us with a solution of this question. The answer is, that the acts of perception are performed with such rapidity, that the effect with respect to us is the same as if it were instantaneous. A habit has been formed; the glance of the mind, in the highest exercise of that habit, is indescribably quick; time is virtually annihilated; and separate moments are to our apprehension of them crowded into

one.

◊ 109. Notice of some facts which favour the above doctrine.

Some persons will probably entertain doubts of Mr. Stewart's explanation of the manner in which we perceive the outlines of objects; but there are various circumstances which tend to confirm it.-When we look for the first time on any object which is diversified with gaudy colours, the mind is evidently perplexed with the variety of perceptions which arise; the view is indistinct, which would not be the case if there were only one, and that an immediate perception. And even in paintings, which are of a more laudable execution, the effects at the first perception will be similar.

But there is another fact, which comes still more directly to the present point. We find that we do not have as distinct an idea, at the first glance, of a figure of a hundred sides, as we do of a triangle or square. But we evidently should, if the perception of visible figure were the immediate consequence of the picture on the retina, and not the combined result of the separate perceptions of the points in the outline. Whenever the figure is very simple, the process of the mind is so very rapid that the perception seems to be instantaneous. But when the sides are multiplied beyond a certain number, the interval of time necessary for these different acts of attention becomes perceptible. We are then distinctly conscious that the mind labours from one part of the object to another, and that some time elapses before we grasp it as a whole.

110. Additional illustrations of Mr. Stewart's doctrine.

These views and illustrations are still further confirmed by some interesting and, perhaps, more decisive facts. In

1807, Sir Everard Home, well known for his various philosophical publications, read before the Royal Society an account of two blind children whom he had couched for the cataract. One of these was John Salter. Upon this boy various experiments were made, for the purpose, among other things, of ascertaining whether the sense of sight does originally, and of itself alone, give us a knowledge of the true figure of bodies. Some of the facts elicited under these circumstances have a bearing upon the subject now before us. In repeated instances on the day of his restoration to sight, the boy called square and triangular bodies, which were presented to the visual sense merely, round. On a square body being presented to him, he expressed a desire to touch it. "This being refused, he examined it for some time, and said at last that he had found a corner, and then readily counted the four corners of the square; and afterward, when a triangle was shown him, he counted the corners in the same way; but, in doing so, his eye went along the ege from corner to corner, naming them as he went along." On the thirteenth day after the cataract was removed, the visual power he had acquired was so small that he could not, by sight, tell a square from a circle, without previously directing his sight to the corners of the square figure as he did at first, and thus passing from corner to corner, and counting them one by one. It was noticed that the sight seemed to labour slowly onward from one point and angle to another, as if it were incapable of embracing the outline by a simultaneous and undivided movement. The process, however, became more and more easy and rapid, until the perception, which at first was obviously made up of distinct and successive acts, came to be in appearance (and we must suppose it was only in appearance) a concentrated and single one.

It was the same with Caspar Hauser. It is remarked by his biographer, that, whenever a person was introduced to him (this was probably soon after his release from his prison), he went up very close to him, regarded him with a sharp, staring look, and noticed particularly each distinct part of his face, such as the forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, and chin. He then collected and consolidated

all the different parts of the countenance, which he had noticed separately and piece by piece, into one whole. And it was not till after this process that he seemed to have a knowledge of the countenance or face, in distinction from the parts of the face.

CHAPTER IX.

MUSCULAR HABITS.

111. Instances in proof of the existence of muscular habits. FROM habits, considered as affecting the senses, the transition is easy to MUSCULAR HABITS. On this subject, therefore, we shall now offer a few remarks.-Of the fact that such habits exist, it is presumed no doubt can be generally entertained. Muscular habits may be detected in the gait and in the speech of men generally; they are found with specific characteristics in particular classes of men; every mechanic forms them, and they vary in their aspect with his particular business. Hence the enlarged and powerful neck of the porter, the strong and brawny arm of the blacksmith, and the particular habitudes of all their

movements.

