THE SUBCONSCIOUS

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be added that he did it because he had previously thought and acted this way.

SUBLIMINAL CEREBRATION

It is such facts as these which have led to theory of "unconscious cerebration." A more modern name is the subconscious mind. The word subliminal is also used by some psychologists. To understand its applicability it should be dissected. The root is the Latin limen (a threshold). Threshold in metaphysics has come to mean the smallest stimulus to which a given sense organ will respond, for example, the lowest tone, about sixteen vibrations to the second, of which the ear is conscious, is the threshold of sound.

So in psychology subliminal means under conscious or subconscious. It is conceived that the mind is divisible, not by a hard and fast anatomical line, but physiologically into the conscious and subconscious.

The reflexes belong to the subconscious, they are actions laboriously thought out by prehistoric individuals, transmitted as impulses or mental grooves to posterity, with their automatic machinery in perfect running order.

It was said that the cleavage was physiological, but this does not mean that it is absolute. Many actions are ordinarily subconscious, yet are under control of the will, if given conscious attention. Individuals vary greatly in the classification of their actions, those which are subconscious in one being

impossible save by conscious thought in others. Moreover, in the same individual there is a constant shifting of the dividing line.

THE MOMENT CONSCIOUSNESS

The experiences of the moment, which Sidis calls the "Moment Consciousness," consist of that of which we are directly conscious, the fact upon which the attention is fixed, and all the other environmental facts which are also perceived by the senses. These impressions may not be intense enough to rise into consciousness, and yet are indelibly registered in the subconscious. The next moment another cluster of sensations is perceived, and a large part, perhaps all, of the content of the previous moment consciousness" becomes subconscious.

The reverse of this process is equally true, subconscious memories by association loom up into consciousness, both prompting and modifying in a thousand ways the sensations of the conscious. As life experiences multiply, the stored up facts increase. The content of the present " moment consciousness" includes the essence of all previous moments consciousness."

Moreover, it must not be assumed that a subconscious memory must rise into consciousness in order that it shall become an active factor. Cases of hallucination studied by Doctor Sidis show that ofttimes some forgotten psychic shock is sufficient to give rise to the mental aberration. This leads Sidis

to conclude that "hallucinations are waking dreams and that dreams are sleeping hallucinations." As brain activity is functional association of nerve clusters, so sleep is a dissociation of few or many brain centers, just as it is less or more profound.

As we know, some people seem to sleep" with one eye open," being aroused by the slightest unusual sound, while others fall into a profound lethargy. Dreams do not occur in the sound sleeper, except when he is in the transition stage between sleeping and waking. We are often conscious of having dreamed, but find it impossible to recollect the subject matter. At other times the dream is so vivid as to waken one with a start.

Sidis argues that the cause is always a centripetal stimulus, that is, something from outside the brain, since the brain does not originate impressions. For example, indigestion giving rise to pain may cause in the dissociated cell groups of the brain a sleeping hallucination of a gastric ulcer, and cold applied to a sleeper's feet call forth a dream of an arctic expedition.

A recent experience of the writer is such a perfect illustration of this point that he cannot refrain from introducing it.

At a dinner with some medical friends a large dish of anchovies was allowed to remain on the table during several courses. Without thinking of how many I was eating I continued nibbling during the meal.

Before going to sleep I was not conscious of any unpleasant sensations from the indulgence, but in the middle of the night I dreamed that I was seated at a café table, and opposite sat my friend of the evening.

I do not remember giving the order, but the waiter brought to my friend a large glass bowl which would hold two or three quarts. This was filled with some light pink sherbet, and completely encircling the dish was a row of most luscious strawberries.

With some impatience I asked the waiter why he did not serve me with the same. He replied, “In just a minute, sir."

My friend very politely said he would wait till I was served, but I insisted that he should not.

He ate very leisurely, and all the time my thirst increased, and with equal rate my anger rose at that waiter and his repeated "Yes, sir, just a minute." But the climax came when he finally put before me a bowl similar to the one from which my friend was eating, but alas! empty.

To add to my exasperation, the bowl had a red stain around the top where the strawberries had been. My anger became uncontrollable, and I waked with such a parched mouth that I immediately drank off several glasses of water.

The short duration of the dream state, notwithstanding the varied experiences thru which one passes, is well illustrated by the following account which was given the writer by a telegraph operator.

One evening in the summer of 1882, or possibly 1881, while taking press report for the Rochester Herald, at Rochester, N. Y., I had what appears to me to be a somewhat unusual experience, — so unusual, in fact, that its impression has been lasting.

At the time of this occurrence I had been doing some extra work, and was feeling considerably worn out and extremely sleepy.

"At about ten o'clock P. M. I was engaged in taking a baseball score by innings. The sending of these scores, I will state for the benefit of the uninitiated, would require not to exceed one-half a minute on a wire worked at the speed the report wires are worked. I had taken the first team score, which would appear about as follows:

"Chicago "Boston *

"At the point marked * I dropped asleep. I dreamed that I started on a long vacation trip, New York being my first stopping-point. The trip from Rochester to New York City over the Central, especially that part from Albany down the Hudson, with its beautiful scenery, was one of the many details noted.

"After reaching New York I seemed to have plenty of time to spare, and this was spent in visiting points of interest, calling on friends and acquaintances. About two weeks were spent in this manner, when I started for Europe.

66 The voyage across the Atlantic was a pleasant