers of the mind, or more properly speaking, the function of the brain, he may be told that its functions, like those of every other organ under the control of the will, may be increased within cer- tain lim.its by exerciso. To illustrate as well as to carry on the argument. The muscles are the organs of motion, and when we begin to put them in action, as in the morning on rising from the bed, or when we engage in any exercise requiring more than ordinary exertion, we find our first movements are comparatively feeble and inert ; bat as we go on exercising, they become more and more facile and agile, increasing in celerity and power ; and why ? because more blood is brought by exercise into the muscles. So when we begin to think on any subject, especially if it be one upon which we are not accustomed to meditate, the first operations of our minds are feeble, but by a continu- ance of the eftbrt they become stronger and stronger, be- cause by exercise, more blood is derived to the brain. All of us have, undoubtedly, noticed the paleness of an orator's face when he begins to address an audience, and have ob- served that his first efforts are feeble and labored : but as he goes on, color comes in his face, his eye kindles, and his whole countenance glows ; phenomena which indicate that more blood has by some means or other gained admission into the vessels of the head, and consequently into those of the brain ; his thoughts now com.e with rapidity, his intel- lectual operations proceed with power, his ideas follow each other in such rapid succession, that he cannot stop for words and cxpi-cssions to represent them, his mouth is a door of utterance, out of which language flows with the same facility and rapidity with which thoughts pass through his mind. If now the effort be much lonarer continued, the vessels of the head will become so distended with blood. ■of Life. Mind taut Mullt-r. 17 thnt they aro coiiijiellcJ to resist, and nfti/u painfully, and it is in this way we explain the tact that many persons experience headache after intense thinkini;, or a vigorous ellbrt at public speaking, just as pain is produced in the muscles, the organs of motion, hy long continued or si'vere exertion. Wo shall push this jiart of the inquiry no firthcr at this time, but [iroceed to show how the functions of the living body arc commenced and carried en ; how physical causes produce action and changes of action in the system; and endeavor to prove that their mode ot' producing action and changes of action in the mind, is exactly similar to that by which they produce action and changes of action in the body, and also that moral causes operate on the body ■exactly like physical causes, and that in the production and change of action, they are governed by precisely the same laws, and consequently, that to educate the mind, it is ab- solutely necessary to educate the body. The tiuiction of every organ in the body is performed by a set of vessels called capillaries, from the fact of their being exceedingly fine, like the smallest hairs. They are to be cnnsidered as the principal antagonists of the heart, or as furnishing in every part of the body antagonistical resistance to the ac- tion of that organ. Their action is modified in each par- ticular organ by the substance which has been thrown around and among them, by wlsich they are connected together; a circumstance which gives peculiarity to their function, as well as identity to the organ. These working vessels, which do the business of the system, are in the first instance excited to action by physical causes, chemical or mechanical ; and we will here premise that the impressions which thry^ make are either agreeable or disagreeable, painful or pleasureable as the case may be. because upon this important fact is based a law- by which their influ- ence is greatly modified. We shall assume, as it will fully answer our purpose, that life commences at birth, and that the body is then completely formed and furnished IS Thoughts on the Connection with iill iis appropriate fluids. The air, as in the case of the first man, while in the very hands of his Creator, rusii- ing into tlie nostrils of tlie new-born infant, roaches and expands its lungs ; by which expansion all the pulmonary vessels are enlarged and elongated. Prior to the expansion of the lungs, their vessels, except such as were necessary to nutrition are supposed to be empty. According to a well known law of hydraulii-s, into these vessels, in which a sort of vacuum had been thus formed by the expansion before alluded to, the fluids would flow and dis- tend them, until by simple mechanical distention, they would be excited to resistance, and stimulated to contract ; which would force a portion of their contents out of them into other vessels. The mere weight of the atmosphere, which is about fifteen pounds to the square inch, would of itself put the delicate air-vessels of the lungs on the stretch, and stimulate them to contract strongly ; which, by forcing out a quantity of air, constitutes expiration. When this was accomplished, according to the law of the system, which is that every degree of contraction should be followed by a spontaneous relaxation, generally in proportion to the previous contraction, these vessels would relax, and again of course, be filled and distended, by the in-rushing of ano- ther portion of atmospheric air, which constitutes inspira- tion. What an organ as a whole does, will be done by all its vessels ; therefore, the contraction of the lungs in expi- ration, forces the blood out of their vessels into the heart, (a hollow muscle) and distends it ; as mechanical distention is the natural or physical stimulus which excites the mus- cles to act, it causes that organ to contract, and the blood is thrown into the arteries, and through them, into all parts of tlic system, where it stimulates every vessel and every part to e.ct ; for every organ will do what all its vessels do. Hence it is, that when the vessels of a muscle are dis- tended with red or arterial blood, they will be prompted to contract in order to tbrce it out, and what all tlio vessels of a muscle do, the same will the muscle as a whole do ; of Lifr, Mini! iirii! Mr/ltrr. I i) that is, if will cuntracl as a whole, and its iegitiinatc ef- fect as aa oiTi:an of motion will be manifested. Now the nerves, which give the vessels the power to feel the impros sion of the fluids, anii also enable thcni to act, or rather rc'-aet u|)on ilieir contents, take cognizance of their ac- tion or contraction, and so to speak, communicate the intel- ligence to tlio sensorium ; or to use another mode of ex- pression, they produce a change of action in that jiartof tho brain in which they (the nerves) originate, and there excite (he perception oi" this change, which constitutes thought. This change, and the consequent perception of it, is re])oalcd again and again, as often as the original cause is applied, until at length the brain or some portion of its vessels, gels a habit of acting in this particular way, and then the indi- vidual, by fixing his attention upon this perception, may excite at his pleasure the same change of action in his brain, and tlius reproduce the same perception, idea, or train of thoughts. Having learned from experience that he has ac- quired this power over the vessels of the brain, he comes at length to desire to have it, (the change) reproduced in the absence of its p'lysical cause: and by trying again and again, he acquires the power of reproducing it, and then he will have the idea of that which was the physical cause of the change, as well in its absence as in its presence. This constitutes voluntary thinking ; the only mode of thinking which strengthens the mind, or produces any valuable re- sults : the art of which it is the object and business of edu- cation to teach.* * When a physical or simsible object is present<>d lo any of liie senses : lo the eye for instance, the light reflected Iroin it enters the organ, and produces b change in the state of the retina, which is transmitted lo that part of the brain from which the optic m-rve arises, and there produces a change which is per- ceive! ininerfc-ctiy at first, it is admitted, especially in early infancy ; but when the same sensible object is presented again and again, the change each lime will be produced, perceived and compared with previous changes until the con- sciousness of its having been perceived beibre, is fuHy awakened ; when, almost sirnuitaneously with consciousness another faculty to wit, attention is originated, Nowaitentinn :e vohnt'^ry or invohin'.arv At Grot it is involuntary, but by 20 Thoiiifhls un the Connection It renuiins to be shmvii, that the muscles calfed voluntary, become subject to volition or the vv'ill, in the same way as the power of the will over the action of the vessels of the brain is acquired, which has just been considered and attempt- ed to bo explained. The blood flowing into the muscles as soon fis their vessels are largo enough to admit it, excites them to act, and they do act involuntarily at first, before and lor a considerable time after birth. In this way, mus- cles arc first prompted and excited to act. The nerves, besides supplying them with the power to feel and to move, take cognizancf of the motion I'lus excited, and transmit a knowledge of it to that part of the brain, or spinal marrow in which they have their origin, and there produce a change in the actions of its capillary vessels which, in a longer or shorter time afterbirth, (perhaps before as some think.) and after frequent repetitions comes to be perceived ; and when it has been perceived again and again, the individual taking pleasure in the perception and consciousness of the change excited by the transmitted action of the muscle, desires, and at length determines to reproduce it, and by frequently repetition, emotion i3 produceil, which is soon iollo;veil hy desire, or lis opjio- site aversion. Consciousness and attention, constitute the understanding ; de- sire and the determination to which it gives rise, constitute the will. Con- sciousness and attention are attended with pleasure ; the pleasure of knowing, or of knowledge, which at first is passive, but which by repetition becomes active, and then follows the desire of reproducing thought, and soon that of acquir- ing new ideas. Thus, when an idea has been produced again and again by the presence of a physical object, we come at length to desire its recurrence in ilie absence of its archetype, the physical object, and by single or repeated trials, thr; individual acquires the power of producing the same change in ihe vessels of the brain, which was e.\cited by the physical agent when present, and then will thr identical idea or ideas be produced, and the same consciousness and allention will ensue ; the idenlity of which is settled by comparison with previous results. .\t first the reproduction, it is true, will be more or less difficult, and more or less perfect, until bye-and-bye, the individual acquires a perfect control over the action of the vessels concerned in the process, and then the result is obtained with the greatest lacility. It is in this way, that we acquire the power and the habit of voluntary thinking, as any one may convince himself who will take the trouble of patiently watching the operations of his own mind, especially when • ndea^-oring !o master a new orditlicull subjccl. of Life, Mind and Matter. 21 repeating the efTorf, acquires the power to reproduce it, (i. ('. the change in the brain, or spinal marrow,) and then ihe muscle moves in obedience to his will, and then, and not til! then, does it become a voluntary muscle. Let any one observe how the child learns to walk; or how he himself must proceed when he would perform any motions which are entirely new to him. In the performance of such, do his muscles at first move with precision in obedience to his will ? Or has he to train and educate them just in the same way as he did when a child ? It is in this manner that all our voluntary powers, whether of mind or muscle, of tiiought or action, are acquired, and in fact strengthened. By thus acquiring the power of changing the actions of the vessels of the brain, and making them subservient to our will, we can learn to think on anything we please, or Continue a train of voluntary thinking on any particular subject. When these vessels have been obliged by the will to act for a considerable time in any particular man- ner, they become fatigued like the vessels in the voluntary muscles, and sooner or later, we are tired of thinking on this or that particular subject, and if we do not now stop or turn the current of thought into another channel, or to another subject, the effort will become painful. So in the muscles, when we have fatigue irom any particular kind (if action, we must either stop, or change it for some other effort in order to be relieved from that sensation. Voluntary thinking, like voluntary action, causes fatigue, and these are the only modes of action that do cause it. From the view of the subject just taken, and the reasoning thereon, we learn that God has not endowed man with vohiiitary ]iovvers, and consequently, has not made him a moral agent ; but it is true, that he has so constructed and cimstiluted him, that he becomes such bv his own choice and elliirts, (in the manner already shown.) and therefore it is right and proper, that he should be held responsible for all his voluntary acts. But the question, how do physical •ciuiscs (iperale on the capillaries of an organ to make them c 22 Tliouglits on Lif(\ Mind and Malter. act at all, or to cliaiigc their action still remains to be answered. We have said, that the impressions which they make are agreeable or disagreeable, pleasurable or painful, and that upon this fact, was founded an important law, by which actions of the body were regulated. The law is this; anything that makes a pleasing impression on the body, in- duces the vessels of the part, on which it is made, to relax, and whatever makes a disagreeable or painful impression on it, induces its vessels to contract, or in other words, to resist.* The latter part of this law is, however, modified by another circumstance, which is this : if the iuYprcssion be made on the outside of the vessel, or exterior to an organ, and be stronger than that made on the inside by the fluids within, it will produce relaxation, upon the principle pointed out by Hypocratcs, that the stronger effaces the weaker impression. If the impression, exterior to an organ, be .stronger than that within, its vessels will relax, and continue to do so. until they become distended and over distended, and come at last to resist painfully, and then we are assured that the internal is stronger than the external impression. We do not, however, resist corporeally or mentally, what- ever is pleasing to us ; and iheretbre, it is, that the first part of the law which causes the vess-els to relax in consequence of [jleasui'abK' impressions, holds equally wdi^ther they be made internally or externally. Notwithstanding, if it Ix; external, it o[)cratcs on the same principle, as if it had been disagreeable or painful, because if the external pleasurable imnression be stronger than that which is made by the fluids within the vessels, they \\\\\ relax or forego their resistance, and allow themselves to be distended. We wish to have it kept in view, that in this way we explain the influence of causes which produce changes in the mind, by operating ui)on the vessels of the brain, the organ of the mind. There * So far as llie niiihor rcnolierts, tliis mipnitanl doctrine \va=; fir.-t rnnaclied ao't pr"n\iilgaled by ihe celebrated EmjIisIi orator, Kdiiimul BurI.e, in 111:? work on the Sublime ntid Beavttifvil. Tlif Posiioiis. 