Page:Letters on the Human Body (John Clowes).djvu/67

Rh to listen to the language of men, but to hearken also to the speech of the, and by hearkenmg to live for ever.

But here you will forgive me if I take the liberty of suggesting a word of caution, both respecting the organ of hearing, and also the thing heard, in order to guard you against some dangerous mistakes, into which the generality of mankind, it is to be feared, are betrayed on these interesting subjects.

And first, in regard to the organ of hearing.

It is but too common a thing for men to suppose, that the bodily ear is what hears, whether in relation to the speech of man, or to the speech or word of ; whereas it must be plain to every reilecting person, that the bodily ear is only an instrument for the conveyance of sounds to some interior ear, and that therefore the term hearing will depend altogether on the state of this interior ear. As, for example:—You hear, with your bodily ear, a friend speak to you; that is to say, you receive with your bodily ear certain impressions of sound, which are conveyed, through that instrument, to some interior organ of hearing. For how plain is it to discern, that what the bodily ear receives, or hears, is nothing but an impression of sound, and that this ear is not at all affected by the sense or meaning involved in that impression;