CONFORMITY WITH PLAN 283 



check which hinders the formation of the new framework, 

 and can only be cleared out of the way by the incoming- 

 excitation. We may assume that by this means it is possible 

 for free-living amoebae, whose rhythm in pseudopodium- 

 formation depends on a rhythm of the impulse-action, to 

 concentrate on the stimuli acting from without. 



If we wish to form some sort of approximate idea of how 

 a reconstruction of the framework proceeds, let us imagine 

 a series of amoebae, each with a permanent outgrowth. Each 

 of these projections is connected with a resonator. The 

 resonators respond to the sounds of one octave, and serve as 

 receptors by exciting through their response the nervous out- 

 growths of the amoebae in connection with them. Now let 

 us play on some instrument a simple tune, the notes of which 

 lie within one octave. As soon as an air-wave of the corre- 

 sponding number of vibrations strikes the suitable resonator, 

 an excitation travels to the amoeba, which thereupon is freed 

 from the check imposed on it, and becomes accessible to the 

 rhythmically invading impulses that excite the formation 

 of pseudopodia. The pseudopodia of the amoebae, responding 

 simultaneously, or one after the other, unite to form nervous 

 bridges. In this way, the impulse-rhythm, setting in quite 

 mechanically, can be excited by external interference. If the 

 rhythm of the impulse-melody is determined beforehand, 

 the first onset of the excitation suffices to make the impulses 

 of the amoebae respond automatically, and, conducted to and 

 fro, further and further, it overcomes the inhibition generally, 

 and permits the impulse-invasion to follow in the given 

 sequence. 



If, by the help of the cinematograph, we fix the bridge- 

 formation that arises in this way, we get a picture of a chang- 

 ing tissue, the pattern of which remains the same at every 

 repetition. A skilled musician could then read from the 

 pattern what the melody had been that was played outside. 



