6 LIFE AND HABIT. 



suem to be almost as much difficulty in awakening 

 consciousness which has become, so to speak, latent, 

 a consciousness of that which is known too well to 

 admit of recognised self- analysis while the knowledge 

 is being exercised as in creating a consciousness of 

 that which is not yet well enough known to be properly 

 designated as known at all. On the other hand, we 

 observe that the less the familiarity or knowledge, 

 the greater the consciousness of whatever knowledge 

 there is. 



Considering other like instances of the habitual 

 exercise of intelligence and volition, which, from long 

 familiarity with the method of procedure, escape the 

 notice of the person exercising them, we naturally 

 think of writing. The formation of each letter 

 requires attention and volition, yet in a few minutes 

 a practised writer will form several hundred letters, 

 and be able to think and talk of something else all the 

 time he is doing so. He will not probably remember 

 the formation of a single character in any page that 

 he has written ; nor will he be able to give more than 

 the substance of his writing if asked to do so. He 

 knows how to form each letter so well, and he knows 

 so well each word that he is about to write, that he 

 has ceased to be conscious of his knowledge or to 

 notice his acts of volition, each one of which is, never- 

 theless, followed by a corresponding muscular action. 

 Yet the uniformity of our handwriting, and the manner 

 in which we almost invariably adhere to one method 

 of forming the same character, would seem to suggest 

 that during the momentary formation of each letter 



