CHAP. XXIX.

Education of the Senses.

WE by no means desire to renew discussions respecting innate or acquired ideas. The organs of the senses are instruments by whose assistance ideas are formed, and sensations are conveyed to the brain. An individual wanting one of the five senses, must necessarily be deprived of the ideas. it gives rise to. any notion of colours. This fact being once established, and well understood, it necessarily follows, that the more any given organ is exercised, and properly developed, the more the corresponding sense will be enlarged, and the more extended will be the ideas. By development, we do not allude to extent, but to perfection. Hence the necessity of preserving the same method for the improvement of the senses as that adopted to strengthen the muscles, or organs of motion. There is a gymnastic for the senses as well as for the muscles; this gymnastic is peculiar to each sense, and its importance must not be lost sight of.

Persons born blind cannot have

In infancy, general exercises ought to have the preference over exercises of the senses, though this is not usually the case; for education is established on a very different basis. The pyramid is began at the top instead of the basis;

the organs of the senses are first exercised, and are, of course, early expanded, to the great detriment of the whole organization, which is neglected, and left in repose, whilst the exaltation of the senses is so great, as to cause the most serious diseases. The object of education should be, not to increase the power of the senses to the detriment of health, but to prevent errors and bad habits

Sense of Feeling.

Feeling is the first sense exercised; on entering the world, the body receives impressions by coming in contact with the atmosphere, and the objects which surround it. This sense generally loses a great deal of its capacity for perception among individuals exposed to the intemperance of the seasons; while children bred in luxury always remain delicate, and comparatively sensitive. Who does not recollect the story of the Sybarite, disturbed by a rose leaf, fallen on his couch?

It is advisable that the body should be early habituated to come in contact with resisting objects. Hard beds, strong, though not rough clothing, strengthen the fibres; exquisite sensitiveness is attended with no advantage ;-the body is rendered liable to be in a continual state of agitation, and atmospheric variations of heat and cold act powerfully on delicate constitutions. If

it be advantageous to fortify the skin, and prevent its being affected by the action of the clothes with which it comes in contact, the fingers should be exempted from this rule; the greater their sensibility, the more it is developed the better; and the greater the sense of feeling, the greater the aptitude of the hand in cultivating the

arts.

It requires more lightness and delicacy than may generally be supposed necessary to handle a pencil, or play on the piano forte. It is impossible to reach perfection in any art, unless full command be had over the hand. Sculptors judge of the beauty of a statue rather from touch than sight; and it may justly be said, that the sense of feeling is more acute and certain, and frequently rectifies the errors of the other senses.

The touch is the most certain sense, because it is the most material, and acts immediately on bodies. Sight, sound, smell, are volatile substances, and less attainable than more material objects on which the touch is exercised and applied without any intermediary; but this sense would be equally liable to error, if unassisted by the other senses. When any intermediate body is opposed between the senses and the object to be appreciated, the ideas transmitted are uncertain and erroneous. If the fingers are hardened by work, or any other cause, the touch is

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unable to appreciate or judge, as it materially depends on the state of the skin on the hands and fingers.

Many examples are given of the delicacy of touch among those individuals who are unfortunately deprived of sight. It is asserted that a blind boy could distinguish some colours by the touch; he had remarked, for instance, that red absorbed the damp. Salzman, in his annals of education, relates that blind children have been taught to distinguish colours, and judge how many leaves a book contained; and even to read when the characters were strongly marked. Upon this principle, books for the blind are now manufactured. The exercise of the senses may be made at play; this was Rousseau's opinion, and is probably that of all enlightened governesses, who take an interest in their employment, and are aware of its importance.

Taste.

The sense of taste, and the sense of smelling, are intimately connected. Placed at a distance from the stomach, they seem to be sentinels guarding against danger; both give warning of the danger of an ingredient, by the disagreeable impression conveyed; thus the introduction of any nauseous or poisonous food into the stomach is prevented. It would be difficult to isolate the senses of taste and smelling; they almost

invariably act simultaneously, which is easily understood, as they are seated so near each other, and the functions they have to perform have so close a relation. The one without the other would be incomplete. In order to avoid the disgust of nauseous medicines, it is customary to prevent smelling by suspending respiration; thus the taste is weakened. Taste varies according age, constitution, habits, and disease. Taste is most useful to medical men, chemists, and culinary artistes.

Great attention should be paid to the normal state of the sense of taste; any anomaly in this organ, is indicative of an affection of the stomach, of the salivary glands, or the tongue itself. All perversion of taste is a symptom of this affection, and met with in young girls afflicted with divers maladies; such as rachitis, green sickness, gastritis, or chronic gastralgia, and other inflammations of the intestinal tube. Children are fond of sweet things, men of tonic substances; women have unaccountable and strange tastes, varying according to different circumstances.

The state of the tongue greatly influences taste; if dry or furred, the proper flavour of what is eaten cannot be ascertained. Long sleep, the abuse of spirituous liquors, and other narcotics, blunt the taste; while acids, spices, and tonics, sharpen it.

During growth, there is little to be done for the sense of taste; it only reaches perfection at