750 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



among individuals, tlie consensus of opinion indicates that the 

 subject exercises no essential control over the results ; and as a 

 rule he is considerably surj)rised when the results are first shown 

 to him. At times he becomes conscious of the loss of equilibrium 

 of the apparatus, but the indication is rarely sufficiently definite 

 to inform him of the direction of the movement. Not infrequently 



the movement is unconsciously per- 

 formed, and is accompanied by a 

 strong conviction that the appa- 

 ratus has been stationary. In sev- 

 eral cases an intentional simulation 

 of the movements was produced for 

 comparison with the other records ; 

 the difference between the two is 

 considerable. An objective mode of 

 determining the precise nature of 

 the movements is certainly desirable, but the subjective expe- 

 riences are entitled to weighty consideration. 



No elaborate comment upon the significance of these results is 

 necessary. They merely outline the initial steps in the study of 

 involuntary movements, and leave much to be done to complete 

 our knowledge of the details and variations of this interesting but 



Fig. n. — -w-^ Counting Penddlum 

 Oscillations. Time, 120 seconds. 

 Illustrates slow and indirect move- 

 ment. 



Fig. 12. 



w-^ Counting Strokes of Metronome. Time of record, 90 seconds, 

 initial directness of movement followed by hesitancy. 



Illustrates 



subtle phenomenon. The results go sufficiently far, perhaps, to 

 indicate how readily one may obtain permanent records of invol- 

 untary movements, and how closely related these are to the pro- 

 cesses upon which the success of the muscle-reader depends. They 

 bear a striking corroboration of the view that all thought is only 

 more or less successfully repressed action, and that, as an eminent 

 muscle-reader puts it, all willing is either pushing or pulling. 



The skin of tlie giraffe, according to M. II. Bryclen, is remarkably tliick, 

 reacliing in some parts three centimetres. A complete specimen, for mounting, 

 is worth from thirteen to twenty- three dollars. The author asserts that the ani- 

 mal easily escapes detection in its natural condition by the resemblance of its 

 long neck to the trunk of a tree. 



