You know how your consciousness will finally refuse to be
awakened by familiar sounds (such as the noise of machinery in the shop,
or ordinary noises in the house), although the ears receive the
sound-waves.
Well, this is the way in the case of this neglected sense--for the two
reasons just mentioned, the average person is almost unaware of its
existence. Almost unaware I have said--not totally unaware. For probably
every one of us has had experiences in which we have actually "felt" the
presence of some strange person about the premises, or place. The effect
of the report of this sense is particularly noticed in the region of the
solar plexus, or the pit of the stomach. It manifests in a peculiar,
unpleasant feeling of "gone-ness" in that region--it produces a feeling of
"something wrong," which disturbs one in a strange way. This is generally
accompanied by a "bristling up," or "creepy" feeling along the spine. The
organs registering the presence of a strange or alien creature consist of
certain delicate nerves of the surface of the skin, generally connected
with the roots of the downy hair of the body--or resting where the hair
roots would naturally be, in the case of a hairless skin. These seem to
report directly to the solar-plexus, which then acts quickly by reflex
action on the other parts of the body, causing an instinctive feeling to
either fly the scene or else to crouch and hide oneself.
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