23 4<; ill this respect, no ilitlerence hotwccn tln' lijriiintioii nl ideas by the brain, and tiie secretion or ibimation of bile by (he hver. The general principle is the same. I'olh ai'c (he functions of their respective organs, but with this ditler- ence, that the peculiar organization of the brain, constrains it not only to form ideas^ but, so to speak, to know what it is doing, or to be conscious what ideas it is furming. what trains of thought it is carrying on, and to what conclusions it has arrived ; while the liver, from its own peculiarity of structure, is compelled to make bile if it do anything at all ; but is not allowed to know what it is about ; and there- fore, it can never be educated ; but the brain is the organ toward which all our eflbrts at training should be directed, and hence, the importance of being well acquainted with the mode in which changes of action in it, are effected, and the laws by which they are regulated and governed. If we would get a new idea, we must try to make the vessels of tiie brain undertake the precise action necessary to its production or formation, just as we would try to make certain muscles perform a certain action entirely new; and we all know that this is done by repeated efforts; and exactly in the same way the formation of a new idea is to be accomplished. If ive would ge-L an idea into III" Jirad of ^iiwthcr. we must try to make the vessels uf his lirain act just as the vessels of our brains acted or do act when that idea was or is present in our minds. And as we can perform any set or series of motions with a facility proportioned to the frc^quency with which wo have performed them, so we cau carry on with ease any trains of thought in proportion io the number of times we have obliged them to pass through the mind, and thus we get habits of thinking just as we do habits of acting. THE PASSIONS. We shall now pniceed to consider a class of feelings or emotions which have been considered as exclusively mental, and therefore more particularly njipropriate to the design '24 'The I'ussions. we havn in view. Those mental feelings are excited lay external causes, and are involuntary. They are termed pas- sions, and have been generally, but 1 think very erroneously, considered distinct from intellectual operations. The rea- sons for this opinion are not strictly called for, and therefore will not be assigned. Theordinary movements of the vessels of the brain are, like those of every other organ, owing to the influence of impressions unconsciously made on their internal surfaces, constantly and uniformly prompting them to act, and consequcntlv during our waking hours to keep up a train of thought, which is continually passing through the mind, without our knowing why or wherefore, as in the case of some people who are said to whistle for want of thought. This kind of thinking arises from the automatic movements of the vessels of the brain, and has little more efTect in aug- menting the knowledge of the individual who practices or in- dulges in it, than the automatic movements of the vessels of the liver, or the lungs. It is voluntary thinking only, which, like voluntary action, produces important results. This regu- larity of action in the vessels of the brain is, however, liable to be disturbed by impressions from without, more power- ful than those made by the fluids within the vessels, and change of action in the vessels of the organ of mind will produce change of feeling in the mind itself, and this change of feeling may react and produce changes of action in the brain, which, with their results, (i. e. actions in other parts,) constitute the influences of the passions on the body, and are not unfrequently the cause of serious disease ; but they act in the production of disease, and in all other respects on the same principle as physical causes. The passions, like physical causes, may be divided into two classes, painful or pleasurable, according to the kind of feeling which they produce, or with which they are accompanied or attended. The passions belonging to the first class, are grief, fear, and anger. Those belonging to the second, are joy, hope, and love ; all the other passions may be considered as mere (Iriir. •.'.-) mixtures or inncliliiMtiinis of lliosc s,\. Prrli:i|is \vi- imi'lil simplitV them still more, and say that ihere wrvr \\\n i>iil\. grief and joy. CKIEF. Loss or damage is tlie physieal cause which ilistm-hs the circulation ot" the l)rain, and gives rise to that piiinrul ciiin- tion of tiie mind, which is termed grief. ^Vhy i\in% iliis sense of privation alter the circulation of that organ, and in what does this alteration consist? It consists in :in in- creased quantity of blood in the brain, or in some poilioii of it; tlie phrenologist would say, in the organ o|' :ic- quisitivencss. That there is an increased detei-mination oj blood to the head, is obvious from the redness ot' the fac(> and eyes, and from the sense of fullness in the head, so often noticed and complained of by persons affected with grief, and in some instances, apoplexy is produced by lliis passion. How does grief operate in the ])roduetion ol' this increased fullness of the vessels of the brain? One of two things must take place, either the action of the heart must be increased, or the vessels of the brain must relax ; and it is obvious from all the phenomena of grief, that the loruiei- does not occur, for, the pulse of a person laboring under the influence of this passion is slow, the heart not unfre(|uenll\- seems to pause in its action, and every sixth or eighth heat is lost, and the afflicted person is insensible to everything about him, and even neglects the calls of nature ; foiid ;uiil drink are either refused or not thought of, and tln' voie(^ of friendship ?nd sympathy falls unheeded ujiori his eni-. Nothing interests him. As the inereasetl action of the heart can not be called in tii explain the increased fnlliiess of the vessels of the brain, we must turn to the fifhei- cause. viz: a relaxation of the vessels of that organ : and the ipiej:- tion, how is this relaxation produced, again recurs. We have said, that an impression made exterior to an organ which is stronger than that made by the Ihiids on the ves- sels of the part, will cause those vessels to relax, and Ik^- coini^ (lis'iciidcil. uirI pc-rhaps overdistriided, upon the priu- riplc hiid down In' llyiXKTEiti'S, that tlie stronger effaces ihe WL-;ikcr iiii|iresb!ioii. \ow, the cause of this passion is the loss, or jn'ivatioa of an object that is exterior to us ; is disagreeable or painful, and is stronger than that made by the fluids within the vessels of the brain : and hence, those vessels relax or forego their resistance, and suffer them- selves to be distended ; and if the cause of grief be very great or sudden, death may be the consequence, as happen- ed in the case of Eli, the judge of Israel, who, vvhen he heard of the death of his two sons, Hophni and Phineas, and of the capture of the Ark of the "Loi'd, fell down and died. With such results, most oi' us are familiar, either from re- port or our own observation. It is like a blow on the head, which stupifics or causes death, by causing the rupture of a vessel of the brain, or by inducing inflammation of that organ. An increased determination of blood to an organ, we have said, increases its function, if it be within certain limits, l)Ut if it be excessive, so as to overdistend its vessels, and cause tiiern to resist inordinately, then it interrupts or destroys the function of the organ in question, and this is precisely the case in sudden or violent grief. The vessels. taken by surprise, forego their resistance, and become so overdistended, that they cannot perform, their regular and appropriate function, which, in the brain, cannot be long suspended without fatal consequences. Hence, it is proper when we have intelligence to connnunicate, which is calcu- lated to produce sudden and violent grief, to jirepare the mind of the person to whom the communication is to be made by such information as will gradually lead him to 'nfer the result. Nature's method of preventing the disastrous consequences of grief, by unloading the distended vessels of the head, is in perfect keeping with the regularity and uni- formity of all her laws, and is moreover, a striking illustra- tion of the one alluded to; that the function of an organ is increased liy increasing the quantity of arterial blood in its vessels. In trrief we have said, that there is an increased Fear. Ti ffrlrniiiiiation nflilnud to tlio lie;ul : in wliicii case, llic face, lyps, ;ind larhryni:il .'glands, all particijiatr. and it' the I'lisli he not too violent, an ine'vcased ijuantity i_)l' tears is secreted. Hence it is, that weeping always hrings relief, and in pari, secures tiic patient from all danger by unloading the vesseW of the brain of so n>iich of iheir conlcnis. as will seciu'c the integrity of the organ, and consequently, the continuance oS its function. Weeping is, therefore, to he .dvvays greeted as the bow of safety, indicating that the storm of griel' which thri'atened destruction, is passing away, hi vevy sudde)! and very violent griel, we nuist " wi'cp or die." FEAIi. The next of the painful passions is I'ear, which operates upon another and opposite^ principle. Instead of producing a relaxation of the vessels of th<' brain, it causes an increas- ed contraction, not only in the vessels of that organ, but in those of other organs under its control or inlluencc. Hence, color llies i'rom the face of him that is atlVighted, and a uni- versal tremor, arising ^t'rom the violent contractions of the muscles of voluntary motion, seizes him ; and further more, when the emotion is extreme, this universal contrac- tion fixes the victim immoveably to the spot on which he stands, as well as deprives him of his senses. The ancient poets understood this. Homer, speaking of Dohni, who was surprised while on his way to the Grecian camp hy LHysses and Diomede, says : '■ Against the troiiihling wont/, The wretch stood prop'd, ami quivered as he stood, A sudcien palsy seized his tiirnitig head, [lis loose teeth ehatlered. and his color fled.'' This ])assion is canseil by any oh|cct which excites in u.* tlie apprehension of jierson.al danger. Jts iuipression is [lainful, and it refers alone to ourselves, and by tiu-ning our (lioughts inward, and iiximj them upon ourselves, it has 2R The Passions. |ircci.srl)' llu- fffect ol' a disagreeable Jinpression made on ilie inside ol' vessels, and should therefore, upon the princi- ple which has been laid down, produce contraction, and it is es heard If- fete!) deep s'glis ; and one-' he ruslied with great violence on a soldier, who had a m'i| of liqi ir in his hand and f u-ced it from him, and having drank off the liqnjr vvi:h great eagerness, let the mug drop to the ground." The foregoing fur- nis'iHS one of the most remarkable cases of genuine fear and its consequences on record. In this ease of thj PolanJer, no rela.tation followed the previous cou- t;a:::o:i of th,> capillaries, co.-,s?quein!y no hope sprang up in his bosom. * The following cas3 in exemplification of the doctrine of the te.tt may be somcv.ha: cnnising: " Cirirles Gnstavus, King ofSweerlenj was besieging Prague, when a tmor of most e.xtraordinary vi5ig.", desire 1 adnittaice to his tent, and being allowed en- traice, offsreJ by way of amusement to the Kmg to devour a whole hog of one hundred weight in his presence The old General Koningsinarc, who stood by ths K!n,='s side, and who, soldier as ho was, had not got rid of the prejudices of liisohilJiiood, hinted to his royal master that ths p.-asant ought to be burnt as a sorcerer. "3ire,"s.ild the fallow, irrilated at th3 remark, " if your majesty will bill make tliat old fientieman lake off his sword and spurs, 1 will cat him im- m-idiately, be.ljre I begin the hog." General Koningsmarc (who at the head of a body of S.vedcs, had jus; performed wonders against the Austrians, and who v,'a^ looked upon as ons of the bravest men of the age,) conld not stand this pro- pooal, ospeciaily as i: was accompanied by a most hideous expansion of the fright- ful peasant's jaws. \V.ihoatutii.ringa word, the veteran general turned suddenly round, ran oat of the court, and thought himself not safe until he had atrivcd jr IiIg rjii>j-;ers, vvherc hs .'cmained twenty-four hours, locked up socurely, bflbie he hi J r;'/! I'aliy .'■id of t/.!; patiic wh'ch hid i-i 5''vtre!y afTjOrJ hini " D 30 The Passions. proportion to the previous contraction. Now when the ves- sels, which contracted under the influence of fear, begin to relax, hope springs up in the mind of the sufferer, and his effjrls to escape will bo in proportion to his previous appre- hension of danger. Without this spontaneous relaxation of vessels, no ray of hope could come : unyielding and unutterable despair would have entire possession : the func- tions of lite would cense, and the person would die : he would be literally " scared to death." To carry out the analogy : it is not necessary that the physical cause of fear should be present, or actually exist. The emotion, as in the instances already adduced, of sensations produced in the absence of their appropriate physical causes, by the mere action of the vessels of the part experiencing them, may be produced by the simple apprehension of dangei% when there is no real cause for it, as is the case with persons who " bor- row trouble," or are frightened at " ciiimeras dire," ghosts and hobgoblins. A ludicrous exemplification of this truth, many will recollect, is given in the narrative of the life and adventures of Don Quixottc. JOY. This passion is tiie converse of grief in every respect, whether physically or morally considered. Joj' is a pleas- urable ; gricii a painful emotion. Joy brightens the eye, prompts to activity, and renders mind and body more in- t'jnsjly alive to every impression, and causes every function of both to be peformed with alacrity and delight : Grief bedims the eye, diffuses a torpor and listlessness over body and mind, rendering both indifferent to external impressions o.nd passing events, indisposing to motion and causing every lunclicn, corporeal and mental, to languish. Vv'e have stated that mental impressions operate on the brain just as physical impressions do on the organs of sense ; the pleasurable, producing relaxation, and those that are painful, contraction of the vessels of the part subject to thi"ir irfli'f ne(^ ; f.r.d it is r; f-ct tli:-t (Uh'^r ca-s^ans are brought Joy. iJ 1 by syiiipalhy into tlio sauic couduion. In i^i'ici, ihc oau.:!t; heing painful and external, the alteiitk'ii is abstrarled troni everything within and personal, and is fixed u[)on that cause : hence the vessels of the brain forego their resistance, yield, are overdistended, and, as has been laid down as an axiom in physiology, that the function of an organ is invariably disturbed, suspended or destroyed when its vessoly are preter- naturally and inordinately distended, so wo lind the function of the brain is suspended from t!i;it cause, ;;nd therefore it does not transmit the requisite and wonted degree of ner- vous power to the other organs of the body, and on th;s account their vessels do not feel the inipuh'c of the fluids within, and of course do not resist, but sufier tiicinselvcs to be too much distended for the due performance of their appropriate fnnctit)ns; in grief tli!' vessels ol t!ie heart, the lungs, the stomach, the muscles, the organs of locomotion and also those of the organs of secretion, sympathising with those of the brain, become overdistended : iience, t!ie slow, sKiggish or intermitting pulse ; the interrupted breathing, with frequent sighing ; the loss of appetite and digestion ; the indisposedness to action, as well as the suspension of the ordinary secretions. In joy, the very reverse of this takes place. Under the influence of this passion the vessels of the heart, the lungs and the muscles, sympathizing with those of the brain, relax; hence, the l)ounding pulse, the heaving bosom, the nimble foot, and the " leaping for joy." Joy, like grief or fear, when excessive, may produce the most deleterious cflt;cts, as in the case of Dingoras, who died from excess of joy, on the crowning of his three sons as victors at-the Olympic games. Joy, wiicn inurJinate, is in fact, more dangerous than any of the depressing passions, on account of the increased energy with which the heart acts ; which, by forcing an undue quantity of blood inio the relaxed and yielding vessels of the brain, causes tlieni to bo so distended or overdistended, as to produce inliammation in its substance or membranes, or a suspension, lempoi-ary or permanent, of its lunetioiis. Ssi The Passions. ANGKE. Anger, of all the passions, is the most displeasing. Its cause is external, and always painful ; and, therefore, in- duces relaxation of the vessels of the brain, and consequent- ly, the admission of a greater quantity cf arterial blood into that organ, which, as has been said, always increases the function of an organ, pi-ovided it be moderate, but if im- moderate or inordinate, it will suspend or annihilate its function. In anger, the vessels cf the brain i-elax, and re- ceive more red blood:* hence, the powers of the mind are increased. The vessels of the heart and of the muscles, the organs of locomotion, sympathizing with those of the brain, also relax, and more red blood is admitted into them ; hence, the increase of their activity, besides an increased amount of nervous energy, (the production of which, like that of thought, is also a function of the brain,) is transmitted through the nerves to the heart, and other muscles. Under the influence of this passion, if moderate, all the powers and faculties of the mind and body are augmented; if immoder- ate, they may be. and sometimes are, suspended or destroy- ed. .John Hunter, one of the brightest ornaments of the medical profession, is said to have died almost instanta- neously, from a sadden gust of anger.t * Red blood is that which tirculatoE in the nrtevics ; black blood that which circulates in the veins. Red und arterial, applied to blood, arc Eynu.Tymous, as «re also black and \ er.nus. t Although this passion may be productive of fatal effects, yet it may be, and ■often is employed either by accident or design, as a powerful remedial agent, of which I have known many instances. A woman in New Hampshire, who was cxceedinwly troubled for breath, said to her husband, in her anguish, " Oh I I must die ; I can not breathe any longer!" " Never mind, my dear," was his coDSolinE reply, " you need not breathe ; nobody wai'ts you to breathe any lon- ger!" It is hardly neccEsary to add that the lady made a most rapid :ecove.-y «nd Il\f:d manv years to be the companion of her tender spoufs. Hope — Love. aa nor;:. Hope is a pleasing passion, and, as we have se.cn, very generally springs as a matter of n?cos?'