On the intellectual superiority which man has acquired by speech, and the possession of the hand 28 On the nature and composition of language, as applied to the investigation of the phenomena of mind 59 On will or volition 74 On thought or reflection 110 On reason 135 Instinct 160 Conclusion 182 _Works by the same Author._ I. Observations on Madness and Melancholy. II. Illustrations of Madness. III. On the Moral Management of the Insane. IV. Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity. V. A Letter to the Governors of Bethlem Hospital. SOUND MIND. PERCEPTION. The faculty of perceiving the objects which surround us, is an important feature in the history of mind; but by what means or contrivance this is effected, can only be known to the Supreme Being, who has thus been pleased to endow us; and our utmost endeavours to detect the _modus operandi_ will be puerile and unavailing. The first operations of the infant are to educate its senses, in order to become acquainted, through these organs, with surrounding objects. This, in the human species, is a process of very slow attainment; and our information concerning this subject, must be derived from attentively watching the progress of the infant itself; as of these early perceptions, for a reason which will be afterwards assigned, we retain no distinct recollection. For the manner in which we become acquainted with the objects in nature, we have appropriated a term, which was probably supposed to be explanatory of the process, by which we received our intelligence of these phenomena, and have accordingly termed it _Perception_. The intrinsic meaning of this word is the taking, seizing, or grasping, of an object, from the Latin _Cum_ and _Capio_, and the same figure pervades most of the European languages. This term may sufficiently apply to the information we derive from the organ of touch; but it affords no solution of that which we obtain through the medium of the other senses, as sight, smell, and hearing. It has been the bane of philosophy, and the great obstacle to its advancement, that we have endeavoured to penetrate that which is inscrutable; and in this vain pursuit, we have neglected to detect and cultivate that which is obvious, and the legitimate province of our research. These organs of sense are the instruments by which we obtain our different perceptions; they are the tests by which we become acquainted with the objects of nature.