54 THK XKKVOIS SYSTK.M AM) ITS COXSKH VATK ).\ 



In the human subject the acts which are seen to lie car- 

 ried out by the newborn are always classed as reflexes. 

 Sue-kin-;-, coughing, snee/ing, hiccups, vomiting, crying. 

 clutching, drawing up of the legs, and other examples 

 will occur to the reader. The list becomes much longer 

 when we take pains to include some which are not so 

 obvious to the domestic observer: changes in the size of 

 the pupils, changes in the distribution of the blood, the 

 discharge of sweat and other secretion-, etc. Swallowing 

 i- essentially a reflex not to be executed unless there is at 

 least a little moisture to be removed from the mouth. 



As to the reactions which the child acquires with ad- 

 vancing development, we find no satisfacory standard 

 which will enable us to say of one that it is a reflex and of 

 another that it should be otherwise named. The tendency 

 i< to restrict the term "reflex" to those responses to 

 external stimuli which are common to all normal indi- 

 viduals, while those which are peculiar to certain ones we 

 call habits or mannerisms. Hut the claim may be strongly 

 defended that a habit is a personal reflex an instance of a 

 reaction to surrounding conditions given more or less of an 

 inevitable character by the acquired structure of the 

 subject's nervous system. Xail-biting may be regarded 

 us an unfortunate reflex manifestation in which the 

 maltreated finger-tips are sending up to the central 

 axis the impulses which dictate further attacks upon 

 them. 



\Yhen we pass from habits to accomplishments we must 

 still recognize a degree of connection between external 

 stimuli and the performance. The act of copying a word 

 or a sketch may transcend the reflex as commonly under- 

 stood, but would seem to include its distinctive features. 

 The copy set is a >oiirce of visual stimulation and the 

 movements of the pen held in the skilled hand are de- 

 termined by its appearance. Kven the answering of a 

 question, it may be a cried, is an act brought to pa>s in 

 consequence of the penetration of auditory impulses 

 through the pathways of a brain prepared to react to 



