278 MEMORIES OF MY LIFE 



but that the entire Cosmos is one perpetual Now. 

 Philosophers have often held this creed intellectually, 

 but I suspect that few have felt the possible truth of 

 it so vividly as it has occasionally appeared to my 

 imagination through dwelling on these " Memories." 



Many mental processes admit of being roughly 

 measured. For instance, the degree to which people 

 are bored, by counting the number of their Fidgets. 

 I not infrequently tried this method at the meetings 

 of the Royal Geographical Society, for even there 

 dull memoirs are occasionally read. A gallery in the 

 meeting room is supported by iron columns. The 

 portion of the audience as seen from the platform 

 who are bounded by two of these columns, and who sit 

 on two or three of the benches, are a convenient sample 

 to deal with. They can be watched simultaneously, 

 and the number of movements in the group per 

 minute can be easily counted and the average number 

 per man calculated. I have often amused myself 

 with noticing the increase in that number as the 

 audience becomes tired. The use of a watch attracts 

 attention, so I reckon time by the number of my 

 breathings, of which there are fifteen in a minute. 

 They are not counted mentally, but are punctuated by 

 pressing with fifteen fingers successively. The count- 

 ing is reserved for the fidgets. These observations 

 should be confined to persons of middle age. Children 

 are rarely still, while elderly philosophers will some- 

 times remain rigid for minutes together. 



I will now revert to the problem with which I 

 started, of measuring by Classification, and will give 

 a few instances of its employment. Some years ago 

 I attended a meeting in the Albert Hall, at which 



