The Evening statesman. [volume] (Walla Walla, Wash.) 1903-1910, 1904-11-18
sitive enough to record the results OF
Stress and Heart Beats.

Sft1ve enough TO recOru the -TeSuItS VI
the work.
Stress and Heart Beats.
Professor Dixon has already discov-
cred an emotional curve in poems like
Tennysons The Bridge" Experiments
are now being conducted to discover
a law as to the relation between stress
in poetry and the beat of the human
heart, and the relation between the
lines of poetry and the respiration. A
large number of tests have already
been made, and some provisional con-
illusions have been arrived at, but be-
fore the law is fully determined Pro-
fessor Dixon thinks it will be neces-
sary to record the singing Of the doxol-
ogy or some other song by a whole
congregation.
In securing the records to be used
in drawing his general conclusion,
Professor Dixon and DR.. Wrinch use
an exceedingly complicated machine
that records the pulse beat of the per-
| sons reciting the poetry, the stress,
the number of lines and the respira-
tions and the time taken. All these re-
suits are accorded on smoked record
and can be preserved.
Professor Dixon, who is noted
English scholar and author. and who
is here doing research work, will pre-
sent thesis on his work for doc
tors degree great deal of interest
is being taken by scholars in the out
come of his researches, and last night
he lectured before the Pathological club,
giving the results obtained thus far.
In speaking of the experiments, Pro-
fessor Dixon said:
Discovers Emotional Curve.
1.-The work we are doing now deals
with the expansion and contraction of
lines of poetry, according to the sub
ject matter, whether it is happy or
sad An emotional curve has been dis
covered in poems like Browning's 'Abt
vogler' and Tennyson's The Bridge.
Perhaps the most remarkable mani
festation of the law discovered was
found in Tennyson's May Queen 1t
| was shown that three divisions into
which the poem is divided vary in a
| most decided manner. The first, CIV
| ing a mood of heightened happiness
| uses II per cent more syllables than
| the second, which is in a mood of ut
ter depression. The third division is in
| a mood of resignation or sorrow and
uses 3 per cent less syllables than the
second
The results thus obtained have been
sent by Professor Dixon to the Roya
society at Edinburg, Of which he is q
fellow.
Stress and Pulse Keep Time.
A further examination to find g
norm for in all poetry-that is, why
some lines should have eight syllables
and others fifteen. and why the lines
with fifteen should break in the middle
with a cesula-has been undertaken
It is also Professor Dixon's purpose
to determine what line of poetry is
psychologically. Experiments with the
pulse and throat seem to show that a
tetrameter verse of our common hymn
''Doxology." gives this norm. for every
| pulse means a stress and every line
means the time between respiration
An experiment with the hymn. Rock
of Ages comes out regularly sixteen
pulse beats and sixteen stresses; -four
respirations and four lines. Before he
is finished, however, Professor Dixor
intends to record the singing of a
whole congregation on a Photographic
record and see if the law holds fol-
great audiences as well as for individ-
uals
BY these experiments Professor Dix
on intends to draw sharply the line be.
tween poetry and prose. At present
it is almost impossible to tell the rea
difference between poetry and prose
If poetry is a direct appeal to or
| ganism, it has direct connection
with breathing and the heart action
and this connection is to be minutel,
| determined.