AN ENQUIRY INTO THE FORMATION OF HABIT IN MIN. 143 



actions, that what we have power to will is not the action of 

 certain muscles or nerves, but effects or results. The auto- 

 matic machinery is all there; our Avill puts it in motion. 

 The word voluntary muscle is therefore to a certain extent 

 a misnomer, as few are under the direct control of the will. 

 We cannot will the method but the result. 



Actions classified. — Having then admitted that action may 

 be originated in the body by a purely mental impulse called 

 the will, we are now prepared to classify roughly the entire 

 range of actions from the lowest to the highest in both body 

 and mind. They are as follows : — 



(a) Pure natural physical reflexes of three varieties : — 



1. Unconscious excito-motor actions, generally called 



automatic because the exciting agency has not been 

 discovered, such as the regulation of the size of 

 the capillary blood-vessels, of which we are un- 

 conscious. 



2. Conscious excito-motor actions, as the acceleration of 



the beat of the heart, producing palpitation, of 

 which we are conscious. 



3. Sensori - motoi^ actions, such as laughing when 



tickled, when we are conscious of the causal 

 sensation. 



(h) Mixed physical reflexes, which are of three varieties : — 



1. Mixed sensori-motors and voluntary actions, such as 



breathing, which, though generally reflex, can be 

 controlled to a large extent by the will through 

 the cortex. 



2. Deferred natural reflex actions, such as the erect 



position, which is apparently learned artificially, but 

 is really a reflex action not seen at birth, but of 

 deferred development. 



3. Instinctive habits. These are combinations of simple re- 



flex actions for definite purposes, but without need 

 of intelligence. They are best noticed in animals, 

 as in the flying of birds. Pigeons can fly after 

 the removal of the cortex. Frogs, when deprived 

 of the cortex, can balance themselves on a board 

 slowly turned round, and will croak when stroked, 

 but never move voluntarily. At the same time if 

 all the brain is taken away they can only execute 

 simple reflex movements with their limbs. These 



