Literary Notices. xliii 



electric current, when the secondary circuit is closed, was all that was 

 necessary to furnish the required series of auditory impressions with 

 which the investigation might begin. A chronograph after the pat- 

 tern devised by Wundt furnished the power. Upon a drum-shaft 

 were hung five arms each adjusted by a set-screw, these so pat- 

 terned that they, in the course of their revolution, pressed upon given 

 keys for a definite length of time. This established the circuit. By 

 making the number of degrees between the arms on the drum-shaft 

 different, a difference in time-interval between the clicks was pro- 

 duced. The description of this apparatus and any detailed account 

 of the result of experiments upon some 50 or more different subjects 

 can not be added here. The first point in the records to which at- 

 tention is called is the rhythmical grouping of the sounds. The sub- 

 jective grouping was the same in every case — accomplished by ac- 

 centuating regularly certain sounds more than others. The weaker 

 or less accented sounds seem to run together with the stronger, and 

 to form organic groups which are separated from one another by in- 

 tervals which are apparently longer than the interval which separates 

 the individual clicks. Some of the subjects associated the sounds to 

 the continual dropping of water, the puffs of a locomotive. Some 

 kept time by an involuntary nodding of the head and beating time 

 with the finger. Nearly all the subjects had had some musical edu- 

 cation. The 2-group and 4-group were formed most readily, while a 

 3-group or a 5-group was usually formed with difficulty and only on 

 suggestion. With fast rates, the pulse acted as a suggestion. All 

 clicks falling between two heart-beats were grouped together, the 

 click coming nearest in time to the heart-beat being accented. Most 

 subjects felt themselves impelled by an irresistible force to make mus- 

 cular movements of some sort accompanying the rhythms. The au- 

 thor on this latter point agrees with Ribot that " every intellectual 

 state is accompanied by physical manifestations." " No thought 

 without expression." If the length of the group corresponds to the 

 normal wave of attention, the grouping gives rise to a feeling of sat- 

 isfaction and repose. A few general principles may be stated: "A 

 given number of auditory impressions within certain limits, when pre- 

 sented in such a way that there is a kind of subordination among them 

 with respect either to time, intensity, pitch or quality, or with respect 

 to any two or more of these properties, always stands as a unit in con- 

 sciousness. The conscious state accompanying each wave of atten- 

 tion grasps together or unifies all the impressions that fall within the 

 temporal period of a wave. The essential conditions of forming such 



