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THE KEY OF KNOWLEDGE.
things would not appear large or small, as the distance varied.
When we look at the slides of the realistiscope, through that ingenious little instrument, we feel convinced that perception cannot take place on the object; for if it did so take place, there cught to be no difference between the double picture in the instrument and the object cognized by the mind. Not only is this not the case, but, on the contrary, there is hardly any resemblance between them. There is a double picture in the instrument, but the mind sees only one object"; and, in place of the small plane surface which the picture presents to the naked eye, a life-sized, life-like object is seen by the mind. If perception took place on the object, it is difficult to conceive how this deception could be caused. Illusion may be due to a hasty glance at an object; but here the more intently one looks at the picture, the clearer becomes the deceptive image in the mind. Neither the glasses of the realistiscope, nor its pictures, are, at all, like the fused and magnified image which the mind actually perceives. Clearly, then, the act of perception does not take place on the pictures. Neither can it take place on the glasses, because there is no image on them. Besides, if visual perception were to take place on them, they, at least, ought to be visible. The fact is that the mind has a tendency to project all visual perceptions into external space.
“This appears to be due, to a large extent, to habit. Those who have been born blind, on obtaining eyesight by an operation, have imagined objects to be in close proximity to the eye, and have not had the distinct sense of exteriority which most individuals possess. Slowly, and by a process of education, in which the sense of touch
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