THE ANTECHAMBER OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 659 



Tenth Question. — "1. Have you ever been conscious of having involun- 

 tarily discovered something new — e. g., an invention, a literary or poetical crea- 

 tion, a mathematical solution, etc.? 



" 2. If yes, then has this flashed into consciousness in the form of a clear 

 conception? " 



II. 



In order to set forth logically the results of the answers received, 

 I shall group them according to the following analysis : Does there 

 exist in man the power to exert intellectual activity during uncon- 

 sciousness in these several forms ? 



First. When the effort is simple by reproducing past experiences 

 in obedience to a mandate of will. 



Second. By comparing related facts and arriving at a settled 

 judgment. 



Third. When the effort is more complex by continuing old trains 

 of thought begun in consciousness and proceeding logically, step by 

 step, to a rational settled conclusion. 



Fourth. When the effort is most complex, by commencing and 

 continuing new trains of thought without having voluntarily under- 

 taken or continued them, and arriving at results of original creation as 

 inventions, literary and musical creations, etc. 



First. The first division of the subject is restricted ro the ante- 

 chamber of consciousness ; it contains the inquiry as to the possibility 

 of working for a lost idea, fact or fancy, while consciously devoting 

 one's whole attention to something else. This established, it must 

 follow that during the unconscious interval which intervenes between 

 the desire for the lost object and its occurrence in consciousness, an 

 intellectual activity was at work similar in all respects to the conscious 

 activity, minus the element of self-looking, at self-working. Some of 

 the instances given in the answers, worthy of being cited as illustra- 

 tions, are as follow : 



1. Miss H , of Princeton, writes : " Yesterday I tried at break- 

 fast to recollect the name of Azimolate Khan, but could only remember 

 that it began with 'Az.' I felt vexed for a moment only, and totally 

 forgot it, being absorbed in an interesting subject. In about ten min- 

 utes I said aloud, * It is Azimolate Khan ! ' and was scarcely conscious 

 that I had said it, it came so suddenly to me." 



2. Mr. Y , of Brooklyn, New York city, writes : " While writ- 

 ing a paper on a medical subject I bad occasion to use the technical term 

 for a swoon, which I could not recall. At this point, being obliged to 

 attend a lecture, spontaneously and apparently without reason — for the 

 two subjects had no connection — the word * syncope ' shot across ray 

 mind ; immediately after, the medical paper came into my mind." 



3. Mr. L , of New York, writes : " One case I remember. I was 



trying to think of the name of a book and gave it up. About half an 

 hour after I was talking of something else, when all of a sudden I 



