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On the Nature of Man
Nemesius of Emesa, tr. Wither, 1636
I. Of the sense of touching; why the seat of it is in all parts of the body, and why…
IT was by the Creator of the world, so ordered, that hee made the seats of all the other senses two-fold, and confined them to a certaine circuit of place in some parts of the body; For example, hee hath made two eyes, two eares, two passages for the sense scituate in the nostrill; yea, and hee hath planted in every living-creature, as it were, two tongues. In some they are evidently parted, (as in serpents) and in some other, they are joyned and united, as in men: And for this cause, hee made onely two former-pans of the braine, that the sinewes which serve for the senses, being sent downe from either of these braine-pans might make the seats of the senses to be twofold.
Now, hee made them twofold, in respect of that exceeding tender love which hee bare unto us; that when the one of them tooke harme, the other which remained might preserve the sense. And yet, though most of the seats of the other senses perish, the living-creature may be alive: but as soone as the sense of touching is extinct, the living-creature doth instantly perish.
For onely the sense of touching, among all the rest of the senses is common to all living-creatures; and every living-creature is indued therewith; whereas all of them have not every one of the other senses; but some have these, and some have others, (except those which wee call the more perfect creatures, and they indeed have all the senses.)
Now, seeing the living-creature loseth life by the losse of this sense; the Creator hath allotted unto the sense of touching, not one part of the body onely; but almost the whole body of the living-creature: For, except the bones, and the hornes, and the nailes, and the binding-sinewes, and the haires, and certaine other such like things, each part of the body is partaker of the sense of touching
Thereupon it hath so hapned that the seat of every sense hath two senses in it; one of such things as are properly the object of every particular sense, and another in respect of the sense of touching: For the sight discerneth colours, and yet is partaker both of hot and cold things; participating of heat and cold as it is a body, and discerning of colours, as it is the sense of sight. The like may be thought also of the tast, of the smelling, and of the hearing.
It may hereupon bee questioned how the touching can bee spred over the whole body, seeing that the senses proceed from the former brainepans: for indeed the sinewes come downe from the braine, and being dispersed into every part of the body, doe there occasion the sense of touching. And some were of opinion (because the haire stands up as it were, with a sudden horror, when the foot is casually pricked with a thorne) that the griefe, or at least, the feeling of the griefe, ascended up unto the brain, and was there felt. Which being true, it might then be concluded, that there could bee no griefe in any part of the body, that were wounded, but in the brain only.
It were better therefore to make this answer, that the sinewes (which bee dispersed as aforesaid) are the braine it selfe. For, they are a certaine portion of the braine, containing in them the vitall spirits, and diffusing them throughout the whole body of the living-creature, in such manner as fire is contained in burning-iron: And wheresoever such a sensible-sinew is planted, it makes the part wherein it is ingraffed to be partaker of sense; and to be so qualified, that it may feele things. Neither were it improperly spoken, to say that not the passion, but rather a certaine partaking of the griefe, and a denunciation of the same is conveyed up to the braine, where all the sinewes have their beginning.
IINow the proper objects of the sense of touching are hot, cold, soft, hard, slimy, stiffe, heavy, and light: For, by touching only, we attaine the knowledge of these things; whereas these next following are common both to the touching and the sight, (to wit) sharp, dull, rough, plaine, dry, moist, thick, thin, high, low, yea, and place it selfe. So likewise is magnitude (when it can bee comprised within one attempt of the touching) fogginesse, clearenesse, roundnesse, (if it be but in small things) as also the shape of other figures; yea, and it fooleth likewis the motion of bodies comming neare unto it, being assisted by memory, and understanding.
Moreover, it is sensible of number, as farre as two or three, but no farther; and those things must also be of no larger magnitude, then may easily bee comprehended by the touch. And these are better discerned by sight then touching; as are also such things as bee equall or unequall (they being of the same kinde with smooth and rough things) for unequality being mingled with hardnesse, causeth a roughnesse; and equalnesse added unto thicknesse, maketh a smoothnesse.
By that which we have here delivered, it is evident that the senses communicate each with other in many things: and that if one sense erre, the error if it may bee rectified by some other senses; As wee perceive in Pictures: For, the sight beholdeth things as if they stood out from the rest of the peece, as the Nose and such other parts of the Picture; but, by the sense of touching, the error of the sight is discovered.
As the sight useth at all times the aire for a meanes to behold all things; So the sense of touching feeleth some things by a staffe (or other instrument) as by a meane; (to wit) hard, soft, and moist things. being aided by understanding, and the discourse of reason.
In the sense of touching IIIas also in tasting, Man excelleth all other living-creatures; and the beasts excell him, in the other three senses: for there be divers creatures that doe surpasse man in some one of the other three senses; but a Dog excelleth him in every one of these three, hearing, seeing, and smelling, as appeareth by hounds which hunt by foot.
The whole body (as wee said before) is the seat wherein the sense of touching is placed; but in man the inside of the hands, and the tops of the fingers, are the principall seats there of, and were appointed by our Creator, not onely to lay hold on things; but to be exact instruments also, serviceable to the sense of touching. And the cause why the skin of them is somewhat thin; why certaine muscles are laid under them throughout the inside; and why there groweth no haire on them (whereof the muscles are cause) is by reason they should the better feele and take hold on small things.
Such hands as are hardest, are the more strong to hold things; and such as are softest are most apt for exact touching. In like maner, the sinewes which are hard, be fittest for motion, and those which are soft, more convenient for feeling; for the sinewes also are instruments of touching; yea and the chiefe instruments of that sense.