"They held, that all bodies continually send forth slender films or spectres from their surface, of such extreme subtilty, that they easily penetrate our gross bodies, or enter by the organs of sense, and stamp their image upon the mind."
Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man
4 entries in ESTC (1785, 1786, 1790, 1793).<br>
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See Thomas Reid, <u>Essays on the Intellectual Powers of Man</u> (Edinburgh and London: Printed for John Bell, and G.G.J. & J. Robinson, 1785). &lt;<a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=2A4cAQAAMAAJ">Link to Google Books</a>&gt;