Page:Mind (Old Series) Volume 9.djvu/350

 338 CHARLES MEECIEB: true when the feeling is represented as well as when it is presented. In the next order of feelings, in which the cor- respondence is indirect, we shall find that cognition rises into a position of much greater importance. Environmentally -initiated Sensations are classified ac- cording to the nature of the agent by which they are aroused, as follows : TABLE I. CLASS I. Sub-class I. Order I. Self- conservative Environmentally-initiated Sensations. The agent is /-of phis quantity, or more ample l Wqrmtll than that in the organism Thermal vibration < 1 oi minus quantity, or less ample I p 1 1 V. than that in the organism j r of inappreciable magnitude Touch. Mechanical force < ( of appreciable magnitude Pressure. ( on the surface Smell. Chemical rearrangement {. , ., m within the surface Taste. ( irregular Noise. Aerial undulation < ' ., ( rhythmical Sound. / of which variations in amplitude ) -r .,, Ethenal undulation {, ... I of which variations in rapidity j n o i our ' correspond with variations in j Little comment is, I think, required upon the above table. Objection may be taken to the expression "inappreciable magnitude " as applied to the mechanical agent with which the feeling of Touch corresponds, for it may be said that if the touch is felt, the force is ipso facto appreciated ; but I know not how otherwise to express the fact that the feeling of Touch proper depends upon mere contact upon the application of a force so small as to be virtually unmeasur- able. If this term were substituted, an analogous objection might still be offered, for it might be said that the force exerted, for instance by the friction of a hair upon the skin, could be measured by a sufficiently delicate apparatus. The distinction that I have drawn between the action that pro- vokes Taste and that which provokes Smell is not a recog- nised distinction, but from the following considerations it appears valid. That the processes that give rise to Taste and Smell are closely similar, if not the same, is indicated by the familiar fact that when smell is lost taste is greatly
 * correspond with variations in j