Mental character of an act due to attribute Time.

Relation of the known and

unknown.

Time, Kind,

Quantity of acts.

My boy, 2 years old, had been taught to say, "Where are you going to, my pretty maid?" An old gentleman was talking to the child in the park, and asked him where he lived, the boy replied correctly. The gentleman then said, "Who is your father, my little man?" The boy promptly replied, "My father's a farmer, Sir, she said." This is an example of reflex action, not intrinsic in the brain at birth. The brain change giving the mechanism for such reflex was due to the former succession of afferent causes having built up the susceptibility to such reflex.

An essential feature of this hypothesis of psychosis is, that the special character of the mental act depends upon the attribute time of the action of the nerve-cells. Co-acting or separate action, is merely a question of the time of action whatever the results may be; the relation in time of the action in nerve-centres determines the thought, the time of their efferent action determines the movement. The force which determines the time of action of certain cells, may determine the mental act, or the visible action that follows.

As to the methods followed in this work. We deal with many things unknowable in themselves, and for this reason special methods of argument and inquiry are often needed. As in mathematical processes, so here the unknown is represented by terms or symbols, the relations of these unknowns may then often be demonstrated—thus Time, and Relative quantity may be estimated by experiment and calculation, though their intimate nature be not understood.

We try to define an impossible knowledge, and to analyse facts to such terms as may be most convenient for our purpose, and then shew the relations among such terms in Time, Kind and Quantity. Thus new know

ledge may be gained, and a foundation laid for a fresh start in physical research.

correlata

One of the principal objections to the view that Mind not mental phenomena are in any way directly the outcome of ble with brain action, is that mental work is not correlatable with force. forms of physical force; the amount of oxidation in the body is not proportional to the amount of mind work. It can be shewn, I think, that this is in accordance with the theory advanced, not opposed to it.

The amount of physical work done by the action of the nerve-cells as represented by oxidation, depends upon the duration of the activity, but not upon the special time of action, or the relation of the time of action of different cells. The amount of physical work done among the cells depends upon the sum total of the action, not upon the special combinations occurring. The value of the acts of psychosis, or of movements resulting, depends upon their sequence, not upon the amount of physical force set free in the cells. It follows that the amount of brain action does not necessarily correspond to the value of the outcome; the regulation of the time of action of centres, or their co-ordination is a physical phenomena, but is not a display of force that is correlatable with mechanical work done.

physical

Let us assume that there are n centres by means of Mental action and which mental acts can be produced; according to the hypothesis the number of distinct mental acts possible wear. depends upon the possible number of combinations that can be formed out of n factors (i.e. 2" - 1); 20 nervecentres may be arranged in 976,255 different combinations, the action of any one of these combinations produces an act of psychosis; but the social or intellectual value of these acts may vary immensely.

If there be three centres capable of performing

Social value of

an act.

Value of a telegram.

Wear in a galvanic battery.

mental acts, there are seven possible arrangements of co-acting A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, ABC, O.

Now it may be assumed that the centres A, B, C, each consume in action a similar amount of oxygen, then AB, AC, BC each requires the same amount of oxygen, viz. twice as much as A, and ABC requires for its action three times as much oxygen as is required by A alone. Now the intellectual value of the thought corresponding to the action of AB, AC, BC may vary greatly, though each act consumes the same amount of oxygen. The use, and social or intellectual value of an act of psychosis need not depend upon the physical force expended in its production, this is analogous to what is seen in the motor outcome of the brain. In many forms of manual work, such as carpentry, we value not the number of foot-pounds of labour performed, but the cunning of the work done, the outcome of the special series of motor acts.

The value of a telegraphic message does not depend upon the quantity of chemical action in the battery which produced the electrical current conveying the message.

With n nerve-centres the amount of their oxidation in an hour, just as the cells of a battery, depends upon the length of time the separate cells have worked, not at all upon the special combinations of action that have occurred. A time bill may be made up against each cell and the total action of n cells during one hour's thinking may then be cast up.

The cell oxidizes only while acting as in a Leclanche's battery, each cell oxidizes only while acting.

An hour's hard intellectual work may mean many thoughts, or many combinations formed and dissolved with great rapidity, which would not necessarily correspond to a high time bill for the centres at work.

Another objection that may be put forward against Original our working hypothesis is-How is it that original think- thinking. ing takes so much of our mental energy?

Probably in such kinds of thinking, many thoughts or acts of psychosis are performed with great rapidity, and only suitable ones survive or are preserved. In this original thinking much action occurs in the process of forming new combinations. Original thinking exhausts greatly, rapidly limiting the capacity.

In some way, I know not how, in original thinking, intrinsic forces (which are always weak) build up the unions of cells and thus the weak intrinsic forces are soon exhausted.

In receiving a new idea by reading it is not so, the Reading process is less exhausting. To read an original book is new work. to have unions effected in one's brain by an incident force, the light impress off the printed page. To reproduce the ideas previously read, is not to originate these arrangements of centres by the weak intrinsic forces; they have been previously formed by the incident light impress of the book.

Similar phenomena might be quoted with regard to auditory impressions; a tune once heard is readily reproduced by one who could not originate the tune without notes.

movement.

The hypothesis that has been given as to what Mental occurs in an act of psychosis, harmonises the attributes action and of an act of psychosis with those of movement, and enables us to study the effects of those forces which alike produce co-ordinated acts of movement and the signs of mental action. A co-ordinated series of movements takes long to learn, a series of thoughts may take long to fix in the memory, but when either series of acts has been produced, it is more easily reproduced than before.

Deductions from hypothesis.

Extent of vocabulary.

Formula.

If my hypothesis be accepted, certain conclusions may be drawn. We will make some deductions from the hypothesis; we suppose that there is either action or no action in the nerve-centres we deal with, we are not speaking here of quantities of action, only of the time. If 5 centres act they may form 31 combinations,

no more.

If n centres act they may form (2′′ – 1) combinations,

no more.

Look at the table of combinations of 5 terms, you will find that each term occurs in 16 combinationsto give formula;-each term occurs in (2′′-1-1) combinations. Thus A occurs in 16 combinations. Now if one of these centres be incapable of acting, it reduces the number of possible combinations by one-half. Every additional nerve-centre doubles the number of possible unions, so that 20 centres may produce 976,255 unions, but 19 centres can produce only 488,128 unions.

It is said that an ordinary farm-labourer uses a vocabulary of about 300 words, that Shakespeare's vocabulary contains about 15,000 words. If it be assumed that each word corresponded to an act of psychosis, we use the following formula:

Let A number of combinations observed, x=number of centres forming these combinations,

In the case supposed A=15000 for Shakespeare, A=300 for labourer. Thus Shakespeare must have had at least 14 centres, and the average farmer has not less than eight.

Again referring to the table of combinations of five centres, if the action of each cell produces an equal