Page:The American Journal of Psychology Volume 1.djvu/76

 70 LOMBARD :

them only in this: that nine instead of seven exami- nations were made on each day. The two extra examinations were made, the one between eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning, the other, be- tween four and five o'clock in the afternoon. These experiments were made with all the care that was given to the previous series, but it seems unnecessary to publish the results in detail. Suffice it to say that the conclusions reached in the second series of ex- periments corroborated those which were obtained in the first series in every particular. There were the same extraordinary variations in the extent of the knee-jerks produced at intervals of only a few sec- onds. The average knee-jerk was found to be high- est soon after breakfast, and to be low at night, and it was seen to be higher after than before each meal. The extra examinations, made in the middle of the forenoon and afternoon, showed, moreover, that the average knee-jerk gradually fell throughout the fore- noon and throughout the afternoon, unless some un- usual counteracting influence prevailed. It was also found that the average knee-jerk changed from day to day, but the variations in the weather during this period were so slight that the other influences which determine the general condition of the individual were most active in determining the amount of the average knee-jerk. The average movement gained from the 3,156 experiments of this series was 33 millimetres. Finally, all the sources of reinforce- ment which were noticed during the first series were found to be active during the second.

As a proof of these statements the author appends a table which gives a summary of the results gained in Series II, the table being made on the same plan