or continued effort of the will, or exercise of the other senses, can make him enjoy the class of sensations which is lost. The sense of touch may be increased in an exquisite degree; but were it true, as has been asserted, that individuals can discover colours by the touch, it could only be by feeling a change upon the surface of the stuff, and not by any perception of the colour. It has been my painful duty to attend on persons who have pretended blindness, and that they could see with their fingers. But I have ever found that by a deviation from the truth in the first instance, they have been entangled in a tissue of deceit; and have at last been forced into admissions which demonstrated their folly and weak inventions. I have had pity for such patients when they have been the subjects of nervous disorders which have produced extraordinary sensibility in their organs,-such as a power of hearing much beyond our common experience. This acuteness of sensibility having attracted high interest and admiration, has gradually led them to pretend to powers greater than they actually possessed. In such cases it is difficult to distinguish the symptoms of disease from the pretended gifts which are boasted of." (Bridgewater Treatise, page 193.)

SMELL.

Smell, though less honoured than the other senses, is nevertheless exceedingly useful, and is productive of a great amount of pleasure, as it is also of considerable pain. It being the true wisdom of the blind to utilize every faculty to the highest degree, the sense of smell is to them of no inconsiderable importance. By its aid they judge of the quality of many articles, to deal with which the other senses are incapable. The habits, occupations, and social standing of an in

dividual may frequently be detected by the means of this sense, in proof of which the following instance may be named:

The writer, himself blind, said one morning to a workman, “You have had a red herring for breakfast, you have smoked a pipe of tobacco, and you have just lighted a fire." These three things he smelt in quick succession; and the circumstance is the more remarkable as the man had carefully washed after breakfast and lighting the fire.

On entering a shop he said to the person in attendance, "You have had fish here;" the attendant said they had not, and that he could not smell any. The blind man still insisted that there must have been some in the shop. At length the attendant remembered that a lady had been to pay a bill who lived in a house adjoining a fishmonger's.

TASTE.

Considering how much of our enjoyment in this world is derived from the pleasures of the table, it must be owned that great injustice is done to the sense of taste by the thanklessness with which we receive its benefits. If it were not for the services of this sense we should have extreme difficulty in inducing ourselves to partake of sufficient nutriment to sustain life; and when we remember the grateful flavours that the commonest articles have for the taste that is unvitiated by indulgence, we can but admire the beneficence of the Creator, who has made nothing in vain. It can hardly be said that the sense of taste is of any special use to the blind; as, however, their physical enjoyments are comparatively few, their temptations to indulgence in this respect are proportionately increased, and the knowledge of this should induce the blind to guard carefully against the allurements of the palate.

The infirmity above named too often shows itself in the well-to-do by over-indulgence in the pleasures of the table; and in the case of the poor it leads them to frequent the ale-house, and when they have not the means to buy drink, it impels them to beg. The temptations of the palate are strong, and are increased in power by indulgence; and as their gratification not only pleases the organs of taste, but also becomes the means of introducing their possessor into society-thus giving him the pleasure of conversation, which is perhaps valued as the greatest enjoyment by those deprived of sight,—the liability of the blind to fall under the power of this temptation is exceedingly great. Those who see, often judge the blind too harshly in this respect; they think that because any one has lost the principal sense, therefore he should be more correct in his conduct than other persons, but the truth is, that the loss of that sense exposes him to greater temptation, and therefore his acts should be looked on with more leniency. The blind, however, should strenuously guard against the above-named weakness, as it has proved the ruin of many afflicted like themselves, who possessed great talents, and had peculiar opportunities of prospering in the world.

Of course the true Christian needs no such motive, but even he will do well to ponder on the matter, and when he thinketh he standeth, let him take heed lest he fall."

66

THE INFLUENCE OF THE LOSS OF ONE SENSE ON THOSE WHICH REMAIN.

It has often been remarked that the loss of one sense is made up for by increased power in the remaining senses. This is an adage frequently repeated and popularly believed, but its truth has been more or less denied by those immediately occupied in matters con

nected with the blind. This circumstance is especially remarkable, as it is evident that a certain amount of nervous power is exerted by every action of the mind or body. This being so, it is clear that a sighted man expends more nervous power through the medium of the eye than he does in connection with the organs of any other sense. When, however, the sense of sight is wanting, the nervous power usually exerted by it is employed by the other senses. So that the powers of perception enjoyed by a blind man in common with his sighted brethren are more acute than they are under ordinary circumstances; but although this fact mitigates, it does not by any means compensate for the loss of sight. The sense of touch cannot be cultivated as highly in a man who can see as in one who is blind, for the simple reason that whereas the nervous power of the former is diffused through five senses, in the latter it is more concentrated, being diffused only through four senses.

A further illustration of this subject may be gained from the following remarks:

The senses are like five wires radiating from an electric battery, commonly called the brain. These wires, or senses, differ in their capacity for conducting nervous power, the largest wire, i. e. the sense of sight, carrying and applying perhaps more nervous power than the other four wires or senses combined. If the largest wire be disconnected from the battery, the whole power of the battery is thrown into the four wires; and so when sight is wanting, the whole nervous power of the human system is thrown into the remaining four senses, which gives to them an increased. power of development.

The senses of hearing, smell, and sight may be properly called the distant senses, while touch and taste may be designated the near senses. The former class only perceive through the media of air and light, while

the latter come in direct contact with the objects perceived; and here it may be remarked that it seems to be the object of the Creator that the senses should not only each in its respective sphere fulfil the special office for which it is fitted, but that they should also render mutual aid to each other, so that, for instance, the perceptions of the eye may be corrected by the touch and the other senses.

THE UNRECOGNIZED SENSES.

Besides the universally acknowledged five senses, it is evident that man possesses certain powers which are neither classified among the senses nor the faculties; such a power, for instance, is that which enables him to perceive the quality of weight. This fact is indeed acknowledged to some extent by many physiologists, who admit the existence of a sixth sense, which they call the muscular sense,' or the sense of weight, but the admission of the existence of this sense does not account for the presence of phenomena which can only be explained, as we think, by admitting the existence of as many senses as there are independent powers of perception in man; and this being so, seven or eight senses must be acknowledged, and we shall therefore now lay before the reader some facts bearing on this subject.

Whether within a house or in the open air, whether walking or standing still, I can tell, although quite blind, when I am opposite an object, and can perceive whether it be tall or short, slender or bulky. I can also detect whether it be a solitary object or a continuous fence, whether it be a close fence or composed of open rails, and often whether it be a wooden fence, a brick or stone wall, or a quickset hedge. I cannot usually perceive objects if much lower than my shoulder, but sometimes very low