.ty from the ccss-ition of fear, and p?rlixps it always aris:s in this way, for wc first think of wliat miy bo b;'n2fijial to us; th-in wo desire to possess it ; thon we set about the motb.od of aequ!rin;;| it, ■whereupon, the obstacles to its attainment presenting them- selves, and being disagreeable, produce contraction of the vessels of some portion of the brain, and fear is tiie result. Jf this contraction be followed by a spontaneous relaxation, or obviated by a discovery, that the obstacles may be re- removed or surmounted, hope springs up, and all our ener- gies are exerted to procure the desired object. Hope in- creases all the powers and faculties of the mind as well as the functions of the body, and is never dangerous, either in its direct or indirect consequences ; it is, therefore, as " an anchor to the soul, sure and steadfast." l or Use soft words and gentle motions, and he uill easilx- quell or control the rising storm, as reason shall deem best. When it is desiraiilc to control or regulate any other p:is- sion, the same rule should be ibllovved. The second consideration. What uses shall he made of the passions in strengthenintx the mind and n ndering its op- erations more vigorous and cliicient in the attainment and use of knowledge ? The axiom in jihysiology. that an in- creased determination of blood to an organ, if moderate or within certain limits, increases its function, will greatly as- sist us in arriving at just conclusions upon this part of our subject. Now the production of thought and nervous en- ergy is the function of the brain, how then is its function to be increased ? The answer is, by rendering its circulation of blood more active. What passions then shall be called in to aid us in the production of this eflect ' Xot grief, certainly, for although it causes a relaxation of the vessels nf the brain, and consequently an increased determination of blood to that organ ; yet by fixing the attention exclu- sively upon the object of bereavement, it causes the suflerer to disregard all other matters, and therefore produces torpor and inactivity of body and mind, causing the functions of both to languish, it is therefore unfavorable to the imjirove- mcnt of either. Neither shall we invoke the passion of fear, lor that, as we have seen, produces contraction not only of the vessels of the brain, but of all other organs un- der its immediate control, and thereby paralyzing every cfToi-t. Tlian fear, no other passion, if we except grief, is so hostile to mental improvement. Here the subject of corpo- real punishment as a mean promotive of educational pur- poses, is forced upon our consideration. It has been, and is pjerhaps even now, a jiretty generally received opinion that tiie rod or the ferrule is an imjwrtaut if not an essential ;;gcnt in the education of youtii ; it has, however, been, particularly of late, objected to by many as debasing the mind l>y nringing it undrr the :r.dnfi:cf' nf ,■! slavir-h fear. 36 The Passions. and in this point of view it is, we conceive, idtogether ob- jectionable upon the principles laid down in this treatise. That the rod in ihc hand of a judicious teacher has some- times answered a valuable purpose, we are ready to admit ; but the true principle of its agency has we believe been entirely overlooked — that it has often sdmulated many an idle boy to get his lesson, who would have utterly neg- lected it, is not to be denied, but upon our principles it is not the fear or dread of the instrument, but the hope of es- caping its torture, which has prompted the idler to exertion and study. Feor stupifias and paralyzes : Hope exhilerates and exo.tes to action. Ail infliction oCcoi-poreal punishment, except for laults of a crimin:il nnture, such as lying. &,c , should be banished from our schools; because it is in the power of every teach- er who is duly qnulifi.cl to excite hopes of a higher and no- bler de.-criplion. ilian that uh.ch only looks to an immunity from bodily pa n.* JN'otWithstandnig, we believe that it con- sists Willi the duty of the instructor very often to place be- fore the mind ot the pupj.tlie inconveniences and disadvan- tages which incvitab! y result from ignorance, as well as the . boneiits whicfi spr,ng from knjwledj;e, for the purpose of • arousing in him tlia hopo of avoid. ng the fjrmsr, or of ob- taining the latter by a diligent application to study. Anger, as it has been shown, inci'eases the activity of the mind as • Upon this point, the writer speaks from considerable esperience, having laii^h' a number of ditil-ri'nt school?, aiirl some reputed to be very unruly and disiirderly during eight or ten wmlers in succession without inflicting corporeal punishment upon a single scholar. By treating the elder and more advanced pnpils with a sort oi conipmionable civility and politeness, and the younger with paternal kindness and gentleness, and avowing the determination to turn any one out cf school, who thould refuse, after Euilable admonition and rebuke, to comply with certain rules and regulations, which were always written and rend once or twice a week, he frund no difficuliy in leducing even very lurbulent eciioolsto a regularity, bordering upon that of military discipline. " Children ars men and women in miniature," and if treated assuchat school, end in the fam- ily circle, will, when fully grown, have a higher sense of their own rtsponsibtli- t;*s, n;iJ a ;:i Mcr b'urin:: tov.ards their f Huw creatur.s. Use of tlw Passions. 37 well as body, but on account of its immoral tendencies, it should never be employed in the education of youth. Al- though we may " be angry and sin not," yet the motives to action suggested by this passion are never magnanimous. Anger, by circumscribing and concentrating the energies of the mind upon a single object, neither enlarges the under- standing, nor prompts to deeds of glorious memory. Was it the wrath of Xantippc, or tiu; patient endurance and un- Oinching fortitude of Socrates, her husband, ujwn whose de- voted head siie once " rained an horrible tempest,'' that caused her name to be handed down to posterity through a lapse of more than two thousand years >. Love, when conjoined to hope, increases the powers of the mind ; but it is the lOve of knowledge, and not of beauty, an affection for himself, and not for woman, which the teacher should endeavor to excite in the mind of the pupil, for the learner always makes most proficiency when fond of his instructor, and ardently in love with the science to be learned; because we are so constituted that we find no difficulty in fixing our thoughts upon that about which we love to think, or exerting ourselves to do that which is pleasing to the being whom we love. In regard to competition, emulation, rivalry, praise, profit or reward, we shall only observe with Sir Roger DeCoverly, that much may be said on both sides. ACTIVITY, AND SIZE Or ORGANS. Phrenologists tell us that the power of an organ depends upon its activity and size; and if their doctrine that the brain is a congeries of organs, giving rise to certain faculties or manifestations of mind, be true, it then behooves us to search out the circumstances by which activity and size may be increased. It is a well known fact that exercise causes a greater degree of dcvelopement of tiic part exercised ; in proof of which the arm of the blacksmith is often and fa- miliarly alluded to ; and this is explainable upon the princi- ple that the performance of function i;a'isi.s a greater deter- i; 38 Acliiili/, and Size of Organs. mination of blood to the orean performing it, and as the blood contains the material of which the organ itself is composed, the capillaries, whose business it is to construct and repair the organ, do themselves participate in the increased activity of those which perform its peculiar function, and in that way cause its bulk to increase pari passu with the increase of function. According to the doctrine laid down in this paper, all that is necessary in order to produce an increase of function is to cause the transmission of a moderately increased quantity of blood to an organ ; and this will hold good whether it is an organ of motion, sensation or secre- tion ; and we may add that the performance of function causes the requisite quantity of blood to be supplied in pro- j)ortion to the demand, so long as the increased activity of the organ is kept up. We shall now, for the sake of illustration, assume with ohrcnologists that the brain is composed of a considera- ble number of organs, which give rise to as many distinct faculties of the mind, a ul proceed to inquire how the prin- ciples, which have been laid down, can be applied so as to increase the activity and sizeof the respective organs. The main principle, it will be recollected, is, that an increased fjuantity of blood must be determined to an organ in order to increase its function and size. As this part of our sub- ject more particularly regards the intellect, which a man is supposed to have always about him, we shall pursue the inves- ti^at'on on principles purely intellectual, irrespective of those physical agents, as wine, opium, and other stimulants which have been hinted at, and which are sometimes resorted to for the promotion of mental activity ; but which may not alwa,} s be at command ; and if they were, should be avoided, because their effects are too evanescent to accomplish the object we have in view, and moreover tend to deteriorate and ultimately destroy the functions both of body and of mind. It becomes necessary, in this view, to advert again to the influence of attention in modifying the actions of the yvstcm. Ill a former part of tlii? paper wc have considered How to increase them. 39 its agency in the production ot" tiie voluntary motions, and showed that it was the principal or sole agent employed by nature to connect the will witli certain muscles termed vol- untary, and briefly alluded, by way of analogy, to its power in enabling us to get a control over the actions of the capillary vessels of the brain, by which we were enabled to carry on voluntary thinking, upon any subject on which w;; chose to think. At present, as in the former instance, wc shall contiue to employ the term attention not in its ordinary acceptation, but in its logical sense, which is, "the immediate direction of the mind to a subject." Now the actions of the body are carried on in health so stealthily as not to awaken consciousness in the mind, and therefore, an individual so long as he is in perfect health, does not know that his heart beats, or arteries pulsate, or that the process of digestion, or indeed any other, is going on within his body. In health, the action of the heart is perfectly balanced by the resistance of the capillaries over the whole body ; but if the attention be directed to and fixed upon any particular part, the minute vessels in that part, upon the principle, that the stronger external, effaces the weaker internal impression, forego their resistance, and admit more red blood, which not only exalts its sensibilitv, and therefore enables it to perceive impressions which be- fore were imperceptible ; but stimulates the vessels to an increased action, or resistance, which now becomes capable of awakening consciousness in the mind. If a person fix the attention upon any part of the body,* to any spot for instance, not larger than a sixpence over the knee-pan, if you please, which is, perhaps, more free than almost any other part, from vessels that pulsate, he will in a few min- utes, especially if the experiment bo repeated a few times, perceive a sense of throbbing, which had never been felt before ; and every one is familiar with the ibrt. that when • If the attention be closely directed lo eiiiier haml, a chtinge in the circula- Sion, aiiil PDnBequenily in thef-'elins; of thni organ will h? immediately perceiveH . 4i) Activity, and Size of Organs. we see or hear a person cough or yawn, the attention is unconsciously turned inward, upon the throat or muscles of the jaw, we soon experience in ourselves the same sensa- tions as were experienced hy him who is the subject of our observation ; to relieve which, the desire to cough or yawn becomes almost, and in some cases, quite irresistible. Even the sight of food will make the hungry dog slaver as was remarked by Darwin. Upon this principle, we explain the fact, that almost every medical student, especially if he be of a nervous or hypochondriacal temperament, feels in a greater or less degree, the symptoms of the diseases about which he reads, or upon which he meditates. A young- gentleman, a student of medicine, called on me one evening, after hearing my lecture on dropsy of the chest, and asked my opinion as to the propriety of an immediate performance of the operation, for evacuating the water with which he was persuaded his thorax was filled. I explained to him the nature of his case, and heard no more of it. A moderate determination of blood to an organ, we have said, is all that is necessary in order to increase its function, and by increase of function, to augment its volume ; and as we have seen that fixing the attention of the mind upon any particular part of the body, causes more blood to flow into that part, it follows that we may by this mode of procedure, increase at will the functions of the different organs in the brain, upon whose activity, the various faculties of the mind de- pend, and furthermore, that by increasing the activity of function, we come at length to augment the volume, size and power of the organs themselves.* As a proof that we pos- sess this power of calling any faculty into action, by fixing the attention upon the site of its appropriate organ, I would invite a phrenologist, or any one acquainted with the lo- cality of the difterent org:ms, to fix his attention upon the * The auilior is quite confulent that in som? points the configuration of his own head has undergone a change, whinh he thinks has been effected liy this pro- ceed. How to increase them. 41 organ of indiviiluulily, and see if ho does not find his mind instantly engaged in considering individuals, persons or things ; — upon the oi'gan of locaUty, time, form, size, weight, color, or tune, and see if his mind be not immediately em- ployed in forming and considering ideas suggested by those several organs ; — also upon the organs appropriated to the sentiments, as benevolence, conscientiousness, etc., and see if the same results do not follow ; and moreover, 1 believe ho will find that the same doctrine holds equally in regard to the propensities. Let him for instance, fix his attention on the organ of acquisitiveness, and he will soon be think- ing of wealth, or devising the means of acquiring it; — upon destructiveness, and he will be rioting in bloodshed and slaughter ; and if every individual in an asscml)ly or crowd, were to fasten his attention upon liis organ of combativc- ness, there would soon be quarreling, and perhaps fighting. To make use of this principle in the education of the organs, or the acquisition of knowledge, I would suggest that when we would get a complete idea of an object, let the organ of individuality be first invoked, in the manner proposed, next locality, next form, size, weight, color, order and number, and we shall have a perfect conception or notion of the thing itself, and also in most cases of iis various circumstances, connections, relations, &;c. We siiall in fact have made a complete analysis of it, and when we would recall it for subsequent reflection, we have only to make the organs repeat the same actions, and the same complex idea will be instantly recognized as before the mind's eye. The various organs of the brain are rendered relatively active by an impulse from within, i. e. an increased determination ot' lilood to them, and then they will form the ideas which are con- genial to the function of the organ rendered thus active. This mode of activity the phrenologists tei-m conception, and is nearly allied to fancy, or imagination ; and differs from memory in this, that the ideas suggested in this way are in- dependent of the will, whereas in exercising the memory upon WAX subiect v.-jiich had bo'="n previously in the mind. 42 Education of the Senses. we have only to miike llie same organs by an eflbrt ol" the will perform the same actions as were performed by them in the first instance, and then the same ideas, and the same trains of thought will pass through the mind. EDUCATION OK TIIC SENSES. The following remarks upon the education of the senses will conclude the subject. As the senses are the primeval inlets of knowledge — the savans that collect all the materi- als which are to furnish employment for the mind during its sojourn in its tenement of clay, the importance of the subject would seem to cliallenge more time, attention, and ability, than we can give it ; but we entertain the hope that it will commend itself to some one who will do it ample justice. It is said that the senses of smell and taste, furnish no materials for the mind to reflect on. If " perfumes as of Eden flowed sweetly along" — if ambrosia or nectar, the fabled food and drink of the gods, rested upon the tongue, neither the exquisite flavor of the one, nor the enchanting aroma of the other, would leave an impression that could be recalled for the scrutiny of the mind.