HISTORY OF THE COUNTY BOTANY OF WORCESTER. 
57 
For there are degrees of volition, as there are degrees of 
consciousness. To the opposite case of volition being able to 
conquer impulse, I shall return later. 
I have briefly sketched the two classes of involuntary 
actions. The first thing that will strike is that their union 
under the one order “involuntary” is, from a physiological 
point of view, very artificial. In the one class, we have a 
line of least resistance, which is either innate, or has been 
formed by repeated efforts or impulses, so that the least 
stimulus may set up a wave of nerve-energy, which, journey¬ 
ing along prepared channels, initiates a complex series of 
purposive movements. This series, however complex, is 
predetermined; that is, given the same stimulus, and the 
movements will be the same. Tickle the back of the throat, 
and there is a cough; bring a bright light suddenly near to 
the eye, and the lid will quickly close. 
In the second class there is an unusually strong stimulus, 
which can either communicate increased energy to ordinary 
automatic actions, or can set up a molecular vibration so 
energetic that it travels along unaccustomed channels with 
irresistible force. The resulting movements are indeterminate; 
that is, they cannot be definitely predicted ; and they may be 
purposive or wholly at random. 
Although the two conditions—the prepared channel and 
the violent stimulus—frequently unite in the same action, 
and although their respective results are not always distinctly 
separable, still as conditions they have evidently nothing in 
common. Then, in both classes, we find actions of all grades 
—excito-motor, sensori-motor, ideo-motor, and also cerebral 
actions demanding intricate combinations of thought and of 
imagery. In but one respect all the grades of the two classes 
agree; they are not preceded by any conscious mental effort. 
In the one case, the want of effort is due to the easiness of the 
track ; in the other, it is due to the energy of the stimulus. 
(To be continued.) 
HISTORY OF THE COUNTY BOTANY OF WORCESTER. 
BY WM. MATHEWS, M.A. 
(Continued from page 43.) 
It is one of the difficulties of the task I have undertaken 
that new materials present themselves during the progress of 
the work, and sometimes disturb the chronological arrange¬ 
ment of the authors quoted. I had limited my examination 
of Withering’s “Botanical Arrangement” to the first three 
