Priestley, Joseph (1733-1804)

Hartley's Theory of the Human Mind, on the Principle of the Association of Ideas; with Essays Relating to the Subject of It

London

Printed for J. Johnson

1775

"That vibrations corresponding to all the varieties of sensations and ideas that ever take place in any human, mind may take place in the same brain at the same time, can create no difficulty to any person who considers the capacity of the air itself to transmit different vibrations, without limits, at the same instant of time."

That vibrations corresponding to all the varieties of sensations and ideas that ever take place in any human, mind may take place in the same brain at the same time, can create no difficulty to any person who considers the capacity of the air itself to transmit different vibrations, without limits, at the same instant of time. In a concert, in which ever so many instruments are employed, a person skilled in music, I am told, is able to attend to which of them all he pleases. At the same time ever so many persons may be speaking, and sounds of other kinds may be made, each of which is transmitted without the least interruption from the rest. How infinitely complex must be the vibration of the air a little above the streets of such a city as London; and yet there can be no doubt but that each found has its proper effect, and might be attended to separately, by an ear sufficiently exquisite. That vibrations which are nearly isochronous affect and modify one another, so as to become perfectly so, sufficiently corresponds to the phænomena of ideas, and therefore makes no objection to this doctrine.
(p. xii-xiii)

Uncategorized::Vibrations Uncategorized::Air

Reading

At least 4 entries in ECCO and ESTC (1775, 1776, 1790).

See Hartley’s Theory of the Human Mind, on the Principle of the Association of Ideas; With Essays Relating to the Subject of It. By Joseph Priestley, LL. D. F. R. S. (London: Printed for J. Johnson, No. 72, St. Paul’s Church-Yard, 1775). <Link to ESTC>

07/22/2011