 In his Observations on the Correspondence between Poetry and Music (1769), the Irish writer Daniel Webb (1719–1798) explains the emotional effects of music by appealing to a physiological theory of emotions similar to Descartes’s. According to this view, music may give us impressions, that is, it may put us in a state of mind, which may be further specified by accompanying words. In comparing music with painting and sculpture, Webb notes that the latter may act on our emotions only through their imitations, that is, their represented content, whereas music may do so through both imitations and impressions (Webb 1769: 28). In this way, Webb acknowledges that the expressive potential of music is greater than that of the visual arts, and that this privileged position is not due to imitation.