Translations:Victor of Aveyron/72/en

It may be easily conceived, then, why the ear, though very apt to perceive certain noises, may yet be very little able to discriminate the articulation of sounds. Besides, in order to speak, it is not sufficient to perceive the sound of the voice; it is equally necessary to ascertain the articulation of that sound: two operations which petites, his habits, or his inclinations. Afterward, it is often found, that there is only one or two of his senses which awaken his attention. He becomes, perhaps, a musician, who, attentive to everything that he hears, is indifferent to everything which he sees. Perhaps he may turn out a mere mineralogist, or a botanist, the first of whom, in a field fertile in objects of research, can see nothing but minerals; and the second, only vegetable productions. Or he may become a mathematician without ears, who will be apt to say, after having been witness to the performance of one of the tragedies of Racine; “what is it that all this proves?"