BEGINNING OF NERVES. 303 



me, and again I shall lose what I give you for copyright. I must, there- 

 fore, reduce the amount which I give for the copyright." Moreover, 1 

 believe that the reduction in the value of copyrights would be much 

 greater than the facts justified. In the first place, the publisher himself 

 would look to the possibility of reprinting with a fear beyond that 

 which actual experience warranted. Frequently a suggested small dan- 

 ger acts upon the mind in a degree out of all proportion to its amount. 

 Take such a case as the present small-pox epidemic, in which you find 

 one person in 30,000 dies in a week ; in which, therefore, the risk 

 of death is extremely small. Look at this actual risk of death and 

 compare it with the alarms that you find prevailing among people. It 

 is clear that the fear of an imagined consequence of that kind is often 

 much in excess of the actual danger. Similarly, I conceive that the pub- 

 lisher himself would unconsciously over-estimate the danger of reprints. 

 But beyond that he would exaggerate his over-estimate as an excuse 

 for beating down copyright. He would say to the author: "You see 

 this danger ; I cannot face so great a risk without guarding myself ; 

 and you must submit to a large reduction." 



(Mr. Spencer was subsequently called before the committee again, 

 and we shall give his interesting evidence next month.) 



THE BEGINNING OF NEEVES m THE ANIMAL 



KINGDOM. 



By GEORGE J. KOMANES. 



"VTERVE-TISSUE universally consists of two elementary structures, 

 -L^ viz., very minute nerve-cells and very minute nerve-fibres. The 

 fibres proceed to and from the cells, so in some cases serving to unite 

 the cells with one another, and in other cases with distant parts of the 

 animal body. Nerve-cells are usually found collected together in ag- 

 gregates, which are called nerve-centres or ganglia, to and from which 

 large bundles of nerve-fibres come and go. 



To explain the function of nerve-tissue, it is necessary to begin by 

 explaining what physiologists mean by the term " excitability." Sup- 

 pose that a muscle has been cut from the body of a freshly-killed ani- 

 mal ; so long as it is not interfered with in any way, so long will it 

 remain quite passive. But every time a stimulus is supplied to it, 

 either by means of a pinch, a burn, an electrical shock, or a chemical 

 irritant, the muscle will give a single contraction in response to every 

 stimulation. And it is this readiness of organic tissues to respond to 

 a suitable stimulus that physiologists designate by the term " excita- 

 bility." 



