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lowered consciousness of Dementia Senilis and Dementia Paralytica. 
This also occurs when a lesion of the pyramidal tract disturbs the 
transmission of voluntary movements. 
Pathology teaches us the same with regard to lacrimal secretion. 
The melancholicus, who is occupied by his dismal thoughts, hardly 
sheds any tears. 
The above cases show clearly that consciousness has a constant 
influence upon certain reflexes. Other experiments bring clearly to 
light an inhibitory influence of synchronous efferent impulses. 
A very young child shows the reflex of Babinski when the sole 
of the foot is stimulated. Later, when the child begins to walk, the 
toes are voluntarily flexed at each step, in order to stand firmer 
on the ground. Here voluntary movements become afterwards a 
reflex movement and by each stimulus of the foot sole a bending 
is elicited. Here too, the original sign of Basinski is not annihilated, 
but simply superseded, for in all cases, in which the efferent im- 
pulses of the plantar reflex cannot be elicited, and in which there- 
fore their inhibitory influence has disappeared, the sign of BABINSKI 
is observed. | 
This is the case when the Pyramidal tract is disturbed and also 
in the case of diminished consciousness as normally in deep sleep of 
children up to the age of 13 years, and pathologically, for instance, 
in epileptic coma. 
Since the mutual inhibition of conscious complexes is also appli- 
cable to mutual inhibition of subconscious psychical phenomena, the 
question is, in my opinion, justifiable, whether similar circumstances 
are not active in the cases of inhibition thus far poorly explained. 
It is known that inhibitory influences are exercised upon the 
knee jerks by the cerebrum. Are there therefore synchronous motor 
impulses which inhibit the knee jerks? I should say the answer 
must be confirmative. A flux of impressions transmitting information 
as to the position of the limbs continuously travels from the periphery 
to consciousness. Consequently the easiest and pleasantest position 
is constantly assumed. At first that movement will probably be 
voluntary, but in course of time it becomes an involuntary and a 
reflex movement. We could therefore speak of the position reflexes, 
which are constantly, present, and which must have an inhibitory 
action on synchronously elicited knee jerks. If it is true, that the 
position-reflexes exercise a disturbing influence, then the knee jerks 
must be higher, when the position-reflexes are absent or diminished. 
This actually appears to be the case, for the knee jerks of young 
children, where the position-reflexes do not yet exist, are exaggerated. 
