256 THE PRINCIPLES OF HEREDITY 



or stammering. Who is there that can by concentrating his 

 attention on something else forget great physical pain ? 



" There never was yet philosopher 

 That could endure the toothache patiently." 



418. " Which of all of us alas ! has not experienced a 

 bitter and profound grief, the immense laceration caused by 

 the death of some cherished fellow-being ? Well, in these 

 great griefs the present endures neither for a minute, for an 

 hour, nor for a day, but for weeks and months. The memory 

 of that cruel moment will not efface itself from consciousness. 

 It disappears not but remains, living, present, co-existing 

 with the multitude of other sensations which are juxtaposed 

 in consciousness alongside of this one persistent emotion 

 which is always felt in the present tense. A long time is 

 needed ere we can attain to forgetting it, ere we can make it 

 enter the past. Haeret lateri letalis arundo." 1 While such a 

 great grief lasts we are distracted. We cannot wholly con- 

 centrate our attention on the common affairs of life. 



419. The truth that automatic actions always receive a 

 part of our attention during their performance is proved by 

 such facts as that a woman who is able to knit uninter- 

 ruptedly during a quiet gossip, or while reading a book, will 

 cease knitting the moment a topic of unusual interest presents 

 itself that is, the instant so much of her attention is con- 

 centrated on the topic, that there is not enough to spare for 

 the knitting. So, also, at dinner we are able automatically 

 to use our knives and forks, and choose and combine our 

 morsels of food, while conversing ; but, if one of our com- 

 panions makes a remark that strongly attracts the attention, 

 the play of every knife and fork, and even of every jaw 

 ceases. We have all seen a street musician performing on 

 several instruments at once. In what light are we to regard 

 his actions ? They cannot all be involuntary, for obviously 

 the man's will and attention are strongly engaged. If one 

 action only is voluntary, then which one ? To me, at least, 

 it is unbelievable that he is conscious of, and is willing only 

 one of his actions, and is quite oblivious of the rest. The 

 man himself would say that he has to attend to all of them 

 at the same time i.e. that his attention and will are 

 diffused over them all ; which is the same thing as saying 

 that practice has made all his actions more or less automatic, 

 but that they still remain voluntary. A chemist, who at 

 first must give his whole attention to the wrapping and 



1 Richet, L'Homme et V Intelligence, p. 583. (Quoted by James.) 