* Placed as these senses are at the entrance of those passages through which food and air, the extraneous substances essential to our physical existenc(i are admitted, they seem designed by na- ture to jierform the office of sentinels to advise us that sub- stances hurtful or ofiensive to tlie body are present; and which if permitted to pass these portals of the system, may disturb its economy, and ultimately dislodge the immortal resident, — therefore, as soon as the danger is past, tiiey are of no farther use. This sui-ely is in perfect accordance with the frugality of nature, which does nothing in vain ; — never comes short and seldom exceeds. In the education of Comb ill his Essays, on Phrenology, says : * " The functions of this sense, ( tasle ) ave to produce sensations of losle alone and these cannot be recalled by the will. The functions ot smell are confined to the producing of agreeable or disagreeable sensations, &'. Those cannot be reprodored by an efliirt of the will." Education of the i>c)i.ws. 48 the senses, I am persuaded tliat an importaiit principle lias been overlooked, and consequently a great error coimnittcd by neglecting the consideration that they arc all in the per- formance of their functions, connected with muscles, whose actions are cognizable to the mind, and in a greater or less degree under the control of the will, and that without due attention to this fact, the education of the senses can never be perfected. In regard to the sense of smell, no odor is perceived, however strongly impregnated or even saturated, the atmosphere may be with its effluvia, unless the muscles of respiration are called into action, and inspiration takes jilacc, as in ordinary breathing, involuntary it may be, or voluntary as when we smell of a substance, with a view to ascertain its peculiar odor, or to make some nice distinction^ or to enjoy the voluptuousness of some particular fragrance. It is averred by some whose sense of smell has been cul- tivated, or rather educated, that they can recall the odor of any substance which ihey have examined in this way, and rellect upon it as they can upon any other sensation. This I doubt not, is almost, if not entirely the result of education; for with many persons, and I have reason to believe, with a great majority of mankind, it is not so, owing to their having neglected to bestow the same attention upon this sense, as ujion those of sight and touch. If this sense is to be educated, it must be done as in all other cases, by the efforts of the will. We must first desire knowledge ; then labor for its attainment. ^luch the same views hold good in the regard to the sense of the taste. That sense remains dormant, unless the muscles connected with, or subservient to it are put in action. For instance, if the mouth be open- ed, and a piece of sugar, or a piece of aloes, the diagonals of sapidity, be put upon the tongue, no other than a mere mechanical impression, will be made upon the organ of taste, no flavor will be perceived so long as the tongue is kept motionless ; but the instant the slightest movement is made, the characteristic taste of either will be perceived, and the only way in vihich this sense, like that of smell, can 44 Education of the Senses. be educated, is to fix the attention upon the tong-ue, and then cause it to perform motions as in tasting, and to notice those particular motions in each individual case or experi- ment, and when the substance tasted, is removed, if we would recall the perception of its flavor, we must cause the tongue to perform again the same motions which it did, when the sapid body was present, and again the peculiar flavor of the substance tasted will be perceived.* In this manner the sense of taste, as well as smell, is brought to such exquisite perfection, as in the case of cooks and apoth- ecaries, that they are enabled to analyze by the odor and flavor, the most complicated dishes and medicines with all but chemical accuracy. EDUCATION OF THE EYE. This noble organ is a perfectly formed optical instrument, endowed with vitality. Its external shell is composed of the cornea and sclerotica, the former, situated in front, is perfect- ly transparent for the admission of the rays of light, and is also more convex, which augments its converging power. The centre of the cornea con-esponds to a small circular ' spot or foramen in the posterior part of the retina, (foramen ccntrale, or foramen of Soemmering, so called from its discov- erer,) whose margin in the perfect eye is of a bright yellow coloi", and in whose centre is the appearance of a hole about the size of a pin's head, which is according to Amnion, a mere depression of the surface of the retina occasioned by the more intimate union at this point of the choroid and reti- na by the intermedium of vessels, and is consequently, ac- cording to the doctrine laid down in this treatise, the most sensitive part of the retina, the sensibility of a part being in proportion to its vascularity. This minute centra! point of the foramen receives that single pencil of light which strikes and enters the centre of the cornea perpendicularly to its surface, and passes on in a direct line to the point above- * It will-be necessary to repeat tliis experiment on the taste, and also on tlic snicll, a <:veul many linicp, before the result above mcutioned, will beobtaincfl. Sight. 45 menlioned, (the foramen centrale,) without being at all re- fracted in its passage through the denser media of the cor- nea and humours. A line passing through the centre of the cornea at a right angle with its external surface, and terminating in that foramen, may bo called the axis of the eye, or the axis of vision, as it may be referred to in relation to the organ itself or its function, and which is al- ways directed with great exactness towards the object or point looked at. The point in the oliject at which we look, and from which the pencil of light entering the eye in the manner just described is reflected, is the most luminous, and consequently most perfectly seen, and therefore, may be termed by way of distinction, the point of vision. It is indeed the only part that is seen with perfect accuracy : and this is as it should be ; for, as we can attend to but one thing at a time, nature designed that we should see perfectly one thing only at a time, but as ever}" object ujion which we look, or upon which the eye rests, is composed of pai'ts, or surrotuided by otlier things, it was no less tlie design of nature that while the eye was busied wiih a single point, light reflected from other pnints aliout it. should lie admitted into the organ, and make impressions upon the retina in the vicinity of the foramen of Soemmering, wliich, although faint, compared with those made upon the foramen itself, were nevertheless, safficicnllv strong, to a^"4uaint the indi- vidual with their existence, and to excite in him a desire to examine them: a desire which will prompt him to move the eye, and direct the axis of vision to and successively over every part, that all portions may be seen an.d examined with the same accuracy. When, tl-ercfore, we would see an object in the most perfect maamer, and get a complete idea of it, we must move the eye, .so as to carry the axis of \isiou over every part of it ; .and when this is done with suitable care and attention, we can liardly fail of getting a i-orrect and complete notion of if, comprising all its parts ;ind properties, as color, shape and size, and in fact, of its relations to, and connections v.-ifh, other tilings. If the thing r 46 Educaliun of the Senses. surveyed, be kirge or complex, it may be analyzed or di- vided into parts, each of which in succession, may be ex- amined in the same manner. Thus, the eye may be edu- cated, and made capable of increasing to an inconceivable degree the amount of knowledge, exact and definite, that may be acquired through the medium of this noble sense, which seems to conier on man a sort of ubiquity, that ena- bles him to take cognizance of every object within the cir- cle of his vision, as if in his immediate presence. Without an apparatus of motion, the eye, though a perfect optical instrument, would be of little use. because when immove- ably fixed for any considerable time on any object, even the point of vision becomes more and more dim and obscure, until the power of perception is entirely lost, and the organ, so far as that particular object is concerned, is useless ; but the slightest movement restores its power. This accords fully with a lav/ of the system, which has been already ad- verted to and explained, to wit : that a jiart to which a stimulus has been constantly or repeatedly applied, loses its susceptibility to that particular impression. Besides being an optical, the eye is also a mathematical instrument. It is the quadrant which the God of nature has bestowed on man for the purpose of enabling him to calcu- late heights, distances and magnitude, by simply noticing the degree of contraction exercised by certain musics em- l)olyed in carrying the axis of the eye and of vision from one object to another : or from one part of an object to another part ; — or of lengths and distance, by carrying it from one end of a thing to the other ; — or from place to place. With- out the trouble of making actual admeasurements, the well educated and experienced eye is capable of making all these estimates, with an accuracy sufficient to answer nil the ordi- nary purposes of lif', auil which, with extraordinary culti- vation, will fall vei'y little short of mathematical certainty. The joiner or carpenter, for instance, who has been in the habit (jf measuring with the eye. will tell you at a glance \hr Icna'h of a ]iicci' of linilirr ;'<; corn-ftlv as a careless Sight. 47 measurer would do with his rule, and the expericnecd eye of liio engineer enables hiin to judge with astonishing accu- racy of the height or distance of an object without his sextant or (juadrant. I once knew a tailor, noted for his good fits, who had brought this power of measuring by tise eye to such pertection, that he seldom, if ever, had recourse to his measure tor tlu; cut of a coat ; ns an evider,cc of the fact, he cut the uniform coats lor a whole company of inlantry, belonging to the town in which I resided, without a single failure, or even an hidifierent lit. lie required but a minute's survey of eacii soldier. Brown, the celebi-ated cutter of full length profile likenesses, is another example in point. The eye takes cognizance of the color, size, hoiglit, dis- tance and relations of things. As color has l.ltle utility in the great system of nature, we shall conlino our remarks mostly to the manner in which height and distance, shape and magnitude are judged of through the instrumentality of this organ. Without finding fault with the explanations of this matter given by others, we shall bring forward a the- ory, (perhaps, wc should rather say. hypothesis.) for which we will bespeak a candid consideration, and only ask that it should be taken for what it is worth. W'e ought to pre- mise that the people of civilized nations, have by convention or law, established certain measures or standards for the admeasurement of space, and the magnitude of the things which it contains ; and wc believe that the mind, in judging ol these matters by the eye, docs so by noticing the degree of contraction exercised by the muscles, employed in carry- ing the axis of vision from one designated point to ano.her, or from one. end to the other, of one or another of these es- tablished measures or standards. For instance, we learn to judge of a foot, or yard, with the eye, by fixing the axis of vision on one end of a twelve inch rule or a yard-slick, and then carrying it to the other extremity, taking care to notice the degree of muscular contraction necessary to efiect this; or of an inch, or any other fractional part of the measure, by carrying the axis of vision from one point to another. 48 Education of the Sc7ises. When this has been practised upon for a little time, the mind has obtained a standard which approximates to accu- racy in proportion to the number of times, and degree of attention with which the experiment has been tried. This standard and mode of judging are acquired unconsciously in early life, and in a manner which has, perhaps, never been thought of in our riper years. In the same way, standards for greater distances, as rods, furlongs and miles, quarters or halves of miles, are acquired. In order to a cor- rect understanding of the theory wo propose, we should premise that there is a point upon which the axis of vision always rests, and from which it imperceptibly, but we be- lieve, invariably starts wlien th.e e3ve is about to commence its survey for the measurement of the heiglit, distance, or magnitude of any object. This point, we shall endeavor to ascertain. The position which an individual in an erect pos- ture naturally assumes, is th.at, in which all parts of his body are so perfectly adjusted, with reference to the centre of gravi- ty, that the erect position is maintained with the least possible exertion of the muscles, and we may conceive of the possi- bility of this adjustment being so perfectly accurate, that the perpendicular might be maintained without any volun- tary muscular eflbrt whatever. The power and the habit of this adjustment, were acquired miconsciously in in- fancy and early life, and are constantly practised upon in riper years, to the end of our being, with a mere conscious- ness of the fact, that we possess them. Again, the sponta- neous action of the muscles attached to the eye-ball of a person in the position just described, would, in the absence of all volition, bring the axes of the eyes to correspond In direction with a horizontal line, crossing the perpendicular at right angles, so that the axis of vision will fall upon an object which is exactly on the same level with the eye. To illustrate : suppose a person situated on an exact level, and in the posture just described, with his eyes just five feet above that level, the axis of his vision would spontaneously rest upon a visible object at the same altitude with the eye. Sight. 49 i. c. just five feet fibovc the level, 'i'iio truth of this propo- sition is not ill reah'ty at all atieetcd hy the distance which intervenes between the object and ihc eye, although, from the process of foreshortening it, may be apparently so. In relation to this poi7it d'appui of vision, another considera- tion presents itself, which is, tiiat the " globe or ball of the eye is not exactly spherical ; the lino forming the visual axis exceeds its transverse diameter,"' and "is parallel in the two eyes," consequently, an object cannot be looked at with both eyes at the same time. Although it may be simulta- neously perceived by both, one eye only looks at, sees and notices it. This however, holds true only in regard to a cer- tain distance ; for, notwithstanding, the correspondency of the axes of the eyes, yet, when all volition is si'spcnded, the spon- taneous action of the muscles of the eye balls will produce a concurrence of their axes, and cause them both to rest upon the same object, if placed at a certain distance from the beholder, and it is then, and then only, that it will be looked at and seen, at the same time by both. From numerous experiments, we are convinced that this distance, at whicli an object is seen simultaneously with bolii eyes, is about forty yards, or irom forty to sixty, varying somewhat in difierent individuals, as the space between their eyes varies. Let a person facing the south, be placed on the level as before described, whose eyes are exactly hve tix't above that level, with his mesial line, (i. e. that line which divides the body into two equal halves, right and left, and consequently, is exactly midway between the eyes.) corresponding with the meridian, and let an object just large enough to be seen, be placed at the distance of eight rods irom the eyes, and on the same horizontal level, and at the point where this line is intersected by the meridional line afore-mentioned, and it will be Ibund that the axes of both eyes will come to rest concurrently upon it, by the spontaneous action of the mus- cles of the ball independently of all voluntary etTort to bring them to this point, or to produce this result. That, then, is the jwint rfnpptfi. n)>on v.hich the axis of vision 30 E(lucalio77 of the Senses. rests, rnid from which wc believe, as before suggested, it starts wlicn llie mind is about to consider any object with the view of judging by the sight of its distance, lieight, shape or magnitude, and in so doing, it notes the degree of contraction made by said muscles, in carrying the axis of vision from that point to the base and summit of the object, when it would ascertain its height, or judge of its alti- tude ; also the degree of contraction necessary to carry the said axis from the aforesaid point d'appui, laterally from right to left, in order to ascertain tb.e length or breadth of the object, and for ascertaining its shape as well as size, the mind noticing the degree and modification of the contrac- tions of the several muscles, as they cause the axis of vision to trace the contour or outlines of the thhigs of whose shape it would form an accurate conception. Again : in front of a person, situated as has been just de- scribed, place a rod, five feet long, perpendicularly, so as to correspond with the mesial line, and the axis of vision can be readily brought to the lower extremity of the rod, (which is also just five feet in advance of a line dropped from the eye.) by a voluntary effort of the inferior straight muscle, without the slightest inclination of the head. If the axis be now made to pass up and down from one end of the rod to the other a number of times, the individual all the while, carefully noticing with what degree of contrac- tion the muscles act in order to accomplish this, will soon have acquired a standard of measurement, by which he can judge of and ascertain the height of any object at the dis- tance of five feet from the eye. If tlie rod be now removed to the distance of twenty feet, and made to assume the same position, and if the axis of vision be made to pass from the place occupied by its l(_>wcr extremity, to the point where it now rests, and this process be many times repeated in the manner aforesaid, he will have a standard of admeasure- ment, by which he will be enabled subsequently to judge with considerable accuracy, when the axis of the eye has been carried through the space of twenty feet on the same Si;rl,t. 51 level, lie may iiuw fix the axis ol' vision upon the lower exlreiniiy of the rod in its now position, and carry it up- ward until it rests upon its upper end, and hy a few repe- titions, he will lind how much the muscles must contract in order to make the axis pass through the space oi" five feet, at the distance of twenty. In this way let the pupil be schooled, and in a short time he will acquire the power of measuring distances, and judging with wonderful accuracy of height and dimension in all directions, and at every ordinary distance within the customary field of vision. It is believed that every one, from the infant, sitting or stand- ing upon the lloor,* to the tallest Anakim in the land, has a puint d'appui of his own, which depends upon the distance of his eye above the afore-mentioned level. The use of the eye is commenced in c-arly infancy, and its education, if it be proper to employ that term in this con- nection, is carried on in the way which has been indicated, until the power and the art of measuring and observing has been acquired before the learner was aware of the manner in which this sense had been educated ; and perhaps many people pass through a long life ignorant of the iiict that they possess this power, and above all that they had liad any agency in its acquisition, supposing all the while that t!ie judgments they forined were intuitive, and that the knowl- edge resulting from the employment of this sense also came by a sort of intuition. Let the attention of the child and the puj/d be directed to this subject by the parent and the teacher, and let him be made to practice daily upon the prin- ciples suggested, and the results ascertained and tested by the actual application of the standards in use aniono the people, and it is the firm belief of the writer that ])Upils in a certain period will possess a much greater amount of knowledge, as well as stronger and far more comprehensive * 111 whatever posture the body may be, it is believed that tbis fixed or start- ing piint of lb? eye always exists, and is that to wliic-h Ibc axes oftlio eyosaro 1 r ii^lit t/v the «p>ntnn(.'on!: action of tlf nmsclc? of lb'/ slobc. 