Evening star., 1907-08-31
TRAINING SENSE ORGANS
LACK THE BENEFIT OF SYSTEM
ATTIC CULTURE.
No Exercises for Seeing, Hearing and
Smelling, But Plenty Of Prac-
tice for Muscles.
From the Literary Digest.

Inc training OF the organs OF sense Dy
special exercises has been greatly neg
lected, and according to A. Peres who
writes.on the subject in Cosmos, 1t scarcely
exists at all. Our senses receive a consid-
cradle amount of training in the course Of
our general education and in daily life, but
this is unsystematic and uneven. Certain
| senses, like taste and smell, which are
capable of rendering great service, receive
no training Mr.. Peres writes:
"'Have we naught but arms and legs?
Have We not also eyes and ears? And are
not these latter organs necessary to the
use Of the former? Exercise then not the
muscles only, but the senses that control
them. Thus was a celebrated philosopher
wont to express himself. Nevertheless
when we measure acuteness of vision we
find that it Is becoming weaker; hardness
Of hearing is on the increase; we suffer
daily from lack of skill in workmen, in
domestics, in ourselves; as to taste and
smell. they are used up-thus do the in
evttable laws Of ataViSm act.
THE trouble Is that, despite Rousseau's
objurgations, We have always paid too lit
tie attention to the hygiene and education
velopment Of physical strength and vigor;
so that the general term physical educa-
ton finally has assumed the restricted
meaning of muscular education
exterior objects, have nevertheless pri-
mordial importance So great Is
their value that it Is the interest and even
the duty of man to preserve them
might derange their wonderful mechan-
ISM"
Exact Sensations.
1t Is not enough, the writer goes on to
say, to preserve the sense organs from IN
i,1r of faac II to han
as Rousseau suggests, SO that they may be
quick and skillful, capable of exact sensa-
tions. and consequently able to inform the
mind properly. We read further:
1.-The length and exactness of the sight
the skill and sureness of the hand, the del
icacy of the hearing, said Mme Page-Car-
pentier, are of value to artist and artisan
alike by the perfection and rapidty of work
that they insure Nothing embarras asses q
man so trained; he is. SO to speak, ready
for anything His cultivated senses have
become for him tools of universal use. The
more perfect his sensations, the more just
ness and clearness do his Ideas acquire.
The education Of the senses is the primary
form of intellectual education.
THE influence Of training on the senses
Is easily seen. The adroit marksman never
misses his aim; the savage perceives and
recognizes the slightest rustling; certain
blind persons know colors by touch; the
precision of jugglers Is surprizing: the
among a thousand others; odor is with
chemists one of the most sensitive reac-
tions.
How the Senses Operate.
1.-The senses operate IN two ways, either
passively, when the organ, solely from the
fact that It Is situated on the surface Of
the body, and independently of the will, is
acted upon by exterior bodies; or actively,
when the organ, directed and excited by
the will, goes, SO to speak In advance Of
the body to receive the impression. Pas
sively, we see, hear, touch. smell; actively
we observe listen, feel, sniff. By the eff
feet of the attention and by arranging our
organs in certain ways, our Impressions be-
come more intense After numerous trials,
accommodates itself to the function the
property of reinforcement of exctation by
the nerves Is developed, facility and skill
approached and finally attained. Rapid
and precise execution of co-ordinated acts
is obtained by assiduous repetition of the
simple component movements.
The impressions made by exterior OBJ
jects on the sense-organs the nerves and
the brain, are followed by certain mental
operations. These two things are often con-
founded. We are in the habit of saying
that our senses often deceive us; it would
be more just to recognize that we do not al
furnish US. The art of Interpretation may
be learned.
Training Should Begin Early.
''The senses must be cultivated in early
life because it is in this period that the
organs adapt themselves and lend them
selves best to the functions for which they
are made, and because in children the
senses have considerable preponderance in
their activities. The child is curious,
touches everything, observes, listens, and
handles with ardor and eagerness, so that
exercises for educating the senses are to
him as easy and pleasant as amusements
And we should devote ourselves to the
simultaneous development of all the senses,
even taste and smell, which are generally
considered inferior. . for the devel-
opment and regularity Of any one sense
play t..,ir parts in the harmony Of the nerv-
Gus system.
THE !ntuitive concrete form given now
adays to education contributes to the train
ing of the senses by developing attention,
the habit of observation; but this does not
suffice. To perfect the senses and make
each of them. in its own perceptions ac-
quire all possible force and precision they
must be subjected to special exercises, ap-
propriate and graded. A new gymnastic
must thus be created in all it's details"
D. J. Scully Dead.