The St. Johns herald., 1889-10-17

To-day have been watching my two cats-the black Professor" and his maternal ancester-playing in the dining-room. Despite the lady's age,
 she retains much of the spirit of her youth. and does not object to romp
 with her good-natured son. Now and then feline temper will exhibit itself in 8 snarl which invariably comes from the side of the mother cat, and then Professor" scuttles of with the dexterity that is born of sheer alarm of claws and teeth as means of ma- ternal revenge. Like two weary fen cers, the cats have been thrusting and parrying at one another this morning. Facing one another, they have stood like feline statues, immovable and in statue-lilze repose. Yet every nerve was on the strain. The one watches the ether, eager to anticipate attack CT retreat; and. on the slightest move ment, the battle royal was begun anew. It is this alacrity of nerve tc respond to tho stimulation of outward things which is exercising my mint to-day. Whether in cat or in man, i. worm or in mollusk, the way of the nerves seems to be identical.
 Underlying all the varied phases Of nervous action. we find one great anC guiding principle. for the first eluc;- dation of which we are indebted to the genius of tho late Dr. Marshal, Hall. Tho principle is known as tha. of reflex action, and one or two sim pie illustrations will familiarize u
 with its nature and moduS operand: em crossing the street, and hear tn, sharp trot Of Q cab-horse just behind me, Anxious to avoid accidents, ] quicken my steps and reach the oppo- site pavement in safety. What has been the nature and operation of tho nervous mechanism in this case Waves of sound from tho cabs motioI. first of all were received by the drur of the ear, were transmitted to tht inner ear, were modified and assorted, so as to reach the brain as "sensa tions " of sound. and were finally re ceived and dealt with by that part 0 the brain set apart for the control tho hearing sense. Thereupon, con seriousness of danger to my per sonality was awoke, probably be cause the hearing part of tn brain communicated with the intel lectual centers At any rate, the ro suit of sound-waves striking my ca was the awakening of my mind to tl risk ran in crossing the street. Now this first piece of nervous play onl; goes so far as to include the convey ance to the brain of message Co ''sensation') ) from the outer world. l is clear that, in order to escape dan ger, must possess means of acting like an intelligent policemen, upo sinformation received" According the sensation of sound sooner or late is reflected" from the brain center to other parts of the body-namely the muscles. The latter organs 8; stimulated to greater activity, and am speedily landed on the opposit pavement out of tho way of tho ca
 Notice, then, that this illustratio presents us with plain, unvarnishe story of that ''reflex action whic underlies all our nervous operation. and which, therefore, forms the foua dation of all the acts of our own lives of those of my cats, and, indeed, regu lates the acts of all animals.
 When you draw back your head tc avert 8 threatened blow, or when you eyelids close as some one in pla passes his hand rapidly before you eyes, it is reflex action you again ii lustrate in your movements. The ey receives, and its nerve transmits, sensation" of sight to the seeing center of the brain. Thence is ''rC fiected' a nervous command to tn: muscles of the neck, or of the eye lids alone, as the case may bt When my cats are romping here an there. each movement whereby ''Pr. lessor" escapes his mothers attack carried out by similar reflex acti
 of his nervous system. When v touch the feeiers on q snaifs head e' see them fold up in the marve'o fashion they exhibit, and when fna that mollusk retires into the priva-