Moreover, the cultivation of the faculty of Abstraction depends materially upon the cultivation of Perception. Not only must we _sense_ the existence of the various qualities in an object, but we must also _perceive_ them in consciousness, just as we perceive the object itself. In fact, the perception of the object is merely a perception of its various qualities, attributes and properties, for the object itself is merely a composite of these abstract things, at least so far as its perception in consciousness is concerned. Try to think of _a horse_, without considering its qualities, attributes and properties, and the result is merely _an abstract horse_--something which belongs to the realm of unreality. Try to think of _a rose_ without considering its color, odor, shape, size, response to touch, etc., and you have simply _an ideal rose_ which when analyzed is seen to be a _nothing_. Take away the qualities, properties and attributes of anything, and you have left _merely a name_, or else a transcendental, idealistic, something apart from our world of sense knowledge. Thus it follows that in order to _know_ the qualities of a thing in order to classify it, or to form a general idea of it, we _must_ use the Perception in order to interpret or translate the sense-impressions we have received regarding them. Consequently the greater our power of Perception the greater must be the possibility of our power of Abstraction. Beyond the cultivation, use and exercise of the Attention and the Perception, there are but few practical methods for cultivating the faculty of Abstraction. Of course, _exercise_ of the faculty will develop it; and _the furnishing of material for its activities_ will give it the "nourishment" of which we have spoken elsewhere. Practice in distinguishing the various qualities, attributes and properties of objects will give a valuable training to the faculty. Let the student take any object and endeavor to analyze it into its abstract qualities, etc. Let him try to discover qualities hidden from first sight. Let him make a list of these qualities, and write them down; then try to add to the list. Two or more students engaging in a friendly rivalry will stimulate the efforts of each other. In children the exercise may be treated as a game. _Analysis of objects into their component qualities, attributes and qualities--the effort to extract as many adjectives applicable to the object_--this is the first step. The second step consists in _transforming these adjectives into their corresponding nouns_. As for instance, in a rose we perceive the _qualities_ which we call "redness," "fragrance," etc. We speak of the rose as being "red" or "fragrant"--then we think of "redness," or "fragrance" as abstract qualities, or things, which we express as nouns. Exercise and practice along these lines will tend to cultivate the faculty of Abstraction. By knowing qualities, we know the things possessing them. CHAPTER IX. ASSOCIATION OF IDEAS