AUTOMATIC OR SPONTANEOUS ACTS

AUTOMATIC OR SPONTANEOUS ACTS.--Growing out of these reflex and
instinctive acts is a broad field of action which may be called
_automatic_ or _spontaneous_. The distinguishing feature of this type of
action is that all such acts, though performed now largely without
conscious purpose or intent, were at one time purposed acts, performed
with effort; this is to say that they were volitional. Such acts as
writing, or fingering the keyboard of a piano, were once consciously
purposed, volitional acts selected from many random or reflex movements.

Seventh, only ONE set of measures and ONE set of weights are

needed to measure and weigh everything, and ONE set of machines
to make things for the world"s use
Seventh, only ONE set of measures and ONE set of weights are
needed to measure and weigh everything, and ONE set of machines
to make things for the world"s use. There would be no
duplication of costly machinery to enter the foreign trade
field, thus securing enormous saving. It is well known that the
United States and Great Britain have lost a vast amount of
foreign commerce in competition with Germany and France,
because of their non-use of the metric units. Britain realizes
this and is greatly concerned over the situation.

The teaching of proper standing, proper walking and proper sitting

should be a part of all school discipline as it is at military schools,
especially as there is the temptation to crouch over the
school-desk--which is usually the source of the first deviation from
natural posture
The teaching of proper standing, proper walking and proper sitting
should be a part of all school discipline as it is at military schools,
especially as there is the temptation to crouch over the
school-desk--which is usually the source of the first deviation from
natural posture. An infant before it goes to school usually has a
beautiful, erect carriage, with the head resting squarely on the
shoulders.

In the other case the insoluble mucilage which surrounded the

crystals prevented all free movement and they produced no
irritation
In the other case the insoluble mucilage which surrounded the
crystals prevented all free movement and they produced no
irritation.

The following story, fairly typical of the twenty-two involving economic

reasons, is of a girl who had come to Chicago at the age of fifteen,
from a small town in Indiana
The following story, fairly typical of the twenty-two involving economic
reasons, is of a girl who had come to Chicago at the age of fifteen,
from a small town in Indiana. Her father was too old to work and her
mother was a dependent invalid. The brother who cared for the parents,
with the help of the girl"s own slender wages earned in the country
store of the little town, became ill with rheumatism. In her desire to
earn more money the country girl came to the nearest large city,
Chicago, to work in a department store. The highest wage she could earn,
even though she wore long dresses and called herself 'experienced,' was
five dollars a week. This sum was of course inadequate even for her own
needs and she was constantly filled with a corroding worry for 'the
folks at home.' In a moment of panic, a fellow clerk who was 'wise'
showed her that it was possible to add to her wages by making
appointments for money in the noon hour at down-town hotels. Having
earned money in this way for a few months, the young girl made an
arrangement with an older woman to be on call in the evenings whenever
she was summoned by telephone, thus joining that large clandestine group
of apparently respectable girls, most of whom yield to temptation only
when hard pressed by debt incurred during illness or non-employment, or
when they are facing some immediate necessity. This practice has become
so general in the larger American cities as to be systematically
conducted. It is perhaps the most sinister outcome of the economic
pressure, unless one cites its corollary--the condition of thousands of
young men whose low salaries so cruelly and unjustifiably postpone their
marriages. For a long time the young saleswoman kept her position in the
department store, retaining her honest wages for herself, but sending
everything else to her family. At length however, she changed from her
clandestine life to an openly professional one when she needed enough
money to send her brother to Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she maintained
him for a year. She explained that because he was now restored to health
and able to support the family once more, she had left the life 'forever
and ever', expecting to return to her home in Indiana. She suspected
that her brother knew of her experience, although she was sure that her
parents did not, and she hoped that as she was not yet seventeen, she
might be able to make a fresh start. Fortunately the poor child did not
know how difficult that would be.

'GRAY' AND 'WHITE' MATTER

'GRAY' AND 'WHITE' MATTER.--The 'gray matter' of the brain and cord is
made up of nerve cells and their dendrites, and the terminations of
axons, which enter from the adjoining white matter. A part of the mass
of gray matter also consists of the neuroglia which surrounds the nerve
cells and fibers, and a network of blood vessels. The 'white matter' of
the central system consists chiefly of axons with their enveloping or
medullary, sheath and neuroglia. The white matter contains no nerve
cells or dendrites. The difference in color of the gray and the white
matter is caused chiefly by the fact that in the gray masses the
medullary sheath, which is white, is lacking, thus revealing the ashen
gray of the nerve threads. In the white masses the medullary sheath is
present.

We have seen that our mental life may be likened to a stream flowing now

faster, now slower, ever shifting, never ceasing
We have seen that our mental life may be likened to a stream flowing now
faster, now slower, ever shifting, never ceasing. We have yet to inquire
what constitutes the material of the stream, or what is the stuff that
makes up the current of our thought--what is the _content_ of
consciousness? The question cannot be fully answered at this point, but
a general notion can be gained which will be of service.