52 Kducatiun of the Senses. and active niinda, than they would have had il" this kind oi' culture had been neglected. If this belief be well founded, then let the method be tried in all our sch«ols, :md its piac- tice be enjoined upon the schuiais when out oi tchuol ; and also let it be adopted and practiced upon by every individ- ual in the community, and the writer ventures to think that all who make the attempt, and follow it up perseveringly for a considerable time wi'l be not only gratified, but astonished at the facility with which the eye furnishes the mind with clear, strong and complete conceptions of things. The grat- ification will moretlian compensate for the trouble; indeed the eye will soon do its work without trouble or effort. Conceptions, clear and strong, will seem to come as b}' in- tuition. If complex, embracing great objeects, compounded of many parts ; — or prospects comprising many different things, those parts and things will be conceived and judged of in their places and relations, without those movements of the organ to which we liave alluded ; also the relative dis- tances between the various parts and things will be settled in the mind by simple inspection, because we know, having learned by experience, how much the nauscles of the eye must be made to contract in order to carry its axis from part to part, or from one thing to another. In this way wc explain the fact that we often get complex notions, and mea- sure distances without moving the eye. (See page 45.) In conclusion, I will add, that in no way is the accuracy with which the axis of the eye is directed to a point, and the corresponding accuracy of adjustment of the contrac- tion of the muscles connected with the limbs so well exem- plified as in the art of gunnery. In the shooting line, the feats of Mr. M. .Tames, my neighbor across the way, who is the best manufactiu-er of rifles in America, and probably the best marksman with that kind of gun in the world, are wonderful, \i' i\roved by the niiises in tin' ear wliich are so olten com- ])lained of by patients, and esjiecially those alllicted with that species of deafness which is termed nervous. From the action and changes of action in the organ of licaring the mind derives all its ideas of sound ; but simple audition does not in mnu, as in many animals, comprize the wtiolc function of the organ, which, like the other organs of sense, is capable of being greatly improved by education. So far as educational puriKises arc concerned, reiijrence is to be had mostly, if not exclusively, to those sounds which are caused by the vibrations or undulations of air impinging on the membrana tympani, or drum of the ear. The impor- tance of this sense, and oi' its cduciilion, can not be duly 54 Education af Ike Senses. apprccialL'd, without taking iiiLu coiisidcrutiuii tlic tact that upon it tlio faculty of speech depends. Without it the lan- guage of the voice, and consequently one ot" the line arts, the one most capable ol enrapturing the soul, could never have existed. Without the '" concord of sweet sounds," the joy of heaven would be defective.* The education of this sense, it must bo admitted, is of the highest importance; but from the obscurity of the subject, its education has been left either to nature, to the individual efforts of each person, or almost entirely neglected. At all events, the yjrinciples upon whicii the success of educational exertions depend, do not appear to have been well developed or satisfactorily set- tled. The principle which we shall assume in regard to its education, is the same as that assumed in the education of the other senses, to wit, muscular contraction. We hold that in this respect the analogy extends to all the senses, for with each ot the five, muscles p.vc connected upon whose action their utility as instruments of intellection is based. ThJ tuiiscles connected with the sense of hearing, to which we have alluded, and which are attached to the chain of bones extending from the membrana tympaui. or drum of the ear, to the foramen ovale, are the tensor palati, laxa- tor pulati, and the stapedius. These muscles, thus situated and attached, are primitively, as well as consecutively affec- ted bv every motion communicated to those little bones, by the vibrations ot" that membrane, produced by undulations of the-air. or any other physical cause, and from that cir- cumstance are compelled, so to speak, to take cognizance of every kind and degree of movement which those bones are made to pertbrm. These changes in the state of those muscles, produced by the physical causes just alluded to, and modlticd by the pro[)erties peculiar to each, sooner or later awaken consciousness in the mind, and at length the desire « The car is susceptible ol" such exquisite cuitivation, that a devotee of music once assured me that ho woulc! be willing' " to he at hell's riark door," could he enji-'yili" iun"ie of henvru '. for their repetilion in tlic alisence ol' tlir cnusos wiiicli occa- sioncil them, and by repeatcti trials the indivitkuil fmally acquires the power of reproducing them at|i|easuro; thus the control of the will over the action of tliese muscles is ac- quired in the same way as it is acquired overall the other mus- cles which are considered voluntary. When t'lis ascendancy over those muscles, has been obtained, they cnn by an effort of the will be mado to act or rela:?, just r" tlioy did when influenced by this (.ir that physical c:nisf. and :'.n idea of tliu same sound will arise in the mind, as well in the absence as in the presence of the particular cause. For instance, when a person wishes to call to memory a pariiciilnr s^uind or the notes of a tune, he has only to make these muscles net so as to move the bones just as they were moved at the time when the sciund was made, or llio tune sung, and tlic? same sounds will bo recognized. The musician, when his eye falls upon a note or a series of notes, will cause these muscles to act and the bones to move, just as they did or should act and move when these notes v.'ore struck, and in this way will be able to think over a tune or piece of music as well in the absence as in tlie presence of the physical cause. In this way, if, when wo hear a noise r>r a voice for the first time, we have been attentive tu tl^; eliruigcs vihicli have taken place in the ear, we shall be able by an eilort of the will to re-produce the conception. Hut these are nut the only muscles which may subserve the function of hear- ing, and which should be considered in the education of tfiis sense. The muscles connected v.'ith the ossicula give us no ideas of the direction in which sounds come; a very impor- tant part of the knowledge ty tin; physical prnjiertics of the agents (>per;\ting upon th'- senses, and furthermi ire, that this was also indispensable; for without it. one sensation could not be distinguishrd from another. As the [iliysir?:!! ]i'-''p-^rties of the s:i;rif^ ?e!irf:^nef'-, are nl- 56 Kiliicidhin lit the Str/isi's. ways the saiuu and idLiit.ical, it iblluws, that aloes is ahvn\'s bitter, and sugar always sweet, and that, tiicret'ore, there can never be any diiiiculty in distinguishing them ; and the same principle holds in regard to the capability of physical bodies, to modify the undulations or vibrations of air, and consequently, the sensations produced in the ear, furnish the same certainty of discrimination, as is done by the other senses, and upon this power of discrimination, de])ends in a great degree the real utility of this sense, whose final end is to enable us to apprehend the existence of agents which are not cognizable to the other senses, and likewise, to dis- tinguish them one from another ; and to determine their distances and positions, relations and situations in respect to ciich otlior, and to ourselves. A knowledge of the exis- tence of certain bodies or agents, by the sense of hearing, depends upon their capability or power of exciting undula- tions or vibrations in the media, with which they are con- nected, and which are capable of producing some change in the state of the auditory nerve ; and the power of dis- crimination, as has been observed, depends upon the man- ner in which those undulations or vibrations are modified by the physical properties of those agents. OF TlIK MEASUREMENT OF DISTAA'CE BV THE EAIi. Individual safety, as well as other important considera- tions may depend on our knowledge of the distance which intervenes between us, and the bodies causing the sound. Intensity of sound seems to be the principle of admeasure- ment by which the distance of a sonorous body is ascer- tained. The vibr;itions or undulations of the air, impinging against the membrane tympani, constitute the physical cause of sound, and the impulse communicated from that membrane in the auditcry nerve, through the medium of the chain of bones with which it (the membrane) is con- nected, is its proximate cause. Now, the muscles attached to the ossicula, or small bones of the ear. experiencing a chanc'o in their state of tension, take coirnizani-e of the mn- Hr.iinii;^. ;")7 tinii wliicii \\\QM' Imiu's ;ii-c ii!:;iJ(; to iiiulul'go. mid l^'ino- endowed like otiicr voluntary muscles willi nervcM, which not only confer on thorn the power of motion, hnl the facul- ty of transmitting to the brain, the org;'n ot' mind, a know- ledge of the cha.ngcs in their ciauliiion, they excite in the rnind a consciousnr'ss of those changes. The stronger the Impulse, the greater will be the extent of the motions of the ossicula; and as this degree of motion in those bones, is measured and judged of bv the iiiliuiinv or eii'ect which it has on those nuiseles, a man is, in this way, furnished with means by which the intensity of sound, as a measure of dis- tance, is determined.* The jjrinciple upon which this de. pends is, that sound in its distribution throughout a larger * Nature, iio less bouiuifiil in her resourees, ihuii simple ia her o|ieralioiis, al- ways laks care not to he bahieil in Uer ]iurpnses, and has iherelore, in onler tu spcure against the iailnre of iunctions of vital iiiiporlance, I'urniphed nswilh double organs, and in like manner she has not, in relarion In the imensity of sound, con- lined the mode of jutlging solely to the muscles, e,\eept in cases in which great nicety is required ; but has so constructed the organs of hearing that vibrations shall be communicated to the auditory nerve by means of the membrane which subtends the fenestra rotunda, whose oscillations are, it is bcdicved, cajiable of ex- citing the nerve, not only in the presence, hut in the absence of the menihrana lynipani ; nor has she been satislied with this, but has superadded another meth- od by which sounds are perceived and their intensity judged of 1'he bony lab- yrinth is lined by a membrane or saeculus which encloses the liquid called iho perilymph. The autlitory nL'rve is distributed upon lliis meinbtatie, and in con- tact with the bony cavities which surround it. Now sonorous vibrations are, as is well known, eonimimicable thrr'Ugli solids, as well as throu-jh aerif'onn or fluid bodies, ami hence it is that the nerve receives impulses eomniunicatcd to it by the solids with which it is in contact, and takes cognizance of them, but willi much less accuracy, just as if they had been imiiarted by vibrations whose t'oree has been spent upon the flu'd eontaineil in the aforemenlitined membrane or saeculus, through the chain of bones, as has been ilescribed. In con.sequencc of these superaddeil arrangements, ^ve should be enabled to judge with some deirree of accuracy of the distance of sonorous bodies, by the intensity of the sound even if in case of accident wo were deprived of the membrana tyiupani, and all ihe ossicula. I have myself seen several persons who had lost those iiii| oilani parls, but who would nevertheless hear tolerably well, and if I rightly reni'-mber could distinguish musical sounds. If I am not mistaken, a lad similaily situated in- formed me that he couhl sing some tunes. \Vit!i what accuracy these persons could measure distances by the ear I cannot say, as it lias nut occurred to nie ever 10 make that point a sabjoci of invesligalion or inquiry. 58 Educntina of the Senses. ;ind still larger quantity of matter diminishes as it diverges in every direction from the point at which it originated, and the rule of diminution, is in proportion to the square of the distance from the centre. For instance, the velocity of the particles of the medium hy which sounds are conveyed, is less by one hundred at the distance of ten feet from the sounding body, than it is at one foot. We judge of distance, by the ear, upon another princqile, til wit : the reflection or reverberation of sound. When tills is perfect, we have the echo ; which depends upon the distance, and this must be such, that to obtain a distinct repetition, the reflected sound shall not arrive at the ear, before the perception of the original sound has ceased ; otherwise, the resonance will be indistinct, a mere noise. VVc, no doubt, learn to judge of distances by the reflection of sounds, which are not, as in the echo, distinct; but in what manner, it is difficult to explain. We do it as in man}' other instances, by experience, obtained and practiced upon at an age too early to have been noticed with sufficient at- tention, to be recollected and explained in subsequent years ; although we may habitually act upon it many times during .almost every waking hour. It is, most jn'obably, in this way, that blind people acquire the faculty of judging of the dimensions of a room by the sound of the voice. Dr. Dar- win, was the first who suggested this idea. Taking the liint, from an anecdote I'clated in his Zoonomia,* I hav(! availed myselfof almost every opportunity which presented itself, in the course of an extensive practice in ophthalmic surgery, for the investigation of this curious subject, and have been often amused, and sometimes astonished at the accuracy with which the blind judge of distances by the ear, and especially the size of the diflerent apartments r undirected, unassisted individual Hearing. 