The hydropathic encyclopedia: a system of hydropathy and hygiene .. . be touched comes in contact with the sensory sur-face, the only idea commuuicated to the mind is that of degree of resistance affords a knowledge of the hardness or soft-ness of the body. When the body touched and the sensory surfacelire meved upon each other, a motion is conceived of extension orspace, rougnness, smoothness, and other mechanical properties. The knowledge of form and weight some late physiologists havebeen unable to account for by the ordinary sense of touch, and haveyot out of the difficulty
The hydropathic encyclopedia: a system of hydropathy and hygiene .. . be touched comes in contact with the sensory sur-face, the only idea commuuicated to the mind is that of degree of resistance affords a knowledge of the hardness or soft-ness of the body. When the body touched and the sensory surfacelire meved upon each other, a motion is conceived of extension orspace, rougnness, smoothness, and other mechanical properties. The knowledge of form and weight some late physiologists havebeen unable to account for by the ordinary sense of touch, and haveyot out of the difficulty by supposing a sixth sense, which they call themuscular sense, to exist for that paiticular purpose. The sense of ternperature has also been attributed to a distinct set of nerves, becausethe recognition of it occurred without the actual contact of the hot orcold body with the sensory surface. I do not see that either suppositionmakes the matter any clearer. Form and weight are but degrees ofextension and resistance, teiiperature, whetter its essential nalura. 253 F IYSIOL. OX. is caloric, light, or electricity, is but the perception of rays or particlefcoming in contact with the sensory surface, and expanding or contract-ing, that is to say, moving the contractile tissues so as to impress thenervous papillae. The sense of touch is developed in different parts in proportion tothe supply of sensory nerves. In man the acuteness of the sensevaries in different regions of the body. The lips, tip of the tongue,and inside of the last joints of the fingers are exquisitely sensitive, inconsequence of the nerves being very numerous and superficially dis-tributed. The epidermis is also very thin in those parts, and theinnumerable lines and furrows afford the papillae a greater degree ofisolation. The development of the sense corresponds with the numberand extent of these lines and furrows. The sense of touch, like allthe special senses, may be educated to a surprising degree of acnt
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