COUNTING UNCONSCIOUSLY. 221 



reached his fellow-lodgers, and his landlord thought him " a crazy herb- 

 doctor." He died alone, and left no salable assets, and his landlord 

 refused to allow his friends such friends as he had to enter the house 

 to give him a decent burial. He wished to make good the unpaid rent 

 by selling the body to a medical college. But at night, so the story 

 goes, a physician who had studied botany with Rafinesque got a few 

 friends together, and broke into the garret and carried away the body, 

 which they buried in a little churchyard outside the town, now oblit- 

 erated by the growth of Philadelphia. 



American naturalists have greater honor now than forty years ago. 

 Rafinesque died unnoticed and was buried only by stealth. A whole 

 nation wept for Agassiz. But a difference was in the men as well as 

 in the times. Both were great naturalists and learned men. Both had 

 left high reputations in Europe to cast their lot with America. Agas- 

 siz's great heart went out toward every one with whom he came in con- 

 tact. But Rafinesque loved no man or woman, and died, as he had 

 lived, alone. 



If some loving hand had followed him to the last, it might have 

 been with Rafinesque as with Albrecht Durer : " ' ErnigraviV is the 

 inscription on the headstone where he lies." But there was no such 

 hand, and there is neither headstone nor inscription, and we know not 

 even the place where he rests after his long journey. 



---- 



COUNTING UNCONSCIOUSLY. 



Br Professor W. PREYER, 



OF THE UNIVERSITY OF JENA. 



AT first sight the superscription, " counting unconsciously," seems 

 to contain a contradiction. For, whoever counts from one to 

 one hundred, realizes at each number, that he is counting ; yet, in 

 truth, there are so many instances where an educated person counts 

 without realizing it, that he would feel utterly lost in this world should 

 this faculty be suddenly taken from him. 



Three coins being placed on a table, any one will, on being asked, 

 "How many are there?" answer, after but a glance, "Three." Even 

 when four or five coins are seen but for a moment, the answer as to 

 their number will be correctly given. So quickly is the answer re- 

 turned that no time can possibly have been taken for counting. 

 Hence, it follows that counting unconsciously is really an every-day 

 occurrence. The objection that this is no longer to be termed count- 

 ing, is not valid ; for if any one can positively state that there are 

 lying before him three, or four, or five objects, he must be able to dis- 

 tinguish numbers ; and it is certainly a fact that one who can not 

 count, can also not answer such questions. Children, in order to dis- 



