Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 14.djvu/328

314 tissues. If a single stimulation is supplied to a paralyzed jelly-fish, a short period, called the period of latency, will elapse, and then the jelly-fish will give a single weak contraction. If, as soon as the tissue has relaxed, the stimulation is again repeated, the period of latency will be somewhat shorter, and will be followed by a somewhat stronger contraction. Similarly, if the stimulation is repeated a third time, the period of latency will be still shorter, and the ensuing contraction still stronger. And so on up to nine or ten times, when the period of latency will be reduced to its minimum, while the force of the contraction will be raised to its maximum. So that in the jelly-fish the effect of a series of excitations supplied at short intervals from one another, is that of both arousing the tissue into a state of increased activity, and also of producing in it a state of greater expectancy. Now, effects very similar to these have been found to occur in the case of the excitable plants by Dr. Burdon-Sanderson; in the case of the frog's heart by Dr. Bowditch; and in the case of reflex action of the spinal cord by Dr. Sterling. Indeed, the only difference in this respect between these four tissues, so widely separated from one another in the biological scale, consists in the time, which may be allowed to elapse between the occurrence of the successive stimuli, in order to produce this so-called summating effect of one stimulus upon its successor: the memory, so to speak, of the heart-tissue, for the occurrence of a former stimulus being longer than the memory of the jelly-fish tissue; while the memory of the latter is longer than that of the plant-tissue. And I may here add that even in our own organization we may often observe the action of this principle of the summation of stimuli. For instance, we can tolerate for a time the irritation caused by a crumb in our throats; but very rapidly the sense of irritation accumulates to a point at which it becomes impossible to avoid coughing. And similarly with tickling generally, the convulsive reflex movements to which it gives rise become more and more in controllable the longer the stimulation is continued, until they reach a maximum point, where, in persons susceptible of this kind of stimulation, the muscular action passes completely beyond the power of the will. Lastly, I may further observe, what I do not think has ever been observed before, that even in the domain of psychology the action of this principle admits of being clearly traced. Who, for instance, has not felt it in the case of the ludicrous? We can endure for a short time, without giving any visible response, the psychological stimulation which is supplied by a comical spectacle; but if the latter continues sufficiently long in a sufficiently ludicrous manner, our appropriate emotion very rapidly runs up to a point at which it becomes incontrollable, and we burst into an explosion of ill-timed laughter. But in this case of psychological tickling, as in the previous case of physiological tickling, some persons are much more susceptible than others. Nevertheless, there can be no doubt that, from the excitable tissues of a plant, through those of a