XI REFLEX ACTIONS OF THE BRAIN 527 



associate with intelligence. But let us consider what 

 takes place in such an act as reading aloud. In this case, 

 the whole attention of the mind is, or ought to be, bent 

 upon the subject matter of the book ; while a multitude of 

 most delicate muscular actions are going on, of which the 

 reader is not in the slightest degree aware. Thus the 

 book is held in the hand, at the right distance from the 

 eyes ; the eyes are moved from side to side, over the lines 

 and up and down the pages. Further, the most delicately 

 adjusted and rapid movements of the muscles of the lips, 

 tongue, and throat, of the laryngeal and respiratory 

 muscles, are involved in the production of speech. Per- 

 haps the reader is standing up and accompanying the 

 lecture with appropriate gestures. And yet every one of 

 these muscular acts may be performed with utter uncon- 

 sciousness, on his part, of anything but the sense of the 

 words in the book. In other words they are reflex acts. 



Similar remarks apply to the act of " playing at sight " a 

 difficult piece of music. The reflex actions proper to the 

 spinal cord itself are natural, and are involved in the 

 structure of the cord and the properties of its constituents. 

 By the help of the brain we may acquire an infinity of 

 artificial reflex actions, that is to say, an action may 

 require all our attention and all our volition for its first, 

 or second, or third performance, but by frequent repeti- 

 tion it becomes, in a manner, part of our organisation, 

 and is performed without volition, or even consciousness. 



As every one knows, it takes a soldier a long time to leai'n 

 his drill — for instance, to put himself into the attitude of 

 " attention " at the instant the word of command is heard. 

 But, after a time, the sound of the word gives rise to the 

 act, whether the soldier be thinking of it, omiot. There 

 is a story, which is credible enough, though it may not be 

 true, of a practical joker, who, seeing a discharged veteran 

 carrying home his dinner, suddenly called out " Atten- 

 tion ! " whereupon the man instantly brought his hands 

 down, and lost his mutton and potatoes in the gutter. 



