West-Jersey pioneer., 1877-05-03
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE SENSES.

me PHlLUS0PHY OF THE SENSES.
Comparatively few people understand
that for all that they know they are indebt-
ed in the first place to the five senses. The
senses are the avenues through which know
ledge finds its way to the soul. All of them
cooperate together, and provide that infor-
nation by means of which the child grows
to manhood, and the man becomes indefi-
nitely developed.
OF all the five senses, seeing and hearing
must rank first in Importance. The human
eye, for instance, is the most perfect of all
optical Instruments. 1t determines the
presence, nearDess, color and form of all
external objects. 1t is at once the telescope
and microscope of the soul, without which
the soul would be in a state of constant
blindness. II
At the same time, it must be borne in
mind that, of themselves, the organs of
sight, amount to nothing at all. There
must be correspondence and sympathy
between them and the spirit; just SO there
must be constant correspondence between
Sound is an impression produced upon
the sense of hearing by the vibration of
sonerous bodies, and transmitted to the ear
by the surrounding atmosphere. These vi
brations produce sensation which it is the
Office of the ear to enable the mind to per-
ceivs. They proceed in undulations, which
no sooner strike the ear than the impression
Is transmitted to the mind, and thence COM
nitted to the keeping of the memory.
In the annals of humanity, no human be-
Ing is mentioned as having been born desti-
tute of the sense of feeling. Still, although
Of all the senses it is the most essential to
the body's welfare, it contributes but little
to the general fund of knowledge outside of
the limits of self. Far from being restrict
ed to single line of telegraphic communi-
cation, the points at which it receives i'm
pressions extend over the entire surface of
the body. There is no touch so slight that
the sense of feeling is not reached by it.
Pleasure and pain are equally at its COM
Mand.
OF the inferior senses of smell and taste,
all that we have at present to say is that.
although in as close and constant csmmu.
nication with the mind as the other senses,
they are ordinarily of little use beyond mere
animal qualification.
In this brief resume we have acquainted
the reader with the means wherewith the
mandatory of the mind is furnished with
its raw material, which is worded over again
into all those passions emotions, appetites
and impulses which go to the name of hu-
man nature. We now propose to advance
. theory as to hoao these means are made
use of, and, in the course of our elucidation,
shall mention mach that is startling and
original.
Through the medium of the nerves is
organized a perfect system of electro-tele-
graphing. The nerves permeate every part
Of the body, and yet there minutest fbres
hold direct communication with the mind.
The external organs of sight, hearing, taste,
smell, and the innumerable points at which
the sense of touch is exercised, are but so
many signal-stations at which intelligence
Is received and thence transmitted to the
mind. The great sensorium the seat of life,
thought, and motion, resides in the interior
chamber of the brain, and exercises the
functions at once of receiving and dis
tributing station.
And here, at this point, we beg leave to
remind the reader of one fact which we
have frequently mentioned before, and
which is, that there exists in the human
system mediatory agent, whose Office it
Is to link soul and body together, and, as
the speediest means of doing it, to constant
ly hand over the brain those various items
OF intelligence which have accumulated for
1t at the several signal-stations or organs
Of sense before mentioned. This mediatory |
agent fuses, as it we're, soul and body to-
upon that wonderful structure which we
call man. The name of this agent is ''Elec.
tricity."
The nerves of the five senses communi-
cate with the great sympathetic centre the
sensorium, from which, again, nerves branch
out to every organ OF the brain. All these
nerves, then, are nothing more than tele-
graphic wires, which, from the external
world, convey to the brain, through the
medium of the senses, the raw material for
ideas, and all the emotions and propensi-
ties incidental to humanity. By the eye is
transmitted the raw material for ideas of
sight, by the ear for hearing, and SO on.
Such, then, according to our theory is
the relation between the senses and the
mind on one hand, and electricity on the
other, which keeps them in constant play
with one another. The senses accumulate
facts from the external world; electricity
carries them to the sensorium; the sensorium
perceives them and distributes the know
ledge to corresponding organs of the brain,
and renders it available for all the practical
purposes of life.-New York Electrical Era.