61 ellort? orsliou!il it not rather have a place in all our systems of education, especially such as are elementary? As in vision, although light is recivcd into both eyes, yet wo look at and see an object with but one, unless it be placed at a distance of more than 10 or 50 yards, and in a position corresponding with the mesial line of our bodies ; so, in iicaring, sound is received by both c:irs, but jjcrceived by one only, unless the sonorous body be located either directly before or behind, and in strict accordance with the line above mentioned ; or in other words exactly equidistant from either ear ; in which case we hear the sountl equally with l)oth, but we can not tell from what direction it comes. When the cause of sound is on either side of the mesial line, and especially if a lillle distance from it, it is heard best l)y the ear to which it is nearest. In the eye, a line drawn from the centre of the cornea, at right angles witli its surlace, to the foramen of Soemmering constitutes the axis of the eye, and a ray of light redecti.'d Irom :m oiiject, which enters the coatre of the cornea at right angles with its surface, and passing on unrefracted to the albrosaid fora- men, may be said to be the axis of the (>ye, or id' vision ; so in the car, a line j)assing directly from the soiioruus body through the middle of the external meatus to the point in the centre of the memhriuia tympani ;!t which the extremity of the handle of the malleus is attached to that membrnne, con- stitutes the axis of the ear, or of hearing in rel'erence to function, and a ra}' o|' sound passing from the sonorous body and entering the meatus in the same directit)n,and im[iinging upon the same point of connection belvvc:en the handle ol' the mallvns and the niembrana tympani, will nuike the strongest impression upon the auditory nerve, and conse- quently will cause the clearest auditi'in. This point of attachment betv/een the handle of the malleus and the mem- brana tympani is to the car what the foramen of Soemmer- ing is to the eye. Uecause soiUids entering the ear in this direction are best heni'il, we !u:u the head one way or the otliL'r, until the axis of the ear is directed exactly to the place n G2 Education nf the Sensfis. \vliciice the sound proceeds, and which is instantly recog- nized by an ear that has been only slightly trained. When that has been accomplished, we are no longer in doubt as to the direction of the sonorous body. This is t!ic true atti- tude of listening, especially when we are anxious to catch or discriminate any certain sounds, or to apprehend them for some definite purpose. I have no doubt we have the power of judging of the direction and situation of sonorous bodies by the echo or reverberation of the sound, and likewise by its resonance : but this is perhaps but seldom attempted with much success except by persons whose sense of hearing has been educated and. considerably practised in this respect. It is, however, undoubtedly true that every person is constantly though unconsciously practising upon this principle, which is based on the fact that in sound, as in light, tiie angle of reflection is always equal to the angle of incidence. It is exceedingly probable that reflection of sound by the exter- nal ear, and its ixsonance in the meatus, as well as its reflec- tion from surrounding bodies, have an important bearing upon this branch of the function of hearing. The wave of siiund, acting upon the column of air occupyingthis passage, puts it in motion. If the axis of this column be at right angk.'s witli the circumference of the wave of sound, the strongest impulse will be on that portion of the membrana tympani which is attached to the extremity of the handle of tke malleus; but if the axis of this column of air be oblic|uc to the circumference of tlic wave, the impulse will be com- municated to some portion of the clastic walls of the pas- sage, and rctiecled jierhaps again and again before it impin- ges upon any ])art of the tympanum, or drum of the ear ; now as sound, like light, travels through the air in straight lines, we lenrn to follow back, so to speak, these reflections of sounds, and in this way to form a judgment, imperfect it may be, of the direction of the causes which originated them. When a sound is heard, which has been heard be- fore, perliap;; many limes, ;uid sometimes in tlie attitude of listening, i.e. in the directi'iii nf the axis of the car, so that an idr'a of it and also of ils )iliysii:al cause bus been under Hearing. G;{ such circuiiistaiice,-; lonnod, we 1ki\o tlu'ii in liie niind :i standard with wiiicii it is at every subsequent iiearing com- pared, and when a dilt'erence is found to exist between the con- ception of the re-hcaring and the hearing on a prior occasion, and having hkewise learned hy experience, that this diflerencc is caused by difference of direction only; we change the position oi the car so as to admit the sound in a line which corsponds with its axis, — when the judgnient in respect to the direction and situation of the sonorous body is immedi- ately settled. It is altogether probable that we are, in the first instance, led to attend to the direction of sonorous bodies, very mucii in the same way as we are to that of visible objects, and that riio principles of judging are the same in both cases, to \\\k muscular contraction. To be a little more particular : When the axis of vision is fixed on a point, other objects in the field of vision will be discerned, though less perfectly seen, yet vi'ith sufficient clearness and distinctness not only to inform us of their existence, but to excite cariosity and prompt the individual to turn the axis of the eye upon them in succession, for the purijose of ex- amination. The same, to a certain extent, holds in regard to the ear. Sounds arc heard in various directions other than that of the axis of the ear, }et with a distinctness which, as in the case of vision, jirompts the individual, espe- cially in early life, to alter tlie j)osition of the ear in order to get a more perfect conception. This method soon be- comes habitual, and is continued ihrougli life. In this wav we are induced primarily to attend to the direction of sound, and to jorni judgments concerning il. in regard to the training and practice, the analogy between the eve and the ear holds with considerable strietnesj. In seeing, we jud^e of the direction of objects without moving the eye. because we have learned by experience how much the glijbe of the eye, or in some instances the whole head must be turned ; in other words, how much this or that muscle, or sett of muscles, must be made to contract in order to cause the axis of the eye to be directed to an object whose reflected light enters the eye in a direction divergent from its axis; so in hearinir 64 Education of the Senses. when sounds enter the car in a direction different from that of its axis, having learned from frequently repeated trials how far the ear must be moved that its axis may correspond with the direction in which the sound comes, we judge of that direction without moving the organ. It should be con- stantly borne in mind, that in our physical organs, as well as intellectual faculties, improvement is the sure reward of exercise, and that exercise is the essential pre-requisite, the sine qua non of improvement in both ; and furthermore, that improvement will be nearly in proportion to exercise. The exercise and education of the senses, and especially that of hearing, the anatomical structure of which seems to be per- fect at birth, should commence in very early life, and be carried on in the nursery, the parlor, and the public school- room, under the direction of the parent or public teacher. The child or pupil may be hoodwinked, and various articles of diflbrent metals and components, as glasses, tea-cups and saucers, bowls, pitchers, &c. &c., of different sizes and in different directions, may be struck, and the learner called upon to designate the article, aiv] to judge of its size, direc- tion and distance from the ear. The walk or step of differ- ent persons ; the kind of carriages or vehicles passing in the streets, whether they be loaded or empty, and the kind of loading, &c., may be made questions to exercise the ear and judgment of the pupil. In these, and a thousand other ways which the ingenuity of the parent or teacher will suggest, this sense may be cultivated and improved. The habit well establisiicd in childhood, will be continued, and the hearing perfected in after life, to a degree of which very few have any just conception. As an ear attuned to music, is capable of ministcrint^ so greatly to'the happiness of man- kind ; and as almost every child whoso ear has been duly educated, may be taught to sing,* or at least, enabled to * The power of tlie will over llu' muscles which modulate tlie tones of tlie vocal organ, is acquireJ as in the case of the larger muscles, which are by com- mon consent deemed v51untary. The process is in both cases the same, and has been detailed on page 20 and 91. It is applicable to the education of the voice. Touch. 65 cxpcrii'i!<-(: the tlL'liii;lit, whicli is a\v;ikciiO(l in the soul, l)y a " coiK'ord of sweet soiiirIs,'' great |iaiiis siioiilil lie taken to educate tlio ear lor the perception of musical sounds, but being so unlbrtunate as not to have an car for music, the author is incapable of giving any directions for tiie attain- ment of that object. However, he indulges tlie hope, that the time is not far distant, wlien music will hi; taught in ail the elcniculary scliools in tliis, as it is in other countries, especially in Cieruiany. op THE SENSE or TOUCH. Anatomically and physiologically considered, the philoso- phy of the touch is less perfectly understood, than that of either of the other h^cnses. The cause ol' this has most pro- bably arisen from the number of sensations, as heat, cold, weight, dryness, moisture, anxiety, itching, hunger, thirst, pleasure, pain, roughness and smoothness, which have been, Willi what pi'opriety, we shall not stop to inquire, attributed to it. In regard to most of these scnsaiioiis, there is very likely, a special modification of structure adapted to the perception of each of them. As all animals. I'rom man in whom it is the most perleet, down to the polypus, possess this sense in a greater or less degree, it may fie deemed the universal sense. By means of it, wo become first ac- quainted with bodies extraneous to ourselves, and it is in- deed the '-)nly one which convinces us of the actual exist- ence of the external world. As extraneous matters may come in contact with every part of the stu'fiice of our bodies, for weal or for woe, so every portion of that surface has becn-endovved with the sense of feelinij:' but in man. * '* Tlie touch (listril)utetl over the whole surface, apjiL^ars to be the cleiiicn- tary sense ; and all tlie others are only moilificalioiis of it, acconnnoilalccl to certain properties of bodies.'' — Richerand. This view of RicheranJ's is certainly in aceordaiiee with ihc beautiful siin- plicily of nature, and is very likely to lie true, the necessary modifications being added to the original ground-work. Although the touch has been termed the geometrical sense, it is notwiihstauding now and iheu liable to err. 6(j Kdacalion of the Senses. as in animals, some jjarts oi it are more scasilive, niid bettor fitted than others, to make us acquainted witli surrounding objects. They are, therefore, better adapted to the purpo- ses of inteliection, and maj' on that account, be more ap- propriately considered as the organs to which this sense has been particularly allotted : as the hand, for instance, and also the lips and tip of the tongue. From the readiness and facili- ty, with which the eye and ear are employed in the investi- gation of things, the sense of touch, which is the corrector, and in fact, the most important of all the senses, has been comparatively neglected, and consequently, its education overlooked ; but the success which has attended modern attempts to improve the mental condition of the blind, and accounts of the perfection to which the sense of touch has been brought in more than one instance, establish the fact, that it is suscoijtible of the highest degree of improvement by culture. Notwithstanding this neglect, man, so far as liis own faculties are concerned, is incJebtcd to this sense for his sublime station at the head of this sublunary creation ; for we find in looking through the whole range of animated nature, that the place assigned to the several tribes of ani- mals is elevated in proportion to the degree with wiiich they have been endowed with this sense. The other senses are all prompted to action by the prop- erties of matter, and of those only do they take cognizance; but the sense of touch makes us acquainted with matter itself The licaring has to do with the undulations or vibra- tions of matter ; the smell, with its odors ; the taste, with its flavors, and some of its chemical properties ; the eye with its properties by which light is reflected ;* but tlie touch being conversant with matter itseUi is not only less liable to mistakes ; but is, as has been hinted, the corrector of all its congeners. It is truly the geometrical sense, and gives us results with mathematical precision, so long as its functions * ]| is not yet settled among philosopheis uhcllier linht is n m?R' properly oi' mntler, or nu nli^olnle hoiiv : a liiminiferotis ptlit'r. Touc/i. (57 arc coiiiiucd to propiirties indicating the occupancy of space, as length, brcadtli. 6cc., wliicli are pjcrhaps, in strict con- struction, its legitimate objects. In the performance of this, its most appropriate function, it should be recollected that this sense like the others, is connected with certain muscles, upon whose contraction, its accuracy depends, and that this muscular contraction, as in the other senses, is the basis upon which every educational effort must depend tor suc- cess To this proposition, there is one apparent exception, which is not, however, without analogy. The subcutaneous substance is of a middle nature between the cellular tis- sue, and muscular lilire. and consequently, has a degree of contractility, intermediate between that belonging to those structures, and hence, the power of judging of the figure and size of bodies which are merely pressed against the person, without motion either in them, or the part of the body in contact with them.* In this connection, wo may mention that there arc certain other portions oi the surface of the human body, covering the erectile tissues which are en- dowed with an highly sublimated and jicculiar modilicatiun of the sense of toucli ; but this, being of a voluptuous char- acter, does not seem to be very well fitted to enlarge the boundaries of knowdedge, or increase the mental powers. This modification, was considered by Buffon, as a sixth sense. Most animals, and perhaps all, have parts lictter arlapted to the exercise of this sense than others; in man. the lips, * Itis owing to ill ■ tliijiiking or slirivellin;,' oliliis subcutaneous suhsUnei>, and also pi^iliaps partly lo the shiinkiu^ and wrinlvlcd statu ul the skin itself, wliieh may be indeeil only the result of the above-mentioned causes, that the touch is rendered obtuse in old people, and also in emaciated subjects. Tlii.' shrinking and s'nivellin^ of the skin coiislitule the first indications of llie ap- jifoach of old age, and of signs of decay and decrepitude fiom that cause. In most cases they may be postponed, and the life prolonged several years, by the liinely and frequent use ol the warm, or what is better, the vapor bath, which causes a relaxation < ' the capillaries of the smface, tiiid counteracts the elf 'CIS above-mentioned. The writer is indebted to Oarvvin lor this suggestion. Ba-^L-J Oil -■^■mnd jiliilosonl'.y. its correctness cannot be ijueslioiicd. OS Edacaiiunof the Senses. tip of llie tongue, and the liand, more particularly the ends of the fingers, are the parts which possess the touch in its most exalted degree. The exaltation of the touch in these parts, is owing partly to tlieir being more copiously supplied with vessels circulating rod blood, and partly to the arrangement of their papillce ; which, together with their connection with numerous muscles of volition, constitute their greater fitness to be employed as the instruments of this sense. It should be kept in mind, and therefore it is so often repeated, that this connection of the senses with the voluntary muscles, forms the basis upon which, according to our theory, all ed- ucational etforts must mainly depend. I\erhaps it would be no groat exaggeration, were we to say, that the improve- ment of this sense as an organ of intellect, by education, re- sults almost exclusively, from the employment of those mus- cles. Hallcr defines touch to be that sense which takes cog- nizance of resistance alone. In the present connection, wc pui'pose to confine its function to that resistance, which bo- dies composing the external world, make to parts of our bodies pressed against them by the action of our own mus- cles. In this sense only, is the faculty of touch susceptible of improvement by education, because when brought by this means in contact with surrounding objects, it is under the control of the will, and is thus employed for the purpose of acquiring knowledge. In tliis view of the subject, it must be admitted that the perceptions by this sense are of a very limited character ; but they are not liable ti.i tlie errors which pertain to those of the sight and hearing, which so often ex- tend their researches into the vast fields of illimitable space. The relation whii'h toui-h has to sight, has given rise to much discission ;unong the learned ; and it is still a contro- verted (|uestion, whether our ideas of distant^c, extension, and figure, are gained by touch alone : but we ihiidc that enough was said while treating of the education of the eye and ear, and especially that of the former, to convince any candid per- son that bolii these senses arc in I'act capable of talving am- i)lc cognizance of thc:-e properties of mailer, and thai llie Touch. 69 eye is indeed tiie organ most conmioiily riniiloycd in judging ot" extension, ligure, and distance. Tiie process for the education of this sense is analogous to that of the sense of hearing, and in fact, of all the other sens- es. On account of the gretiter facility with which the eye takes cognizance of matter subjected to its inspection, it should be covered in all our attempts at improvement of the other organs of sense. This hint has probablj- been deriv- ed from the fact laniiliar to a.ll, that the otiier senses, and es- pecially those of hearing and touch, are so much improved when the sight is lost. Let the pupil then be hoodwinked, and try to distinguisii different metals, wood, and persons, by the feel : then endeavor to denominate pieces of coins, &c. In doing this, the ditlerent degrees of temperatiu'e should be regarded ; because thi- sensations in this respect, depend on the powers of conducting caloric which is ])ccu- liar tjo each metal. If the sensations of heat and cold are to be regarded ;is belonging fo the touch, the rule of judging of them is quite independent of nuiscular action.