Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1896-04-17
THE KYMOGRAPHION
DR.. Arthur McDonald's Interesting
Demonstrations With It.
RECORDING EMOTIONAL PHENOMENA
Experiments Which May Lead to
Important Results.
T 81 E MIND W A V E s

DR.. Arthur Mcdonald Of the United States
bureau of education lectIred last week be-
fore the Anthropological Society on
''Psycho-neural Measurements of Human
Beings" illustrating the subject with ex-
perimsnts and demonstrations by means of
the kymographion. This Is the instrument
intended to be used on Holmes, the con-
victed murderer, during his execution in
Philadelphia, May s. DIR. McDonald's re-
quest to be permitted to make the expert
ment of registering the emotions of man
about to be hung was denied by the author
tiles, although Holmes himself made no OBJ
lection to it. There was, therefore, great
Interest in the lecture and in the instru-
ment, which is probably the only one in
this country. The word kymographion Is
derived from the Greek words kumos, wave
ard the verb graphic graphein, to write
The instrument is the invention Of Prof
Ludwig of Leipsic. and DIR. Mcdonald
combines with it the pneumograph and
the Cambridge tambour. Briefly de-
scr1bed. the apparatus Is clock
work device. by which the excitement
states of the mind, Is recorded on cylinder
covered with paper This paper is black
ened with smoke. and so made sensitive to
me shghtest mark Of the indicator. The
the subject silk ribbon. each end of which
attaches to a fine sensitive rubber dia-
phragm stretched over the end of a metal
nc cylinder from which there runs small
IuoDer TUBE, which terminates in another
rubber diaphragm called the tambour
Within the cylinder, the tube and the tam
pour Is vacuum. so that the tension of the
tnres oiaphragms is exceedingly sensitive
~ the shShtest movement of the thorax
In contact with the tambour diaphragm
IS multiplying lever. which moves the
slender needle-Gke indicator, which is put
IN touGh with the smoke-blackened cylin-
ger. When the subject Is in readiness for
the experiment the cylinder is set in mo-
tioh' revolving once in two minutes, and
the needle; vibrating up and down. marks
responsibility to the action of the thorax a
sharp. white line on the sooty surface Of
the paper.
How 1t Works.
Ihose who are skeptcal as to the prac-
teal work Of the kymographion would he
surprised to note the variations in the
waves resulting from different states of
the mind For instance, Dr. Mcdonald ex-
perlinented before, his audience with q
bright young boy. Being excited the no.
dulles of the normal or regular waive shown
were deep. frequent and sharp. Giving
MN book to read, the nodules became
longer, shallower and more quiet and pa
CHIC IN character. Told to listen to the
music OF mandolin, the boy showed
far less excitability, and the wave mark
nodules. different, however, from those
produced when he was reading Expert
nents were made on other subjects during
the evening, with interesting and varied
results.
Speaking Of the necessity of experiment
tation in all directions of scientific inquiry
Dr. Mcdonald said:
Philosophy in the old sense is almost
Impossible. No one man can have sufficient
insight into the different sciences to under
stand their relations and make Judgment
or their content Specialism may narrow a
man. but 1t deepens his knowledge knowl-
edge is so dovetailed together that a spe-
cialty studied thoroughly necessitates the
investigation of the nearest lying branches
Generalism Is liable to be superficial. The
habit of studying one thing thoroughly Is
the method of speciahsm, and Is directly
practical. The desire to include the uni
verse may be called generalism. Facts
about the nervous system of man are as
important as facts about stones. plants
and animals; yet there Is perhaps the least
definite knowledge about man. The scien-
tific study of man in an experimental way
is just in its beginning. man should in
vestigate fifty times as much as he writes
and not vice versa.
Interesting Phenomenn.
Experiments with the kymographion
said DR.. Mcdonald, the pheumograph and
the Cambridge tambour.. .on both children
and adults seem to indicate that concentra-
ton of mind or emotion lessons breathing
The effect between pathetic and lively mu-
sic is noticeable: the former lessons the
breathing, the latter increases 1t. In a
somewhat extended experiment on a re-
porter with his newly constructed plethys-
mograph, DR.. Mcdonald found that by ap-
plying the algometer pain meaSurer) to the
temporal muscle there was decrease of
flow of blood in the arm; and by passing
galvanic current through the brain, caus-
ing a pain like the prick of a pin, the eff
feet was a decrease of flow of blood in the
arm. 1t Is probable mot certain) that this
means an increase Of blood in the brain.
Fatigue and other Sensations.
By experiments on two women and two
men with Mosso's ergograph the results of
Or. Lombard were confirmed, that the re-
covery of the power OF the finger after ia
tigue owes it's perio1icity to fatigue. After
the finger is tired of pulling a weight that
it can hardly move, the almost immediate
recuperation of the finger, making it able
to pull the weight as fast as ever Is not
due to rutritive changes in the muscle, nor
to variations in the strength of will power,
but, as before said, is a result Of fatigue.
Similar phenomena are The second wind
in the pedestrian. The hearing of a tick
ing of watch varies periodically; it sounds
louder and softer In adding long columns
of figures in following long argum ent
the mind at periods refuses to work, and
then resumes.
DR.. Mcdonald illustrated with instru-
ments of his own and those of others
cumulative measurements of sensibilties,
of smell, heat, locality, pain and muscular
Judgments.
At the close of the lecture an experiment
Has made with the entire audience in reg
fSterinS spontaneous concepts of the mind
the results being writtel on slips Of paper
and kept by DR.. Mcdonald for classified ton
and analysis, with a view to a considera ton
of them before the society at some future
time.
Not Constable Gibbons.
1t was enormously stated in yesterdays
Star that Constable Gibbons figured in the
case of Mrs. Sarah White. the colored