Page:Language of the Eye.djvu/45

Rh and render to the perception the surface, form, and position of objects through the medium of light.

Sight and hearing seem to bear the most important characteristics, being employed on those objects which form the basis of human knowledge, viz., time and space.

An eloquent and scientific writer, reminds us that the great Mosaic record states, that a deep silence and repose, with a mysterious darkness, prevailed over the chaos of things, and God commenced his work by saying, "Let there be light." The sublime volume of revelation declares that on the last day a trumpet shall sound, announcing the judgment; then, amidst the tumult of the elements, shall the sun, moon, stars, and all temporal things, perish; but the spirit of man shall enter into the bright and resplendent mansions of eternity.

In man all these senses are susceptible of equal and simultaneous action, which is one of his leading distinctions from other animals. The habits and instinct of the brute demand that prompt and excelling vitality should attend particular organs. Even amongst the children of man, it may be observed, some seem more agile in the use of particular senses. The aborigines of some parts of the world will hear more readily and see objects at greater distance than the inhabitants of civilized cities; and this advantage may be traced to the fact, that they are very much in a state of nature, and, therefore, compelled to sustain their existence by daily use of their senses of sight and hearing, and have, at times, no other protection against sudden danger than the acute vigilance of these nerves. The inhabitant of the ice-bound wilds will be seen suddenly to lay upon his face and put his ear on the ice, by which he will learn what is approaching, though unseen. The wild bush man can see through marshy vapours, which would entirely eclipse the object from the eye of the