Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/772

 among individuals, the consensus of opinion indicates that the subject exercises no essential control over the results; and as a rule he is considerably surprised when the results are first shown to him. At times he becomes conscious of the loss of equilibrium of the apparatus, but the indication is rarely sufficiently definite to inform him of the direction of the movement. Not infrequently the movement is unconsciously performed, and is accompanied by a strong conviction that the apparatus has been stationary. In several cases an intentional simulation of the movements was produced for comparison with the other records; the difference between the two is considerable. An objective mode of determining the precise nature of the movements is certainly desirable, but the subjective experiences are entitled to weighty consideration.

No elaborate comment upon the significance of these results is necessary. They merely outline the initial steps in the study of involuntary movements, and leave much to be done to complete our knowledge of the details and variations of this interesting but



subtle phenomenon. The results go sufficiently far, perhaps, to indicate how readily one may obtain permanent records of involuntary movements, and how closely related these are to the processes upon which the success of the muscle-reader depends. They bear a striking corroboration of the view that all thought is only more or less successfully repressed action, and that, as an eminent muscle-reader puts it, all willing is either pushing or pulling.

skin of the giraffe, according to M. H. Bryden, is remarkably thick, reaching in some parts three centimetres. A complete specimen, for mounting, is worth from thirteen to twenty-three dollars. The author asserts that the animal easily escapes detection in its natural condition by the resemblance of its long neck to the trunk of a tree.