BOOK I PART II
proper to suppose a perfect removal of all tan-
gible objects: we must allow something to be
perceived by the feeling; and after an interval
and motion of the hand or other organ of sensa-
tion, another object of the touch to be met with;
and upon leaving that, another; and so on, as
often as we please. The question is, whether
these intervals do not afford us the idea of ex-
tension without body?
To begin with the first case; it is evident,
that when only two luminous bodies appear to
the eye, we can perceive, whether they be con-
joined or separate: whether they be separated
by a great or small distance; and if this distance
varies, we can perceive its increase or diminu-
tion, with the motion of the bodies. But as the
distance is not in this case any thing coloured
or visible, it may be thought that there is here a