II. Impressions derived by hearing. 4. Articulate sounds (spoken language), III. Impressions derived by smell. 6. Odours. IV. Impressions derived by taste. 7. Tastes. V. Impressions derived by the sensory cutaneous and sensory muscular nerves. 8. Tactile Perception. 9. Temperature. 10. Muscular Perception. CHAPTER VI THE SPECIAL MEMORIES Functions of the Individual Faculties. The functions of each particular faculty will now be discussed, but it is important to note that in the following descriptions many well-known names of faculties, as acquisitiveness, self-esteem, &c., are used for the sake of convenience, the terms fairly well expressing their functions; but beyond the definitions given in the following pages, no other function must be assumed to belong to them, as in many books, written and spoken language are included under the same faculty, which a very little experience is sufficient to show is practically, as well as theoretically, wrong. Again, the memory of any impression has been shown to be distinct from the perception, though intimately connected with it, and many other minor differences will be noticed under the separate faculties. The definitions given here are in accordance with my own experience of the functions of the faculties, and I hope will be found sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes. When any faculty is subsequently referred to, its functions will be understood to mean those given here, and this will be of importance to anyone wishing to ascertain the constitution of his own mind, so as to be able to use his faculties in the most advantageous way, in the cultivation of his memory. In the majority of instances, readers will find that they have all the faculties in an average degree, variations rarely being very great, either above or below the average. Occasionally, exceptions are to be found in which some faculty is either particularly large, or particularly small, and to these the exceptional examples apply. A student should try to form as accurate an idea as he can as to the size of the faculties he possesses. In order to facilitate the attainment of this object I will first give the functions of each faculty, and then the special memory which is developed by its possession, giving for examples persons who have been gifted, by having a large development of the faculty in question. When a large faculty is spoken of, in the following pages, it is not meant that this should be taken literally, but only in relation to its function. 1. Faculty of Colour. The designation of this faculty explains its function, namely, that of conveying to the mind, from the general memory, impressions of colour, that is, contiguous combinations of psycho-physical colour units. When largely developed, the individual takes the greatest interest in colours, and can easily remember minute differences between them. It is the faculty of the painter, as distinguished from the draughtsman. The spectrum, as usually observed, forms an admirable illustration of a psycho-physical series, six colours being clearly distinguished, each colour blending by imperceptible gradations with the adjacent members of the series. The psycho-physical does not correspond to the physical series, as there is no break in the latter, which consists of rays gradually increasing in refrangibility from the red to the violet. The average psycho-physical series has only six units, the mind perceiving all rays within a certain range of refrangibility as red, those beyond this range as orange, and so on. The physical light series is also of greater length than that represented by the spectrum, there being rays, both below the red, and above the violet. If the spectrum be looked at through a piece of cobalt glass, a bright crimson will be seen below the red, whilst the presence of rays above the violet is demonstrated by fluorescence and other phenomena. Each of the colours of the spectrum is primary, and cannot be again split up; thus, if after white light has been dispersed by a prism, another prism be inserted in the track of the first, so that only one colour shall be refracted at a time, it will be found that the individual character of each will be preserved. Again, a pure blue when mixed with a pure yellow does not give green as a resultant. If a spectral blue be mixed with a spectral yellow, the resultant will be white. If red. and yellow are mixed together, an orange is obtained which is indistinguishable from the orange of the spectrum. Now, the orange of the spectrum is produced by rays of light having wave-lengths quite different from those of the red or yellow, therefore, the perception of similarity must be mental. The cause of the phenomenon is this: the psycho-physical colour series consists of six units (six is the average number, there being more units if the faculty of colour be large, less if it be small), and, therefore, all colours are perceived by any particular individual as combinations of |