No, commercial envy is not a reason, rivalry in business is not

a reason, need of expansion is not a reason
No, commercial envy is not a reason, rivalry in business is not
a reason, need of expansion is not a reason. These are excuses
only, not causes of war. There is no money in war. There is no
chance of highway robbery in the byways of history which can
repay anything tangible of the expense of the expedition. The
gray old strategists do not care for this. It is fair to them
to say they are not sordid. They care no more for the financial
exhaustion of a nation than for the slaughter of its young men.
'An old soldier like me,' said Napoleon, 'does not care a
tinker"s damn for the death of a million men.' Neither does he
care for the collapse of a million industrial corporations.

According to the theory of Utility, our conduct would conform to

_rules_ inferred from the tendencies of actions, but would not be
determined by a direct resort to the principle of general utility
According to the theory of Utility, our conduct would conform to
_rules_ inferred from the tendencies of actions, but would not be
determined by a direct resort to the principle of general utility.
Utility would be the ultimate, not the immediate test. To preface each
act or forbearance by a conjecture and comparison of consequences were
both superfluous and mischievous:--superfluous, inasmuch as the result
is already embodied in a known rule; and mischievous, inasmuch as the
process, if performed on the spur of the occasion, would probably be
faulty.

Epicurus adopted the atomistic scheme of Democritus, but with some

important variations
Epicurus adopted the atomistic scheme of Democritus, but with some
important variations. He conceived that the atoms all moved with equal
velocity in the downward direction of gravity. But it occurred to him
that upon this hypothesis there could never occur any collisions or
combinations of the atoms--nothing but continued and unchangeable
parallel lines. Accordingly, he modified it by saying that the line of
descent was not exactly rectilinear, but that each atom deflected a
little from the straight line, and each in its own direction and
degree; so that it became possible to assume collisions, resiliences,
adhesions, combinations, among them, as it had been possible under the
variety of original movements ascribed to them by Democritus. The
opponents of Epicurus derided this auxiliary hypothesis; they affirmed
that he invented the individual deflection of each atom, without
assigning any cause, and only because he was perplexed by the mystery
of man"s _free-will_. But Epicurus was not more open to attack on this
ground than other physical philosophers. Most of them (except perhaps
the most consistent of the Stoic fatalists) believed that some among
the phenomena of the universe occurred in regular and predictable
sequence, while others were essentially irregular and unpredictable;
each philosopher devised his hypothesis, and recognized some
fundamental principle, to explain the first class of phenomena as well
as the second. Plato admitted an invincible Erratic necessity;
Aristotle introduced Chance and Spontaneity; Democritus multiplied
indefinitely the varieties of atomic movements. The hypothetical
deflexion alleged by Epicurus was his way, not more unwarranted than
the others, of providing a fundamental principle for the unpredictable
phenomena of the universe. Among these are the mental (including the
volitional) manifestations of men and animals; but there are many
others besides; and there is no ground for believing that the mystery
of free-will was peculiarly present to his mind. The movements of a man
or animal are not exclusively subject to gravitation and other general
laws; they are partly governed by mental impulses and by forces of the
organism, intrinsic and peculiar to himself, unseen and unfelt by
others. For these, in common with many other untraceable phenomena in
the material world, Epicurus provides a principle in the supplementary
hypothesis of deflexion. He rejected the fatalism contained in the
theories of some of the Stoics, and admitted a limited range of empire
to chance, or irregularity. But he maintained that the will, far from
being among the phenomena essentially irregular, is under the influence
of motives; for no man can insist more strenuously than he does (see
the Letter to Menoecens) on the complete power of philosophy,--if the
student could be made to feel its necessity and desire the attainment
of it, so as to meditate and engrain within himself sound views about
the gods, death, and human life generally,--to mould our volitions and
character in a manner conformable to the exigencies of virtue and
happiness.

such a conclusion, even if well founded, would be

unsatisfactory until it could be shown how the innumerable
species inhabiting the world have been modified, so as to
acquire that perfection of structure and coadaptation which
justly excites our admiration
such a conclusion, even if well founded, would be
unsatisfactory until it could be shown how the innumerable
species inhabiting the world have been modified, so as to
acquire that perfection of structure and coadaptation which
justly excites our admiration.

Professor Cannon, of Harvard University, proposes international

football and other athletic contests as substitutes for war
Professor Cannon, of Harvard University, proposes international
football and other athletic contests as substitutes for war.
The adrenal glands, whose secretions excite the combative and
martial emotions, must function, and their activity, he argues,
can be directed in this way. Mr. Bryan has just now made the
proposal that we build six great national roads by which armies
might be collected for defence; the secretary of the navy has
founded a Naval Inventions Board; the postmaster general has
suggested that aeroplanes be used to deliver mail in order that
we may have an aerial corps ready for service. There may be an
element of the absurd in some of these proposals, as there
would be in using submarines to catch cod fish, so that there
might be practise in building and managing such crafts for
peaceful pursuits. There is, however, psychological
justification for aiming to direct the emotions so that their
discharge is not destructive, but of benefit to the nation and
to the world. Such would be the development of our national
resources, the construction of railways, roads, waterworks and
the like; social and political reforms; progress in the care of
public health, in education and in scientific research. It is
proposed that the next congress should spend half a billion
dollars on the army and navy. It is possible that on a
plebiscite vote, exactly under existing conditions, a majority
would vote to make the department of war a department of public
works, military defence being only one of its functions, and to
spend the sum proposed on public works useful in case of war,
but not an incitement to war.

