48 PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF ALCOHOL. 



the same stimulus that produced a good reflex on a normal day pro- 

 duced no reflex at all after the larger dose of alcohol (45 c.c.)- To have 

 increased the weight of the stimulus hammer in such cases until a reflex 

 was produced would have resulted in serious complication of the data, 

 and would not have added to our comparable facts. To have foreseen 

 the results was of course impossible. But even if the results had been 

 foreseen, there are grave objections to using excessive stimuli on normal 

 days. These objections may be summarized as follows: (1) excessive 

 blows and excessive contraction of the big quadriceps muscle tend to 

 produce prestimulation and preparatory stiffening of the whole body, 

 with consequent inhibition of the reflex; (2) excessive isometric con- 

 traction stretches the muscle mechanically at each contraction and 

 notably changes the muscle tonus; (3) if the leg is held so that it can 

 not move, it is hurt at the point of contact with the supports by exces- 

 sive contraction of the muscle; (4) excessive contraction of the quad- 

 riceps moves the body of the subject more or less out of alignment with 

 the apparatus. In the few cases where reliable data were obtained 

 after the larger dose of alcohol, the results are entered in the table with 

 appropriate designation. 



Table 2 shows the results of the patellar reflex measurements for 

 each subject, in D values (D equals the deviation of the measurements 

 of the subsequent periods from the first period, or "normal of the day") . 

 The table is so arranged that all the data for each subject are grouped 

 together. Normal days are given on the left and alcohol days on the 

 right. Under R' and R" are entered data from the latent time of the 

 reflex after the first and second stimulation respectively. Similarly, 

 under H' and H" are entered the data referring to the extent of con- 

 traction in millimeters of muscle thickening multiplied by the leverage 

 of the recording-lever, in the first and second reflexes respectively. 



