ss, that it will be well to dispose of
them at once.

_Confusion of the Sense-Impression._

The most interesting case of such an error is where the impression is
unfamiliar and novel in character. I have already remarked that in the
mental life of the adult perfectly new sensations never occur. At the
same time, comparatively novel impressions sometimes arise. Parts of the
sensitive surface of the body which rarely undergo stimulation are
sometimes acted on, and at other times they receive partially new modes
of stimulation. In such cases it is plain that the process of classing
the sensation or recognizing it is not completed. It is found that
whenever this happens there is a tendency to exaggerate the intensity of
the sensation. The very fact of unfamiliarity seems to give to the
sensation a certain exciting character. As something new and strange, it
for the instant slightly agitates and discomposes the mind. Being unable
to classify it with its like, we naturally magnify its intensity, and
so tend to ascribe it to a disproportionately large cause.

For instance, a light bandage worn about the body at a part usually free
from pressure is liable to be conceived as a weighty mass. The odd sense
of a big cavity in the mouth, which we experience just after the loss of
a tooth, is probably another illustration of this principle. And a third
example may also be supplied from the recollection of the dentist's
patient, namely, the absurd imagination which he tends to form as to
what is actually going on in his mouth when a tooth is being bored by a
modern rotating drill. It may be found that the same principle helps to
account for the exaggerated importance which we attach to the
impressions of our dreams.

It is evident that all indistinct impressions are liable to be wrongly
classed. Sensations answering to a given colour or form, are, when
faint, easily confused with other sensations, and so an opening occurs
for illusion. Thus, the impressions received from distant objects are
frequently misinterpreted, and, as we shall see by-and-by, it is in this
region of hazy impression that imagination is wont to play its most
startling pranks.

It is to be observed that the illusions arising from wrong
classification will be more frequent in the case of those senses where
discrimination is low. Thus, it is much easier in a general way to
confuse two sensations of smell than two sensations of colour. Hence the
great source o