But we will not delay on this part of the subject any further than to point out one or two familiar instances.Every man's handwriting is a striking instance and a proof of Muscular habit. In acquiring that art, the muscles have undergone a complete system of instruction. That instruction and training they practically and punctually regard ever afterward; so much so that we can tell a man's writing to which we are accustomed almost as readily as we recognise the man himself when we see him. Again, walking is an instance and illustration of muscular habits. The process of walking is an easy one; but it is made so by a habit, founded upon a long and difficult training; and every man has his particular habit or method of walking, We see evidence that habit is involved in walking in children, who obviously do not

walk by mere instinct, but learn to do it by repeated experiments made upon the muscles of motion. Not long since, a singular fact came to the knowledge of the writer, which confirms this remark. A man was accidentally thrown from his cart, and the wheel of the cart passed over his neck and injured his spine. For six weeks he was destitute of the power of sensation and motion. About that time his sensation was restored, and the various parts of the body were again subjected to the general control of the will. But he could not walk nor use his arms to any profitable purpose; not because he was destitute of the voluntary and muscular power, but because he unexpectedly found himself at a loss to determine what particular muscles to employ, in order to produce the desired result. If he wished, for example, to use an extensor muscle in the arm or leg, he was just as likely to use a flexor as the one he intended. In other words, he was about as likely to bend his arm, or to turn his leg in or out, as to straighten them, and it was only by repeated experiments he could ascertain the particular muscles which he wished to use. In everything relating to bodily action, he was thrown back into the condition of early childhood, and it was not till after a long and tedious process of experimenting on the numerous muscles of motion, that he was enabled to walk and to labour as he was accustomed to do before his injury. There are, then, muscular habits as well as habits of sensation and perception.-But the subject of these habits is introduced here, although the train of thought seemed naturally to lead to it, not so much for its own sake as in consequence of its connexion with volition.

112. Muscular habits regarded by some writers as involuntary. It seems to have been the opinion of some writers (among others of Drs. Reid and Hartley), that bodily or muscular habits operate in many cases without design and volition on the part of the person who has formed them; and that, as they are without any attendant thought, without any preceding mental operation, such bodily acts are to be considered as purely mechanical or automatic. They endeavour to explain and confirm their views by

the instance of a person learning to play on the harpsichord. When a person first begins to learn, it is admitted by all that there is an express act of volition preceding every motion of the fingers. By degrees, the motions appear to cling to each other mechanically; we are no longer conscious of volitions preceding and governing them. In other words, there is nothing left but the motions; there is no act of the mind; the performance, admirable as it is, has the same character and the same merit with that of the action of a well-contrived machine.

113. Objections to the doctrine of involuntary muscular habits.

In replying to these views, it may be safely admitted that, in playing the harpsichord and some other musical instruments, we have not always a distinct remembrance of volitions, and consequently the muscular effort has sometimes the appearance of being independent of the will. But this mere appearance is not sufficient to command our assent to the doctrine advanced by these writers until the four following objections be set aside.

(1.) The supposition that the acts in question are automatic is unnecessary.-If it be true, as there is so much reason to believe, that habit is a general law of our nature, then it may be regarded as applicable not only to the muscular efforts, but to the preceding volitions themselves. It is implied in this view (supposing it to be a correct one), that such volitions may be very rapid, so as scarcely to arrest our attention a moment. Now the natural result of such slight attention will be, that they will exist and pass away without being remembered. These considerations are sufficient to explain the mere appearance which is admitted to exist, but which Reid and Hartley attempt to explain by an utter denial of the putting forth of volitions at all. But, if this be the case, then the supposition that the acts in question are automatic and involuntary, is an unnecessary one.

(2.) The most rapid performers are able when they please to play so slowly, that they can distinctly observe every act of the will in the various movements of the fingers. And when they have checked their motions so as to be able to observe the separate acts of volition, they