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The number of these phantoms is the greater, the greater the degree of familiarity of the given notion; this is the very essence of familiarity of a notion;—e.g. I put before my mind the notion, my watch—this given highly familiar notion will immediately make rise before my imagination a host of phantoms, thus:—
The number of these phantoms will amount, perhaps, to some thousands—the degree of familiarity being very great.
Now I put before my mind the notion, Mr. Cassini, the name of the gentleman from whom I yesterday received a letter: he wishes to know when a new class will commence. I know nothing more about him; his name will make rise before my imagination but a couple of phantoms, the degree of familiarity being very small.
Before I proceed, I will formulize here my hypothesis enunciated above under the head of noticing, thus:—Just as in the physical world we notice but some of the notions that stand before our senses, so in the mental world we notice but some of the phantoms that stand before the imagination.
