Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 47.djvu/396

384 external process, our method of expression—words. But it is not entirely essential that words should accompany the conceptions, and as a matter of fact we find in certain nervous conditions just exactly this state of affairs. And it is just at this point, as we shall very shortly see, that we may look for a frequent cause of the unnecessary, the unexplainable, the habitual lie.

The natural inference is that between the formation of a concept and the rightful expression of it there must be a direct and uninterrupted connection, with the least tendency to interference from cross-currents, with the fewest possible obstacles from exaggerated inhibitions. This condition finds a parallel to a certain extent in the phenomena of producing electric energy, its transmission in a current, and its final exhibition in some palpable way. Now, in order to insure this connection there must be perfect insulation, a perfect protection against opportunities for divergence, a guard and a help for the characteristic activity. In mental workings we have this insulation in memory, the principal property of nerve substance, the result of repeated and continued impressions. As concepts are conveyed through the senses, so the repeated recognition and use of them are provided for by the memory activity; and upon the normal and exact co-ordination of this activity do our mental workings depend. The relation and combination of remembered concepts must be absolutely regular, must coincide with the normal standard in order to give the person an image which will correspond with that of his fellows, which will appeal to them as really true.

But suppose, as most people affirm, that there is a particle of insanity in every one's make-up; let us for the time admit that there are variations from the normal in every man. We are then forced to say that, as the standard of the normal can not vary, it naturally follows that deficiencies are abnormities, are signs of degeneration, are signs which point to a lack of sanity. This does not mean that men so constituted are not fit to be trusted in the general affairs of life or to fill their places in the world. In the same way a man may be weak in the knees and still be capable of locomotion, even though he halt. Nevertheless, such a man is susceptible of mishaps and accidents brought on by natural inability; and, moreover, no one would be justified in punishing him for such accidents. In the same way no one would think of blaming a man because he was color-blind, any more than of punishing a woman because she happened to be unable to distinguish smells. By these analogies we merely conclude that we constantly find variations from the normal occurring spontaneously which nevertheless do not prevent the possessor from mingling with others on the ordinary footing of social and business intercourse. This principle has long been recognized among