* These sensations are chicliy confined lo parts of the Ixjdy obnoxious to the \-ieissitudes of lemperature, the physical causes producing them; and as the agencies of these causes, if much increased or tiiminished, might lie attended with very injurious consequences the sensations tliey produce are desigii(?d to preserve us, by a timely intimation thnt certain cluinges are going on in p;u1s exposed, incompatible with the due pcrtin'mance of i'unrtion or even with the continuance of organizaliiiU. - Il lias been rnni'i-liirfj ili.il. r. ililT.Mcnl r-el of nerves have liecn pnvideil for the lecngnitmn of the sensations ol'hcat and cold ; hut wv ihnik the nerves, like the capillaries, are precisely the same in all parts of the hudy, and that their peculiar perceptive faeiillies and fiinei.ons arise from the peculiar tissues with which they are surroiinjeil, and which so modify their rommoa senslhility as to enable them to experience and transmit to the sensoriiim this or that feeling ; and that ihcy arc from the same causes and m like manner ciis^iialified for different percrptionr.. fi 70 Education of the. Senses. Relaxation or contraction of the capillaries constitutes the physical changes which give rise to the sensations of heat and cold ; and it should be remembered that these sensations, as has been suggested, maybe produced by those states of the vessels independent of their physical causes, i. e. the addition or abstraction of caloric. The degree of sensation indicates the degree of contraction or relaxation, rather than the in- tensity of the physical cause. OF DIMENSION, EXTENSION, DISTANCE, &C. Tliese arc the legitimate objects to be regarded in the ed- ucation of the touch. The pupil bUndfolded should be made to pass his finger, hand, or foot, over a graduated measure, and note how much certain muscles must be made to contract in order to carry the member over, or along a certain space. In this way the properties of space may be judged of after considerable experience, with wonderful accuracy. Math- ematical figui-es, solid or superficial, should be made the subjects of experiment. In the sa)ne way the relative size and position of things, may be ascertained. I knew a young gentleman, blind either from liirth, or very early infancy who subsequently attended medical lectures ; became a good anatomist, and as I was informed, passed a satisfactory ex- amination, and received his degree in due form. Whether he ever attempted to practice his profession I have not had the means of knowing.* * This young gentleman atlended ihree courses of my lectures on anatomy. When lecturing on osteology, 1 always took care to put the several hones upon v.'liich I was discovn'sing into his hands, and soon had the pleasure to find that he was following me in the demonstration by passing the hand over the several parts which were being described. He was also in the habit of coming to the table and examining the subject, and tracing out in the same manner the muscles, blood- vessels, and various other solt parts, as the viscera, &c. &c. In the daily class ex- amii'.alions, he made much fewer mislaUes than w-ae to have been expected. I was parUcularly struck with the accuracy of his knowledge of the relative situa- tion of parts, and took great pleasure and pains lo assist him in educating sense of touch. I recollect his coming into my lecture room one even- in", when Dr. (iridlcy lather jocosely said lo him, " Demming, tell us Touch. 71 Tlie young goiitleman above alluded to was aljlc to distin- guish many colors hy the feel, but was unable to exjilain to nic the principles upon which his judgments were formed. OF WEIGHT. It is very questionable whether gravity has any relation to the sense ol' touch. In our opinion, it more particularly respects the muscles, or rather the degree of force with which they must contract, in order to raise a bod\- from the ground, or to remove it from the place in which it stands. In either of these cases, trials should be made upon bodies, whose weight has been previously ascertained : our stand- ard weights, for instance. When the degree of contraction has been noted again and again, or with a sufficient number of repetitions to give the pupil a standard within liimself. the experiment may be extended to other bodies. I'LEASCRE AM) PAIN'. These sensations have been, as suggested in a firmer ]iart of this jiaper, attributed to the sense of touch ; but very erro- noouslv so in the opinion of the writer. Every part, every tissue of the body as well as the organs proper In ihe senses, may be the scat of pain. This sensation is always owing to an over-contracted, or an over-distended state ol' the capil- laries of the part in which it is located. If those vessels be constricted, or inordinately contracted, poin is experienced ; if only slightly constricted, the sensation will be uneasiness. rather than decided positive pain. Suppose '.\ to indicate whether tlie room is lighted or not." Aller a moment's pausi- he replied, " Ra- ther badly lighted, sir, only two lamps burning." " True," says the doctor "but how do you know it ! How do you know that there are two lamps, or any lamps at all ! May there not be a candle or two V " I know," replied Demming, " there are two lights, and I'lat they are lamps, hy the rrackling which they make in burning, which is different from that made by the burning of can- dles." Neither the Doctor nor myself could hear the crackhng of which he spake with so much confidence. This showed that the ediicaiiou of anoiher sense had not been negelrted. 72 Education of the Senses. the state of distention wliicli is natural to these vessels, and consequently, that in which no sensation whatever is expe- rienced : then suppose a cause of an irritating nature to be applied to their inner surfaces which stimulates them to contract down to 2, uneasiness will be felt ; if it stimulate still more, and cause the vessels to contract to ], pain will be expei'ienced ; and we shall be prompt- ed to seek relief; if the contraction be still greater, the pain will be more violent, and the vessels will, from their vehement efforts to contract, lose their vitality : in other words, they will contract until they die. On the other hand, taking 3 as before, for the natural standard of full- ness, if the vessels be distended to 4, there will be as in the case of moderate contraction, uneasiness; if to 5, pain ; the vessels will resist painfully, if to 0, or upward, the pain will be violent, because the vessels resist forcibly, painfully ; and will soon lose tiieir vitality as sometimes haj)pens in neglect- ed, mal-trcatcd, or intense inllammation. In the former case, the pain from over-contraction will be attended with a shrinking or diminution of the size of the part ; and if many vessels be involved in the affection, or if its seat be in an important organ, the vessels of the skin will do what the vessels of the part affected do, i. e. contract or shrink (and tills is what we always mean liy organic sympathy ; when we say that one part sympathizes with another, we mean that it, as a whole, or that its vessels do what the part pri- marily affected, or its vessels do,) and a sense of chilliness will be experienced. Pain from over-contraction, is relieved by whatever in- duces the vessels to relax, as fomentations, warm bath, friction, opium, &,c. Examples of pain from this cause are exhibited in chronic rheumatism, in the cold stage of inter- mittents, and in various other analogous diseases. Pain from cold or the abstraction of caloric is of tiiis kind. The other variety of pain, which arises from an over-distended state of the vessels, in which they are not only put upon the stretch, but arc stimulated to resist 'painfully, is relieved by PIvditurc and I'/rin. 7.'i flie ubstracll'in ol' fluids, &c., ami also by narcotics, wlii(;li, by lessening the sensibility ol' the vessels, prevent their feel- ing impulses from within, and induce them to forego their resistance, and relax ; but in order to make this relief per- manent, the activity and force of the heart must be consider- ably abated, otherwise the vessels which have been indu- ced to relax or to forego their resistance, will again be fully distended, and we shall foon have them again put upon the stretch ; the consequence of which, will be violent re- sistance, and a renewal of the pain. Examples of this kind of pain are to be found in inflammation, acute rheumatism, tonic gout, &c., ifcc. The nerves, which are distributed to, and preside over the organs of organic life, as the stomach, bowels, glands, and the capillaries of nutrition throughout the whole system, have ganglia placed U))on them, which intercept and prevent the transmission to tiic sensorium of sensations pertaining to organic life, so long as they are consistent with the healthy perlormance of lunction. Of course, those sensations never reach the mind until that contingency ceases, and actions incompatible with the regu- lar and due pertbrniance of function begin ; but when such actions, as interfere with, and derange the function, or en- danger the structure of organs or parts do begin, then, as the nerve itself is continued on through the ganglions to the brain or spinal marrow, changes will take place in the brain or sensorium conmnine, which will awaken conscious- ness in the mind ; until this happens, the structures and tis- sues pertaining to organic life, cannot be considered as or- gans of sense; as has been intimated, that they might be. The perception of these changes is unpleasant, or pain- ful, and prompts us to desire and seek relief, but it is not (although the cause of intelligence.) calculated, except, so far as the means of relief are concerned, to enlarge the field of knovvluilge, or augment intellectual power. But not so with the five senses. On their nerves, no ganglia are placed ; there is, therefore, no interlerencc with tlie transmission of intelligence of the changes which are going 74 Education of the Senses. on in tliem. ' Their appropriate and peculiar stimuli pro- duso cliangcs, which it may be, and most probably arc, * To ihis doctrine, an objection miglu be raised, from the fact that ganglia are placed on the posterior fasciculi of all the spinal and some of the cerebral nerves which are, by common consent, admitted to l>e neiTes of sensation, and particularly subservient to the sense of touch ; upon a little reflection, however, it will be obvious that this is not only not repugnant to, but in perfect accordance with our doctrine ; — that it should be so, if that doctrine be true. These poste- rior fasciculi not only render the parts to which they are distributed sensitive, but transmit to the organ of mind the perception of those changes which constitute sensation. Now then, as circulation, secretion, nutrition, and functions of organic life, are going on in the parts to which these fasciculi are sent, as well as the other actions and changes, it is necessary that ganglia should be placed on them, or that some other arrangement should exist by which the perception of those chan- ges belonging to organic life should be internipted and utterly prevented, so long as they are consistent with health. Again, it might be urged that changes pe- culiar to organic action are perpetually going on in parts to which the nerves exclusively appropriated to the other senses, as sight, hearing, taste and smell, as well as to touch, are sent, and that therefore ganglia should have been placed upon them for the reasons already assigned ; but it should be recollected that these very changes are wrought by vessels which are supplied by nerves from the gan- gliac system, and that the nerves peculiar to any sense are not required to take cognizance of them. This, it is beleved, is a full answer to these objections. The importance of this subject, perhaps, warrants a further consideration. Me- chanical distention, which is alternately applied and withdrawn, is the natural stimulus, which prompts the capillaries of organic life, to which the gangliac sys- tem is appropriated, to act ; and the nerves of this system take cognizance of the state of those vessels only, which respects their contraction or dilatation, con- striction or rela.\ation, and especially so when either is abnormal. The senses of taste and smell are e.Kcited by the chemical properties of matter, the sense of hearing simply by its undulations, vibrations, or oscillations, and the sense of sight by a property of matter, as some suppose, which is termed light, or as others think by a luminiferous ether. In neither of these cases is it known that the ap- propriate stimuli in their ordinary action effect the capacity of the vessels con- nected with the organic actions of those senses ; and if they did, as they may, and perhaps sometimes do, when acting intensely or with more than their usual power, the nerves which belong to the gangliac system would take cognizance of these irregularities. If the capillaries were stimulated to action by any irritating qualities in the fluids which they circulate, they would, according to the law already glanced at, lose their susceptibility for that particular impression ; for the fluids containing the irritating quality are always present, and therefore would be always in contact with the inner surfaces of the vessels ; the necessary con- sequence of such a contingency would be the derangement of function, and ul tiniately a chan':;e of structure and orgTnization. Organic disease would follow. Pkasure and Fain. 75 mere contractions or relaxations, modified by the structure peculiar to tiie organ, wliicii are perceived and transmitted to the Ijrain by the nerves adapted by the same pecuUarity of structure for this or tiiat pocuhar function, and of course, can do notSiing else. If these changes produced in the or- gans of sense, be mere contractions or dihitntions, modified by the peculiarity of structure, then they will, as the one or the other prevails, be attended with pleasure or pain, which will also be perceived by the nerve at the same time that the change itself is perceived. If the contraction, or relaxation be no more than ordinary, there will be neitiier pleasure nor pain, and consequently, no emotion will accom- pany the perception of change elTectcd in tlie organ, by the object wiiich is acting upon it ; the residt will be, that of simple cognition ; but if the contraction or relaxation be more than common, pleasure or p;iin will certainly accom- pany the perception of change, and tlie idea will be pleasur- able or painful, and instantly I'ollovvcd by desire or aversion. The [lains and pleasures of sense are. like knowledge, pro- duced directly or indirectly by objects exterior to the body, (;dl of whicli have a greater or less tendency to p]-oduce them,) and are realized by that sense only whose adapted- ness lits it to acquire the knowledge of the entity whose properties are calculated to call that sense into action. For instance, the pleasure derived from colors, can be expe- rienced only through the medium of the sight, the sense from which alone, we derive our knowledge of color. It should not, however, be forgotten that the same feelings may arise from the mere action of the capillaries of the sense in the entire absence of their appropriate physical causes. Feelings produced in this way, belong to the imagination, and constitute its pleasures and its pains. If contraction or relaxation of the capillaries beyond the ordi- nary degree be the physical cause of pleasure or of pain in the senses, then it follows that every entity has a tendency to produce these feelings in the sense upon which they arc fitted to operate. II' I bring uj) 1o my recollection, a land- 76 liducalion of the Senses. scape or prospect which I have examined ; or a scene through wliich I have passed, the several senses which were called into activity by the objects which at first oper- ated on them will again become active and perform the same actions, and the same ideas will be produced and be accompanied by the same feelings. In all such cases the effect is the necessary result of experience. In regard to the feelings belonging to this class, which are ever disposed to transcend reality, prudence would seem to dictate that we should always endeavor to compare those which refer to the past or the future, with those actually cxperienctd or realized, in order to prevent our being exercised with an undue degree of regret for such as have been lost, or disap- pointment when we enter upon the enjoyment of those which have been in prospect. In the contingency men- tioned, the pleasure or pain is as much the necessary result as the conception of the object or any of its properties ; but it should be remarked that the intensity of the feeling, as well as the vividness of the idea, may be increased by the attention voluntarily exerted. The principles upon which this fact depends have already been enumerated and ex- plained. As attention is under the control of the will ; as feelings with nine-tenths of the world become motives to action ; as all agencies acting upon the body, and especially upon the senses, have the power of modifying the actions which they excite ; and as there are properties in every agent which are fitted to produce pleasurable or painful leel- int^s, the puiiil should early be taught in all cases to fix his attention as much as possible upon those of the first class ; by which procecdure. his feelings and consequent conduct will be such, as greatly to ])romote his own happiness, and that of those about liiin. It is owing to the neglect of this rule, that so many persons find something in almost every- thing to cavil at ; an infirmity, exceedingly prevalent in our own country; with tlie English, it is quite national : espe- cially, if anything French, be the subject of consideration. Let the pufiil be taught ever to look upon the "bi-iglit side' Touch. 