After discussing some of the experiments on nerve stimulation

which had been made by Galvani and others, Fabroni argues that
these are principally, if not wholly, due to chemical action,
and that the undoubted electrical phenomena which sometimes
accompany them are not the cause of the muscular contractions
After discussing some of the experiments on nerve stimulation
which had been made by Galvani and others, Fabroni argues that
these are principally, if not wholly, due to chemical action,
and that the undoubted electrical phenomena which sometimes
accompany them are not the cause of the muscular contractions.

NEAR AND REMOTE RELATIONS

NEAR AND REMOTE RELATIONS.--The relations discovered through our
thinking may be very close and simple ones, as when a child sees the
relation between his bottle and his dinner; or they may be very remote
ones, as when Newton saw the relation between the falling of an apple
and the motion of the planets in their orbits. But whether simple or
remote, the seeing of the relationships is in both cases alike thinking;
for thinking is nothing, in its last analysis, but the discovering of
the relationships which exist between the various objects in our mental
stream.

It must not be overlooked, however, that the Roman race was

never a pure race
It must not be overlooked, however, that the Roman race was
never a pure race. It was a union of strong elements of
frontier democratic peoples, Sabines, Umbrians, Sicilians,
Etruscans, Greeks, being blended in republican Rome. Whatever
the origins, the worst outlived the best, mingling at last with
the odds and ends of Imperial slavery, the 'Sewage of Races'
('cloaca gentium') left at the Fall.

MEMORY MUST BE SPECIALIZED

MEMORY MUST BE SPECIALIZED.--And not only must memory, if it is to be a
good memory, omit the generally worthless, or trivial, or irrelevant,
and supply the generally useful, significant, and relevant, but it must
in some degree be a _specialized memory_. It must minister to the
particular needs and requirements of its owner. Small consolation to you
if you are a Latin teacher, and are able to call up the binomial theorem
or the date of the fall of Constantinople when you are in dire need of a
conjugation or a declension which eludes you. It is much better for the
merchant and politician to have a good memory for names and faces than
to be able to repeat the succession of English monarchs from Alfred the
Great to Edward VII and not be able to tell John Smith from Tom Brown.
It is much more desirable for the lawyer to be able to remember the
necessary details of his case than to be able to recall all the various
athletic records of the year; and so on.

Reid illustrates his positions against Hume to a length unnecessary to

follow
Reid illustrates his positions against Hume to a length unnecessary to
follow. The objections are exclusively and effectively aimed at the two
unguarded points of the Utility system as propounded by Hume; namely,
first, the not recognizing moral rules as established and enforced
among men by the dictation of authority, which does not leave to
individuals the power of reference to ultimate ends; and, secondly, the
not distinguishing between obligatory, and non-obligatory, useful acts.

A yet higher view of self-interest informs us, that by performing all

our obligations to our fellows, we not only attain reciprocal
performance, but generate mutual affections and sympathies, which
greatly augment the happiness of life
A yet higher view of self-interest informs us, that by performing all
our obligations to our fellows, we not only attain reciprocal
performance, but generate mutual affections and sympathies, which
greatly augment the happiness of life.

But this new cloudy political cowardice has rendered useless

the old English compromise
But this new cloudy political cowardice has rendered useless
the old English compromise. People have begun to be
terrified of an improvement merely because it is complete.
They call it utopian and revolutionary that anyone should really
have his own way, or anything be really done, and done with.
Compromise used to mean that half a loaf was better than no bread.
Among modern statesmen it really seems to mean that half a loaf
is better than a whole loaf.

Material as contrasted with purely intellectual or spiritual

progress is the pride of our time
Material as contrasted with purely intellectual or spiritual
progress is the pride of our time. We worship technology as
reared upon physics and chemistry. But what is our gain, in
this progress, so long as we continue to use one another as
targets? Would it not be wiser, more far-sighted, more humane,
more favorable to the development of universal peace and
brotherhood, to give a large share of our time and substance to
the search for the secrets of life? As compared with the
physical sciences, the biological departments of inquiry are,
in general, backward and ill-supported. Why? Because their
tremendous importance is not generally recognized, and, still
more, because the control of inanimate nature as promised by
physical discovery and its applications appeals irresistibly
both to our imagination and to our greed. We long for
peace--because we are afraid of war--we long for the perfecting
of individual and social life, but much more intensely and
effectively we long for wealth, power and pleasure.