The Alaska citizen., 1912-09-30
WHY DO YOU D0
 THESE THINGS?
WHY DO MOST PERSONS DO THINGS WITH THEIR RIGHT HAND RATHER THAN WITH THEIR LEFT?


 THEIR LEFT?
 The new born infant is ambidex trous. Whatever movements it makes during the first few days are apparently made with either hand indifferently. The mother nursing the child prefers to hold it on her right arm. as she has more strength in that arm and for that reason the child is fed more frequently at the right breast. In this position the childs left arm and hand are held close to the body while the right arm and hand are clear. The infant instinctiVely grasps it's source of food supply, and using it's right hand more frequently than the lei, it becomes right-handed. During the first few months its righthand ac, tivities are about twice as frequent as the left-hand activities.
 Every form of mental activity in. duces some form of physical activ- ity, the mental activity associated with speech inducing gestures and facial movements (eXprcssion). The left half or hemisphere of the brain which contains the speech centers is heavier and more complex than the right hemisphere, and controls the movements of the right side of the body As the speech center becomes more developed in the child the left half of the brain is more actively employed, and consequently the right side of the body, especially the arm and hand, is more ire quently used than the left. The change from left to right hand edness generally occurs during the closing months of the first year. In creased use of the right hand and arm increases their development; the hand becomes more deXtrous. great CT control over the muscles is thus acquired; and we therefore use the right hand in preference, which be- comes an unconscious habit In left handed persons the right side of the brain contains the speech cen ters and is more developed
 WHY ARE SOME PERSONS PAR
 
 There are two kinds of muscles, the involuntary muscles which per organs and are not under the con trol of the will, and the voluntary or skeletal muscles which are used in the ordinary movements of the body. The muscles in the stomach for example. act unconsciously and we cannot through our will alone increase or decrease their action. The muscles of the arm are volun- tary and We can move them at will All muscles may, however. move, contract, or relax involuntarily and even abnormally through what is called reflex action. Every volun- tary action is the result of the com bined effort of intelligence and will In reflex action the action takes place before the intelligence and will can combine to perform or restrain it. If, for instance. powerful light suddenly strikes the eye, the muscles that close the eyelid con- tract. Emotions act as irritants or stimulants to parts of the brain and nervous systems and cause mus cle activity through reflex action of will or intelligence. This activity may be in the voluntary or involun- tary muscles, producing relaxation or contraction. The emotion of fear produces a number of reflex actions and these may differ in different individuals. In most persons the surface blood vessels contract and the person becomes pale In some persons the fine muscle fibers in the skin contract producing the so-called goose skin, and if the skin is hairy the hairs stand on end. In some per sons the larger muscles contract and this contraction may be so powerful as to make the muscles rigid. If all the skeletal muscles, including the muscles of the throat, are in this condition the person is in catalep- tic state, paralyzed by fear
 UNDELivERED TELEGRAM.