77 Riglit feeling, and right acting, depend upon right tliink- ing ; and right thinking, upon right education ; which, is therefore, inseparably connected with the lnjpcs and happi- ness of man, ibr time and eternity ; and also with his coun- try's weal, her woe, her glory. The best educated men, 1 mean in the broadest acceptation of the term, will be the best and most efficient men. They will be the men of pow- er, and the men in power ; the rulers of the nations ; the sovereigns of the world ! knowledge is power ! li'this, then, be so, the philanthropist and the patriot must feel with solemn concern, the importance of having the prin- ciples of education, rightly and thoroughly understood, and judiciously carried out in practice. This nation, composed of sovereign states, Vv'ith their own separate governments, and embracing a vast cxlcnt of territory, with almost every variety oi' climate, soil and i)roduction, has consequently, so many, and such diverse interests, tliat apart from the form of its government, it can hardly bo said, to possess '• that unity of sentiment and interest, which mnlces men feel, and act as one social body,'" and which constitutes nationnlity. The writer would therefore suggest, for the consideration of tlic citizens of this great republic, that measures be taken for devising and establishing a system of education with "•the Bihle, without note or comnient," for one of its elementary l>ooks, wliicii may concentrate the feelings and afTections of the people, promote " the reign of mild peace" among ourselves, and the notions of the earth, and give character and perpetuity to our own glo- rious Union and its Institutions. APPENDIX. Tlie mind during our wai-iing hours, and also porliaps during sleep, is continually engaged in some active mode of thinking, and this fact, of which none will doubt, goes to establish the analogy between the brain as the organ of mind and other organs, as the liver or salivary glands, which go on forming bile or saliva all the wliile, whether we will or not ; in like manner the brain goes on forming ideas, whether we will or not. This may be termed spon- taneous thinking, and is attended with no etTort of the will, and is of course without fatigue. Whether we shall think or not, is no more optional than it is whether bile or saliva shall be secre, ted. The brain forms ideas just as the liver forms bile, and with no more ellbrt ; but by fixing the attention, (i. e. the immediate direction of the mind,) upon an entity, the brain spontaneously forms ideas of it. This may be termed one species of voluntary thinking, and is very easily performed, and therefore attended with little or no fatigue. It is undoubtedly the mode pursued by all great thinkers. One of our most profound statesmen, whose gigantic intellect towers above all others in the land, when once questioned concerning his mode of investigating subjects by which he was led to such stupendous results, replied that he only placed the subject before him, and watched the workings of his own mind in relation to it. Tliis was to iiim mere spontaneous think, ing ; the onh' voluntary effort required or employed was simply that ol'fjxing and keeping the mind directed to, or in other words, the attention fixed upon the subject, which cost at the most but little comparative elfort. In the case above alluded to, it required scarcely an efl'ort, it having been the habit of the distinguished individual. Now, the attention is generally under the control of the will ; but somolimos it is not, and therefore when a subject greally interests us, we cannot, for the reason just assigned, help thinking of it. The attention is fixed upon it, and the brain keeps forming ideas concerning it.* It is still the spontaneous mode of thinking under the control of the attention, or in company * Hold an object before the mind ; concentrate the tlionghts upon it ; and soon it will glow, or at least become Inminoiij. I Appendix. ' T.) with it, and ma}' bo of little use, for unless stvirdy Matcliod, llio niinil will go on firming the same ideas, (i e. tiiinking in a oircde,) of flic subject which is thus kept before it. To prevent tliis, a stronger effort of the will must be invoked, and the cajiiUary vessels of the brain compelled to perform new actions, that tlie views of the intellect may be extended; in many instancesoriginality of thought will he the result. Reasoning from analogy, wc should infer that the process of thinking, like the secretion of bile, is carried on during sleep ; but in a manner of wliich we are quite as un- conscious as wc are of secretion, or of any other function of or- ganic life. Ganglia are placed upon the nerves going to the liver, (and also to all other parts connected with the functions of organic life,)1 upon whose influence the secretiun of liile de. pends ; by which anatomical arrangement all consciousness of such an operation in the liver, even in our waking hours, is pro- vented ; but another methodof preventing the consciousness of cere- bral action during sleep, has been devised by the all-wise Ma- ker of our bodies. The better to understand this subject, we must take a brief piiysiological view of the phenomena of sleep, the final end of which is, the repose of the system by suspending all its voluntary powers, mental and corporeal. When sleep is per- fect, all consciousness both in regard to the actions of the body and of external agencies is lost, consequently all, except such as belong to organic life, (of which, when normal, the individual is likewise unconscious,) cease to i)e carried on, and the whole sys- tem is reduced to a condition analogous to that which is pccniiarlv appropriated to organic lifi". Tlie question which we propose mainly to consider, is, the nature of the cause of sleep, and the manner in which it operates to induce that state. The cause, we think, is a certain degree of pressure, or perhaps more propnly speaking, compression of the meiiullary substance of the brain. This doctrine that sleep is caused by the compression of the me- dullary or parenchymatous substance of tlio brain, we shall now endeavor to prove, and then proceed to show in what way lliat effect is produced. 1. It is a well known fact that mechanical pressure, whetlii'r from extravasated fluids, or from other causes, with which (he surgeon is more particularly conversant, is capable of dcstroyiisg 80 • AppendiT. all consciousness, and inducing a lethargic state of the gravest character. 2. The sense of fulness about the ibrehead and eyebrows ; the flush of the cheeks and redness of the eyes, clearly betoken that an increased quantity of blood has been received into those parts, and as the brain and its meninges, parts within the scull, receive their blood from the same vessels as the parts without, the inference is fully warranted that this increased determination of blood to the head obtains as well in the internal as in the ex- ternal parts, in which the signs of it are so conspicuous. With- out adducing other arguments, as this point will probably be con- ceded, we shall proceed to inquire how this increased flow of blood to the brain is produced. That it is not occasioned by an increased action of the heart, is clear, from the fact that during sleep the pulse is slower and weaker than it is when we are awake ; if, then, it be not attributable to an increased activity of that organ, it will follow, as a necessary consequence, that relax- ation of the capillaries of the face and brain is the cause to which we must look for an explanation of the phenomena of sleep. This view of the case is fully justified by tlie phenomena themselves ; the conjunctiva becomes red ; the cheeks flushed ; a sense of ful- ness about the forehead and eyebrows is experienced ; the muscles of the face and neck relax, and presently the eyes close ; the mouth opens, and the head rests upon the chest, and finally, if there be no mechanical impediments, the whole body falls pros- trate ; phenomena exhibiting a state of relaxation not only of the capillaries of the brain, but of the whole muscular system con- nected with voluntary motion.* The recumbent posture assumed * This is in full accordance witli a law of the system, alluded to in ihia pnper, which is, that increased contraction or resistance is sooner or later followed liy a spontaneous relaxation which is usually proportionate with the previous contrac- tion. If the vessels of the brain have been made to labor with unwonted energy in voluntary efforts, intellectual or corporeal, the relaxation which spontaneously follows will be commensurate and the sleep proportionally profound. Again, I would remark that this state of relaxation, on the approach of sleep is attended with pleasure, either as a cause or an ellect, and this fact, (i. e the con- nection of pleasure with relaxation,) which has been dwelt upon and explained when another part of our subject was under consideration, goes far to corroborate the position which has been taken. Appendix. 81 by the body, is, that which is, philosophically consijored, tiic most favorable for repose, as well as for the complete turgesconee of the vessels of the brain, and without which, sleep is seldom pro- found, or completely refreshing. We may further remark that the etfect is not confined, as is too generally supposed, to the voluntary powers ; but is extended to the functions of organic life ; therefore, respiration, as well as circulation is diminished, and di- gestion, secretion, and indeed all iho functions of organic life arc carried on during sleep with less energy; and the whole body may be truly said to rest. By the recumbent posture, the gravity of the blood is taken off, and thus the labor of the heart is lessened, and the vessels of the brain will continue to be distended until resistance to further dis. tension is excited, which will be increased not in the vessels of the brain only, but in other parts of the body also, until it either forces the blood out of the capillaries of the brain, and thus relieves that organ to a certain degree of its compression ; or until the I'c- sistance becomes painful, and in either case there will be a partial renewal of consciousness, and the sleeper will dream ; or if the resistance of the small vessels should change to positive and vigorous contraction, the compressing cause will be removed, and with its removal the slumbers of the individual will cease, and the vessels of the brain resume their wonted action, anil that organ its ordinary function of tiiought. If the sleep, however, has been protracted and profound, a sense of heaviness in the head and lassi- lude of body will be experienced, which will continue for some lime before the brain and other organs under its control will take on their accustomeii activity. Dreaming and somnolence (and perhaps insanity) are notliing more nor less than the spontaneous thinking of which we have been speaking, attended with a eon. sciousness which varies in degree at ditfercnt times, and under dilTercnt- circumstances, but which is always below that of I lie waking state, therefore, the greater the consciousness, slion of complete wakefulness, the more vivid will be the dream, and the more likely to be remembered. If the jjorson dreaming have consciousness enough, and a sufficient control of the will to make the vessels of the brain iterate the actions which took place while dreaming, or in other words, think the dream over again, he will bo quite sure to remember it ; but if he neglects to do this, he will 82 Appendix. most assuredly be unable to recollect it, and the more especially so, if he fall asleep after having dreamed. People seldom dream at the commencement of sleep, or if they do, the dreams are not often remembered for the reasons above assigned. Although we have np control over the succession of ideas in dreaminc;, and in some cases it must be confessed, the connection is quite unaccounta- ble, yet I doubt not that ordinarily the same laws of association ob- tain in regard to the sequence of thought in that state as in other modes of thinking, to wit : " resemblance or analogy ; opposition or contrast ; contiguity, or nearness of time and place ; cause and elfect ; premises and consequences ;"* all of which may be modi- fied by the disposition and habits of thinking peculiar to each indi- vidual. Upon this principle 1 have very often been able to ex- plain my own and the dreams of others. f The senses do not all fall asleep at once, but in succession. Those of smell, taste, and in fact that of the touch taken in its most extended sense, are so slightly connected with volition that we need scarcely regard them in connection with sleep, except to say that they are the first to come under its influence : the next in order is the sighl, and lastly the hearing: and in the transition from sleeping to waking, the order is reversed ; the sense of hearing is first awakened, then sight, and lastly, touch, smell, and taste. The faculty of speech is never called into action, unless the sense of hearing is to a certain degree awake : hence it is, that you may for the time being, hold conversation with most sleep-talkers. With some, the hearing is so dull that it is necessary to speak to them in a louder tone, which may be done without the risk of waking them, and not unfrequently it is also necessary to repeat questions in order to commence or keep up the colloquy. When persons talk in their sleep we arc made acquainted with the spontaneous thinking which occupies their minds. This sleep-talking afloi'ds very satisfactory evidence of the activity of the mind during sleej). Without it wo should have been obliged in our present state of physiological knowledge, to have depended mainly on the evidence * Hedge's Logic. + In this connection tlie dreams of Josepli; of Pliarnoh, his biillcr nnd lin- ker, and of Nebuchadnezzar, maybe considered with interest. May not indeed the interpretation of dreams depend upon the same principles of association I Appendix. 83 funiislied by analogy, for without the exercise of the will (which is the very essence of voluntarily, and which is suspended when aleep is comjilote) in some small degree, the process of sjiontano- ous thinking would be imperceptible, at least the evidence of it would be very imperfect, and dubious. As the will is the faculty of the mind, most closely associated with the external senses, it is of course the first to yield which it does in aboul the same pro- |iortion as it is affiliated to the senses which, as we have seen are more or less readily affijcted by the approach of sleep ; hence, as tlie hearing becomes more and more awake, the individual is in the same proportion more and more disposed to talk, and as the wa- king of that sense increases, the locomotive organs, which require from the will a much slronger impulse, are put in motion and the sleep-lalker becomes a sleep-walker; hence somnambulism. The author is fully aware of the difficulty of proving that tliinking goes on when we are asleep as well as when we are awake ; but the fact that many persons who have been blind for a great num- ber of years cositinue to dream of visible objects, goes very far in addition to what has been said to settle tlie question in the af- firmative.* In such cases it is the action of the capillaries at the origin of the optic nerve (or in other words, the spontaneous think- ing of visible objects, exactly analogous to what it would have been, if the person had not been blind or asleep and was looking at the objects of which he was dreaming) which produces the ideas peculiar to vision. In fact, the feelings may be and often are excited by internal causes alone, as has been shown. A person in sleep may feel as if he, himself was bound down by force, or his arms may be crossed, and ho may dream that they are so held bv anotlier ; and moreover the images of tlie persons performing these disagi'eeal)lfi acts may be distinctly formed. In these cases, and in numej-oiis others which might be mentioned, the afTerent nerves whoso office it is to make the sonsoriuni acquainted with the state of the centrifugal organs, especially those of locomotion, convey to it intelligence, or excite in it a consciou.sness of the condition of the muscles thus circumstanced, while the brain is not sufficiently awake to produce the necessary change in the eiferent nerves to * This fad may be of some practical consequence, as it show.s that the oj)tic nerve Ins not lost its power. 84 Appendix. cause the milscles of the arms to act, and alter tlie position of these spell-bound members, although the desire to do so may be awakened, and finally so much increased as to become intense and painful, just as any other vehement desire ungratified causes pain. Now pain, like all other disagreable impressions produces contraction, and in this case it causes it in the capillary vessels of the brain, and of the spinal marrow, at the origin of the nerves which go to the muscles of the arms, and what takes place there, likewise takes place at the otlier, the peripiieral extremity of the nerves, and con- sequently in the capillaries of the muscles; and what all the vessels of a single muscle (or of a nuniljcr) do, the same will the muscle or muscles do ; — that is, contract and move the limbs, and with the movement of them, the night-mare also ceases*. It might be not only amusing, but instructive, and perhaps useful to trace out the analogy which the writer thinks exists between spontaneous thinking, dreaming, and insanity. It might suggest hints relative to the treatment of that malady. The education of the muscles having been omitted as a distinct topic, the writer would barely suggest, tliat to the mechanic, it is a subject of grave import. Every appren- tice, while learning his trade, especially, if it bo one of light labour, should be taught and urged to work fast, and soon he will acquire the habit of doing so ; of worki ng all the while as if upon a wager ; and he will then do it with as much ease and as little fatigue as if he worked to the "tune of Old Hundred." Thus learned, ho will accomplish nearly twice as inuch ; consequently, be twice as useful ; do twice the good, and be more valuable in the community than any two drones, and may expect a double reward. Let this method of learning trades be adopted, and soon we shall have few mechanics of the old school ; and llwij will be fur in the back ground. 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