[ IS ] 



tute knowledge must be combinations of those 

 secondary sensations which we call reminiscences. 

 Hence it is ntcassary to have some definite idea of 

 what is meant by reminiscence before we can form 

 any satisfactory syntax with regard to knowledge in 

 general, or scientific truth in particular. Now 

 animals, as well as human beings, have reminis- 

 cences, and use them in some way as a guide to 

 action, so that any complete theory of reminiscence 

 must rest upon that which is common both to 

 animals and to ourselves, namely, the nature and 

 functions of the nervous system. 



The primary function of a nerve in relation to 

 muscular tissue may be compared to the chemical 

 action of a fuse in a cartridge, the ignition of the 

 outer end of the fuse corresponding with the stimulus 

 which excites the nerve. The liberation of energy 

 at one point disturbs the unstable equilibrium and 

 sets free potential energy at successive points along 

 the fuse in one case, along the nerve tissue in the 

 other, and ultimately determines an explosion, or a 

 muscular contraction, respectively. In less simple 

 forms of nervous function the initial disturbance is 

 transmitted, not directly to the muscle, but to the 

 nervous centres, where it enters into the complex of 

 the simultaneous nerve disturbances arising from 

 other stimuli, and in this way the whole organism 

 may become involved in the response to any stimulus. 

 In all cases, however, the normal outcome of a nerve 



