animals of
perceiving external objects by means of impressions made upon certain
organs of the body, or of perceiving changes in the condition of the
body.' Our senses have been well said to constitute 'the doors to the
outside world.' Unless our attention is specially directed to the
subject, few of us even begin to realize how completely we are dependent
upon these 'doors' to the outside world" for our knowledge of that
outside world. It is only when we stop to imagine how completely shut
in, or shut out, we would be if all of our sense channels should be
destroyed, that we can even begin to realize just how dependent we are
upon our senses for our knowledge of the world in which we live, and
move, and have our being.

A Senseless World.

A writer on the subject has said: "Psychologists have pointed out to us
the fact that if a human being were born without sense organs, no matter
how perfect a brain he might have, his life would be little more than
that of a plant. Such a person would exist merely in a dreamlike state,
with only the very faintest manifestations of consciousness. His
consciousness would not be able to react in response to the impact of
sensations from the outside world, for there would be no such impact.
And as consciousness depends almost entirely upon the impact of, or
resistance to, outside impressions, his consciousness would be almost
entirely inactive. He would be conscious of his own existence, but would
probably never realize the fact fully, for he would have nothing else
with which to compare himself, and his self-consciousness would never be
aroused by contact with things outside of himself. Such a person would
not have even the memories of previous sensations or experiences to
arouse or heighten his consciousness or thought, and consequently he
would have no imagination to use. He would be, to all intents and
purposes, a living corpse. Helen Keller has only two doors of sensation
closed to her--the sense of sight and the sense of hearing. Touch,
taste, and smell, however were left to her; and each was quickened and
heightened in order to help so far as possible to perform the world of
the defective senses. The reaching of the consciousness of this girl is
considered by science to be akin to a miracle--yet only two senses were
missing. To appreciate the full meaning of the importance of the senses,
one has but to think of Helen Keller as having been also deprived of the
sense of touch."